Global Environment Facility approves 26 FAO-led projects, strengthening health systems in 16 African countries and improving access to water, sanitation, and hygiene can save 1.4 million lives per year. Here is what you missed from last week’s headlines in the international development sector.
Global Environment Facility approves 26 FAO-led projects to transform agrifood systems into solutions for environmental challenges
Building on the growing momentum to tackle environmental problems by addressing the ways in which the food and fiber are produced, the Global Environment Facility has approved 26 projects led by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
“To achieve the 2030 Agenda we need a healthy planet and healthy people. These projects will help countries conserve and use natural resources sustainably while providing nutritious diets and green and climate-resilient livelihoods and contribute to the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and the Paris Agreement” said FAO Deputy Director-General Maria Helena Semedo, welcoming the greenlighting of the projects by the 64th Council Session of the GEF, held in on 26 June in Brasilia.
The projects total $174.7 million in GEF funding and leverage $1.2 billion in co-financing. With these new projects, FAO’s partnership with the GEF will have helped countries access over $1.4 billion in financing and leverage over $9 billion in co-financing to transform agrifood systems into solutions to biodiversity loss, climate change, ecosystem degradation, and pollution on land, in freshwater, and in our seas, Semedo said.
Supporting vaccinations and strengthening health systems in 16 African countries
An EU-funded and WHO-implemented project helped health systems become more resilient and better prepared to tackle future epidemics of vaccine-preventable diseases. COVID-19 vaccination coverage is on the rise in Africa’s most fragile humanitarian settings as the two-year project comes to a close.
At the start of 2022, the COVID-19 vaccination rate was less than 5% on average in the participating countries: Burundi, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea, Liberia, Madagascar, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Somalia, the South Sudan Republic, Sudan, and Tanzania.
That rate is now closing in on 30% – the continent’s average. 34 million people have received the two-dose vaccinations – more than 1 in 4 people across the population of all countries.
Improving access to water, sanitation and hygiene can save 1.4 million lives per year, says new WHO report
Half of the world’s population still does not have adequate access to safe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) which could have prevented at least 1.4 million deaths and 74 million disability-adjusted life years in 2019, according to the latest report by the World Health Organization (WHO) and an accompanying article published in The Lancet.
“With growing WASH-related health risks seen already today through conflicts, the emergence of antimicrobial resistance, the re-emergence of cholera hotspots, and the long-term threats from climate change, the imperative to invest is stronger than ever,” said Dr Maria Neira, Director, WHO Department of Environment, Climate Change and Health. “We have seen improvements in WASH service levels over the last 10 years, but progress is uneven and insufficient”
The burden of disease attributable to unsafe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene: 2019 update presents estimates of the burden of disease attributable to unsafe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene for 183 WHO Member States disaggregated by region, age, and sex for the year 2019. The estimates are based on four health outcomes – diarrhoea, acute respiratory infections, undernutrition, and soil-transmitted helminthiases.
DevelopmentAid Editorials
Fulfillment of Sustainable Development Goals seriously off track, report warns
Progress towards achieving the Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is “seriously off track,” the latest issue of the annual Sustainable Development Report warned. It noted that the world needed to “double down” on its efforts by radically overhauling international financial rules in order to get back on track. The report’s authors argued that $500 billion needed to be mobilized annually to fund policy integration, greater commitment by countries to multilateral integration, and sustainable development.
Read the full article.
Number of people in need of aid on the ups – Global Humanitarian Assistance Report
The number of people in need of assistance rose by a staggering 33% from the year before, going from 306 million people in 2021 to 406.6 million in 2022, the 2023 Global Humanitarian Assistance Report revealed. However, both of these figures are in sharp contrast to 2020, when a record 443.8 million people were in need, with 200.3 million of those having been assessed as being in need of assistance solely due to Covid-19.
Read the full article.
The impact of population growth on sustainable development
A growing population can place stress on the environment, transportation, and the provision of natural resources like water, food, and energy in situations when governments fail to think strategically or are late to implement adequate adaptative reforms. The ineffective management of natural resources can result in their scarcity and environmental damage, both of which are detrimental to initiatives aimed at encouraging sustainable development.
At the same time, if appropriate policies are adopted, an increasing population can also spur economic expansion and result in a larger labor force which is advantageous for sustainable development. And yet it is crucial to ensure that environmental conservation and the safeguarding of natural resources go hand in hand with economic progress.
Read the full article.
Here’s what else has happened
UN officials warn: Syrians are facing an “ever-worsening humanitarian crisis” amid the ongoing 12-year-long conflict, top UN officials told the Security Council, as the General Assembly adopted a resolution to create a first-of-its-kind institution to address the issue of more than 100,000 people still missing in the country.
Northeastern Nigeria: Millions are facing hunger and children’s lives are on the line in northeastern Nigeria amid a protracted conflict and intensifying climate change. In the face of this, the UN’s humanitarian response in the region is underfunded, humanitarians told journalists in Geneva.
Norway: The Government of Norway made a grant contribution of NOK2 billion ($190 million) to the Ukraine Relief, Recovery, Reconstruction and Reform Trust Fund (URTF) to support the government’s ability to deliver services, including investments to repair destroyed infrastructure. This is the second tranche from Norway to the URTF, following a $100 million grant contribution signed in December 2022.
UNHCR: UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is increasingly alarmed over growing humanitarian needs among those affected by the crisis in Sudan, as displacement numbers continue to surge while the delivery of assistance remains heavily constricted by insecurity, lack of access and funding shortfalls.
Canada: Providing humanitarian assistance and responding to the needs of Palestinian refugees is part of the path toward peace and prosperity in the Middle East. Canada is committed to meeting the basic needs of the poorest and most vulnerable among this population.
Reports
USAID releases climate strategy progress review
USAID released its first annual progress review on the Agency’s 2022-2030 Climate Strategy. In the first year under the Strategy, USAID has increased its climate investments, launched new initiatives, and is working to tackle the climate crisis in more countries than ever.
UNODC World Drug Report 2023 warns of converging crises as illicit drug markets continue to expand
Continued record illicit drug supply and increasingly agile trafficking networks are compounding intersecting global crises and challenging health services and law enforcement responses, according to the World Drug Report 2023 launched by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
Four new reports highlight importance of the microbiome for food safety, soils and nutrition
All evidence suggests that the microbiome, an emerging concept referring to the complex ecosystems made up of and by bacteria and other microorganisms, has powerful explanatory value for matters related to human, plant, and planetary health.
To contribute to the scientific debate, and to stimulate and guide more of it, experts at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) have produced four new publications, one focusing on soil health, and three scientific reviews of how microplastics, pesticide residues, and veterinary medicines may impact the safety of our food supply.
Events
SAMEA 2023 Online Capacity Building Workshops
📅 07-23 August 2023 / 23-31 October 2023
Online
SAMEA is pleased to present the 2023 Capacity Building Workshops that will once again be presented virtually. We will deliver two workshop series in the months of August and October.
2023 Canadian Conference on Global Health
📅 16-18 October 2023
Ottawa, Canada & Virtually
The Canadian Conference on Global Health is an annual conference that brings together researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and students from various disciplines and sectors to discuss pressing global health issues. The conference provides a platform for sharing knowledge, best practices, and innovations in global health research, policy, and practice.
EIB MED Conference 2023
📅 10 July 2023
Barcelona, Spain & Virtual
After a four-year hiatus, the EIB MED Conference is back. This year’s event will be held in Barcelona, where we will gather key decision-makers to explore how to leverage the European Union’s Economic and Investment Plan for the Southern Neighbours and its new Global Gateway strategy to strengthen investment in the green transition, infrastructure development, digitalisation and social inclusion in the Mediterranean region.
