5.3 million Ukrainians have entered EU since the beginning of the invasion,
monkeypox transmission may have gone undetected ‘for some time’, meteorological and humanitarian agencies sound alert on East Africa. Here is what you missed from last week’s headlines in the international development sector:
5.3 million Ukrainians have entered EU since the beginning of the invasion
5.3 million Ukrainian citizens have fled to the EU since the beginning of the war in February. The total number of displaced people who have entered the EU, including also non-Ukrainian nationals, is 7 million.
In recent weeks more people have been returning to Ukraine than leaving the country. Between May 25 – 31, almost 260 000 Ukrainians exited the EU. In total, 2.3 million Ukrainians have returned to their home country since the war started.
As of May 23, the number of internally displaced people in Ukraine has decreased for the first time according to IOM observations. The total number is now estimated to be 7.1 million, representing a decrease of 11% since May 3. Poland and Romania continue to see the highest numbers of arrivals, with 147 000 and 32 800 Ukrainian refugees respectively crossing the countries’ borders between May 25 and 31.
Global tourism industry during COVID-19
Thirty non-endemic countries have reported more than 550 confirmed cases of monkeypox, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said. With most reported cases have been among sexual encounters between men, those communities are working to inform their members of risks and preventative action that can be taken.
The top WHO official outlined his priorities to provide accurate information to those most at-risk; prevent further spread among those at high risk; protect frontline health workers; and advance “our understanding” of the disease.
Turning to the first in-person World Health Assembly since the COVID-19 pandemic began – which ended on Saturday – Tedros drew attention to the adopted “landmark resolution to increase assessed contributions” to a target of 50 per cent of WHO’s base budget by the end of the decade, up from the 16 per cent.
Meteorological and humanitarian agencies sound alert on East Africa
Meteorological agencies, including WMO, and humanitarian partners have issued a joint alert that the threat of starvation looms in East Africa after four failed rainy seasons and that the situation is set to worsen.
A statement issued by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations on behalf of 14 agencies said that the current extreme, widespread, and persistent multi-season drought affecting Somalia, the arid and semi-arid lands of Kenya, and Ethiopia’s Belg-receiving and eastern and southern pastoral areas, is unprecedented. Four consecutive rainy seasons have failed, a climatic event not seen in at least 40 years.
The impacts on food security are also extensive. In Africa, agricultural productivity growth has been reduced by 34% since 1961 due to climate change, more than in any other region and there is high confidence that future warming will negatively affect food systems by shortening growing seasons and increasing water stress.
The WMO community has worked actively with the humanitarian sector to try to reduce the impacts of this devastating drought. WMO will continue to engage and strengthen climate services and early warnings to protect lives and livelihoods.
DevelopmentAid Editorials
GMOs and statistics
Genetically Modified Organisms, also known as GMOs, are plants, animals, or other living organisms that have undergone some kind of genetic modification. These are used to improve crop yields or to enhance specific characteristics of plants and animals. Currently, there are strongly opposed views on the safety and applicability of GMOs with two distinct camps clashing on the potential benefits and drawbacks. This article defines GMOs, presents certain areas for potential application, and highlights those countries that have banned the use of genetically modified organisms.
How to protect institutional knowledge when employees leave (Part I)
When an employee leaves, your company loses a lot more than simply their skills and expertise. Every employee contributes some of what they know to the company, and it is vital to take steps in order to preserve that institutional knowledge. Below are seven tips on how you can ensure that your employees’ hard-won knowledge stays behind long after they have moved on.
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the structure of global aid and development finance | Experts’ Opinions
The coronavirus pandemic had put development plans on hold and delayed progress worldwide especially in developing countries that were struggling with economic challenges even before COVID-19. For these countries, external financing – particularly development assistance – has been a source of support for social and economic transformation as well as progress towards achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals. However, the reshaping of the world’s economy triggered by the pandemic has apparently caused a change in aid flows. To find out more, we asked several financial experts on how the structure of global aid and development finance is changing in the context of the ongoing pandemic.
Here’s what else has happened
UN: A UN report issued, describes “limited progress” towards justice for human rights violations and abuses committed against dissenters exercising their right to free speech in Iraq. The authors explain that in October last year, early parliamentary elections took place in the wake of an “unprecedented wave of country-wide demonstrations in 2019,” which were marked by violence, excessive force, abductions, and targeted killings that saw hundreds perish, and thousand suffer injuries.
USAID: Nearly 18 months after the first administration of a COVID-19 vaccine, incredible progress has been made – with lower-income countries administering billions of COVID-19 vaccines in a historic global rollout that is unprecedented in terms of speed, scale and demographics reached. Yet despite this progress, and the easing of global supply constraints, inequities between lower and higher-income countries are continuing to cost lives and are prolonging the pandemic by increasing the threat posed by the emergence of new, potentially more dangerous variants of the virus.
FAO: The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is intensifying efforts to address soaring acute food insecurity in the Sudan which is driven by the combined impacts of armed conflict, drought, COVID-19, low production of key staple crops related to infestation by pests and diseases, and economic turmoil.
Reports
The world’s ten most neglected crises are all in Africa
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is once again the world’s most neglected displacement crisis according to the Norwegian Refugee Council’s (NRC) annual analysis. For the first time, the top 10 list is comprised entirely of African countries. The annual list of neglected displacement crises is based on three criteria: lack of funding, lack of media attention, and lack of international political and diplomatic initiatives. The DRC is followed by Burkina Faso, Cameroon, and South Sudan on top of the bleak ranking.
Global, multi-stakeholder digital coalition presents plan for a green digital revolution
An UN-backed coalition of 1,000 stakeholders from over 100 countries launched an Action Plan to steer digitalization towards accelerating environmentally and socially sustainable development. The Coalition for Digital Environmental Sustainability (CODES) aims to help reorient and prioritize the application of digital technologies to meet the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and address the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste. The flagship CODES Action Plan, launched during the Stockholm+50 international environmental meeting, proposes a comprehensive and strategic approach to embedding sustainability in all aspects of digitalization.
Closing gender gaps would trigger strong GDP growth in Southern Cone – IDB report
If all workplace barriers women face were removed, Southern Cone countries’ GDP could rise by as much as 4 percent to 15 percent, a new report by the Inter-American Development Bank says.
In Brazil, if ethnic barriers were also eliminated, GDP could gain as much as 30%, according to the report Closing the Southern Cone Gender Gaps – an Untapped Potential for Growth, which was issued during an international webinar on the subject.
The report also concludes that investments to promote women’s human capital can have a multiplying effect on gender equality. For example, encouraging girls to become the best students has a positive effect not just on themselves, but also on their future female schoolmates.
Women also place greater value than men on social benefits and on social security for their families, making it even more crucial to adopt policies to formalize micro and small-sized enterprises in order to narrow the marketplace gender gaps.
Events
Bonn Climate Change Conference 2022
📅 6-16 June 2022
Bonn, Germany
The upcoming Bonn Climate Change Conference (6-16 June) will bring together a multitude of stakeholders from around the world to prepare for the UN Climate Change Conference COP27 in November of this year.
14th International Economic Forum on Latin America and the Caribbean
📅 8 June 2022 🕟 15:00- 17:30
Paris, France
The green transition can be an opportunity to move towards a more sustainable development model that puts Latin Americans’ well-being at its core. Clear and coordinated strategies for the green transition can help overcome LAC’s structural development traps and attract sustainable investments for recovery. Greener productive policies must both increase productivity and make production models more sustainable.
Global food security: How is the war zone affecting this? | Free Webinar
📅 9 June 2022 🕟 4 PM (Brussels)/ 10 AM (Washington DC)
Virtual
DevelopmentAid, in collaboration with management4health (M4H), invites organizations, individual experts, and policymakers concerned with the state of global food security to join the webinar on “Global food security: How is the war zone affecting this?” Our guest speakers will analyze the consequences of the Russian-Ukrainian war on international food security and will discuss some response measures at the project and program levels.
Key Takeaways:
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- What are the four pillars of food security? Understanding the consequences of the Russian-Ukrainian war on global food security
- What other factors are driving up food prices?
Are there any estimates of the number of additional undernourished people as a result of the war in the case of different scenarios? - Which countries are most affected by this crisis (high import dependency)?
How to respond to the looming food crisis
Speakers:
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- Kerstin Marit Uhl, Project Manager with M4H
- Ranja Chrys Rakotomahanina, Head of Business Development Unit with M4H
Host:
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- Elena Rata, External Relations & Events at DevelopmentAid.
