Additional financing to Ukraine, the future of education in low-income countries and the Gaza humanitarian crisis deepens. Here is what you missed from last week’s headlines in the international development sector.
Donor partners and the World Bank provide additional financing to Ukraine in support of essential government services for citizens
The World Bank announced $1.34 billion in additional financial support to help sustain critical government services at national and regional levels in Ukraine. This round of financing for the Public Expenditures for Administrative Capacity Endurance in Ukraine (PEACE) project will continue to provide support for the payment of pensions for the elderly, grants to internally displaced persons, and wages for teachers, first responders, and emergency services staff.
The financing package includes a $1.086 billion World Bank loan, backed by a credit enhancement from the Advancing Needed Credit Enhancement for Ukraine (ADVANCE Ukraine) Trust Fund, supported by the Government of Japan; a $190 million grant from the Ukraine Relief, Recovery, Reconstruction, and Reform Trust Fund (URTF); a $20 million grant from the Swiss government; and a $50 million grant from the United States. The funds will be transmitted to the Government of Ukraine after the World Bank receives appropriate verification of eligible expenditures.
The PEACE project is an integral part of the international support package for Ukraine to meet its financing needs through 2024. Other ongoing projects include emergency operations for health, social safety nets, transport, energy, housing, and agriculture that have mobilized partner resources through a flexible design to disburse funds quickly and can be scaled as necessary when additional financing becomes available.
Demographic changes and fiscal constraints threaten the future of education in low-income countries
A new World Bank-UNESCO report shows that a projected increase in the school-age population in Africa will strain government financing for education and threaten countries’ ability to provide quality education for children and youth. In contrast, in other countries, particularly in Asia, declining school-age populations will free up financing for education.
Education Finance Watch 2023 (EFW), an annual report on the global state of education financing jointly produced by the World Bank, the Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report, and the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), explores the challenges of demographic changes on education financing and learning outcomes. It shows that government education spending has not kept pace with the need to address post-COVID-19 learning losses and that development assistance to education has fallen.
“The magnifying glass consistently falls on sub-Saharan Africa,” says Luis Benveniste, Global Director for Education at, World Bank. “We do not need to wait for any further cues to step up our financial support to the region in the remaining years to 2030 so that education opportunities there do not backslide. Progress is inclusive or it is incomplete. The future we envision for 2030 must encompass the entire world, leaving no one behind.”
Gaza humanitarian crisis deepens as fighting rages on across the Strip
UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths reiterated deep concerns for the people of Gaza, amid reports of intense fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups in Gaza City and Jabalia in the north of the Strip, and in Khan Younis in the south, while Israeli bombardment of the enclave has continued.
Speaking in Doha at the launch of the Global Humanitarian Overview, Mr Griffiths said that the situation was “getting worse”, while efforts to secure “moments of peace” remained of the “greatest importance”.
According to the latest update on the emergency from the UN Relief Coordination Office (OCHA), tens of thousands of people “in desperate need of food, water, shelter, health and protection” who recently fled to Rafah in the south, had waited for hours around aid distribution centres.
OCHA’s latest update on the violence – which began on 7 October after Hamas militants rampaged through communities in southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking around 240 hostages, prompting reprisal bombardment – also indicated that the lack of adequate sanitation had led to “widespread” open-air defecation, increasing fears of disease spread.
According to the Gazan health authorities, about 18,000 people have now been killed in Gaza since the fighting began; about 70 per cent are said to be women and children; and more than 49,000 people are reportedly injured.
DevelopmentAid Editorials
COP28 Climate Summit: A rollercoaster of hope and disappointment
The outcomes of the COP28 UN climate summit in Dubai have ignited both hope and disappointment among global representatives and environmental activists. The initial draft proposal, unveiled on Monday, faced backlash for its tepid approach towards addressing climate change, particularly its failure to advocate for a comprehensive phase-out of fossil fuels. This lack of ambition drew criticism from key stakeholders, including environmental groups, the U.S., the European Union, and vulnerable island nations, all of whom had pushed for more robust commitments to combat the climate crisis.
DevelopmentAid database updates and new unique features in 2023
As the global leader in providing information services for organizations and individuals working in the field of sustainable development, we, at DevelopmentAid, know that our members need to be ahead of the competition in securing contracts and establishing partnerships. That is why we have spent this year working very hard to implement a lot of new features, tools, and other improvements.
In 2023, our team of developers generated ideas, programmed, tested, and launched a set of features that make the DevelopmentAid database (the biggest in the world) an even more handy and easy instrument for organizations and individuals working in the aid sector.
Let’s see what we have done during the last 12 months.
Homelessness statistics in the world: causes and facts
In almost every city on the planet, people can be observed sleeping on the streets, on park benches or elsewhere. This is because homelessness affects people of all ages, sexes, races, and backgrounds, and is among the most obvious examples of poverty, prejudice, and inequality.
Opening the NGOs’ Pandora Box | Opinion
Taxes – the Pandora’s box for nonprofits that we’re going to open in this article. You may have started to read this expecting a different topic and that’s understandable. After all, the nonprofit world is full of tacit complexities. However, today’s focus is on a particularly complex issue, one that I believe could lead to significant reputational damage for non-governmental organizations in the future if not addressed. Why? Because it is not always about paying what is due or filling out a form.
Here’s what else has happened
Japan: The Government of Japan announces its support to the UN World Food Programme (WFP) Rwanda’s program for providing food assistance to asylum seekers and Rwandan returnees, amounting to USD 1.2 million.
EU: For several years now, EU resettlement and humanitarian admission schemes have offered a pathway to a new home and a life in dignity. At the Global Refugee Forum in Geneva, EU Member States announced their collective pledge for 2024 – 2025: 61,000 new places combined for resettlement and humanitarian admission for people in need of international protection. Of these, 31,000 are for resettlement, to be implemented in close cooperation with UNHCR, and 30,000 are for humanitarian admission.
Measles cases: There have been 30,601 confirmed cases of measles in Europe and Central Asia between January and 5 December 2023, up from 909 throughout 2022, marking a 3266 per cent increase in cases of the vaccine-preventable disease, warns UNICEF.
European Innovation Council: The Commission adopted the European Innovation Council (EIC) 2024 work program. It opens funding opportunities worth over €1.2 billion in 2024. The majority is dedicated to SMEs and start-ups to develop and scale up “deep tech” innovations in critical fields such as generative artificial intelligence (AI), space, critical raw materials, semiconductors, and quantum technologies.
ADB: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $200 million loan to improve solid waste management and sanitation in Indian cities. ADB’s financing will support the Government of India’s Swachh Bharat (Clean India) Mission–Urban 2.0 which commits all cities to be garbage-free by 2026.
Reports
IRC Emergency Watchlist: Sudan, occupied Palestinian territory, South Sudan top list of 20 countries set to deteriorate the most in 2024
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) releases its annual Emergency Watchlist of the 20 countries most at risk of intensifying humanitarian emergencies in 2024. Sudan, occupied Palestinian Territory, and South Sudan top the list, with the 20 Watchlist countries accounting for about 10% of the world’s population, but approximately 86% of global humanitarian needs.
Children hit ever-harder by Lebanon’s unrelenting crises
The impact of Lebanon’s unrelenting, overlapping crises continues to worsen, increasingly robbing children of their education and forcing many into child labor, as parents struggle with ever-diminishing resources.
With data collected in November 2023, UNICEF analysis reveals further deterioration in almost every aspect of children’s lives, as the four-year-long crisis shows no sign of abating. The emotional burden is particularly heavy in conflict-affected southern Lebanon and among Palestinian children.
Global coal demand expected to decline in coming years
Coal 2023 sees global demand for coal rising by 1.4% in 2023, surpassing 8.5 billion tonnes for the first time. The global increase masks stark differences among regions. Consumption is on course to decline sharply in most advanced economies in 2023, including record drops in the European Union and the United States of around 20% each. Demand in emerging and developing economies, meanwhile, remains very strong, increasing by 8% in India and by 5% in China in 2023 due to rising demand for electricity and weak hydropower output.
Events
Lessons and tools for strengthening disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation finance
📅 19 December 2023
Virtual
UNDRR and IIED will conduct a webinar on 19 December 2023 to disseminate the key findings and lessons learned from the project on “Global observatory on financing for prevention and technical advisory on climate and disaster-related budget tagging and expenditures tracking systems”. The webinar will be conducted in English, targeting a global audience to promote a more integrated approach to Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) budget tagging and tracking amongst policymakers and other international, national, and local actors.
World Economic Forum Annual Meeting
📅 15–19 January 2024
Davos-Klosters, Switzerland
The 54th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum will provide a crucial space to focus on the fundamental principles driving trust, including transparency, consistency, and accountability.
This Annual Meeting will welcome over 100 governments, all major international organizations, 1000 Forum’s Partners, as well as civil society leaders, experts, youth representatives, social entrepreneurs, and news outlets.