After 13 years of conflict in Syria, water shortages in Southern Africa and the toxic impacts of agriculture. Here is what you missed from last week’s headlines in the international development sector.
After 13 years of conflict in Syria, more children than ever in need of humanitarian assistance and a chance
After thirteen years of conflict in Syria, almost 7.5 million children in the country need humanitarian assistance – more than at any other time during the conflict. Repeated cycles of violence and displacement, a devastating economic crisis and extreme deprivation, disease outbreaks and last year’s devastating earthquakes have left hundreds of thousands of children exposed to long-term physical and psychosocial consequences.
More than 650,000 children under the age of five are chronically malnourished – an increase of around 150,000 in the four years since 2019. Chronic malnutrition, or stunting, causes irreversible damage to the physical and cognitive development of children, impacting their capacity to learn, their productivity, and their earnings later in adulthood.
According to a recent household survey conducted in northern Syria, 34 per cent of girls and 31 per cent of boys reported psychosocial distress. Similarly, the rapid assessments conducted in earthquake-affected areas reported an even higher percentage of children exhibiting severe behavioral psychological distress (83 per cent of respondents.)
Record-breaking dry spell leading to starvation, water shortages in Southern Africa
A record-breaking dry spell has plunged Southern Africa into a dire situation, affecting vast areas and driving communities to the brink of a humanitarian emergency. The region is experiencing the lowest rainfall recorded in at least 40 years, with devastating consequences for agriculture, water availability, and livelihoods.
A combination of crop failure, widespread wilting of crops, and over 9,000 drought-related cattle deaths have been recorded between October 2023 and February 2024.
” The prolonged dry spell and erratic rainfall patterns are pushing Southern Africa to the brink of a humanitarian crisis. Coupled with an ongoing cholera outbreak, millions of people are facing severe hardship. Crops are wilting, livestock are dying, and millions of people are facing severe food and water shortages. The situation is particularly dire for women and girls, who often bear the brunt of such emergencies,” stated Matthew Pickard, Southern Africa Regional Director for CARE, expressing grave concern over the situation.
Dry spells disproportionately impact women and girls, who are often responsible for household food security and water collection. Limited access to water means they must travel longer distances, and this increases the risk of gender-based violence.
New initiative aims to curb the toxic impacts of agriculture
The governments of Ecuador, India, Kenya, Laos, Philippines, Uruguay, and Vietnam have come together to launch a $379 million initiative to combat pollution from the use of pesticides and plastics in agriculture.
Chemicals play a crucial role in farming, with nearly 4 billion tons of pesticides and 12 billion kg of agricultural plastics used every year.
Despite their benefits for food yields, these chemicals pose significant risks to human health and the environment. As many as 11,000 people die from the toxic effects of pesticides annually, and chemical residues can degrade ecosystems, diminishing soil health and farmers’ resilience to climate change. The opening burning of agricultural plastics also contributes to an air pollution crisis that causes one in nine deaths worldwide.
Highly hazardous pesticides and mismanaged agricultural plastics release toxic persistent organic pollutants (POPs) – chemicals that don’t break down in the environment and contaminate air, water, and food. These inputs are generally cheaper than sustainable alternatives, giving farmers little incentive to adopt better practices.
The Financing Agrochemical Reduction and Management Programme – or FARM – led by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) with financial support from the Global Environment Facility (GEF), seeks to change that, elaborating the business case for banks and policy-makers to reorient policy and financial resources towards farmers to help them adopt low- and non-chemical alternatives to toxic agrochemicals and facilitate a transition towards better practices.
DevelopmentAid Editorials
How can data protection and digital rights impact development? | Experts’ Opinions
Today’s rapid digitization represents a revolving door for opportunities and challenges across the world. The issue of data privacy and digital rights in poorer developing nations is an evolving concern in this context. While digital technologies help these countries to advance economically and socially, they also pose threats to data protection and digital rights. We asked the DevelopmentAid expert community about the challenges and solutions for developing nations in this respect. Check out the experts’ answers in our new article below.
Key Takeaways:
- According to the United Nations, there was a 11% surge in the adoption of data protection and privacy legislation between 2015 and 2020 but only 66% of the world’s nations currently safeguard people’s online data and privacy.
- Developing nations face challenges in adapting to new technologies mainly due to slow legal frameworks and an understanding of compliance.
- The absence of robust data protection laws hampers economic growth, foreign investment, and innovation in developing nations.
- International organizations offer financial aid, loans, and technical assistance to facilitate capacity building, and knowledge sharing, and encourage public-private partnerships in developing countries.
Harnessing the power of synergy: The unbeatable combination of Tenderwell and the DevelopmentAid platform
With ODA budgets being revised and donors demanding value for money, organizations working in the development sector must remain competitive. And that is why savvy companies are taking advantage of the unique synergy provided by the Tendewell application and DevelopmentAid’s data-rich platform.
Tenderwell is a cloud-based CRM that was designed by the creators of DevelopmentAid.org, the world’s leading provider of information services for donors, consulting and engineering companies, NGOs, and individual professionals working in the aid sector. With seamless integration, the Tenderwell app and the DevelopmentAid platform give organizations all the tools needed to take their tender tracking, and proposal preparation processes to new heights.
Compliance tables can make life easier for recruiters and job seekers. Here’s how.
In the realm of international development cooperation, recruitment plays a pivotal role in assembling teams to drive projects forward, facilitate change, and impact communities worldwide. However, navigating the complex landscape of compliance requirements can be daunting. This is when a Compliance Table emerges as an invaluable tool for consultants and recruiters alike. In this article, we’ll explore why Compliance Tables are essential in recruitment for international development cooperation and how they contribute to the job application and hiring process at the same time.
France’s decision to shrink ODA sparks anger among NGOs
France, the world’s fourth-largest donor country, recently announced a significant cut in its Official Development Assistance (ODA). This decision, triggered by a predicted slowdown in the country’s GDP growth, has caused anger among NGOs and associations that support vulnerable people around the world. Adding to the outrage was France’s failure to have ever met the target of 0.7% of Gross National Income (GNI) on ODA set by the United Nations General Assembly back in 1970.
Here’s what else has happened
Japan: The Ministry of Labour, Social Security and Migration of the Kyrgyz Republic and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) welcome a generous contribution of US$ 3.5 million from the Government of Japan to foster self-reliance among the Kyrgyz Republic’s most vulnerable people by creating community assets and strengthening capacities through various projects.
Islamic Relief: Islamic Relief is working closely with partners to distribute food packs and cash assistance to those who have been affected by the armed conflict in central Mali. Thousands fled Douentza Circle and Ber commune in February 2024 as a wave of violence spread across the Mopti and Timbuktu regions.
Burkina Faso: Half a million people under blockade in Burkina Faso find themselves in a blind spot of the humanitarian response due to lack of funding and severe operational constraints, warn international organizations ahead of the European Humanitarian Forum.
Haiti: Children are at risk in Haiti. Plan International is calling for immediate aid as an increase in violence displaces even more people from their homes. The organization is deeply concerned by the significant increase in violence in Haiti. Gang violence has displaced more than 362,000 people from their homes, a figure that has increased by 15,000 in just 10 days.
World Bank: The World Bank‘s Board of Executive Directors has approved a $92.71 million financing for The Gambia Resilience, Inclusion, Skills, and Equity Project (The Gambia RISE Project), with $80.45 million from the International Development Association including $20.00 million from the Crisis Response Window Early Response Financing, and an additional $12.26 million in co-financing from the Global Partnership for Education.
First day of Ramadan: A Ramadan ceasefire for Gaza must be implemented immediately, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on the first day of the Muslim holy month.
Reports
Shell publishes Energy Transition Strategy 2024
Shell plc (Shell) has published its first energy transition update since the launch of its Powering Progress strategy in 2021. At the Capital Markets Day in June 2023, the organization outlined how the strategy delivers more value with fewer emissions, emphasizing the “more value” part. In this energy transition update, Shell is focusing on how the same strategy delivers “fewer emissions”.
New report: IRC urges innovative solutions for global change following largest early childhood intervention in the history of humanitarian response
As over a million children in Gaza continue to bear the brunt of the conflict, and an entire generation of Syrian children solemnly mark 13 years of protracted crisis, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and Sesame Workshop urge the global community to invest in new approaches to crisis-response as evidenced in a landmark report Transforming Tomorrow: Innovative Solutions for Children in Crisis.
WHO report reveals gender inequalities at the root of global crisis in health and care work
A new report published by the World Health Organization (WHO), “Fair share for health and care: gender and the undervaluation of health and care work” illustrates how gender inequalities in health and care work negatively impact women, health systems, and health outcomes.
Events
Intensive Affordable Housing Programme
📅 22 April 2024
London
A practical learning experience in creating enabling conditions to expand the supply of affordable housing in emerging economies.
This is a one-week immersive training course and study tour hosted in London by Crown Agents and Altair. It is designed for high-level government officials, policymakers and private sector leaders working to deliver affordable housing across Africa and Asia.
Global Summit on Extreme Heat
📅 28 March 2024
Virtual
2023 marked the hottest year on record, coinciding with deadly heat waves on nearly every continent, from Pakistan to Tunisia to Texas. The 10 hottest years on record have all come in the past decade (2014-2023) and scientists expect temperatures to continue to rise. Extreme heat events are becoming more frequent and intense, resulting in more deaths and exacerbating other climate disasters such as drought and wildfires.
Join the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) for the first Global Summit on Extreme Heat. This virtual summit will bring together global leaders and changemakers to discuss solutions and strategies to protect communities and workers from extreme heat.
2024 Global Anti-Corruption & Integrity Forum
📅 26 – 27 March 2024
Paris, France
Democracies are under unprecedented internal and external pressures, and efforts to uphold integrity are more important than ever. Threats of foreign interference, the rise of artificial intelligence, and the speed and scale of climate change are giving rise to new corruption risks and increasing pressure on integrity frameworks.