ADB, KfW expand cofinancing partnership, child and adolescent mental disorders, and eastern Africa floods. Here is what you missed from last week’s headlines in the international development sector:
ADB, KfW expand cofinancing partnership with additional $2 billion
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and KfW, the German state-owned development bank, agreed to expand their existing co-financing partnership with an additional $2 billion over the next 4 years in order to support continued economic development in the Asia and Pacific region.
“Germany is one of ADB’s original shareholders, and we have long had a very productive partnership with KfW, together financing more than $5 billion in energy, climate, and urban infrastructure projects over the last 5 years,” said ADB Vice-President Mr. Ahmed M. Saeed. “Our new MOU builds on this good work and commits us to a deepening of our partnership in support of inclusive and sustainable development across Asia and the Pacific.”
The additional funds will build on the successful $2 billion co-financing partnership that ADB and KfW launched in 2014 and renewed in 2017 for an additional $2 billion. The partnership (2014–2019) yielded 14 co-financed projects focused on education, energy, health, industry and trade, and public sector management. The $4 billion provided by KfW for these projects was complemented with $5.8 billion from ADB.
Increase in child and adolescent mental disorders spurs new push for action by UNICEF and WHO
With the alarmingly high rates of self-harm, suicide and anxiety among children and young people around the world, UNICEF and the World Health Organization are teaming up with some of the world’s leading minds to tackle this growing threat.
“Too many children and young people, rich and poor alike, in all four corners of the world, are experiencing mental health conditions,” said Henrietta Fore, UNICEF Executive Director. “This looming crisis has no borders or boundaries. With half of the mental disorders starting before age 14, we need urgent and innovative strategies to prevent, detect and, if needed, treat them at an early age.”
In a joint push to put child and adolescent mental disorders higher up on the global health agenda, UNICEF and WHO will co-host their first-ever conference on the topic in Florence, Italy, 7-9 November. The conference is part of Leading Minds, UNICEF’s new annual global conference series to highlight major issues affecting children and young people in the 21st century.
According to the latest data:
- Up to 20 percent of adolescents globally experience mental disorders.
- Suicide is the third leading cause of death among 15-19-year-olds worldwide.
- Around 15 percent of adolescents in low-and middle-income countries have considered suicide.
Eastern Africa floods impact 2.5 million people
Heavy rainfall and flooding have impacted swathes of eastern Africa since July and intensified in October, affecting at least 2.5 million people and causing displacement and loss of property, crops and livestock.
In South Sudan, flooding has devastated large areas of the country since July, affecting an estimated 900,000 people. Of that figure, 420,000 people need urgent humanitarian assistance.
In Ethiopia, an estimated 570,000 people have been affected, including more than 202,000 people displaced, the majority in the Somali region.
In Sudan, about 346,300 people were affected by flooding in July and August, and rains and stagnant water have caused disease outbreaks, including cholera, dengue fever, Rift Valley fever and chikungunya.
In Somalia, the Juba and Shabelle rivers have overflowed, temporarily displacing more than 370,000 people.
In Kenya, riverine and flash floods, mudslides and landslides have affected more than 100,000 people, with Wajir County among those hardest-hit.
Uganda has also been affected, while in Tanzania the death toll from floods has reportedly risen to more than 40 people.
Here’s what else has happened
Trade and Development Bank, UNEP: In a pledge to continue stepping-up its commitment to climate change mitigation and adaptation action, the Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank (TDB) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).
Erasmus+: The European Commission published its 2020 call for proposals for the Erasmus+ programme. 2020 is the last year of the current European Union programme for mobility and cooperation in education, training, youth and sport.
UK: International Development Secretary Alok Sharma has pledged new UK aid support to help vaccinate more than 400 million children a year against polio. Without this new support, tens of thousands of children would be at risk of paralysis from the disease, which leaves many unable to walk for the rest of their lives.
Reports
Health spending set to outpace GDP growth to 2030
Health expenditure will outpace GDP growth over the next 15 years in almost every OECD country, according to new OECD forecasts. Health spending per capita will grow at an average annual rate of 2.7% across the OECD and will reach 10.2% of GDP by 2030, up from 8.8% in 2018, according to a new OECD report.
Health at a Glance 2019: OECD Indicators says that the United States spent the most on health care in 2018, equivalent to 16.9% of GDP, above Switzerland, the next highest spending country, at 12.2%. Germany, France, Sweden and Japan all spent close to 11% of GDP, while a few countries spent less than 6% of their GDP on health care, including Mexico, Latvia, Luxembourg, and Turkey at 4.2%
Read and download the Health at a Glance 2019: OECD Indicators.
New ITU data reveal growing Internet uptake but a widening digital gender divide
New data released by ITU reveal that in most countries worldwide women are still trailing men in benefiting from the transformational power of digital technologies.
Measuring digital development: Facts and figures 2019, the first publication in ITU’s new Measuring digital development series, estimates that over half the total global female population (52 percent) is still not using the Internet, compared to 42 percent of all men.
Read and download the report: Measuring digital development.
Adapting the energy sector to climate change, new IAEA publication
The new IAEA publication Adapting the Energy Sector to Climate Change explores the diverse range of impacts on the energy sector resulting from gradual climate change and extreme weather events, and the potential ways to counter them. Adequate responses to these challenges are crucial for secure and reliable energy supply, including nuclear energy.
“Increased global and regional temperatures patterns, changes in precipitation amounts and seasonal distribution, a sea-level rise, and changing characteristics of various extreme events such as increasing frequency, intensity, duration or even spatial extent of heatwaves, droughts and storms, are forecast by most global and regional climate models,” said Loreta Stankeviciute, an IAEA energy systems analyst.
Read and download the publication: Adapting the Energy Sector to Climate Change.
Events
100 Years of Maternity Protection: Transforming Leave and Care Policies for All
Geneva, Switzerland
8 November 2019
The year 2019 marks both the ILO’s first centenary and the 100th anniversary of international labour standards on maternity protection. It was during the first International Labour Conference (ILC) in November 1919 that the Maternity Protection Convention, 1919 (No.3), the first gender equality international labour standard, was adopted.
XIX International Economic Forum on Africa
Madrid, Spain
29 November 2019
Africans need more African goods and more African jobs. And so does the world: a strong and prosperous continent is an essential actor of the sustainable global economy we are aiming to build.
EIP Water Conference 2019
Zaragoza, Spain
11-13 December 2019
This will be the 5th EIP Water Conference, following the successful events in Brussels (2013), Barcelona (2014), Leeuwarden (2016) and Porto (2017), and will build upon the European Innovation Partnership (EIP Water)’s efforts so far to foster innovation in the water sector and overcome the main existing barriers.
