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Add to Preferred SourcesBiodiversity at risk, the world’s largest refugee camp is on fire and one year into COVID-19 education disruption. Here is what you missed from last week’s headlines in the international development sector:
Biodiversity at risk, threatens human survival, UN forum hears
The Director-General of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Audrey Azoulay opened the UNESCO Forum on Biodiversity by pointing out that one year after its emergence, the COVID-19 pandemic has confirmed what we had already known; “by threatening biodiversity, humanity is threatening the conditions for its own survival”.
“The pandemic demonstrated that human health depends on the health of living things”, she said flagging that it is “imperative to rethink our development models”.
Biodiversity protection is at the forefront of UNESCO’s ambition along with ocean sciences “to rebuild humanity’s relationship with nature and with living beings”, Ms. Azoulay stated.
In kicking off the forum, Ms. Azoulay officially launched the 50th anniversary of UNESCO’s “Man and the Biosphere (MAB) program”, which envisioned territories where people could create new ways to enhance the relationship between people and nature.
The world’s largest refugee camp is on fire
A fire has broken out in Cox’s Bazar refugee camp in Bangladesh. The camp is home to over 600,000 people who live in crowded conditions.
The blaze is believed to have started in the late afternoon of Monday 22 March. Photos and videos from the site show huge quantities of black smoke and people fleeing the fierce flames. Thousands of refugees have lost their homes. Health centers, distribution points, and other facilities have also been affected. The cause of the fire is currently unknown.
The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) is working to get an overview of the situation and how we can help.
Jamie Munn, who heads up NRC’s operations in Bangladesh, says: “My concerns are with the thousands of Rohingya families who survived the fires today but without the protection of shelter or belongings. NRC continues to reach out to our Rohingya volunteers and refugees throughout the night and plan for our continued response tomorrow.”
NRC needs support. All funds raised will be used to assist those affected. No amount is too small.
One year into COVID-19 education disruption: Where do we stand?
Exactly a year ago, the COVID-19 pandemic brought learning to a screeching halt worldwide, creating the most severe global education disruption in history. At the peak of the crisis, UNESCO data showed that over 1.6 billion learners in more than 190 countries were out of school. Over 100 million teachers and school personnel were impacted by the sudden closures of learning institutions. On March 19, two-thirds of the world’s student population is still affected by full or partial school closures. In 29 countries, schools remain fully closed.
The pandemic has exposed and deepened pre-existing education inequalities that were never adequately addressed. As always, it has impacted vulnerable and marginalized learners the hardest. The economic downturn of the crisis is now adding pressure on national education budgets and aid at a time when increased funding is needed for education recovery. Despite critical additional funding needs, two-thirds of low- and lower-middle-income countries have cut their public education budgets since the start of the pandemic, according to a recent joint report by the World Bank and UNESCO.
DevelopmentAid Editorials
Africa is not on course to end hunger by 2030
The Food and Agriculture Organization has announced that Africa is losing traction in its goal to achieve zero hunger by 2030 mostly due to conflicts, climate changes, COVID-19, and a lack of public investments.
How social media facilitates the spread of vaccine myths and undermines concerted efforts to reduce the spread and effects of COVID-19 in South Africa
The South African government and scientific community have taken proactive and innovative steps to combat the spread and effects of COVID-19 in the country. These have largely been successful with several responses and initiatives having received international recognition.
US foreign aid by country. Who gets the most?
In recent years, every proposed US budget has threatened cuts to funding for foreign aid and freezes have been placed on fund approval. Nevertheless, billions are allocated annually in foreign aid for developing countries. Here we’ll delve into the topic of US foreign aid, how it was changed in recent years and how the US contributes to development around the world.
Development aid: calls for a reset
Foreign aid or foreign assistance is defined as “the international transfer of goods, services or capital from a country or international aid agency to a recipient country or its population”. Regardless of the types of development aid, it goes without saying that it contributes greatly to evolutions in developing countries. Yet, lately, there have been calls for a reset in the process of providing aid, which sound rather grounded when looking at the current reasons of providing aid and at disparities between financial resources transferred to/from developing countries.
Preserving environment is a matter of food, economy and life
A recent report commissioned by the UK government on the economics of biodiversity stresses that overlooking the role that nature plays in economic activities has severe consequences and that the risks from environmental damage to human welfare and development are greatly underestimated by economists. While each economic sector and a particular activity must be viewed separately, the first one to look at is agriculture – an activity responding to the basic human need for nutrients. The purpose of this article is to emphasise the importance of regenerative approaches in our food production system as only through regeneration can we preserve the life and vitality of agricultural systems.
Here’s what else has happened
AIIB: The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) launched its first vaccine financing under its COVID-19 Crisis Recovery Facility (CRF) to respond to its members’ urgent needs for access to vaccines. The financing forms part of the coordinated action by multilateral development banks to contain the pandemic and enable sustainable economic recovery through vaccine procurement and rollout. Working with co-financing partners, AIIB is prioritizing requests from its low-and middle-income members.
European Commission: The European Commission has announced €500,000 in emergency funding to respond to the consequences of the massive fires in Cox’s Bazar refugee camps in Bangladesh on 22 March. The fire affecting one of the largest refugee camps in the world has caused several deaths and injuries.
Finland: The government of Finland has provided EUR 2 million to the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) for 2021-2022 to help least-developed countries (LDCs) use trade to combat poverty and recover from the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Finland confirmed the contribution at a signing ceremony held on 23 March at the WTO during the Aid for Trade Stocktaking Event.
CABEI: The Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) announced on March 23 that it approved US$250 million for the “Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship” initiative as part of the “Emergency Support and Preparedness Program for COVID-19 and Economic Reactivation”.
UNAIDS: UNAIDS warmly welcomes the passing of the US$ 1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act. The historic legislation will deliver much-needed relief in the light of COVID-19, both in the United States of America and around the world.
Reports
IOM appeals for USD 812 million to scale up COVID-19 response in 2021
Over the last year, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) has responded to the COVID-19-related needs of millions of people worldwide. On March 25 it launched a Strategic Response and Recovery Plan (SRRP) for 2021 that will allow IOM to continue to assist people struggling with the crisis and its devastating consequences in 141 countries.
Read the full Strategic Response and Recovery Plan (SRRP)
New report shows Indigenous and Tribal Peoples ‘best guardians’ of forests
Deforestation rates are significantly lower in Indigenous and Tribal territories where governments have formally recognized collective land rights, according to a new report launched on March 25.
The full Forest Governance by Indigenous and Tribal Peoples report.
UN World Water Development Report 2021 ‘Valuing Water’
A World Meteorological Organization Task Team has issued its first report on Meteorological and Air Quality factors affecting the COVID-19 pandemic. It cautions that weather and climate conditions, including the onset of higher temperatures in the northern hemisphere spring, should not be used as a trigger to relax measures to halt the spread of the virus.
Read the United Nations World Water Development Report (WWDR)
Events
Best Practices in Project Management with Multi-Stakeholders | Webinar
? 1 April ? 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM (CEST)
Webinar
Join the DevelopmentAid webinar to find out about the best practices in project management with multi-stakeholders.
The speaker at this webinar is the CEO of GEDS, an Istanbul-based design consultancy, with a strong focus on design research.
The overall conversation is going to focus on understanding and mapping the capabilities of the teams which are critical to set the strategies and tools for an iterative Design Management process.
You will have the possibility to ask questions directly at the webinar.
HOST: Sergiu Casu, Business Development Director, DevelopmentAid
Speaker: Gulay Ozkan, GEDS Founder
The Rise of the Green Economy and Availability of Green-Climate Financing | Webinar
? 15 April 2021 ? 4 PM (Brussels) / 10 AM (Washington DC)
Webinar
Join the DevelopmentAid webinar to find out about the rise of the green economy and the availability of green-climate financing.
Topics to be discussed:
- Opportunities and threats for Africa’s agriculture in the global green economy transition
- Assessment of green projects’ investments in agriculture
- Green Taxonomy as an opportunity for the financial sector
- Green economy transition in the eyes of donors, perhaps explaining how projects need to be green or greener, as well as climate-friendly
- Availability of green-climate financing as a demand-driven process towards greening the economy
- Examples from the field on how to introduce green – climate-friendly investments
Webinar speakers :
Dr. Zelda Anne Elum, a private capacity consultant with Mothergold Ltd (Nigeria) – Dr. Elum is a seasoned lecturer and researcher with the Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Dr. Elum obtained an MSc (Agricultural Economics) from Imperial College London; a Ph.D. (Agricultural Economics) from Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, India, and was a postdoctoral research-visiting fellow at the University of South Africa.
Enrique Rebolledo Garza, Head of Climate Action, IDOM (Spain) – is a climate and green finance expert with more than 20 years of experience in designing and managing green and climate finance architecture, with some personal private equity participation. He has prepared several financing proposals for sustainable infrastructure, particularly in urban environments, and drafted internal policies and procedures to integrate climate risk assessments into investment processes, including climate and energy sector framework documents for the Inter-American Development Bank, and conceptualizing a climate risk certification scheme for the Fonplata / EIB project.
You will have the possibility to ask questions directly at the webinar.
HOST: Ana Marin, Sr. Business Development Manager, DevelopmentAid
One Year Into COVID: Prioritizing Education Recovery to Avoid a Generational Catastrophe | Virtual
? 29 March ? 2:00 PM – 6:00 PM
Virtual
As the world enters a second year living with the COVID-19 pandemic, two-thirds of the global student population is still affected by full or partial school closures. To mobilize and support learning continuity.
In line with its mission to facilitate policy dialogue and knowledge sharing, UNESCO will convene a high-level ministerial event to take stock of lessons learned, the greatest risks facing education today, and strategies to leave no learner behind. It will provide a space for policy dialogue to examine the most pressing current challenges, informed by the presentation of some key data sets. It will show how the Global Education Coalition has mobilized partners to support learners, teachers, and policymakers with new tools and knowledge.
Brussels V Conference – Supporting the future of Syria and the region | Virtual
? 29-30 March
Virtual
The European Union and the United Nations will co-chair the fifth Brussels Conference on “Supporting the future of Syria and the region”. In view of COVID-19 restrictions, the Conference will take place in a virtual format.