The UN urges worldwide support for the cultural sector, Africa essential for sustainable development, poverty reduction and peace and strengthening conflict prevention and support pathways to peace. Here is what you missed from last week’s headlines in the international development sector:
UN urges worldwide support for cultural sector to aid COVID recovery
The creative and cultural industry has played an essential role the world over throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and deserves more support moving forward, the President of the General Assembly said on May 21.
“As we deliberate on the role of the creative sectors in supporting and being supported by a recovery from COVID-19, let us ensure that we address the bottlenecks limiting their potentials – such as inadequate policy protections and rights for the creative sector workers and business”, Volkan Bozkir told a High-level event commemorating World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development.
Among other things, Mr. Bozkir said that culture offers an opportunity to address concerns over the impacts of COVID-19.
“Far too often society is blind to the socio-economic contributions of those in the creative and cultural spheres”, he said “This is a mistake. The breadth of this sector alone – covering everything from advertising to architecture, from fashion to film and television – is immense and diverse”.
According to the Assembly President, these sectors account for three percent of the global economy, generate $2.25 trillion annually and support 30 million jobs worldwide – more than the car industries of Europe, Japan, and the United States combined. The creative sectors not only enrich our lives but are also the largest employment sectors for young people, he said.
Africa essential for sustainable development, poverty reduction and peace
Africa’s rich, diverse cultural and natural heritage, is important for sustainable development, poverty reduction, and “building and maintaining peace”, the UN chief said on May 25, marking the international day celebrating the continent.
“This year’s Africa Day highlights arts, culture, and heritage as levers for building the Africa we want”, Secretary-General António Guterres said in his commemorative message.
Africa Day marks the 1963 founding of the Organization of African Unity, now known as the African Union (AU), and provides an annual opportunity to reflect on the challenges and achievements of the Governments and peoples of the continent.
World Food Programme and Crisis Group partner to strengthen conflict prevention and support pathways to peace
The UN’s World Food Programme has signed a Strategic Partnership with global conflict resolution organisation, the International Crisis Group, in order to boost its conflict sensitivity and prevention capacity as it continues to deliver life-saving food to the world’s most vulnerable people.
The partnership comes after a year marked by increased conflict, the impact of the pandemic, spiralling food prices, and a downturn in donor support. Hunger and famine-like conditions are spiking in countries like Yemen, South Sudan, and Afghanistan, which continue to be shaken by conflict, with conditions set to worsen through 2021.
“Since WFP was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last year, a global spotlight has illuminated how hunger is so often used to fuel conflict and destroy stability and peace,” said David Beasley, WFP’s Executive Director. “UN Security Council Resolution 2417 was a historic step toward ending starvation as a weapon of war. But, three years later, with violence surging and famine looming around the world, the international community needs to live up to the values it enshrines. Here at WFP, wherever we provide life-saving food we also work tirelessly to seed the ground for peace.”
DevelopmentAid Editorials
Report alleges EU countries cooperate in pushing back asylum seekers
The issue of illegal pushbacks in EU countries is gaining ground, being in the spotlight of an increasing number of organizations and media. The Protecting Rights at Borders initiative (PRAB), an international initiative launched by protection and legal aid organizations from seven countries, has published a report based on a survey of 2,162 people who had been denied asylum. In this report, 31% of the people polled had been denied access to asylum procedures, 24% had experienced physical abuse or assault and 27% had been affected by theft, extortion, or the destruction of property.
Number of internally displaced people rockets by tens of millions in 2020
The number of internally displaced people rocketed to a total of 55 million in 2020, an increase of 40.5 million new displacements across 149 countries and territories, a report by the Swiss NGO, Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, reveals.
Global growth prospects under threat, UN says
The World Economic Situation and Prospects mid-2021 report by the United Nations reveals a 5.4% expansion of the global economy in 2021 in contrast to a 3.6% contraction a year earlier. However, despite the rapid recovery projected for China and the United States, the forecast remains fragile for countries in South Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean.
How has the COVID-19 pandemic influenced the international donor-funded market?
In an attempt to diminish the consequences caused by the ongoing COVID crisis, international donor organizations have adjusted their investment strategies to fit current emergency demands. This report aims to provide an overview of how the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced the international donor-funded market by analyzing the number of tenders and grants published on DevelopmentAid between January 2020 and May 2021 that contained pandemic-specific keywords and by making a general comparison between the number of projects published under certain selected sectors in 2018, 2019 and 2020. The analysis shows that between 60 and 65% of COVID-19-related projects were distributed across 11 sectors with the majority of these being located in Asia and Africa. In 2020, the number of tenders and grants in the ‘Health’ sector increased by 100% and 162% respectively.
Here’s what else has happened
Italy: The Government of Italy has contributed EUR 6.8 million to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in support of the Agency’s core programs and services, including education, healthcare, and relief and social services. This support from Italy will have a direct positive impact on the well-being of some of the most vulnerable refugees in the Middle East.
Tanzania: The African Development Bank Group and the Government of Tanzania have signed loan agreements totaling $140 million to finance the construction of the 50-megawatt Malagarasi hydropower plant in Western Tanzania.
Ukraine: As the conflict in eastern Ukraine enters its eighth year, the European Commission has announced €25.4 million in humanitarian aid to help people still suffering from ongoing hostilities. This brings the total of EU humanitarian aid to €190 million since the start of the conflict.
Bosnia and Herzegovina:
On May 25 the European Investment Bank (EIB) signed a cooperation agreement with the Canton of Sarajevo and the University of Sarajevo to support the development of a master plan for the main campus in the city centre. The €500 000 grant is being provided under the Urban Projects Finance Initiative (UPFI) in partnership with the French Development Bank AFD and financed by the EIB’s Economic Resilience Initiative (ERI).
Reports
World needs USD 8.1 trillion investment in nature by 2050 to tackle triple planetary crisis
Total investment in nature of USD 8.1 trillion is required between now and 2050 – while annual investment should reach USD 536 billion annually by 2050 – in order to successfully tackle the interlinked climate, biodiversity, and land degradation crises, according to the State of Finance for Nature report released on May 27.
New climate predictions increase likelihood of temporarily reaching 1.5 °C in next 5 years
There is about a 40% chance of the annual average global temperature temporarily reaching 1.5°C above the pre-industrial level in at least one of the next five years – and these odds are increasing with time, according to a new climate update issued by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
There is a 90% likelihood of at least one year between 2021-2025 becoming the warmest on record, which would dislodge 2016 from the top ranking, according to the Global Annual to Decadal Climate Update, produced by the United Kingdom’s Met Office, the WMO lead centre for such predictions.
IFAD first in development aid rankings – new report
The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has just been ranked as number one by the highly regarded and influential Quality of Official Development Assistance Report which evaluated the capacity of 49 countries and multilateral agencies to deliver impactful long-term assistance to countries in need.
The annual report produced by the Center for Global Development measures and compares the indicators that matter most to development effectiveness and impact.
Events
2021 UN Biodiversity Conference (COP 15)
? 17 – 30 May 2021
Kunming, China
The 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 15) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the tenth Meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (Cartagena Protocol COP/MOP 10), and the fourth Meeting of the Parties to the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing (Nagoya Protocol COP/MOP 4) are expected to address a series of issues related to the implementation of the Convention and its Protocols.
SAMEA Online Capacity Building Workshops | Virtual
? 1-3 June 2021
Virtual
SAMEA’s popular online Capacity Building Workshops are taking place from 1 to 3 June 2021! The theme for this year’s workshops is: “Monitoring and Evaluation in the context of Global Crises”.
How to Write a Technical Proposal: The Only Guide You’ll Ever Need | Webinar
? 24 June 2021 ? 4 PM (Brussels Time) /10 AM (Washington DC Time)
Join DevelopmentAid for this free webinar on How to Write a Technical Proposal: the only guide you’ll ever need.
The main speaker at this webinar is Cynthia Zurita with more than 8 years of experience as Tendering Project Manager, with a strong academic and professional background in the energy and natural resources sectors projects. She has managed successfully tenders for infrastructure (EPC projects included) as well as consultancy services, for multilateral funds such as IDB, CAF, World Bank, among others, as well as public projects with national budgets or private clients of the industrial sector.
You will have the possibility to ask questions directly at the webinar during our Q&A session.
HOST: Sergiu Casu, Business Development Director, DevelopmentAid
Speaker: Cynthia Zurita, consultant at S317 Consulting
Other speakers:
Rita Andrade, Teresa Cordeiro, Ana Gonçalves and Denisse Escalante, consultants at S317 Consulting.
