By PRESS RELEASE
NEW YORK, Mar 11 2021 (IPS-Partners)

As the world marks the one-year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic on 11 March 2021, initial progress reports on Education Cannot Wait’s (ECW) COVID-19 emergency responses to date show that the Fund and its partners have already reached over 9 million vulnerable girls and boys in the midst of the worst education crisis of our lifetime.

Within days of the declaration of the pandemic one year ago, ECW rapidly allocated $23 million in COVID-19 emergency grants to support continuous access to learning opportunities and to protect the health and wellbeing of girls and boys living in emergencies and protracted crises. Shortly after, ECW continued to scale up its response with a second allocation of $22.4 million – specifically focusing on refugee, internally displaced and host community children and youth.

“During COVID-19, our investments have been life-sustaining for children and youth enduring crisis and conflict around the world. Despite the pandemic, our government partners, civil society and UN colleagues have been working hand in hand with communities to deliver remote learning and continued education in safe and protective learning environments,” said Yasmine Sherif, the Director of Education Cannot Wait. “Yet, so many children and youth have been left behind, as financial resources are required to reach them. We risk losing entire generations of young people who are already struggling in emergencies and protracted crisis.”

The Rt. Hon. Gordon Brown, UN Special Envoy for Global Education and the Chair of Education Cannot Wait’s High-Level Steering Group, reinforced the urgent need for more funding to deliver on Sustainable Development Goal 4 through Education Cannot Wait – during and after the pandemic: “I call on all education stakeholders to join Education Cannot Wait’s efforts in mobilizing an additional $400 million to immediately support the continued education of vulnerable children and youth caught in humanitarian crises, stressing the need to move with speed. We cannot afford to lose more time, nor to let millions of refugee and conflict-affected children, their families and teachers lose hope.”

In total, ECW’s COVID-19 emergency grants target 32 million vulnerable children and youth (over 50% of whom are girls) in over 30 countries affected by armed conflict, forced displacement, climate-related disasters and other crises. For these girls and boys, the pandemic has generated a ‘crisis within a crisis’, further entrenching pre-existing vulnerabilities and inequalities. Without access to the protection and hope of an education, they face multiple risks, including child labor, child marriage and early pregnancy, human trafficking, forced recruitment into armed groups, sexual exploitation and gender-based violence.

ECW’s COVID-19 emergency grants to over 80 United Nations agencies and Non-Governmental Organizations working on the ground in 33 crisis-affected countries and contexts support a wide range of interventions ranging from pre-primary (19%), primary (56%) and secondary (25%) education as well as non-formal education. These include:

• Remote learning: with the total disruption of the usual education systems in emergency-affected areas, ECW grants support alternative delivery models, including informal education materials at the household level, as well as scaling up distance education programmes, particularly via interactive radio.

• A focus on gender: gender-specific actions were integrated at the design stage of the response, supporting rapid gender assessment and targeted approaches for girls. Over half of the children and youth reached to date are girls and 61% of all teachers trained are women.

• A focus on forcibly displaced population: 2.7 million refugee and internally displaced children and youth are specifically targeted through ECW-supported interventions.

• Safe and protective learning environment: activities improve access to water, hygiene and sanitation to protect children and their communities against the risks of COVID-19. Messaging, tailored to local languages and contexts, provides practical advice about how to stay safe, including through handwashing and social distancing.

• Mental health and psychological support: this includes COVID-19-specific guidance and training for parents and teachers to promote the resilience and the psychosocial wellbeing of children and youth. ECW also supports all children and adolescents to receive instruction in social emotional learning.

In addition to its 12-month emergency grants portfolio, ECW also invests in multi-year resilience education programmes that provide longer-term holistic learning opportunities for children and youth caught in protracted crises to achieve quality education outcomes.

More information on ECW’s COVID-19 response is available here.

Excerpt:

Education Cannot Wait (ECW), the Global Education Cluster (GEC), the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the Inter-agency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE), Switzerland, UNICEF, the University of Geneva, UNESCO and UNHCR are delighted to announce the launch of the Geneva Global Hub for Education in Emergencies.

The Geneva Global Hub for Education in Emergencies is an ambitious commitment towards the realisation of the right to education for crisis-affected and displaced children and youth and comes at a time of unprecedented humanitarian needs. Of the world’s approximately 257 million primary and secondary school-age children out of school, 127 million live in countries affected by emergencies. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated this situation. We are witnessing a global crisis in which children and youth are at heightened risk of losing years of education.

The urgent need to respond effectively to the education needs of the world’s most vulnerable children and youth is why the co-signatories pledged at the 2019 Global Refugee Forum to making Geneva the Global Hub for Education in Emergencies. The members will work together towards three main goals:

• Growing demand for change: The Hub is a catalyst for partners to come together to increase their prevention and response to education needs in emergencies. It will strengthen policy and integrated approaches across the humanitarian, development, migration and peace spectrum, as well as with other sectors such as health and climate, to better prioritise and deliver quality, inclusive education in emergencies for crisis-affected children and youth through the increased collaboration of International Geneva actors and beyond, including linking up with other relevant initiatives.
• Inspiring commitment: Bringing together the Geneva strategic community of committed thought leaders will inspire political will and influence agenda setting so that governments and partners see education as a top priority before, during and after emergencies and in protracted crises.
• Boosting country-level impact: All children and youth affected by armed conflicts, violence, disasters, epidemics and forced displacement must have their right to a quality education realised. The Hub aims at boosting the country-level impact of education in emergencies preparedness measures and responses through better data, evidence on what works and innovative research and solutions that support the delivery of safe and quality education while building resilient education systems.

Overall, the Hub will be a catalyst to accelerate progress towards SDG 4 in crises and displacement contexts and help realise the commitments set out in the Global Compact for Refugees.

About the Geneva Global Hub for Education in Emergencies

Humanitarian crises, conflict and displacement deny millions of children and youth their right to education. Of the world’s approximately 257 million primary and secondary school-age children out of school, 127 million live in countries affected by emergencies. Nearly 30% of the world’s primary and secondary school-age children and youth live in crisis-affected countries. However, prior to the COVID19 pandemic, they accounted for almost half of all out-of-school children. The situation is even starker at primary level: in 2019, less than one-third of primary-school-age children resided in crisis-affected countries, but almost three-quarters of those out of school resided in these countries.

That is why at the 2019 Global Refugee Forum, Switzerland pledged to promote Geneva a Global Hub for Education in Emergencies to leverage the Geneva international community by convening actors and creating synergies for joint action so that all crisis-affected and displaced children and youth have their right to education fulfilled, respected and protected. The pledge was co-signed by Education Cannot Wait, the Global Education Cluster, the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Inter-agency Network for Education in Emergencies, UNICEF, the University of Geneva, UNESCO and UNHCR.

The Geneva Global Hub focuses on school-aged children and youth, meaning access and completion of quality pre-primary, primary and secondary education, including non-formal educational pathways and transition to the formal national education system, in line with SDG 4.1. and 4.2. The Hub is also involved in research and evidence-creation for education in emergencies and data. Furthermore, the Hub’s focus includes all crisis-affected and displaced children and youth, regardless of their status (i.e. refugee, host community, internally displaced children and youth, as well as those affected by conflict, violence, disaster and epidemics).

By PRESS RELEASE
SEOUL, Republic of Korea, Oct 23 2020 (IPS-Partners)

Following the cooperation agreement signed in December last year for the Mobilizing Article 6 Trading Structure (MATS) Program, the Swedish Energy Agency (SEA) and the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) have agreed to further develop four mitigation activities with the goal of completing transactions of internationally transferred mitigation outcomes (ITMOs). 75% of these activities will come from GGGI’s pipeline of bankable projects across its Members and partners. Out of the four proposed activities, two will target the energy sector in Ethiopia, one will be focused on the waste sector in Nepal, and one will focus on the manufacturing sector in Cambodia.

“GGGI is excited about this important program milestone. The MATS program will support our Member and partner countries to access international carbon finance, build regulatory frameworks and institutional capacity to increase their ambition and go beyond the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs),” explained Ms. Fenella Aouane, GGGI’s Head of Carbon Pricing Unit.

“Successful implementation of the cooperative approaches under Article 6 is a new area of focus that allows for scalable and transformative changes needed to meet the global ambitions of the Paris Agreement.”

“We are thrilled to have been able to green-light development of the first batch of Article 6 Pilot activities under the MATS program, less than one year since the program was first conceived. We hope that these pilot activities will deliver concrete results for the host countries in achieving their NDC targets, while also providing lessons for various stakeholders as the Article 6 rulemaking process continues,” said Mr. Christopher Zink, Senior Advisor at the Swedish Energy Agency. “Environmental integrity is the key focus area for Sweden when it comes to testing Article 6, including scalability, additionality, conservative baselines, attribution and the avoidance of double counting.”

Through joint collaboration, GGGI and SEA will help countries to gain access to international finance, enabling them to unlock projects, which will not only contribute to reducing additional carbon emissions but will also enhance ambition in NDCs. Furthermore, both organizations will play a key role in supporting governments in establishing frameworks, that will create the enabling environment for international trading of mitigation outcomes under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.

The SEA-GGGI MATS Program is a pilot project aimed at catalyzing international trading of mitigation outcomes to support increasing climate ambitions. This month’s recent agreement – as part of the project progression, selecting specific mitigation activities, will aim to enable host countries to gain access to international carbon finance, unlocking projects which will generate additional emissions reductions, ultimately enabling greater ambition in NDCs. This work will add onto the $1.6 billion USD of green investment already mobilized by GGGI since 2015. Importantly, the program will also help to establish the enabling environments with the host countries to ensure sustainable transformational change by supporting them to put in place the governance frameworks required to engage in international trading, including systems and procedures to help avoid double counting and ensure environmental integrity.

About SEA
SEA supports the Swedish Government and Society as well as external actors with facts, knowledge, and analysis of supply and use of energy in Sweden. SEA provides funding for research on new and renewable energy technologies, smart grids, as well as vehicles and transport fuels. SEA also supports business development that promotes commercialisation of energy related innovations and ensures that promising cleantech solutions can be exported. Official energy statistics, and the management of instruments such as the Electricity Certificate System and the EU Emission Trading System, are part of SEA’s responsibility.

Furthermore, SEA has long been the home of Sweden’s CDM and JI program; and is now actively participating in international climate collaborations under the Paris Agreement.

About GGGI
GGGI was established as an international intergovernmental organization in 2012 at the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development. Its vision is “a low-carbon, resilient world of strong, inclusive, and sustainable growth” and its mission “to support Members in the transformation of their economies into a green growth economic model”. GGGI does this through technical assistance to: reduce greenhouse gas emissions in line with the Paris Agreement; create green jobs; increase access to sustainable services (such as clean affordable energy, sustainable waste management); improve air quality; sustain natural capital for adequate supply of ecosystem services; and enhance adaptation to climate change.

To learn more about GGGI, see https://www.gggi.org and follow us on Facebook, Twitter,
YouTube, and Instagram.

By PRESS RELEASE
NEW YORK, Sep 17 2020 (IPS-Partners)

World leaders today committed to expand education in emergency aid for children and youth impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic – girls and boys already suffering the brunt of armed conflict, forced displacement, climate-change induced disasters and protracted crises – with a focus on the most marginalized, including girls, refugees and children with disabilities.

The new political and financial pledges were made during today’s global, high-level event “The Future of Education is Here for Those Left Furthest Behind”, organized by Education Cannot Wait (ECW) on the margins of the 75th Session of the United Nations General Assembly. The event was co-hosted by Canada, Colombia, Germany, Norway, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America.

Two dozen political leaders, policymakers, influencers and youth advocates took the stage during the event, including education ministers from Burkina Faso, Colombia, Ethiopia and Somalia, as well as youth and teachers from the Greek islands, Lebanon, the State of Palestine, Syria, Uganda and Venezuela. They stressed the urgent need to collaborate and redouble efforts to avoid losing hard-won gains and reversing the progress recorded in recent years in political commitment and financing for education in emergencies and protracted crises.

Dr. Maria Flachsbarth, German Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, announced an additional contribution of 8 million euros (US$9.5 million) to ECW in 2020, commending the Fund’s rapid response to the COVID-19 pandemic in recent months. “Thanks to ECW, partner countries have received urgently needed support very quickly. For many countries, it was the only support they received,” she said. “I hope that other partners will also commit more funding, because solidarity and cooperation are more important now than ever before if we want to ensure that we leave no one behind,” she added.

Working with a broad range of partners, ECW has disbursed over $60 million in emergency grants in 35 crisis-affected countries since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, with an emphasis on reaching the most marginalized children and youth, including refugee, internally displaced and host communities girls and boys. ECW’s COVID-19 response encompasses the full scope of needs of a child’s well-being, including mental health and psychosocial support, and improved access to water, sanitation and hygiene and nutrition. Participants to the meeting stressed the importance of such a holistic approach to achieve education outcomes in crises.

“The United States strongly believes that education can be lifesaving and life-changing. That is why we are continuously striving to ensure that a focus on education is better incorporated into crisis responses around the globe and ensuring that the education provided also supports each child’s broader well-being,” said Carol Thompson O’Connell, Acting Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, U.S. Department of State, as she announced an additional contribution of $5 million to ECW.

More than 1.5 billion learners worldwide had their education disrupted at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the coronavirus continues to upend entire communities, the economy, and social and education systems, children and youth who were already living in crisis settings are at particular risk of falling behind and being further marginalized. Out-of-school girls face increased risk of sexual violence, child marriage and early pregnancies. Children and youth living in extreme poverty, precarious conditions and forced displacement may never return to school – this is particularly true for refugee children and youth, and even more so for adolescent refugee girls.

“The story about how humanity handled COVID-19 is being written now – and education will figure in the conclusion. Let it not be the story of a lost generation – nor of a community that abandoned its promise to ‘leave no one behind’ when push came to shove. Let it rather be the story of a global community that came together to ensure that the right to learning was upheld for all – also for the COVID Generation,” said Dag-Inge Ulstein, Norway’s Minister for International Development, as he announced an additional contribution of NOK 20 million ($2.2 million) to ECW.

Today’s new financial pledges to ECW add to the recent contribution of the Netherlands of 6 million euros ($6.9 million) announced at ECW’s High-Level Steering Group meeting on 11 September, bringing the total funds mobilized by ECW in just four years of operations to over $650 million.

“We must stand by those left furthest behind and move with unprecedented speed, determination and commitment to financing an innovative idea and approach in the multilateral system, in the United Nations, that has proven to work. Education Cannot Wait is no longer a start up fund, but has now turned into a full-fledged global fund, reaching 4.5 million children and youth in crises and forced displacement. ECW enables us all to bring hope to those left furthest behind when they most need us,” said The Rt. Hon. Gordon Brown, United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education and Chair of the Education Cannot Wait High-Level Steering Group.

Since its inception in 2016, ECW has reached an estimated 4.5 million children and youth with inclusive, quality education in some of the worst humanitarian crises worldwide, half of whom are girls. Building on these achievements, ECW is appealing to public and private donors to urgently mobilize an additional $300 million to respond to the pandemic and other emergencies and protracted crises in the coming months.

“We are grateful to all our partners and stakeholders who form Education Cannot Wait. All results are your results. Today, I want to thank Germany, the United States, Norway and the Netherlands for additional generous financial contributions to Education Cannot Wait – announced during the UN General Assembly week – which allows us to continue with speed during the pandemic,” said Yasmine Sherif, Director of Education Cannot Wait. “At ECW, we believe that crises always lead to new opportunities. It is the choice we make that determines the outcome. We must all chose to give it our all and make Sustainable Development Goal 4 a reality for those left furthest behind. The future of their education must be now.”

Today’s event was also an opportunity for ECW to roll out a new donation feature in partnership with video communications platform Zoom and online fundraising platform Pledgeling. During the event, the audience was invited to make and view live donations to support Education Cannot Wait’s work for children and youth caught in conflict and crises across the globe, raising over $14,000 in just two hours. Donations can still be made at www.pledgeling.com/ECW or, in the US, by texting ‘ECW’ to 707070.

Excerpt:

By PRESS RELEASE
PARIS, Sep 15 2020 (IPS-Partners)

The Director-General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, on Thursday 27 August launched an international fund raising appeal, Li Beirut (For Beirut in Arabic), to support the rehabilitation of schools, historic heritage buildings, museums, galleries and the creative economy, all of which suffered extensive damage in the deadly explosions that shook the Lebanese capital on 4 August.

As she launched Li Beirut, the Director-General expressed the unflagging solidarity of UNESCO with the people of Lebanon.

“UNESCO, of which Lebanon is a founding member, stands at their side to mobilize the international community and support the city’s recovery for and through culture, heritage and education” Ms Azoulay declared.

The Director-General emphasized UNESCO’s commitment to applying the highest internationally recognized professional and management standards in coordinating support for education and culture in the framework of UN assistance to Lebanon. “I solemnly call for the historic centre to be protected – through administrative measures and appropriate regulations – to prevent property speculation and transactions taking advantage of residents’ distress and vulnerability,” she added.

In addition to coordinating UN efforts to support education in Beirut, which will require $23 million, UNESCO has committed to the immediate rehabilitation of 40 of the 159 affected schools with funds it has already raised. In the coming months, UNESCO will prioritize funding for schooling and distance learning, an urgent issue for the 85,000 affected students. “We must focus on education, because it is a major concern for families and it is where Lebanon’s future will be played out,” said the Director-General. To this end, the Global Education Coalition, put in place by UNESCO during the early weeks of the COVID-19 crisis. will hold a Special Session on the situation in Lebanon on 1 September.

UNESCO will also lead international coordination efforts for the recovery and reconstruction of Beirut’s culture and heritage and raise funds to respond to the crisis affecting the cultural sector. “We must protect the spirit of the city, even as we work to rebuild it. We must build back – but, more importantly, we must build back well. This means protecting the unique heritage of these neighbourhoods, respecting the city’s history, and supporting its creative energy,” said Ms Azoulay. According to preliminary estimates, $500,000,000 are needed to support heritage and the creative economy over the coming year, with museums, galleries and cultural institutions expected to experience substantial losses in revenues. UNESCO will conduct priority interventions to stabilize, secure and safeguard several historic buildings located in the most affected neighbourhoods.

As part of these actions, Ms Azoulay said, “We are determined to mobilize the international community both for built heritage and museums, and for the hard-hit creative sector, by supporting artists and cultural professionals, whom UNESCO will also bring together in three ResiliArt debates in September.” To finance these operations on the ground, a UNESCO donors’ conference for Beirut will be organized before the end of September.

During her two-day visit, the Director-General took stock of the situation through meetings with artists, members of the cultural sector and creative industries, including NGOs and local partners.

Source: UNESCO

By PRESS RELEASE
PARIS, Sep 15 2020 (IPS-Partners)

A new UNESCO report highlights a sharp increase in the global number of protests during which the police and security forces violated media freedom in the first half of 2020. Between January and June this year, 21 protests around the world were marred by violations of press freedom, including protests in which journalists were attacked, arrested and even killed.

UNESCO’s new report, Safety of Journalists Covering Protests – Preserving Freedom of the Press During Times of Civil Unrest, points to a wider upward trend in the use of unlawful force by police and security forces over the last five years. In 2015, journalists covering 15 protests worldwide were impeded by the police and security forces. By 2019, that number more than doubled to 32. The report suggests that a troubling new threshold has been crossed, revealing a significant and growing threat to media freedom and freedom of access to information in all regions of the world.

The report also found that ten journalists were killed while covering protests over the last five years. Each of these killings was condemned at the time by UNESCO’s Director-General.

In some protests up to 500 separate violations took place, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. In some cases, including during protests linked to the Black Lives Matter movement, violence resulted in permanent injuries, such as those sustained by several journalists blinded by rubber bullets or pepper balls.

Launching the report, UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay underscored that the freedom to inform citizens on the causes of unrest and the response from state authorities are of vital importance for democracies to thrive.

The report finds that during this five-year period, protests around the world have been rooted in concerns about economic injustice, government corruption, the decline of political freedoms, and growing authoritarianism. It details the different abuses journalists face when covering protests including surveillance, harassment, intimidation, beating, being shot at with lethal or non-lethal ammunition, detention, abduction and the deliberate destruction of equipment.

It also contains concrete recommendations for all actors involved, from media outlets and national authorities to international organizations, to ensure better protections for journalists. These include: strengthening training for police and law enforcement actors on freedom of expression and appropriate behaviour in dealing with the media; providing appropriate training and equipment to journalists, including freelancers, sent to cover demonstrations; appointing national ombudsmen to hold police accountable for the use of force against journalists during demonstrations; and strengthening national mechanisms for the safety of journalists.

UNESCO provides technical assistance to Member States, including training for police and security forces on upholding press freedom and freedom of expression.

The report is an issue brief in the UNESCO Series on World Trends in Freedom of Expression and Media Development.

The report is available in the six official UN languages: English, French, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, and Chinese.

By PRESS RELEASE
NEW YORK, Sep 7 2020 (IPS-Partners)

Education Cannot Wait (ECW) today approved US$1.5 million in new education in emergency funding in response to last month’s explosion in Beirut.

The new funding comes just one month after the 4 August 2020 blast, which damaged 140 schools and affected at least 55,000 Lebanese and non-Lebanese students.

Through the ECW grant, UNESCO, in close coordination with Lebanon’s Ministry of Education and Higher Education, will support the rapid rehabilitation of approximately 40 schools in the area of the explosion, allowing at least 30,000 children and youth whose schools were damaged to resume their learning in a physically safe environment during the 2020-2021 school year.

“Beirut has suffered a lot, but will rise again. We need to support the young generation to sustain and this means rehabilitating their damaged schools without delay,” said Yasmine Sherif, Director of Education Cannot Wait. “We know that our strategic partner UNESCO, working in close collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, will be able to rapidly rehabilitate 40 damaged schools for these girls and boys.”

Severe destruction of the schools has been reported by the Ministry of Education and Higher Education and education sector, including crumbling walls, broken windows, leaking roofs, broken desks and chairs. School water and sanitation facilities have also been damaged, further exacerbating the ongoing health crisis posed by COVID-19.

Compounding economic and political crises are putting over a million children and youth at risk in Lebanon. Analysis from ECW’s 2019 Annual Report indicates that approximately 631,209 Syrian children and 447,400 vulnerable Lebanese children faced challenges accessing education in 2019.

The approval of today’s additional funding builds on the results from ECW’s US$2.3 million grant for Lebanon, which ran from August 2018 to February 2020.

Excerpt:

New research by the Global Education Monitoring Report at UNESCO shows an increase in the annual funding gap for education in the poorest countries to as much as US$200 billion a year. These findings are published in the new paper, Act Now: Reduce the impact of COVID-19 on the Cost of Achieving SDG4.

The paper calls for the immediate introduction of emergency remedial programmes, which could reduce the potential cost of COVID-19 on education by 75%. This could also reduce the social cost of failing to meet the Sustainable Development Goal on Education (SDG4) which calls for the provision of inclusive quality education for all by 2030. It is therefore imperative for leaders to prioritize investment in education for low and middle-income countries and avoid the higher cost of catching up on lost education later.
Before the pandemic, UNESCO estimated the annual spending requirement to meet SDG4 at US$504 billion, of which US$148 billion were unavailable. Under plausible school closures and present GDP growth scenarios, COVID-19 looks set to increase this funding gap by up to a third.

COVID-19 is pushing countries’ educational costs up due to the need to re-enrol students and to offer remedial programmes to support the return to school of the most marginalized learners, help them catch up and maximize their chances of staying in school. Additional costs are needed to ensure children are safe in the classroom, with access to hygiene facilities and more space to enable physical distancing. These programmes and actions imply costs of up to US$35 billion. Immediate action is, however, far cheaper than having to roll out second chance programmes later.

With less than a decade to go before the SDG deadline, the world is facing a funding crisis that threatens to unravel progress in education so far. An entire generation is at risk due to the pandemic. An estimated 11 million children of primary and secondary school age may not return to school. But while education is clearly a victim of the pandemic, it is also the solution to longer-term recovery. To #SaveOurFuture, investment in education must become an urgent priority.

Actions to reduce the impact of COVID-19 on children’s education:

• Governments in low- and middle-income countries must resist pressure to cut their budget for education because of the downturn of their economies. Governments must also direct a significant part of their education budget to the most marginalized, groups, regions and schools;
• International donors must protect their share of international development aid to global education and use equitable funding to support countries and regions with chronic inequalities. At present, only 47% of aid to basic and secondary education goes to low- and middle-income countries where it is most needed;
• This health crisis has exacerbated the effect of intersecting inequalities on education opportunities. Countries will need additional funding for COVID-19 responses that were previously not programmed. Donors must ensure flexibility so that existing programmes can be restructured and realigned to help countries ensure that COVID-19 is only a temporary setback;
• Ministries of education and social protection need to work together and target their policies towards the most disadvantaged. Social protection such as conditional cash transfers and child grants with an education component and gender dimension are particularly important. Such policies could ensure that fewer children drop out of school.

Manos Antoninis, Director of the GEM Report added: “The uncertainty about when schools will reopen means reduced participation and prolonged learning loss, particularly for the most marginalized children. We know from previous research that poorer learners are least likely to catch up, which will affect their future ability to earn a living. Urgently needed long-term planning for recovery from the pandemic must include increased funding for education in the form of remedial programmes, rather than waiting to pay for second chance classes many will not be able to join or afford.”

Filling a finance gap that risks rising to $200 billion per year due to COVID-19 requires systemic change- and is only possible if leaders respond to the ongoing global education emergency.

UNESCO has warned that total aid to education is likely to decline by 12% by 2022 due to the economic consequences of COVID-19. This poses a threat to the recovery of education from the disruption of the pandemic.

The international community urgently needs to mobilize additional funding for education if there is any hope of achieving the SDG 4 targets made all the more difficult by the pandemic.

By PRESS RELEASE
GENEVA / NEW YORK, Aug 11 2020 (IPS-Partners)

Education Cannot Wait launched its ‘Stronger Together in Crises – Annual Results Report 2019’ today, reaffirming itself as the global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises. Since the Fund’s inception in 2016, its investments have reached nearly 3.5 million children and youth in many of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

“Education Cannot Wait works to serve the 75 million children and youth – 39 million of whom are girls – whose education has been disrupted by armed conflicts, forced displacement, climate-change induced disasters and protracted crises. This new Annual Results Report shows ECW advancing from strength to strength, just three years into its operations,” said the Rt. Hon. Gordon Brown, UN Special Envoy for Global Education and Chair of the ECW High-Level Steering Group. “The report comes at an unprecedented time when the global education crisis is exacerbated by COVID-19. The pandemic has swept across the world, threatening decades of hard-won development gains: 90 per cent of the world’s school-age children and youth have had their education disrupted. As an innovative fund, Education Cannot Wait is breaking new ground, but more needs to be done. Financing is absolutely essential.”

The report provides evidence that ECW’s partnership model is spurring progress in delivering inclusive, equitable quality education for children and youth caught in emergencies and protracted crises. It shows growing political commitment for the emergency education sector and increased prioritization of education in humanitarian appeals: humanitarian funding for education grew five-fold from 2015 to 2019, with more than US$700 million committed in 2019. The share of funding dedicated to the education sector as part of the total sector-specific humanitarian aid globally also continued to rise, reaching 5.1 per cent in 2019.

To date, ECW has mobilized $662.3 million, including $252.8 million from both public and private donors in 2019. The Fund substantially increased its operations in 2019, disbursing $130.7 million to 75 grantees to support education in emergencies and protracted crises responses in 29 countries. The report shows that ECW is providing the impetus for quicker education responses in the face of sudden-onset crises, and is strengthening coherence between humanitarian and development aid interventions. It also captures encouraging trends in terms of strengthening national and local capacities to respond, as well as improving data, evidence and accountability for the sector.

ECW-financed education in emergency activities reached 2.6 million crisis-affected children and youth in 2019 alone. The Fund’s focus on the most vulnerable and marginalized children and youth is translating into real results: while girls often face additional barriers to access education in crises settings, nearly half of ECW’s beneficiaries (48 per cent) are girls. In all, 30 per cent of the Fund’s beneficiaries are refugees, 15 per cent are internally displaced children and youth, and 55 per cent are other crises-affected children and youth, including those from host communities.

“ECW champions the inherent human right to an education for children and youth left furthest behind in humanitarian emergencies and protracted crises,” said Yasmine Sherif, Director of Education Cannot Wait. “Our undivided focus is on the realities on the ground and the more than 75 million children and youth whose education is disrupted by crises. They demand our attention and action. Where there is commitment, progress has been made. The primary enrolment ratio for refugee children improved from 53 per cent to 75 per cent in Uganda in just two years; and, in Afghanistan, where 60 percent in our investments are girls, out-of-school girls now have the opportunity to return to the safety and protection of an education thanks to the government’s community-based education approaches and the partnership with civil society and UN agencies. Yet, to further scale up what works requires significant, urgent funding.”

Indeed, more remains to be done. Funding appeals for education in emergencies and protracted crises remained significantly underfunded in 2019, with only 43.5 per cent of the required funding secured; and, the gap risks widening further with the compounding effect of the COVID-19 pandemic and the stress it is exercising onto education and aid budgets worldwide.

“To answer the UN Secretary General’s recent call to avoid a generational catastrophe that could waste untold human potential, undermine decades of progress, and exacerbate entrenched inequalities, ECW and its partners are working to urgently mobilize an additional US$310 million to support the emergency education response to the COVID-19 pandemic and other ongoing crises. Together with in-country resource mobilization, this will allow us to reach close to 9 million children annually,” Sherif said.

In just the past four months of 2020, ECW’s total First Emergency Response investments span 33 countries and crisis-affected contexts, with a record amount of US$60.1 million rapidly allocated by ECW for vulnerable children and youth, who are now doubly impacted by COVID-19.

Highlights of Key ECW 2019 Results by Country:
• Afghanistan: A successful model of community-based education has reached 57 per cent of girls amongst its beneficiaries. An ECW grant to Save the Children and the Afghanistan Consortium for Community-based Education and Learning achieved substantial results in literacy and numeracy. At the beginning of the intervention, only 2 per cent of students were able to read a story and answer related questions correctly; after the intervention, 48 per cent of students were able to read and understand a basic story.

• Central African Republic: ECW partner, Norwegian Refugee Council, delivered an 8-month accelerated learning programme for 720 conflict-affected children (45 per cent girls). 85 per cent of children who completed the programme were able to re-enter the formal system after receiving the required certification.

• Democratic Republic of the Congo: ECW investments delivered through AVSI, NRC and UNICEF supported reintegration of formerly out-of-school children into formal education, protection for children at school and at home, the provision of psychosocial support, and upgraded school infrastructure and the distribution of learning materials. About 10,000 children attended catch-up courses and took the end-of-cycle exam for primary school, enabling them to re-join the formal education system. Exceeding targets, over 46,000 children have been reached in all, 49 per cent of whom are girls.

• Ethiopia: Following a US$15 million initial investment grant implemented through by UNICEF, the primary gross enrolment ratio for refugee children rose to 67 per cent, up from 62 per cent in 2018.

• Nigeria: ECW partner Street Child successfully increased learning levels in reading and mathematics in areas affected by the Boko Haram insurgency. The grant provided non-formal education for 5,206 children between the ages of 4 and 14 who were either out-of-school or had fallen behind in the formal education system. As a result of the intervention, the percentage of children who were able to recognize letters rose from 1 per cent to 50 per cent. The percentage of students able to read words increased from 9 per cent to 43 per cent.

• Uganda: Following ECW’s support to the Education Response Plan for Refugees and Host Communities (ERP) through the Fund’s multi-year resilience programme, the primary gross enrolment ratio for refugee children improved by 22 per cent – from 53 per cent in 2017 to 75 per cent in 2019 (reaching 71.4 per cent for girls).

• Yemen: 1.8 million students in war-torn Yemen were able to sit for their exams with support from Education Cannot Wait and its partners. Through an initiative implemented by UNCEF, 128,000 teachers received cash incentives.

Source: Education Cannot Wait (ECW)

Excerpt:

Two-day online expert meeting to discuss recent developments and policy gaps in combating trafficking in human beings for the removal of organs concluded yesterday evening. The event was co-organized by the Office of the OSCE Special Representative for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings (OSR/CTHB), the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and co-sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Despite being mentioned explicitly in the internationally recognized definition of trafficking in human beings, trafficking in human beings for the removal of organs remains one of the least understood and addressed forms of human trafficking globally. The event aimed to share experiences addressing this challenge and examine possible ways to enhance the OSCE region’s response. The meeting, gathering legal, criminal justice, medical and victim-protection experts from over 20 OSCE participating States, Partners for Co-operation and international organizations, explored the scope of trafficking in human beings for the removal of organs in the OSCE region. They also discussed recent developments in international and national legal frameworks, and current needs for further awareness-raising, policy, and capacity building efforts.

“One of the things I am struck by is how incredibly challenging it is to respond to trafficking in human beings. And yet I am also optimistic because we have been jointly developing some of the tools we need like on technology and financial investigations,” OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings Valiant Richey said.

Exploitation without borders

While the number of identified victims of this form of trafficking remains limited, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) indicates that this highly lucrative form of human trafficking is perpetrated by organized criminal networks able to operate over prolonged periods with high numbers of victims before being caught. Many participants pointed out the inadequacy of the legal instruments currently in use, and the crucial necessity to enhance cooperation between countries to make perpetrators accountable.

Participants stressed that attention needs to be devoted to situations with patients traveling abroad to get a transplant or coming from abroad with a donor. The crime often has a transboundary element, that makes it much harder for investigators and prosecutors to trace all the components of the crime and exercise jurisdiction over cases often encompassing numerous countries (victim from one country, the broker from another, recruiting in a third, for the surgery taking place in a fourth, possibly with a recipient for yet another country, for example). Without international judicial cooperation, these crimes -even when detected- will hardly be successfully prosecuted.

The illegal organ trade is a crime involving global financial transactions at the expense of the most vulnerable. The role of financial investigations in detecting and countering flows of money alimenting and paying for these illegal services is vital, noted by the participants.

Trafficking in human beings for the removal of organs is reportedly an age-specific and gendered crime, affecting adult males the most. The sale of cells and tissues, including ova, was discussed. During the meeting, a specific case of successful investigation and prosecution by Greeks authorities, in which perpetrators brought to justice, included doctors and lawyers, was presented as a case study.

Several other insightful elements emerged during the meeting. A crucial point in discussions was the critical role that can be played by the medical personnel, both in preventing these crimes from happening but also in reporting dubious situations, including when the origins/donor of the organ to be transplanted are not clear. Some participants suggested that assigning criminal liability to brokers and medical personnel involved could be an effective measure to deter some of these practices and put some pressure on traffickers, who now operate mostly undetected.

Participants raised difficulties in establishing contact with victims of this form of trafficking. They encouraged to think of ways to build CTHB practitioners’ capacity and medical personnel to improve the identification of such victims. Better identification could also lead to enhanced assistance to survivors, which today is mostly lacking. And especially for such an unknown and unaddressed form of trafficking, engaging with and listening to survivors is crucial to understand the mechanism governing it.

The OSCE Special Representative and Coordinator on Combating Trafficking in Human Beings closed the discussions by saying that “this two-day meeting served as an excellent basis upon which the OSCE will build future activities on the issue. We shed some light on a largely unaddressed issue, and we look forward to working with the wide range of our partners on a list of concrete recommendations“.

What is the OSCE?

With 57 participating States in North America, Europe, and Asia, the OSCE – the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe – is the world’s largest regional security organization. The OSCE works for stability, peace, and democracy for more than a billion people, through political dialogue about shared values and practical work that aims to make a lasting difference.

With its Institutions, expert units, and network of field operations, the OSCE addresses issues that impact our collective security, including arms control, terrorism, good governance, energy security, human trafficking, democratization, and media freedom and national minorities.

Hon. Joseph Mucheru, Cabinet Secretary for ICT, Innovation and Youth, (CS) and Kenya’s representative in the Generation Unlimited (GenU) Global Board convened today the UN Kenya Country team to identify opportunities on how to swiftly expand education, training and employment opportunities for young people, on an unprecedented scale.

Credit: UNDP Kenya

Kenya is a very youthful country. The median age is estimated at 19 years, and about 80 percent of Kenya’s population is below 35 years. This demographic boom happening brings potential to transform economic and social outcomes, raise global productivity, and reduce inequality, but only if enough opportunity is created.

Preparing young people for the world of work will benefit Kenya’s economy, increase security, advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and improve the well-being of millions.

As the COVID-19 pandemic is being curbed, young people more than ever require a new inclusive approach, given the extraordinary economic, social and cultural challenges they face.

H.E President Uhuru Kenyatta has been recognized and lauded by the UN and partners as a GenU Leader underscoring Kenya’s commitment to drive the youth agenda forward and leave-no-one-behind.

Among the issues discussed and agreed upon at the meeting were the commitments to ensure that young persons are engaged in current COVID-19 response related job opportunities across the counties; that they will be encouraged to engage in on the digital and innovation front, whether it be in direct relation to the COVID-19 response, or in other areas, such as developing apps for Government to utilize in their business continuity; on issues of governance and policy that affect them; on different ways to take advantage of the partial lock down to reach young persons so they can receive distance learning, and /or other out-of-school methods of learning, study and excel in school, and vocational training and skills development, to prepare the young persons to take on decent work.

Speaking during the meeting, CS Mucheru reiterated that the government is commited to ensuring that their livelihoods are safeguarded, they are offered wholistic protection against vulnerabilities, that emerging opportunities are sourced together with them and that they are included, as active players, in governance and decision making at all levels.

Hon Mucheru, Cabinet Secretary for ICT, Youth and Innovation concluded: “On behalf of the GenU board and most importantly my own Government, I would like to applaud the United Nations family in Kenya for its support to our young people. H.E President Kenyatta has put our youth at the center of the Country’s development agenda. Kenya being a hotbed of innovation and entrepreneurism – we will deploy our best to swiftly expand education, training and employment opportunities for young people, on an unprecedented scale.

On their part, the UN country teams, through the Resident Coordinator – Siddharth Chatterjee, committed to ensuring that Kenyan youth are part and parcel of all UN programs and undertakings in the country. He further committed to providing a monthly Generation Unlimited situation report and update on all UN initiatives and programs, clearly indicating how Youth have been integrated in the executional elements.

Siddharth Chatterjee, UN Resident Coordinator stated: “As Kenya is confronted by the corona virus, the locust invasion, and floods, which are all impacting the country’s socio-economic development, Kenya’s young people, now more than ever, can prove to be its promise or peril. The UN Kenya Country team stands in full solidarity with Kenya and will deliver as one, our best support aiming for all young Kenyans to realize their full potential. We will ensure we heed the President’s call of ensuring young people are given education and employment opportunities so that our society can live up to its full promise.” He further noted that UN agencies have already started integrating youth by ensuring a percentage of the program jobs are set aside for youth in the localities where the programs are being executed.

By PRESS RELEASE
VIENNA, Apr 30 2020 (IPS-Partners)

How to address the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic for the most vulnerable in our societies, especially for human trafficking victims and survivors, is the focus of a set of recommendations to governments published by the OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings Valiant Richey today.

Building on his earlier statement, Richey alerted governments to the risk that, without urgent and targeted action, this health and economic crisis becomes a human trafficking crisis, putting many more lives and the cohesion of our societies at risk. “The impact of the COVID-19 crisis on trafficking in human beings is deeply concerning. Our recommendations aim to support the 57 OSCE participating States in combating trafficking in human beings during and following the current crisis, as vulnerabilities will compound in the weeks and months to come,” he said.

Human trafficking feeds off vulnerability —in particular, gender and economic inequality — and it is a symptom of frailty in our society. Richey stated: “It is precisely when our global community is shaken by a crisis of this magnitude that our obligation to combat the exploitation of vulnerable people becomes most acute. Combating human trafficking is not just a law enforcement responsibility. It is a human, societal, and security imperative and an urgent priority.”

“With the necessary attention, adequate resources, and the right programmes, we can start today to build a better and safer tomorrow for all.” Said the Special Representative who stands ready to provide further support to participating States, including through tailored technical assistance for the development and implementation of anti-trafficking action plans and other legislative or policy efforts.

Recommendations:

Prevention

1. Ensure universal access to essential economic and social welfare services, including unemployment aid, for all those who need them, regardless of their recent employment history. This will help prevent those affected by the economic impact of the crisis, including millions of unregistered domestic workers, from falling into the hands of traffickers.

2. Grant or extend temporary resident permits to migrants and asylum seekers, regardless of their legal status. This will increase their resilience by facilitating access to healthcare and other welfare services and will also help States’ authorities and social services promptly identify presumed victims of trafficking and better prevent future episodes of exploitation.

3. Prioritize resources for exit services in high-risk sectors such as the prostitution industry. With purchasing of commercial sex artificially suppressed as a result of the lockdown, inclusive programmes ensuring support can be a powerful tool to break the cycle of exploitation and strengthen exit pathways, giving a real alternative to those in need.

Protection

4. Provide victims of trafficking with access to safe and immediate accommodation, health care and psychological assistance, to assist in their exit from trafficking and protect them from revictimization. Temporary quarantine accommodation prior to shelter placement has been identified as a promising practice to ensure compliance with COVID-19 prevention measures.

5. Extend for at least six months all protection and assistance measures for all victims of trafficking, including work permits and access to services, to ensure continuity in their social inclusion process beyond the current health crisis. Continue investments in rehabilitation programmes, as the risk of ‘losing’ those survivors who are already in transition is now particularly high due to the adverse economic situation. Provide online support to victims of trafficking inside and outside shelters. Psychological counselling, legal support as well as educational and training activities are examples of the services which might be temporarily provided remotely to ensure the continuity of victim’s support and to prevent re-trafficking.

6. Establish or strengthen hotlines for human trafficking, domestic violence and child abuse (including online) reporting, and broadly promote their services as a tool for the identification of presumed cases of human trafficking.

Prosecution

7. Ensure high alert among law enforcement and other first line responders to recognize and detect human trafficking. With traffickers likely to pivot to online exploitation, and with police, labour inspectors, social workers, healthcare professionals, educators and NGOs currently dramatically limited in their anti-trafficking efforts, detection and suppression efforts will have to adapt to a changing environment.

8. Ensure the continuity of the justice system to investigate and prosecute traffickers even in times of lockdown. For example, holding court via video or teleconferencing should be considered and actively pursued whenever possible as a tool to ensure timely justice and avoid re-traumatizing victims.

9. Investigators should be prepared as traffickers change their modus operandi, increasing online enforcement presence and employing advanced investigative instruments, including financial investigation tools to detect human trafficking in financial flows due to an increase in non-cash payments.

10. Plan systemic labour inspections of high-risk industries immediately after business operations resume. Agriculture, due to the summer harvest, is a prime example of an area to monitor with particular attention.

11. Once lockdown measures are lifted, keep a high law enforcement alert on forms of trafficking that are likely to increase in the near future, such as online exploitation and forced begging.

Partnership

12. Incentivize or mandate technology companies to identify and eradicate risks of human trafficking on their platforms, including by identifying and stopping distribution of child sexual abuse material online. Establish or strengthen law enforcement and judicial co-operation, including at the pre-trial stage, with countries of origin and destination in cases of online exploitation, especially of children.

Looking ahead

13. Plan ahead to ensure that the anti-trafficking community can respond adequately to another possible Coronavirus outbreak. The forecast for a second COVID-19 wave later this year highlights the need to ensure that assistance facilities, protection programmes, investigations and courts continue functioning during possible future lockdown measures.

Media Contact:

Lilia Rotoloni
Public Information Officer
Lilia.Rotoloni@osce.org
+33 (0)628340397
@osce_cthb

Excerpt:

By PRESS RELEASE
NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 9 2020 (IPS-Partners)

The Government of Kenya, the United Nations and humanitarian partners have launched today a Flash Appeal requesting $267.5 million to respond to the most immediate and critical needs of10.1 millionpeople.

Cabinet Secretary for National Treasury and Planning, UkurYataniKanacho, said: “When times are challenging you get to know your friends better. I would like to commend the Kenya United Nations Country Team and humanitarian partners for being real friends and fighting with us shoulder to shoulder as we fight this deadly pandemic”.

The Appeal is seeking to mobilize emergency funding for UN agencies and NGOs to complement the Government’s preparedness and response efforts for the next six months. The funds will be used to support public health responses to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country and provide targeted humanitarian assistance and protection to the most vulnerable and at-risk communities

From the current UN Development Assistance Framework to Kenya 2018-20, the UN family has redeployed US$ 45 million to support Kenya in its response to the COVID 19 pandemic. The UN has also deployed over 70 staff and volunteers to assist the Government of Kenya.

Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Devolution and ASAL, Eugene Wamalwa, said during the launch: “This Flash Appeal is much appreciated.Coming on the heels of several natural disasters since 2016 this appeal aims to bring humanitarian relief at a time where we are all stretched to the limit fighting COVID-19”

The COVID-19 outbreak in Kenya is occurring in a context of significant chronic vulnerabilities as well as increased humanitarian needs as a result of back-to back droughts, ongoing floods and a locust upsurge.

“We believe Kenya is at an important tipping point and that together we can move this into the right direction. We are confident that together we can flatten the COVID-19 curve and diminish thethreat in Kenya while continuing to strengthen our health systems, and economy. We thank the UN and all our partners for their support,”Chief Administrative Secretary for Health Dr Rashid Aman said.

The UN and NGO partners response is focused towards saving lives and preventing loss of livelihoods.

In addition to the immediate and direct public health emergency response, the Flash Appeal has prioritized the continue delivery of basic essential services as well as the protection of livelihood assets and food support to the most vulnerable communities.The response is about ensuring access to essential health care, education, protection, services for women children and vulnerable communities,including people with HIV, displaced populations, people in high concentration areas in urban and peri-urban areas, refugees, and people affected by floods and the locust upsurge.

“We will stand in full solidarity with the Government and people of Kenya in the fight against COVID 19,”said the UN Resident Coordinator in Kenya, Siddharth Chatterjee. “This Flash Appeal is a clear expression of our solidarity as we mobilize support to accelerate our COVID-19 response in Kenya in lockstep with the Government,” he added.

The continuity of humanitarian operations will be critical and would rely on the Government’s support to facilitate internal movement of humanitarian supplies and workers in case of a lockdown; facilitate the operation of humanitarian flights between Nairobi and the refugee camps and vulnerable communities; fast-track and facilitate custom procedures to bring in relief supplies ; and facilitate humanitarian access to particularly vulnerable hotspot areas including refugee camps and urban settlements.

The humanitarian community will comply strictly to the regulations put in place by the Government to contain the spread of COVID-19 and only personnel who have complied with quarantine requirements and are trained in safe/physical distancing and equipped with personal protective equipment (PPE) will be deployed.

By PRESS RELEASE
Apr 3 2020 (IPS-Partners)

The Education Cannot Wait Global Fund (ECW) allocates a total of US$15 million in an initial series of emergency grants for the rapid delivery of holistic education services to protect and support vulnerable children and youth hit by the COVID-19 pandemic in 16 countries/emergency contexts. These girls and boys are already impacted by armed conflicts, forced displacement, natural disasters and protracted crises. An additional series of grants to support the response in other crisis-affected countries will be released shortly and reach partners in-country in the coming days.

“1.5 billion children are out of school. The majority of the 31 million children uprooted from their homes today – including over 17 million internally displaced, 12.7 million refugees and 1.1 million asylum seekers – are at great risk,” said Rt. Hon. Gordon Brown, Chair of Education Cannot Wait’s High-level Steering Group and UN Special Envoy for Global Education. “Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke of ‘the fierce urgency of now,’ and the crisis for these vulnerable children is right now and that is why ECW is making its full emergency reserves available immediately.”

This emergency allocation supports the United Nations coordinated $2 billion global humanitarian appeal launched on 25 March to fight COVID-19 in many of the world’s most vulnerable countries – already wracked by crises and now doubly-impacted by COVID-19.

As the pandemic continues to spread, upending entire countries and education systems worldwide, some 75 million children and youth – whose education was already disrupted due armed conflict, forced displacement, climate change-induced disasters and other crises – now find themselves in double jeopardy. Without the protection of a safe, equitable, inclusive quality education, they face increased risk of suffering the brunt of the pandemic, at higher risk of neglect, abuse, exploitation and violence, and of being even further left behind. Education is indeed be lifesaving for these vulnerable children and youth.

“The COVID-19 pandemic is a global health crisis upon an already existing global education crisis affecting 75 million children and youth, of whom 39 million are girls, in war-torn countries and forced displacement. They are at extreme risk in the face of this unprecedented pandemic. We need to double our efforts and act with decisive speed. In the face of such immense exposure, immediate action is not only essential – it is existential. They are the ones furthest left behind and the ones we need to reach first,” said Education Cannot Wait Director Yasmine Sherif. “We are releasing our entire emergency reserve in two batches to support governments, UN agencies and civil society to reach them. ECW’s emergency funding will be with them in just a few days.”

The series of ECW’s First Emergency Response grants is allocated to 30 UN agencies and Non-Governmental Organizations who are coordinating their efforts together with host-governments in-country through inter-agency humanitarian structures, such as the Education Cluster or the Education in Emergencies Working Group.

The duration of grants varies from 6 to 12 months. Activities ensure quality learning for the most vulnerable, in a safe, equitable, inclusive environment and through innovative and cost-effective responses in affected countries. Interventions are focusing on the following areas:

Emergency Education Measures: With the total disruption of the usual education systems in emergency-affected areas, grants are to support alternative delivery models, including informal education materials at the household level, as well as scaling up distance education programmes, particularly via interactive radio. Social emotional learning and psychosocial support are prominent components of the academic curriculum to be provided in these alternative delivery models.

Messaging and Support Around Risks: ECW grants are to support information campaigns and the scaling up of risk communications and community engagement with target populations. Messaging, tailored to local languages and contexts, are to give practical advice about how to stay safe, including through handwashing and social distancing. Refugees, displaced and marginalized people may also experience xenophobia and stigma, requiring mental health and psychosocial support. Parents and teachers are to receive COVID19-specific guidance to promote the resilience and the psychosocial wellbeing of children and youth at home.

Upgrading Water and Sanitation Facilities in Schools: This is to benefit both students and the wider community as handwashing is a first line of defense against COVID-19. Even when schools and learning facilities are officially closed, in many cases there is still access to these facilities, and they can serve as crucial hubs to increase access to handwashing and distribute hygiene materials and kits.

ECW’s First Emergency Funding (FER) window is specifically designed to support rapid, agile coordinated education responses in times of new sudden onset or escalating crises. It is uniquely designed to ensure education can play its crucial lifesaving and life-sustaining role for affected children and youth in emergency settings.

Due to the exceptional nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, ECW issued a simplified application process to fast-track applications from partners for this emergency, ensuring funds can urgently be disbursed to roll out activities on the ground.

ECW’s allocation of much needed emergency funding to address critical education needs as a result of COVID-19 leaves a $50 million funding shortfall that will affect the Fund’s ability to respond to other needs or emergencies in the immediate future. ECW calls on the private sector, foundations, governments and other donors to urgently make new donations to ECW to support these efforts.

With these new emergency funding grants, ECW has now allocated over $100 million through its First Emergency Response window since the Fund started its operations in 2017 – supporting rapid education responses in more than 30 crisis-affected countries.

To contribute to ECW’s emergency reserve, please contact Nasser Faqih (nfaqih@unicef.org) or Madge Thomas (mathomas@unicef.org).

Additional information on emergency grants per country/crisis:
• Afghanistan: Total of $1.25 million allocated. Grantees: UNICEF ($1.25 million)
• Bagnladesh: Total of $1.5 million allocated. Grantees: BRAC ($900,000), Save the Children ($600,000)
• Brazil: Total of $250,000 million allocated. Grantee: UNICEF ($250,000)
• Burkina Faso: Total of $1.5 million allocated. Grantees: EDUCO ($300,000), Plan International ($500,000), Save the Children ($250,000), UNICEF ($300,000), UNHCR ($150,000)
• Colombia: Total of $1 million allocated. Grantees: Save the Children ($1 million)
• Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC): Total of $1.5 million allocated. Grantees: AVSI ($340,000), Save the Children ($140,000), UNESCO ($520,000), War Child Canada ($500,000)
• Ethiopia: Total of $1million allocated. Grantees: Save the Children ($500,000), UNICEF ($500,000)
• Palestine: Total of $850,000 allocated. Grantees: Save the Children ($400,000), UNICEF ($450,000)
• Somalia – Federal Government of Somalia and Member States: Total of $800,000 allocated. Grantee: ADRA ($800,000)
• Somalia – Puntland: Total of $650,000 allocated. Grantee: Save the Children ($650,000)
• Somalia – Somaliland: Total of $700,000 allocated. Grantee: UNICEF ($700,000)
• Syria: Total of $500,000 allocated. Grantee: UNICEF ($500,000)
• Uganda: Total of $1 million allocated. Grantees: Save the Children ($525,000), UNHCR ($475,000)
• Venezuela: Total of $1 million allocated. Grantee: UNICEF ($1 million)
• Zimbabwe: Total of $500,000 allocated. Grantees: Plan International ($75,000), Save the Children ($175,000), UNICEF ($175,000), World Vision ($75,000)
• Regional Response for Palestine Refugees:Total of $1 million allocated. Grantee: UNRWA ($1 million)

Notes to Editors:
View Original

Information on the ECW Fund and its investment modalities are available at: www.educationcannotwait.org

About Education Cannot Wait (ECW)
ECW is the first global fund dedicated to education in emergencies. It was launched by international humanitarian and development aid actors, along with public and private donors, to address the urgent education needs of 75 million children & youth in conflict and crisis settings. ECW’s investment modalities are designed to usher in a more collaborative approach among actors on the ground, ensuring relief and development organizations join forces to achieve education outcomes. Education Cannot Wait is hosted by UNICEF. The Fund is administered under UNICEF’s financial, human resources and administrative rules and regulations, while operations are run by the Fund’s own independent governance structure.

Please follow on Twitter: @EduCannotWait @YasmineSherif1 @KentPage
Additional information available at: www.educationcannotwait.org

For press inquiries:
Anouk Desgroseilliers, adesgroseilliers@un-ecw.org, +1-917-640-6820
Kent Page, kpage@unicef.org, +1-917-302-1735

For other inquiries: info@un-ecw.org

A global approach is the only way to fight COVID-19, the UN says as it launches humanitarian response plan

• UN humanitarian chief warns that failing to help vulnerable countries fight the coronavirus now could place millions at risk and leave the virus free to circle back around the globe.
• UN launches US$2 billion global humanitarian response to fight COVID-19 across South America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
• Governments urged to commit to fully supporting the global humanitarian response plan, while sustaining funding to existing humanitarian appeals.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today [Wednesday, 25 March] launched a $2 billion coordinated global humanitarian response plan to fight COVID-19 in some of the world’s most vulnerable countries in a bid to protect millions of people and stop the virus from circling back around the globe.

COVID-19 has killed more than 16,000 people worldwide and there are nearly 400,000 reported cases. It has a foothold across the globe and is now reaching countries that were already facing humanitarian crisis because of conflict, natural disasters and climate change.

The response plan will be implemented by UN agencies, with international NGOs and NGO consortia playing a direct role in the response. It will:

• deliver essential laboratory equipment to test for the virus, and medical supplies to treat people;
• install handwashing stations in camps and settlements;
• launch public information campaigns on how to protect yourself and others from the virus; and
• establish airbridges and hubs across Africa, Asia and Latin America to move humanitarian workers and supplies to where they are needed most.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said:

“COVID-19 is menacing the whole of humanity – and so the whole of humanity must fight back. Individual country responses are not going to be enough.

“We must come to the aid of the ultra-vulnerable – millions upon millions of people who are least able to protect themselves. This is a matter of basic human solidarity. It is also crucial for combating the virus. This is the moment to step up for the vulnerable.”

Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Mark Lowcock said:

“COVID-19 has already upended life in some of the world’s wealthiest countries. It is now reaching places where people live in warzones, cannot easily access clean water and soap, and have no hope of a hospital bed if they fall critically ill.

“To leave the world’s poorest and most vulnerable countries to their fate would be both cruel and unwise. If we leave coronavirus to spread freely in these places, we would be placing millions at high risk, whole regions will be tipped into chaos and the virus will have the opportunity to circle back around the globe.

“Countries battling the pandemic at home are rightly prioritizing people living in their own communities. But the hard truth is they will be failing to protect their own people if they do not act now to help the poorest countries protect themselves.

“Our priority is to help these countries prepare and continue helping the millions who rely on humanitarian assistance from the UN to survive. Properly funded, our global response effort will equip humanitarian organizations with the tools to fight the virus, save lives, and help contain the spread of COVID-19 worldwide.”

WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said:

“The virus is now spreading in countries with weak health systems, including some which are already facing humanitarian crises. These countries need our support – out of solidarity but also to protect us all and help suppress this pandemic. At the same time, we must not fight the pandemic at the expense of the other humanitarian health emergencies.”

UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta H. Fore said:

“Children are the hidden victims of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lockdowns and school closures are affecting their education, mental health and access to basic health services. The risks of exploitation and abuse are higher than ever, for boys and girls alike. For children on the move or living through conflicts, the consequences will be unlike any we have ever seen. We must not let them down.”

At the virtual launch of the COVID-19 Global Humanitarian Response Plan, the UN Secretary-General was joined via video link by Mr. Lowcock, Dr Tedros and Ms. Fore.

Together they called on UN Member States to commit to stemming the impact of COVID-19 in vulnerable countries and containing the virus globally by giving the strongest possible support to the plan, while also sustaining core support to existing humanitarian appeals that help the more than 100 million people who already rely on humanitarian assistance from the UN just to survive.

Member States were warned that any diversion of funding from existing humanitarian operations would create an environment in which cholera, measles and meningitis can thrive, in which even more children become malnourished, and in which extremists can take control – an environment that would be the perfect breeding ground for the coronavirus.

To kick-start the response plan, Mr. Lowcock released an additional $60 million from the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF). This brings CERF’s support to humanitarian action in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to $75 million. In addition, country-based pooled funds have allocated more than $3 million so far.

This new CERF allocation – one of the largest ever made – will support: WFP to ensure the continuity of supply chains and transport of aid workers and relief goods; WHO to contain the spread of the pandemic; and other agencies to provide humanitarian assistance and protection to those most affected by the pandemic, including women and girls, refugees and internally displaced people. Support will include efforts around food security, physical and mental health, water and sanitation, nutrition and protection.

Notes to editors

1. The COVID-19 Global Humanitarian Response Plan will be coordinated by the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
2. It brings together requirements from the World Health Organization (WHO), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), International Organization for Migration (IOM), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), UN-Habitat, UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and World Food Programme (WFP).

For further details, please contact:
OCHA New York: Zoe Paxton, + 1 917 297 1542, paxton@un.org
OCHA Geneva: Jens Laerke, +41 79 472 9750, laerke@un.org

The United Nations Country team in Kenya hosted a meeting on responding to the COVID 19 pandemic with the Government of Kenya and development partners observing social distancing etiquette. Credit: UNIC Kenya

By PRESS RELEASE
NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 20 2020 (IPS-Partners)

The Government of Kenya, United Nations and International Community convened today at the UN Complex in Nairobi to combine their forces in their fight against the COVID-19 pandemic in Kenya.

The United Nations Country Team in Kenya is in lockstep with the UN Secretary General’s call to action and it continues to mobilize full support to the Government of Kenya in its fight against the virus on all fronts.

Siddharth Chatterjee, UN Resident Coordinator to Kenya, said: “This crisis can only be solved through partnerships and we stand with the Government of Kenya and its people to fight COVID-19 in Kenya.”

As the COVID-19 outbreak takes hold in Kenya, the United Nations Country Team has continued support from the preparation phase to the current response in the areas of strengthening the Emergency Operations Centre, Coordination and Leadership, Case Management, Laboratory management, Surveillance strengthening, Communications and Resource Mobilization and Procurement. Dr Rudi Eggers, WHO Representative to Kenya is a key member of the National Public Emergency Steering Committee chaired by the Principal Secretary of Health.

The World Bank country director for Kenya, Felipe Jaramillo confirmed that his bank has allocated US$60 million to finance efforts to fight coronavirus in Kenya.

The United Nations is providing intense technical support to the coordination pillar of the National Task Force that developed the Kenyan COVID-19 Contingency plan, which has become the basis of all response activities. The UN has initiated an Incident Management System, in some cases repurposing some staff to assist in the COVID-19 response activities. A total of 15 technical officers have been seconded to the Ministry of Health in order to boost capacity as the response activities go countrywide.

One of the major issues during such emergencies is the availability of technical guidelines on how things should be handled. United Nations has been able to support the MOH in training of 34 County Rapid Response Teams and provided guidelines and the necessary tools. Another group of 32 level 4-5 clinicians from 9 counties were trained on critical care case management while another 33 frontline workers from level 4-5 health facilities were trained on infection control. The UN also supported the training of Health Promotion officers from all 47 counties. WHO training materials have been used in the roll-out of training to all health workers across the country.

“As indicated by the WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, governments must do all they can to prepare for an eventual outbreak and respond rapidly to contain and isolate these initial cases: time is critical now,” Dr Rudi Eggers says.

As of yesterday, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Kenya stood at seven since the time the government confirmed its first case on the 13th of March 2020. The Government of Kenya has already stepped up measures in preventing the spread of COVID-19.

The United Nations Secretary General Mr. Antonio Guterres has said, “All of us face a common threat – the coronavirus – COVID 19. This pandemic is a call to action – for everyone, everywhere. It’s also a call for responsibility and solidarity – as nations united and as people united. As we fight the virus, we cannot let fear go viral. Let’s overcome this common threat together”.

The convening of the entire United Nations family in Kenya and nearly 30 Ambassadors and Heads of International Cooperation in person and remotely is an incredible show of support and solidarity with the Kenyan response to Covid-19.

The European Union Ambassador to Kenya, Simon Mordue, said,” We stand with Kenya in solidarity in these challenging times and are swiftly reviewing our support to ensure that funds can be urgently mobilized to support the government’s efforts in addressing the health and socio-economic consequence of Covid-19.”

Today’s convening clearly demonstrated that the people of Kenya can count on the United Nations Country team and International Community as their ally in this fight.

Dr. Rashid Aman, the Chief Administrative Secretary in the Ministry of Health, stated, “Given the speed and scale of spread of Covid-19 that we have seen globally, the entire globe must stand together in this fight against the pandemic and stronger nations must stand by the weaker nations for us to succeed. The Government of Kenya appreciates the UN Country Team, World Bank, EU, and other Development Partners from the International Community for their support and solidarity.”

On Thursday 20 and Friday 21 February, the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) in partnership with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation (MONREC) and the University of Queensland (UQ) held a validation workshop on the 3Returns Model and Framework, presenting an Investment Case for Coastal Landscape Mangrove Restoration in Myanmar through the findings from an Economic Appraisal of Ayeyarwady Mangrove Forests, Bio-based Value Chains for Mangrove Restoration and Benefit Sharing Mechanisms. The event proved informative for both participants and presenters alike, providing critical insights and opening dialogue between multiple government departments.

The Importance of Mangroves on the Ayeyarwady Delta

The mangroves of the Ayeyarwady Delta are an important natural resource for local residents as well as the nation-at-large. They provide significant ecological, social and economic benefits. Ecologically, mangrove habitats provide breeding grounds and hatcheries for birds, fish, crustaceans and other organisms. Additionally, mangroves constitute a major source of carbon sequestration, making them an important asset for Myanmar’s climate change mitigation.

Mangrove forests support coastal disaster resilience through their protection of communities from inundation from tidal surges and strong winds. Importantly, for neighbouring communities, mangroves also provide economic benefits. The collection of fuelwood, fish and crustaceans supplements the incomes of many people in the delta, with products reaching as far afield as China. However, not all members of local communities have been able to share in the benefit from these activities, in particular landless – who account for 73% of people in coastal areas – and women.

Above: U Hla Maung Thein, Director General Environmental Conservation Department – ‘conservation of mangroves is a national responsibility’

The mangroves’ positive impacts have been degraded by unsustainable land use practices. Less than 10,000 hectares of good quality mangroves exist within a total habitat range of 85,000 hectares. This degradation has largely occurred as a result of illegal logging and fuelwood extraction and the conversion of mangrove habitat into agricultural rice paddy and large-scale shrimp ponds. The significance of the mangroves of the Ayeyarwady Delta from an ecological, social and economic perspective highlights the need for a change in landscape management practises in order to preserve their benefits.

Above: Dr. Aaron Russell, GGGI Country Representative delivering welcome remark

In order to assess sustainable landscape management practices and support green growth alternatives for the local communities, the Global Green Growth Institute has developed a 3Returns Model and Framework for analysing different green growth forest governance scenarios compared with continuation of current practices, known as a “Business as Usual” (BAU) scenario. The 3Returns Framework provides a holistic approach which considers each intervention’s benefits through natural capital, social and human capital as well as economic/financial capital. It differs from a Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) as the Return on Investment Analysis considers not only financial investment but also natural, social and human investment. This allows measuring a Return on Investment Ratio that considers the benefits from investment in capitals and defines a desired intervention scenario measured as the most efficient when compared with the Business as Usual (BAU) scenario. It also differs from a CBA as the Return on Investment Analysis also quantifies non-monetary benefits and capitals’ status as indicators for decision making.

The Economic Appraisal of Ayeyarwady Mangrove Forests used the 3Returns approach to consider four policy intervention scenarios. A key difference between each scenario was the percentage of land allocated between the two types of community user groups by 2026. The two community user groups types are Village Woodlots (VW) and Community Forest User Groups (CFUG). All the scenarios other than BAU implement the enhanced Myanmar Reforestation and Rehabilitation Program (MRRP).

The scenarios were the following:

1. Scenario 1, allocates 11% of mangroves to be managed by CFUG and an annual increase in area under VW management until 2026. The maximum community forestry mangrove area is 35% of the Reserve Forest area.
2. Scenario 2, allocates 25% of mangrove management to VW and 25% mangrove management to CFUG. The community forestry mangrove area is 50% of the Reserve Forest area.
3. Scenario 3, allocates 47% of mangroves to CFUG and only 3% to VWs. The community forestry mangrove area is 50% of the Reserve Forest area.
4. Scenario 4, allocates 39% of mangroves to be managed VWs and 11% to be managed by CFUGs. The community forestry mangrove area is 50% of the Reserve Forest area.

There are important differences between these two forms of community management. VW officially remain under the control of the Forestry Department, but are a community managed common with a mandate for sustainably managing logging/fuelwood production. They are regarded as democratic in structure, giving all local people the ability to influence decision making. An important aim of VWs is to reduce poverty through enabling community participation for marginalised groups.

CFUGs are less democratic in structure. They only require five people to form a group to apply for a land permit – as a result they have the potential to be susceptible to elite capture. CFUGs enable groups to participate in a wider range of activities including agriculture, aquaculture as well as logging.

CFUGs have a low rate of female participation – only 8% of female headed households are involved. The level of female participation in VWs is not yet know.

The results of the analysis revealed that scenarios 2,3 and 4 achieved roughly the same outcomes in terms of natural capital and net present value. However, Scenario 4 achieved the highest social and human capital not-monetary benefits, resulting in the engagement of 48,618 people in community forestry and capacity building by 2026. Furthermore, when analysing the loss of informal jobs and livelihoods through improved resource management scenarios, Scenario 4 shows the least reduction in jobs and livelihoods (64,978) compared to BAU (65,008). For this reason, the report concludes Scenario 4 is the most desirable landscape management strategy which best takes into account natural, social & human and economic capital benefits.

It must be noted that all scenarios are anticipated to reduce illegal logging activity. However, the removal of this activity will disproportionately affect poorer, landless groups who previously relied on mangrove resources to supplement their income. It is important that community management design incorporates these stakeholders, incentivising them to undertake sustainable activities with the larger landscape system.

Value Chain Interventions

In addition to analysing the impacts of forest governance structures, the report has identified two viable value chains which incentivise the conservation of mangroves. The two value chains are hard-shell mud crab and dried products through the implementation of solar dome dryers.

The hard-shell mud crab value chain provides a lucrative opportunity to connect people of the Ayeyarwady Delta with the markets of China. In 2016, the trade was valued at over 4 Million Euros. Currently 90% of mud crabs are exported to China. Mature crabs can reach over 20,000MMK/kg in local and export market. The value chain currently consists of small-scale village catchers and hatcheries, pond owners and farmers, and middlemen/traders who connect the crabs to markets in Yangon and China.

The financial assessment showed that primarily the pond owners/farmers and middlemen/traders are benefiting from the activity. The middlemen often provide informal finance to poor people engaged in crab catching. As part of this arrangement, debtors are required to provide juvenile crabs at discounted rates to the middlemen. However, the middlemen have also been found to provide equipment and interest free loans to the small-scale village catchers.

The middlemen gain from the higher prices associated with larger crabs through fattening them, earning a profit.

Several actions are required to fully realise the green growth opportunity of this value chain. Firstly, it is important that hatcheries are developed so that the natural populations of mud crabs are not depleted through overharvesting.

Secondly, it is important that an alternative pellet feed for the crabs are produced. Currently ‘trash fish’, small fish with no other practical use, are fed to the crabs. They are a cheap source of food for crab fattening; however, ongoing use of the resource could also have negative effects on fish stocks. Another reason to emphases the importance of feed is the cannibalistic nature of crabs – not feeding the crabs and relying on natural feeding results in an increased crab mortality rate. Investing in crab feeding enables crab farmers to operationally perform better.

Providing financial support to communities at the farmer production stage of the value chain will hopefully allow them to share in the benefits of the value chain by enabling them to grow crabs to larger sizes and receive higher prices than what is currently demanded by the middlemen.

An additional reason to prioritise this intervention is its capacity to empower women. Often it is women who are in charge of the crab ponds.

Left: Intensive hard-shell mud crab fattening; right: natural hard-shell mud crab fattening

Dried products through the implementation of a solar dome dryer is another intervention in the value chain which will assist in protecting mangrove habitat. It achieves this by reducing the amount of fuelwood which is sourced from mangroves required to dry fish, crustaceans, and other agroforestry products. There is also an indication that the dryer dome increases the success rate and quality of preservation, which will be hoped to increase the price at sale.

Dried shrimp production modelling from the report found that if drying occurred for 180 days within a solar dryer dome, the amount of fuelwood required would be 40% less than current drying methods. Savings from fuelwood are reduced to 15% if the facility is operated at its maximum capacity during the year (for 260 days).

Solar dome dryers are estimated to have a life-span of 10 years and are suitable for community-level or user group association investments as they are too expensive for one person to purchase. Through the increased efficiencies in drying and input use, the analysis based on dried shrimp found that most communities would be able to pay off their investment loan in less than 2 years.

Above: traditional sun-drying process of shrimp in Ayeyarwady Delta

Workshop Insights from Policy maker

A number of interesting insights arose during discussions and activities at the workshop. One observation made by a government participant was the need for more co-ordination and dialogue between government departments. There are multiple government departments which have jurisdiction over the Ayeyarwady Delta, often with significant overlap and conflicting policies and procedures. A possible solution to this problem was based on a delegate’s personal experience. They highlighted the need to firstly locate the conservation area, then discuss with other departments to consolidate laws and enforcement.

Another interesting insight relates to attendees’ perceptions of different management types (e.g. BAU, MRRP, VWs, CFUG). There was a broad understanding that BAU is untenable for mangrove landscape restoration, especially in regards to livelihoods and mangrove restoration. However, there was a recognition that it provides some beneficial employment opportunities though some of these are unsustainable or illegal.

Participants generally had positive perceptions on MRRP, CFUG and VWs. Despite the beneficial nature of VWs in terms of participation, conservation and job creation, the survey revealed on average a larger preference towards MRRP and CFUG by participants. In particular, this was displayed in the results in the livelihood and mangrove restoration sections.

This prompts the need for further advocacy on the benefits of inclusive and democratic institutions based off the principle of free, prior and informed consent of local stakeholders. This message should focus on the weakness of government management of forest reserves (MRRP) in order to convince the government to allocate more mangrove habitat to CFUGs and VWs for management. In all, the workshop was a success as it progressed the green growth agenda in the Ayeyarwady Delta.

Above: Group activity during workshop

By PRESS RELEASE
MILAN, Italy, Mar 12 2020 (IPS-Partners)

In light of the ongoing public health emergency and in observance of the decree signed by the Italian Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte, on Monday, March 9th – enacting forced quarantine for the whole Italian country, while banning all public events until April, 3 – we have taken the tough decision to postpone the Sixth Edition of Seeds&Chips – The Global Food Innovation Summit which would have been taking place on May 18-20, 2020 at MiCo, Milano Congressi.

“This is an announcement that we would never have wished to write but, sadly, as a consequence of the ongoing public health risks caused by COVID19 and according to what is laid down in decree of The Presidency of the Council of Ministers, on March 9th, 2020 – imposing restrictions on people’s movements and banning all public events and initiatives to prevent the outbreak of the COVID2019 – we have decided to postpone our Summit” said Marco Gualtieri, Founder of Seeds&Chips.

As an organization working tirelessly to advance sustainable, healthy and prosperous societies around the world, the safety of all attendees, speakers, startups, companies and everyone else involved, is and must remain our top priority at the basis of our decision.

We are a global community of ChangeMakers, growing up in a fast-changing, complex and unpredictable world. This has allowed us to overcome all difficult challenges we meet on our way.

“The scenario has changed significantly over the past two weeks. Until the end of last week, we were cautiously optimistic that the Summit would go ahead, as planned. The rapid deteriorating public health situation in Italy, in particular in Milan and in our Region, has obliged us to concretely think about an alternative plan” Marco Gualtieri added.

“We would like to take this opportunity to thank all the people who are working at Seeds&Chips to make our Summit possible every year, all moderators and speakers who put together their sessions with us, all attendees, journalists, sponsors and partners who have been with us to craft our event and helped us grow in the last years”.

Today is a sad day for Seeds&Chips – The Global Food Innovation Summit – Milan Edition, but we hope to be back soon with good news. In fact, we are evaluating the opportunity of the upcoming pre-COP26 in Milan at the end of September, to build a new exciting event, filled, as usual, with creativity, innovation and great passion.

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Seeds&Chips – The Global Food Innovation Summit, founded by entrepreneur Marco Gualtieri, is the world’s flagship food innovation event. An exceptional platform to promote technologically advanced solutions and talents from all over the world. An exhibition area and conference schedule to present, tell and discuss themes, models and innovations that are changing the way food is produced, transformed, distributed, consumed and talked about.

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For more information
Press Office Seeds&Chips, The Global Food Innovation Summit
Attilio Ruffo, Chief Marketing Communications Officer, e-mail: href=”mailto:attilio@sustainandability.com” rel=”noopener” target=”_blank”>attilio@sustainandability.com
Valentina Gasbarri, Communication and Social Media Manager, e-mail: valentina@seedsandchips.com ; phone: +39 345 970 0906

Excerpt:

The Government of Kenya, the European Union & the United Nations unite to accelerate Kenya’s Big 4 development agenda and the SDGs. Credit: Barbara @EUinKenya

By PRESS RELEASE
NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 10 2020 (IPS-Partners)

The United Nations, European Union and its Member States, and Government of Kenya met, for the first time, to explore ways they can combine efforts to best support the Government of Kenya in achieving its national priorities as outlined in Vision2030, MTPIII and the Big Four agenda.

Over a two-day retreat in Gigiri, Nairobi, the EU and UN committed to:

– working towards a common framework for regular engagements with the Government of Kenya in support of common priority areas such as the devolution process, digitalization agenda, public private partnerships, support for transition to a sustainable green economy and youth and job creation, ensuring that no-one is left behind;
– put measures in place to further harmonize technical assistance to the Government of Kenya in support of national development priorities;
– support Kenya in establishing an Integrated National Financing Framework and rally partners for the sustainable financing of Kenya’s development agenda, including the Big Four agenda.

Mr António Guterres, UN Secretary-General, has stated that there are serious threats to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the United Nations, especially its development system, must be effectively reformed in order to be able to limit the impact of those threats. The reform of the United Nations development system involves a set of far-reaching changes in the way the UN development system works to help countries around the world in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The EU, and its Member States are strong supporters of this UN reform in order to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of UN development cooperation with Kenya, and all around the world.

Siddharth Chatterjee, UN Resident Coordinator to Kenya stated at the retreat: “As the UN Reforms are rapidly taking shape, we will be defined by how we address the SDGs through a “business unusual” approach. We have to innovate, take risk, leverage and reinforce each other to succeed. That is at the heart of the UN’s repositioning agenda. We are deeply thankful for the strong partnership with the EU and its Member States, and would like to applaud the Government of Kenya for its leadership of this important agenda”

H.E Simon Mordue, EU Ambassador to Kenya, praised the government’s commitment and the UNs’ reform efforts thus far, adding that “We need to act as one, which means enhancing and fully exploiting the full range of synergies of the EU, UN and indeed the Kenyan government and moving to financing coupled with sustained policy dialogue. This will allow us to unleash the full potential of our development support for the benefit of Kenya and her population”.

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About the UN in Kenya: Since 1963 the Government of Kenya and the United Nations are partnering to spur the Country’s social economic development. In 1996, the United Nations Office at Nairobi (UNON) was established, becoming one of four major UN office sites and the UN’s headquarters in Africa. Kenya has been a top advocate of Agenda 2030 and was a member of the High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons who advised the United Nations Secretary General on the global development framework beyond 2015, adopted as Agenda 2030 including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Today there are 23 UN agencies operating from Nairobi, which are delivering as one support to Kenya in line with the USD1.9 billion UN Development Cooperation Framework (2018-2022) which was developed under the co-leadership of the Government and UN in consultation with key stakeholders. For more information: www.kenya.un.org/

About the EU in Kenya: The EU and its member states are a major development supporter of Kenya with over 4.5 billion euro in development assistance to Kenya for the period 2018-2022. EU and its Member States are strong supporters of UN reform in order to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the UN’s development cooperation with Kenya, and all around the world, in order to ensure the goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development are attained. For more information: https://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/kenya/1376/about-eu-delegation-kenya_en

By PRESS RELEASE
Mar 6 2020 (IPS-Partners)

A deep-sea scientific mission to uncharted depths in the Maldives and Seychelles will gather valuable data to support the Commonwealth Blue Charter on ocean action and train local scientists.

The newest Commonwealth member country, Maldives, has joined Seychelles to launch a major joint scientific expedition to investigate unexplored depths of the Indian Ocean.

The ground-breaking multidisciplinary research mission, known as ‘First Descent: Midnight Zone’, was officially launched at the Commonwealth headquarters at Marlborough House.

Led by the UK research institute Nekton, the goal is to boost the sustainable governance of Seychelles and Maldivian waters, including the protection of 629,000 km2 of ocean.

It supports the Commonwealth Blue Charter – a shared commitment by member countries to protect the ocean from the effects of climate change, pollution and overfishing.

Minister for Fisheries, Marine Resources and Agriculture of the Maldives, Zaha Waheed, said: “It is vital to comprehensively understand what lies beneath our waters in order for us to be informed enough to take necessary actions towards a healthy and prosperous ocean.

“This mission will, for the first time, show a glimpse of what the deep sea features and the biodiversity it holds. It will also contribute to the wider goal of marine spatial planning and ocean governance.”

A 50-person crew will set sail on 16 March, using the world’s most advanced deep diving submersible, equipped with a suite of research tools including sensor and mapping technology.

The data they collect will help countries define conservation and management priorities and map out marine protected areas. It will also help measure the impact of climate change and human activity in the area.

Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland said: “We cannot protect what we don’t know and we cannot govern what we don’t understand. With 95 per cent of the ocean still unexplored by humans, we are only just beginning to grasp its profound influence on life, including its effect on global climate and ecosystems.

“It is pleasing to see the commitments of our Commonwealth Blue Charter leading to such far-reaching and innovative science-backed ocean action in, with and for our member countries.”

The expedition will focus on undersea mountains or ‘seamounts’ in the Midnight Zone – depths from 1,000 to 4,000 metres, where biodiversity peaks. This zone holds critical indicators to measure the impact of the climate crisis, fisheries management, heat absorption, acidification, ocean carbon cycle, and plastic, agricultural and industrial pollution.

The damage or overexploitation of seamounts can have widespread consequences on ocean health, food security, and other benefits the ocean provides, such as the discovery of new medicines.

Principal Secretary at the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change of Seychelles, Alain Decormamond said: “Seamounts form some of the most fascinating and richest locations in our waters and beyond in the wider Indian Ocean. We are therefore looking forward to exploring even deeper depths of our ocean to have a better understanding of natural characteristics and richness of these locations.”

The mission’s principal scientist Lucy Woodall from the University of Oxford added: “We find the greatest biomass in the upper few hundred metres of the ocean, but the peak of biodiversity is in the greater depths, in the Midnight Zone, from 1,000 to 4,000 metres. That said, less than 300 of 170,000 known major seamounts found in this zone have been researched to date, and they remain one of the least researched parts of the ocean.”

Nekton is also working with Commonwealth countries to develop the tools, skills, knowledge and networks to sustainably manage the ocean. Seychellois and Maldivian scientists will join the expedition to conduct pioneering research into their national waters. This is supported by training programmes, research grants and fellowships with the University of Oxford.

Seychelles champions the Commonwealth Blue Charter action group on marine protected areas. To date, 13 countries have stepped forward to lead on 10 topics they identified as priorities.

For updates on the expedition, visit nektonmission.org

For more information about the Commonwealth Blue Charter, visit bluecharter.thecommonwealth.org

Notes to Editor

The Commonwealth Blue Charter
The Commonwealth covers a third of the world’s coastal oceans, 45% of coral reefs and the majority of the world’s big ocean states and territories. Forty-seven out of our 54 countries have a coastline, and three of the remaining landlocked states border great lakes. The Commonwealth Blue Charter is a landmark agreement that engages all 54 Commonwealth countries to commit to actively co-operating to solve ocean-related problems and meet commitments for sustainable ocean development. Visit our website to learn how to join action groups.

Seychelles
The Seychelles Blue Economy Strategic Roadmap and Plan has been developed and implemented by the Government of Seychelles in partnership with the Commonwealth Secretariat. A key component of this, the Seychelles’ Marine Spatial Plan, is being undertaken in partnership with The Nature Conservancy. By March 2020 this will result in the sustainable management of all the Exclusive Economic Zone including 30% within the newly formed Marine Protected Areas (445,000 km2 of 1,336,559 km2). The implementing partner for the expedition is the Ministry for Environment, Energy and Climate Change. Seychelles champions the Commonwealth Blue Charter Action Group on Marine Protected Areas.

Maldives
Maldives Blue Prosperity Programme is being undertaken by the Government of the Maldives in partnership with the Blue Prosperity Coalition and the Waitt Institute. The Programme begins in 2020 with a goal of the sustainable management of the Maldivian Exclusive Economic Zone including a spatial target of at least 20% within newly formed Marine Protected Areas (184,000km2 of 923,000km2). The implementation partner for the expedition is the Ministries of Fisheries, Marine Resources and Agriculture. First Descent: Midnight Zone is the third of four expeditions being undertaken in Maldives in support of Maldives Blue Prosperity. #KanduFalhuDhiraasaa and #NooRaajje

First Descent: Midnight Zone
First Descent is a series of missions undertaken by Nekton in partnership with Governments in the Indian Ocean region. Beginning in Seychelles in 2019, the Mission concludes with a State of the Indian Ocean Summit in October 2022 to deliver scientific consensus on the state of the Indian Ocean and to galvanise 30% protection by 2030. Each mission combines national commitments to ocean protection, marine spatial planning, applied research to inform ocean policy, inspirational communications to strengthen the public support for political action and investments in capacity development to create a legacy of long-term sustainable ocean governance. #MidnightZone #First Descent

Seamounts
Seamounts are undersea mountains formed by volcanic activity. Scientists estimate there are at least 100,000 seamounts higher than 1,000 meters around the world. Recent estimates suggest that, taken together, seamounts encompass about 28.8 million square kilometres – a surface area larger than deserts, tundra, or any other single land-based global habitat on the planet. Seamounts attract an abundance of marine life, many of which are endemic to individual locations. Seamounts are productive fishing grounds for more than 80 commercial species worldwide.

Nekton
Nekton is an independent not-for-profit research institute working in collaboration with the University of Oxford and is a UK registered charity. Nekton’s purpose is to explore and protect the ocean. Nekton’s missions are supported by a unique alliance of 40 business, government, academia and civil society partners uniting behind a common purpose to explore and conserve the ocean. They include:

• Mission Partners (2): Omega, Kensington Tours
• Strategic Partners (8): The Commonwealth; Teledyne Marine, Sonardyne (Official Subsea
• Technology Partners), Caladan Oceanic (Expedition Partner), Associated Press (Official News Agency Partner), Inmarsat (Official Satellite Communications Partner), Blue Prosperity Coalition, Waitt Institute (Maldives Blue Prosperity).
• Collaborating Partners (17): CEFAS (Subsea Research Equipment); Deep Sea Power and Light, Paralenz, Bowtech (Subsea Camera & Light Partners); Triton (Submersible Partners); Priavo Security (Maritime Security); Technicolor, AXA-XL & Encounter EDU (Education); University of Oxford; Institute of Marine Engineering, Science & Technology – IMarEST; EYOS Expeditions (Logistics); Great Campaign (UK Government, Foreign & Commonwealth Office); Ocean Unite, Helly Hansen (Apparel), IUCN, Project Zero, Sky Plc.
• Founding Partners of Nekton (3): AXA-XL, Garfield Weston Foundation, Kensington Tours.

Blue Prosperity Coalition
The Blue Prosperity Coalition is a global coalition of NGO’s, academic institutions, and foundations working together to promote growth and prosperity while empowering sustainable management of marine resources and ecosystems. The coalition assists committed governments in developing and implementing sustainable marine spatial plans to protect the environment and improve the economy at the same time. Primary members in the Maldives partnership include Waitt Institute, National Geographic Pristine Seas, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and Nekton. #BlueProsperity

Waitt Institute
Established by Gateway, Inc. co-founder Ted Waitt in 1993, the Waitt Institute, partners with committed governments to develop and implement comprehensive, science-based ocean management plans that benefit both the economy and the environment with the ultimate goal of sustainable, resilient, and thriving seas that benefit all.

Digital Newsroom
For additional media materials including b-roll, launch video, still images, briefing notes and press releases, please visit Nekton’s digital Newsroom.

Hashtags
#commonwealth #bluecharter #nekton, #firstdescent #midnightzone #seychelles #maldives #oneoceanoneplanet #30×30 #KanduFalhuDhiraasaa

Media Contact

Josephine Latu-Sanft
Senior Communications Officer
Communications Division
Commonwealth Secretariat
T. +44 (0)20 7747 6476
Email: j.latu-sanft@commonwealth.int
Website thecommonwealth.org
Join the conversation Tweets by @commonwealthsec

The delegation visit a water pumping and desalination station in Wajir County, constructed under a Public-Private Partnership between the Government of Kenya, USAID, the Swiss Government, World Vision, Boreal Light and the Millennium Water Alliance.

By PRESS RELEASE
NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 28 2020 (IPS-Partners)

From 26 February to 28 February 2020, the United Nations in Kenya supported a joint visit to the Frontier Counties of Kenya.

The objective of this mission was to allow delegates from the Government of Kenya, United Nations, and development partners to identify opportunities and innovation beyond what any individual stakeholder can accomplish, assess Public- Private Partnerships at county level, and ultimately promote socio-economic transformation in historically marginalised counties.

The mission was conducted as part on ongoing efforts by the Ministry of Devolution, Arid and Semi Arid Lands ( ASALs) and the UN system to build on the existing United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) 2018-2022 which responds to the clarion call by the United Nations Secretary General, Mr Antonio Guterres of “leaving no one behind and reaching the furthest behind first”.

The thematic focus of the mission is on access to water. Specifically, to facilitate both high-level dialogues and visits to development initiatives related to water which have the potential to advance the Kenyan development agenda, the Big 4 and enabling environment, with the CIDPs as its context and the realization of Vision 2030 and MTP III and 2010 Constitution asserting Kenya towards Shared Prosperity.

Analysis shows that a deficit of water impacts negatively on pastoralism and agriculture. Combined with the egregious effects of climate change, scarcity of water is one of the root causes of conflict and a driver of extreme poverty, leading over into degraded health, livelihoods, opening to other negative trends, radicalization, criminality; and forced migration. Water is also one of the most important inputs for industries and economic development: it can have positive impact, unlocking risk capital in SMEs if it is available, or a negative impact if it is scarce.

The development initiatives visited during the mission, which were located in the counties of West Pokot, Turkana, Wajir, Garissa, Isiolo and Marsabit, had common themes of targeted intervention and local ownership. Specifically, these initiatives were conceived to bring water and other essential services to historically marginalized communities and areas, and members of those same communities were supported to undergo technical training to both develop and maintain them.

This visit follows a previous high-level mission organised by the UN and FCDC in 2018, which had a thematic focus of Realization of the SDGs in the Counties which informed the current UNDAF.

The visitors were welcomed by communities that have suffered from recent drought followed by floods and an army of desert locust now threatening food security in the same areas.

The mission was also able to see first-hand the positive effects of devolution.

President Uhuru Kenyatta in his State of the Union address in 2019 said, “ There is No Turning Back on Devolution. The System is sound and has proven its value and contribution to national development. Its potential and value will be greatly enhanced by focus on service delivery, prioritizing development expenditure, unwavering commitment to integrity and anti-corruption, and strict commitment to value for money in procurement. Devolution will, no doubt, transform our Nation.”

Led by the Cabinet Secretary of Devolution and ASALs Hon Eugene Wamalwa and the United Nations Resident Coordinator to Kenya Siddharth Chatterjee, this joint mission had wide representation from the Government of Kenya, the FCDC secretariat, the Council of Governors, the United Nations Country Team in Kenya as well as Ambassadors/High Commissioners/senior representatives from the missions of Norway, India, Russian Federation, Portugal, Switzerland, Netherlands, European Union to Kenya, the United Kingdom and Canada.

By PRESS RELEASE
SEOUL, South Korea, Feb 20 2020 (IPS-Partners)

On February 20, 2020 – Mr. Ban Ki-moon, 8th Secretary-General of the United Nations, has officially begun his second term in office as the President of the Assembly and Chair of the Council of the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI). In his letter to Members of GGGI, President and Chair Mr. Ban reaffirmed his commitment to raise awareness of the Institute and its work to tackle climate change and help countries accelerate achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

“Leading the Institute is not a new endeavor for me but, rather, a continuation of my previous mission at the UN. Although GGGI is much younger and smaller than the UN, it is a treaty-based intergovernmental organization, the existence of which is to counter climate change by working very much in tandem with the Paris Agreement and the SDGs,” said Mr. Ban.

On October 16, 2019, Mr. Ban was unanimously re-elected by the Members of the Assembly and the Council to serve as GGGI’s President and Chair for another two-year term commencing February 20, 2020.

During his first two-year term, GGGI’s membership has expanded to 36 Members, with 8 new Members – namely Paraguay, Tonga, Sri Lanka, Uzbekistan, Burkina Faso, the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, Ecuador and Angola – joining the organization. His vision and leadership will help GGGI deliver greater impact for its Members – supporting them to achieve solid and ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to the Paris Agreement, that are due at the COP26 climate change conference in Glasgow in November 2020.

Many countries, including GGGI’s Members, are stepping up efforts to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. One of GGGI’s priorities for 2020 centers around supporting its Members to meet their ambitious NDC commitments. In addition, GGGI is contributing to reducing billions of tons of CO2e; increasing access to sustainable services for 600 million people; enabling adaptation services for 16 million people; and protecting 80 million hectares of natural capital throughout the world.

Mr. Ban reiterated the importance of bringing the world together to take action on climate change and move toward a sustainable future – especially as 2020 is a crucial year for climate action, where countries have to recommit to the Paris Agreement.

ABOUT THE GLOBAL GREEN GROWTH INSTITUTE (GGGI)

Based in Seoul, Republic of Korea, the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) is a treaty-based international, inter-governmental organization that supports developing country governments transition to a model of economic growth that is environmentally sustainable and socially inclusive. GGGI delivers programs for more than 30 Members and partners – in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and the Pacific – with technical support, capacity building, policy planning and implementation, and by helping to build a pipeline of bankable green investment projects.

GGGI supports its Members and partners to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals and the Nationally Determined Contributions to the Paris Agreement.

To learn more about GGGI, visit www.gggi.org and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and Instagram.

@FrankRijsberman         @gggi_hq         @bankimooncentre

By PRESS RELEASE
NEW YORK, Feb 17 2020 (IPS-Partners)

In just one week, Education Cannot Wait (ECW), with the Governments of Ethiopia and Chad and implementing partners, launched two new multi-year resilience programmes in Chad (7 February) and Ethiopia (14 February) with US$48 million in seed funding over three years to roll out crucial programme activities and catalyse additional resources.

The budgets for these multi-year programmes total US$216 million and thus call for urgent funding to fill the remaining gaps. When fully funded, the programmes will support quality education for approximately 1 million children and youth affected by conflict, forced displacement, protracted crises and impacts of climate change, including droughts and floods.

With the launch of the government-led programmes in Chad and Ethiopia, ECW and its partners have now realized a proven model for advancing humanitarian-development coherence in 10 crisis-affected countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Central African Republic, Chad, Ethiopia, State of Palestine, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria and Uganda.

“In Chad, Ethiopia and other crisis-affected countries, children’s lives have been ripped apart by conflict, forced displacement, climate change impacts and protracted crises. Girls are the most affected and are therefore our top priority. Across these programmes, we must ensure that every child and young person can enjoy their right to inclusive and continued quality education in a protective learning environment – one that caters to all their educational needs and allows them to become who they were meant to be,” said Yasmine Sherif, Director of Education Cannot Wait.

“We must not leave these children behind. They all have the right to develop and thrive. By working together with national governments, UN agencies, donors and other key partners, we are building a global movement to reach these children and to accelerate actions to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals within the UN’s Decade of Action,” continued Sherif.

ECW operates with unprecedented speed and agility in mobilizing partnerships and resources to deliver results for children, helping to advance Sustainable Development Goal 4 – quality inclusive education – for children and youth affected by conflicts, disasters, forced displacement and protracted crises.

In just three years of operation, the Fund has already raised over half a billion dollars and reached over 2.3 million girls and boys, including refugees, internally displaced children, and other children and youth affected by emergencies and protracted crises.

Kickstarting resource mobilization
The programme launches in Chad and Ethiopia kickstart global efforts to fully fund each of the multi-year resilience programmes (MYRPs), and donors are encouraged to help make a transformational difference in the lives of crises-affected children and youth.

• In Chad, ECW plans to allocate a total US$21 million over three years in seed funding grants to catalyse the additional US$30 million required to fully fund the three-year programme and reach 230,000 crisis-affected girls and boys.
• In Ethiopia, ECW plans to allocate a total US$27 million in seed funding grants to catalyse the additional US$138 million required to fully fund the three-year US$165 million programme and reach approximately 746,000 crisis-affected girls and boys.

The ECW-facilitated MYRPs help bridge the gap between emergency response and long-term development and focus on reaching the most marginalized and vulnerable children and youth, such as girls and children with disabilities. MYRPs are developed on the ground in partnership with a wide range of stakeholders – national governments, UN agencies, donors, private sector and civil society.

Interventions are designed to provide whole-of-child solutions and to reintegrate out-of-school girls and boys into learning and training programmes, improve learning environments, train teachers, improve the governance of the education system in emergency situations, provide psychosocial and school feeding services, support early childhood education and to increase enrolment and retention.

Yasmine Sherif meets with girls and boys in Chad in advance of the multi-year resilience programme launch.

Key facts and figures on Chad
The protracted crisis in Chad has pushed 1.2 million children (aged 6 to 11) out of school. Only 19 per cent of girls and 40 per cent of boys access lower-secondary-school education, and only one out of every ten girls complete middle school. Developed under the auspices of Chad’s Ministry of National Education and Civic Promotion (MENPC) with the support of Education Cannot Wait and a range of UN agencies and international and national civil society partners, the new MYRP focuses on refugee, displaced and host community children and youth and those affected by food insecurity and malnutrition.

In advance of the Ethiopia launch, Yasmine Sherif visited with children in Ethiopia’s hard-hit Oromiya Region with the State Minister of Education H.E Tsion Teklu, and representatives from Save the Children and UNICEF

Key facts and figures on Ethiopia
Ethiopia has an estimated 1.4 million displaced, returnee, and refugee children, mostly resulting from conflicts and natural disasters. One million of these children are out of school, 527,000 of them girls. Latest data shows that 728 schools have been damaged by conflict or natural disasters. In Ethiopia, the Ministry of Education will lead the programme in partnership with Save the Children, UNICEF, Education Cannot Wait, and the Education Cluster.

# # #
Notes to Editors

• View online
• Multi-Year Resilience Programme Launch in Ethiopia (Read the full announcement here)
• Multi-Year Resilience Programme in Chad (Read the full announcement here: En, Fr)
• Share our social Chad video on facebook and twitter
• Share our social Ethiopia video on facebook and twitter

About Education Cannot Wait: ECW is the first global fund dedicated to education in emergencies. It was launched by international humanitarian and development aid actors, along with public and private donors, to address the urgent education needs of 75 million children and youth in conflict and crisis settings. ECW’s investment modalities are designed to usher in a more collaborative approach among actors on the ground, ensuring relief and development organizations join forces to achieve education outcomes. Education Cannot Wait is hosted by UNICEF. The Fund is administered under UNICEF’s financial, human resources and administrative rules and regulations, while operations are run by the Fund’s own independent governance structure.

Please follow on Twitter: @EduCannotWait @YasmineSherif1 @KentPage
Additional information at: www.educationcannotwait.org

For press inquiries: Kent Page, kpage@unicef.org, +1-917-302-1735
For press inquiries: Anouk Desgroseilliers, adesgroseilliers@un-ecw.org, +1-917-640-6820
For any other inquiries: info@un-ecw.org

Excerpt:

By PRESS RELEASE
Djibouti City, Feb 3 2020 (IPS-Partners)

At the Closing Ceremony of the III ForumBIE 2030, 38 governments, civil society organisations and academic entities became the first to sign the Universal Declaration of Balanced and Inclusive Education (UDBIE). Furthermore, with the objective of achieving the aspirations and commitments contained within the UDBIE, 30 signatories, including governments and civil society organisations, agreed to establish the Organisation of Educational Cooperation (OEC), a new international organisation from the Global South creating platforms and mechanisms of solidarity-based technical and financial cooperation and support for educational reforms.

The OEC, whose General Assembly will function on the democratic basis of one country, one vote, ensuring accountability to its Member States which will benefit from its support, will also count civil society and academic organisations as Associate Members with limited rights.

The OEC will be established with a wholly-owned financial subsidiary, accountable to the General Assembly, capable of generating funds ethically and sustainably in support of educational reforms. This subsidiary, structurally directed towards investments in socially and ecologically responsible projects in its member states, will eventually fully finance the organisation’s operations and provide funds for the OEC to support Member States’ education systems with solidarity-based financing.

The OEC is designed with a rational, streamlined structure, follows a strategy of efficient systematic intervention, and puts education at the service of communities, of society and of national development as required by the commitments made in the UDBIE.

Sheikh Manssour Bin Mussallam, President, The Education Relief Foundation

The OEC’s first Secretary General has been elected with the task of setting up and presiding a Preparatory Committee, which will lay the groundwork for the OEC until the Constitutive Charter of the Organisation enters into force, upon its ratification by a minimum of 10 of the founding State signatories. The Constitutive Charter’s entry into force will trigger the convening of the first General Assembly.

All signatories to the UDBIE embrace the four key pillars of balanced and inclusive education: Intraculturalism, Transdisciplinarity, Dialecticism and Contextuality. They commit to applying these principles within their education systems, with the cross-sectoral support of the OEC, based on the contextualised needs of their populations, their national priorities, and the global imperative of sustainable development.

The number of people displaced in Burkina Faso increased tenfold last year to over 560,000. The figure is predicted to skyrocket to 900,000 people by April as horrific violence continues to force families from their homes.

“Burkina Faso needs more than bullets and bombs. Military engagement alone is failing to protect vulnerable communities. Donors supporting military efforts to quell the extreme violence have not yet responded to the enormous humanitarian needs with equal emphasis,” warned NRC’s Secretary General Jan Egeland, who is visiting the country this week.

France and states from Africa’s Sahel region have increased the predominantly security-oriented response to the indiscriminate violence of many armed militants in northern and eastern Burkina Faso. But some of the large-scale military operations against armed groups have had dire humanitarian consequences, forcing communities to flee their homes in thousands.

The country is now on the brink of a hunger crisis. A staggering one in ten people in Burkina Faso will need food assistance by June. The violence is also storing up problems for future generations, as some armed groups deliberately target schools and teachers, leaving over 330,000 children without access to education.

“In the northern town of Barsalogho, I heard horrific stories from some of the 70,000 people who recently fled to camps where there is an acute need of water, sanitation, food and education. Insecurity and a lack of funding is severely hampering our work. Donor governments have not understood that this is the world’s fastest-growing displacement crisis. We still see a small aid response in a huge human catastrophe,” Egeland said.

Last year, less than half of the money required to meet humanitarian needs was received.

“We need to urgently scale up our presence to provide the assistance and protection these families deserve. Many told me they can’t sleep at night for fear of new attacks. Most are single mother led households, as their husbands and fathers are often dead or have fled from the targeted killings of men,” said Egeland.

The international community, alongside regional actors supporting the military response, must also acknowledge the root causes of the conflict that must be addressed, and for dialogue to be re-established between communities and authorities.

“I don’t understand what has happened, we used to talk to each other,” said Mariam, a displaced mother in Barsalogho. “If there were tensions between communities, leaders would have discussed according to our tradition. Now no one talks anymore, there are walls between us.”

NOTE TO EDITORS:

Photos and B-roll including video interviews with affected people can be downloaded for free use.

MEDIA CONTACTS:

• Tom Peyre-Costa, Regional Media Adviser in Central and West Africa.
Email: tom.peyrecosta@nrc.no Skype: tom.peyre-costa
Whatsapp: +33658518391 Phone: +22665524421
• NRC media hotline phone +47 90 56 23 29, email media@nrc.no

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Burkina Faso was the fastest growing displacement crisis of all humanitarian crises last year, in terms of the percentage increase in displacement. The number of displaced increased with more than 1,000% from about 50,000 at the beginning of the year to 560,000 in December 2019.
• The number of deaths in Burkina Faso due to attacks jumped from about 80 in 2016 to over 1,800 last year.
• 95 health centres were closed and 135 functioning at minimum capacity as of the end of 2019, jeopardizing the access of nearly 1.2 million people to basic healthcare.
• 330,000 children are affected by the closure of 2,087 schools due to the insecurity and need urgent education assistance.
• Not even half (48%) of the funds needed in 2019 for the humanitarian response were allocated. Required: US$187 million. Funded: US$89 million. The humanitarian community is requesting US$295 million for 2020.

Students at Iftin Primary School in Garissa. Credit: Fredrick Nzwili

By PRESS RELEASE
NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 16 2020 (IPS-Partners)

The United Nations Country Team in Kenya is deeply distressed by the rising cases of terrorist attacks on schools, teachers and learners, especially in the north-eastern regions of Kenya. While we stand in solidarity with the affected communities, we reiterate that acts of terror and hate are even more egregious when they target innocent, unarmed civilians including children.

The bombings of schools and the killing of civilians violate international humanitarian law. We wish to remind all armed groups that whatever their grievances, they must uphold their obligations and cease targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure, including schools. Key services and programmes, delivered by the government and other partners, for children and communities should not be targets of armed combat.

It is especially troubling that the most affected regions are already lagging behind in school attendance rates. We recognize that school staff who are traumatised by such incidents face the agonising dilemma of whether they should continue in the job under such threats. Acts of terrorism should not be another reason for the children in those regions to slip further behind.

As the UN Country Team in Kenya, we are determined to entrench our engagement with National and County Governments to implement the pillars of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, including addressing the conditions conducive to the spread of terrorism, building capacity to prevent and combat terrorism and ensuring respect for human rights and the rule of law as the fundamental basis for the fight against terrorism.”

We commit to working with other stakeholders as we pursue the UN value of making children’s human and civil rights a lived reality for all children in Kenya.

Credit: AFDB

By PRESS RELEASE
MADRID, Spain, Dec 13 2019 (IPS-Partners)

There was standing room only as ministers, diplomats, activists and journalists gathered at the IFEMA conference centre in Madrid to mark Africa Day at the COP 25 climate meeting.

Speakers called for a united front to tackle the challenges of climate change in Africa.

In the opening statement for Africa Day on Tuesday, Yasmin Fouad, Egypt’s Minister of Environmental Affairs, on behalf of the African Union, said: “We have, and will continue to engage and to seek landing grounds on the outstanding issues. But we must flag our concern at the apparent reluctance by our interlocutors to engage on issues of priority to developing countries, as evidenced by the large number of such issues which have simply been pushed from session to session without any progress.”

Africa contributes the least to global warming emissions yet is the continent most vulnerable to climate change, as witnessed by devastating natural disasters recently. Africa Day has been held at the conference every year since COP 17 in 2011 to rally support for the continent’s cause.

“The climate disaster issues confronting the continent demand a predictable and unified response,” said UN ASG Mohamed Beavogui, Director General of African Risk Capacity, an agency of the African Union that helps governments respond to natural disasters.

“Africa needs to move towards market-based innovative financing models to achieve a strong, united, resilient and globally influential continent. The future of Africa depends on solidarity.”

Vera Songwe, Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), said the ECA would support African countries to revise their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to attract private sector investments in clean energy.

“The lack of concerted and meaningful global ambition and action to tackle climate change poses an existential threat to African populations,” Songwe said.

The Paris Agreement is the guiding force of current climate negotiations. It calls on nations to curb temperature increases at 2°C by the end of this century, while attempting to contain rises within 1.5°C. The next step is to implement NDCs, which set out national targets under the Paris Agreement.

While African countries outlined bold aspirations to build climate resilient and low-carbon economies in their NDCs, the continent’s position is that it should not be treated the same as developed nations as its carbon emissions constitute a fraction of the world’s big economies.

“The African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) remains committed to partnering with other institutions in providing the requisite support to AU member states in reviewing and updating their NDCs,” said Estherine Fotabong, Director of Programmes at AUDA-NEPAD.

Barbara Creecy, South Africa’s Environment Minister and current chair of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment, said the Africa Day event should come up with new ideas to enhance the implementation of NDCs in Africa.

Africa is already responding positively to the challenge of climate change, said Anthony Nyong, Director for Climate Change and Green Growth at the African Development Bank, citing huge investment interest in renewables at the Bank’s Africa Investment Forum in Johannesburg.

“Clearly, we are a continent that has what it takes to create the Africa that we want to see happen. I believe what has been the missing link is the ability to brand right and to act on the market signals,” Nyong said. “We continue to present Africa as a vulnerable case and not as a business case with opportunities. In fact, where we have attempted the latter, the results have been spot-on.”

Chief Fortune Charumbira, Vice President of the Pan-African Parliament, said robust climate legislation was key.

“The world’s response to the challenge has shown that legislation is imperative to cement efforts employed by various stakeholders; from the Paris Agreement to Nationally Determined Contributions,” he said.

Amb. Josefa Sacko, Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture at the African Union Commission, said climate change affected sectors key to Africa’s socio-economic development, such as agriculture, livestock and fisheries, energy, biodiversity and tourism. She called on African countries to take stock of the Paris Agreement, and its implementation around finance capacity building and technology.

Media contacts:
African Union: Esther Azaa Tankou, Head of Information Division, Directorate of Information and Communication, African Union Commission, email: YambouE@africa-union.org

African Development Bank: Gershwin Wanneburg, email: g.wanneburg@afdb.org

ECA: Sophia Denekew, email: Denekews.uneca@un.org

Pan-African Parliament: Ntsiuoa Sekete, email: ntsiuoa.sekete@panafricanparliament.org

The African Development Bank and technology firm Microsoft today launched the ‘Coding for Employment’ digital training platform, an online tool to provide digital skills to African youth, wherever they are across the continent.

The platform, launched at the 2019 African Economic Conference in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, aims to promote a continuous learning culture among young people and build their capacity to shape the continent’s future.

The high-level event drew heads of state and government, ministers and leaders from the private sector and academia to discuss how this new tool and other technological innovations could be used to spur development across the continent.

“The youth employment and skills development challenge is a complex issue that requires systemic thinking and bold partnerships … to address the existing skills gap and link youth to decent and sustainable employment,” said Hendrina Doroba, the African Development Bank’s acting director for Human Capital, Youth & Skills Development.

“The skills training platform launched today is a testament to the impact that such partnerships can achieve and the Bank looks forward to strengthening similar partnerships.”

The platform teaches technical courses such as web development, design, data science and digital marketing and will be constantly adapted to respond to market demand. It is accessible on mobile devices, even in low internet connectivity settings and has an affordable, easy-to-navigate, secured and private interface.

“A defining challenge of our time is ensuring that everyone has equal opportunity to benefit from technology,” Ghada Khalifa, Director of Microsoft Philanthropies for the Middle East and Africa, said at the launch.

“Forward-thinking initiatives such as the digital training platform represent our commitment to helping drive the momentum needed. Though there is still much work to be done, we believe that through dynamic partnerships such as these, we can help build a knowledge-based economy in Africa that leaves no person behind.”

The Coding for Employment Program is a crucial part of the African Development Bank’s strategic agenda to create 25 million jobs by 2025, and to equip 50 million African youth with competitive skills. The Bank piloted the program in five countries (Nigeria, Kenya, Rwanda, Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire) in partnership with The Rockefeller Foundation and Microsoft and is currently developing 14 ultra-modern centers specialized in ICT and entrepreneurship skills trainings for youth.

The goal is to scale up the program to 130 centers of excellence across the continent over a 10-year period. It will create nine million jobs by building synergies with the public and the private sector globally to deliver demand-driven, agile and collaborative skills to empower young people to become innovative players in the digital economy.

The Coding for Employment training platform can be accessed here across 54 African countries.

About the African Development Bank Group
The African Development Bank Group is Africa’s premier development finance institution. It comprises three distinct entities: the African Development Bank, the African Development Fund and the Nigeria Trust Fund. On the ground in 41 African countries with an external office in Japan, the African Development Bank contributes to the economic development and the social progress of its 54 regional member states. www.afdb.org

About Microsoft
Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

Contacts:
Kwasi Kpodo, Communication and External Relations Department, African Development Bank. Email: w.kpodo@afdb.org

Microsoft:
WE Communication, Email: MICROSOFT-ZA@we-worldwide.com

Russia Ambassador Dmitry Maksimychev with WFP in April 2019. Credit: WFP

By PRESS RELEASE
NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 3 2019 (IPS-Partners)

The Government of Russia has announced a voluntary contribution of 1 million US Dollars to the World Food Programme of the United Nations for food assistance to Kenya. WFP will coordinate with the Kenyan authorities the distribution of food supplies to reach families most in need of assistance.

“This support is an expression of solidarity of the Russian people with the people of Kenya. It will contribute to the achievement by Kenya of the Sustainable Development Goals and the Government of Kenya’s Big Four Agenda in food security,” said the Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Kenya Dmitry Maksimychev. It also reflects the spirit of the recent Russia – Africa Summit, he added.

H.E. Amb. Macharia Kamau, Principal Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kenya, said: “Kenya welcomes the cooperation and support of the Russian Federation. And particularly that this support and cooperation is in line with the Big Four priorities of the President targeting food security. This especially welcome given that it came so soon after the Russia-Africa Summit in Sochi, which President Kenyatta attended”.

The current floods have amplified the effects of drought experienced in the earlier part of the year, which affected at least ten counties, mostly in northern and North-eastern Kenya and rendered about 3,1 million people food insecure.

“I would like to deeply appreciate the Government of Russia for this support to the people of Kenya through the United Nations World Food Programme. We stand with the people of Kenya and remain committed to relieving those suffering from hunger,” said UN Resident Coordinator to Kenya Mr. Siddharth Chatterjee when receiving the announcement from the Ambassador of Russia. He further said that in this age, no Kenyan should suffer from hunger and pledged that the UN Kenya Country Team will continue to deliver as one support the government and all its partners to transform the county into a food-basket for the region and the world.

By PRESS RELEASE
ABIDJAN, Cote d’Ivoire, Nov 30 2019 (IPS-Partners)

The African Development Bank will on Monday kick off a campaign to plead the continent’s case at the world’s leading climate change conference.

The 25th session of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties (COP) comes at a crucial time for the globe and Africa in particular. In recent years, rising temperatures have wreaked havoc with weather patterns, leading to suffocating heat and devastating storms. In Africa, the climate has exacerbated food shortages and destroyed infrastructure.

African countries know all too well the risks posed by climate change, said Wale Shonibare, the Bank’s Acting Vice President for Power, Energy, Climate Change and Green Growth. He cited the devastating impact of Cyclones Idai and Kenneth in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Tanzania and the Comoros earlier this year.

“However, Africa also offers climate smart investment opportunities – from country-led innovation centers, to transformative renewable energy initiatives. For example, this year, the Bank approved financing for the first on-grid solar power public-private partnership in Chad, under the Desert to Power initiative,” Shonibare said.

Projects like Desert to Power will be highlighted at COP 25, which will from 2 to 13 December bring together leaders and institutions from 196 nations plus the European Union, who have signed up to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

At the heart of the matter are the Nationally Determined Contributions, or NDCs, which form part of the landmark Paris Agreement, signed in 2015 during COP21 in the French capital. The NDCs are specific climate change targets that each country must set.

The Paris Agreement has been ratified by 51 out of 54 African countries. It binds countries to cutting carbon emissions to ensure that global temperatures do not rise by more than 2°C by the end of this century, while attempting to contain it within 1.5°C.

Climate finance is another issue that will top the agenda at COP25 in Madrid.

“2020 is a critical year in securing adequate resources for African countries to meet their Paris Agreement commitments, clarity and transparency on global climate finance access is essential to deliver climate action faster and at scale,” said Anthony Nyong, Director Climate Change and Green Growth Department at the African Development Bank.

The African Development Bank is joining the other Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) in a pavilion to showcase the joint commitment to combatting climate change. The Bank will participate in several panel discussions at COP25, and will support the advocacy efforts of its regional member countries. The Bank is playing a leading role in guiding progress on climate change on the continent. Some of its achievements are:

– 85% of investments are screened for climate risk and for greenhouse gas emissions. The Bank’s ambition is to screen all projects by 2020.
– By next year, 40% of the Bank’s own investments will be dedicated to climate finance.
– The Bank has doubled its total climate change commitment to $25 billion between 2020 and 2025, with more than half of it going to adaptation.

Read more here on the African Development Bank’s role at COP25.

Media contact: Gershwin Wanneburg, Communications Officer, Communication and External Relations Department, email: g.wanneburg@afdb.org

Excerpt:

By PRESS RELEASE
KIGALI, Rwanda, Nov 28 2019 (IPS-Partners)

“We’ve known it from the beginning that equality and women’s empowerment is the true way for sustainable development,” Rwanda’s Minister of Gender and Family Promotion, Solina Nyirahabimana told reporters at a 2019 Global Gender Summit press conference on Tuesday.

“During this past 25 years, we have been concentrating on gender equality, starting by creating a conducive environment, uprooting, revising, and abolishing discriminative laws. We’ve worked tirelessly to have women included in the financial sector,” Nyirahabimana said.

“When you don’t understand women, you can’t serve them.”

More than 1,200 delegates are in Kigali, Rwanda for the 2019 Global Gender Summit including distinguished guests such as the President of Rwanda Paul Kagame; the President of Ethiopia, Sahle-Work Zewde; the African Union Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat, and the First Ladies of Rwanda and Kenya. Also in attending are representatives of the heads of state of Gabon, Mali, Senegal, Chad, and the King of Morocco and gender ministers from Niger, Somalia, Senegal, South Sudan, Tunisia, and Libya.

African Development Bank Group Vice President for Agriculture, Human and Social Development, Dr. Jennifer Blanke, told journalists that much of Summit conversation centered around growing awareness that women need to be part of the development solution. “Women are a force to be unleashed and supported to ensure that they can really do their part in development in Africa. Women are already such a hugely important part of the development process,” she said.

Key highlights from the 2019 Global Gender Summit include the:

• Launch of the risk-sharing facility for the Bank-led Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa, or AFAWA, programme – to support the program’s three-pronged approach, which seeks to quickly close the gender gap by facilitating access to finance, providing technical assistance and creating an enabling business environment for women-led businesses to thrive.
• 50 Million African Women Speak – a new Pan-African networking platform and web and mobile-based application to directly connect 50 million African women entrepreneurs. The platform links women to financial institutions and provides networking opportunities across Africa.
• The joint United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA)-African Development Bank Africa Gender Index – a report that assesses African countries on gender equality.
• Fashionomics Africa Digital Marketplace and mobile app – the first ever digital B2B and B2C pan-African networking platform, dedicated to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises operating in the African textile, apparel and accessories industries.

Also speaking at the press conference marking the close of the Summit’s multilateral development bank segment, the Chairperson of the Multilateral Development Banks’ Gender working group Chairperson, Sonomi Tanaka, said summit discussions were productive and some African countries are carrying out good practices. However, Tanaka noted the critical importance of data in development policies working toward gender equality. “Again and again, this is something that is coming up. This lack of data comes up across any topic…and data is one area we need to continue to focus on,” she said.

Elaborating on the data challenge, Blanke said, “There is a dearth of data on these issues. The bottom line is if we don’t measure it, you don’t do it. If you don’t measure, it means you don’t care about it – and we care about it.”

This Tuesday press conference was the latest in a series of Global Gender Summit activities that will see delegates attend Summit partner-organized workshops, trainings and technical sessions on Wednesday. The Global Gender Summit is organized by The African Development Bank, with other multilateral development bank partners. The biennial event brings together leaders from government, development institutions, the private sector, civil society, and academia.

Under the theme “Unpacking constraints to gender equality,” the Summit’s conversations and dialogue focuses on scaling up innovative financing, enabling legal, regulatory, and institutional environments; and securing women’s participation and voices.

Commenting on the Summit outcome Blanke noted: “The Summit has been all about doing. Doing more and doing it fast.”

Contact: Grace Kiire, Communication and External Relations Department, African Development Bank, email: g.kiire@afdb.org

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A new policy paper by the Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report at UNESCO, released ahead of the UNHCR Global Refugee Forum next month, shows the increasingly important role of cities using education of people on the move as a lever for their inclusion. It calls for international and non-governmental organisations to recognise cities as partners and for governments to clarify and support cities’ role in education.

People on the move tend to concentrate in urban areas, whether arriving from rural areas or across borders. Many living in cities are foreign born – from 46% in Toronto to 62% in Brussels, 83% in Dubai and 39% in Sydney. Those forcibly displaced also often end up in cities, with around 60% of the world’s refugees living in urban areas.

Manos Antoninis, Director of the GEM Report, said “Currently, many migrants in poorer countries end up in slums with limited access to a free education. In richer countries they are often segregated into schools in disadvantaged neighbourhoods. Strong urban planning, inclusive learning environments and fighting discrimination are just some of the essential functions that cities can serve in addressing segregation. It’s a waste not to tap into this potential.”

The paper shows many cases of segregation happening in richer countries. In France, immigrants in 2007 were more likely to be in classes where 15% of students were immigrants. In Germany’s Hessen state, about 41% of children who did not speak German at home went to day-care centres where at least half the other children did not speak German either. In Turkey, housing market analysis indicated that natives moved out of neighbourhoods where Syrian refugees had settled.

Yet, the new paper, ‘Defending the right to the city for all’, shows that many cities, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, have no mandate and little financial support to tackle the issues. A review of Amman, Beirut, Tangier and Tunis, all with significant migrant or refugee population flows, showed they did not have any authority for delivering education services. A further review of 23 cities faced with migrant and displaced communities found that only 5 had a dedicated budget to support their efforts.

Cities that do have clear roles can make a huge difference in improving education access. Some are entirely or partly responsible for early childhood or primary education as in France, Italy and Germany and have the power to open access to people on the move. A few years ago, Turin in Italy decided not to apply a law requiring a residence permit to access education, spearheading a change in national policy. The city of Zurich in Switzerland provides an average of CHF 40,000 per year to schools with more than 40% of students with an immigrant background to help with language and reading skills.

Many cities help improve language skills, whether through online services as in Germany, or in language courses as in Italy with attached babysitting services so that migrant women can attend. Sao Paolo offers 600 places in municipal schools to learn Portuguese as a second language.

Links between schools and migrants are also prioritised. In Frankfurt, Germany, immigrant mothers and fathers attend their children’s classes in kindergarten and primary school twice a week; Linkoping in Sweden trains tutors with knowledge of Somali or Arabic to act as ‘link people’ for parents.

Cities also help fight discrimination with awareness campaigns, or by fostering exchanges between inhabitants. Valongo in Portugal created a Human Library project, called ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover’, whereby people can be ‘borrowed’ as though they are a book to answer questions on a variety of topics. Oslo in Norway set up a community festival to encourage intercultural exchange, and Seoul in Korea had an annual Migrant World Film Festival for more than a decade.

The paper has recommendations for four main actors:

1. City governments must plan education in an inclusive and sustainable way, consulting with migrants and refugees in the planning phase, and ensuring that they can benefit from existing policy tools that promote inclusion in education.

2. National governments need to clarify cities’ role and promote networks between cities so they can learn from each other’s experiences and share scarce resources.

3. International organisations need to recognise cities as partners. They can also help develop cities’ technical and managerial skills…for instance by funding investments in professional education

4. Non-governmental organisations need to help ensure that the voices of migrants are heard when education services are designed and delivered in cities, and lobby for stronger coordination between local authorities and other national departments.

By PRESS RELEASE
KIGALI, Rwanda, Nov 26 2019 (IPS-Partners)

“Investments in gender equality are critical to realizing demographic dividend, but we need to ensure that women have the tools to overcome the barriers they face,” First Lady of Rwanda, Jeannette Kagame told participants at a panel at the Global Gender Summit in Kigali on Monday.

The panel, made up of First Ladies Kagame, Margaret Kenyatta, ministers and development experts, observed that too many women and girls still face barriers to basic rights, particularly access to labour market opportunities.

Rwanda’s First Lady recalled the role women played following the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi, where a number of families were wiped out, with women in many cases being the ones catering for families.

“What a man can do, a woman can do just as well,” she added.

She described the Summit as an important platform to highlight issues of women equality.

Rwanda has implemented gender several inclusive programs, which has enhanced economic equality in a country where women political participation has grown to 61% percent.

First Lady Kenyatta called for the removal of institutional barriers to accelerate women’s economic empowerment, “It has become urgent for Africa to translate its demographic dividend into viable potential.”

“This is the spirit of Africa’s vision to accelerate its path to sustainable socio-economic development. Our collective commitment to ‘leave no one behind’ is a new chapter in our struggle towards achieving gender equality.”

The panel heard that impediments to gender equality include lack of access to credit, low representation in decision making positions, lack of control over productive land and lack of financial control to make spending decisions on education and health.

Minister of Solidarity, Social Development, Equality and Family Jamila El Moussali of Morocco,
shared experiences from Morocco where policies have been introduced to increase women’s political and economic participation.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, Ifeyinwa Ugochukwu, called on stakeholders to come together to leverage each other’s strengths “translate women dreams into reality. History will judge us if we don’t work together to take action now.”

The African Development Bank and the government of Rwanda are hosting the Global Gender Summit from 25 to 27 November in Kigali. The Summit is being organised by the Multilateral Development Banks’ (MDBs) Working Group on gender for the first time in Africa.

Contact: Emeka Anuforo, Communication and External Relations Department, African Development Bank, email: a.anuforo@afdb.org

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By PRESS RELEASE
Nov 25 2019 (IPS-Partners)

The United Nations (UN) Kenya Resident Coordinator’s Office and Council of Governors convened a high-level meeting Kenyan County Governors, and the leadership of the UN Kenya Country team to enhance a common understanding on the Kenya United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) 2018-2022 and explore areas to deepen and further collaboration.

The 2018-2022 UNDAF for Kenya was officially signed and launched by the three UNDAF co-chairs, Cabinet Secretary National Treasury, Cabinet Secretary Devolution, planning and ASALs and the UN Resident Coordinator (RC) on 26th June 2018. The UNDAF was developed and is implemented within the context of Delivering as One, as a collective response of the UN agencies and the Government of Kenya to coherently, effectively and efficiently realize the national development priorities. The Cooperation framework is embedded on the country’s blue print for development, the vision 2030 and national priorities as outlined in the Medium-Term Plan (MTP) III, the Big 4 Agenda and the Sustainable development goals.

This UNDAF has three Strategic Priority Areas that are aligned to the three MTP III Pillars (Political, Social and Economic) of the Government’s Vision 2030 : 1) Transformational Governance encompassing respect for the rule of law, improved security, and effective implementation of devolution, 2) Human capital development comprised of education ,training and learning, health, Multi-sectoral HIV and AIDS response, access to safe water and sanitation, social protection, gender based violence and violence against children, access to adequate housing and strengthening capacities for addressing disaster and emergencies and 3) Sustainable and inclusive growth focusing on a competitive and sustainable economic growth that is increasingly resilient, green, inclusive, equitable, and creating decent jobs and quality livelihoods for all.

Through this framework, the UN in Kenya will in the coming five years, commit a total of Ksh.197 billion (approximately $1.9 billion) to support the government realize development needs of the country. 58% of the estimate budget (about Ksh.116 billion) will support human capital development contributing to two of the GOK Big Four Agenda, namely housing and universal health coverage. 27% (about Ksh.50 billion) will support sustainable development and growth contributing to the other two agendas of food security and manufacturing. The remaining 15% (about ksh.30 billion) will focus on transformative governance, which is a key enabler of the Big Four Agenda as well as the MTP III.

The UNDAF 2018-2022 is building on innovative approaches, strengths, lessons learnt, and efforts initiated by the UN, National and County Governments, and development partners in Kenya. As such, the new UNDAF speaks to and intend to advance the UN Secretary General’s agenda on repositioning the UN system. Regarding strategic change and reforms, the new UNDAF will make even greater strides towards, expanding public private partnerships for SDG realization; deepen integrated programming, supporting counties and bordering countries going to the furthest first, to enhance the roots of cohesion and socio-economic transformation.

The UNDAF results and common budgetary framework, bringing all UN agencies in Kenya to Deliver as One (DaO) responds to the UN Secretary Generals call for optimizing resources and improving the effectiveness of the UN’s response to countries and regions. The UNDAF integrates the global programming principles and approaches of: leave no one behind; human rights, gender equality and women’s empowerment; sustainability and resilience; and accountability towards realization of SDGs. This UNDAF will strategize social inclusion as a principle to address inequality and socio-cultural discrimination, which are perceived as some of the root causes of exclusion and vulnerability in the country.

Siddharth Chatterjee, UN Resident Coordinator to Kenya, lauded the Government of Kenya for its leadership at both national as well as county level and underscored the meeting demonstrated the strong partnership between the UN Kenya Country Team and Kenya’s County Governments for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals agenda in Kenya in order to leave no-one-behind. The Resident Coordinator highlighted that over the period 2018 – 2019 the UN had provided US $205 million catalytic support towards UNDAF programming in support of Kenya’s Big Four agenda and the achievement of Kenya’s Vision2030

H.E Wycliffe Oparanya, Chairman of the Council of Governors, and Governor of Kakamega, shared his deep appreciation for Kenya’s long-standing partnership with the UN, and encouraged the UN to continue to advance its programming at County and grassroots levels in order to address the root causes holding back Kenya’s social economic development.

The Governors expressed their deep appreciation for the continued support from the UN Agencies and encouraged the need to deepen the engagement with all counties.

The forum acknowledged the need for stronger engagement with County Governments moving forward through a well-structured framework for engagement to ensure better coordination and improve impact.

For more information also see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErsGM7XD98w&feature=youtu.be

By PRESS RELEASE
KIGALI, Rwanda, Nov 25 2019 (IPS-Partners)

The 2019 Global Gender Summit, the first to be held on the continent, kicked off on Monday with a strong call to surge ahead on gender issues and move from commitment to action.

Africa’s only female President, Sahle-Work Zewde of Ethiopia, said Ethiopia’s parliament is one of the only two on the continent with over 50% gender parity in seats, and women currently hold key ministerial roles in defense and national security for the first time. Despite her own country’s huge advances, however, the work has just started, she said.

Zewde was speaking during the opening plenary of the Global Gender Summit, a biennial event organized by the multilateral development banks (MDBs), bringing together leaders from government, development institutions, private sector, civil society, and academia.
The Summit is taking place in Kigali Rwanda from 25th to November 27th.

“There is good momentum for women and African women, but the work has just started…‘There is no template to follow…we (women) can deliver, but we can deliver differently,” President Zewde said.

President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, who officially opened the Summit, described gender equality as “real commonsense.” Rwanda leads the word in gender representation in parliament with 61% of its parliamentarians being women — the highest in the world. In addition, half of all ministerial positions are held by women, just like in Ethiopia.

“We got it from the beginning that there is a lot of work to do…made investments to ensure that women are at the center of development. We are making sure that narrowing this gender gap is everyone’s responsibility,’ President Kagame said.

Echoing their sentiments, Chairperson of the African Union Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat said the African Union’s Agenda 2063 was deliberate about gender parity.

“What we are telling our heads of states is to take the bull by the horns…This discrimination is political, economic, and social; it is politically incorrect, unjustifiable socially…not to take (gender) into account is a real waste.”

In Africa, 70% of women are excluded financially. The continent has a $42 billion financing gap between men and women. And women, who are the majority of farmers, face a financing gap of close to $16 billion.

“The challenges are not just about gender. They are about under-representation and lack of empowerment of women,” African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina said.

“A smarter world must invest in women and girls. Let’s be smart, and let’s be wise. Women are the best investment any society can make,’ he added.

The African Development Bank is doing its part to transform the financing landscape for women with the launch of the Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA). AFAWA aims to mobilize $3 billion of new lending by banks and financial institutions for women in Africa. G7 leaders approved a package totaling $251 million in support of AFAWA during the summit in August.

Welcoming the conference participants, Rwanda’s Minister of Gender and Family Promotion, Soline Nyirahabimana, said the Kigali Conference center was set to glow orange in honor of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence. The 16 days kick off on November 25th, each year, which marks International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and runs until December 10th.

The 2019 Global Gender Summit is attended by the first ladies of Rwanda and Kenya as well as representatives of the heads of state of Gabon, Mali, Senegal, Chad and the King of Morocco. Also in attendance are ministers of genders from Niger, Somalia, Senegal, South Sudan, Tunisia, and Libya.

The Summit runs from 25th to 27th of November under the theme: ‘Unpacking constraints to gender equality.’

‘The African Development Bank believes in women. Women are bankable,” Adesina said.

Contact: Amba Mpoke-Bigg, Communication and External Relations Department, African Development Bank, email: a.mpoke-bigg@afdb.org

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