PATH [to 12 April 2014]

Announcement
Second round of grants available for evaluating nutrition programs
Awards aim to identify the best ways to improve maternal, child nutrition
PATH is awarding grants to civil society organizations to improve maternal and child nutrition. The grants are the second and final round in the four-year Nutrition Embedding Evaluation Programme (NEEP), funded by the UK Department for International Development. The grants aim to generate evidence on best ways to address undernutrition with a focus on value-for-money.

PATH will provide grants to organizations that are implementing nutrition-related programs. NEEP will oversee the grantees to ensure that they have established links with academic experts in the field of nutrition-related monitoring and evaluation (M&E).

PATH will consider grants in two categories:
Nutrition evaluation: These grants are intended to support organizations in evaluating the nutrition impact and outcomes of their programs, especially those that are using previously untested nutrition approaches. Programs could be in the areas of agriculture, education, gender empowerment, social development, health, or water and sanitation. We will also accept applications from organizations working to improve nutrition policy and/or the enabling environment.
Supplemental funding for planned and ongoing evaluation activities: These grants are intended for organizations that already have established evidence-based nutrition programs and are interested, for example, in evaluating the scale-up of delivery, cost effectiveness, or an innovative application of a proven intervention. Grantees can use the funding, for example, to conduct further data collection, additional documentation and publication, more in-depth analysis, or reassessment of evaluation design. Applicant organizations should already have some M&E capacity but may need additional resources to implement the program evaluation.

Prequalification questionnaire
PATH will release a prequalification questionnaire (PQQ) by April 21, 2014, for potential applicants. Please contact us at NEEP@path.org to receive a PQQ application. We will invite organizations that meet the selection criteria to submit a full application.

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PATH @PATHtweets Apr 12
9 ways the majority of newborn deaths can be prevented w/ delivery of existing interventions: http://www.path.org/blog/2014/04/infographic-child-survival/ … pic.twitter.com/qdE1DN07Ef

PATH @PATHtweets Apr 11
“Making every minute count” by PATH CSO Amie Batson on @GdnGlobalDevPro http://gu.com/p/3z8jz/tw

PATH ‏@PATHtweets Apr 10
PATH’s advocacy team develops a new tool to display importance of US investments in #RMNCH: https://vine.co/v/M56tdT0AIMY @PATHadvocacy

PATH @PATHtweets Apr 9
How can social entrepreneurs can use the expertise of organizations like PATH to create social good? http://bit.ly/1g6ZqpE #SkollWF

PATH @PATHtweets Apr 8
Dr. Jacqueline Sherris, VP for public health impact at PATH, reflects on the evolution of #globalhealth since 1988: http://bit.ly/1sw7EjL

SOS-Kinderdorf International [to 12 April 2014]

Courage Under Fire In South Sudan
10.04.2014 – When armed rebels attacked the SOS Children´s Village in Malakal, South Sudan, in December 2013, youth leader Isaac James led over 30 children on an epic journey to safety hundreds of kilometres away.

Children Living In War: Three Snapshots from Syria
10.04.2014 – A newborn baby rescued from the street; refugee kids making the best of life in rough shelters; a girl with nothing but the clothes on her back trying to stay warm through the cold winter – these are just three stories recorded by SOS Children´s Villages staff in Syria.

Homeless children in Syria: Two little girls´story
10.04.2014 – Little Alaa and Aya, living alone on the streets of Damascus, knew their own names, but had no identity papers and no idea what happened to their parents. A good samaritan noticed and took action.

Boatloads of Help: Fishing Boats Help Philippine Families Revive Lost Livelihoods
09.04.2014 – Families in communities devastated by Typhoon Haiyan are finally getting back on their feet with the gift of new fishing boats provided by SOS Children´s Villages and partners

Children’s Villages ‏@sos4children 12h
Are you a friend of SOS Children’s Village? Join our Google+ community! https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/100101532692451287721/communities/110525154711562620595 …

Children’s Villages @sos4children Apr 10
RT @AAMills: @sos_children @sos4children Helping #Philippines fishing community devastated by #Typhoon return to sea http://bit.ly/1gOsrG5

St. Christopher’s Hospice [to 12 April 2014]

Volunteering for St Christopher’s
Published on Friday, 11 April 2014
The work volunteers do for us contributes enormously to the range of services we can offer
Volunteering for St Christopher’s can be both rewarding and enjoyable.
Some find the experience and confidence they gain a useful stepping stone on the way to a career. Others bring us a lifetime’s experience.

Tostan [to 12 April 2014]
April 8, 2014
Promoting the abandonment of violence against children through interzonal meetings in Kaolack, Senegal
On March 24-25, the villages of Keur Baka and Keur Alpha hosted two interzonal meetings with representatives from Tostan partner communities participating directly and indirectly, through coordinated outreach called organized diffusion, in the Reinforcement of Parental Practices (RPP) module. These meetings served to promote a non-violent education and home life for all children and prepare the communities for a future regional declaration to abandon violence against children.

Tostan @Tostan Apr 11
15 Senegalese teens participated in a three-day caravan to promote #HumanRights! Read more http://bit.ly/1hGlBm1 pic.twitter.com/VMADlGifMw

Women for Women International [to 12 April 2014]

Women for Women Intl ‏@WomenforWomen Apr 11
Mukonondo, #WfWI grad from DRC, shares her story of how she became an entrepreneur & stood up for her family’s rights http://ow.ly/vGTAa

United Nations – Selected Meetings Coverage and Press Releases [to 12 April 2014]
http://www.un.org/en/unpress/

Meetings
Security Council Authorizes United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Central African Republic (10 April 2014)
SC/11349

Secretary-General Calls for Strengthening United Nations Capacity to Harness Strengths of External Actors in Tackling Development Goals (9 April 2014)
GA/11494-ECOSOC/6604

Small Island States Point to Gains in Women’s Health, Combating Domestic Violence as Population Commission Focuses on Protecting Families (8 April 2014)
POP/1026

Discrimination against Females Single Biggest Obstacle to Public Health, Special Envoy Says as Commission on Population Opens Session (7 April 2014)
POP/1025

UNICEF [to 12 April 2014]
http://www.unicef.org/media/media_71508.html

Media Releases [selected]
New commitments in water and sanitation will transform children’s lives
WASHINGTON, DC, 11 April 2014 – UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake, and World Bank President Jim Yong Kim today joined over 50 countries in setting concrete targets to reach the 2.5 billion people across the globe still without adequate sanitation, and the almost 750 million without safe drinking water.

Child malnutrition in South Sudan could double, warns UNICEF
JUBA, South Sudan, 11 April 2014 – The youngest citizens of the world’s newest nation are on the verge of a nutrition crisis and nearly a quarter of a million children will suffer severe acute malnutrition by the end of the year if more is not done now, says UNICEF.

Life-saving information helps reduce spread of Ebola across West Africa
DAKAR, Senegal, 10 April 2014 – Together with Ministries of Health and other partners across seven countries in West Africa, UNICEF is using text messaging through mobile phones, radio shows, TV programmes and door-to-door campaigns to disseminate life-saving information in an effort to contain the often-fatal Ebola virus.

Bridging the gaps: Leaders to map future of investments in water, sanitation and hygiene
WASHINGTON, DC, 10 April 2014 – Government ministers from 50 countries are expected this week to pledge concrete commitments to bring safe water, sanitation and hygiene to those who need it most.

UNICEF welcomes new Kuwait donation for children of Syria
NEW YORK, 7 April 2014 – Millions of Syrian children will benefit from a generous US$ 34.5 million donation by the government of Kuwait, UNICEF said today.
Government ministers, influencers to meet in Washington to map future of water and sanitation spending
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson, World Bank President Dr. Jim Yong Kim, UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake and H.E. John Agyekum Kufuor, Chairman, Sanitation and Water for All Partnership, to join ministers from 50 countries in 2014 High Level Meeting on Water and Sanitation for All in Washington, DC, on 11 April 2014.

First mass vaccination campaigns start since polio found in Iraq
AMMAN, 6 April 2014 – Polio vaccination campaigns commenced in Syria, Iraq and Egypt today, aiming to reach more than 20 million children over the next five days.

UNHCR [to 12 April 2014]
http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/hom
9 April 2014
UNHCR, Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) Reach Eastern Aleppo with Truckloads of Aid

7 April 2014
Kuwait gives US$ 100 million to UNHCR for Syria operations

7 April 2014
UNHCR seeking access to detained asylum- seekers and refugees in Nairobi

6 April 2014
UNHCR dismayed at violent demonstration at Za’atri Refugee Camp in Jordan

6 April 2014
UNHCR dismayed at violent demonstration at Za’atri Refugee Camp in Jordan

UNOCHA [to 12 April 2014]
http://www.unocha.org/
Press Releases
12 Apr 2014
South Sudan: United Nations, United States and European Union call for immediate action on South Sudan
Source: European Commission Humanitarian Aid department, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, US Agency for International Development Country: South Sudan (Washington DC, 12 April 2014) The heads of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and the European Union (EU) Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response today called for more…

12 Apr 2014
Solomon Islands: United Nations working together in flood-affected Honiara
Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Country: Solomon Islands (Honiara, 12 April 2014): The United Nations is working together in Honiara to assist the thousands of people affected by flash flooding in the capital and Guadalcanal Province. A week after floods devastated the Solomon Islands, 21 people are confirmed dead with two missing and an estimated 52,000 affected across Honiara City and greater Guadalcanal. Over 10 UN agencies are in Honiara to distribute…

11 Apr 2014
South Sudan: Central Emergency Response Fund allocates another US$15 million for South Sudan
Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Country: South Sudan (New York, 11 April 2014): The United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC), Valerie Amos, has allocated US$15 million to support the most critical life-saving aid operations in South Sudan. This is the second allocation from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to South Sudan in 2014, bringing the total CERF funding to the crisis this year to $30.3 million. “The people of South Sudan are in…

10 Apr 2014
Syrian Arab Republic: Under-Secretary-General and Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos Statement on Syria
Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Country: Syrian Arab Republic (New York, 10 April 2014) Yesterday’s deadly car bomb attacks on a shopping street in Homs remind us again of the contempt the parties to this conflict show for human life. More than twenty people were killed and more than one hundred injured, including women and children going about their daily business. Two volunteers from the Syrian Arab Red Crescent were among the injured as they arrived in an…

10 Apr 2014
Tajikistan: OCHA ROCCA Times #2 (March 2014)
Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Country: Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan OCHA Regional Office for Caucasus and Central Asia Newsletter Spring is here and we are happy to share the second issue of the ROCCA times. In March, our attention was consumed by the evolving crisis in Ukraine. Although our office covers only countries in the South Caucasus and Central Asia, we were requested to provide preparedness support to the United Nations Country Team in Ukraine…

09 Apr 2014
Sudan: Darfur: New Humanitarian Needs and Aid Delivery Fact Sheet, 7 April 2014
Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Country: Sudan A new wave of violence across Darfur has generated enormous additional humanitarian needs since late February 2014. Hostilities and violence involving Government forces supported by the Rapid Support Force, a Government-affiliated militia, armed movements and armed tribal militia in Darfur have spread across much of North and South Darfur, with some spillover effects to Central, West and East Darfur states. As of 7…

07 Apr 2014
Solomon Islands: Pacific Humanitarian Team deploying to support Solomon Islands flash flood response
Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Country: Solomon Islands (Suva, 7 April 2014): The Pacific Humanitarian Team (PHT) has begun deployments to Honiara today in support of the Government’s response to flash floods which have devastated the capital and provinces in the Solomon Islands. Heavy rain from a tropical depression caused severe flooding in Honiara after the Mataniko River burst its banks, washing away homes and bridges. The Government has confirmed 21…

UNDP United Nations Development Program [to 12 April 2014]
http://www.us.undp.org/content/undp/en/home.html
12 Apr 2014
Helen Clark: Statement to the 29th Meeting of the International Monetary and Financial Committee
Washington D.C.

12 Apr 2014
Helen Clark: Statement to the Development Committee
Washington D.C.

11 Apr 2014
Guinea-Bissau votes in bid for stability
Voters in Guinea-Bissau head to the polls this Sunday, in a presidential and parliamentary election many hope will bring stability to the tiny West African nation.

09 Apr 2014
UNDP and Kuwait Expand Partnership for Response to Syria Crisis
The State of Kuwait this week contributed US$2.5 million towards UNDP’s emergency support in Syria and neighboring countries.

09 Apr 2014
India+Social Good
The India+Social Good Summit is tied to the annual Social Good Summit that takes place during UN Week in New York City. It highlights social issues and challenges and explores how innovation and new technology can help improve people’s lives in the world’s largest democracy. In keeping with the goals of the Social Good Summit to open the conversation to everyone, everywhere, the event will be live-streamed to a worldwide audience.

09 Apr 2014
United Nations Development Group Launches New Dialogues on Implementation of the Post-2015 Agenda
The United Nations Development Group (UNDG) which unites 32 UN funds and programmes, presented today its plan to launch this year’s Dialogues on Implementation of the Post-2015 development agenda.

07 Apr 2014
SocialGood Summit Comes to India
India’s future and the developing role of Social Good in making the world a better place will be the focus of a groundbreaking initiative in Mumbai, India, on 9 April 2014. Global leaders, policy makers and philanthropists will meet in Mumbai for the one-day India+SocialGood Summit to discuss the use of technology and new media in global action for change.

07 Apr 2014
Regional coordination essential for effective crisis mitigation in the Arab region
Crisis response officials from 20 Arab countries started in Amman today meetings of the first regional conference “Towards a Crisis Response Network in the Arab Region.” Over two days, the conference discusses means to enhance the regional architecture for crisis management in order to link and strengthen national institutions, operating procedures, and capacities in early warning and crisis response.

07 Apr 2014
Twenty years on: a transformed Rwanda
Twenty years ago, nearly a million women, men and children were killed over the course of 100 days during the Rwandan genocide. Rwanda is now a thriving nation. In 2000, the government introduced its Vision 2020, which seeks to transform the country from a low-income agriculture-based economy to a knowledge-based, service economy by 2020.

07 Apr 2014
Secretary-General’s message for the 20th commemoration of the Rwandan genocide

07 Apr 2014
New online platform maps Brazil’s improved human development trends in over 5,500 municipalities
Human development in Brazil has improved drastically in the past two decades with historic disparities narrowing between northern and southern municipalities, according to the UN Development Programme’s (UNDP) Human Development Atlas for Brazil.

UN Women [to 12 April 2014]
http://www.unwomen.org/

Making markets safe for women vendors in Papua New Guinea
Posted on April 11, 2014
UN Women’s Port Moresby Safe City Programme will work with local authorities to make its busiest market safe for women vendors with new funding from the Government of New Zealand. More

Op-ed: The way forward for gender equality
Posted on April 9, 2014
In an editorial, UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka and the Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund, Babatunde Osotimehin, stress that 20 years after the Cairo population conference, there is still much to achieve for women’s empowerment. More

Women living with HIV cultivate leaders and food, in Uganda’s slums
Posted on April 7, 2014
In the Katwe slum in Kampala, a group of women living with HIV are cultivating food, cleaning up the community and raising awareness of the right to sanitation and adequate housing. More

UNFPA United Nations Population Fund [to 12 April 2014]
http://www.unfpa.org/public/

11 April 2014 – Dispatch
UNFPA hosts Google Hangout on adolescents, young people at Commission on Population and Development
UNITED NATIONS, New York – On Friday 11 April, from 12pm until 1pm, UNFPA, the UN Population Fund, is hosting a “Google Hangout” on a vital – and yet too often neglected – area of action: adolescents and young people. more

10 April 2014 – Dispatch
Human Rights Essential to Advancing Sexual and Reproductive Health Agenda
UNITED NATIONS, New York – Human rights violations are one of the main challenges to achieving equitable, universal and sustainable access to sexual and reproductive health information and services, according to international experts gathered at a side event of the UN Commission on Population and Development. more

09 April 2014 – Dispatch
Mapping a Sustainable Development Agenda for the 21st Century
UNITED NATIONS, New York – Twenty years ago in Cairo, the Programme of Action adopted at the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) articulated a bold new vision that recognized the human rights of women and young people, including their reproductive health and rights, as cornerstones of sustainable development. This week, representatives from governments, international organizations and civil society gather at the United Nations to celebrate the vision of Cairo, take stock of progress made, and lay the groundwork for the future development agenda. more

09 April 2014 – Statement
Statement on the Philippines Supreme Court’s Decision on the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Law
UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, welcomes the decision by the Philippines Supreme Court to uphold the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012, which allows women, especially the poor and marginalized, access to reproductive health information and services, including family planning and sexuality education. more

08 April 2014 – Dispatch
Midwives are Key to Fewer Maternal Deaths
UNITED NATIONS, New York – At a side event of the 47th session of the United Nations Commission on Population and Development, leaders and experts highlighted the key role of midwifery in drastically decreasing maternal deaths and providing crucial services for societies as a whole. more

08 April 2014 – Dispatch
The World Must Reach Those Left Behind
UNITED NATIONS, New York – The 2014 Session of the Commission on Population and Development opened on 7 April with calls to redouble efforts to promote development through strengthened reproductive health and human rights. more

07 April 2014 – Feature Story
How Has the World Changed in the Last 20 Years?
UNITED NATIONS, New York – Twenty years ago, in 1994, the international community gathered in Cairo to explore how the world was changing and how those changes were affecting the most vulnerable. Today, the world is very different. But has it changed in the ways we hoped it would? more

07 April 2014 – Statement
Opening of 47th Session of the Commission on Population and Development
“The ICPD Programme of Action changed forever how we perceive population and development. It moved population policies and programmes from a focus on numbers to a focus on individuals – women and men, girls and boys. And in so doing, it ensured that our collective goals included all people, particularly the most marginalized and vulnerable women and girls”, said UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin in his opening remarks to this historic session of the Commission on Population and Development. more

FAO Food & Agriculture Organization [to 12 April 2014]
http://www.fao.org/home/en/

FAO and Canada to help Philippine coconut farmers rehabilitate their livelihoods hit hard by Typhoon Haiyan
8-04-2014

Deepening crisis in the Central African Republic devastating people’s ability to support themselves
UN report says immediate support for food and livelihoods needed to meet “acute and complex emergency”
7-04-2014

USAID [to 12 April 2014]
http://www.usaid.gov/

Press Releases
USAID Shah, UN Amos, EU Georgieva: South Sudan on the Brink of Food Crisis
Friday, April 11, 2014
U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Rajiv Shah, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos and EU Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid, and Crisis Response Kristalina Georgieva will co-host a press conference on Saturday, April 12, at the UN Foundation in Washington, D.C., to underscore the severity of the growing humanitarian crisis in South Sudan. The officials will also share information about new efforts to raise awareness about the crisis.

By Preparing for Disaster, Chile Remains Resilient
April 11, 2014 — Tim Callaghan, Senior Regional Advisor for Latin America and the Caribbean, Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance
A powerful magnitude 8.2 earthquake struck near the northern coast of Chile on April 1, prompting a tsunami and a series of strong aftershocks. Yet, nearly 1 million people were safely evacuated from harm’s way thanks to Chile’s disaster response preparations and early detection of the tsunami.

Serbia Plugs Into Cow Power
April 11, 2014 — Mirjana Vukša-Zavišić, Development Outreach and Communications Assistant, USAID/Serbia
With support from USAID’s Agribusiness Project, manure from the Lazar Dairy is being “digested” by Serbia’s first biogas plant and converted into electricity, which the dairy sells to the national electricity company, EPS, at a preferential rate applicable to renewable energy suppliers.

DFID [to 12 April 2014]
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-international-development
UK pledges new focus on disaster preparation
11 April 2014 DFID Press release

Greening: act now for Syrian children
10 April 2014 DFID Press release

British accountants to develop accountancy expertise in Africa and Asia
10 April 2014 DFID Press release

JPMorgan Chase, DFID and CDC announce $20 million combined investment in Novastar Ventures
8 April 2014 DFID Press release

UK calls for restoration of Humanitarian Access in Rakhine State
7 April 2014 DFID and FCO Press release

ECHO [to 12 April 2014]
http://ec.europa.eu/echo/index_en.htm
Ebola in West Africa: EU increases its immediate health assistance to €1.1 million
11.04.2014 – The European Union is stepping up its joint efforts to contain the spread of the first outbreak of Ebola in West Africa and assist those affected by the deadly virus.

EU promotes further commitment to disaster risk reduction
08.04.2014 – Today’s Commission communication on reducing the impact of natural and man-made disasters constitutes a cornerstone in shaping a common EU position.

World Health Day 2014: over 300 million in need of humanitarian health assistance
07.04.2014 – As the world is focusing its attention to global health hazards of the day, it is important to note what health means in situations of humanitarian crises.

ODI [to 12 April 2014]
http://www.odi.org.uk/
Rwanda 20 years on: has the humanitarian sector improved?
A practitioner’s account
ODI’s John Borton led the evaluation of the humanitarian response to the Rwandan genocide. What changes have occurred as a result? His blog for the Humanitarian Practice Network investigates.

8 April 2014
African nations risk austerity when raising cash from bonds
A range of African countries are risking a future of austerity by raising money with bonds they could struggle to pay back – unless they act now.

OECD [to 12 April 2014]
http://www.oecd.org/

Aid to developing countries rebounds in 2013 to reach an all-time high
8 April 2014
Development aid rose by 6.1% in real terms in 2013 to reach the highest level ever recorded, despite continued pressure on budgets in OECD countries since the global economic crisis. Donors provided a total of USD 134.8 billion in net official development assistance (ODA), marking a rebound after two years of falling volumes, as a number of governments stepped up their spending on foreign aid.

World Bank [to 12 April 2014]
http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/all
April 11, 2014
World Bank Group President Flags Sanitation as Key Priority for Ending Poverty
Kim urges world leaders to tackle poverty through increasing access to improved sanitation WASHINGTON, April 11, 2014 – World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim today, at a meeting with global ministers of finance, water and sanitation, called on world leaders to take urgent action to provide access to basic sanitation services for their citizens, as a means to fight poverty. The remarks come ahead of the IMF-World Bank Group Spring Meetings.“We’re here today to prevent millions of needless deaths of people – most of them poor children – who die because of a lack of sanitation,” said Kim.An estimated 2.5 billion people lack access to functioning toilets or sanitary means of disposing human feces. This includes the 1 billion people who practice open defecation near rivers and fields, spreading germs from human waste through food, water, and washing of clothes. The resulting diarrheal disease leads to the deaths of thousands of children every day, and countless other negative impacts…

April 11, 2014
Remittances to developing countries to stay robust this year, despite increased deportations of migrant workers, says WB
WASHINGTON, April 11, 2014 – International migrants from developing countries are expected to send $436 billion in remittances to their home countries this year, despite more deportations from some host countries, says the World Bank’s latest issue of the Migration and Development Brief, released today.This year’s remittance flows to developing countries will be an increase of 7.8 percent over the 2013 volume of $404 billion, rising to $516 billion in 2016, according to revised projections from the latest issue of the brief. Global remittances, including those to high-income countries, are estimated at $581 billion this year, from $542 billion in 2013, rising to $681 billion in 2016.Remittances remain a key source of external resource flows for developing countries, far exceeding official development assistance and more stable than private debt and portfolio equity flows. For many developing countries, remittances are an important source of foreign exchange, surpassing earnings…

April 11, 2014
WBG President Kim Calls for Renewed International Support to Help Haiti Overcome Cholera
Washington, April 11, 2014 – World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim today called for renewed commitments from international partners and a roadmap for integrated health, water and sanitation investments in support of Haiti’s National Cholera Elimination Plan. “Cholera can be eliminated in Haiti. We need to do much more to strengthen Haitian institutions and support the Government’s cholera elimination plan,” Kim said. “This will require an integrated multi-sector approach that prioritizes improvements in water and health programs for the most vulnerable people.” While the number of cases has been dramatically cut since the beginning of the outbreak in October 2010 – from a monthly average of more than 35,000 cases in the first year of the epidemic to around 4,900 in 2013 – Haiti still has the highest number of cholera cases in the world…

April 7, 2014
Africa’s Growth Set to Reach 5.2 percent in 2014 With Strong Investment Growth and Household Spending
WASHINGTON, April 7, 2014–Economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) continues to rise from 4.7 percent in 2013 to a forecasted 5.2 percent in 2014. This performance is boosted by rising investment in natural resources and infrastructure, and strong household spending, according to the World Bank’s new Africa’s Pulse, a twice-yearly analysis of the issues shaping Africa’s economic prospects. Growth was notably buoyant in resource-rich countries, including Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo. It remained steady in Cote d’Ivoire, while rebounding in Mali, supported by improved political stability and security. Non-resource-rich countries, particularly Ethiopia and Rwanda, also experienced solid economic growth in 2013.Capital flows to Sub-Saharan Africa continued to rise, reaching an estimated 5.3 percent of regional GDP in 2013, significantly above the developing-country average of 3.9 percent…

The Sphere Project [to 12 April 2014]
http://www.sphereproject.org/news/

Helping to keep livestock alive in emergencies
14 April 2014 | Sphere Project
Livestock are key livelihood assets for many people in rural areas. No wonder that a specific set of standards has been developed to help practitioners deal with a much-neglected area of humanitarian practice involving livestock owners and their animals.
A trained social anthropologist, Cathy Watson has been the Coordinator of the Livestock Emergency Guidelines and Standards (LEGS) Project since its inception eight years ago. She has spent the last almost 30 years working in development. Before joining LEGS, her interest in pastoralism had brought her to East Africa, where she worked in Kenya and Uganda, focusing in particular on gender issues.
In the following interview, Watson explains how LEGS, which is one of the Sphere Project companion standards, is helping promote livelihoods-based thinking and improve the quality of livestock-based responses in emergencies…