The Sentinel

Human Rights Action :: Humanitarian Response :: Health :: Education :: Heritage Stewardship ::
Sustainable Development
__________________________________________________
Week ending 28 October 2017

This weekly digest is intended to aggregate and distill key content from a broad spectrum of practice domains and organization types including key agencies/IGOs, NGOs, governments, academic and research institutions, consortia and collaborations, foundations, and commercial organizations. We also monitor a spectrum of peer-reviewed journals and general media channels. The Sentinel’s geographic scope is global/regional but selected country-level content is included. We recognize that this spectrum/scope yields an indicative and not an exhaustive product. Comments and suggestions should be directed to:

David R. Curry
Editor
GE2P2 Global Foundation – Governance, Evidence, Ethics, Policy, Practice
david.r.curry@ge2p2center.net

pdf version: The Sentinel_ period ending 28 October 2017

Contents
:: Week in Review  [See selected posts just below]
:: Key Agency/IGO/Governments Watch – Selected Updates from 30+ entities
:: INGO/Consortia/Joint Initiatives Watch – Media Releases, Major Initiatives, Research
:: Foundation/Major Donor Watch -Selected Updates
:: Journal Watch – Key articles and abstracts from 100+ peer-reviewed journals

Refugees – Rohingya Crisis

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Donors Pledge Over USD 344 Million in Reponse to Rohingya Refugee Crisis
2017-10-23 20:00
Geneva – The international donor community today announced pledges for more than US$344 million to urgently ramp up the delivery of critical humanitarian assistance to Rohingya refugees and host communities in Bangladesh.

Funding was also pledged for the humanitarian response inside Myanmar where violence, insecurity and growing humanitarian needs have sent nearly 600,000 Rohingya from the northern Rakhine state into Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh since 25 August. This ongoing exodus is the fastest growing refugee crisis in the world…

35 pledges were made at the conference in Geneva which was co-organised by the UN Migration Agency (IOM), the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and with Kuwait and the European Union as co-hosts.

“More than 800,000 stateless Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh aspire to a life that meets their immediate needs for food, medicine, water, and shelter. But beyond that, a life that has hope for the future where their identity is recognised, they are free from discrimination, and are able to return safely to their homes in Myanmar. As we come together in solidarity, I want to thank Bangladesh and its refugee hosting communities and the donors for supporting them,” said UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi….

“Today’s pledges from the international community will help rebuild Rohingya refugees’ lives. Without these vital funds, humanitarians would not be able to continue providing protection and life-saving aid to one of the most vulnerable groups in the world. While we are thankful, I hope that the end of this conference does not mean the end of new funding commitments. We have not reached our target and each percentage point we are under means thousands without food, healthcare and shelter,” said William Lacy Swing, UN Migration Director General.

Conference participants stressed that the international community must help bring a peaceful solution to the plight of the Rohingya and ensure conditions that will allow for their eventual voluntary return in safety and dignity. The origins and the solutions to the crisis lie in Myanmar…

A preliminary list of pledges announced today is available here. Pledges above USD$10 million:
United Kingdom 63,087,248
European Commission 42,452,830
United States of America 38,000,000
Sweden 23,804,576
Australia 23,492,561
Saudi Arabia 20,000,000
CERF 19,000,000
Denmark 18,454,027
Canada 1 15,745,790
Kuwait 15,000,000
Qatar 2 15,000,000

1 Includes an additional $9.6 million announced on 23 October following the close of the conference. /
2 Announced on 24 October.
The UN acknowledges the generous contributions of donors who provide unearmarked or core funding to humanitarian partners, CERF and country-based pooled funds.

::::::

Mortality and Morbidity Weekly Bulletin (MMWB) – Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh Volume No 2: 22 October 2017
[Excerpt]
5.1 Cholera vaccination campaign in Cox’s Bazar and Bandarban
Since August 2017, an influx of approximately 600,000 from Myanmar arrived in Bangladesh. Overcrowding, bad sanitation and malnutrition were prevalent and outbreaks of cholera resulting in thousands of cases anticipated. Considering lack of safe drinking water, proper sanitation facilities and poor personal hygiene practices, the UMN camps of two sub-districts, Teknaf and Ukhia, were at high risk of spreading cholera as experience from similar situations in other countries has shown. Moreover, it has been reported that a huge number of people are suffering from acute watery diarrhoea.

Based on field assessments conducted by WHO in the newly established settlements and makeshift camps, the water and sanitation conductions are dire. Sanitation facilities range between 1 latrine per 1,000 to 5,000 people, open defecation is a widespread practice. Coupled with rainfall these pose serious public health threats…

On 10 October 2017, the Government of Bangladesh launched an oral cholera vaccination (OCV) campaign with the support of WHO for 10 days, targeting over 650,000 people in 11 camps/settlements in Cox’s Bazar district, Chittagong division. It was the first OCV campaign to be conducted in the country, and comes at a critical time after UMNs influx to the country since August 2017.

Because of the large numbers of UMNs living in the camps and within the host community and the limited supply of OCV, the vaccination campaign in Cox’s Bazar Bangladesh was limited to UMN camps at full capacity or overcrowded and to all host community areas. The large influx of UMNs increased uncertainty about the size of the target population, data from the most recent measles vaccination campaign (2017) were used to estimate the population aged >1-year-old.

The vaccination campaign was preceded by extensive social mobilization efforts to inform the community of the benefits, availability and necessity of the vaccine. The main message included that vaccination is a preventive measure against cholera that supplements, but does not replace, other traditional cholera control measures such as improving access to safe water and sanitation and hygiene measures/interventions.

The vaccination strategy included a combination of fixed sites and mobile teams for door-to-door vaccine delivery. The vaccine cold chain was maintained, and vaccines were transported using a sufficient number of vaccine carriers and ice packs for a door-to-door strategy. Experience from WHO’s technical staff supported the implementation of this campaign during the public health emergency.

As of October 18, 2017, a total of 700,487 persons were reported to have been vaccinated of them; 691,574 representing 105% % (691,574/658,372) of the target population (Table 2). An additional 8,913 (not included in the original micro-plan) were vaccination in 2 sites; Anjumanpara, and Sabrang Entry Point…

Migration and Its Impact on Cities
World Economic Forum
October 2017 :: 172 pages
Report PDF: http://www3.weforum.org/docs/Migration_Impact_Cities_report_2017_HR.pdf
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Report structure
Chapter 1 Migration & Its Impact
Defining migration, its types, causes, impact and key trends
This chapter focuses primarily on the different types of migration, their causes, the current migration flows and the top migration corridors of the world. It also includes a detailed assessment of the economic, social and political impact of migration (both positive and negative) at the destination across sectors of urban infrastructure and services.

Chapter 2 City Perspectives
Perspectives of city leaders on migration
This chapter profiles 22 cities across the globe that have been significantly affected by migration, starting with a brief history of migration in the city, elaborating on the current migration trends, issues and impacts, and the solutions implemented to address the impact on urban infrastructure and services for the migrant population. It also includes key lessons and takeaways from each city on managing migration.

Chapter 3 Analysing Challenges & Opportunities
Analysing the challenges and opportunities, with solutions to counter migration issues
This chapter provides collective analyses of perspectives of the city leaders featured and of other cities researched on the challenges and opportunities of migration globally. It also provides real-world solutions to the issues presented by migration, backed up by case-study examples from around the world.

Chapter 4 City Preparedness
City preparedness for future migration
This chapter elaborates on a framework for cities expected to be impacted the most by the current or future trends in migration, and expands on the role of businesses, government, civil society and the migrant community, among others, that would prepare them to manage migration more effectively.

Chapter 5 The Way Forward
The way forward — Call for action
The final chapter draws inferences from the case studies’ main takeaways and from the solutions illustrated in the previous chapters. Finally, a roadmap for the long-term integration of migrants is shared to guide city leaders looking to address migration issues today and in the future.

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Press Release
Migration in Cities: New Report Examines the Challenges and How to Address Them
25 Oct 2017
:: The World Economic Forum has released its new report on Migration and Cities covering the different types and causes of migration, with a particular focus on its impact on cities around the world and how they can be better prepared.
:: The report includes 22 case studies from the most affected cities in each region of the world. These look at the solutions implemented or initiated to meet the needs of the migrant population, particularly in the delivery of vital urban infrastructure and services – housing, education, health, employment, integration and social cohesion, and safety and security.
:: It explores the role of the migrant community, government, the private sector, international organizations and wider civil society in addressing the issue of migration in cities, and includes a call for action for city leaders to better prepare themselves for migration.

Gender – Development – Security – Peace

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Women, Peace and Security Index 2017/18: Tracking Sustainable Peace through Inclusion, Justice, and Security for Women.
Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security
Peace Research Institute of Oslo
2017 :: 84 pages
Report PDF: https://giwps.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/WPS-Index-Report-2017-18.pdf
Executive Summary
The new global Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) Index introduced in this report bridges insights from gender and development indices with those from peace and security indices. The index incorporates three basic dimensions of well- being—inclusion (economic, social, political); justice (formal laws and informal discrimination); and security (at the family, community, and societal levels)—and captures and quantifies them through 11 indicators. It ranks 153 countries—covering more than 98 percent of the world’s population—along these three dimensions in a way that focuses attention on key achievements and major shortcomings. It reflects a shared vision that countries are more peaceful and prosperous when women are accorded full and equal rights and opportunity. A primary goal of the index is to accelerate progress on both the international Women, Peace and Security agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals, bringing partners together around an agenda for women’s inclusion, justice, and security. It offers opportunities for stakeholders to review and discuss challenges and to identify opportunities for trans- formative change. It highlights key priorities, points toward a roadmap of needed reforms, and can inform more effective partnerships and collaboration.

Preface
Global indices are a way to assess and compare national progress against international goals, such as the Sustainable Development Goals, by distilling complex information into a single
number. Such composite indices can capture and synthesize an array of data in a way that can be readily understood and that is especially informative for multidimensional concepts.

The new global Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) Index introduced in this report bridges insights from gender and development indices with those from peace and security indices. The index incorporates three basic dimensions of wellbeing—inclusion (economic, social, political); justice (formal laws and informal discrimination); and security (at the family, community, and societal levels) – and captures and quantifies them through 11 indicators. It ranks 153 countries [covering more than 98 percent of the world’s population] along these three dimensions in a way that focuses attention on key achievements and major shortcomings. It reflects a shared vision that countries are more peaceful and prosperous when women are accorded full and equal rights and opportunity.

A primary goal of the index is to accelerate progress on both the international Women, Peace and Security agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals, bringing partners together around an agenda for women’s inclusion, justice, and security. It offers opportunities for stakeholders to review and discuss challenges and to identify opportunities for transformative change. It highlights key priorities, points toward a roadmap of needed reforms, and can inform more effective partnerships and collaboration.

Alongside much-needed reforms, this report aims to inspire further thought and analysis, as well as better data, to illuminate the constrainers and enablers of progress for women and girls to meet the international community’s goals and commitments. Highly comparative and easy to
understand numbers can call out low performers and help to reinforce good performance.

The WPS Index and the findings it reveals are likely to be especially useful to several key stakeholder groups:
:: Policymakers can draw on the results to set priorities for action to improve women’s inclusion, justice, and/or security in countries that are performing poorly overall or where achievements are unbalanced across the three dimensions and the underlying indicators. The index results reveal the potential for improvements, as well as more generalized deficits that require attention.
:: Civil society can use the results to spotlight achievements as well as injustice and to hold decision-makers accountable, especially given the links to the Sustainable Development Goals to which all national governments have committed.
:: Businesses and investors can better analyze risks and assess the policy environment in countries based on rankings on inclusion, justice, and security.
:: Academics from a range of disciplines—peace and security studies, development economics, gender specialties – can exploit a wealth of possibilities for research from the WPS Index, which provides a major database for analysis as well as online tools to investigate the data.
:: The international development community can see a comprehensive picture of achievements and gaps along a range of fronts, including areas needing greater focus and investment.

The index will be updated every two years. It will track progress ahead of the UN High-level Political Forum in 2019, for follow-up and review of the Sustainable Development Goals, and the 20th anniversary of 2000 UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, providing a platform for scaling up efforts toward 2030.

Development – U.S. Foreign Aid: Governance/Structures

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REDESIGN CONSENSUS: A Plan for U.S. Assistance
October 2017 :: 7 pages
Unified Proposal
This set of ambitious yet practical steps constitutes a holistic package designed to overcome the fragmentation of development and humanitarian assistance in order to create a structure and alignment that enhances the effectiveness, accountability, and efficiency of U.S. assistance.

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US: International affairs experts reach consensus on how to restructure foreign aid
20 October 2017
George Ingram, Senior Fellow – Global Economy and Development
Brookings
The Trump administration has demonstrated that there is no better way to galvanize a community and activate energy than with an existential threat. The international affairs community has been heated about proposed cuts and reforms to development and diplomatic agencies, but until now, experts have failed to agree upon a unified response.

While Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has recently acknowledged the important and unique roles of agencies like the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development, the administration’s call for radical reforms remains threatening. These include the proposed 30 percent reduction in funding for international affairs, reports of merging USAID into the Department of State, arbitrary cuts in staffing, and an Office of Management and Budget directive to all agencies that required reorganization plans by September to increase agency efficiency and reduce staff levels.

The reaction of the development and foreign policy experts, including allies on Capitol Hill, has been to muster the justification for existing funding levels and to enlist policymakers to roll up their sleeves and take advantage of the chaos and directive for agency reorganization to propose more effective organizational structures.

First out of the gate was an article in December in Foreign Affairs magazine by former USAID administrators Brian Atwood and Andrew Natsios that proposed consolidating all development and humanitarian programs in a global development department. Six additional plans came out this summer from an array of organizations.

All of the plans are based on an assessment of the importance of U.S. foreign assistance programs to the national interests—security, economic, and humanitarian—and a common analysis of the underlying problems. That analysis posits that U.S. development and humanitarian programs are well managed and make important contributions to advancing U.S. interests around the world, but face barriers to maximizing their potential. U.S. assistance is hamstrung by fragmentation (25 agencies are involved in the mix); a lack of alignment of functions and responsibilities and therefore accountability; and antiquated and overly complex systems for personnel, information technology, transparency, procurement, and evaluation.

The recommendations in all the plans pursue common objectives—better alignment and consolidation to create clear lines of authority and accountability; more strategic approaches to guide assistance policies; and more responsive, modernized systems.

Six (listed below) of the seven plans offer solutions (see MFAN identification of 10 common priorities) focused on a stronger, more capable, independently lead development agency, and most recommend a more robust instrument for development finance. The specifics range from two plans that propose a bold approach of creating a new cabinet level agency to house the broad array of humanitarian, development, and stabilization programs to four plans that seek to strengthen USAID as the lead development agency and fix existing systems and processes.

With multiple executive agencies and congressional committees seized with figuring out how and what elements of the U.S. aid architecture to reorder, but barraged by a maze of proposals (see USGLC report on over 60 reports), the authors of the six plans decided to plot a singular, unified path forward.

Keeping their eye on the bigger aim of achieving the goal of an empowered U.S. development function, the authors reached agreement on an Aid Redesign Consensus. This unified approach has two pillars: an empowered development agency, USAID, and a new global finance corporation (GFC).

USAID would be the lead U.S. agency for humanitarian, development, and stabilization programs and granted full authority for its budget and an enhanced policy function. The administrator would be assigned cabinet rank, have a seat on the National Security Council, chair the Millennium Challenge Corporation and the new GFC, and lead the development of a U.S. government-wide humanitarian and development strategy. Certain development, humanitarian, and stabilization functions, including President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), would move from the Department of State to USAID.

The GFC would comprise the Overseas Private Investment Corporation and relevant functions of the Trade and Development Agency and would have the additional capabilities of equity investment and technical assistance. The GFC would have a long-term authorization and could retain a portion of its revenues. This would allow the GFC to operate more along the lines of its European counterparts.

The authors of these various plans still believe that more aspirational recommendations would ultimately serve U.S. interests. However, since the aid redesign discussions have been complicated by an array of plans, it has become important to identify a set of pragmatic and less controversial actions that can be taken now to move the U.S. development function to a more effective, efficient architecture.

Redesign Plans [citations links at title link above]
J. Brian Atwood and Andrew Natsios: Rethinking U.S. National Security: A New Role for International Development Center for Global Development (CGD) – Jeremy Konyndyk and Cindy Huang: A Practical Vision for US Development Reform
Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) – Bipartisan Taskforce on Reorganization: Reforming and Reorganizing U.S. Foreign Assistance
USAID’s Advisory Committee on Voluntary Foreign Aid (ACVFA) Efficiency and Effectiveness in Organization (EEO) Working Group: Recommendations of the Efficiency and Effectiveness in Organization Working Group
Atlantic Council: State Department Reform Report
Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network (MFAN) – Co-Chairs George Ingram, Tessie San Martin, and Connie Veillette: A New Foreign Aid Architecture Fit for Purpose and MFAN’s Guiding Principles for Effective U.S. Assistance

Featured Journal Content

Nature
Volume 550 Number 7677 pp429-554 26 October 2017
http://www.nature.com/nature/current_issue.html
Editorials
Data science can improve aid distribution
Online platforms can help to steer emergency response and ensure money is well spent.
Over the past decade, non-profit organizations have sent millions of small stoves to families in the developing world. These appliances are intended to stop people from cooking over open flames indoors — an activity linked to four million deaths per year, attributable to household air pollution.

But economists and public-health researchers have published studies that question the benefits of this effort. One randomized controlled trial (RCT), reported in 2012 and involving 15,000 households in rural India, found no evidence of improved lung function in women in the first four years after they received a stove (see go.nature.com/2zjgwny).

The RCT suggests that these efforts might be revised. But as useful as RCTs are in development economics and global health, they have limits. Findings in one place might be wildly different in another. And in a crisis, first responders are typically too busy trying to provide shelter, health care and bare necessities to design and carry out a controlled set-up.

But humanitarian groups can still improve their efforts in the short and long term through evidence obtained with new technology. A Nature News Feature this week highlights software called the Dharma Platform, which enables workers on the front line of hurricanes, outbreaks or other crises to record, share and analyse useful data — for example, the spread of disease in rural villages. Dharma is being tested by Médecins Sans Frontières (or Doctors Without Borders), the World Health Organization and other groups combating crises in the Middle East. And it is just one of many new technologies that will make data faster to collect and easier to exchange.

The rush to provide food, shelter and health care can be as chaotic as the disaster itself. Hundreds of millions of dollars flood into the world’s largest agencies and non-governmental organizations, which often sub-contract delivery to dozens of smaller groups. In such a system, the best source of data is a person on the ground — often someone low in an organization’s chain of command. It’s this aid worker who listens as a mother describes how she’s received four sacks of rice, yet her babies have nothing to eat. This essential feedback is typically recorded on paper. If it makes it into a report, weeks or months will pass by the time it gets to headquarters, where managers then adjust the system.

Platforms such as Dharma that collate real-time data could quicken this response time by informing groups of what people need, and help to reassure donors that their money is being spent wisely. After an acute crisis, researchers can use data collected in the heat of the moment to answer big-picture questions. For example, how might assistance better prevent tragedies that follow disasters, such as the cholera epidemic in the wake of Haiti’s 2010 earthquake, or blindness in survivors of Ebola? As long as data collection is organized, consistent and secure, researchers distanced from those delivering aid can evaluate projects objectively.

Requesting more data and analysing them coldly will make failures more evident. In turn, philanthropists, taxpayers and governments that donate money should evaluate each inefficiency sensibly, and not be unforgiving. For example, a tiny fraction of donated insecticide-treated bednets may be used as fishing nets — but that fact should not negate an intervention that has been shown to reduce cases of malaria caused by Plasmodium falciparum by up to 62% (C. Lengeler Cochrane Database Syst. Rev. http://doi.org/c4f9c7; 2004). Failures at all scales must be upheld as lessons in the continuing struggle to do what’s right — and not as arguments to abandon aid completely

The Sentinel

Human Rights Action :: Humanitarian Response :: Health :: Education :: Heritage Stewardship ::
Sustainable Development
__________________________________________________
Week ending 21 October 2017

This weekly digest is intended to aggregate and distill key content from a broad spectrum of practice domains and organization types including key agencies/IGOs, NGOs, governments, academic and research institutions, consortia and collaborations, foundations, and commercial organizations. We also monitor a spectrum of peer-reviewed journals and general media channels. The Sentinel’s geographic scope is global/regional but selected country-level content is included. We recognize that this spectrum/scope yields an indicative and not an exhaustive product. Comments and suggestions should be directed to:

David R. Curry
Editor
GE2P2 Global Foundation – Governance, Evidence, Ethics, Policy, Practice
david.r.curry@ge2p2center.net

pdf version: The Sentinel_ period ending 21 October 2017

Contents
:: Week in Review  [See selected posts just below]
:: Key Agency/IGO/Governments Watch – Selected Updates from 30+ entities
:: INGO/Consortia/Joint Initiatives Watch – Media Releases, Major Initiatives, Research
:: Foundation/Major Donor Watch -Selected Updates
:: Journal Watch – Key articles and abstracts from 100+ peer-reviewed journals

UN Principals call for solidarity with Rohingya refugees
Mr. Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
Mr. Mark Lowcock, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator
Mr. William Lacy Swing, Director General, International Organization for Migration

Joint Statement on the Rohingya Refugee Crisis
(16 October 2017, Geneva/New York): After violence broke out in Myanmar’s Rakhine state on 25 August, more than 500,000 Rohingya refugees crossed into neighbouring Bangladesh in less than five weeks. Tens of thousands of refugees have arrived since, fleeing discrimination, violence and persecution, as well as isolation and fear.

The speed and scale of the influx made it the world’s fastest growing refugee crisis and a major humanitarian emergency. The Government of Bangladesh, local charities and volunteers, the UN and NGOs are working in overdrive to provide assistance. But much more is urgently needed. The efforts must be scaled up and expanded to receive and protect refugees and ensure they are provided with basic shelter and acceptable living conditions. Every day more vulnerable people arrive with very little — if anything – and settle either in overcrowded existing camps or extremely congested makeshift sites.

They are fully dependent on humanitarian assistance for food, water, health and other essential needs. Basic services are under severe strain. In some sites, there is no access to potable water, and sanitation facilities are absent, raising health risks for both the refugees and the communities hosting them.

Bangladesh has kept its borders open, offering safety and shelter to fleeing families. We have been moved by the welcome and generosity shown by the local communities towards the refugees. Now a critical Pledging Conference in Geneva on 23 October 2017 is being organized by OCHA, IOM and UNHCR and co-hosted by the European Union and Kuwait. It provides Governments from around the world an opportunity to show their solidarity and share the burden and responsibility. Their further generous support for the Joint Response Plan, which was recently launched by the UN and partners, is urgently needed to sustain and scale up the large humanitarian effort already under way. The plan requires US$434 million to meet the life-saving needs of all Rohingya refugees and their host communities – together an estimated 1.2 million people – for the difficult months to come.

We call on the international community to intensify efforts to bring a peaceful solution to the plight of the Rohingya, to end the desperate exodus, to support host communities and ensure the conditions that will allow for refugees’ eventual voluntary return in safety and dignity. The origins and, thus, the solutions to this crisis lie in Myanmar.

Let us all come together on 23 October at the pledging conference and send a strong message to the Rohingya refugees and their generous hosts in Bangladesh that the world is there for them in their greatest time of need.

Human Rights, Reproductive Health, Development, Women

 
The State of World Population 2017 – World’s Apart: Reproductive health and rights in an age of inequality
UNFPA 2017 :: 140 pages
Division of Communications and Strategic Partnerships
PDF: http://www.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/sowp/downloads/UNFPA_PUB_2017_EN_SWOP.pdf

FOREWORD
In today’s world, gaps in wealth have grown shockingly wide. Billions of people linger at the bottom, denied their human rights and prospects for a better life. At the top, resources and privileges accrue at explosive rates, pushing the world ever further from the vision of equality embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Right now, the combined wealth of the world’s 2,473 billionaires, as calculated by Wealth-X, exceeds $7.7 trillion. That’s equivalent to the combined gross domestic product of an astonishing four fifths of the world’s countries in 2015. It means that while some privileged households budget for billions, many hundreds of millions of families barely scrape by on less than $1.25 a day.

This is a path that we pursue at our peril. The yawning gap between the richest and the poorest is not only unfair, but a risk to economies, communities and nations. In 2015, in recognition of this risk, the world’s governments agreed that the path to sustainable development for the next 15 years must be built on a foundation of equality, inclusiveness and universal enjoyment of rights.

Inequality is often understood in terms of income or wealth—the dividing line between the rich  and poor. But, in reality, economic disparities are only one part of the inequality story. Many other social, racial, political and institutional dimensions feed on each other, and together block hope for progress among people on the margins.

Two critical dimensions are gender inequality, and inequalities in realizing sexual and reproductive health and rights; the latter, in particular, still receives inadequate attention. Neither explains the totality of inequality in the world today, but both are essential pieces that demand much more action. Without such action, many women and girls will remain caught in a vicious cycle of poverty, diminished capabilities, unfulfilled human rights and unrealized potential—especially in developing countries, where gaps are widest.

The unmet demand for family planning in developing countries, for example, is generally greatest among women in the poorest 20 per cent of households. Without access to contraception, poor women, particularly those who are less educated and live in rural areas, are at heightened risk of unintended pregnancy. This may result in health risks and lifelong economic repercussions. The lack of power to decide whether, when or how often to become pregnant can limit education, delay entry into the paid labour force and reduce earnings.

Making information and services more widely available and accessible will lead to better reproductive health outcomes. But this is only part of the solution. Unless we start addressing the structural and multidimensional inequalities within our societies, we will never attain the highest standard of sexual and reproductive health for all. This standard was envisaged by the 179 governments that endorsed the Programme of Action of the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), which guides the work of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund. The ICPD affirmed that closing disparities for women and girls in income, education, employment and other areas will largely depend on enabling women and girls to fully realize their reproductive rights. If the objectives of the ICPD—and the new 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development—are met, humanity will be well on its way to a more equal world, with more inclusive and vibrant economies. Most important of all, this is the path to human dignity for every woman and every girl, everywhere.

The late Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin (1949–2017)
United Nations Under-Secretary-General and
Executive Director
UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund

Development – Financial Inclusion/Access to Services

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Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Releases Open-Source Software to Support Efforts that Expand Access to Financial Services in Developing Countries
New code reduces complexity and cost of building payment platforms that connect poor customers to merchants, banks, mobile money providers, governments

SEATTLE, Oct. 16, 2017 – The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation today released a new open-source software for creating payment platforms that will help unbanked people around the world access digital financial services. The software is designed to provide a reference model for payment interoperability between banks and other providers across a country’s economy. It is available now, free-of-cost, for software developers to adapt and banks, financial service providers and companies to implement. Information on the code can be found at mojaloop.io.

Current data from the World Bank shows that nearly two billion people in developing economies lack bank accounts and miss out on the benefits and security that basic financial services provide. Digital financial services, such as mobile money on cell phones, have rapidly expanded over the last two decades because they are convenient for users and cost-effective for companies aiming to serve new markets. In Kenya, an estimated 194,000 households have moved out of extreme poverty due in part to their access to M-Pesa, a mobile money platform, and users’ ability to save money more effectively. Digital financial services are now available in nearly 100 countries according to GSMA, an organization representing mobile network operators. However, global expansion of these services—especially to the world’s poor—has been hampered, in large part, by a lack of interoperability between digital financial services and payment platforms.

The new software, called Mojaloop, establishes a blueprint for connecting today’s financial services sector, and can be used as a solution to barriers that banks and providers seeking interoperability have traditionally faced. Delivering financial services to the poor is prohibitively challenging for many businesses because they struggle to invest adequately in complex technology while maintaining a commitment to low-cost, inclusive services. This has led to a prevalence of consumer payment options that are out of reach for many people in developing economies, or which limit customers’ ability to transact across products, banks and borders. These and similar challenges have dissuaded many companies from expanding into developing markets altogether.

Mojaloop can be used by financial institutions and commercial providers, to simplify and reduce the cost of developing inclusive payment platforms. It was designed to serve ultimately as a model for national payment switching systems that, for example, enable an individual’s digital wallet to connect with her employer’s bank account and her children’s school account to complete monthly transactions. The code can also be applied to adapt and improve existing services.

“Interoperability of digital payments has been the toughest hurdle for the financial services industry to overcome. With Mojaloop, our technology partners have finally achieved a solution that can apply to any service, and we invite banks and the payments industry to explore and test this tool,” said Kosta Peric, Deputy Director, Financial Services for the Poor, at the Gates Foundation. “Just as the internet revolutionized digital communication, open-source solutions like Mojaloop can spark innovation and democratize access to digital payments, empowering billions of new customers and driving massive economic growth in developing markets.”

Mojaloop (building off the Swahili word “moja,” which means “one”) was created in partnership with fintech developers Ripple, Dwolla, ModusBox, Crosslake Technologies and Software Group, using cutting-edge technology such as the Interledger Protocol, a solution for settling funds among multiple providers across their individual systems. It joins other promising digital financial software, but is the first model that can help extend interoperability from mobile money providers to any bank, merchant or government institution in a customer’s economy in a way that specifically meets the needs of the poor…

Developers can access the new software on GitHub, the world’s leading open-source development platform. It includes four components: an interoperability layer, which connects bank accounts, mobile money wallets, and merchants in an open loop; a directory service layer, which navigates the different methods that providers use to identify accounts on each side of a transaction; a transactions settlement layer, which makes payments instant and irrevocable; and, components which protect against fraud. The software will not be owned or implemented by the Gates Foundation. It will be used in the foundation’s ongoing work to promote the development of pro-poor, digital payment platforms.

Mojaloop was created by the Gates Foundation’s Level One Project, which is aimed at leveling the economic playing field by crowding in expertise and resources to build inclusive payment models to benefit the world’s poor. Alongside Mojaloop’s development, the project also brought together four mobile systems companies—Ericsson, Huawei, Telepin, and Mahindra Comviva—to develop an Open API for mobile money interoperability. These APIs will allow mobile money providers to integrate seamlessly with Mojaloop and products built from it…

Ageing/Equity/Inequality: Inter-Generational Challenges

Preventing Ageing Unequally
OECD Report
Published on October 18, 2017 :: 258 pages
PDF: http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/deliver/8117161e.pdf?itemId=/content/book/9789264279087-en&mimeType=application/pdf
This report examines how the two global mega-trends of population ageing and rising inequalities have been developing and interacting, both within and across generations. Taking a life-course perspective the report shows how inequalities in education, health, employment and earnings compound, resulting in large differences in lifetime earnings across different groups. It suggests a policy agenda to prevent, mitigate and cope with inequalities along the life course drawing on good practices in OECD countries and emerging economies.

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Media Release
18-October-2017
Population ageing and rising inequality will hit younger generations hard
18/10/2017 – Younger generations will face greater risks of inequality in old age than current retirees and for generations born since the 1960s, their experience of old age will change dramatically. Moreover, with family sizes falling, higher inequality over working lives and reforms that have cut pension incomes, some groups will face a high risk of poverty, according to a new OECD report.

Preventing Ageing Unequally says that in 1980, there were only 20 people aged 65 and over for every 100 of working-age, on average across the OECD; by 2015 this number had risen to 28 and by 2050 is projected to almost double to reach 53. Many OECD and emerging economies are ageing much faster. At the same time, inequalities have been increasing from one generation to the next. Among people starting their working life it is now already much higher than among today’s elderly.

The future elderly will be in more diverse situations: people will live longer but more will have been unemployed at some point in their working lives and earned low wages, while others will have enjoyed higher, stable earning paths.

Inequalities in education, health, employment and income start building up from early ages, according to the report. A 25-year old university-educated man can expect to live almost 8 years longer than his lower-educated peer, on average across countries; for women the difference is 4.6 years. At all ages, people in bad health work less and earn less. Over a career, bad health reduces lifetime earnings of low-educated men by 33%, while the loss is only 17% for highly-educated men.

Low earners tend to have a lower life expectancy than high earners and this reduces further their total pensions. Raising the retirement age tends to widen inequality in total pensions between low and high earners, but the impact is small. Gender inequality in old age, however, is likely to remain substantial: annual pension payments to the over-65s today are about 27% lower for women on average, and old-age poverty is much higher among women than men.

Old-age inequality issues are even more acute in emerging economies and several, including Brazil, China and India, are facing rapid ageing at a relatively early stage of development, have wider health inequalities than OECD countries and a less effective social safety net.

To tackle these issues, the OECD says that countries should take a life course approach focusing on three areas:

Prevent inequality before it cumulates over time. Measures should include providing good quality childcare and early education, helping disadvantaged youth into work and expanding health spending on prevention to target at risk groups.

Mitigate entrenched inequalities. Health services should move to a more patient-centred approach and employment services should boost efforts to help the unemployed back into work, as well as remove barriers to retain and hire older workers.

Cope with inequalities at older ages. Reforms to retirement income systems cannot remove inequality among older people but can mitigate it. Well-designed first-tier pensions can limit the impact on pension benefits of socio-economic differences in life expectancy. Some countries have pension adequacy risks, especially for women. Making home care affordable and providing better support to informal carers would also help reduce inequalities in long-term care.

Inter-Parliamentary Union – Governance, Accountability, Cultural Pluralism, Dialogue

St. Petersburg Declaration on Promoting cultural pluralism and peace through interfaith and inter-ethnic dialogue
Declaration
Endorsed by the 137th IPU Assembly, St. Petersburg, 18 October 2017 [3.pages]
PDF: http://archive.ipu.org/conf-e/137/SPB-declaration.pdf
Parliamentarians from 155 countries have committed to pursuing cultural pluralism and peace through interfaith and inter-ethnic dialogue, calling for transparency, accountability and respect for human rights and the rule of law to serve as the basis for building sustainable and peaceful diversity.
[Excerpt]
As parliamentarians, we commit to working towards cultural pluralism and peace through interfaith and inter-ethnic dialogue by:
…Preventing human rights violations relating to culture and religion:
– Allocate sufficient resources to conduct awareness-raising activities on cultural and religious issues among law enforcement officers so as to strengthen their ability to identify and investigate hate crimes, in line with international standards and protocols;
– Build the capacity of outreach workers and mediators in order to create peaceful and trusting environments at the local and regional levels;
– Ensure that the legislative process is transparent, and that parliamentary records are made available and accessible so that religious and ethnic minorities can understand and follow the activity of MPs and hold them accountable for their actions;
– Design protection measures for all religious and ethnic minorities within the national territory, including non-citizens, migrants and newly arrived minorities.

Building social dialogue for multicultural and inclusive societies:
– Exercise effective budgetary oversight so as to prevent the funding of projects and organizations that promote hate and intolerance, openly combat hate speech in public discourse and online platforms, and support projects with a greater balance in terms of gender, culture and religion, particularly at local and regional levels, including through mixed housing areas, collective events and multicultural media;
– Collaborate with scientists on cultural and religious matters and work in partnership with local religious leaders to assess social challenges, such as the struggle against fundamentalism, and ensure that religious and cultural interpretations respect the human rights of all people, in particular women, young people and ethnic and religious minorities;
– Take concrete action to eliminate structural or systemic discrimination against ethnic and religious minorities, including by implementing processes for the collection and analysis of data disaggregated by gender, age, language, ethnicity, religion, and other minority status…

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Global Parliamentary Report 2017—Parliamentary oversight: Parliament’s power to hold government to account
Report
Inter-Parliamentary Union and United Nations Development Programme
2017 : 117 pages
PDF: https://www.ipu.org/file/3131/download?token=rHfuJ16P
Abstract
The second Global Parliamentary Report shines the spotlight on one of parliament’s critical functions: its power to hold governments accountable for their actions and decisions. The report, co-published with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), is based on the contributions of 150 national parliaments. As a practical and useful tool for Members of Parliament (MPs) and other interested communities, it has examples of how parliaments and MPs carry out oversight in their countries, as well as tips for MPs on how to approach oversight.
The Executive Summary is available in four languages.

Conclusion, key findings and recommendations
[Excerpt, p.99]
Rigorous, constructive and evidence-based oversight improves government in many ways. It seeks to ensure that government functions well and protects the rights and wellbeing of all people. It monitors that laws are implemented effectively and that their impact on people’s lives is closely monitored, and provides a means to identify gaps or problems in legislation that need to be addressed. It ensures that money is well spent and that government programmes are valuated
against results. Corrupt practices become more difficult to hide in the presence of effective systems of oversight.

Oversight makes democracy stronger by providing a channel for people to engage in the management of public affairs on a daily basis between periodic elections. It brings information
into the public domain, ensuring that government operates under public control. Oversight is a key part of a system of checks and balances designed to limit abuses of government power. It provides political mechanisms to sanction the government or ministers in the case of shortcomings.

Drawing on the submissions from parliaments, interviews with MPs and thematic discussions with MPs and senior parliamentary staff, it is possible to affirm certain core principles of parliamentary oversight:

Core principles of parliamentary oversight
Oversight should:
:: be a rigorous, constructive and evidence-based process designed to promote people’s well-being, monitor the achievement of development goals and priorities, and improve governance;
:: cover all areas of government, at all times;
:: be the shared responsibility of all parliamentarians.

Parliament should:
:: have a strong mandate for oversight set out clearly in the constitution, laws and parliamentary rules of procedure;
:: have full and timely access to information required for oversight;
:: ensure that opposition and minority parties are able to participate fully in oversight;
:: provide committees with the mandate and means to carry out effective oversight;
:: develop its capacity for oversight to match its formal powers;
:: mainstream a gender perspective into all oversight activities and ensure women are able to undertake oversight across all areas of policy and legislation;
:: be willing to use the powers available to it to hold government to account for meeting its obligations under existing commitments, laws, and rules.

Yet oversight is often difficult in practice. There are many common challenges, regardless of a country’s political system or level of economic, social and political development.

Research for this report shows that in most countries rules and systems for oversight exist, but oversight may not be prioritized fully by parliament, MPs or the public. The following sections capture the key findings from the report, and set out recommendations for a renewed effort to strengthen parliamentary oversight…

Global Mobility/Transport Systems

Global Mobility Report 2017 – Tracking Sector Performance
Sustainable Mobility for All initiative (SuM4All) a worldwide consortium of over 50 leading organizations in the transport sector
2017 :: 107 pages
PDF: https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/28542/120500.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Overview
The is the first-ever study to assess the global performance of the transport sector and the progress made toward four main objectives: universal access, efficiency, safety, and green mobility. The publication covers all modes of transport, including road, air, waterborne, and rail transport.
According to the report, the world is not on track to achieving sustainable mobility. Apart from being inaccessible to many of the world’s most vulnerable, the transport sector today is plagued by high fossil fuel use, rising greenhouse gas emissions, air and noise pollution, an alarming number of road fatalities, and a reluctance to embrace digitalization.
The report will be updated on a continuous basis, with a new issue expected to come out every two years.

A Few Key Findings
Universal Access
:: Many people continue to lack access to transport. In Africa, an estimated 450 million people–more than 70% of the region’s rural population – are still unable to reach jobs, education and healthcare services due to inadequate transport.
:: Transitioning to sustainable mobility would allow Africa to become food self-sufficient and create a regional food market worth $1 trillion by 2030.

Efficiency
:: The main transport technologies in use today came out of the industrial revolution. Since then, the volume of car traffic has increased tenfold, while cycling and public transport have seen hardly any growth.
:: When considering all transport costs—including vehicle acquisition, fuel, operational expenses, and losses due to congestion—the move toward sustainable mobility can deliver savings of $70 trillion by 2050.

Safety
:: Road transport claims the bulk of fatalities worldwide: it accounts for 97% of the deaths and 93% of the costs.
:: Aviation has seen a continuous reduction in the number of fatalities and fatal crashes over recent years. Some regions have even begun to experience zero fatalities.

Green Mobility
:: The transport sector contributes 23% of global energy-related greenhouse gas emissions and 18% of all man-made emissions.
:: The increase in cycling and e-bike use would save the world a cumulative $24 trillion between 2015 and 2050.

Heritage Stewardship – Land Degradation

New ISO standard to combat land degradation
18 October 2017
By Sandrine Tranchard
…A new ISO standard will help land managers at global and national scales put in place best practices to combat land degradation. The recently published ISO 14055-1:2017, Environmental management – Guidelines for establishing good practices for combatting land degradation and desertification – Part 1: Good practices framework, provides guidelines for developing good practices to combat land degradation and desertification in arid and non-arid regions.

The standard refers to actions or interventions undertaken with the purpose of preventing or minimizing land degradation or, where land is already degraded, aiding its recovery to improve productivity and ecosystem health.

Because managing our land-based capital impacts directly on human livelihood and health, the standard covers the various topics that must be considered when establishing good practices, such as the respect for human rights, forest management and agricultural practices, climate conditions and industrial activities, among others.

ISO 14055-1 will serve as a useful tool for land managers, land users, technical experts, and private and public organizations, as well as for policy makers involved in the management of land resources for ecological, productivity, economic or social purposes. It advocates a fundamental shift in behaviour towards a more sustainable use of land and is intended to complement and support the activities of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).

ISO 14055-1 and its complement, the future ISO/TR 14055-2, which provides regional applications of the principles in Part 1, will help to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 15 for the protection, restoration and sustainable management of land-based ecosystems. In doing so, we can hope to reach a “land-degradation-neutral world” by the year 2030.

Biodiversity – Rural Development, Migration, Food Security

Message of the Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Dr. Cristiana Paşca Palmer, on the occasion of World Food Day 16 October 2017

“Change the future of migration. Invest in food security and rural development”
People are on the move. Political instability, extreme weather events and other factors have forced more people to flee their homes than at any time since the Second World War.

The vast majority of migrants, about 763 million, move within their own countries. Many migrants come from rural areas, where more than 75 per cent of the world’s poor and food insecure depend on agriculture and natural resource-based livelihoods. Their prime motivation is often to escape hardships caused by a variety of factors. Poverty, food insecurity, lack of job opportunities and increased competition for scarce land and water resources lead people to seek an escape. The effects of climate change as well as political conflicts are likely to create further migration pressures both within and across countries.

The consequences of migration pose several challenges and opportunities for food security, sustainable agriculture and rural development. Importantly, agriculture and rural development can address some of the root causes of migration, as well as natural resource depletion due to environmental degradation and climate change. Creating conditions that allow rural people to stay at home if safe to do so, and have more resilient livelihoods, is a crucial component of any plan to tackle the migration challenge.

Food production depends largely on biodiversity and on the services provided by ecosystems. We would not have the thousands of different crop varieties and animal breeds without the rich genetic pool of the species they originated from. We could not keep livestock, fish or grow trees and other plants without the services delivered by the terrestrial and marine ecosystems underpinned by biodiversity, including the often invisible contribution from micro- organisms and invertebrates.

The genetic diversity within components of food production ensures continuing improvements in food production, allows adaptation to current needs and ensures adaptability to future ones. Agricultural biodiversity is also essential for agricultural production systems, supporting the provision of ecosystem services such as pollination, pest control, nutrient cycling, erosion control and water supply.

With climate change comes more frequent and more extreme weather events. Thus it is critical that we build more resilient agricultural landscapes and food systems. We can achieve this through sustainable ecological intensification of agriculture, including reducing our reliance on agrochemicals for increasing and improving yields, while minimizing negative impacts on the environment by integrating the ecosystem services delivered by biodiversity into agricultural production systems.

We also need to ensure the health and safety of the soil ecosystem. Ecosystem services from soil can include contributions to food security, climate change mitigation, water retention, and biomass. As stated in the World Soil Charter, careful soil management not only secures sustainable agriculture, it provides for climate regulation and a pathway for safeguarding ecosystem services. Healthy soils also help to prevent erosion, desertification, and landslides.

There is no question that investing in sustainable rural development, climate change adaptation and resilient rural livelihoods is an important part of the global response to the current migration challenge. Today, on World Food Day, let us remember the role that biodiversity plays in providing for food security and human well-being.

The Sentinel

Human Rights Action :: Humanitarian Response :: Health :: Education :: Heritage Stewardship ::
Sustainable Development
__________________________________________________
Week ending 14 October 2017

This weekly digest is intended to aggregate and distill key content from a broad spectrum of practice domains and organization types including key agencies/IGOs, NGOs, governments, academic and research institutions, consortia and collaborations, foundations, and commercial organizations. We also monitor a spectrum of peer-reviewed journals and general media channels. The Sentinel’s geographic scope is global/regional but selected country-level content is included. We recognize that this spectrum/scope yields an indicative and not an exhaustive product. Comments and suggestions should be directed to:

David R. Curry
Editor
GE2P2 Global Foundation – Governance, Evidence, Ethics, Policy, Practice
david.r.curry@ge2p2center.net

pdf version: The Sentinel_ period ending 14 October 2017

Contents
:: Week in Review  [See selected posts just below]
:: Key Agency/IGO/Governments Watch – Selected Updates from 30+ entities
:: INGO/Consortia/Joint Initiatives Watch – Media Releases, Major Initiatives, Research
:: Foundation/Major Donor Watch -Selected Updates
:: Journal Watch – Key articles and abstracts from 100+ peer-reviewed journals

Human Rights – Migrant Children

UN experts urge States to protect all migrant children
NEW YORK (10 October 2017) – States must step up their work to protect migrant children from sale, trafficking and other forms of exploitation, two UN experts say in a joint study, warning that many children currently suffer sexual and labour exploitation amid “ineffective” action by countries around the world.

Children fleeing conflict and disasters face high risks of exploitation – with lone children facing particular dangers – and States are falling short in their duty to protect them, said Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, and Maria Grazia Giammarinaro, Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, presenting their joint report to the General Assembly in New York.

“States must recognize the international protection needs of children who flee conflicts and crises,” the experts said. “In particular, States must ensure that unaccompanied and separated children are promptly identified, registered and referred to the child protection system.”

“All children, including those accompanied by parents or other legal guardians, must be treated as individual rights-holders, not criminals,” they added.

The UN experts said States’ existing responses to the various forms of exploitation faced by children fleeing conflict and humanitarian crisis were largely ineffective and led to precariousness.

“In spite of some promising practices, the interim care and durable solutions for vulnerable children on the move often do not consider the specific needs of children, especially those separated or unaccompanied who live in mixed spaces with adult migrants or refugees in areas or camps that lack basic amenities,” the experts said.

“All children on the move are vulnerable to sale, trafficking and other forms of exploitation,” the experts said. “Children must be protected first and foremost as children. Tailored solutions must be adopted for each case, including as appropriate additional protection offered by national legislation providing assistance, protection and residence status to children close to adulthood.”

Too often States fail to protect children and to identify indicators of trafficking and exploitation. “The existence of numerous cases of sexual exploitation of children, even in refugee camps and state-run facilities is an additional indication of the failure of a protection system meant to safeguard them.”

In their joint report, the UN experts urge States to adopt proactive protection measures for children affected by conflict and crisis, such as family- and community-based solutions and creating safe child-friendly spaces. They also advised strengthening the professionals working with migrants and refugees where they live and where they arrive in large numbers, and train them to identify international protection entitlements as well as indicators of sale, trafficking and other forms of exploitation.”

“States should also make sure children can easily report sexual abuse and exploitation, and ensure that those without family members are placed with trained guardians as soon as possible,” they added.

“The sale of and trafficking in children has to be prevented, with a particular focus on protecting orphans, children left behind by parents fleeing conflict, and those who have fled conflict and crises without their families,” the experts said.
“States must adopt measures to prevent the sexual and labour exploitation of children, including by establishing accessible, safe and regular channels of migration, respecting the principle of non-refoulement and ensuring that migrant and refugee children have regular access to education and life skills training in the host country,” the experts added.

Ms. Maud de Boer-Buquicchio (Netherlands) was appointed as Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children by the UN Human Rights Council in May 2014. Ms. Maria Grazia Giammarinaro (Italy) was appointed as Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children by the UN Human Rights Council in June 2014.

Disasters – Displacement

Sudden Onset Disasters To Make 14 Million People Homeless Every Year
UNISDR UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction [to 14 October 2017]
13 Oct 2017
Research findings released today on International Day for Disaster Reduction forecast a continued rise in homelessness among people in the world’s most disaster prone countries unless significant progress is made in managing disaster risk.

A unique modelling exercise based on the latest data covering 204 countries and territories calculates that sudden onset disasters such as floods and cyclones, are likely to displace on average 13.9 million people each year, excluding those involved in pre-emptive evacuations.

Most of this displacement is being driven by flooding which is on the increase in a warming world where population growth in hazard-prone parts of the world has increased exposure.

The issue has come into sharp focus as the world copes with a record breaking Atlantic Hurricane Season, and record floods across Bangladesh, India and Nepal.

Eight of the ten countries with the highest levels of Average Annual Displacement or probable risk of future displacement and loss of housing are in south and south-east Asia: India, 2.3 million; China, 1.3 million; Bangladesh, 1.2 million; Vietnam, 1.0 million; Philippines, 720,000; Myanmar, 570,000; Pakistan, 460,000; Indonesia, 380,000; Russia, 250,000; USA, 230,000.

The study, “A Global Disaster Displacement Risk Model” launched today by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre of the Norwegian Refugee Council and the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) models displacement resulting from the destruction of housing caused by earthquakes, tsunamis, riverine floods and tropical cyclones…

Education in Humanitarian Contexts

EU announces humanitarian funding of €1 million to the Global Education Cluster
10/10/2017
The EU’s contribution of €1 million will support the Global Education Cluster to strengthen the coordination of education responses in large-scale humanitarian crises. There are currently some 75 million children living in crisis-affected countries and forced displacement who are in urgent need of support to access quality education.

The Global Education Cluster represents the education sector in the humanitarian world and brings together NGOs, UN agencies, academics and other partners around the goal of ensuring the predictable, well-coordinated and equitable provision of education to crisis-affected populations. Its work is focused on providing operational support to country clusters. It is co-led by UNICEF and Save the Children.

The funding was announced today by Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides, as he opened the Annual Partners’ Meeting of the Global Education Cluster. “The EU is a global leader in supporting education in emergencies. At the United Nations, I recently announced that we will dedicate 8% of our humanitarian budget to education in emergencies in 2018. This is far above the global average of less than 3%. Today I am delighted to announce new funding to the Education Cluster. The Cluster plays a key role in education responses around the world by bringing together all education partners, ensuring accountability to affected populations, and linking short- and long-term education actions. By supporting the Cluster, we ensure effective coordination that helps every child to access learning opportunities in humanitarian crises.”

The Cluster’s partners, composed of humanitarian agencies involved in the delivery of emergency education services, meet once a year at the Global Education Cluster’s Annual Partners’ Meeting. This year’s meeting, on 10-12 October, is hosted in Brussels by the European Commission. It brings together around 90 education in emergencies professionals from all around the world to discuss issues such as planning and strategy for education in protracted crises, localization of education responses, accountability to affected people, and cash-based interventions for education in emergencies

UNESCO – U.S. Withdrawal

The United States Withdraws From UNESCO
Press Statement – U.S. Department of State
Heather Nauert
Department Spokesperson
Washington, DC
October 12, 2017
On October 12, 2017, the Department of State notified UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova of the U.S. decision to withdraw from the organization and to seek to establish a permanent observer mission to UNESCO. This decision was not taken lightly, and reflects U.S. concerns with mounting arrears at UNESCO, the need for fundamental reform in the organization, and continuing anti-Israel bias at UNESCO.
The United States indicated to the Director General its desire to remain engaged with UNESCO as a non-member observer state in order to contribute U.S. views, perspectives and expertise on some of the important issues undertaken by the organization, including the protection of world heritage, advocating for press freedoms, and promoting scientific collaboration and education.
Pursuant to Article II(6) of the UNESCO Constitution, U.S. withdrawal will take effect on December 31, 2018. The United States will remain a full member of UNESCO until that time.

::::::

Statement by Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, on the occasion of the Withdrawal by the United States of America from UNESCO
12 October 2017
After receiving official notification by the United States Secretary of State, Mr Rex Tillerson, as UNESCO Director-General, I wish to express profound regret at the decision of the United States of America to withdraw from UNESCO.

Universality is critical to UNESCO’s mission to strengthen international peace and security in the face of hatred and violence, to defend human rights and dignity.

In 2011, when payment of membership contributions was suspended at the 36th session of the UNESCO General Conference, I said I was convinced UNESCO had never mattered as much for the United States, or the United States for UNESCO.

This is all the more true today, when the rise of violent extremism and terrorism calls for new long-term responses for peace and security, to counter racism and antisemitism, to fight ignorance and discrimination.

I believe UNESCO’s work to advance literacy and quality education is shared by the American people.
I believe UNESCO’s action to harness new technologies to enhance learning is shared by the American people.
I believe UNESCO’s action to enhance scientific cooperation, for ocean sustainability, is shared by the American people.
I believe UNESCO’s action to promote freedom of expression, to defend the safety of journalists, is shared by the American people.
I believe UNESCO’s action to empower girls and women as change-makers, as peacebuilders, is shared by the American people.
I believe UNESCO’s action to bolster societies facing emergencies, disasters and conflicts is shared by the American people.

Despite the withholding of funding, since 2011, we have deepened the partnership between the United States and UNESCO, which has never been so meaningful.

Together, we have worked to protect humanity’s shared cultural heritage in the face of terrorist attacks and to prevent violent extremism through education and media literacy.

Together, we worked with the late Samuel Pisar, Honorary Ambassador and Special Envoy for Holocaust Education, to promote education for remembrance of the Holocaust across the world as the means to fight antisemitism and genocide today, including with, amongst others, the UNESCO Chair for Genocide Education at the University of Southern California and the UNESCO Chair on Literacy and Learning at the University of Pennsylvania.

Together, we work with the OSCE to produce new tools for educators against all forms of antisemitism, as we have done to fight anti-Muslim racism in schools.

Together, we launched the Global Partnership for Girls’ and Women’s Education in 2011.
Together, with the American academic community, including 17 UNESCO University Chairs, we have worked to advance literacy, to promote sciences for sustainability, to teach respect for all in schools.

This partnership has been embodied in our interaction with the United States Geological Survey, with the US Army Corps of Engineers, with United States professional societies, to advance research for the sustainable management of water resources, agriculture.

It has been embodied in the celebration of World Press Freedom Day in Washington D.C in 2011, with the National Endowment for Democracy.

It has been embodied in our cooperation with major private sector companies, with Microsoft, Cisco, Procter & Gamble, Intel, to retain girls in school, to nurture technologies for quality learning.

It has been embodied in the promotion of International Jazz Day, including at the White House in 2016, to celebrate human rights and cultural diversity on the basis of tolerance and respect.
It has been embodied in 23 World Heritage sites, reflecting the universal value of the cultural heritage of the United States, in 30 Biosphere Reserves, embodying the country’s vast and rich biodiversity, in 6 Creative Cities, as a source of innovation and job creation.

The partnership between UNESCO and the United States has been deep, because it has drawn on shared values.

The American poet, diplomat and Librarian of Congress, Archibald MacLeish penned the lines that open UNESCO’s 1945 Constitution: “Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed.” This vision has never been more relevant.

The United States helped inspire the 1972 UNESCO World Heritage Convention.

In 2002, one year after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the late Russell Train, former Head of the US Environmental Protection Agency and founder of the World Wildlife Fund, who did so much to launch the World Heritage Convention, said: “At this time in history, as the fabric of human society seems increasingly under attack by forces that deny the very existence of a shared heritage, forces that strike at the very heart of our sense of community, I am convinced that World Heritage holds out a contrary and positive vision of human society and our human future.”
UNESCO’s work is key to strengthen the bonds of humanity’s common heritage in the face of forces of hatred and division.

The Statue of Liberty is a World Heritage site because it is a defining symbol of the United States of America, and also because of what it says for people across the world.

Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were signed, is a World Heritage site, because its message speaks to policy-makers and activists across the globe.
Yosemite, Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon are World Heritage sites, because they are marvels for everyone, in all countries.

This is not just about World Heritage.

UNESCO in itself holds out this “positive vision of human society.”

At the time when the fight against violent extremism calls for renewed investment in education, in dialogue among cultures to prevent hatred, it is deeply regrettable that the United States should withdraw from the United Nations agency leading these issues.

At the time when conflicts continue to tear apart societies across the world, it is deeply regrettable for the United States to withdraw from the United Nations agency promoting education for peace and protecting culture under attack.

This is why I regret the withdrawal of the United States.
This is a loss to UNESCO.
This is a loss to the United Nations family.
This is a loss for multilateralism.

UNESCO’s task is not over, and we will continue taking it forward, to build a 21st century that is more just, peaceful, equitable, and, for this, UNESCO needs the leadership of all States.

UNESCO will continue to work for the universality of this Organization, for the values we share, for the objectives we hold in common, to strengthen a more effective multilateral order and a more peaceful, more just world.