Heritage Stewardship – Biological Diversity

.
Governments embark on transformative agenda to achieve global biodiversity targets and prepare the way forward beyond 2020
18 July 2018 CBD – Convention on Biological Diversity
– Inspired by discussions on the possibilities of transformational change, a keynote address by Canadian astronaut Roberta Bondar, and a celebration of indigenous culture, more than 1,000 delegates from around the world concluded two critical meetings of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Montreal, Canada…

Meetings Outcomes:
Delegates recognized the need to leverage emerging new scientific research including the work of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), such as the recently released regional assessments. Parties also invited greater collaboration between the IPBES and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

A major topic addressed at the meeting was mainstreaming of biodiversity into sectors that depend on biodiversity, and whose actions cause potential adverse impacts to ecosystems and species. Governments recommended a package of actions for governments, businesses and other stakeholders, to facilitate the incorporation of biodiversity considerations into the energy, mining, infrastructure, manufacturing and processing, and health sectors.

Advances in the Implementation of the Nagoya Protocol
Countries noted considerable progress in setting access and benefit-sharing frameworks. However, the delegates underlined, that further efforts are needed to make the Protocol fully operational. The meeting also addressed the way forward for advancing on a global multilateral benefit-sharing mechanism, and on the question of specialised international instruments related to access and benefit-sharing in the context of Article 4.4 of the Protocol.

Digital Sequence Information
Governments generally recognised the positive contribution of digital sequence information on genetic resources for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, but important divergences in views remain with respect to the implications of this issue for the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources. The understanding of the different perspectives achieved during the meeting will underpin the important decisions to be taken on this topic in Egypt, decisions that could influence the future work of the Convention and its Nagoya Protocol.

Synthetic Biology
On the question of synthetic biology, due to uncertainty around the impacts of organisms with engineered gene drives, countries were called to apply a precautionary approach for the release of such organisms, including when it comes to experimental releases. Underlining that more research and analysis are needed, governments called for broad international cooperation to assess the possible impacts on biodiversity of this technology.

On risk assessment of living modified organisms, including organisms containing engineered gene drives, countries agreed on a process for identifying topics that may warrant the development of international guidelines. Delegates requested the CBD Executive Secretary to commission a study on organisms containing engineered gene drives and modified fish.

Heritage Stewardship – Long-term Evidence/Sustainability

,
MacArthur Foundation [to 21 Jul 2018]
http://www.macfound.org/
July 16, 2018 – Grantee Research
Research Finds Model for Sustainable Fishing in Coral Reefs
A 20-year study of Kenyan reefs generated a mathematical model for sustainable fishing to maintain reef ecology, which helps mitigate the threat reefs face from climate change. The study by the Wildlife Conservation Society, supported by MacArthur, found an ideal target of 50 tons of living fish per square kilometer to maintain productive harvests and sustainable recovery rates of coral reef fish without comprising the ecosystem. The results constitute a standard that researchers hope to test and apply in other reefs around the globe.

.
Fish and Fisheries
Early View – Online Version of Record before inclusion in an issue
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Multicriteria estimate of coral reef fishery sustainability
Timothy R McClanahan
First published: 10 May 2018
https://doi.org/10.1111/faf.12293
Abstract
A holistic basis for achieving ecosystem‐based management is needed to counter the continuing degradation of coral reefs. The high variation in recovery rates of fish, corresponding to fisheries yields, and the ecological complexity of coral reefs have challenged efforts to estimate fisheries sustainability. Yet, estimating stable yields can be determined when biomass, recovery, changes in per area yields and ecological change are evaluated together. Long‐term rates of change in yields and fishable biomass‐yield ratios have been the key missing variables for most coral reef assessments. Calibrating a fishery yield model using independently collected fishable biomass and recovery data produced large confidence intervals driven by high variability in biomass recovery rates that precluded accurate or universal yields for coral reefs. To test the model’s predictions, I present changes in Kenyan reef fisheries for >20 years. Here, exceeding yields above 6 tonnes km−2 year−1 when fishable biomass was ~20 tonnes/km2 (~20% of unfished biomass) resulted in a >2.4% annual decline. Therefore, rates of decline fit the mean settings well and model predictions may therefore be used as a benchmark in reefs with mean recovery rates (i.e. r = 0.20–0.25). The mean model settings indicate a maximum sustained yield (MSY) of ~6 tonnes km−2 year−1 when fishable biomass was ~50 tonnes/km2. Variable reported recovery rates indicate that high sustainable yields will depend greatly on maintaining these rates, which can be reduced if productivity declines and management of stocks and functional diversity are ineffective. A number of ecological state‐yield trade‐off occurs as abrupt ecological changes prior to biomass levels that produce MSY.

Emergencies
 
POLIO
Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC)
Polio this week as of 17 July 2018 [GPEI]
:: The Minister of Health of Papua New Guinea officially launched the outbreak response campaign on 16 July in Morobe, Madang and Eastern Highlands provinces.

Summary of new cases this week:
Afghanistan:
:: There is advance notification of one wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) case in Chawkay district, Kunar province. The case has onset of paralysis on 22 June. Once confirmed (officially to be reflected in next week’s data), this will bring the total number of WPV1 cases in 2018 (in Afghanistan) to ten.
Nigeria:
:: One new case of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) from Geidam LGA in Yobe State has been confirmed. The case has onset of paralysis on 16 June 2018. This is the second cVDPV2 case in Nigeria this year after the one reported from Jigawa state, Kaugama LGA on 15 April 2018. As part of the outbreak response, two campaigns using monovalent vaccine type 2 are planned, subject to review from the Advisory group. Additionally, three confirmed [Sokoto (2) and Yobe 1] and two advanced notice (Sokoto) cVDPV2 positive environmental samples are being reported from May.

::::::
::::::

WHO Grade 3 Emergencies  [to 21 Jul 2018]
The Syrian Arab Republic
:: Southern Syrian Arab Republic Health Cluster report pdf, 82kb  13 – 16 July 2018

Nigeria 
:: Borno targets more than 1 million children with anti-malaria therapy  Maiduguri, 13 July 2018

Iraq  – No new announcements identified
South Sudan  – No new announcements identified
Yemen  – No new announcements identified

::::::
 
WHO Grade 2 Emergencies  [to 21 Jul 2018]
[Several emergency pages were not available at inquiry]
Cameroon  – No new announcements identified
Central African Republic  – No new announcements identified.
Democratic Republic of the Congo  – No new announcements identified
Ethiopia  – No new announcements identified.
Libya – No new announcements identified.
Myanmar  – No new announcements identified
Niger  – No new announcements identified.
Ukraine – No new announcements identified.

::::::
::::::
 
UN OCHA – L3 Emergencies
The UN and its humanitarian partners are currently responding to three ‘L3’ emergencies. This is the global humanitarian system’s classification for the response to the most severe, large-scale humanitarian crises. 
Syrian Arab Republic 
:: Syrian Arab Republic: Dar’a, Quneitra, As-Sweida Situation Report No. 3 as of 19 July 2018
 
Yemen
:: Yemen: Al Hudaydah Update Situation Report No. 8 – Reporting Period: 4 – 13 July 2018

::::::

UN OCHA – Corporate Emergencies
When the USG/ERC declares a Corporate Emergency Response, all OCHA offices, branches and sections provide their full support to response activities both at HQ and in the field.
Ethiopia 
:: Ethiopia Humanitarian Bulletin Issue 57 | 2-15 July 2018

Somalia   – No new announcements identified.

The Sentinel

Human Rights Action :: Humanitarian Response :: Health :: Education :: Heritage Stewardship ::
Sustainable Development
__________________________________________________
Week ending 14 July 2018

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: The Sentinel_ period ending 14 July 2018

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 – Children in Armed Conflict/Security Council Resolution

.
Security Council Seeks to Strengthen Protections for Children in Armed Conflict, Unanimously Adopting Resolution 2427 (2018)
9 July 2018 SC/13412
Special Representative Paints Harrowing Picture of Violence, as Former Rebel Tells about Life with Guerrillas at Just 13

The Security Council, acting unanimously at the outset of a far-ranging open debate today, adopted a resolution aimed at further crystalizing the protection of children in armed conflicts, including by combating their recruitment by non-State armed groups and treating formerly recruited children primarily as victims.

By the terms of resolution 2427 (2018), the 15 member Council committed to taking concrete action in response to serious abuses and violations of human rights — including those of children — which could constitute early indications of descent into conflict. Expressing particular concern over the regional and cross border nature of such violations and the high number of children killed or maimed by indiscriminate attacks against civilians, aerial bombardments, excessive use of force, explosive devices and the use of children as human shields, it urged all conflict parties to uphold their obligations under international law.

The Council strongly condemned attacks against schools and hospitals, which impede children’s access to education and health care, as well as violations involving the recruitment and use of children, rape, sexual violence and abductions, among other crimes. Stressing the importance of the mandate of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children in Armed Conflict — which includes securing concrete child protection commitments from warring parties — it further called upon her to compile a comprehensive set of best practices for the protection of children in conflict situations.

By other terms of the text, the Council stressed the need to pay particular attention to the treatment of children associated or allegedly associated with non-State armed groups, emphasizing that such children, or those accused of committing crimes during conflicts, should be treated primarily as victims. Urging Member States to consider non-judicial measures as an alternative to the prosecution and detention of children, it welcomed the launch of a process to compile practical guidance on the integration of child protection issues in peace processes, and reaffirmed its intention to continue monitoring and reporting on parties that commit grave violations affecting children in situations of armed conflict, in a list annexed to the Secretary-General’s annual report on the issue…

Human Rights – Migration/Global Compact

.
Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration
FINAL DRAFT
11 July 2018 :: 36 pages
[Excerpts; Editor’s text bolding]
PREAMBLE
1. This Global Compact rests on the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations.

2. It also rests on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; the other core international human rights treaties1; the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, including the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons Especially Women and Children and the Protocol against the Smuggling
of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air; the Slavery Convention and the Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery;  the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change; the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification; the Paris Agreement2; the International Labour Organization conventions on promoting decent work and labour migration3; as well as on the 2030 Agenda
for Sustainable Development; the Addis Ababa Action Agenda; the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, and the New Urban Agenda.

4. Refugees and migrants are entitled to the same universal human rights and fundamental freedoms, which must be respected, protected and fulfilled at all times. However, migrants and refugees are distinct groups governed by separate legal frameworks. Only refugees are entitled to the specific international protection as defined by international refugee law. This Global Compact refers to migrants and presents a cooperative framework addressing migration in all
its dimensions…

12. This Global Compact aims to mitigate the adverse drivers and structural factors that hinder people from building and maintaining sustainable livelihoods in their countries of origin, and so compel them to seek a future elsewhere. It intends to reduce the risks and vulnerabilities migrants face at different stages of migration by respecting, protecting and fulfilling their human rights and providing them with care and assistance. It seeks to address legitimate concerns of communities, while recognizing that societies are undergoing demographic, economic, social and environmental changes at different scales that may have implications for and result from migration. It strives to create conducive conditions that enable all migrants to enrich our societies through their human, economic and social capacities, and thus facilitate their contributions to sustainable development at the local, national, regional and global levels.

13. This Global Compact recognizes that safe, orderly and regular migration works for all when it takes place in a well-informed, planned and consensual manner. Migration should never be an act of desperation. When it is, we must cooperate to respond to the needs of migrants in situations of vulnerability, and address the respective challenges. We must work together to create conditions that allow communities and individuals to live in safety and dignity in their own countries. We must save lives and keep migrants out of harm’s way. We must empower migrants to become full members of our societies, highlight their positive contributions, and promote inclusion and social cohesion. We must generate greater predictability and certainty for States, communities and migrants alike. To achieve this, we commit to facilitate and ensure safe, orderly and regular migration for the benefit of all…

15. We agree that this Global Compact is based on a set of cross-cutting and interdependent guiding principles:
People-centred:
The Global Compact carries a strong human dimension to it, inherent to the migration experience itself. It promotes the well-being of migrants and the members of communities in countries of origin, transit and destination. As a result, the Global Compact places individuals at its core.
International cooperation:
The Global Compact is a non-legally binding cooperative framework that recognizes that no State can address migration on its own due to the inherently transnational nature of the phenomenon. It requires international, regional and bilateral cooperation and dialogue. Its authority rests on its consensual nature, credibility, collective ownership, joint implementation, follow-up and review.
National sovereignty:
The Global Compact reaffirms the sovereign right of States to determine their national migration policy and their prerogative to govern migration within their jurisdiction, in conformity with international law. Within their sovereign jurisdiction, States may distinguish between regular and irregular migration status, including as they determine their legislative and policy measures for the implementation of the Global Compact, taking into account different national realities, policies, priorities and requirements for entry, residence and work, in accordance with international law.
Rule of law and due process:
The Global Compact recognizes that respect for the rule of law, due process and access to justice are fundamental to all aspects of migration governance. This means that the State, public and private institutions and entities, as well as persons themselves are accountable to laws that are publicly promulgated, equally enforced and independently adjudicated, and which are consistent with international law.
Sustainable development:
The Global Compact is rooted in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and builds upon its recognition that migration is a multidimensional reality of major relevance for the sustainable development of countries of origin, transit and destination, which requires coherent and comprehensive responses. Migration contributes to positive development outcomes and to realizing the goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, especially when it is properly managed. The Global Compact aims to leverage the potential of migration for the achievement of all Sustainable Development Goals, as well as the impact this achievement will have on migration in the future.
Human rights:
The Global Compact is based on international human rights law and upholds the principles of non-regression and non-discrimination. By implementing the Global Compact, we ensure effective respect, protection and fulfilment of the human rights of all migrants, regardless
of their migration status, across all stages of the migration cycle. We also reaffirm the
commitment to eliminate all forms of discrimination, including racism, xenophobia and intolerance against migrants and their families.
Gender-responsive:
The Global Compact ensures that the human rights of women, men, girls and boys are respected at all stages of migration, their specific needs are properly understood and addressed and they are empowered as agents of change. It mainstreams a gender perspective, promotes gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls, recognizing their independence, agency and leadership in order to move away from addressing migrant women primarily through a lens of victimhood. 5
Child-sensitive:
The Global Compact promotes existing international legal obligations in relation to the rights of the child, and upholds the principle of the best interests of the child at all times, as a primary consideration in all situations concerning children in the context of international migration, including unaccompanied and separated children.
Whole-of-government approach:
The Global Compact considers that migration is a multidimensional reality that cannot be addressed by one government policy sector alone. To develop and implement effective migration policies and practices, a whole-of-government approach is needed to ensure horizontal and vertical policy coherence across all sectors and levels of government.
Whole-of-society approach:
The Global Compact promotes broad multi-stakeholder partnerships to address migration in all its dimensions by including migrants, diasporas, local communities, civil society, academia, the private sector, parliamentarians, trade unions, National Human Rights Institutions, the media and other relevant stakeholders in migration governance…

.

Objectives for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration
(1) Collect and utilize accurate and disaggregated data as a basis for evidence-based policies
(2) Minimize the adverse drivers and structural factors that compel people to leave their country of origin
(3) Provide accurate and timely information at all stages of migration
(4) Ensure that all migrants have proof of legal identity and adequate documentation
(5) Enhance availability and flexibility of pathways for regular migration
(6) Facilitate fair and ethical recruitment and safeguard conditions that ensure decent work
(7) Address and reduce vulnerabilities in migration
(8) Save lives and establish coordinated international efforts on missing migrants
(9) Strengthen the transnational response to smuggling of migrants
(10) Prevent, combat and eradicate trafficking in persons in the context of international migration
(11) Manage borders in an integrated, secure and coordinated manner
(12) Strengthen certainty and predictability in migration procedures for appropriate screening, assessment and referral
(13) Use migration detention only as a measure of last resort and work towards alternatives
(14) Enhance consular protection, assistance and cooperation throughout the migration
cycle
(15) Provide access to basic services for migrants
(16) Empower migrants and societies to realize full inclusion and social cohesion
(17) Eliminate all forms of discrimination and promote evidence-based public discourse to
shape perceptions of migration
(18) Invest in skills development and facilitate mutual recognition of skills, qualifications and
competences
(19) Create conditions for migrants and diasporas to fully contribute to sustainable development in all countries
(20) Promote faster, safer and cheaper transfer of remittances and foster financial inclusion of migrants
(21) Cooperate in facilitating safe and dignified return and readmission, as well as sustainable reintegration
(22) Establish mechanisms for the portability of social security entitlements and earned benefits
(23) Strengthen international cooperation and global partnerships for safe, orderly and regular migration

.

Press Release
‘Historic moment’ for people on the move, as UN agrees first-ever Global Compact on Migration
13 July 2018, New York
The text of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, was finalized today. This is the first time that Member States of the United Nations have come together to negotiate an agreement covering all dimensions of international migration in a holistic and comprehensive manner.

The Global Compact is the culmination of thematic discussions and consultations among Member States and such actors as local officials, civil society representatives and migrants themselves; stocktaking and reflection on the views that were shared; and intergovernmental negotiations. In total, this open, transparent and inclusive process lasting over 18 months led to unprecedented dialogue and learning by all participants on the realities of international migration.

The agreement now forms a basis to improve governance and international understanding of migration, to address the challenges associated with migration today, and to strengthen the contribution of migrants and migration to sustainable development.

Calling today a “historic moment,” the President of the 72nd session of the United Nations General Assembly, H.E. Mr. Miroslav Lajčák, said the Global Compact’s potential was huge. He added, “It can guide us from a reactive to a proactive mode. It can help us to draw out the benefits of migration, and mitigate the risks. It can provide a new platform for cooperation. And it can be a resource, in finding the right balance between the rights of people and the sovereignty of States. And, in December, it will formally become the first comprehensive framework on migration the world has ever seen.”…

Venezuela “Crisis” – Social Inclusion of Venezuelan Migrants/Refugees

.
OAS and PADF to Support Social Inclusion Policies in Destination Countries of Venezuelan Migrants
July 12, 2018
The Organization of American States (OAS) and the Pan American Development Foundation (PADF) today agreed to support the governments of countries receiving Venezuelan migrants. The main objective of the agreement is to implement actions in areas related to the protection and local integration of Venezuelan migrants and refugees, the development of social inclusion policies, and the generation of economic opportunities that facilitate their autonomy and allow them to contribute to the communities that receive them.

At the signing ceremony, the OAS Secretary General, Luis Almagro, referred to the magnitude of the exodus of Venezuelan citizens and the social and political implications of the situation. “The issue is pressing, the crisis in Venezuela has alarming consequences in the region; already more than two million people have had to leave Venezuela, which is an extremely serious exodus and a drain of resources,” said Almagro. He also stressed that the agreement “will lead to integrated solutions that respond to these problems and promote more robust efforts with various actors at the Inter-American level.”

The Executive Director of PADF, Katie Taylor, recalled the joint work carried out by the organization she leads with the OAS during the last five decades and said “this agreement offers us a specific opportunity to join forces and provide better service to Venezuelans through timely protection services and provision of adequate information; mobilize resources and support so that migrants can rebuild their lives with dignity in the new places that host them, and take advantage of the convening capacity of the OAS for better coordination among governments, civil society and the private sector.”

PADF is an independent non-profit organization based in Washington DC, created in 1962 through a unique cooperation agreement between the OAS and the private sector. It has a presence in Latin America and the Caribbean, where it implements social development projects to strengthen communities.

Education/Development

.
Missed Opportunities : The High Cost of Not Educating Girls
World Bank Report
QUENTIN WODON, CLAUDIO MONTENEGRO, HOA NGUYEN, AND ADENIKE ONAGORUWA
JULY 2018 :: 64 pages
PDF: https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/29956/HighCostOfNotEducatingGirls.pdf?sequence=5&isAllowed=y
Abstract
Too many girls drop out of school prematurely, especially in low income countries. Low educational attainment for girls has negative consequences not only for them, but also for their children and household, as well as for their community and society.

This study documents the potential impacts of educational attainment for girls and women in six domains: (1) earnings and standards of living; (2) child marriage and early childbearing; (3) fertility and population growth; (4) health, nutrition, and well-being; (5) agency and decision-making; and (6) social capital and institutions. The results are sobering: the potential economic and social costs of not educating girls are large.

Low educational attainment reduces expected earnings in adulthood, and it depresses labor force participation, leading to lower standards of living. When girls drop out of school prematurely, they are much more likely to marry as children, and have their first child before the age of 18 when they may not yet be ready to be wife and mothers. This in turn is associated with higher rates of fertility and population growth, which in low income countries are major impediments for reaping the benefits of the demographic dividend. Low educational attainment is also associated with worse health and nutrition outcomes for women and their children, leading among others to higher under-five mortality and stunting.

Girls who drop out of school also suffer in adulthood from a lack of agency and decision-making ability within the household, and in society more generally. They are also less likely to report engaging in altruistic behaviors such as donating to charity, volunteering, or helping others. Finally, when girls and women are better educated, they may be better able to assess the quality of the basic services they rely on and the quality of their country’s institutions and leaders.

These negative impacts have large economic costs, leading among others to losses in human capital wealth (future lifetime earnings of the labor force) estimated at $15 trillion to $30 trillion. Educating girls is not only the right thing to do: it is also a smart economic investment.

Press Release
Not Educating Girls Costs Countries Trillions of Dollars, Says New World Bank Report
WASHINGTON, July 11, 2018 – Limited educational opportunities for girls and barriers to completing 12 years of education cost countries between $15 trillion and $30 trillion in lost lifetime productivity…

Today, some 132 million girls around the world between the ages of 6 and 17 are still not in school —75 percent of whom are adolescents. To reap the full benefits of education, countries need to improve both access and quality so that all girls have the opportunity to learn. These investments are especially crucial in some regions, such as Sub-Saharan Africa where, on average, only 40 percent of girls complete lower secondary school. Countries also need policies to support healthy economic growth than will generate jobs for an expanding educated workforce.

Women with secondary education also have a better ability to make decisions in their household, including for their own health care. They are less likely to experience intimate partner violence, and they report higher levels of psychological well-being. They also have healthier children who are less likely to be malnourished and who are more likely to go to school and learn. Finally, better education for girls makes them more likely to participate fully in society and be active members of their community.

Educating girls and promoting gender equality is part of a broader and holistic effort at the World Bank, which includes financing and analytical work to remove financial barriers that keep girls out of school, prevent child marriage, improve access to reproductive health services, and strengthen skills and job opportunities for adolescent girls and young women. Since 2016, the World Bank has invested more than $3.2 billion in education projects benefiting adolescent girls.

The report was published with support from the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, the Global Partnership for Education, and Malala Fund.

Human Rights – Equal Access to Justice/SDG 16

.
Achieving equal access to justice for all by 2030: lessons from global funds
Working and discussion papers | July 2018 | Marcus Manuel and Clare Manuel
ODI – Overseas Development Institute 2018.: 32 pages
[Excerpts]
Introduction
This paper reviews the experience of global funds and explores whether lessons could usefully be applied to supporting Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16.3’s commitment to equal access to justice for all by 2030. In other areas, including agriculture, health, climate change and education, global funds focused on specific problems have become a key part of international aid architecture. Global fund performance has varied, but the best ones, particularly those relating to health, have been successful in improving both the quality and
quantity of aid: building multi-stakeholder partnerships, marshalling resources, enhancing the long-term visibility of resource flows, generating innovative approaches and delivering results.

The paper begins with a brief overview in section 2 of why access to justice matters and the challenges of providing it, including funding gaps. Section 3 briefly summarises donor engagement with justice to date, and section 4 looks at current promising international
initiatives to engage with SDG 16.3. Section 5 provides an introduction to global funds and then section 6 examines their common characteristics and explores how applicable these might be to the challenges of providing access to justice. Section 7 sets out three options for donor re-engagement. Section 8 sets out three key conclusions and possible next steps, namely:
1) it is premature to try and assess whether a large-scale global justice fund would be appropriate, as much more work needs to be done including on establishing funding gaps;
2) SDG 16.3’s two indicators for the first time provide an internationally agreed framework around two specific results for donor and partner countries to improve access to justice globally and there is a case for a small scale pilot fund focused on one or both of these indicators; and
3) there is a case for exploratory consultations on how to achieve significant donor re-engagement in low-income countries

Key Messages
:: Access to justice is associated with economic growth and social development and its provision is a core state function. But billions of people have limited access to justice. Donor support for justice systems is low in most countries and has fallen by 40% globally in the last four years. Thinking on long-term scaled-up funding for accessible justice is in its infancy.

:: The principles and approaches underlying global funds in other areas provide useful lessons for how to achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16.3’s commitment to equal access to justice for all, including strengthening international commitment; stronger focus on learning and innovation; more effective collective donor effort and management of risk; deeper engagement with national government systems and strategies to scale up sustainable approaches; and creating new funding and partnerships.

:: It is too early to assess whether a large-scale global fund would be appropriate or feasible to support access to justice for all, given the challenges and political nature of the justice system. More work needs to be done first, including to establish precise funding needs.

:: In the meantime, there is a case for developing a small-scale pilot pooled donor fund focused on a specific SDG 16.3 indicator, available on a demand-driven basis to a limited number of countries. This would enable cross-country learning. It would also provide insights into the functioning of the system as a whole; global fund experience is that an initial focus on a specific ‘vertical’ issue over time turns into broader engagement.

:: There is also a case for undertaking exploratory consultations on how to achieve significant donor reengagement in low-income countries.

::::::

[p.15] Global vertical funds: a brief overview
…Vertical funds are global programmes for allocating aid that focus on a particular thematic issue across countries. They have been referred to as ‘goal-based investment partnerships’, working to deliver clearly articulated targets (Gartner and Kharas, 2013; Schmidt-Traub and Sachs, 2015). The aim is to scale up resources and impact, with donor funds crowding in other funding. By 2013 the top ten vertical funds represented approximately one seventh of all programmable aid, and in some important sectors accounted for over half of all donor commitments (ibid; ibid.). Most of these new generation vertical funds emerged in response to specific global challenges in the wake of the Millennium Development Goals.

Prominent examples include two health funds, namely the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (‘the Global Fund’) and the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisations (GAVI), the International Fund for Agricultural Development,30 and the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program. There are also a range of climate funds (Nakhooda et al., 2015). Since 2013 the number of funds has continued to grow. Another health fund, the Global Financing Facility in support of Every Woman, Every Child, was launched in 2015 and the Education Cannot Wait Fund in 2016. Calls continue for further new approaches in the education sector to mobilise additional resources, reduce fragmentation and promote innovation (Schäferhoff and Burnett, 2016).

The funds have differing management, governance and implementation practices. Some have been more successful than others. In some cases, there has been criticism of vertical funds’ limited support to countries’ development of sustainable national systems and limited coordination with other donors in-country.31 A series of reviews (Isenman et al., 2010; Gartner and Kharas, 2013; Schmidt-Traub and Sachs, 2015; Sachs and Schmidt-Traub,2017; Schmidt-Traub, 2018a) suggest that performance is strongly connected to fund design. Funds with more
participatory governance structures, more independence and greater beneficiary involvement, clear performance-based metrics, and a close link between performance and
funding (including competitive allocation of funds) have demonstrated more success in resource mobilisation, impact, innovation, learning and scaling up. The Global Fund and GAVI stand out in this respect and have been credited with bringing in new private-sector actors and enabling rapid scale-up from a global goal to successful implementation on a global scale (Gartner and Kharas, 2013; Schmidt-Traub and Sachs, 2015).
30 Which dates from an earlier era (1971).
31 See for example DFID’s latest business case and annual review of the Global Fund (DFID, 2018a; 2018b).

Development – Long Term Scenarios for World Economy

.
The Long View: Scenarios for the World Economy to 2060
OECD Economic Policy Paper No.22
Authors: Yvan Guillemette and David Turner
12 Jul 2018 : 51 pages
PDF: https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/deliver/b4f4e03e-en.pdf?itemId=%2Fcontent%2Fpaper%2Fb4f4e03e-en&mimeType=pdf
[Editor’s text bolding]

Overview
This paper presents long-run economic projections for 46 countries, extending the short-run projections of the Spring 2018 OECD Economic Outlook. It first sets out a baseline scenario under the assumption that countries do not carry out institutional and policy reforms. This scenario is then used as a reference point to illustrate the potential impact of structural reforms in alternative scenarios, including better governance and educational attainment in the large emerging-market economies and competition-friendly product market and labour market reforms in OECD economies.
Flexibility-enhancing labour market reforms not only boost living standards but, by raising the employment rate, also help alleviate fiscal pressures associated with population ageing. Another scenario illustrates the potential positive impact of linking the pensionable age to life expectancy on the participation rate of older workers, and in particular that of women.
Additional scenarios illustrate the potential economic gains from raising public investment and spending more on research and development. A final ‘negative’ scenario shows how slipping back on trade liberalisation – returning to 1990 average tariff rates – might depress standards of living everywhere.

Main Findings
Baseline scenario with no institutional or policy changes
:: World trend real GDP growth declines from about 3½ per cent now to 2% in 2060, mainly due to a deceleration of large emerging economies as these continue to account for the bulk of world growth. India and China take up a rising share of world output as the world’s economic centre of gravity shifts toward Asia.
:: Living standards (real GDP per capita) continue to advance in all countries through 2060 and gradually converge toward those of the most advanced countries, but to varying degrees. Living standards in high-growth emerging market and Eastern European economies converge most, driven by catch-up in trend labour efficiency, but GDP per capita in the BRIICS and some low-income OECD countries remains below half that of the United States in 2060. Demographic change weighs on growth in OECD living standards through 2060.
:: Stabilising public debt ratios at current levels while meeting fiscal pressures from higher health spending and demographic change requires the median OECD government to raise primary revenue by 6½ percentage points of GDP by 2060.
:: A global saving glut has been putting downward pressure on real interest rates in recent years, a trend that may persist.

Alternative scenarios with institutional or policy reforms
:: Relative to OECD countries, the BRIICS have substantial room to improve the quality of governance and raise educational attainment. In a scenario where both factors catch up with average OECD levels by 2060, living standards in the BRIICS are 30% to 50% higher in 2060 than in the baseline scenario.
:: Reforms through 2030 to make product market regulation in OECD countries as friendly to competition as in the five leading countries raise living standards by over 8% in aggregate (as much as 15-20% in the countries furthest away from best practices).
:: A reform package to improve labour market policy settings in OECD countries up to those of leading countries raises the aggregate employment rate by 6½ percentage points by 2040, mostly via higher youth and female employment. The package raises living standards by 10% by 2060 and helps alleviate future fiscal pressures related to ageing.
:: Tying future increases in pensionable ages to life expectancy, as some countries have done, raises the aggregate employment rate of older people in the OECD by more than 5 percentage points by 2060 and living standards by about 2½ per cent by 2060 (as much as 5-7% in countries with currently no explicit plans to change pensionable ages).
:: Boosting R&D intensity in all OECD countries to the level of the five leading countries raises aggregate living standards by 6% by 2060 (as much as 10-18% in countries currently spending little on R&D).
:: Permanently raising public investment in all OECD countries to 6% of GDP raises aggregate living standards by over 4% by 2060 (as much as 6-9% in some countries). Fiscal burdens rise by much less than the cost of the additional investment and the policy is even self-financing in some countries.
:: Slipping back on trade liberalisation – returning to 1990 average tariff rates – depresses long-run living standards by 14% for the world as a whole and as much as 15-25% in the most affected countries.

Sustainable Development – Smallholder Agriculture/Satellite Technology

.
Digital and Satellite Technology Program Launches to Support Ghana’s Smallholder Cocoa Farmers
ACCRA, GHANA, July 10, 2018 – ACCRA, GHANA, July 10, 2018 – SAT4Farming, an initiative to reach thousands of small-scale cocoa producers with information and services to improve their productivity and sustainability, was announced today. It is designed to use digital technology and satellite imagery to create individual Farm Development Plans (FDPs) that guide farmers over a seven-year period.

The digital FDPs provide a planning and monitoring tool, available over mobile devices. Advice on farm practices and investments, climate-adaptation, certification training, and ongoing monitoring provide farmers and field agents with unprecedented data-based guidance to a more sustainable future.

Smallholder farmers produce the vast majority of the world’s cocoa, the basic ingredient for chocolate. Cocoa farmers face declining yields, mounting threats from pests and disease, and persistent poverty. In addition, farmers rarely get the timely training and advice they need to change their circumstances. In Ghana, 800,000 smallholder farmers make the country the world’s second largest cocoa producer.

SAT4Farming partners include the global nonprofits the Rainforest Alliance and Grameen Foundation; global cocoa trader Touton; the University of Ghana’s Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness; the Netherlands-based Satelligence and WaterWatch Projects.
With the launch, Touton has begun deploying the SAT4Farming digital FDP among its network of farmers and suppliers for Mars, Inc., one of the world’s largest chocolate makers. Meanwhile, Mars suppliers across a number of countries are adopting similar approaches to support a more sustainable cocoa sector by improving smallholders’ livelihoods and protecting the environment. COCOBOD fully supports the program implementation in Ghana.

SAT4Farming builds on a pilot in Indonesia where Mars, the Rainforest Alliance and Grameen Foundation partnered to create the digital FDP. It is based on a specialized agronomic model for cocoa that includes digital certification performance information. In Ghana, the integration of satellite imagery is expected to streamline the process of creating an FDP, facilitate monitoring, and provide greater insights into dynamic environmental conditions.

Initial funding comes from the Geodata for Agriculture and Water (G4AW) program of the Netherlands Space Office (NSO). The program plans to launch a social enterprise that will make SAT4Farming services widely available and ensure the economic sustainability of the work.

Featured Journal Content

Nature
Volume 559 Issue 7713, 12 July 2018
http://www.nature.com/nature/current_issue.html
Comment | 11 July 2018
Grand challenges in humanitarian aid
Fund and study these priorities for natural and social sciences to meet a gaping need, urge Abdallah S. Daar, Trillium Chang, Angela Salomon and Peter A. Singer.

What are Global Alliance for Humanitarian Innovation and Grand Challenges Canada?
The need for innovation in the humanitarian space was recognized at the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul10 in May 2016. The largest ever United Nations gathering, this had 9,000 participants from at least 173 countries, including 55 heads of state and governments, hundreds of private-sector representatives, and thousands of people from civil society and non-governmental organizations, including multilateral development banks such as the World Bank.

The summit created the Global Alliance for Humanitarian Innovation with the mission of achieving higher impact and efficiency in humanitarian action11. It complements several initiatives, including Global Humanitarian Lab, Global Partnerships for Humanitarian Impact and Innovation, and the Canadian Humanitarian Assistance Fund. Unfortunately, many of these have insufficient funding to address the magnitude of the problem by creating a healthy pipeline of seed innovations; most do not have the capacity to scale them up.

Grand Challenges Canada (GCC), supported by the Government of Canada, funds technological, social and business innovations in global health. Since its founding in 2010, GCC has supported 1,000 projects in more than 80 countries (see go.nature.com/2jyaozb). The leaders of GCC have a track record of partnering to identify priorities that catalyse the creation of impactful research funding programmes at the global level. These include: the Bill & Melinda Gates Grand Challenges in Global Health programme, based on a 2003 study5; the Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases, based on a 2007 study6; and the Global Mental Health Initiative of the US National Institute for Mental Health and GCC, based on a 2011 study7.
.

Top 10 Humanitarian Grand Challenges
PDF Version
1 STRENGTHEN ECONOMIES (147 cumulative score)
Priority:
Restore functioning markets and the economic stability of affected communities by:
• Scaling up cash-based assistance (rather than in-kind commodities)
• Improving access to financial services
• Increasing autonomous choice over spending
• Expanding social safety-net programmes, such as provision of health care, shelter and transport
• Engaging cross-border refugees, particularly women, who are displaced to countries where they are forbidden to work outside camps*
Research questions:
• How can assistance be maximally scaled in humanitarian crises settings? What are the obstacles to achieving this and how can they be overcome?
• What potential financial services, formal and informal, are available to refugees and affected communities? How can safe and affordable access be improved?
• What are the economic advantages and disadvantages of allowing aid beneficiaries to receive cash and/or control their own spending, rather than receiving aid through material goods or medical supplies?
• What are the most effective ways to distribute cash digitally without compromising user data privacy (for example, via blockchain)?
• What are more affordable/effective ways for diaspora and others to send money to crisis-affected persons?

2 REDUCE INEQUALITY (141)
Priority:
Strengthen resilience in communities at risk of humanitarian crises by:
• Reducing inequality and poverty
• Promoting gender equality
• Improving education*
Research questions:
• How can communities vulnerable to humanitarian crises be identified proactively?
• What are effective ways to raise public awareness about potential disasters in communities not previously affected?
• How can a population be engaged in procuring and storing vital goods such as food, clothing, medical supplies, power generation and rescue equipment? How can these vital goods be most efficiently deployed?
• How do social determinants (such as poverty, gender inequality, low education; and ethnic, tribal and religious or other differences) perpetuate or aggravate humanitarian emergencies?
• How can maternal and child education and health services be more effective, and how can uptake be increased?

3 IMPROVE METRICS (138.5)
Priority:
Measure effectiveness of humanitarian aid by moving away from metrics that measure ‘cost-per-beneficiary’ to those that measure how the needs are met of:
• the most vulnerable
• the most systematically excluded
• the hardest-to-reach communities
Research questions:
• What are the most logical indicators for measuring lives saved and improved in humanitarian crises? This may include existing indicators, such as those in the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness, if appropriate to the context.
• How can technological innovations, such as cloud computing and mobile devices, automate and improve the efficiency of measuring aid effectiveness over time?
• Can ‘big data’ resources such as messaging apps, user-generated maps, GPS, mobile-phone tracking, commercial transactions or electronic medical records be used to identify impacted populations, their needs and gaps in support?
• Do current monitoring and evaluation systems compromise the safety of affected people or place heavy burdens on responders? What are ways to overcome this while still meeting donor needs?

4 ADDRESS FUNDING (128)
Priority:
• Shift from short-term emergency funding toward longer-term humanitarian financing
• Ensure accountable, impactful investments that include incentives or subsidies for host governments to contribute alongside foreign assistance*
Research questions:
• How can states, humanitarian aid agencies, donors and others be effectively engaged in an effort to shift to sustainable funding?
• How effective are impact bonds in financing initiatives in humanitarian settings (recent onset or protracted)? What are other potentially transformative strategies to achieve multi-year funding for protracted crises?
• How can ‘risk insurance’, based on agreed-upon triggers, mitigate humanitarian disasters?

5 PROTECT IDENTITY (121)
Priority:
Provide affected persons with an official private, secure digital identity that reduces the risk of creating stateless persons.
This might:
• Incorporate a universal health card
• Safely and privately store, transport, validate authenticity of, and disseminate personal documents (such as bank cards, land deeds, birth certificates, school diplomas and medical records)*
Research questions:
• How effective have previous efforts been to establish Universal Health Cards, Universal Health Insurance and financial-risk protection for migrants (such as those used in Thailand8)?
• How effective have previous efforts been to issue digital identity cards to hard-to-reach populations (such as India’s Aadhaar9 system)?
• What are the advantages, disadvantages and long-term impacts of providing digital identities by countries of origin or by hosting governments?
• What are the ethical, legal and social issues that may arise in developing and disseminating such digital identities?
• What is the feasibility and impact of using highly secure, efficient technologies to store records in humanitarian settings? What are the potential drawbacks or consequences?

6 EXPEDITE AID (119)
Priority:
Remove all barriers to immediate aid following emergencies or after predetermined ‘triggers’ in slow-onset emergencies, such as restrictions on humanitarian organizations. This prevents the need to wait until public consciousness is raised and pressure applied to donor governments.
Research questions:
• What are the most effective international mechanisms and auspices under which to engage governments to develop partnerships for immediate disaster/emergency relief?
• How feasible and effective are crowdfunding platforms to speed the availability of money in crisis situations?
• How can mechanisms for regional neutral bodies to intervene rapidly in the case of disasters be better coordinated?
• How can the voices of those affected by crises be amplified most effectively?

7 SAVE MORE LIVES (117)
Priority:
Improve access to life-saving assistance for people living in areas that are highly insecure and largely inaccessible to international and national aid organizations.
Research questions:
• What methods promote and ensure compliance (of non-governmental organizations, governments) with international humanitarian law? How can such laws be strengthened?
• How can the private sector improve the delivery of aid and increase the speed, effectiveness and cost-efficiency of delivering or manufacturing commodities (such as by 3D printing) in hard-to-reach places?
• How can crisis-affected people be supported or empowered to create their own local solutions — such as by locally manufacturing and reusing items?
• In what ways can military know-how and capabilities, including transport and logistics, be used ethically in disaster responses? What are potential political obstacles, and how can they be overcome?

8 SUPPORT MENTAL HEALTH (116)
Priority:
Offer emergency psychosocial support at scale.
Research questions:
• How effective are culturally sensitive and locally applicable emergency intervention programmes based on the World Health Organization’s Mental Health Gap Action Programme for mental health and psychosocial support? Where are there gaps and how can they be filled?
• What are the most effective ways for health-care providers to advocate for the incorporation of established ethical principles and more counselling into emergency mental-health intervention programmes?
• What are the population metrics and outcome indicators for mental-health policy and programme surveillance?
• Can artificial intelligence (such as chatbots or apps) deliver mental-health and psychosocial support, in a culturally sensitive and effective manner?

9 DEMOCRATIZE DATA ACCESS (113)
Priority:
Increase (digital) connectivity of affected persons to democratize access to information and opportunities, including market prices, wage information, weather, jobs, banking, insurance and microfinance*.
Research questions:
• What culturally specific and community-based strategies will efficiently and effectively integrate crisis-affected people with worldwide data sources?
• How can mobile-network operators become valuable contributors to preparedness before, and responses after, humanitarian disasters?
• How effective are existing innovative ways to share data in humanitarian settings, such as mesh networks, bluetooth technology, microwave technology and peer-to-peer networks? What other novel strategies exist?

10 BOOST DIRECT COMMUNICATION (110.5)
Priority:
Facilitate direct two-way communications between affected persons and humanitarian agencies, for the sharing of needs, developments, plans and actions.
Research questions:
• What are examples of low-cost satellite or other technologies that can facilitate logistics and cut response time in crisis settings, and how effective are they?
• How can non-governmental organizations, governments and other actors gain feedback from affected persons to improve humanitarian responses? How effective are online surveys, feedback apps and chatbots? What other novel solutions exist?
*Challenge reformatted and/or slightly reworded from the original submission to increase clarity and coherence.

Emergencies
 
POLIO
Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC)
Polio this week as of 10 July 2018 [GPEI]
:: A Disease Outbreak News (DON) notification was issued on 10 July on the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s three concurrent circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) outbreaks.
:: Papua New Guinea prepares for the launch of large-scale immunization campaigns in Morobe, Madang and Eastern Highlands provinces, set to commence next week..

Summary of new cases this week:
Afghanistan:
:: Last week’s advance notification of one wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) case in Nad-e-Ali district, Helmand province, has been confirmed. The case had onset of paralysis on 1 June. This brings the total number of WPV1 cases in 2018 (in Afghanistan) to nine.
:: A sub-national immunization days campaign aiming to reach 6.4 million children under five years of age in 225 high risk districts of 27 provinces, primarily in the southern and eastern parts of the country including Kabul city, has concluded.
:: Two new WPV1 positive environmental samples have been reported: one in Kandahar City, Kandahar province, and one in Jalalabad, Nangarhar province.
Pakistan:
:: Four new WPV1 positive environmental samples have been reported this week: one in Peshawar and one in Kohat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province (both 26 June), one in Karachi, Sindh province (23 June), and one in Islamabad, Punjab province (24 June).
Somalia:
:: An advance notification has been confirmed of one new cVDPV2 positive contact in Somalia.

DONs
Circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 – Democratic Republic of the Congo
10 July 2018
…WHO risk assessment
WHO assessed the overall public health risk at the national level to be very high and the risk of international spread to be high. This risk is magnified by known population movements between the affected area of Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Central African Republic and South Sudan, and the upcoming rainy season which is associated with increased intensity of virus transmission.
The detection of cVDPV2s underscores the importance of maintaining high routine vaccination coverage everywhere to minimize the risk and consequences of any poliovirus circulation. These events also underscore the risk posed by any low-level transmission of the virus. A robust outbreak response is needed to rapidly stop circulation and ensure sufficient vaccination coverage in the affected areas to prevent similar outbreaks in the future. WHO will continue to evaluate the epidemiological situation and outbreak response measures being implemented…

::::::
::::::

WHO Grade 3 Emergencies  [to 14 Jul 2018]
The Syrian Arab Republic
:: Southern Syrian Arab Republic Health Cluster report pdf, 82kb  9 – 12 July 2018
:: WHO delivers over 17 tons of life-saving medicines and medical equipment to the newly accessible city of Douma  7 July 2018

Iraq  – No new announcements identified
Nigeria  – No new announcements identified
South Sudan  – No new announcements identified
Yemen  – No new announcements identified

::::::
 
WHO Grade 2 Emergencies  [to 14 Jul 2018]
[Several emergency pages were not available at inquiry]
Cameroon  – No new announcements identified
Central African Republic  – No new announcements identified.
Democratic Republic of the Congo  – No new announcements identified
Ethiopia  – No new announcements identified.
Libya – No new announcements identified.
Myanmar  – No new announcements identified
Niger  – No new announcements identified.
Ukraine – No new announcements identified.

::::::
::::::
 
UN OCHA – L3 Emergencies
The UN and its humanitarian partners are currently responding to three ‘L3’ emergencies. This is the global humanitarian system’s classification for the response to the most severe, large-scale humanitarian crises. 
Syrian Arab Republic 
:: Syrian Arab Republic: Dar’a, Quneitra, As-Sweida Situation Report No. 2 as of 11 July 2018
Published on 11 Jul 2018
 
Yemen
:: Yemen Humanitarian Update Covering 12 June – 9 July 2018 | Issue 20
Published on 10 Jul 2018

::::::

UN OCHA – Corporate Emergencies
When the USG/ERC declares a Corporate Emergency Response, all OCHA offices, branches and sections provide their full support to response activities both at HQ and in the field.
Ethiopia  – No new announcements identified.
Somalia   – No new announcements identified.

::::::
::::::
 
Editor’s Note:
We will cluster these recent emergencies as below and continue to monitor the WHO webpages for updates and key developments.

EBOLA/EVD  [to 14 Jul 2018]
http://www.who.int/ebola/en/
Ebola virus disease – Democratic Republic of the Congo   6 July 2018
The Ministry of Health and WHO continue to closely monitor the outbreak of Ebola virus disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Contact tracing activities concluded on 27 June after the last people with potential exposure to the virus completed their 21-day follow-up without developing symptoms. Over 20 000 visits to contacts have been conducted by the field team throughout the outbreak.
On 12 June, the last confirmed Ebola virus disease patient in Équateur Province was discharged from an Ebola treatment centre, following two negative tests on serial laboratory specimens. Before the outbreak can be declared over, a period of 42 days (two incubation periods) following the last possible exposure to a confirmed case must elapse without any new confirmed cases being detected. Until this milestone is reached, it is critical to maintain all key response pillars, including intensive surveillance to rapidly detect and respond to any resurgence.
In light of progress in the response, WHO has revised the risk assessment for this outbreak…
there remains a risk of resurgence from potentially undetected transmission chains and possible sexual transmission of the virus by male survivors. It is therefore, critical to maintain all key response pillars until the end of the outbreak is declared. Strengthened surveillance mechanisms and a survivor monitoring program are in place to mitigate, rapidly detect and respond to respond to such events. Based on these factors, WHO considers the public health risk to be moderate at the national level.
In the absence of ongoing transmission, the probability of exported cases is low and diminishing, and has been further mitigated by the undertaking of preparedness activities and establishment of contingency plans in neighbouring countries. WHO has assessed the public health risk to be low at the regional and global levels…

The Sentinel

Human Rights Action :: Humanitarian Response :: Health :: Education :: Heritage Stewardship ::
Sustainable Development
__________________________________________________
Week ending 7 July 2018

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: The Sentinel_ period ending 7 July 2018.docx

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

Governance – Rule of Law: Poland

Rule of Law: Commission launches infringement procedure to protect the independence of the Polish Supreme Court  
Brussels, 2 July 2018

Today, the European Commission has launched an infringement procedure by sending a Letter of Formal Notice to Poland regarding the Polish law on the Supreme Court.

On 3 July, 27 out of 72 Supreme Court judges face the risk of being forced to retire – more than one in every three judges – due to the fact that the new Polish law on the Supreme Court lowers the retirement age of Supreme Court judges from 70 to 65. This measure also applies to the First President of the Supreme Court, whose 6-year mandate would be prematurely terminated. According to the law, current judges are given the possibility to declare their will to have their mandate prolonged by the President of the Republic, which can be granted for a period of three years and renewed once. There are no criteria established for the President’s decision and there is no possibility for a judicial review of this decision.

The Commission is of the opinion that these measures undermine the principle of judicial independence, including the irremovability of judges, and thereby Poland fails to fulfil its obligations under Article 19(1) of the Treaty on European Union read in connection with Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.

While the Polish Supreme Court law has already been discussed in the Rule of Law dialogue between the Commission and the Polish authorities, it has not been satisfactorily addressed through this process. The Commission believes that the introduction of a consultation of the National Council for the Judiciary (NCJ) does not constitute an effective safeguard, as argued by the Polish authorities. The NCJ’s opinion is not binding and is based on vague criteria. Moreover, following the reform of 8 December 2017, the NCJ is now composed of judges-members appointed by the Polish Parliament – which is not in line with European standards on judicial independence.

Given the lack of progress through the Rule of Law dialogue, and the imminent implementation of the new retirement regime for Supreme Court judges, the Commission decided to launch this infringement procedure as a matter of urgency. The Polish government will have one month to reply to the Commission’s Letter of Formal Notice. At the same time, the Commission stands ready to continue the ongoing rule of law dialogue with Poland, which remains the Commission’s preferred channel for resolving the systemic threat to the rule of law in Poland.

Background
The rule of law is one of the common values upon which the European Union is founded. It is enshrined in Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union. The European Commission, together with the European Parliament and the Council, is responsible under the Treaties for guaranteeing the respect of the rule of law as a fundamental value of our Union and making sure that EU law, values and principles are respected.

Events in Poland led the European Commission to open a dialogue with the Polish Government in January 2016 under the Rule of Law Framework. The Commission keeps the European Parliament and Council regularly and closely informed.

On 29 July 2017* the Commission launched an infringement procedure on the Polish Law on Ordinary Courts, also on the grounds of its retirement previsions and their impact on the independence of the judiciary. The Commission referred this case to the Court of Justice on 20 December 2017.

Also on 20 December 2017, the Commission invoked the Article 7(1) procedure for the first time, by submitting a Reasoned Proposal for a Decision of the Council on the determination of a clear risk of a serious breach of the rule of law by Poland[1].

At the General Affairs Council hearing on Poland on 26 June, in the context of the Article 7(1) procedure, no indication was given by the Polish authorities of forthcoming measures to address the Commission’s outstanding concerns. The College of Commissioners therefore decided on 27 June 2018 to empower First Vice-President Frans Timmermans to launch this infringement procedure. The Commission stands ready to continue the ongoing rule of law dialogue with Poland, which remains the Commission’s preferred channel for resolving the systemic threat to the rule of law in Poland.

Governance – INGO Merger

Plan International and BØRNEfonden to merge
2 July 2018

Leading Danish development organisation BØRNEfonden has merged with global child rights and humanitarian organisation Plan International to deliver greater impact for millions of vulnerable children and young people in some of the poorest countries in the world.

The merger means that BØRNEfonden’s operations in Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali and Togo will be integrated with Plan International’s current programmes in these four countries.

“By joining forces, we can do much more to champion child rights, equality between girls and boys and the development of strong, resilient communities for the most marginalised children and youth in some of the most disadvantaged regions in the world,” said Anne-Birgitte Albrectsen, CEO of Plan International.

Delivering greater impact for children
Plan International is one of the world’s largest development and humanitarian organisations advancing children’s rights and equality for girls. The organisation is active in more than 70 countries and has an annual turnover of more than €850 million.

Plan International has worked in West Africa for over 40 years with major programmes in education, health, household economic security, water and sanitation, and child rights promotion. The organisation has a collective annual budget of over €60 million in Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali and Togo with over 450 staff.

BØRNEfonden has been working in these four countries for over four decades, focusing on children’s health and education, as well as employability, entrepreneurship and empowerment of youth. Every year BØRNEfonden benefits three million people, enabling them to build a better future. BØRNEfonden’s merger will add over 45,000 sponsored children and 471 staff to Plan International’s operations…

Health – Quality Health Services

Delivering quality health services: A global imperative for universal health coverage
WHO – OECD – World Bank
July 2018 :: 100 pages
ISBN: 978-92-4-151390-6
PDF: http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/272465/9789241513906-eng.pdf?ua=1

Overview
This document describes the essential role of quality in the delivery of health care services. As nations commit to achieving universal health coverage by 2030, there is a growing acknowledgement that optimal health care cannot be delivered by simply ensuring coexistence of infrastructure, medical supplies and health care providers. Improvement in health care delivery requires a deliberate focus on quality of health services, which involves providing effective, safe, people-centred care that is timely, equitable, integrated and efficient. Quality of care is the degree to which health services for individuals and populations increase the likelihood of desired health outcomes and are consistent with current professional knowledge.

News Release
Low quality healthcare is increasing the burden of illness and health costs globally
5 July 2018
Poor quality health services are holding back progress on improving health in countries at all income levels, according to a new joint report by the OECD, World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank.

Today, inaccurate diagnosis, medication errors, inappropriate or unnecessary treatment, inadequate or unsafe clinical facilities or practices, or providers who lack adequate training and expertise prevail in all countries.

The situation is worst in low and middle-income countries where 10 percent of hospitalized patients can expect to acquire an infection during their stay, as compared to seven percent in high income countries. This is despite hospital acquired infections being easily avoided through better hygiene, improved infection control practices and appropriate use of antimicrobials.. At the same time, one in ten patients is harmed during medical treatment in high income countries.

These are just some of the highlights from Delivering Quality Health Services – a Global Imperative for Universal Health Coverage. The report also highlights that sickness associated with poor quality health care imposes additional expenditure on families and health systems…

Other key findings in the report paint a picture of quality issues in healthcare around the world:

:: Health care workers in seven low- and middle-income African countries were only able to make accurate diagnoses one third to three quarters of the time, and clinical guidelines for common conditions were followed less than 45 percent of the time on average.

:: Research in eight high-mortality countries in the Caribbean and Africa found that effective, quality maternal and child health services are far less prevalent than suggested by just looking at access to services. For example, just 28 percent of antenatal care, 26 percent of family planning services and 21 percent of sick-child care across these countries qualified as ‘effective.’

:: Around 15 percent of hospital expenditure in high-income countries is due to mistakes in care or patients being infected while in hospitals.

Heritage Stewardship – UN Biodiversity Lab

UN Biodiversity Lab launched to revolutionize biodiversity planning and reporting

UNDP, UN Environment, and the CBD Secretariat launch a free, open-source platform to provide policy makers with access to world-class data for national action
Posted on July 5, 2018
Montreal, Canada, July 5 – The United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the United Nations Environment (UN Environment), and the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, launched the UN Biodiversity Lab –  an interactive mapping platform designed to solve biodiversity conservation and development challenges. With core funding from the Global Environment Facility and powered by MapX, the UN Biodiversity Lab brings together spatial data from the UN Environment World Conservation Monitoring Centre, the Global Resource    Information Database (GRID-Geneva), NASA, UN agencies, and premier research institutions.

Currently, many countries lack access to geospatial data due to limitations in data availability and technical capacity. The UN Biodiversity Lab provides spatial data through a free, cloud-based tool to support Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in reporting on their achievements and to inform their conservation decision making. National policymakers and planners will be able to upload and utilize existing national-level data in their analyses…

The importance of enhancing access to big data for sustainable development is highlighted by the Nature for Development Declaration on Spatial Data, which was opened for public endorsement at the launch event. To date, 20 institutions have endorsed the Declaration. A large number of countries, UN Agencies, NGOs, academic institutions, and indigenous peoples organizations are expected to endorse…

Heritage Stewardship – World Heritage

World Heritage Committee has inscribed a total of 19 sites on World Heritage List
04 July 2018
The World Heritage Committee, meeting in Manama since 24 June under the chair of Shaikha Haya Bint Rashed al-Khalifa of Bahrain, ended today. The next session çof the World Heritage Committee will be in Baku, Azerbaijan.

During the session, the Committee inscribed 19 sites on the World Heritage List (13 cultural sites, three natural and three mixed sites, i.e. both natural and cultural). It also approved the extension of one natural site. The World Heritage List now numbers 1092 sites in 167 countries.

Newly inscribed cultural sites:
Aasivissuit – Nipisat. Inuit Hunting Ground between Ice and Sea (Denmark)
Al-Ahsa Oasis, an evolving Cultural Landscape (Saudi Arabia)
Ancient City of Qalhat (Oman)
Archaeological Border complex of Hedeby and the Danevirke (Germany)
Caliphate City of Medina Azahara (Spain)
Göbekli Tepe (Turkey)
Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region (Japan)
Ivrea, industrial city of the 20th century (Italy)
Naumburg Cathedral (Germany)
Sansa, Buddhist Mountain Monasteries in Korea (Republic of Korea)
Sassanid Archaeological Landscape of Fars Region (Islamic Republic of Iran)
Thimlich Ohinga Archaeological Site (Kenya)
Victorian Gothic and Art Deco Ensembles of Mumbai (India)

Natural sites:
Barberton Makhonjwa Mountains (South Africa)
Chaine des Puys – Limagne fault tectonic arena (France)
Fanjingshan (China)

Mixed sites:
Chiribiquete National Park – “The Maloca of the Jaguar” (Colombia)
Pimachiowin Aki (Canada)
Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Valley: originary habitat of Mesoamerica (Mexico)

Extension:
Bikin River Valley (Russian Federation)

Emergencies

 
POLIO
Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC)
Polio this week as of 03 July 2018 [GPEI]
:: Tens of thousands of Rotarians met last week in Toronto, Canada, for the annual Rotary International Convention. Polio eradication was again front and centre at this year’s event. Addressing the Convention, WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus thanked Rotarians for their leadership in bringing the world to the brink of being polio-free, and asked for a doubling of efforts to cross the finish line once and for all.
:: On the convention’s final day, Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, was presented with Rotary’s Polio Eradication Champion Award in recognition of his leadership and Canada’s contributions to polio eradication.
:: Read about the vaccination of refugees and internally displaced people in the Lake Chad basin.

Summary of new cases this week:
Afghanistan: An advance notification has been received of one new wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) case in Afghanistan.
Nigeria: One circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) positive environmental sample has been reported from Nigeria.
Pakistan: Three new WPV1 positive environmental samples have been reported from Pakistan.
Somalia: An advance notification has been received of one new cVDPV2 positive contact in Somalia. S

Alarming polio outbreak spreads in Congo, threatening global eradication efforts
Science | 2 July 2018  By Leslie Roberts
Overshadowed by the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), another frightening virus is on the loose in that vast, chaotic country: polio. Public health experts have worked for months to stamp out the virus, but it keeps spreading. It has already paralyzed 29 children, and on 21 June a case was reported on the border with Uganda, far outside the known outbreak zone, heightening fears that the virus will sweep across Africa. The DRC is “absolutely” the most worrisome polio outbreak today, says Michel Zaffran, who heads the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) at the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland.
The outbreak also underscores the latest complication on the bumpy road toward polio eradication. It is caused not by the wild virus hanging on by a thread in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and perhaps Nigeria, but by a rare mutant derived from the weakened live virus in the oral polio vaccine (OPV), which has regained its neurovirulence and the ability to spread. As OPV campaigns have driven the wild virus to near-extinction, these circulating vaccine-derived polioviruses (cVDPVs) have emerged as the greatest threat to polio eradication. If the outbreaks are not stopped quickly, polio scientists warn, they could spiral out of control, setting eradication efforts back years.
“There is an urgency” to stopping these vaccine-derived outbreaks, says epidemiologist Nicholas Grassly of Imperial College London. “It is so much more important than controlling the wild virus.”…

::::::
::::::

WHO Grade 3 Emergencies  [to 7 Jul 2018]
The Syrian Arab Republic
:: Southern Syrian Arab Republic Health Cluster report pdf, 130kb  Issue 2, 29 June-1 July 2018

Yemen 
:: WHO responds to health needs in Al-Hudaydah amid escalating conflict 28 June 2018

Iraq  – No new announcements identified
Nigeria  – No new announcements identified
South Sudan  – No new announcements identified

::::::
 
WHO Grade 2 Emergencies  [to 7 Jul 2018]
[Several emergency pages were not available at inquiry]
Cameroon  – No new announcements identified
Central African Republic  – No new announcements identified.
Democratic Republic of the Congo  – No new announcements identified
Ethiopia  – No new announcements identified.
Libya – No new announcements identified.
Myanmar  – No new announcements identified
Niger  – No new announcements identified.
Ukraine – No new announcements identified.

::::::
::::::
 
UN OCHA – L3 Emergencies
The UN and its humanitarian partners are currently responding to three ‘L3’ emergencies. This is the global humanitarian system’s classification for the response to the most severe, large-scale humanitarian crises. 
Syrian Arab Republic 
:: Syrian Arab Republic: Dar’a, Quneitra, As-Sweida Situation Report No. 1 as of 4 July 2018
…Sustained hostilities in south-west Syria since 17 June and rapid advances by the Government of Syria (GoS) army have led to the displacement of an estimated 285,000 – 325,000 individuals as of 4 July. Of those, up to 189,000 IDPs have moved to areas in close proximity to the Golan Heights and up to 59,000 individuals were displaced to areas near the Al-Nasib border crossing with Jordan…
 
Yemen
:: Yemen: Al Hudaydah Update Situation Report No. 7 – Reporting period: 27 June – 4 July 2018

::::::

UN OCHA – Corporate Emergencies
When the USG/ERC declares a Corporate Emergency Response, all OCHA offices, branches and sections provide their full support to response activities both at HQ and in the field.
Ethiopia 
:: Ethiopia Humanitarian Bulletin Issue 56 | 18 June – 1 July 2018

Somalia   
:: Humanitarian Bulletin Somalia, 2 June – 5 July 2018