IMF [to 16 January 2016]
http://www.imf.org/external/news/default.aspx
[We generally limit coverage to regional and global level initiatives, recognizing that a number of country-level announcements are added each week]

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January 12, 2016
Speech: The Case for a Global Policy Upgrade
By Christine Lagarde, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund
Farewell Symposium for Christian Noyer, Banque de France, Paris, January 12, 2016

…I would like to talk about a subject that has been close to your heart since your days at the Paris Club—about the prospects of emerging and developing countries, and how monetary policies in advanced economies are impacting them. I will also discuss why a stronger international monetary system is essential—a topic which you have considered quite deeply…

African Development Bank Group [to 16 January 2016]
http://www.afdb.org/en/news-and-events/press-releases/

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15/01/2016
Blue Economy: Cape Verde wins SEFA grant to develop revolutionary wave-powered desalination system
Cape Verde was awarded a US $930,000 grant by the African Development Bank-hosted Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA) on December 21, 2015 to develop the world’s first wave-driven desalination system. Wave2O™, to be located in Praia Grande, Cape Verde, will operate completely “off-grid” and supply more than 48,000 people with clean fresh water at a competitive cost. The system is expected to have a capacity of 4,000 m3/day of water and will eliminate 5,400 metric tons of CO2 per year.

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AfDB approves US $76.11-million loan for Four Towns Water Supply and Sanitation Improvement Program in Ethiopia
14/01/2016 – The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) on Wednesday, January 13, 2016 approved a loan of US $76.11 million from the AfDB financing window to the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia for the implementation of the Four Towns Water Supply and Sanitation Improvement Program.

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African Development Bank adopts Integrity Due Diligence Policy on non-sovereign operations, a mitigating strategy to safeguard its investment policy
13/01/2016 – In its bid to further promote good governance and ethical business practices in its operations and investment decisions, the Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB), met on January 13, 2016 in Abidjan and approved the Integrity Due Diligence Policy on non-sovereign operations (IDD).

Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank [to 16 January 2016]
http://www.aiib.org/html/NEWS/

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AIIB’s Charter Enters into Force On 25 December 2015
01/16/2016
The Articles of Agreement of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, dated June 29, 2015, entered into force on December 25, 2015…

The inaugural meeting of the Board of Governors of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank will be held on January 16 and 17, 2016. At that meeting, the Board of Governors will announce the commencement of operations, in accordance with Article 60 of the Articles of Agreement. The Board of Governors will also formally elect the Board of Directors and the President. The Board of Directors will hold its first meeting in the days after the Board of Governors meeting.

Fifty-six prospective members have signed the Articles of Agreement since it was opened for signature on June 29, 2015. Remaining Signatories that have not yet deposited their instruments of ratification are expected to do so by December 31, 2016, and become members thereafter.

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AIIB open for business. Jin Liqun elected as first President
BEIJING, January 16, 2016 – The Board of Governors of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) convened its inaugural meeting today, declaring the Bank open for business and electing Mr. Jin Liqun as President for a five year term.

President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang of China addressed the AIIB’s opening, which was held alongside the Board of Governors meeting. Also at the ceremonies were representatives from other multilateral development banks and financial institutions, whose support for the establishment of the Bank was warmly acknowledged…

Amref Health Africa [to 16 January 2016]
http://amref.org/news/news/

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Published: 12 January 2016
Female Genital Mutilation Has No Place in Africa
By Carolyne Khamala
Amref Health Africa asks the Government of Sierra Leone to protect girls from injury and death caused by the harmful practice
On February 6, 2016, the world will be marking the International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation. This day has been set aside by the United Nations as a reminder to all that the international community has taken a stand on complete eradication of female genital mutilation (FGM).

Amref Health Africa is concerned that contrary to this international position, Sierra Leonean Social Welfare and Gender Minister Mr Moijua Kaikai recently announced that female genital mutilation was a cultural practice supported by the government and would therefore not be outlawed. Sierra Leone is one of the few remaining countries in Africa that have not made FGM illegal…

BRAC [to 16 January 2016]
http://www.brac.net/#news

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15 January 2016
We mourn for Dr Babar Kabir
BRAC mourns the sad demise of Dr Babar Kabir who was the former senior director of BRAC’s disaster management and climate change and water, sanitation and hygiene programmes. On the morning of 15 January at around 7 am, after a severe asthma attack, he succumbed to a cardiac arrest in Dhaka. He is survived by his wife and two daughters.

CARE International [to 16 January 2016]
http://www.care-international.org/news/press-releases.aspx

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SWITZERLAND
11 JANUARY 2016
One-off aid convoys won’t save starving Syrians
Agencies warn that only a complete end to the six-month old siege and guarantees for sustained aid deliveries alongside humanitarian services will alleviate the crisis in these areas.

Danish Refugee Council [to 16 January 2016]
https://www.drc.dk/news

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05.01.16
A different sort of aid for Syria?
In Syria it is not just the brutality and the violence that are destroying lives in the country: economic ruin and crippling poverty are also– what a UN-backed report called “an equally horrendous but silent disaster.” writes IRIN News.

Some aid organisations and policy experts are finding that with more than four out of five Syrians in poverty, traditional humanitarian aid, while necessary, just isn’t enough. So they’re advocating for, and implementing, livelihood projects – intervention to assist people’s abilities to support themselves.

One of these is the Danish Refugee Council. As Peter Klanso, DRC Middle East and North Africa director, says : “You cannot have an entire population that is dependent on humanitarian aid. That doesn’t make any sense.”

ICRC [to 16 January 2016]
https://www.icrc.org/en/whats-new

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News release
ICRC calls for immediate and simultaneous lifting of all sieges across Syria
13 January 2016
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says that, as a matter of urgency, and because of overwhelming humanitarian needs, all sieges being carried out across Syria must be ended. The appeal comes after access was granted earlier this week to three towns in the country which have been under siege for months. The populations in all three areas were found to be living in appalling conditions. Joint ICRC, UN and Syrian Arab Red Crescent convoys delivered food, medicines and blankets to tens of thousands of people in Madaya, Kefraya and Foua.

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News release
Syria: Key operation begins to bring aid to people in besieged areas
11 January 2016
Damascus / Geneva – The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), working alongside the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) and the United Nations (UN), has begun delivering vital aid to thousands of people living in three besieged areas in Syria.

IRCT [to 16 January 2016]
http://www.irct.org/

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News
UNCAT questions Kenya on implementation of right to rehabilitation
14 January 2016

News
Mathieu Shalif, founder of IRCT member centre SAP-GL, passes away
13 January 2016

MSF/Médecins Sans Frontières [to 16 January 2016]
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/news-stories/press/press-releases

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Press Releases
Syria: Five More Starvation Deaths in Madaya Since Humanitarian Convoy Arrival
January 15, 2016
BRUSSELS—Five people have died from starvation in the besieged town of Madaya, Syria, since the first humanitarian convoy arrived on the afternoon of January 11, medics supported by the international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontères (MSF) confirmed Friday.

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Press release
End of Ebola Outbreak in West Africa: World Must Learn Lesson for Future Outbreaks, Says MSF
January 14, 2016

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Press release
Response by Jason Cone, MSF-USA Executive Director, to President Obama’s State of the Union Address
January 12, 2016
The international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is gravely concerned about the impact that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) will have on access to medicines around the world. In his comments on the TPP tonight, the President continued to promote a trade deal that will export the policies that have made medicines unaffordable in the US to close to half a billion people around the world.

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Field News
France: MSF Prepares New Site for Refugees in Grande-Synthe
January 13, 2016
MSF began work today on a new site for refugees in the northern French community of Grande-Synthe.

Mercy Corps [to 16 January 2016]
http://www.mercycorps.org/press-room/releases

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Syria, January 11, 2016
Continued Humanitarian Access Needed in Madaya, Syria
One aid convoy will not meet all long-term humanitarian needs
Portland, Ore. — The global organization Mercy Corps urges all parties to the conflict in Syria to allow humanitarian organizations rapid, safe and unfettered access to the towns of Madaya and Bukain through the most direct routes in order to reach thousands of innocent civilians at risk of starvation.

According to the United Nations, some 42,000 people have been trapped in Madaya since July 2015 without access to food, medical supplies or fuel for heat. There are credible reports of severe cases of malnutrition and deaths due to starvation.

“Civilians cannot wait for politicians to hammer out a solution to the war in Syria, which may take years. Men, women and children in Madaya need help now,” says Ashley Proud, South Central Syria Director for Mercy Corps…

OXFAM [to 16 January 2016]
http://www.oxfam.org/en/pressroom/pressreleases

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11 January 2016
One-off aid convoys won’t save starving Syrians
Only a complete end to the siege in Madaya, and in other beseiged areas such as Fua’a and Kafraya, together with guarantees for sustained aid deliveries alongside humanitarian services will alleviate the crisis in these areas. Today’s delivery to Madaya will provide food for up to a month, according to the UN, but Oxfam and other leading aid agencies warn that this one off permission to deliver will be insufficient given the current shocking reported levels of malnutrition.

Norwegian Refugee Council [to 16 January 2016]
http://www.nrc.no/

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Perspective
Afghan displaced children and youth paint their lives
(15.01.2016)
Through the delivery of a series of art therapy workshops, the project depicted provides much needed psychosocial support to over four hundred Afghan children affected by displacement. The project also provides a positive insight into the lives of Afghan refugee youth and their displacement experience.

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Iraq
Civilians trapped inside Ramadi as fighting continues
(14.01.2016)
The last several weeks’ military operations to retake government control of Ramadi have left hundreds of civilians caught in crossfire. “Families are trapped inside Ramadi with no opportunity to flee to safety,” says NRC’s Programme Adviser in Baghdad, Salah Noori.

Partners In Health [to 16 January 2016]
http://www.pih.org/blog

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Jan 15, 2016
‘Dr. Moí’ Will See You Now
Moíses Mazariegos started working with PIH in Mexico as its first driver, but he does more than sit behind the wheel of a pickup truck. He’s a patient advocate, an adviser, a skilled negotiator, and a good friend to everyone he meets.

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Jan 14, 2016
On TB’s Trail in Liberia
PIH searches for tuberculosis patients in Monrovia, Liberia.

Save The Children [to 16 January 2016]
http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.9357111/k.C14B/Press_Releases_2016/apps/nl/newsletter2.asp

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January 15, 2016
Over 12 Million Children Have Better Educational Opportunities Through Ikea Foundation, Save the Children and Unicef Partnership

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January 14, 2016
Pioneering Study Finds Poor Youth Can Save for Their Future
Fairfield, Conn— Led by an international development consortium that includes Save the Children, YouthSave has shown helping youth build savings can significantly increase their financial capability and may also improve other youth development outcomes, such as cognitive functioning, education, and health behaviors.

Through the project – the largest research experiment of its kind in the developing world – more than 130,000 young people, aged primarily 12-18 and half living under the poverty line, collectively saved more than $1 million over three years. In addition, approximately 44,000 youth received direct financial education, 48,000 individuals were reached through community-level events, and an estimated 660,000 were reached through mass media….
:: Key Findings from the YouthSave Project in Brief

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January 12, 2016
Food Crisis Update from Save the Children in Ethiopia

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Former Danish prime minister to run Save the Children International
Thomson Reuters Foundation | 13 January 2016
Denmark’s first female prime minister is to become the new head of Save the Children International, one of the world’s leading charities that works in some 120 nations, it announced on Thursday. Helle Thorning-Schmidt, a Social Democrat who led a Danish coalition government from 2011 to 2015, succeeds Jasmine Whitbread as chief executive of the umbrella charity organization, the London-based group said.

SOS-Kinderdorf International [to 16 January 2016]
http://www.sos-childrensvillages.org/about-sos/press/press-releases

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15.01.2016
SOS Children’s Villages enters besieged town of Madaya; UN chief calls deliberate starvation of the town a “war crime”
On Thursday 14 January, a four person team from SOS Children’s Villages gained access to Madaya, Syria, a town which has been under siege for months…

Tostan [to 16 January 2016]
http://www.tostan.org/latest-news

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January 11, 2016
Gambian Youth Caravan Advocate for Human Rights and Responsibilities
This group of over 300 young people proudly took part in the Annual Youth Caravan and Forum in the Gambia between December 25th and 31st. They trekked to six Fula villages to gather their peers and elders for an open discussion on the human rights and responsibilities of youth…

Women for Women International [to 16 January 2016]
http://www.womenforwomen.org/press-releases

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Press Release
Women for Women International Calls for Women’s Inclusion in Afghanistan Peace Talks
Women’s voices and contributions are critical for establishing lasting peace, organization’s leaders say.
Monday, January 11, 2016, Washington, DC – Afghan women negotiators must be included in all talks to negotiate a final peace agreement, Women for Women International said today, following international meetings to restart the Afghanistan peace process. During the talks between Afghanistan, Pakistan, China, and the United States, no women were present in the Afghan delegation.

“Around the world, we see women make critical contributions to peace-building – they share unique perspectives of conflict and ensure negotiations address the issues feeding instability and violence. The fact is, peace processes simply work better when women are involved,” says WfWI CEO Jennifer L. Windsor. “In Afghanistan, women must have a meaningful role as active participants in the peace process to ensure their rights and the progress they have made over the past 15 years are protected.”

Since 2001, women have made tremendous progress in closing gender gaps in health, education, and political participation. Maternal mortality has declined by 75 percent,1 and nearly 3.3 million girls now attend school who would not have had the opportunity to do so under the Taliban regime.2 In April 2014, 2.4 million women voted in elections that resulted in 97 women elected to provincial councils,3 and women hold 28 percent of parliamentary seats.4

Yet this progress remains fragile. As the Taliban controls more territory now than at any time since 2001, women’s participation in peace talks is critical to ensure a comprehensive peace process that continues to protect women’s rights and equality.

“Women are more involved than ever before actively contributing to Afghanistan’s economy, politics, and society. This is their country and their future at stake in these peace talks,” says WfWI-Afghanistan Country Director Mandana Hendessi. “There is a real concern that marginalizing women from peace talks could have a far-reaching, negative impact for women at all socio-economic levels.”…

The Elders [to 16 January 2016]
http://theelders.org/news-media

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News 14 January 2016
What will be on the agenda for the next Secretary-General of the United Nations
Livestreamed from Sciences Po’s Youth & Leaders Summit 2016 in Paris on Monday 18 January, Martti Ahtisaari and Lakhdar Brahimi speak on The Elders’ call for UN reform the serious challenges facing the next Secretary-General.

Global Fund [to 16 January 2016]
http://www.theglobalfund.org/en/news/

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12 January 2016
Challenges and Opportunities in 2016: Mark Dybul Looks Ahead
It is an exciting time in global health, and an extremely challenging one. Mark Dybul, Executive Director of the Global Fund spoke about current trends.

:: What are the greatest challenges and opportunities in 2016?
The road ahead calls for new thinking, for practical solutions that serve people who are being left behind. In global health, we have to think about our work beyond the disease or development paradigms, and focus on the person. How do we find innovative ways to empower individuals? Connecting education and health, especially where it enables girls to become women with opportunity, is an area that needs more work.

Building resilient and sustainable systems for health is another. Making a health clinic accessible may mean hiring more health workers, or an innovative health insurance scheme, but it also can mean lifting stigma and discrimination. Whatever helps an individual remove barriers to health, especially for key populations.

We face very serious challenges. Achieving impact in the last decade was relatively easy because the need was so great – almost anything you did had impact. However, the next stage of ending the epidemics involves confronting social and cultural issues. Our investments have to be more focused, nuanced and interwoven. And we have to put human beings at the center of our response

Climate change and the refugee crisis are big challenges for the world to deal with. By building lasting health programs and systems that boost the capacity and resilience of a country’s health system and its people, the Global Fund mission can play its part in improving humanity in a way that is connected with other challenges.

:: What do you mean when you speak of the need to put human beings at the center of our response?
If a scientific or medical response to the three epidemics was enough to end them, our mission would be complete. We already have the tools to defeat HIV, TB and malaria, but the diseases are still with us. Putting human beings at the center of our response means going beyond the work we have already done. We have to work hard to reach key populations, expanding programs we have and finding new ways, too. We have to think about stigma and poverty, and how they are connected with epidemics.

Overall, we have to expand access to health care and education and economic empowerment – powerful tools for the prevention and treatment of HIV, TB and malaria.

Whether it’s a 14 year old girl in Lesotho or a migrant forestry worker in Myanmar, every human being should be empowered to make smart decisions about their health, not subjected to the lottery of infectious disease. Education is one avenue toward progress, and linking education, especially for girls, must be a priority.

The Global Fund has a strong record of putting human beings at the center of its approach, inspired by solidarity and compassion. Today, we can point to great results: the partnership has saved more than 17 million lives, through the end of 2014. Each life saved represents expanded opportunity and greater social justice for families and communities worldwide – it inspires even greater belief in the power of the human spirit and what we can achieve by working together.

:: What gives you hope about ending the epidemics?
Every time a health program assists a girl to make powerful, positive decision about her health, or prevents a mother from transmitting HIV to her baby, or protects a young child from malaria or a grown man from tuberculosis, we are adding to the momentum of human opportunity and progress. When girls are given the opportunity to stay in school, and make informed choices that allow them to grow into empowered women, it breeds human progress. Wherever I see that, it contributes to my hope and my confidence that we can get there. But there still is a tremendous amount of work to do, and it is going to take more commitment, and a commitment to news ways of thinking, to get us there.