Development – Digital Inclusion

UNESCO calling for feedback on guidelines for digital inclusion
11 April 2018
…In an an increasingly online world, people without the required digital skills and literacy – the 750 million people who cannot read or write and the many more who have low literacy – now face a double exclusion, not only from full participation in the real world but also from opportunities in the digital one.

There is a need to both develop the digital skills and literacy amongst this group, as well as create inclusive digital solutions that are suitable for the digital skills they have today in order to ensure inclusion and equal participation for all.

UNESCO Guidelines for Digital Inclusion for Low-skilled and Low-literate People
Recognising that apps and services, if designed appropriately, can provide an entry point for low-skilled and low-literate people into digital usage and can support improved livelihoods and skills development, UNESCO is currently drafting a set of guidelines for more inclusive design of digital solutions.

The draft guidelines have been developed in consultation with an international expert group, and are informed by a landscape review Digital Inclusion for Low- skilled and Low-literate People and a set of fourteen case studies.
There are many excellent guides on effective digital development and on how to practise user-centred design. In a way that complements and extends existing resources, UNESCO aims to focus the lens on low-skilled and low-literate users as much as possible with the guidelines…
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Digital Inclusion for Low- skilled and Low-literate People
UNESCO
2018 :: 118 page
Executive summary [Editor’s text bolding]
The twenty-first century has seen the emergence of knowledge societies and digital economies
around the world. Underpinning these changes have been the proliferation of mobile devices, increased sophistication of computers, and cheaper and more widely available internet access. In 2015 the number of internet users had more than tripled in a decade – from 1 billion in 2005 to an estimated 3.2 billion (ITU, 2016).

The digital revolution has changed the way almost half the world lives and works, learns and socializes. From a livelihood perspective, it has affected many key sectors – including health, agriculture and government – and how essential services are delivered. Business transactions have become dramatically cheaper, faster and more convenient.

But what about those who do not possess the skills and literacy necessary to access the myriad services of today’s digital world, to fully participate in knowledge societies? How can digital solutions be designed to be more inclusive, and how can these individuals develop the skills needed to fully utilize the digital opportunities?

UNESCO and Pearson have partnered to research the answer to these questions. As a first step, this landscape review seeks to explore how technology solutions outside of the education sector can be designed to be more inclusive, accessible and usable for people with low levels of skills2 and literacy; what skills such people need to utilize effectively inclusive digital solutions; and what key characteristics of the overall environment are needed for successful implementation of more inclusive solutions. It is important to note that low literacy in this review includes young people and adults who are illiterate in the sense that they cannot read or write.

Five development areas and contexts – health, agriculture, government, displaced populations, and green and environmental practices – are foregrounded to help us understand the links between digital solutions, skills development and livelihoods. In line with the holistic development agenda of 2030, it was decided to focus outside of the traditional education lens, considering instead areas that contribute broadly to improving livelihoods and well-being. The five focus areas represent a cross-section of areas covered by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) where the use of digital technologies, especially for development purposes, is either well established for users with low levels of skills and literacy, such as health, or showing promise, such as for green and environmental services.

The landscape review aims to inform the work of digital solution providers, development partners and governments – to move towards the development and implementation of more inclusive digital solutions and raise awareness of the skills needed to use them. Thirty-two projects from at least twenty-five countries, in contexts both rural and urban, were selected for this review, to illustrate key characteristics of digital inclusion for the target audience…

Emergencies

 
POLIO
Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC)
Polio this week as of 3 April 2018 [GPEI]
:: New on www.polioeradication.org: Bill Gates and Aliko Dangote support polio eradication efforts in Nigeria. We talk with Professor Rose Leke, Chair of the African Regional Certification Commission, and with Dr Ondrej Mach, who explains why we are developing new polio vaccines for the post-eradication era.
:: The report following the February meeting of the Global Commission for Certification of Poliomyelitis Eradication (GCC) is now published and available here. The GCC came together to review the criteria that will need to be met to achieve global certification of eradication.
:: In Kenya, advance notification of a circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVPDV2) detected from an environmental sample is being investigated (to be officially reflected in next week’s global data). A cVDPV2 was isolated from an environmental sample collected on 21 March 2018 from Nairobi, linked to the cVDPV2 confirmed from Mogadishu, Somalia. No cases of paralysis associated with this virus have been detected, however a risk assessment is ongoing as is planning for a potential regional response.

Summary of newly-reported viruses this week:
Afghanistan: Two new wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1)  positive environmental samples have been reported in Kandahar province.
Pakistan: One new wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1)  positive environmental sample has been reported in Sindh province
 
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WHO Grade 3 Emergencies  [to 14 April 2018]

WHO concerned about suspected chemical attacks in Syria
11 April 2018 – WHO is deeply alarmed by reports of the suspected use of toxic chemicals in Douma city, East Ghouta.

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WHO Grade 2 Emergencies  [to 14 April 2018]

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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: Response to the East Ghouta Crisis in Rural Damascus Situation Report No. 3 (3 April – 11 April 2018) 11 Apr 2018
:: Turkey | Syria: Situation in North-western Syria – Situation Report No.2 (as of 10 April 2018)
 
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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 50 | 26 March – 08 April 2018

Rohinga Refugee Crisis 
:: ISCG Situation Report: Rohingya Refugee Crisis, Cox’s Bazar | 12 April 2018
 

The Sentinel

Human Rights Action :: Humanitarian Response :: Health :: Education :: Heritage Stewardship ::
Sustainable Development
__________________________________________________
Week ending 7 April 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 version: The Sentinel_ period ending 7 April 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

A highly selective capture of strategic developments, research, commentary, analysis and announcements spanning Human Rights Action, Humanitarian Response, Health, Education, Holistic Development, Heritage Stewardship, Sustainable Resilience. Achieving a balance across these broad themes is a challenge and we appreciate your observations and ideas in this regard. This is not intended to be a “news and events” digest.

Governance

Editor’s Note:
Of course, there is no shortage of thoughtful editorials and comment pieces published in major global newspapers or distributed through electronic media outlets. We will very selectively include examples such as the piece by former U.S. Secretary of State Madeline Albright below.
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Will We Stop Trump Before It’s Too Late?
Fascism poses a more serious threat now than at any time since the end of World War II.
By MADELEINE ALBRIGHT
APRIL 6, 2018
New York Times, Sunday Review | Opinion

On April 28, 1945 — 73 years ago — Italians hung the corpse of their former dictator Benito Mussolini upside down next to a gas station in Milan. Two days later, Adolf Hitler committed suicide in his bunker beneath the streets of war-ravaged Berlin. Fascism, it appeared, was dead.
To guard against a recurrence, the survivors of war and the Holocaust joined forces to create the United Nations, forge global financial institutions and — through the Universal Declaration of Human Rights — strengthen the rule of law. In 1989, the Berlin Wall came down and the honor roll of elected governments swelled not only in Central Europe, but also Latin America, Africa and Asia. Almost everywhere, it seemed, dictators were out and democrats were in. Freedom was ascendant.

Today, we are in a new era, testing whether the democratic banner can remain aloft amid terrorism, sectarian conflicts, vulnerable borders, rogue social media and the cynical schemes of ambitious men. The answer is not self-evident. We may be encouraged that most people in most countries still want to live freely and in peace, but there is no ignoring the storm clouds that have gathered. In fact, fascism — and the tendencies that lead toward fascism — pose a more serious threat now than at any time since the end of World War II.

Warning signs include the relentless grab for more authority by governing parties in Hungary, the Philippines, Poland and Turkey — all United States allies. The raw anger that feeds fascism is evident across the Atlantic in the growth of nativist movements opposed to the idea of a united Europe, including in Germany, where the right-wing Alternative für Deutschland has emerged as the principal opposition party. The danger of despotism is on display in the Russia of Vladimir Putin — invader of Ukraine, meddler in foreign democracies, accused political assassin, brazen liar and proud son of the K.G.B. Putin has just been re-elected to a new six-year term, while in Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, a ruthless ideologue, is poised to triumph in sham balloting next month. In China, Xi Jinping has persuaded a docile National People’s Congress to lift the constitutional limit on his tenure in power.

Around the Mediterranean, the once bright promise of the Arab Spring has been betrayed by autocratic leaders, such as Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt (also just re-elected), who use security to justify the jailing of reporters and political opponents. Thanks to allies in Moscow and Tehran, the tyrant Bashar al-Assad retains his stranglehold over much of Syria. In Africa, the presidents who serve longest are often the most corrupt, multiplying the harm they inflict with each passing year. Meanwhile, the possibility that fascism will be accorded a fresh chance to strut around the world stage is enhanced by the volatile presidency of Donald Trump.

If freedom is to prevail over the many challenges to it, American leadership is urgently required. This was among the indelible lessons of the 20th century. But by what he has said, done and failed to do, Mr. Trump has steadily diminished America’s positive clout in global councils.
Instead of mobilizing international coalitions to take on world problems, he touts the doctrine of “every nation for itself” and has led America into isolated positions on trade, climate change and Middle East peace. Instead of engaging in creative diplomacy, he has insulted United States neighbors and allies, walked away from key international agreements, mocked multilateral organizations and stripped the State Department of its resources and role. Instead of standing up for the values of a free society, Mr. Trump, with his oft-vented scorn for democracy’s building blocks, has strengthened the hands of dictators. No longer need they fear United States criticism regarding human rights or civil liberties. On the contrary, they can and do point to Mr. Trump’s own words to justify their repressive actions.

At one time or another, Mr. Trump has attacked the judiciary, ridiculed the media, defended torture, condoned police brutality, urged supporters to rough up hecklers and — jokingly or not — equated mere policy disagreements with treason. He tried to undermine faith in America’s electoral process through a bogus advisory commission on voter integrity. He routinely vilifies federal law enforcement institutions. He libels immigrants and the countries from which they come. His words are so often at odds with the truth that they can appear ignorant, yet are in fact calculated to exacerbate religious, social and racial divisions. Overseas, rather than stand up to bullies, Mr. Trump appears to like bullies, and they are delighted to have him represent the American brand. If one were to draft a script chronicling fascism’s resurrection, the abdication of America’s moral leadership would make a credible first scene.

Equally alarming is the chance that Mr. Trump will set in motion events that neither he nor anyone else can control. His policy toward North Korea changes by the day and might quickly return to saber-rattling should Pyongyang prove stubborn before or during talks. His threat to withdraw from the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement could unravel a pact that has made the world safer and could undermine America’s reputation for trustworthiness at a critical moment. His support of protectionist tariffs invites retaliation from major trading partners — creating unnecessary conflicts and putting at risk millions of export-dependent jobs. The recent purge of his national security team raises new questions about the quality of advice he will receive. John Bolton starts work in the White House on Monday.

What is to be done? First, defend the truth. A free press, for example, is not the enemy of the American people; it is the protector of the American people. Second, we must reinforce the principle that no one, not even the president, is above the law. Third, we should each do our part to energize the democratic process by registering new voters, listening respectfully to those with whom we disagree, knocking on doors for favored candidates, and ignoring the cynical counsel: “There’s nothing to be done.”

I’m 80 years old, but I can still be inspired when I see young people coming together to demand the right to study without having to wear a flak jacket.

We should also reflect on the definition of greatness. Can a nation merit that label by aligning itself with dictators and autocrats, ignoring human rights, declaring open season on the environment, and disdaining the use of diplomacy at a time when virtually every serious problem requires international cooperation?

To me, greatness goes a little deeper than how much marble we put in our hotel lobbies and whether we have a Soviet-style military parade. America at its best is a place where people from a multitude of backgrounds work together to safeguard the rights and enrich the lives of all. That’s the example we have always aspired to set and the model people around the world hunger to see. And no politician, not even one in the Oval Office, should be allowed to tarnish that dream.

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Madeleine Albright, the author of “Fascism: A Warning,” served as United States secretary of state from 1997 to 2001.

Human Rights/Poverty/Governance

The State of Social Safety Nets 2018
World Bank
2018 :: 189 pages
PDF: https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/29115/9781464812545.pdf?sequence=5&isAllowed=y
Overview
The State of Social Safety Nets 2018 Report examines global trends in the social safety net/social assistance coverage, spending, and program performance based on the World Bank Atlas of Social Protection Indicators of Resilience and Equity (ASPIRE) updated database. The report documents the main social safety net programs that exist globally and their use to alleviate poverty and to build shared prosperity. The 2018 report expands on the 2015 edition, both in administrative and household survey data coverage. A distinct mark of this report is that, for the first time, it tells the story of what happens with SSN/SA programs spending and coverage over time, when the data allow us to do so. This 2018 edition also features two special themes: Social Assistance and Ageing, focusing on the role of old-age social pensions, and Adaptive Social Protection, focusing on what makes SSN systems/programs adaptive to various shocks.

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Press Release
Social Safety Net Programs Help Millions Escape Poverty, But Coverage Gaps Persist
WASHINGTON, April 4, 2018— Among the very poor who received safety net benefits, 36% escaped extreme poverty, providing clear evidence that social safety net programs are making a substantial impact in the global fight against poverty, says a new World Bank Group report. The impact of social safety nets on poverty is measured based on available household data from 79 countries by comparing the welfare of the safety nets beneficiaries to what it would have been had they not received such support.

Data from the State of the Social Safety Nets 2018 report shows that safety nets—which include cash, in-kind transfers, social pensions, public works, and school feeding programs targeted to poor and vulnerable households—also lower inequality, and reduce the poverty gap by about 45 percent, even if they do not emerge from poverty. These positive effects of safety net transfers hold true for low and middle-income countries alike.

Despite the increased adoption of safety net programs by countries in recent years, global coverage of poor and vulnerable people remains inadequate. About 2.5 billion people worldwide are covered by a social safety net, of which 650 million are in the poorest 20 ercent. However, only one out of five persons living in a low-income country is covered by a social safety net.

Furthermore, countries at high risk of natural disasters often have lower safety net coverage.

Developing and transition countries spend an average of 1.5 percent of GDP on social safety net programs. Many countries are spending more on such programs because they see the impact they make on poverty reduction. Countries in the Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia regions are also introducing flagship social safety net programs and are rapidly expanding coverage. For example, in Senegal, the flagship National Cash Transfer Program expanded swiftly from 3 to 16 percent of the population in just four years, while in the Philippines, the Pantawid conditional cash transfer program has expanded from 5 to 20 percent of the population since 2010…

Despite the evident aging trend, most countries do not have systems and benefits that can fully cover elderly people or their special needs. While nearly 90 percent of Organization for Economic Co-opeation and Development (OECD) economies have old age social pensions, only 70 percent of Latin America and the Caribbean economies, and nearly 65 percent of Europe and Central Asian do…

Yemen

Donors Pledge $2 Billion to Scale Up Aid Delivery in Yemen
(Geneva, 3 April 2018) International donors today pledged more than US$2 billion to support the delivery of urgently needed humanitarian aid to millions of people in Yemen during a pledging event in Geneva, co-chaired by the United Nations, Sweden and Switzerland.

“This pledging conference represents a remarkable success of international solidarity to the people of Yemen,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres. He added that “humanitarian resources are very important, but they are not enough. We need unrestricted access everywhere inside Yemen and we need all the parties to the conflict to respect international humanitarian law, and to protect civilians. Above all, we need a serious political process to lead to a political solution.”

Pledges were made by 40 Member States and organizations, including the Central Emergency Response Fund, for humanitarian action in Yemen in 2018. These pledges will support the UN and partners’ 2018 Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan (YHRP) which requires $2.96 billion for lifesaving assistance to 13 million people, and other activities. On 27 March, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates provided $930 million toward the YHRP which is reflected in today’s pledging result. Securing full funding for this plan remains an urgent priority.
The full list of pledges is online https://bit.ly/2GtXrjW

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Joint INGO Statement for the High-Level Pledging Event for the Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen
3 April 2018
This statement was read by Shane Stevenson, Oxfam’s Country Director in Yemen, on behalf of Oxfam and 21 other international NGOs currently working in Yemen.

INGOs are delivering life-saving humanitarian assistance to millions of vulnerable Yemenis, despite the complex and serious nature of the security situation and sustained bureaucratic access constraints.

For the record, we would like to formally acknowledge the dedication and commitment of all national, international and UN humanitarian aid workers in Yemen. Delivering humanitarian assistance in Yemen is neither safe nor simple, particularly for the thousands of Yemeni staff whose work to deliver shows fortitude and courage.

The reality is that despite these gallant efforts, the humanitarian response is still failing to meet the basic needs of the 22 million Yemenis requiring assistance and protection. Yemeni people are dying of preventable illnesses, and the number on the brink of famine continues to rise.

As INGOs we are grateful for the financial commitments made by member states here today, but more is needed to tackle a humanitarian catastrophe of the scale we see in Yemen. What we need is a marked increase in engagement from the international community in the complexities of this conflict in order to reduce the suffering of the Yemeni people.

Therefore, today, INGOs are inviting donors and high-level Ministerial visits to Yemen, to enable you to ground your engagement and approach to supporting the country.

By being in Yemen you will better understand the short term but also the longer term needs of the Yemeni people, delve into the narrative and stories behind the figures cited in the HNO today. To understand the needs of the two million people that have fled their homes, the plight of the unpaid health worker, the frustration of the teachers with a classroom of hungry children, and the fear the conflict brings to daily life.

By being in Yemen you will better understand the grounded realities of delivering humanitarian aid and to be better placed to help resolve the daily impediments in delivering that support; to experience the frustration that comes from knowing that people are suffering because we are being prevented from reaching them – that more people could be helped if administration processes were fast tracked and security improved.

By being in Yemen you will better understand the modalities of the humanitarian response and the need for increased funding for livelihoods, community resilience building, and kick start the process of early recovery in parts of the country where there is some stability.

By being in Yemen you will better understand the devastation created by the failure of authorities to pay public servants for nearly two years. We need you to take responsibility for finding modalities to address this, and ensure hospitals, schools and water networks are operational.

By being in Yemen you will better understand that restrictions in imports and unstable supply chains lead to critical shortages, and to see the impact of inflated prices across basic commodities such as food, fuel and medicines.

By being in Yemen you will better understand that the future of the country is at risk as close to 2 million children are denied access to education.

Finally, by being in Yemen you will foster and strengthen engagement with all important stakeholders. We need leadership from the international community that doesn’t just passively support a peace process but takes an active role in driving it forward.

Despite the generosity of member states and the gallant efforts of the humanitarian response, the plight of the Yemeni people continues to deteriorate. We are all fearful that another year will pass, no progress will be made, and more people will suffer and die.

Agencies who have signed:
ACTED
Action Against Hunger
ADRA
CARE International
Danish Refugee Council
Human Appeal
Humanity and Inclusion (Handicap International)
International Medical Corps
International Rescue Committee
INTERSOS
Medecins du Monde
Norwegian Refugee Council
Oxfam
Premiere Urgence Internationale
Pure Hands
Relief International
Saferworld
Save the Children
Search for Common Ground
Solidarites International
War Child
ZOA

Featured Journal Content

The Lancet
Apr 07, 2018 Volume 391 Number 10128 p1331-1454
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/issue/current

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Editorial
The collapse of the Venezuelan health system
The Lancet
When Hugo Chavez became Venezuela’s new president in 1998, he promised to provide free health care to all and enshrined this right within Venezuela’s new constitution, rewritten in 1999. Progress was rapid and initial results were promising: according to the World Bank, life expectancy at birth rose from 71·8 to 74·1 years for both genders and infant mortality fell from 26·7 to 14·6 deaths per 1000 live birth

s between 1998 and 2013, the period of Chavez’s rule. Success was recognised on the international stage and Venezuela achieved most of the UN’s Millennium Development Goals set for 2010. This initial success came on a backdrop of high oil prices providing the necessary government funding for public health-care spending and food imports. At the same time, a strong relationship with Cuba saw an agreement in 2003 that, in exchange for low-cost oil, Cuba would provide doctors, medical training, and medical supplies free of charge to Venezuela.

However, when the oil price began to fall in 2008 and Chavez’s revolutionary politics alienated foreign investors, the tide turned. The largest oil reserves in the world could not stave off economic collapse as lower demand for oil, excessive government spending, US sanctions, and price controls led to rocketing inflation and falling gross domestic product. The impact on the health-care system was exacerbated by exchange rate controls, which led to a shortage of the foreign currency needed to import equipment, food, and medicines.

Official government data are hard to come by. The last official report from the Venezuelan Ministry of Health was published in 2016 (Boletin Epidemiologico) and the then Health Minister, Antonieta Corporale, was rewarded by being sacked immediately thereafter by Nicolas Maduro, who has been leading the country since 2013 (Venezuela has had 17 different ministers of health in the past 20 years). The results of this report were highlighted in a Lancet World Report in August, 2017, which noted the untenable situation in Venezuela. This government report revealed a 65% increase in maternal mortality and a 30% increase in infant mortality, with 11 466 infants dying during 2016. It also revealed that while Venezuela had been the first country in the world to eliminate malaria in populated areas, this and other diseases such as diphtheria, which had previously been controlled, had returned in several outbreaks.

Health-care outcomes have continued to deteriorate rapidly. The Venezuelan Government has steadily reduced the share of its annual expenditure dedicated to public health-care spending from a high of 9·1% in 2010 to 5·8% in 2014. Medical supplies have been reported as going missing or getting embargoed and sitting in ports, with some media alleging corruption hindering distribution. Some of these are for treating heart disease and diabetes—the leading causes of death in Venezuela, according to WHO. As a result, patients have resorted to bringing their own surgical instruments, drugs, and food to hospital. In private practice, medical professionals charge in US dollars, which makes health care unaffordable to most of the population.

A recent national survey—Encuesta Nacional de Hospitales 2018 from the political opposition, the National Assembly, and the Venezuelan non-govermental organisation Médicos por la Salud—revealed that Venezuela’s health crisis is worse than anticipated. The survey, conducted between March 1–10, 2018, assessed the performance of 104 public and 33 private hospitals in Venezuela. According to the figures, most laboratory services and hospital nutrition services are only available intermittently or are completely inoperative. Shortages of items such as basic medicines, catheters, surgical supplies, and infant formula are highlighted in the survey; 14% of intensive care units have been shut down because they are unable to operate and 79% of the facilities analysed have no water at all.

Venezuela’s Government has allowed the country’s infrastructure to crumble, with fatal consequences for ordinary Venezuelans. Without regular reports on basic health indicators, assessment of the impact of the crisis is difficult. However, the Encuesta Nacional de Hospitales 2018 survey shows a shocking decline in health-care performance and a failure of the system. Aware of this humanitarian crisis, as declared by the political opposition in 2017, worldwide humanitarian aid has been offered by multiple countries and the UN. Yet Venezuela’s Government has refused this humanitarian aid, denying the existence of a crisis. It is time to end the abuse of power by the Venezuelan Government, and take immediate steps to address the heavy toll on the wellbeing of Venezuelans.

The Sentinel

Human Rights Action :: Humanitarian Response :: Health :: Education :: Heritage Stewardship ::
Sustainable Development
__________________________________________________
Week ending 31 March 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 version: The Sentinel_ period ending 31 March 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

Philanthropy – ODA

Private Philanthropy for Development
OECD
Published on March 23, 2018 :: 135 pages
Read link: http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/deliver/fulltext?itemId=/content/book/9789264085190-en&mimeType=freepreview&redirecturl=http://www.keepeek.com/Digital-Asset-Management/oecd/development/private-philanthropy-for-development_9789264085190-en&isPreview=true
Overview
Philanthropy’s role in advancing sustainable development attracts a lot of attention. This report calls into question long-held assumptions about the volume, nature and potential of foundations’ engagement in developing countries, and the role they can play to support the SDGs. It presents ground-breaking data and analysis that capture previously non-existent global and comparable quantitative and qualitative data on how foundations support development.
The report examines philanthropic resource flows for development purposes, as well as foundations’ priorities, practices and partnering behaviours. It presents fresh perspectives and action-oriented recommendations to optimise philanthropy’s role in support of sustainable development…

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Press Release
Private philanthropy funding for development modest compared to public aid, but its potential impact is high, says OECD
[Editor’s text bolding]
23/03/2018 – Though philanthropic flows are relatively modest compared to official development assistance (ODA), their contribution is substantial in certain sectors, according to a new OECD report. For the first time, Private Philanthropy for Development uses global, comparable data to analyse how private foundations are supporting development.

The report is based on a survey conducted by the OECD, in collaboration with the Global Network of Foundations Working for Development (netFWD) and applies OECD-DAC statistical reporting standards. The data is thus fully comparable to ODA flows.

“Philanthropy is increasingly important in our efforts to achieve the SDGs, eradicate poverty and provide quality access to healthcare. But to harness its full potential, we need better data sharing, coordination and policy dialogue,” said OECD Chief of staff Gabriela Ramos while launching the report. “The OECD report Private Philanthropy for Development is a milestone in providing deeper understanding and greater transparency on how the philanthropic sector can best contribute to the global development agenda.”

According to the report, private foundations provided USD 23.9 billion for development over 2013-15, corresponding to 5% of the amount given through ODA. Philanthropic flows from foundations provide substantial support to sectors such as health: in 2013-15, foundations were the third-largest source of financing for developing countries, following the United States government and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

The sources of philanthropic giving for developing countries are highly concentrated. Of the 143 foundations included in the survey sample, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) was by far the most significant philanthropic donor, providing 49% of total giving in support of development. Additionally, 81% of the total philanthropic giving during 2013-15 came from only 20 foundations.

Almost three quarters of giving originated from foundations based in the United States, largely due to the BMGF’s share of funding. Other top countries for philanthropic funding for development are the United Kingdom (7%), the Netherlands (5%), Switzerland (2%), Canada (2%) and the United Arab Emirates (2%).

The report finds that 67% of philanthropic giving goes to middle-income countries such as India (7% of the total), Nigeria, Mexico, China and South Africa. Only a third of the country-allocable funding benefited the least-developed countries (28%).

In addition, 97% of philanthropic giving was implemented through large, established intermediary institutions, most often international organisations and non-governmental-organisations (NGOs), such as Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance; the World Health Organization (WHO); PATH International; the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF); or Rotary International.

Most foundations say they systematically engage with governments and donors – 67% and 45%, respectively – when designing or implementing programmes and projects, contrary to previously-held belief.

The report provides recommendations to further leverage global private philanthropy for development:
:: Collaboration and dialogue: Foundations could seek closer co-ordination with governments and ODA-providers, especially in middle-income countries and in sectors such as health and education to avoid duplications.
:: Enabling environment: Governments in developing countries could further strengthen the enabling environment for philanthropy by adopting or adapting existing regulation, from establishing a legal status clearly distinguishing foundations from Civil Society Organisations to possible tax incentives.
:: New ways of engaging: The donor community could adopt more systematic approaches to engagement with foundations including the development of strategies acknowledging foundations’ financial and non-financial contribution to development, appointment of focal points responsible for developing and maintaining relations and working with foundations, staff exchange programmes between foundations and donor institutions and more flexible partnership models taking into account the constraints of smaller foundations.
:: Data: Foundations could make better use of existing platforms at the global, regional and local levels to improve the transparency and availability of data on philanthropic giving in support of development. There are already many country-level and international reporting initiatives, such as the OECD DAC statistics on development finance (to which the BMGF and the United Postcode Lotteries already report), 360giving, Glasspockets and IATI. Networks such as the OECD’s netFWD, together with the Foundation Centre and WINGS, could encourage the philanthropic sector to further share information and help make data a global public good.

Building on this research and existing dialogue, the OECD is setting up a Centre on Philanthropy to contribute to the global demand for more and better data and analysis on global philanthropy for development. The Centre will seek to bring together relevant efforts from existing research centres and projects, expand the OECD database, and provide research and analysis on global trends and impact of philanthropy for development in the context of the 2030 Agenda.

Human Rights/Development – Women’s Economic Inclusion

Many Governments Take Steps to Improve Women’s Economic Inclusion, Although Legal Barriers Remain Widespread
WORLD BANK PRESS RELEASE
WASHINGTON, March 29, 2018 – Governments in 65 economies took steps to improve women’s economic inclusion, enacting 87 legal reforms in the past two years, says the World Bank Group’s Women, Business and Law 2018 report, released today.

However, women continue to face widespread barriers, entrenched in laws, that keep them out of jobs and prevent them from owning a business by restricting their access to credit or control over marital property, says the biennial report, which now monitors 189 economies. For example, it finds that in 104 economies women are barred from working at night or in certain jobs in many areas, including manufacturing, construction, energy, agriculture, water and transportation. This negatively affects the choices of more than 2.7 billion women.

Now in its 5th edition, the report introduces, for the first time, a scoring system of 0 to 100, to better inform the reform agenda. Scores are assigned to every monitored economy on each of the report’s seven indicators: accessing institutions, using property, getting a job, providing incentives to work, going to court, building credit, and protecting women from violence.

While no economy gets the perfect score of 100 in all seven indicators, economies that perform well across the indicators include the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Spain. OECD high-income economies generally have the highest average score across most indicators.
Protecting women against violence, through laws against domestic violence and sexual harassment at work or in educational facilities, remains an area where much work is needed. Of the 189 economies examined, 45 do not have laws on domestic violence and 59 do not have laws against sexual harassment in employment. Overall, 21 economies receive a score of 0 in the protecting women from violence indicator. Many of these economies are located in Sub-Saharan Africa and in the Middle East and North Africa.

Although the vast majority of the economies monitored have laws establishing non-discrimination in employment based on gender, only 76 mandate equal remuneration for work of equal value and 37 economies have no laws protecting pregnant workers from dismissal…

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Women, Business and the Law
World Bank Group
2018 :: 187 pages
FOREWORD
No economy can grow to its full potential unless both women and men participate fully. As half the world’s population, women have an equal role in driving economic growth.

Women, Business and the Law 2018 is the fifth edition in a series of biennial reports measuring the legal obstacles to women who engage in economic activity around the world. Since the World Bank started this study a decade ago, our understanding has increased about how laws influence women’s decisions to start and run businesses or get jobs.

The analysis draws on newly-collected data across seven indicators: accessing institutions, using property, getting a job, providing incentives to work, going to court, building credit, and protecting women from violence. The study expands coverage to 189 economies around the world.

The data show the challenge many women face in the quest for economic opportunity. One hundred and four economies still prevent women from working in certain jobs, simply because they are women. In 59 economies there are no laws on sexual harassment in the workplace. And in 18 economies, husbands can legally prevent their wives from working.

Social media movements…have highlighted the prevalence of sexual harassment and violence in the workplace. But in many places, women still have no legal recourse. And every day we learn about industries that pay women less than men for doing the same work.

What actions can be taken to increase economic opportunity for women? How can governments improve labor market participation by their female citizens? Hard data helps answer these questions.

By informing politicians about the legal obstacles to women’s economic opportunities, Women, Business and the Law makes a contribution towards promoting gender equality. The study celebrates the progress that has been made while emphasizing the work that remains to ensure equality of opportunity.

Education

UNESCO – New Report: How to Measure Equity in Education
27/03/2018
Methodologies and indicators to reveal the inequalities facing marginalized groups
A new report shows how countries can measure the education progress of the most marginalized populations to ensure no one is left behind. Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) calls for inclusive and equitable quality education for all, spanning not only gender parity in learning but also equitable educational opportunities for persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples, disadvantaged children and others who are at risk of exclusion from education. Yet today, these groups are extremely difficult to track because they are often invisible in education data.

The new Handbook on Measuring Equity in Education, produced by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), the FHI 360 Education Policy Data Centre, Oxford Policy Management and the Research for Equitable Access and Learning (REAL) Centre at the University of Cambridge, provides practical guidance on the calculation and interpretation of indicators designed to target the most disadvantaged groups. It is intended for anyone involved in the measurement and monitoring of equity in education, especially those concerned with national policymaking. It addresses the current knowledge gaps and provides a conceptual framework to measure equity in learning, drawing on examples of equity measurement across 75 national education systems.

The handbook explains what it means to measure equity in learning, recognising that equity itself is a political issue and cannot be isolated from political choices. It focuses on two key principles – impartiality and equality of condition.

Impartiality zooms in on the idea that it is unfair to discriminate by characteristics such as gender, wealth or ethnicity when it comes to the distribution of education. Measures of impartiality quantify the extent to which an educational input or outcome differs by such characteristics.

Equality of condition focuses on the dispersion of education in the population, without regard for differences between groups. While perfect equality of condition in education outcomes might not be possible or desirable, wide or growing gaps between the least and most educated are likely to be a cause for concern.

The handbook introduces visualization and measurement techniques related to impartiality and equality of condition, the requirements for the use of underlying data to measure both, and the advantages and disadvantages of each technique for generating insights into the magnitude and nature of any inequality. It provides solid examples of national efforts to track progress towards equity in both educational access and learning, highlighting positive country examples and stressing the need to include a wider range of dimensions of disadvantage in education plans.

Allocating education funding more equitably
Finally, the handbook examines government spending on education to reveal who benefits, who misses out, and how resources could be redistributed to promote equity. It points out that in many countries, the children and young people who are the hardest to reach are often the last to benefit from government spending. It is simply more expensive to ensure their quality education, given the cost of measures to tackle the root causes of their disadvantage, from poverty to discrimination – and this should inform the distribution of resources.

While equal funding means the same amount of money for each student or school, equitable funding means additional resources for the most disadvantaged children to ensure that every child can enjoy the same educational opportunities. As the handbook argues, progress towards SDG 4 demands the equitable distribution of resources within education systems, with the most disadvantaged receiving the largest share of government resources, and paying the smallest share from their own pockets.

The new handbook has been inspired by the urgent need to position educational equity at the heart of global, national and local agendas to promote access and learning for all children, young people and adults. With countries under pressure to deliver data on an unprecedented scale, the handbook also recognises that no country can do this alone, making a strong case for greater cooperation and support across governments, donors and civil society.

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Handbook on Measuring Equity in Education
UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), the FHI 360 Education Policy Data Centre, Oxford Policy Management and the Research for Equitable Access and Learning (REAL) Centre at the University of Cambridge
2018 :: 142 pages
[excerpt]
6. Concluding remarks p.127
Drawing on the lessons learned from addressing these gaps, the handbook presents the following key messages:
1. A conceptual understanding of equity is needed to be clear about what we are measuring and why we are measuring equity in education.

2. There are a variety of equity metrics which could be used with education indicators, and many indicators have important properties which are relevant to the study of equity in education. However, some of these are not easy to communicate to policymakers and stakeholders in education, who therefore need guidance from statisticians and other experts so that all meaningful indicators can inform the national planning processes.

3. Impartiality approaches to equity have been the most widely adopted in national education plans. However, measures related to minimum standards and redistribution are also included in the SDG 4 indicator framework and can be used to track progress for sub-groups of the population.75

4. National education plans need to include a wider range of measures of equity in access and learning that go beyond gender. It is also important for plans to identify how intersecting disadvantages may hinder progress towards access and learning. Gender disparities are compounded, for example, by poverty, geographical location and disability.

5. While there has been some progress towards including dimensions of equity for tracking progress in access to primary school and, to some extent, to secondary school, there is still a need for improved metrics of equity in learning at all levels of education.

6. It is necessary to measure equity in learning for children both in and out of school, since those out of school are likely to be at the greatest educational disadvantage.

7. A strong emphasis on measuring equity in access and learning from the early years is needed so that initial inequalities can be identified and targeted as early as possible.

8. Current progress in education cannot be tracked for the most disadvantaged groups unless there is a strong emphasis on improving educational management and information systems (EMIS) on access and learning, and to link these data to existing household surveys, which contain information about the socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of children, youth and adults.

9. Merely measuring equity in education is not enough. Systems of education also need to adopt equitable strategies involving redistribution of education funding, allocation of teachers and resources, as well as targeted approaches to raising learning

Heritage Stewardship

Editor’s Note:
We recognize the continuing important work of the ICC in bringing to justice individuals charged with war crimes, crimes against humanity, and destruction of cultural heritage as below.

31 March 2018
Situation in Mali: Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz Ag Mohamed Ag Mahmoud surrendered to the ICC on charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes in Timbuktu
Today, 31 March 2018, Mr Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz Ag Mohamed Ag Mahmoud (“Mr Al Hassan”) was surrendered to the International Criminal Court (“ICC”, “Court”) by the Malian authorities and arrived at the Court’s detention centre in the Netherlands. Mr Al Hassan is suspected, according to a warrant of arrest issued by Pre Trial Chamber I of the ICC on 27 March 2018, of war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed in 2012 and 2013 in Timbuktu, Mali…

According to the arrest warrant, Mr Al Hassan, a Malian national born on 19 September 1977 in the community of Hangabera, about 10 kilometres north of Goundam in the region of Timbuktu, Mali, and belonging to the Tuareg/Tamasheq tribe Kel Ansar, was a member of Ansar Eddine and de facto chief of Islamic police. He is also alleged to have been involved in the work of the Islamic court in Timbuktu and to have participated in executing its decisions. Mr Al Hassan is further alleged to have taken part in the destruction of the mausoleums of Muslim saints in Timbuktu using Islamic police forces in the field, and to have participated in the policy of forced marriages which victimized the female inhabitants of Timbuktu and led to repeated rapes and the sexual enslavement of women and girls…

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30 March 2018
Statement of ICC Prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, following the arrest and transfer of Mr Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz Ag Mohamed Ag Mahmoud, a suspect in the Mali situation: “We remain steadfast in the pursuit of our mandate under the Rome Statute”
The arrest and transfer of the suspect, Mr Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz Ag Mohamed Ag Mahmoud (“Al Hassan”) to the custody of the ICC sends a strong message to all those, wherever they are, who commit crimes which shock the conscience of humanity that my Office remains steadfast in the pursuit of its mandate under the Rome Statute.

I hope that it equally signals to Mali our commitment and resolve to do right by that mandate, and what we can to address the untold suffering inflicted upon the Malian population and what they hold dear as a people.

Today’s development follows the decision of Pre-Trial Chamber I issued under-seal on 27 March 2018, rendered public on 31 March 2018, after its independent assessment of my application for a warrant of arrest against Mr Al Hassan filed on 20 March 2018.

On the basis of the evidence gathered, my Office alleges that Mr Al Hassan committed crimes against humanity and war crimes in Timbuktu, Mali, between April 2012 and January 2013. The charges against him are representative of the criminality and resulting victimization of the population during this period.

More specifically, Mr Al Hassan is allegedly responsible for the crimes against humanity of persecution on both religious and gender grounds; rape and sexual slavery committed in the context of forced marriages; torture and other inhuman acts intentionally causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health.

Mr Al Hassan is also alleged to bear responsibility for the war crimes of cruel treatment and torture; outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment; rape and sexual slavery; attacks intentionally directed against buildings dedicated to religion and historic monuments, and the passing of sentences without previous judgement pronounced by a regularly constituted court, affording all judicial guarantees which are generally recognized as indispensable…

Governance

Hewlett Foundation announces $10 million commitment to support research on U.S. democracy’s digital disinformation problem
March 28, 2018
MENLO PARK, Calif. – The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation announced today that, following a yearlong exploration, it will devote $10 million over the next two years toward grappling with the growing problem that digital disinformation poses for U.S. democracy.

Focusing primarily on the role of social media, the new funding commitment will support high-quality research to help improve decisions made by leaders in the technology sector as well as government and civil society advocates. The effort is one part of the foundation’s “Madison Initiative,” founded in 2013 to strengthen the values, norms and institutions of U.S. democracy in a polarized era.

“The Hewlett Foundation’s efforts have been focused on improving the performance of democratic institutions, especially Congress. Meanwhile, a ceaseless stream of misinformation is eroding trust in those institutions and eating away at the very idea of our shared political community,” said Hewlett Foundation President Larry Kramer. “Progress in repairing institutions will not matter if citizens are misinformed about what has been done, misled about why, and deceived about whether democracy can work at all.”…

The new commitment will support three lines of research:
:: Explanatory research that increases understanding of the current problem, including examining the supply of disinformation, how it spreads across different technology platforms and its effect on people’s political knowledge, beliefs and actions.
:: Experimental research that helps examine potential solutions, by testing what actions can reduce disinformation’s negative impact on individuals or how high-quality content can be elevated.
:: Ethical, legal and technical research that examines the practical and philosophical considerations in addressing digital disinformation, including how well norms around privacy and free speech are bearing up in the digital age, the incentives for voluntary regulation and the role of government including agencies such as the FEC, FTC, FCC and others.

The foundation’s decision to fund a robust, multidisciplinary research agenda focused on social media platforms and disinformation follows a yearlong exploration that engaged leading data scientists, political scientists, technology company representatives, civil society advocates, and other funders including through multiple convenings and an in-depth, independent review of the academic literature. The foundation plans to support a small number of grantees with larger grants to advance the broader field of researchers, advocates and decision-makers.

Human Rights to Health – Equitable Access

Editor’s Note:
We include the full text of this important commitment to helping assure access to healthcare interventions released by Wellcome Trust. We anticipate that it could – and should – inform commitments and reporting by other funders, development organizations ad commercial entities.

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Wellcome’s approach to equitable access to healthcare interventions
This statement outlines Wellcome’s approach to maximising access to healthcare interventions for people worldwide, with a focus on low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
27 March 2018
The statement covers our approach within our funding and policy work, and will guide us when considering new ideas and opportunities.

It is intentionally high level – more detail on implementation is provided in complementary policy papers and contractual mechanisms.

Context
The UN Sustainable Development Goals (opens in a new tab), which support the implementation of universal health coverage by 2030, recognise that more equitable and timely access to health interventions such as medicines, vaccines, diagnostics and therapies is an important driver of good health and improved lives.

Currently, access to healthcare is not equitable. According to the World Health Organization, 30 per cent of the world’s population, and over 50 per cent of the population in parts of Africa and Asia, do not have regular access to essential medicines. Around 2 billion people lack access to life-changing medicines and other interventions.

Recent years have seen significant progress, made through collaboration between different actors and using various mechanisms and business models. These include equitable pricing, more flexible approaches to intellectual property (IP), product development partnerships, increased donor funding, more efficient procurement, and effective advocacy by civil society. They have significantly increased the range of interventions available and the number of people who can access them.

However, there is much more to do. The barriers to equitable access are many and varied. They include inadequate healthcare systems, lack of infrastructure, funding gaps, pricing practices, and sub-optimal regulatory and procurement processes. IP is also a barrier if rights are not secured and managed in a manner that enables equitable access. To overcome these barriers, stakeholders must be committed to action and working together.

Wellcome will lead efforts to deliver equitable access. It is our mission and obligation to maximise the public benefit delivered from our funding. This will only be achieved if the interventions we fund reach those who need them.

Our role
Wellcome already makes an important contribution to access. We spend around £1 billion each year supporting some 14,000 researchers in over 70 countries to advance ideas, drive reform and support innovation to improve health. We also partner with others to fund new approaches. These include CEPI (opens in a new tab) (the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations), which finances and coordinates the development of new vaccines to prevent and contain infectious disease epidemics, and CARB-X (opens in a new tab), which aims to accelerate the development of new antimicrobials.

We will do more through our funding, advocacy and direct activities. Across the public and private sectors, and in civil society, we will work with others where they have greater expertise or impact, for example in healthcare infrastructure and funding. Our approach will be applied globally across Wellcome’s activities, but with a focus on initiatives that will particularly benefit vulnerable populations in LMICs.

We recognise that levels of access, barriers and the rate of change possible will vary significantly between different countries and regions. So, we will adopt approaches tailored to specific diseases, technologies and geographies.

To accelerate equitable access, we will work throughout the product development life cycle – from discovery, development and manufacturing to the scaling up of health interventions and health systems. This will ensure that interventions are fit for purpose for different settings and available for different populations to purchase and use.

Our principles
To broaden vulnerable populations’ access to new and existing high-quality interventions, products whose development we support must be affordable, appropriate, adapted and available, particularly in LMICs.

We will achieve this through four key principles:
1. Support sustainable access and innovation
:: To improve global health, we must improve existing interventions and find new ones that address unmet needs, and then provide timely access to them. Our policies and processes will support innovation and access, to ensure both can be secured on a long-term, sustainable basis.
:: To enable the development of new interventions for vulnerable populations, we will ensure that our funding conditions incentivise needs-based research and support a vibrant global research environment, including in LMICs.
: We will work with producers, policy makers and procurers to encourage approaches to registration, quality of medicines, pricing and use of IP that incentivise innovation and increase timely access.

2. Foster collaboration and partnership
:: Sustainable innovation and access requires different mechanisms and cooperation between a range of stakeholders. We will collaborate with others to explore and generate new ideas and funding models.
:: When we collaborate, we will make clear our expectation that the products that we fund will be affordable and quickly accessible. We will expect our partners to share this commitment and help deliver it through different approaches.

3. Be flexible and pragmatic
:: Our approach to achieving broader global access will be proportionate and tailored. We will take into account the nature of each award and awardee, the stage of development and potential future health benefits.
:: We will work with awardees to agree specific, proportionate and equitable access commitments that are appropriate for them and the stage of development of the intervention. This will ensure that any contractual obligations fairly reward the awardee as well as optimise access.
:: We do not believe that a one-size-fits-all model is the best way to achieve progress. It will be important to adopt different models and approaches for different product areas and geographies.
:: We want to make existing interventions more usable and accessible in LMICs. As well as supporting innovation to do this, we will seek to replicate existing successes and embed good practice, such as generic entry and patent pooling.

4. Promote transparency to support innovation and access to products
:: We support the appropriate sharing of information to encourage innovation and broaden equitable, timely access. This will create a better shared understanding of the relationship between the costs of research and development, the price of products and appropriate levels of return.
:: We expect our researchers to manage research outputs in a way that will achieve the greatest health benefit. They should make outputs, including software, products and materials, widely available and should publish in open-access journals. This will ensure that other researchers can verify the work and build on it to advance knowledge and make health improvements. Products that emerge directly from research supported by Wellcome should similarly achieve the greatest health benefit.
:: We will share information about the status of product registration, the impact of products (such as the amount of product delivered or number of people benefitting) and other non-sensitive elements of the agreements and access plans agreed between Wellcome and the organisations we fund.
:: We will maintain the confidentiality of information that, if released, could disincentivise potential partners and deter innovation. This could include the cost structure of the interventions we fund and specific access provisions set in award agreements.
: We will report annually on the implementation of this approach and its outputs and impacts.

Our approach
We will use a range of tools to promote equitable and timely access, tailored to the nature of the funding, products and organisations involved.

Contractual mechanisms
Contractual mechanisms will be used on a case-by-case basis for those we fund and may include:
:: Requesting or requiring that awardees have an appropriate and proportionate global access plan that covers registration targets, plans to meet demand, flexible approaches to IP and other strategies that reflect ability to pay and ensure that economic barriers to access are low.
:: Tailored revenue-sharing arrangements to reward organisations that help deliver our access ambitions.
:: Stewardship plans outlining how to achieve the optimal use of an intervention, including, for example, how to avoid the misuse, overuse or abuse of antimicrobials and pain medicines.

Appropriate application of IP
:: To improve health and support the sustainability of projects we fund, the management of IP rights by the awardholder should incentivise innovation and support equitable access to it, being clear that different settings require different approaches.
:: IP management will not preclude the ability to secure commercial rewards. Awardees may receive private benefit from exploiting Wellcome-funded IP, provided that health improvement remains the primary outcome and as long as the benefit is necessary, reasonable and proportionate, in line with UK charity law.
:: We will respect our awardees’ and third parties’ IP rights, which we expect to be applied appropriately to deliver public health benefit. If we believe that IP developed using Wellcome funding is being used in a way that restricts health benefit, then we will work with the rights holder to ensure that the relevant IP is used appropriately. This might include not seeking or enforcing patents in low-income countries, voluntary licensing with broad geographic scope in middle-income countries, and patent pooling. In exceptional circumstances, such as IP being shelved or not taken forward for any reason, we will consider accessing the unexploited IP to deliver benefit in unserved countries.

Advocacy
:: We will be an active advocate for global innovation and access. We will develop policies, convene and participate in meetings and workshops, lead studies and collaborate with others. We will encourage other stakeholders to adopt holistic approaches to deliver access globally and to build global norms and systems that address that goal.

Conclusion
Too many people around the world lack access to essential medical interventions and knowledge. The approach outlined in this statement will allow Wellcome to maximise the impact of our funding, partnerships and policy work to increase timely equitable access and contribute to the goal of universal health coverage.

We will support research that delivers improvements in health and healthcare delivery. We are committed to enabling everyone, particularly vulnerable populations in LMICs, to have access to the life-changing benefits research delivers.

Yemen

Security Council Press Statement on Yemen
SC/13270
28 March 2018
The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Karel Jan Gustaaf van Oosterom (Netherlands):

The members of the Security Council condemned in the strongest possible terms the multiple Houthi missile attacks, including the use of ballistic missiles, targeting several cities of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, including its capital Riyadh, on 25 March 2018, which threatened civilian areas and resulted in at least one fatality. The members of the Security Council underlined that such attacks pose a serious national security threat to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as well as a wider threat to regional security. The members of the Council also expressed alarm at the stated intention of the Houthis to continue these attacks against Saudi Arabia, as well as to launch additional attacks against other States in the region.

The members of the Security Council called on all Member States to fully implement all aspects of the arms embargo as required by the relevant Security Council resolutions, including resolution 2216 (2015), and in that regard expressed their grave concern at the reports of continuing violations of the arms embargo.

The members of the Security Council expressed their grave concern at the continued deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Yemen and the devastating humanitarian impact of the conflict on civilians, and called on all parties to the conflict to allow and facilitate safe, rapid and unhindered humanitarian access.

The members of the Security Council expressed grave distress at the level of violence in Yemen. The members of the Security Council called upon all parties to comply with international humanitarian law.

The members of the Security Council reiterated the need for all parties to return to dialogue as the only means of delivering a negotiated political settlement and engage constructively with the Special Envoy of the Secretary General for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, with a view towards swiftly reaching a final and comprehensive agreement to end the conflict and address the ongoing humanitarian crisis.

Emergencies

POLIO
Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC)
Polio this week as of 28 March 2018 [GPEI]
Summary of newly-reported viruses this week:
Afghanistan: One new case of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) has been confirmed this week, occurring in Kandahar province. One new WPV1 positive environmental sample has been reported in Kabul province.
Pakistan: Two new WPV1 positive environmental samples have been reported, one in Sindh province, and one in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Somalia: Confirmation of one new cVDPV2 positive environmental sample in Banadir province. This sample was advance notification last week.

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Syria cVDPV2 outbreak situation report 38, 27 March 2018
Situation update 27 March 2018
:: No new cases of cVDPV2 have been reported in 2018. The most recent case (by date of onset of paralysis) is 21 September 2017 from Boukamal district, Deir Ez-Zor governorate. The total number of cVDPV2 cases remains 74.
:: An independent outbreak response Review of the cVDPV2 outbreak in Syria is taking place this week. The review will look at the current epidemiological situation, the quality of immunization and surveillance response as well as the overall progress towards stopping the cVDPV2 transmission.
:: On 17 March 2018, representatives from the Lebanon and Syria Ministries of Health held the first joint cross border coordination meeting focused on acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) surveillance. Recommendations were made to ensure close coordination on AFP case detection, with focus on Syrian populations in Lebanon and consistent exchange of information on cross border notified AFP cases.
:: A two day meeting to discuss progress of immunization in Syria in 2017 was held in Amman, Jordan on 21 – 22 March. Representatives from WHO, UNICEF and GAVI discussed all immunization activities and the cVDPV2 outbreak response, including future support opportunities.
:: Four fixed site vaccination centres have been established to ensure internally displaced persons (IDPs) moving from Ghouta receive polio vaccine alongside all other antigens. • A nationwide immunization round aiming to reach more than 2.4 million children aged less than 5 years with bivalent OPV (bOPV) has concluded.

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WHO Grade 3 Emergencies [to 31 March 2018]
The Syrian Arab Republic
:: Syria cVDPV2 outbreak situation report 38, 27 March 2018
[See Polio above]

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

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WHO Grade 2 Emergencies [to 31 March 2018]
Bangladesh/Myanmar: Rakhine Conflict 2017 – No new announcements identified …
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.
Niger – No new announcements identified.
Ukraine – No new announcements identified.

WHO appeals for international community support; warns of grave health risks to Rohingya refugees in rainy season
SEAR/PR/1684
Dhaka, 29 March 2018: With a grossly underfunded health sector grappling to meet the needs of 1.3 million Rohingyas in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar, the World Health Organization has appealed to the international community to contribute generously to enable appropriate and timely health services to this highly vulnerable population, now facing grave risks to their lives and health in view of the coming rainy season.

“This is one of the biggest humanitarian crisis in recent times. No single agency or the Government of Bangladesh alone can meet the massive health needs of such a large population group. The Rohingya population are settled in an area that is prone to cyclone, and a terrain that would be flooded as soon as rains begin. The risk of outbreak of life threatening water and vector borne diseases under such conditions is huge,” said Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director, World Health Organization South-East Asia, at a meeting of partners here.

Coordinating the work of over a 100 partners on the ground along with the Ministry of Health, WHO has facilitated the contingency plan for the rainy season and coordinated a simulation around it. The plan aims at continuity of health services during rains and floods to minimize the risk of disease and deaths among the affected population. All 207 health facilities in the area have been assessed for vulnerability during rains, following which nearly 25% of them are being relocated.
Another cholera and measles vaccination campaign is being planned in April as a preventive measure for the vulnerable population. Earlier, 900,000 doses of cholera vaccine were administered to the refugees and their host communities, in addition to two vaccination campaigns for measles and three for diphtheria which concluded earlier this week with WHO support.
WHO is prepositioning medicines, medical supplies and equipment for the rainy season. Since the start of the Rohingya crisis, WHO has provided over 120 tons of supplies and logistics support to partners. WHO continues to provide critical technical support such as surveillance for epidemic prone and other diseases, collecting and sharing of information and data to enable the health sector take timely preventive / response measures and conducting preparedness trainings for the upcoming monsoons.
“However, much of the health sector’s capacity to respond depends on availability of resources,” Dr Khetrapal Singh, who visited the Rohingya camps earlier in the week, said. The rainy season is almost here, the sooner the health sector gets the funds it needs, the better would be its ability to scale up services to quickly and adequately respond to health needs of the refugees.
Besides risks posed by floods and rain, the vulnerable population would need continued services for reproductive, maternal and child health, for communicable and non-communicable diseases, as well as psychosocial support, the Regional Director said.
Earlier in Cox’s Bazar, Dr Khetrapal Singh visited the warehouse where WHO has prepositioned supplies. She observed diphtheria vaccination campaign, inaugurated a fixed immunization site where children were being administered routine immunization, and visited a primary health centre and a diphtheria treatment centre run by Samaritan’s Purse.
WHO has appealed for 16.5 million USD from partners to facilitate its continued support to the Rohingya response in 2018, which is part of the 113.1 million USD being sought by all health partners together under the Joint Response Plan for the Rohingya crisis.
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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.
DRC
:: Humanitarian Conference on the DRC (13 April 2018)
OCHA, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the United Arab Emirates and the European Union are hosting a Humanitarian Conference on the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Friday 13 April 2018, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

Syrian Arab Republic
:: Turkey | Syria: Situation in North-western Syria – Situation Report No.1 (as of 29 March 2018) 27 Mar 2018
:: Syrian Arab Republic: East Ghouta Displacement Situation Report No. 1 (26 March 2018)

Yemen
:: Yemen: Impact of the closure of seaports and airports on the humanitarian situation – Situation Update 3 | 23 November 2017

Iraq – No new announcements identified.

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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 49 | 12 – 25 March 2019

Rohinga Refugee Crisis
:: ISCG Situation Report: Rohingya Refugee Crisis, Cox’s Bazar | 25 March 2018

Somalia
:: Humanitarian Bulletin Somalia, 30 March 2018
…4.7 million children targeted in nationwide measles vaccination.
A nationwide campaign to protect Somali children against the deadly effects of measles has reached nearly 4.7 million of them. The campaign which was carried out by the Ministry of Health at the national and local levels and humanitarian partners, targeted children aged between six months and 10 years.
…The first round of the Oral Cholera Vaccination campaign in Afmadow and Hudur was completed in March.

Nigeria – No new announcements identified.

The Sentinel

Human Rights Action :: Humanitarian Response :: Health :: Education :: Heritage Stewardship ::
Sustainable Development
__________________________________________________
Week ending 24 March 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 version: The Sentinel_ period ending 24 March 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

Heritage Stewardship – Biodiversity

Scientific assessments by Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) confirm need for imperative actions to safeguard life on Earth
:: Reports shows that biodiversity continues to decline in every region of the world
:: Loss of biodiversity undermines nature’s ability to ensure quality of life everywhere
:: Actions to safeguard biodiversity are being undertaken, but more needed
:: IPBES regional assessment reports are a central part of the knowledge base for biodiversity policy at national and international levels.

23 March 2018 – Landmark regional scientific reports were issued today in Colombia on the status of biodiversity in the following regions of the world: the Americas, Asia and the Pacific, Africa as well as Europe and Central Asia. They show that pressures on biodiversity and resulting loss of biodiversity continue to increase in all of the regions. If unchecked, such loss will affect the ability of nature to support people and planet.

The regional assessments by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) show that the main pressures on biodiversity continue to be habitat change, climate change, invasive alien species, pollution and unsustainable use. However the relative importance of each of these pressures varies between the regions. These declines are of concern also because of the essential role biodiversity plays in providing for people, including, food, fuel and adaptation to the impacts of climate change.

In all of the regions it is noted that actions have been taken to conserve and sustainably use biodiversity. However, it is also noted that these actions have, for the most part, been insufficient. It is further observed that while various plans and strategies have been developed for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity these have not generally been translated into actions.

These reports confirm the conclusions of work done under the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and suggest directions for additional urgent actions to achieve global biodiversity targets.

The landmark science reports were approved by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), in Medellín, Colombia, at the 6th session of its Plenary on 22 March and released today. Written by more than 550 leading experts from over 100 countries, they are the result of three years of work, and include inputs from experts at the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity. The four regional assessments of biodiversity and ecosystem services cover the Americas, Asia and the Pacific, Africa, as well as Europe and Central Asia.

Dr. Cristiana Paşca Palmer, CBD Executive Secretary, said: “These assessments are sobering. They show that the pressures on biodiversity and its associated ecosystem services from human activities, including climate change, are increasing. They show that the status of biodiversity is decreasing. They show that while the world is taking actions, more needs to be done to halt the loss of biodiversity.”

“These regional assessment reports help us understand variations across the regions of the world. However, if the current trends on biodiversity loss and ecosystems destruction are not reversed, the prospects for life on our planet become quite grim. At the current rate of destruction not only will it be difficult to safeguard life on Earth, but will jeopardize the prospects for human development and well-being. We need a paradigm shift in the way humans interact with nature; we need transformative change and a systemic approach to address the root causes of biological destruction.”…