Featured Journal Content

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Sentinel

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

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

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

pdf version: The Sentinel_ period ending 21 October 2017

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Human Rights, Reproductive Health, Development, Women

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Development – Financial Inclusion/Access to Services

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ageing/Equity/Inequality: Inter-Generational Challenges

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

.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Global Mobility/Transport Systems

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

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

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

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

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

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

Heritage Stewardship – Land Degradation

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

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

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

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

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

Biodiversity – Rural Development, Migration, Food Security

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Sentinel

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

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

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

pdf version: The Sentinel_ period ending 14 October 2017

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

Human Rights – Migrant Children

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Disasters – Displacement

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

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

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

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

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

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

Education in Humanitarian Contexts

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

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

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

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

UNESCO – U.S. Withdrawal

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

::::::

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This is not just about World Heritage.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Development – Identity Documentation

1.1 Billion ‘Invisible’ People without ID are Priority for new High Level Advisory Council on Identification for Development
PRESS RELEASE October 12, 2017

WASHINGTON, October 12, 2017— More than 1.1 billion people in the world are unable to prove their identity and therefore lack access to vital services including healthcare, social protection, education and finance. The majority live in Africa and Asia and more than a third are children who are unregistered. To help address this critical situation, today the World Bank Group’s Identification for Development (ID4D) initiative launched a High Level Advisory Council to advance the realization of robust, inclusive and responsible digital identification systems as a sustainable development priority.

At this inaugural meeting of the ID4D High Level Advisory Council—co-chaired by World Bank Group Chief Executive Officer Kristalina Georgieva and United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed —eminent thought leaders from across the public and private sectors discussed the opportunities, challenges and emerging trends that countries face. As the first of such a group assembled on this agenda, the Council members highlighted how they can serve as ambassadors to influence the approaches of countries, development and humanitarian agencies and the private sector.

“We are at an exciting point of technology, collaboration and commitment converging to make unprecedented improvements in the lives of the 1.1 billion people living without identification, especially in vulnerable and forcibly-displaced populations,” said Georgieva. “We can use the global reach of the ID4D High Level Advisory Council to harness digital identification and maximize its transformational potential for the benefit of people who currently are not being served because they cannot be seen or heard.”

Achieving identification for all has potential to advance many key elements of the Sustainable Development Goals, including social protection, women and girls’ empowerment, financial inclusion, governance, healthcare, digital development, and humanitarian assistance. In addition to reducing a basic barrier to exercising rights and accessing services, digital identification can decrease waste and leakage in public administration, facilitate innovation in how services are delivered, and empower individuals with agency over their personal data.

“Digital identification can play an important role in achieving the sustainable development goals,” said UN Deputy-Secretary-General Amina Mohammed. “It can enable the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people to gain access to critical services, from education to healthcare and financing, while also advancing their legal and political rights. We look to this advisory council to help ensure that no one is left behind in the digital age.”

The Advisory Council will provide strategic guidance to the ID4D initiative and leverage international forums and engagements with countries to advocate its vision and the ten Principles on Identification for Sustainable Development: Towards the Digital Age.

The members of the ID4D High Level Advisory Council are:
:: Kristalina Georgieva, World Bank Group Chief Executive Officer
:: Amina J. Mohammed, United Nations Deputy Secretary-General
:: Toomas Hendrik Illves, former President of Estonia
:: Nandan Nilekani, co-founder of Infosys and Founding Chairman of Unique Identification Authority of India
:: Eric Jing, CEO of Ant Financial
:: Carolina Trivelli, former Minister of Development and Social Inclusion, Peru and Chairman of Pagos Digitales Peruanos
:: Dr. Benno Ndulu, Governor, Bank of Tanzania
:: Mo Ibrahim, Chair of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation and founder of Celtel
:: Iqbal Quadir, founder of the Legatum Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and of Grameenphone

The Sentinel

Human Rights Action :: Humanitarian Response :: Health :: Education :: Heritage Stewardship ::
Sustainable Development
__________________________________________________
Week ending 7 October 2017

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

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

pdf version: The Sentinel_ period ending 7 October 2017

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

Human Rights – Children and Armed Conflict

Appalled by Number of Children Killed, Maimed in Armed Conflict, Secretary-General Highlights New Efforts with Governments, Non-State Actors to Improve Protection
5 October 2017
SG/SM/18733
The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:
The Secretary-General is appalled that more than 8,000 children were killed and maimed in conflict situations in 2016. These unacceptable attacks on children, as well as the continued widespread recruitment and use of children, attacks on schools and hospitals, and sexual violence against children, are detailed in his annual report on children and armed conflict.

The goal of the report is not only to raise awareness of the violations of the rights of children, but also to promote measures that can diminish the tragic plight of children in conflict. The Secretary-General is encouraged that several Governments and non-State actors are now working with the United Nations towards that objective. He hopes that more will follow.

The new Developments & Concerns section included in the report reflects this enhanced United Nations engagement, which should lead to reducing the suffering of children victims of armed conflict and increase their protection. These changes are also reflected in the annexes to the report, which separate those parties who have put in place measures to improve protection of children during the reporting period and those who have not implemented adequate measures.

The Secretary-General once more urges parties to conflict to abide by their responsibility to protect children, in accordance with their obligation under international humanitarian and human rights law. He calls on all parties to conflict to engage with the United Nations to improve the protection of children in line with the relevant Security Council resolutions.

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Secretary-General’s Annual Report on Children and Armed Conflict
A/72/361–S/2017/821
24 August 2017
[Excerpt]
II. Addressing the impact of armed conflict on children
A. Overview of the situation of children and armed conflict
5. While in some country situations the impact of armed conflict on children was low in 2016 and few violations were documented, in other country situations incidents affecting children continued at high levels. In 2016, there were at least 4,000 verified violations by government forces and more than 11,500 verified violations by the range of non-State armed groups

6. The recruitment and use of children documented in Somalia and the Syrian Arab Republic more than doubled compared with 2015. In South Sudan, 1,022 children were recruited and used. Children continued to be exposed to an unacceptable risk of killing and maiming in a number of country situations. In Afghanistan, the United Nations verified 3,512 child casualties, the highest number ever recorded. In Yemen, the United Nations verified 1,340 child casualties. The
cross-border activities of Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), coupled with responses to that group, also led to significant child casualties, with over 2,000 children documented as killed or maimed in Iraq and the Syrian Arab Republic. The number of child casualties in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was also the highest recorded since 2012.

7. In the Lake Chad basin, Boko Haram activities continued to expand from Nigeria into neighbouring countries and attacks against civilians were perpetrated across the region. Sexual violence against girls was prevalent in Nigeria, as well as in other country situations, such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Sudan, Somalia, South Sudan and the Syrian Arab Republic….

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Media Release
Millions of Children Caught in Conflict, Victims and Targets of Despicable Harm
New York, 5 October 2017 – Boys and girls living in countries affected by armed conflict have been victims of widespread violations in 2016, as documented in the Secretary-General’s Annual Report on Children and Armed Conflict released today and covering the period from January to December 2016.

The alarming scale and severity of violations against children in 2016 – including shocking levels of killing and maiming, recruitment and use and denial of humanitarian access – is a serious concern for the Secretary-General.

“The tragic fate of child victims of conflict cannot and must not leave us unmoved; a child killed, recruited as a soldier, injured in an attack or prevented from going school due to a conflict is already one too many,” the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Ms. Virginia Gamba, said.

Children from countries such as Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iraq, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria and Yemen, suffer an unacceptable level of violations by parties to conflict, with at least 4,000 verified violations committed by Government Forces and over 11,500 by non-State armed groups in the 20 country situations covered in the report.

In Syria alone, the number of children recruited and used during the reporting period more than doubled compared to 2015, with 851 verified cases. In Somalia, this number reached 1,915 children recruited and used. Afghanistan recorded the highest number of verified child casualties since the UN started documentation of civilian casualties in 2009, with 3,512 children killed or maimed in 2016, an increase of 24% compare to the previous year.

Abhorrent tactics used by armed groups like Al-Shabaab, Boko Haram, ISIL and the Taliban, have included sexual violence and the use of children as human bombs. In Nigeria, the majority of children casualties resulted from the use of children as human bombs and deaths by suicide attacks.

“The level of violations against children is completely unacceptable and merely indicative of the scale of suffering of children as access constraints limit our ability to have the full picture,” Ms. Gamba said. “Such abuses have a dramatic impact, not only on the lives of children, but also on the social fabric of society in affected countries and on global peace and security,” she added.
The denial of humanitarian access by armed groups and Government forces was a disturbing trend in the report, with devastating consequences for children. Attacks on schools and hospitals have also been widely documented in 2016, occurring in almost all countries on the children and armed conflict agenda and depriving thousands of children of their right to education…

Development – Remittances

Remittances to Recover Modestly After Two Years of Decline
WASHINGTON, October 3, 2017 – Remittances to low- and middle-income countries are on course to recover in 2017 after two consecutive years of decline, says the latest edition of the World Bank’s Migration and Development Brief, released today.

The Bank estimates that officially recorded remittances to developing countries are expected to grow by 4.8 percent to $450 billion for 2017. Global remittances, which include flows to high-income countries, are projected to grow by 3.9 percent to $596 billion.

The recovery in remittance flows is driven by relatively stronger growth in the European Union, Russian Federation, and the United States. As a result, those regions likely to see the strongest growth in remittance inflows this year are Sub-Saharan Africa, Europe and Central Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean. In the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, fiscal tightening, due to low oil prices, and policies discouraging recruitment of foreign workers, will dampen remittance flows to East and South Asia.

Among major remittance recipients, India retains its top spot, with remittances expected to total $65 billion this year, followed by China ($63 billion), the Philippines ($33 billion), Mexico (a record $31 billion), and Nigeria (($22 billion).

In keeping with an improving global economy, remittances to low- and middle-income countries are expected to grow modestly by 3.5 percent in 2018, to $466 billion. Global remittances will grow by 3.4 percent to $616 billion in 2018.

The global average cost of sending $200 remained stagnant at 7.2 percent in the third quarter of 2017.This was significantly higher than the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target of 3 percent. Sub-Saharan Africa, with an average cost of 9.1 percent, remains the highest-cost region. Two major factors contributing to high costs are exclusive partnerships between national post office systems and any single money transfer operator (MTO), which stifles market competition and allows the MTO to raise remittance fees, as well as de-risking by commercial banks, as they close bank accounts of MTOs, in order to cope with the high regulatory burden aimed at reducing money laundering and financial crime.

“Remittances are a lifeline for developing countries; this is particularly true following natural disasters, such as the recent earthquakes in Mexico and the storms devastating the Caribbean. It is imperative for the global community to reduce the cost of remitting money, by eliminating exclusivity contracts, especially in the high-income OECD countries. There is also an urgent need to address de-risking behavior of global banks,” said Dilip Ratha, lead author of the Brief and head of KNOMAD.

In a special feature on forced and voluntary return migration, the Brief notes that the surge in refugees, asylum seekers and undocumented migrants arriving in Europe is slowing. Even as European countries grapple with refugee and migrant flows, low- and middle-income countries continue to host more than 90 percent of refugees. It highlights the challenges of return and reintegration of migrants. Policies that promote voluntary return and successful reintegration back home include: recognition of skills and qualifications acquired abroad; the possibility of securing a permanent residency in the host country; anti-discrimination and equal access programs in the countries of origin; and portability of social benefits.

“The fundamental drivers of the ongoing migration crisis – conflict, economic deprivation, demographic pressures and environmental change – need to be addressed. The World Bank is looking into policies and programs that will help tackle these issues,” said Michal Rutkowski, Senior Director of the Social Protection and Jobs Global Practice at the World Bank..

Development – Digital Economy

Information Economy Report 2017 – Digitalization, Trade and Development
UNCTAD/IER/2017 :: 129 pages
eISBN: 978-92-1-362787-7
PDF: Full Report ( 186.09 KB )
Preface
These are still the early days of the digital economy. But already it is clear that it has had, and will continue to have, globally transformative impacts on the way we live, work and develop our economies. As the world strives to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – our universal blueprint for building peaceful, prosperous societies on a healthy planet – harnessing the great power of information and communications technologies can be one of the keys to success, including by opening new pathways of development and helping countries gain access to the global store of knowledge. The developing world itself is showing great leadership in technological innovations that can spur their own growth while benefiting the world.
At the same time, we know that large parts of the developing world remain disconnected from the Internet, and many people lack access to high-speed broadband connectivity. Policymaking at the national and international levels needs to mitigate the risk that digitalization could widen existing divides and create new gaps. Moreover, since increased reliance on digital technologies, such as cloud computing, three-dimensional printing, big data and “the Internet of things”, is certain to influence most industries and global value chains, it is essential to start assessing opportunities and pitfalls alike, and to prepare for what is coming.
The enormous scope and considerable uncertainty associated with the next digital shift call for more facts, dialogue and action by all stakeholders The analysis contained in the Information Economy Report 2017: Digitalization, Trade and Development contributes to this process and proposes ways in which the international community can reduce inequality, enable the benefits of digitalization to reach all people and ensure that no one is left behind by the evolving digital economy.