DevDispatch Recommends: April 2022 Publications
Climate Change and Finance are amongst the most topical subjects in global development at the moment if the publications released this month are anything to go by. This edition also includes an interesting report on ethnic cleansing and crimes against Humanity in Western Tigray, Ethiopia.
We hope you find these reads compelling and insightful.
Happy reading!
We Will Erase You From This Land’: Crimes Against Humanity and Ethnic Cleansing in Ethiopia’s Western Tigray Zone
By Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International
Thousands of Tigrayans are fleeing Western Tigray due to ongoing waves of targeted killings, tourture, sexual violence, ethnic-based slurs, threats and intimidation from Amhara special forces and local militias.
The report is based on 427 interviews and research conducted between December 2020 and March 2022 by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. The organizations found that Amhara special forces and local militias have committed grave abuses in the form of systematic attacks against the Tigrayan population that constitute crimes against humanity, war crimes and acts of despicable ethnic cleansing. It concludes with detailed recommendations to parties including the Ethiopian federal Government, the Amhara Regional Authorities, The Tigray Regional Authorities, The United Nations Security Council, the UN Member States, and the African Union and African Union Member States.
The report is 240 pages long and is recommended for Human Rights practitioners, advocates, and attorneys.
Financing for Sustainable Development Report 2022: Bridging the Finance Divide
By the United Nations, Inter-agency Task Force on Financing for Development
The COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing war in Ukraine have brought to reality fears of a divergent world. The report, which is an inquiry by the Inter-agency Task Force on Financing for Development found that while many developed countries saw a rapid economic recovery from the pandemic shock in 2021, developing countries were met with a different fate. In one in five developing countries, GDP per capita was projected to remain below 2019 levels by the end of 2023. The result is a dramatic increase in inequality with an additional 77 million people living in extreme poverty in 2021 and a severe setback in the Sustainable Development Goals.
The report proposes measures for addressing the financing gap and fiscal pressures, aligning all financing policies with SDG and climate priorities and improving information ecosystems, data and transparency.
The 208 paged report is a recommended resource for economists, finance ministries, and policy makers
Climate Change in Africa: Are Africans Sleepwalking into Disaster? Analysis of the
conversations, stories and resulting narratives on climate in Africa
By Africa No Filter
The Climate Change in Africa report is the latest offering under Africa No Filter’s Data Analysis Briefing Series drawing together data from online searches including Google searches and Twitter to analyze the stories and underpinning narratives circulating within Africa and about Africa.
Some key insights from the report are that the conversation about climate change in Africa is significantly led by voices outside the continent. The analysis revealed that top organizations tweeting about climate change in Africa are likely to be NGOs, top individual tweeters on climate change in Africa are unlikely to be African. Geopolitical and racial tensions dominate tweets by individuals on climate change in Africa and the countries most highlighted in tweets about African climate change are Kenya,South Africa, Nigeria, Madagascar, Ghana and Uganda.
The report is a quick read at 36 pages, a must read for editorial teams, researchers and journalists in Africa covering climate change.
African Pulse Volume 25: An Analysis of Issues Shaping Africa’s Economic Future
Boosting resilience: The future of social protection in Africa
By The World Bank Group
The report zones in on the global economy in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. It argues that continued threats such as the Ukraine war are posing additional pressure to its recovery by further disrupting supply chains and increasing international prices of commodities, particularly food staples, fertilizers, oil, and gas which presents challenges to the conduct of monetary policy among central banks worldwide.
Some of the key arguments raised in the report are that:
- Sub-Saharan Africa’s Recovery from the Pandemic Has Decelerated Amid High Volatility and Uncertainty
- Accelerating the Structural Transformation Process in Sub-Saharan Africa Will Reduce the Risk of Stagflation
- Social Protection Reforms Need to Strengthen Economic Resilience and Shock Responsiveness
At 132 pages long, the report is recommended for Finance policy makers, economists and financiers.
Transit Oriented Development in practice.
A powerful example of impact on the ground in the area of Housing by our Brazil Cities team – and a story of how interventions in one city led to an approach that was scaled up and adopted as part of a Brazilian national law that set the standards for better quality social housing.
Three Challenges to Safe and Affordable Urban Housing
The blog raises three critical challenges: (i) importance of core services in informal settlements and slums, (ii) need to support housing rental markets, and (iii) making better use of underutilized land in city centers.
Can Housing Be Affordable Without Being Efficient?
The blog highlights the importance of giving due attention to building efficiency in affordable housing projects, both location efficiency and on-site energy and water efficiency. The key message: over their lifetimes, efficient homes are more affordable, healthier and provide better opportunities for residents than conventional buildings.
Bring In the Girls!: Girls and young women worldwide share their views on climate change
By UNICEF, World Association of Girl Guides and girl Scouts (WAGGS), U-Report
For quick reads, check out these blog posts
The central argument of the report is that the voices of girls and young women are significantly left out of climate change conversations and as a result, their needs are not adequately addressed by policy.
In an effort to begin to counter this, WAGGS and UNICEF ran a poll in early 2022 to amplify girls voices on climate change and 33,523 girls and young women from 90 countries
were consulted on the topic and its gender dimension.
The key findings are that:
- Nearly 3 out of 10 girls and young women who were consulted are not familiar with climate change and 1 out of 10 has never heard about it.
- Climate change has a disproportionate impact on girls and young women. However, more than half of them (56%) say that they were unaware of this fact. After learning this, 8 out of 10 girls and young women still think girls around the world have the power to tackle climate change.
- 6 out of 10 girls and young women say their government has never consulted them on policies related to the environment.
- Almost all Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (9 in 10) believe that their journey in the movement encouraged them to take action and protect the environment.
- Most girls have already taken action to tackle climate change. 52% have done it a few times, while 28% have taken action very often.
Fun fact: Five girls and young women from Rwanda, Nigeria, India, Mexico and South Africa were invited to co-design the project consultation alongside WAGGS.
The report is brief with just 29 pages and is recommended for Ministries and Departments concerned with environmental policy and climate change, as well as media practitioners.
Transit Oriented Development in practice.
A powerful example of impact on the ground in the area of Housing by our Brazil Cities team – and a story of how interventions in one city led to an approach that was scaled up and adopted as part of a Brazilian national law that set the standards for better quality social housing.
Three Challenges to Safe and Affordable Urban Housing
The blog raises three critical challenges: (i) importance of core services in informal settlements and slums, (ii) need to support housing rental markets, and (iii) making better use of underutilized land in city centers.
Can Housing Be Affordable Without Being Efficient?
The blog highlights the importance of giving due attention to building efficiency in affordable housing projects, both location efficiency and on-site energy and water efficiency. The key message: over their lifetimes, efficient homes are more affordable, healthier and provide better opportunities for residents than conventional buildings.
Malawi Economic Monitor, December 2020 : Doing More with Less - Improving Service Delivery in Energy and Water
By the World Bank
The pandemic has induced a sharp recession in many countries across the globe. Malawi’s economy has been heavily affected, with growth projected at 1.0 percent in 2020, down from earlier projections of 4.8 percent. With population growth around 3.0 percent, this represents a 2.0 percent contraction in per capita GDP. Political stability has returned following the June 2020 Presidential elections, which should support investment. However, global and domestic factors emanating from the pandemic are affecting Malawi’s economy, including: 1) disruption in global value chains and trade and logistics; 2) decrease in tourism; and 3) decrease in remittances. This has combined with social distancing policies and behavior to also reduce domestic demand. The Malawi Economic Monitor (MEM) provides an analysis of economic and structural development issues in Malawi. The publication intends to foster better-informed policy analysis and debate regarding the key challenges that Malawi faces in its endeavor to achieve high rates of inclusive and sustainable economic growth.
The role of advanced technologies in cross-border trade: A customs perspective
By the World Trade Organisation and World Customs Organisation
Blockchain, distributed ledger technology (DLT), the internet of things (IoT), big data, data analytics, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning have become areas of interest for the World Trade Organisation and World Customs Organisation in terms of their ability to promote trade facilitation and assist customs administrations in fulfilling their objectives of ensuring, safety, security and fair revenue collection.
The report found that:
- Blockchain and distributed ledger technology (DLT) can help to provide better transparency, immutability and accessibility of information and data quality.
- For a broader uptake of blockchain by customs authorities,there needs to be more widely available standardised datasets which are used by both government agencies and authorized economic operators.
- There have been positive developments in the use of the internet of things (IoT) by customs authorities. Members are experimenting with the IoT to fully automate border-crossings and customs procedures in national ports.
- Customs authorities have embraced advanced analytical technologies. Around half use some combination of big data, data analytics, artificial intelligence and machine learning.
- The majority of customs authorities see clear benefits from advanced technologies, in particular with regard to risk management and profiling, fraud detection and ensuring greater compliance.
The report provides 60 pages worth of valuable information for trade and customs bodies and organisations.
Global SDG Accountability Report
By the Transparency, Accountability and Participation (TAP) Network.
This report serves to ascertain the level of accountability for the Sustainable Development Goals at a subnational, national and international level. Information gathered from the SDG Accountability Survey serves as the basis of this report by collecting reflections and inputs from stakeholders around the world.
Split into four sections the report looks at:
1. The foundations of the 2030 Agenda – which explains and contextualises the SDGs;
2. A snapshot of SDG accountability – which outlines the challenges being faced by stakeholders in implementing the SDGs especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic
3. Building a Global Multistakeholder Movement for SDG Accountability – which focuses on case studies of different stakeholders and their role in accountability and how they can improve accountability
4. Recommendations to Advance Accountability for the SDGs & the 2030 Agenda – which summarises the findings of the report and provides recommendations for specific stakeholders.
This report is an asset for the media, parliamentarians and national human rights institutions. It’s 101 pages but is organised such that it can be read in sections relevant to the information you are looking for.
The Impact Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On Education, Livelihoods & Food Security Status: Policy Implications For Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)
By P. Tamasiga, A.T. Guta, H. Onyeaka, H. Nkoutchou and M.S. Kalane.
Sub-Saharan countries were particularly vulnerable to the impacts of the COVID-19 as they were already experiencing weak health care systems, low financing for testing and very few resources for response measures. This data-driven report outlines the key trends of the COVID-19 pandemic by region, highlighting case trajectories, lockdown and containment measures, economic impacts, education impacts and health impacts. South Africa still accounts for the highest number of cases and deaths followed by Ethiopia and Nigeria.
Along with containing COVID-19, Central Africa is still facing the additional challenges of pre-existing health concerns, especially malaria.
The policy implications are focussed on supply chains, trade and market access, food and agricultural production, misinformation and the media, health, education and strategic communication. Sub-Saharan Africa has already been deemed to be the most at risk for food insecurity and this is expected to increase 2.5 fold.
Global progress report on HIV, viral hepatitis and sexually transmitted infections, 2021
By WHO
This report looks into how effective the strategies planned for 2016-2021 have been in the fight against HIV, viral hepatitis and STIs. Progress has indeed been made despite the disruption of the global pandemic but in the same breath, there are still many targets that have not been reached. The number of new HIV infections has fallen by 23% to its lowest rate since 2010 with 1.7 million new infections in 2019 however this is far from the target of only 500 000 new infections.
Stigma and lack of resources to implement people-centred policies and services still remain the largest hindrance. COVID-19 severely affected the ability for people to get tested easily. This report analyses the success and shortfalls of each WHO region. The report recommends that the only way to try and get back on track is for governments to collaborate their efforts into universal health care systems beneficial for the most vulnerable.
This report is targeted at anyone who works with marginalised communities of people infected by HIV, hepatitis or any STIs and is also a good read for health care workers and policy makers. It is moderately long at 108 pages.
Mainstreaming gender in urban public transport
By Stockholm Environment Institute
Africa is the fastest urbanizing continent, yet walking still remains the most affordable mode of transport in urban areas. This is due to a lack of service provision. There is also a large gender inequality problem when it comes to transport both in operation and in use. This report seeks to shed light on the under researched matter of women’s participation in transport decision making and their use of public transport systems.
The report uses the case studies of Nairobi, Dar es Salaam and Kampala by interviewing all members of society from taxi drivers to policy makers in the ministries of transport and transport planners. The report identifies accessibility and safety of public transport systems, sexual assault and harassment, lack of integrated and gender sensitive urban planning and underrepresentation as larger barriers towards gene=der mainstreaming in transport.
This report is the perfect short read for city and transport planners at only 40 pages.
Terrorism in the Sahel Facts and Figures
By NATO Strategic Direction- South, ACSRT
The fight against terrorism in the Sahel is still a major issue that deserves attention as the number of terrorist attacks has increased by 18.5% in 2020. This report analyses current and past data to show a conclusive analysis on the rate of terrorism. The largest threats come from the following terrorist groups Boko Haram, ISGS, JNIM and ISWAP and the most affected countries are Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, and Chad.
This analysis is taken in the form of quantitative analysis with a lot of informative graphs and infographics as well as qualitatively by looking at the types of attacks. The report concludes that 2020 has been the most intense year in terms of terrorism in the Sahel.
This report is target to all members defence ministries and counter-terrorism organisations. It is a very brief read with only 37 pages.