DevDispatch Recommends: August 2021 Publications
In the spirit of inspiring social change through knowledge, we are excited to share publications released in global development in August, to contribute towards your awareness of human rights issues, digital innovation and malaria case management in the private sector. We also celebrated Youth Day this month, and to commemorate, this edition includes publications on youth-led digital innovation and economic recovery in Africa.
Enjoy!
Youth Recovery Plan 2021 Insight Report
By World Economic Forum
This Insight Report produced by the Davos Lab centralises the needs of the youth, guided by the question, What enduring changes do young people between the ages of 20 and 30 foresee after the COVID-19 pandemic, and what would Millennials and Generation Z do differently if they were in charge? The report breaks down 10 pillars culminating from surveys conducted by the Davos lab in response to this question, constituting issues likely to affect children born during the COVID-19 pandemic.
These include Conscious consumerism, Digital access, Digital literacy, Future of politics,Inclusive jobs, Mental health, Public health and Public safety.
Policy-makers within the youth space will find this 36 pager relevant.
Malaria Case Management in the Private Sector in Africa: A Call for Action to Identify Sustainable Solutions
By Centre for Global Development, Rachel Silverman, Dan Rosen, Lydia Regan, Jessica Vernon, Prashant Yadav
The private sector plays a significant role in providing treatment in malaria-endemic countries, approximately 35% of all patients with suspected malaria globally seek care in the private sector. However, questions still exist around the quality of antimalarial drugs provided in the private sector as well as presumptive diagnosis. The paper argues that further action on malaria case management is needed to meet global targets for reduced malaria morbidity and mortality and assesses the challenges and opportunities of private sector case management.
Current challenges identified include:
1. Unknown quality of artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) in the private health sector;
2. Continued presumptive diagnosis- most pharmacists in the private sector still do not routinely use rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) prior to offering ACT;
3. ACT and RDT financing constraints- Financing for malaria treatment is still heavily dependent on development assistance for health;
4. Data availability and quality- the ability for the private sector to collect and share high quality data is hindered by several factors including inconsistent data reporting policies.
However, some opportunities exist in the form of digital tools presenting new opportunities for data collection in real-time, and regional manufacturing which could increase access to quality ACTs.
Health care regulators and policymakers will find this 12 paged assessment useful in their practice.
Youth-led (digital) innovation and resilience during Covid-19: Experiences from the African continent By ODI, Mastercard Foundation
The paper highlights the resilience and resourcefulness of Africa’s young population amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, recognising their efforts in shifting towards online freelance income generating opportunities, taking on leadership roles and mobilising communities to address basic needs, rethinking production and utilising technology to sustain business operations.
The paper also explores the youth experiences and the impact of the pandemic on their lives, and the role of digital ICTs. Recommendations include recognising the youth as agile, creative leaders in response to crises, supporting discussion and knowledge sharing opportunities for youth and developing infrastructure to ensure accessible, reliable and sufficient technologies to facilitate youth endeavours.
The 47 paged read is a great resource for youth community leaders, innovators and policy makers within the youth-digital space
Ethiopia Emergency Situation (TIGRAY): UNHCR Regional Appeal
By UNHCR
The UNHCR led report is an appeal for the humanitarian crisis in Tigray, which has displaced two million people inside Ethiopia and into Sudan. The paper gives an overview of populations in need of assistance within the region including 120,000 Ethiopian Refugees in South Sudan, 96 000 Eritrean refugees in South Sudan, and 650 000 Ethiopian IDPs in the Tigray region of Ethiopia.
The report also provides an update of the UNHCR’s response to date, urgent needs which include protection, education, water sanitation and hygiene, health and nutrition, logistics, staffing and administration. In closing, the report presents a table of financial requirements across different sectors between January and December 2021and highlights the importance of flexible funding to allow UNHCR to plan and manage its resources efficiently.
UNHCR is appealing for $164.5 million to cover the period January-December 2021.
This report is useful for crisis and disaster management donors and 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.
Building Regional Power Markets in Africa: Tools & Mechanisms for Accelerating Regional and Sub-Regional Projects
By The African Development Bank (AfDB)
For quick reads, check out these blog posts
The report examines efforts by the AfDB to accelerate delivery of regional power infrastructure projects in Africa. The initiative, supported by the New Deal on Energy for Africa launched by President Adesina in 2016 in pursuit of universal energy access for Africans is working to ensure regional projects- that have previously seen delays of up to 8 years- to come to fruition- to ensure millions of people experience the benefits of reliable and affordable power supply.
Included amongst the main barriers to accelerated implementation of regional and sub-regional power infrastructure projects identified in the study were:
1. High-priority pipelines containing poorly structured regional and sub-regional projects, which are non -viable or un-bankable in their current form;
2. Inadequate project preparation, transaction structuring, and risk mitigation strategies of power infrastructure projects promoted at the regional or sub-regional level;
3. Lack of private sector participation in major cross-border interconnection and feeder-line transmission projects, even after an expression of interest in participating in such projects.
The paper presents a toolkit to help overcome these barriers.
If you are a project manager or engineer this is highly recommended!
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 Mobile Gender Gap Report 2021
By GSMA
With digital transformation taking shape around the world, access to mobile phones and the internet continue to prove to be the gate key into the new digital era. Mobile phones are the primary way for most of the population to access the internet in low and middle income countries. More and more people are getting connected everyday however there is a noticeable gender gap as women are getting left behind due to various reasons such as lower incomes, lower literacy rates. Even women who have experienced similar levels of education and income too. Men are still less likely to own a mobile phone.
This report reviews the barriers women face in adopting the internet and owning a mobile phone compared to the barriers faced by men. This topic is of importance as the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need to be digitally connected for work, education and social wellbeing. There is a clear need to focus on gender equality when reaching women at an organisational and policy level.
This report lays out recommendations for mobile operators, internet companies, policymakers and regulators as well as the development community at large, and should be a quick read for all at only 63 pages.
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.