World Bank aims to bring electricity to 300 million Africans
18/4/2024: By doubling its spending to $6 billion per annum and working in partnership with the African Development Bank, the plan would halve the 600 million people currently living without electricity on the continent by 2030. All new power generation will come from renewable energy sources. Campaigners question how the plan will be any different from similar past World Bank initiatives.
Source: Devex
The UN Pact for the Future needs something old, new, borrowed and blue
17/4/2024: UN member states will gather in New York in September to negotiate a Pact for the Future, a possible blueprint for multilateral cooperation in the 21st century. The initial “zero draft” of the Pact is a timid text that lacks many of the sensible ideas proposed by the UN Secretary-General.
Source: PassBlue
Congress stalls US Farm Bill that governs international food aid
16/4/2024: The five-year US Farm Bill expired in 2023 and was extended into September 2024. As lawmakers struggle to agree the next round, numerous programs governing international food aid hang in the balance. As many as 783 million people around the world face chronic hunger, according to the World Food Programme, and that number is on the rise.
Source: Devex
UK ‘double counting’ humanitarian aid as climate finance
16/4/2024: The UK government has reclassified nearly £500m of humanitarian aid for nations including Afghanistan, Yemen and Somalia as “climate finance”. The chair of the Least Developed Countries group at UN climate talks says the UK’s actions are a “clear deviation from the path to climate justice”.
Source: Carbon Brief
82 Chibok girls still in captivity ten years since abduction
14/4/2024: It is 10 years since 276 girls were abducted from Chibok secondary school in Nigeria by Boko Haram fighters. Parents and relatives of the girls who remain in captivity say they have been abandoned. Amnesty International says the Nigerian authorities have not learned any lessons or taken effective measures to prevent attacks on schools.
Source: Amnesty International
Sudan’s year of war: why there’s no hope for a cease-fire
14/4/2024: After a year of war in Sudan, the call to negotiate an immediate cease-fire by Norway and other Western governments has gone unheeded. As more local and international actors get involved, the outlook remains grim despite the suffering of one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.
Source: DW
EU approves new migration pact
11/4/2024: The European Parliament has approved a fundamental reform of asylum policy which aims to reduce the number of new arrivals, speed up asylum procedures and establish centers for doing this at the European Union's external borders. Critics have said the pact undermines the fundamental right to asylum in the EU, and fear people in need of protection will be rejected.
Source: DW
Rich nations reverse aid cuts to poorest
11/4/2024: Official development assistance to least developed countries and sub-Saharan Africa rose last year, OECD figures show — after much-criticized falls in 2022. Five countries achieved the UN target to spend 0.7% of gross national income on aid — Denmark, Norway, Luxembourg, Sweden, and Germany.
Source: Devex
UK spends quarter of foreign aid on asylum seeker costs
10/4/2024: Expenditure on administrative and accommodation costs for housing asylum seekers continues to hinder UK aid for the world's poorest countries. The UK spent nearly five times more on asylum seeker costs in 2023 than its bilateral support for humanitarian needs.
Source: Reliefweb
Deaths of peacekeepers underline concerns over Congo mission
10/4/2024: Three Tanzanian soldiers have been killed whilst deployed by the Southern African Development Community's (SADC) mission to defeat M23 rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The SADC force is considerably smaller than the 5,000 military personnel originally pledged and lacks vital support and equipment. The UN has started pulling out its 15,000 peacekeepers after Congo's government asked it to leave.
Source: DW