13 November 2009 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: At the United Nations on Thursday, Dessima Williams insisted that a climate change agreement in Copenhagen next month must financially assist small islands and developing countries vulnerable to climate patterns. As Permanent Representative of Grenada to the UN and head of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), Williams is a key figure in the negotiation process, and noted that small islands have already felt the impact of climate change. With that in mind, assistance from the Copenhagen agreement needs to be dispersed to those nations as quickly as possible. “We’ve achieved something so far,” Williams told MediaGlobal. She noted that “it is universally agreed that the level of financing is inadequate,” and that there were proposals on the table to give money to small islands immediately. Under one proposal, US$8 billion would be made available for adaptation and support as soon as possible. However, Williams was skeptical about how effective that assistance would be. “That should not be the end,” she said. The proposal, put forth by the European Union, would allocate US$100 billion to assist developing countries in adapting to climate change. The bulk of the aid would theoretically come from private sources, with half coming in from domestic sources. In other words, vulnerable countries would have to fund half of the “assistance” from the developed world, with unreliable private sources also contributing. “It’s a bit worrisome for us,” said Williams. Grenada is a poster child for what could happen if small islands are not protected from climate change. In 2004, 86 percent of the islands infrastructure was damaged by Hurricane Ivan, and further storms are likely to devastate the island as a result of climate change. Discussions on assistance will culminate on 7 December with the beginning of the Copenhagen climate change summit. Ryan Dicovitsky

Second Africa Water Week convenes in South Africa

12 November 2009 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: This week in Johannesburg, South Africa 1,000 delegates from across the continent met for the Second Africa Water Week. The conference included country representatives, civil society groups, United Nations agencies, development partners and the private sector to develop strategies for a “sprint to the finish” to achieve the Millennium Development Goals pertaining to water and sanitation, particularly the commitments put forth at the African Union Assembly in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt in 2008. The African Ministers Committee on Water (AMCOW) held a simultaneous session in South Africa. Water management is an essential part of development on the continent, and there is significant room for improvement, according to Bai-Mass Taal, executive secretary of AMCOW. He explained to MediaGlobal, “Over 340 million Africans don’t have access to drinking water. This is unacceptable. We need to bring the water agenda and keep it at the top of the political agenda.” Improved water management is necessary to access Africa’s water supply. Taal continued, “Africa has over 60 basins with 6 percent of the world’s water, however only 4 percent of Africa’s Water Resources is utilized, of which 60 percent is for agriculture.” Because water affects a number of development goals, Taal emphasized, “we have to continually discuss water security in Africa, water for economic development, and water for poverty alleviation.” The four specific themes of the conference, as outlined by Buyelwa Sonjica, MP, and Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs in her opening address were financing infrastructure, managing transboundary waters, adapting to climate change, and closing the sanitation gap. These issues were discussed among the delegates and Taal described the ultimate outcome as a “Ministerial message and a RoadMap for implementation of past declarations and commitments.” It will then be the responsibility for countries to implement the RoadMap in their domestic agendas. Allyn Gaestel

Eastern Chad’s “Somalization” may continue into 2010

12 November 2009 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: Eastern Chad, currently sheltering over 150,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) and 420,000 refugees from Sudan and the Central African Republic (CAR), has deeply suffered from malnutrition and poor security this year. For its part, the Chadian government “has given full access to humanitarian workers, which is not the case everywhere in the world,” UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Chad Michele Falavigna told MediaGlobal. “Still, though very concerned about the security situation, with its limited capacity, the government has been hands-off, delegating certain tasks that should be under sovereign power to the UN.” The Coordinator explained that these include humanitarian assistance that is now at a “fantastic” 82 percent of total UN aid. He added, however, that only 5 percent of this aid is devoted to health and education, meaning that the UN is “not fulfilling its obligation” of providing for a better life. With few such incentives, young men are especially drawn to organized gangs. These new gangs continue to threaten regional safety along with the Janjaweed, both of which have kidnapped over fifty humanitarian workers and killed several others this year. Counteracting this is the undermanned UN Mission in CAR and Chad, MINURCAT, which has been leading security since March but needs more troops. “Without more uniformed people ensuring law and order, there is no possibility to assist the refugee population the way we should [and we] can’t even think of final recovery and development yet,” stressed Falavigna. On the positive side, UN groups continue to discuss economic programs such as microfinancing to attract people throughout the region to return home. Through local coordination, certain Chadian ancestral lands have also recently been identified as safe to receive returnees. Humanitarian groups will continue analyzing the complex regional threats to stability, pursue further incentives for people to return and push for greater security support and overall assistance from the UN Security Council, especially for the 2010 elections. Chad’s 2010 Consolidated Appeal will continue to address eastern Chad’s humanitarian needs, staying roughly at its current US$450 million level. Henoch Derbew

United Nations voices optimism leading up to Copenhagen

12 November 2009 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: Despite recurrent media reports that next month’s climate change summit in Copenhagen, Denmark, likely won’t result in legally binding international agreements to significantly lower global CO2 emission rates by 2020, Janos Pasztor, director of the Secretary-General’s climate change support group, expressed confidence in the talks’ potential for success and action. “Leaders share the view that there is no alternative but to work together and that Copenhagen must be a turning point in global efforts to address this great challenge,” Pasztor said at a United Nations press conference on 7 November. UN scientists have called for industrialized nations to cut carbon emissions by 25 percent to 40 percent from 1990 levels by 2020, to prevent the earth’s temperatures from rising 2 degrees Celsius. A rise beyond that could trigger climate catastrophe, scientists have said. U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton said yesterday that the talks would not immediately yield an internationally binding treaty, as other nations’ leaders have also expressed similar reservations. U.S. President Barack Obama has yet to announce whether he will attend the summit. But Pasztor noted that there has been “progress on the negotiations,” as world leaders work to hammer out finite details of agreements. He commented to MediaGlobal on the meeting of G-20 finance ministers last week in Scotland, where they convened to push toward a 100 billion euros deal to aid developing countries. The industrialized leaders exited the meetings without ironing out any specific numbers, but Pasztor still called the talks a success. “What is positive is that the G-20 finance ministers have said that very clearly they are wiling to work for an ambitious deal in Copenhagen,” Pasztor told MediaGlobal. “What was also clear was that they are not yet ready to sign up for the details and they need to do some work when they go home after. They have the language that was agreed on and [the meeting] was actually quite positive. They just didn’t go as far in the details as many as they would have liked. There is still time for that—not much, but there is still time.” Amy Lieberman

Fortified chewing gum to fight malnutrition

11 November 2009 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: Vitamin-enriched chewing gum was among the innovative solutions presented at a Nutrition Conference held by the Danish Copenhagen Consensus Center (CCC) in Nairobi, Kenya on 3 November. Government officials, researchers, donors and representatives of non-governmental organizations and the private sector gathered to discuss the best and most cost-effective practices to tackle malnutrition, a problem most acute in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. “The gum is produced by Danish company Gumlink and is just one of their many innovations,” Anita Overholt Neilsen, communications manager at the CCC told MediaGlobal. It is fortified with Vitamin A and comes in two forms: one suitable for children aged 3 to 5 and another for pregnant and lactating women. More then half of the countries in the world are affected by Vitamin A deficiencies, and along with iron and iodine is the most important nutrient for public health. Vitamin A is the leading cause of preventable blindness in children and increases the risk of death from infections. About 219 million children worldwide suffer from a lack of Vitamin A. In pregnant women, it causes night-blindness. Better known and more widely practiced are the iodization of salt and the fortification of flour with iron. Zinc, extremely beneficial in treating and preventing recurring and acute diarrhea, the leading cause of death amongst infants and children, has traditionally been distributed as an additional supplement and not added to food. In 2008, the CCC ranked micronutrient fortification of food as the most important development priority out of over 40 interventions considered. Furthermore, experts at the CCC Nutrition Conference suggested that fortification of foods is most effective in reaching those who have previously fallen outside the scope of immunization programs, namely individuals in remote areas or migratory groups. “Our idea is to use our technology to provide one more way of delivering Vitamin A to those who need it.” commented Henrik Jespersen, vice president of the Gumlink Group. Zanele Mji

Ethiopia turning to hydropower to stem chronic energy shortages

11 November 2009 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: Africa continues to be unable to meet its ever-rising demand for energy. According to a report released by the Center for Global Development, power outages have become a chronic impediment to living, occurring in African countries between 50 and 150 days per year. Ironically, because of the continent’s low level of conventional industrial development, a solution through renewable energy is easily attainable. Experts explain that Africa has a unique opportunity to “leapfrog” into cheaper and greener ways of addressing its energy needs because of its vast sources of hydro, wind, geothermal, and solar energy. Ethiopia, for example, has over 40,000 megawatts of energy potential through hydropower alone. Ethiopia has already made strides, explained business consultant Henok Assefa, who told MediaGlobal that “Ethiopia generates almost all of its electricity requirements from hydroelectric dams.” More energy, however, is needed to meet the country’s growing energy demand. The four-turbine Tekeze Dam, Africa’s tallest double-arch curved dam, will hopefully help in this regard. Costing 3.9 billion birr (roughly 365 million USD), it will be inaugurated in northern Ethiopia this weekend and will produce 75 megawatts from one of its currently operational turbines. By early 2010, two other hydroelectric power generation projects are expected to go operational and combine with Tekeze for over 1,000 megawatts—enough power to supplement present energy sources to exceed Ethiopia’s current 1,600 megawatt demand. Some critics fear that even when fully functional, Tekeze may not hold enough water to produce power at the intended levels, especially during the dry seasons. Others add that sedimentation and landslides will hamper the dam’s effectiveness. To address some of these concerns, the state-owned Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo) is continuing to search for other ways to address energy requirements including encouraging energy conservation. The government also continues to partner with Chinese firms and the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) to further invest in alternative energy and has already begun plans to export surplus power throughout the region. In the next decade, seven additional hydro-projects are expected to go operational to help Ethiopia reach its domestic and foreign energy targets. Henoch Derbew

Uganda proposes changes to HIV care and prevention policy