{UAH} FW: Zika budget fights and UN transgender rights: This week in development news

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Date: Thu, 19 May 2016 20:13:01 -0500
From: info@devex.com
To: georgeokello_8@hotmail.com
Subject: Zika budget fights and UN transgender rights: This week in development news

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To ensure delivery to your inbox, please add info@devex.com to your address book. May 19, 2016 THIS WEEK'S MUST-READ DEVELOPMENT STORIES Zika budget fights and UN transgender rights: This week in development news By Michael Igoe @AlterIgoe The United Nations has a new climate chief, U.N. member states block transgender groups from AIDS talks, and Yemen braces for an onslaught of locusts. This week in development news: Roughly $600 million separates the U.S. House and Senate's Zika virus funding plans, and both of them fall well short of the $1.9 billion requested by President Obama to combat the disease outbreak domestically and internationally. On Tuesday, the Senate advanced a $1.1 billion spending bill, and on Wednesday the House passed a bill to allocate $622.1 million for Zika, a figure the White House called "woefully inadequate," threatening to veto a bill that does not deliver sufficient resources for research, development, and pandemic security. Now the House and Senate will have to find a funding amount they can both agree on before sending a bill to the president for his signature. Obama's emergency funding request includes $335 million for the U.S. Agency for International Development. The administration has already transferred $589 million in remaining Ebola virus funding for use in combating Zika. Women Deliver 2016 is underway in Copenhagen, Denmark this week, and Devex is on the scene keeping tabs on the "largest gathering on girls' and women's health and rights in the last decade." The summit has already seen some major announcements, including Canadian International Development Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau's launch of the donor country's public consultations on foreign aid, which Bibeau said should reinforce Canada's commitment to putting women and girls at the center of its international assistance. The World Economic Forum on Africa concluded last week in Kigali, Rwanda, with regional integration emerging as a dominant theme in many of the discussions about Africa's economic future. "The continent's current fragmentation and its inability to connect intracontinental markets remains one of the biggest inhibitors to inclusive and sustainable growth. A shocking 90 percent of Africa's volume of trade occurs with countries outside of the continent," Naki Mendoza wrote for Devex. The U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change has a new Executive Secretary: Patricia Espinosa Cantellano of Mexico. Espinosa is tasked with translating the Paris climate agreement into country signatures and actions — and with reconvening UNFCCC signatories at the 22nd Conference of Parties in Morocco in November. Espinosa takes the UNFCCC reigns from Christiana Figueres, lauded for her role in producing a successful Paris outcome. Devex recently profiled the outgoing leader for Power with Purpose, a leadership recognition for the most influential women in development. A group of U.N. General Assembly countries have blocked nearly two dozen organizations representing transgender people and drug users from participating in the U.N.'s 2016 High Level Meeting on Ending AIDS. Russia, Cameroon, Tanzania, and the 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation objected to the participation of 22 NGOs, effectively barring them from attending the June meeting in New York. Michel Sidibe, executive director of UNAIDS, told the New York Times, "the list of excluded groups are many organizations that courageously and effectively speak to the needs of key population groups" and that ending AIDS will be impossible "without much closer involvement of key population groups in planning and delivering services." The World Food Programme has warned it is running out of money for food assistance to Yemen, where 14.4 million Yemenis out of a population of 26 million are considered "food insecure," largely due to ongoing conflict between Houthi rebels and the government, backed by a coalition led by Saudi Arabia. To make matters worse, the country is bracing for an onslaught of locusts, swarms of flying insects that could pose a significant threat to the country's farms. The ongoing civil war has thwarted Yemen's locust control efforts, the Guardian reports. FROM THE EDITOR Top picks this week By Devex @devex Upcoming and recently concluded global development events take the headlines at Devex this week. The World Humanitarian Summit, which aims to reform a humanitarian system to better address the growing number of global crises, starts next week. Also next week is the World Health Assembly, a weeklong event that will discuss a "record-breaking" number of agenda items. This week, Devex has been on ground covering the fourth Women Deliver conference in Copenhagen, Denmark. Rounding up this week's top stories are coverage of two other major events: the London anti-corruption summit and the World Economic Forum on Africa. The World Humanitarian Summit: What to expect The first World Humanitarian Summit will draw a record crowd from across the globe to discuss how to reform humanitarian aid. Devex asks thought leaders from across the field what to expect at the summit, and what concrete outcomes might emerge. 5 WHO reforms at the 69th World Health Assembly The annual weeklong event is set to discuss important health topics, from maternal and child health to medicine access worldwide, as well as changes taking place inside the U.N.'s health aid agency. Focus on: Women Deliver 2016 This week, thousands of gender advisers, women's rights advocates, global health experts and private sector leaders descended on Copenhagen for Women Deliver, the largest conference of the past decade on the rights and well-being of women and girls. Anti-corruption summit outcomes: Promises for the world's poorest An increase in reporting of beneficial ownership will help track down some of the billions of dollars lost to corruption every year. But will the commitments and outcomes of the anti-corruption summit held in London this week lead to a renewed focus on anti-corruption and governance programming? Regional integration headlined the World Economic Forum on Africa Regional integration, improved infrastructure and more efficient cross-border commerce emerged as central themes at this year's World Economic Forum on Africa. 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Each term for two consecutive terms, participants take one core course and two elective courses. Two core courses are offered one evening a week for one term each. Elective courses meet once a term from Friday morning through Sunday afternoon. Learn more and apply today for the July 1 deadline SPONSORED ANNOUNCEMENT #NewUrbanAgenda: Join the global conversation on urbanization By 2030, 60 percent of the world's population will live in urban areas. This mass movement of people calls for the development community to create more equitable and sustainable approaches to these new challenges. That's why Devex has partnered with Habitat for Humanity and Cities Alliance to host #NewUrbanAgenda, a six monthlong campaign to amplify the conversation on urbanization, migration and resilience. The campaign will set the stage for Habitat III, the global summit on urbanization hosted in Quito, Ecuador, in October 2016. From now through October, #NewUrbanAgenda will investigate a range of issues such as strengthening the role of local government, improving land rights, fighting for gender equality, upgrading slums and creating disaster-resilient communities and more, and showcase the individuals and organizations at the forefront of securing an urban future for the growing global population. Make sure to join the conversation on social media using #NewUrbanAgenda and tagging @devex, @habitat_org, @joinsolidground and @citiesalliance. Global Development Briefing - Your inside guide to the week's must-read development stories. Copyright 2016 Unauthorized commercial reapplication, reproduction or retransmission, in whole or in part, is prohibited. Manage your newsletter subscriptions | Read the latest Devex News | RSS Feed Connect with us Devex is the media platform for the global development community. 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