Combatting the Zika Virus in Latin American and the Caribbean: Tools for the Creation of Resilient and Inclusive Societies

“Zika reminds us that all countries and peoples remain vulnerable to emerging infectious diseases, and that a disease that primarily affects poorer populations has wide-ranging social and economic implications for entire communities” explained Magdy Martínez-Solimán, the UNDP Assistant Administrator and Director of the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support, during the launch this April at UN Headquarters of a report dealing with the socio-economic impacts of the Zika virus.

Since the end of 2014, Zika has spread at an alarming rate throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. By 2017, UNDP estimates that 80 to 117 million people will have been impacted by the virus. In addition, humans and particularly infants can suffer from neurological complications such as microcephaly, a rare condition associated with incomplete brain development. These two characteristics underscore the need to set up adequate responses as soon as possible. From February 1, to November 18, 2016 the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the Zika virus a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) which had led a surge of birth defects. While the “virus and its associated consequences remain a significant enduring public health challenge requiring intense action [they] no longer represent a PHEIC” justified the Emergency Committee (EC) of the WHO in November 2016. In other words, the WHO decided to switch from emergency measures, to a long-term response as the disease is expected to have long-lasting impacts on the region.

In early April 2017, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), partnered with the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), and released a report entitled “A Socio-Economic Impact Assessment of the Zika Virus in Latin America and the Caribbean: with a focus on Brazil, Colombia and Suriname”. Following the will of the WHO to implement long-term responses to the virus, this report provides recommendations for actions for a long-term, integrated intervention.

The report’s key message is that the economic impact of the virus justifies the implementation of ambitious regional policies. Indeed, the estimated economic impact ranges from US$7 to 18 billion over the 2015-2017 period. The report invites stakeholders to consider the long-term impact of the virus which have both direct and indirect consequences. It highlights the devastating impact the virus has had on the region’s attractiveness and vital sectors such as tourism. Finally, it calls for local responses to mobilize directly the most vulnerable communities.

Furthermore, as the report hopes to play the role of a catalyst for global action in the region, it provides six recommendations. These include the need for specific budgetary plans, integrated policies as multiple mosquito-borne diseases spread throughout the region, regional and global cooperation, and even a strengthened education campaign directed at communities regarding the health and reproductive threats brought about by the virus.

Thus, the Zika virus remains a huge challenge given its multiple health, social and economic consequences. While it is no longer a Public Health Emergency, there is no vaccine ready and the number of babies born with life-long congenital defects continues to grow. Beyond the economic concerns, the future development of the Latin and the Caribbean region is being called into question. The Zika virus increases gender and social inequalities, poverty, and threaten communities’ wellbeing. In the face of this endemic virus, there is an urgent necessity to build global, strong and long-term health responses, enabling countries from Latin America and the Caribbean region to  combat more effectively the threats that may arise in the future.

For the full report, please, visit: http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/UNDP-RBLAC-Zika-English-WEB.pdf

2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: Where are we?

“The Future we want”. This is the name of the outcome document adopted during the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in 2012. The document described the lessons of 20 decades of development experience, through the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and was also the cornerstone of a new era for sustainable development, the 2030 Agenda. Implemented in 2015, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development resulted from three years of discussions about the development we want for the next 15 years. This Agenda, containing 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), meant to be universal. Dealing with issues ranging up from sustainable cities, clean energy, climate change, to end of poverty and gender equality, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals are ambitious. But they are the turning point for a global development agenda which is supposed to improve everyone’s lives.

And “after only one year, the SDGs seem to be better known than the Millennium Development Goals”, underscored Xavier Longan, from the UN SDG Action Campaign staff. A success that could be explained through the commitment of all, governments, experts, civil society and citizens, in a spirit of transparency.

In early 2017, the first UN SDGs’ report was published reviewing progress made to date, and efforts that remain to be made. Concerning SDG1, ending poverty in all its form, the goal is far from achieved. Indeed, one in eight people still live in extreme poverty. And while this rate did decrease from 26% to 13% between 2002 and 2012, many other forms of poverty impact people, mainly youth.

Furthermore, the agenda is also committed to tackle gender equality and education. The report points out that in 2013, 59 million children at primary school level were out of school. Moreover, 757 million adults across the planet were unable to read and write. Promoting gender equality takes several forms, including combatting female genital mutilation or underage marriage. Yet, it is also about encouraging women’s representation in some places where they are a minority, such as in politics or science.

Insuring sustainable development is also working on sustainable economic growth. In this regard, the SDGs aims to improve the life of the 30% of people living in urban slum-like conditions and fighting against high levels of air pollution in big cities. The biggest challenge is for the least developed countries, which still have to develop better access to energy and water. Indeed, “water stress affects more than 2 billion people around the globe, while 1.1 billion people still don’t have access to energy”, the reports alerted.

Finally, the Agenda for Sustainable Development calls for efforts to combat climate change and improve our natural environment. As the report states, “climate change presents the single biggest threat to development, and its widespread, unprecedented effects disproportionately burden the poorest and the most vulnerable”. Through the SDGs, the world is committed to fight against this issue, as shown by the signature of the historic Paris Agreement in April 2016. The report highlights that “175 Member States promised measures to take ambitious climate action and ensure that global temperatures rise no more than 2 degrees Celsius”.

Learning from the experience of the Millennium Development Goals, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is a global agenda dealing with issues of our current world. Nowadays, sustainable development is not only about giving everyone the right to live in peace and dignity, it is also a vital necessity to ensure the future of humanity. Thus, if the 17 goals are so ambitious, this is because we can’t wait anymore, if we want to give the opportunity to next generations, deciding the future they want.

To learn more about 2030 SDGs, please, visit: https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2016/The%20Sustainable%20Development%20Goals%20Report%202016.pdf

Primary microplastics: A global contamination we don’t see.

“The way things are going now, our oceans will contain more plastic than fish by 2050”, a report from Ellen MacArthur Foundation predicts. This shocking statistic comes to us while 9.5 million tons of additional plastic waste flows into the ocean every year.

The latest study from the International Union for Conservation of Nature, called “Primary Microplastics in the Oceans: a Global Evaluation of Sources” is one of the first to provide data about the global impact of primary microplastics. Primary microplastics enter the oceans directly in the form of small particles, as opposed to secondary microplastics that are created through plastic waste degradation. These primary microplastics are the result of our daily life, and come from, synthetic clothes, car tyres, or cosmetic products. The report reveals that this type of plastic could be accountable for 30% of the “plastic soup” polluting the world’s oceans. And the results are astounding: The equivalent of one grocery bag per person is thrown into the ocean each week in the form of microplastics. But in North America the situation is so bad that the statistic increases to one bag every two days!

Indeed, this report can educate readers about a plastics issue which remains understudied. “The invention of plastic based on a synthetic polymer in 1907 changed our lives forever, for better and for worse”, IUCN Director General Inger Andersen argued in the report’s introduction. Indeed, the past year’s reports have tremendously challenged the advantages of plastics, stressing the numerous disadvantages for ocean sustainability, biodiversity, and human health.

Consequently, the purpose of this report is to provide new information and to call for action on plastic pollution once again. Furthermore, this data fills a knowledge gap, representing an important reference point for policy makers, who wish to enact transformative policies and production practices. Action is needed to reduce the level of contamination in our oceans. This is particularly so, as the issue becomes a worldwide human health threat with plastic entering our food and water supplies. As it is part of our daily activities, everyone has not only the responsibility but the duty to get involved. It is up to the private sector to invest in the necessary R&D for the needed production shifts. But it also belongs to the governments to force real change by legislation and on-the-ground policies. Finally, populations could choose sustainable practices, by promoting natural fabrics rather than synthetic ones. We must act if we don’t want plastic soup in our plates.

On February 15-16, GFDD attended to the UN preparatory meeting for the Ocean Conference, a UN Conference scheduled to take place from June 5 to 9, 2017. These two preparation days were an opportunity for voluntary countries to raise awareness on different issues. Many representatives talked about plastic waste but also microplastics, which should be one of the main topics of discussion next June.

 

For the full report, please read: https://portals.iucn.org/library/sites/library/files/documents/2017-002.pdf

Obama Becomes First US president to Author an Article in Science Magazine

Taken from PRI

Science editors say, according to their records, Obama is the first sitting US president to author an article in the peer-reviewed journal.

Past high-profile authors in the journal include German Chancellor Angela Merkel, former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, former Chinese premier Wen Jiabao and Prince Albert of Monaco.

The article, published Monday, argues that the clean-energy revolution is irreversible and highlights the economic benefits of cutting carbon emissions and investing in renewable energy.

Obama writes that “evidence is mounting that any economic strategy that ignores carbon pollution will impose tremendous costs to the global economy and will result in fewer jobs and less economic growth over the long term.”

The article mentions President-elect Donald Trump by name and seems tailor-made to appeal to the business sensibilities of Obama’s White House successor.

The same day the article was published, Secretary of State John Kerry made a similar argument in a speech on climate change and business investment at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

“Never before,” Kerry said, “has the elimination of such a significant threat actually presented such an extraordinary level of opportunity.”

The Science article is the third the president has published in top academic journals in the past week. He wrote on criminal justice reform in the Harvard Law Review and defended his Affordable Care Act in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The publications in peer-reviewed journals highlight Obama’s academic approach to policy. The president’s chief scientific adviser John Holdren, who helped shape Obama’s keystone climate change policies, is said to have had the ear of the president more than in any other White House in recent history.

The Obama administration also launched a number of high-profile scientific initiatives, including those on precision medicine, cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.

 

UN Observance: World Soil Day, December 5

“On World Soil Day, I call for greater attention to the pressing issues affecting soils, including climate change, antimicrobial resistance, soil-borne diseases, contamination, nutrition and human health. Let us build on the International Year of Soils 2015, the International Year of Pulses 2016, and all the activities supporting sustainable soil management to generate more hectares of healthy soils everywhere”

(UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon)

2016 Theme: “Soils and pulses, a symbiosis for life”

The positive contributions of pulses to soil properties are many: they fix the atmosphere nitrogen and improve its biodiversity, fertility and structure.

That is the reason why the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) dedicates this year World Soil Day to the pulses. Also, owing to their nutritional benefits, 2016 was declared the International Year of Pulses.

The campaign aims to connect people with soils and raise awareness on their critical importance in our lives.

Soil is an essential resource and a vital part of the natural environment from which most of the global food is produced.

At the same time, soil provides living space for humans, as well as essential ecosystem services which are important for water regulation and supply, climate regulation, biodiversity conservation, carbon sequestration and cultural services. But soils are under pressure from increases in population, higher demands for food and competing land uses. Approximately 33% of our global soils are degraded and policy makers around the world are exploring opportunities to embrace sustainable development via the sustainable development goals.

How will you celebrate the World Soil Day?

The World Soil Day 2016 will be celebrated on the 5th of December at FAO headquarters in Rome, FAO regional offices and through national and local events.

Are you planning to have an event on soils?

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