IPS – A basket fund aimed at increasing the economic participation of women in Zimbabwe, has been relaunched after a start which faltered due to the delayed appointment of the new government earlier this year.

The fund, properly known as the Gender Support Programme, seeks to improve gender equality and equity in Zimbabwe. 

Speaking at the launch of the fund on June 17, Udo Etukudo, an MDG specialist and economist with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), said the cost of not investing in gender equality in Zimbabwe was enormous.

Read more – http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=49542

IPS – A special U.N. summit of world leaders, scheduled to take place next year, is expected to make “a final push” to help reach the world body’s widely-touted development goals by the targeted date of 2015.

“We have seen progress, but not enough – especially in Africa,” complains Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who has asked British Prime Minister Gordon Brown to take a lead role in the U.N initiative.

Read more – http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=49361

IPS – The guns have gone silent – except for sporadic conflict in parts of the vast South Sudan region, such as the Eastern Equatoria State. It may not be the absolute end of the conflict in the region, but it is a reason for renewed hope.

It has been two decades of bitter civil war in Sudan, the southerners bearing the burden of massive destruction which has left an estimated 1.9 million people dead and four million displaced, according to United Nations agencies.

Read more – http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/nota.asp?idnews=49337

UNEP – Africa will neither accept replacement of the Kyoto Protocol, nor its merger with any new agreement, say African climate change negotiators meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia at the last African major preparatory gathering, before the UN Climate Change negotiations in Copenhagen in December.

Negotiators say actions for Africa should be voluntary and nationally appropriate, and must be fully supported and enabled by technology transfer, finance and capacity building from developed countries. Added to this, any new climate deal must include provision for Africa to be compensated for climate related social and economic losses.

Read more – http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=599&ArticleID=6350&l=en

The African Development Bank (AfDB) Group joins the international communicate to celebrate World Food Day. The AfDB fully supports World Food Day celebrations as a prime opportunity to increase public awareness of food problems on the African continent. This year’s theme “achieving food security in times of crisis” is a vivid reminder of the recent global food crisis. The day offers a unique opportunity to urgently raise awareness of the issues behind poverty and hunger, reflect on the rising tide of world hunger and take a fresh approach to agricultural and food security policy-making. Africa’s agriculture has a huge potential, given its good agro-climatic endowments and labour costs. Agriculture is also a lifeline for Africa, being the primary source of food for the majority, the primary economic sector and the engine of growth. Yet, Africa’s agriculture continues to face serious challenges, including the global financial and economic crisis and the food crisis, all in the face of higher energy prices and inadequate infrastructure. These realities are daunting and are threatening growth performance and the prospect of achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

The development of agriculture should receive the attention it deserves and agricultural recovery plans should be an integral part of financial recovery plans. The critical role of regional financial institutions, including the AfDB is, therefore, imperative. Against the prevailing global economic fragility and in line with its Medium Term Strategy, the Bank is repositioning itself for a renewed engagement in agriculture that focuses on selectivity and building long-term partnerships based on institutional comparative advantage. However, African-led policies and strategies are critical for agriculture to prosper and for the continent to be able to feed itself sustainably. In addition, African resources are needed to develop African agriculture in the long-term.  

Read more – http://www.afdb.org/en/news-events/article/afdb-joins-international-community-in-world-food-day-celebration-5197/

“Investing in children and securing their rights is one of the surest ways to ending poverty,” U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told 1,500 students at the United Nations International School in New York City Friday as part of the Stand Up Take Action Campaign organised by the U.N. Millennium Campaign.

Over the weekend of Oct. 16 to 18, millions of people around the globe used the occasions of World Food Day and World Anti-Poverty Day to push their leaders harder to meet longstanding pledges for every human being to have the essentials of a decent life, such as housing and clean drinking water.

In a bitter irony, World Food Day should be called ‘No Food Day’ for almost one of every six people in the world this year, said World Food Programme (WFP) Executive Director Josette Sheeran.

With just six years left until the deadline by which heads of state have pledged to reduce extreme poverty by half, Salil Shetty, director of the U.N. Millennium Campaign, says that Stand Up is a stark reminder that citizens “do not accept excuses for governments breaking promises to the world’s poorest and most vulnerable citizens”.

Last year, more than 116 million people participated in the Stand Up action, breaking the Guinness World Record for the largest mobilisation of human beings in recorded history.

Facilitated by Skype and Ustream to connect global citizens in the campaign, this year organisers aimed to exceed that number.

In India, campaigners took the streets to demand functional health centres in every village, town and county; in Nigeria, thousands of people at music concerts by Sarah Mitaru and Femi Kuti signed a petition demanding accountability and transparency from their government in order to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

In South Korea, thousands demonstrated calling on their government to increase overseas aid; in Egypt, worshipers in more than 5,000 mosques and churches stood up during Friday sermons and Sunday Masses.

Read more – http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48908

Ouagadougou, 9 October – The Global Forum on Sustainable Development, to be held here from 9 to 11 October, will enable sub-Saharan Africa to continue to consolidate its views on climate change.
 
Two months before the Copenhagen conference which will aim to replace the Kyoto Protocol with a new international agreement on climate, the region will review the problems associated with climate change and make concerted efforts to implement a ‘New Green Deal for Africa’.
 
This pact will allow the African continent to gird itself against the consequences of climate change while supporting the development process and working to achieve the MDGs.

Read more – http://content.undp.org/go/newsroom/2009/october/lafrique-runie-au-burkina-sur-le-thme-des-changements-climatiques-.en