Highlights

• The budget of the Country Programme (CP) 200336 is under revision for an extension in time.
  
• WFP, in collaboration with the Disaster Management Department of the Office of National Security, the Red Cross and the Ministry of Social Welfare provided food assistance to 158 households affected by a fire at Angola Town in Freetown.
  
• WFP assessed 42 Agricultural Business Centers and Farmer-Based Organizations in terms of their operational status to determine which organizations WFP should continue to support.

WFP Assistance

WFP is implementing activities to support the Government’s National Ebola Recovery Strategy and reverse the negative impacts of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak on food security and nutrition among vulnerable populations.

The Protracted Relief and Recovery Operation (PRRO) will (i) strengthen the livelihoods of vulnerable communities through community asset creation and rehabilitation; (ii) improve the nutritional status of malnourished children aged 6-59 months, pregnant and nursing women and people living with HIV and TB; and (iii) develop national capabilities to prepare and respond to future emergencies.

The PRRO contributes to restoring and rebuilding livelihoods devastated by EVD, focusing on the most food insecure populations and Ebola survivors, while enhancing utilization of health and nutrition services weakened by the Ebola outbreak. The PRRO contributes to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 Zero Hunger, as well as SDGs 1, 3, 8, 15 and 17.

Under the PRRO, WFP will continue to implement Purchase for Progress (P4P) to strengthen the capacity of smallholder farmers to access reliable markets.

Participation in P4P enables smallholders to sell their surplus crops at competitive prices, thus bolstering their income and reducing their poverty. Food procured through P4P is used to support nutrition and asset creation activities under the PRRO.

Activities under the Country Programme (CP) include school feeding support to primary education of boys and girls. WFP's CP, which contributes to Sustainable SDGs 2 and 17, was designed to empower vulnerable households and individuals with the highest rates of food insecurity and illiteracy in meeting their food and nutrition needs in a sustainable way. The CP is also designed to support the Government to realise its priorities set forth in the Agenda for Prosperity, particularly advancements in the education sector (SDG 4).

A coalition of governments, philanthropists and business is pledging to put money and effort into making vaccines to stop the spread of diseases that could threaten mankind – and to prevent another outbreak as devastating as the Ebola epidemic.

At the World Economic Forum in Davos, the Norwegian, Japanese and German governments, the Wellcome Trust and the Gates Foundation announced they were putting in $460 million – half of what is needed for the first five years of the initiative. Three diseases will initially be targeted: Lassa, Mers and Nipah. All three are caused by viruses that have come from animals to infect humans and could trigger dangerous global epidemics.

Read more on the Guardian

ABOUT

• MHub is undertaking field surveys with migrants, refugees and asylum seekers along key migratory routes to build up a body of data over time and to map country and regional level mixed migration trends.

• This snapshot presents early survey findings of the profiles, intentions and experiences of those moving in mixed migration flows who have recently arrived in Italy in the last year.

• Though these findings cannot be considered statistically representative of the migration population, they do provide key insights into the migration process.

KEY FINDINGS

Findings are based on 341 interviews conducted between 3 March and 22 December in Asti, Bologna, Castellammare del Golfo, Milan, Modena, Palermo, Rome, Trapani, and Turin.

• 85% of respondents (91% of female and 83% of male) began their migration journey without feeling fully aware of the risks and conditions on their chosen route. For those from West Africa, this represented 90% of male and 97% of female respondents. For those from East Africa, this decreased to 43% for males and 74% for females.

• The majority of respondents from Cameroon (100%), Guinea (100%), Senegal (96%), Nigeria (96%), Cote d'Ivoire (88%) and Gambia (83%) reported not having enough information on the risks and conditions present on their journey. Nigerian respondents mainly came from Edo State (59%).

• Available data indicates a strong inverse relationship between awareness of potential difficulties and risk factors and the number of abuses actually experienced by respondents.

• 57% of all respondents felt regret about their journey due to conditions encountered en route. 45% reported that they would not have travelled at all, and 12% would have taken a different route.

• The journey through Libya was reported to be the most dangerous segment for respondents traveling from and through North Africa to Italy with 78% of all abuses recorded as occurring in Libya. This is followed by abuses reported as occurring in the Sahara Desert (10%), Niger and Sudan (2%).

• Respondents that travelled through Libya reported forced labour (95%), arbitrary detention (88%), physical abuse (83%) and sexual abuse (76%) as the most frequent abuses witnessed or experienced.

• The majority of sexual abuses reported happened in Libya (76%), followed by the Sahara Desert (15%), Niger (3%), Sudan (2%) and other transit countries such as Burkina Faso, Algeria, Egypt and Togo (4%).

• 65% of sexual abuse cases reported in the Sahara Desert were perpetrated by the smugglers or those affiliated to the smugglers such as drivers. Some respondents claimed that smugglers often offered migrants to their drivers for rape as part payment. The remainder were perpetrated by rebels (11%), desert tribes (8%), bandits (8%) and militia/soldiers/police (8%).

Learning from the Use of Data, Information, and Digital Technologies in the West Africa Ebola Outbreak Response

What can be learned from the use of data, information, and digital technologies, such as mobile-based systems and internet connectivity, during the Ebola outbreak response in West Africa? What worked, what didn't, and how can we apply these lessons to improve data and information flows in the future? This report details key findings and recommendations about the collection, management, analysis, and use of paper-based and digital data and information, drawing upon the insights of more than 130 individuals and organizations who worked tirelessly to end the Ebola outbreak in West Africa in 2014 and 2015.

Read the full report

Executive Summary

In December 2013, a little-known viral hemorrhagic fever in West Africa was detected in a forest region of Guinea. It was soon confirmed to be Ebola Virus Disease, an illness previously seen primarily in Central Africa. Within months, Ebola would become a global outbreak. To contain the disease, national and international actors needed access to timely, accurate, and precise data. Yet as the disease spread across Guinea and into the neighboring countries of Liberia and Sierra Leone, critical outbreak data often were missing, unclear, or contradictory. Unexplained peaks and valleys in Ebola case counts, for example, and dramatically differing forecasts of the disease’s potential spread, complicated the relief effort and raised important questions about why it was so difficult to track the disease’s spread.
 
This report details key findings from research focused on the collection, management, analysis, and use of paper-based and digital data and information comprising the Ebola outbreak response. It reveals common sources of the confusing data picture, particularly in the early days of the response and examines the use of digital technologies to support data and information flows, considering both common barriers and insights from what worked. Building upon a qualitative research approach, including interviews with over 130 individuals with those engaged in the response, including representatives from NGOs, UN agencies, donor and national governments, and the technology and private sector between November 2014 and February 2016, the research addresses the following questions:

• What contributed to the “fog of information"[1] that characterized much of the early stages of the Ebola outbreak response?
• What can be learned from the use of data, information, and digital technologies during the Ebola outbreak response? How and where were they used effectively?
• What should be done to improve the use of data, information, and digital technologies in emergency contexts, to support long-term recovery, and to build resilience against future shocks? 

Recalling the context in which the outbreak flourished and revisiting predictions of Ebola’s spread sets the scene for analyzing the Ebola outbreak and response: three countries with porous borders, interconnected populations, and fragile health systems and infrastructure following years of civil conflict and war. In this context, Ebola quickly spread out of control, catching national and international actors unprepared, with regard both to the rapid rise in prominence of a rarely encountered viral hemorrhagic fever, and to the degree of coordination of actors, systems, and data that a hybrid public health and humanitarian emergency of this scale would entail.

A number of critical factors contributed to an unclear and asynchronous picture of the disease’s spread--the “fog of information” that characterized the effective collection and use of data in the early days. These included: weak infrastructure, such as gaps in reliable electricity and/or digital connectivity; an absence of baseline data, including commonly used unique citizen identifiers and comprehensive and accessible geographic maps; and the predominance of non-machine-readable data, including the collection of many kinds of disease outbreak and response data on paper, and the publication of summary reports in non-machine-readable format, slowing and narrowing the use of these data. Coordination challenges surfaced in responding to a hybrid health and humanitarian emergency, the impact of non-aligned data standards, and a lack of interoperability between the numerous data systems used to manage data prior to and during the response also contributed to the unclear and asynchronous data picture. Finally, the outbreak underscores the importance of the cultural context and trusted affinity groups in delivering behavior change and other messaging, regardless of delivery channels.
 
Data about Ebola cases were structured, collected, and used in many complex forms, and frequently involved the time-consuming task of being transferred from paper to digital format. An array of data sets supported the response, including Ebola case data, the definition, use, and management of which informed the Ebola response. Case data about individual patients, as well as caseload data composed of aggregated individual case data, were central to understanding the disease’s trajectory and to formulating corresponding aspects of the operational response. Tensions arose regarding the collection and use of data, such as by health professionals treating patients on the one hand, and humanitarian responders tracking and responding to the effects the disease’s spread on the other. Case data, once digitized, were more easily managed and used; however, the proliferation of data platforms negatively impacted on the response.

Nine case studies demonstrate the flow of Ebola response data and information via digital channels and the contributions and challenges of their use. Although digitized data and information flows did not constitute the norm, they did contribute meaningfully to the Ebola outbreak response in specific instances. When used effectively, they introduced both quantitative and qualitative differences in data and information flows. The case studies illustrate the differences the integration of digital technologies enabled, such as increasing the diversity of information flows (e.g. “up” for data collection, as well as horizontally among peer groups, and back “down” through feedback loops) among a greater plurality of actors (e.g., frontline health workers, citizens, governments, and “remote” responders).
 
The value proposition for integrating digital technologies lies in enabling richer, more diverse, and more rapid data and information exchange, the benefits of which can accrue to health and humanitarian programs, particularly in crises. These include:

• increased** accountability**, **insights**, and **incentives**
• an ability to create **feedback loops** through the sharing of contextualized data and information back to the point of origin
• the ability to implement **adaptive management**, in which a programming is modified and, ideally, regularly adapted on the basis of real-time or near real-time data and information and
• the ability to make **better-informed decisions** at all levels 

The use of digital technologies will not, as this research demonstrates, automatically confer these benefits. Indeed, the report finds that the barriers that impede the effective flow of data and information in paper-based environments must also be considered in the integration and use of digital technologies for data and information exchange, and for use in decision-making.

While many of the recommendations in the report require significant investments in human capacity and institutional policies and procedures to reap the benefits of data and digital technologies, certain "quick wins" can be rapidly deployed in the next emergency to support responders and affected communities. These include adopting machine-readable forms, deploying pre-negotiated short codes, ensuring on and offline-sync capacity for digital technologies, instituting GIS-enabled systems, and providing wifi and satellite-based mobile and broadband connectivity to health facilities and other key institutions. 

To unlock the full value of digital technologies, increased attention to and investments in the human, institutional, and policy and regulatory enabling ecosystems are required. Specific recommendations include:

• Invest in physical infrastructure that extends digital connectivity in order to increase resilience in the context of health, humanitarian, and other crises.
• Conduct baseline, country-wide ICT assessments to gauge the reach, quality, and citizen access to mobile and broadband connectivity, and publish findings on shared repositories using machine-readable formats. This allows the prioritization of investments to extend the physical infrastructure that enables digital connectivity.
• In an emergency, develop and implement emergency protocols for rapid updates to baseline country-wide ICT assessments that gauge the reach, quality, and citizen access to mobile and broadband connectivity and catalogue the effects of an emergency on baseline connectivity infrastructure and access. Doing so enables an understanding of the extent to which mobile and broadband technologies can support the response by rapidly filling critical connectivity gaps.
• Build staff capacity and data literacy as well as institutional capacity to leverage digital systems and real-time data in support of operations, programs, and decision-making. Effectively using data and digital technologies require more, not fewer, staff to coordinate and manage collection of information across multiple partners, to support use and adaptation of digital platforms, and - most importantly - to analyze the data in order to inform decision-making. 
• Negotiate preparedness protocols with key actors (governments, mobile network operators, and regulatory bodies) to increase telecommunications network access in emergency situations. This will facilitate rapid collaboration with key actors and support the deployment of ICTs during an emergency response.
• Support the development of digital health strategies connected to interoperable emergency preparedness protocols. Where appropriate, linking emergency health data systems with national routine health data systems, such as disease surveillance, will  make standing up emergency systems during a crisis easier and faster, and help to improve data quality.
• Advance the ethical and responsible use of data and digital technology. Good data practices include establishing protocols that protect individuals’ privacy and security, including for vulnerable populations.
• Agree upon and support the broad uptake of common data standards to enable effective sharing of data across sectors, systems, and silos.
• Build processes that work toward openness and interoperability. Reduce fragmentation and duplication related to data and ICT to maximize investments and to ensure maximum value of data.
• Encourage coordinated and sustained investments in interoperable data and data systems or platforms. Minimize duplication of efforts and funding and co-invest to achieve scale.
• Consider the use environment, including the digital infrastructure, sociocultural, and psychosocial context, in designing and deploying digital technologies. Ensure digital technologies are used in a manner that is relevant, appropriate, ethical, and efficient.
• Insert feedback loops in the full lifecycle of project conceptualization, from design and delivery to monitoring and evaluation. Increase the effectiveness of programming and improve humanitarian and development outcomes.
• Design programs to incorporate digitized data and information flows. Enable faster feedback and iteration, and expand the nodes of connection in order to increase the effectiveness of programming.

Implementing these recommendations will not be easy or quick. Taken together, however, they will help strengthen the effective use of data and information to support health and humanitarian programming--whether in emergencies like Ebola, in recovery, or to promote long-term resilience.

References

[1]

 "Fog of information” is a variation of the term “fog of war,” first attributed to the Prussian military strategist Carl von Clausewitz and more recently popularized in the documentary film of that title that explored the difficulties of decision-making in the midst of conflict, when full situational awareness is often absent. We use this term, which several interviewees used, to describe the lack of timely, accurate, and accessible data, which clouded situational awareness, impeded effective decision-making, and stymied the response.

By Obi Anyadike

Editor-at-Large and Africa Editor
NAIROBI, 20 January 2017

Africa, the world’s poorest continent, faces many security challenges. But its leaders are not slow to intervene in crises when they can, as Yahya Jammeh in the Gambia is now discovering.

Read more on IRIN.

DEVELOPMENTS

The total number of arrivals to Europe by the end of December 2016 has been recorded as 387,739. This is in stark contrast to the 1, 046,599 arrivals recorded in 2015. The decrease in numbers of arrivals can be observed across many of the countries which saw the highest numbers of arrivals in 2015. In Greece 2016 brought 176,906 arrivals compared to the 857,363 recorded in 2015, a 79% decrease, while Italy saw a slight (16%) rise in numbers of arri-vals, from 155,842 in 2015 to 181,436 in 2016.

Political factors had a significant impact on flows within the region in 2016. The EU-Turkey agreement from March 18 brought migration flows through the Eastern Mediterranean and the Western Balkan route to a relative standstill whereas arrivals to Italy increased significantly from April to May form 9,146 to 19,925, an increase of 118% . A similar increase was noted during the same period in 2015 when arrivals increased by 604%, from 2,283 in March to 16,063 in April. Aside from policy changes, this increase in arrivals in 2016 is likely to be related to improved weather conditions giving rise to more favorable traveling conditions. In Greece a significant drop in arrivals was noted after March, when 27,123 were recorded compared to 3,934 arrivals reported in April. This represent a dras-tic contrast (+77%) to the same period in 2015, 6,785 recorded in March and 12,029 recorded in April.

As for the Western Balkans route, arrivals to Hungary decreased by 95% due to the border regulations implement-ed on 5 July 2016. From January to July 17,550 new arrivals were recorded, between July and December only 1,118 were recorded, a decrease of 94%.

Looking at cumulative arrivals, the number of migrants from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan is decreased and the num-ber of African nationals, particularly Nigerians and Eritreans, increased. Following the implementation of the EU-Turkey agreement, at the end of May, migrants from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan made up 68.5% of arrivals, but by the end of December that number dropped to just 41%, with an increasing share of arrivals being occupied by Nige-rians (10%) and Eritreans (6%). Importantly, this breakdown varied by country of first arrival. While Greece received more migrants from Syria (45%), Afghanistan (23%) and Iraq (15%), Italy received a much greater variety of nation-alities, from Nigeria (20%), Eritrea (11%), the Gambia (6%) and other countries.

ABOUT

• MHub is undertaking field surveys with migrants, refugees and asylum seekers along key migratory routes to build up a body of data over time and to map country and regional level mixed migration trends.

• This snapshot presents early survey findings of the profiles, intentions and experiences of those moving in mixed migration flows who have recently arrived in Italy in the last year.

• Though these findings cannot be considered statistically representative of the migration population, they do provide key insights into the migration process.

KEY FINDINGS

Findings are based on 305 interviews conducted between 3 March and 22 November in Asti, Bologna, Castellammare del Golfo, Milan, Modena, Palermo, Rome, Trapani, and Turin.

INTENTIONS

• Beginning their journey, 34% of respondents intended their final destination to be in a Magreb country, 33% to reach a European country (14% to Italy in particular), 30% to Libya, 17% had no predetermined final destination, and 14% considered a sub Saharan African country their original intended destination. The remaining 2% planned on locations such as the USA or Israel.

• Respondents that began their journey in 2016 and arrived in Italy the same year were found to be more likely to have planned Europe as their destination than those respondents that began their journey and arrived in Italy the previous year.

INFORMATION

• More than half of respondents (53%) started their journey without having first obtaining information on the route and its related risks.

• 86% of respondents were surprised/shocked by what they encountered on their journey (in terms of conditions and risks). The number increased to 91% when only female respondents are considered.

• Had they known the actual risks of their journey/route beforehand, 56% of respondents would have made different choices on their journey. Of those, 43% would not have left their country of origin and 13% would have taken a different route.

JOURNEY

• 61% of respondents changed their intended destination en route after encountering unexpected risks and abuses.

• The longer the migration journey, the higher the likelihood that migration plans and intended destination will change.

• Responses show an increase in departures from Sabrata, Libya to Italy (5% in 2015 vs 20% in 2016). This is supported by media reports that indicate Sabrata and an important location for an emerging smuggling network. Currently no correlation is seen between cities of boat departure from Libya and specific nationalities.

• Eritrean respondents tend to have the longest journey averaging 28 months from departure to arrival in Italy. This journey may include stops in Ethiopia, Sudan, Egypt and Libya.

• Eritreans who stopped in Ethiopia en route, spent an average of 9 months there, in some cases staying in refugee camps while awaiting more money from home for onward travel. On average, Eritrean respondents spent more than half their average journey time in Sudan (16 months) where they stopped to work to save money or to wait for relatives to send money, both for the purpose to continue on their migration journey.

• Eritrean respondents tended to spend shorter timespans in Egypt— averaging a four month stopover period— while the average length of stay for Eritrean respondents in Libya was 6 months.

RISKS AND ABUSES

• Of respondents that reported being forced to cross the Mediterranean Sea against their will, those from Cote d’Ivoire were the highest at 66%, followed by those from Nigeria and Gambia at around 50%.

• 72% of female Nigerian respondents reported being forced to cross the Mediterranean Sea (some identified themselves or were identified as victims of sex trafficking). 42% came from Nigeria’s Edo State.

Author Eric Delaporte Professeur de maladies infectieuses, Inserm, université de Montpellier, Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD)

The 2013-2016 Ebola epidemic in West Africa caused thousands of deaths – precisely 11,310, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). But what happened to those who were infected, but survived?

Over a four-year period the Ebola virus, which causes bleeding and vital organ failure, struck in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, and less severely in Mali, Nigeria and Senegal.

In addition to those who died, the disease also infected more than 17,000 people who survived and were declared cured, at least officially. In the history of this newly emerging disease, this number of survivors is unprecedented in its scale.

The virus after the ‘cure’

The Ebola virus was first identified in 1976, but scientists still have a lot to learn about the disease.

What happens to someone who has recovered from infection? What are the subsequent health impacts? Are they temporary or permanent? Is the virus definitively eliminated from the body, as in the flu, or may it reactivate one day, as with herpes? We are only now beginning to understand the answers to these and other questions.

Our research team conducted an intervention study with a large number of Ebola survivors: 802 out of the 1,270 identified in Guinea. We found that seven survivors in ten are affected by what we call “post-Ebola syndrome”, a higher proportion than initially assumed.

The condition is characterised by several symptoms that can come and go, including severe fatigue, muscle and joint pain, head or stomach aches, neurosensory disorders such as dizziness or a loss in hearing, and an eye inflammation called uveitis (it affects the part of the eye called the uvea). These symptoms tend to decrease over time, suggesting that the majority of damage caused by the Ebola virus could be reversible.

Through this cohort, doctors will know how long survivors of an Ebola epidemic need to be followed for, and the standards of care they require.

A package of rice, but no medical follow-up

The project began with my arrival at the height of the epidemic, in September 2014, as a doctor and head of a research unit. I intervened at the request of the French Ebola taskforce. In the treatment centres, survivors were declared cured on a purely biological basis, after they had provided two negative blood tests for the virus.

Patients were then released with a “compassionate” kit, which consisted of a small sum of money and a package of rice. No medical follow-up was proposed.

On my return to Montpellier, France, I set up a team of French and Guinean researchers, including Mamadou Saliou Sow, a specialist in infectious diseases; the pharmacist and biostatistician Abdoulaye Touré; and the physician and biologist Alpha Kabinet Keita.

All are continuing the research project, working on the ground in Guinea. Until June 2018 at least, they are working with Ebola survivors to help manage the complications related to the disease.

Many symptoms, some severe

The good news at this point is that few post-Ebola syndromes take a severe form. We found only two cases of renal failure, one of which resulted in death. Eight people went blind as a result of inflammatory cataracts.

Doctors remain hesitant to operate on patients’ cataracts because it isn’t known how to eliminate the virus from the eye. There are also concerns that cataracts could recur in the absence of an antiviral therapy. Deafness occurred in one patient, a child, who was able to return to the school after being equipped with a hearing aid.

But scars left behind by Ebola are not only physical: 17% of the survivors studied suffer from depression. Given that they came close to death, and that many lost relatives, it’s almost certainly post-traumatic syndrome, which requires dedicated care. One person committed suicide after surviving the disease.

To survive Ebola is also to confront the unfounded fear that former patients could pose a risk to those around them. In our study, 26% of survivors complain of feeling stigmatised. Anthropologists Desclaux Alice and Bernard Taverne worked with the same cohort of patients and found that some had lost their jobs, and a number of women were rejected by their husbands after returning home.

When Ebola returns

One crucial question is the risk of survivors falling ill again. This has already happened in Scotland and the US, with cases detected thanks to the more advanced health-care systems of industrialised countries. It is likely that similar cases have occurred in West Africa but were missed.

In 2014 a Scottish nurse developed the disease on her return from in Sierra Leone. Initially declared cured, nine months later she became ill with a meningitis resulting from persistence of the Ebola virus in her brain. After treatment with an experimental antiviral drug, she was again declared “cured”.

The same year, an American physician was repatriated from the same country. After being declared “cured” he again exhibited declared symptoms, in particular an eye infection – the color of his irises had even changed from the blue to green.

Can the Ebola virus hide in “reservoirs” in the human body? Certain parts of the body, including the eye, the brain and the central nervous system, joint cartiledge and the testicles are called “immunologically privileged”. They behave like fortresses that protect themselves from infection with a strong immune response. Their ramparts are difficult to cross for a disease, but once a virus manages to penetrate their defences, it can be difficult to dislodge.

In particular, sperm remains contaminated for up to 18 months after the acute phase of the disease. After this period, the virus disappears definitively and with it, any risk of transmission to a sexual partner..

For other parts of the body, the question of whether a virus might be able to reactivate later remains unanswered

Staying with survivors

The WHO announced in December 2016 that an effective vaccine against Ebola had been developed, and with that, the men, women and children who survived the 2013-2016 epidemic began to fade from memory.

In the affected countries, most NGOs and aid organisations have shut down. Those that remain are often far removed from the daily lives of those who were affected. Public health systems in the areas hit by the disease are not in a position to take over.

But following survivors is vital to understanding how this terrible diseases affects people’s health and communities, and help deal with any future outbreaks.

https://theconversation.com/ebolas-forgotten-victims-what-we-can-learn-from-them-and-what-we-can-do-71529?

By Moustapha Diallo, IFRC

Hasinatu Camara’s baby boy is crying incessantly. He is certainly hungry. Camara frantically rummages through her skilfully tied up pieces of luggage, to reach for her baby’s food.

Camara is one of the 95 refugees staying in a hall, at the premises of the Olympic swimming pool, in Dakar, Senegal.

Together with her husband, Hakim, and her son, she fled The Gambia due uncertainty and a potential military intervention, following the recent post-electoral political crisis—in the West African country.

With tension mounting in The Gambia, they left their home in Serekunda, in the South-West of Banjul, on 17 January 2017.

For Camara and her husband, it was not their first time to become refugees. Originally from Sierra Leone, they fled to The Gambia following a civil war in their native country.

But in unfortunate turn of fate, their second home has also been enveloped in a political crisis.

This precarious environment, and a traumatic sense of déjà-vu, made them decide to flee. “We originally came from Sierra Leone where we had already witnessed a civil war,” explains Hakim; “we did not want to experience such a situation again.”

Between 1991 and 2002 Sierra Leone experienced a civil war which left over 50,000 people dead.

During that period, at the age of 15, Hakim lost almost all his family members, including his mother, father, and two sisters. His wife Hasinatu was a little girl. She also lost her parents.

Hakim has worked very hard to rebuild his life in The Gambia where he sought refuge in 1999. Today, he has fled again leaving behind almost everything.

“I did not want to take any risk. That is why I preferred to come to a safer place such as Dakar, which is far from the Gambian border,” says Hakim.

They arrived in Dakar without enough money. Hakim and his little family slept out in the open for three days—exposed to mosquitoes and cold temperatures at night—before being settled in the premises of the Olympic swimming pool of Dakar.

“It was very difficult as we were struggling to get food,” he admits.

Almost all the 95 refugees that were hosted in the premises of the Olympic swimming pool are originally from Sierra Leone. They share a common, if tragic, past. Their children are Gambians and most of the adults acquired Gambian citizenship after more than seventeen years living in their adoptive country.

Traumatised by what they had experienced back in Sierra Leone, today, they all hope for a peaceful transition of power in The Gambia.

Thanks to the officials of the Senegalese government and its partners, including the Red Cross, these refugees have been receiving assistance including accommodation, food, water, clothes and health care, among others.

In Karang, one of the main Senegalese towns bordering The Gambia, which hosted thousands of refugees, the Senegalese Red Cross mobilised its volunteers, provided food and relief items to the most vulnerables. Red Cross volunteers also handled the registration of fleeing people and assisted elderly and sick people in getting to the health facilities.

According to UNHCR, about 45,000 people fled to Senegal. As the situation slowly returns to normal, some of these displaced people have started to return to The Gambia. Most of them will need support to get back on their feet. And, hopefully, Camara, Hakim and their son, can now continue to rebuild their lives in The Gambia, their new home.

25 January 2017 – Strengthening the United Nation’s partnerships with the African Union, empowering women and youth, and greater cooperation with the World Bank will be among the key priorities this year for the UN Peacebuilding Commission, its new chair today said.

Outlining the intergovernmental advisory board’s objectives, Cho Tae-yul, the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Korea to the UN, told journalists in New York that he is “very much encouraged” by the enthusiasm among Member States for great international cooperation which “bodes very well for the Peacebuilding Commission.”

He detailed a number of priorities, including building on progress achieved in strengthening partnerships with regional and sub-regional groups.

“They are better poised to understand the root causes,” Mr. Cho said, adding that he is personally in support of stronger regional cooperation, particularly in Africa, where all six of the countries currently on the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) agenda are located. Those countries are: Burundi; Sierra Leone; Guinea; Guinea-Bissau; Liberia; and Central African Republic.

In addition to country-specific work, the Commission also works thematically, on issues such as institution building, and enhancing the participation of women and youth.

The PBC will also this year continue to work on becoming a “more transparent, accountable and flexible body” through the use of new working methods. A number of new improvements were introduced just this morning, Mr. Cho said.

Created in 2005, the PBC supports a country through all stages of a conflict, including post-conflict recovery and socio-economic development. It sits between the UN Security Council, whose 15 members are primarily tasked with maintaining peace and security in the world; the General Assembly, whose membership includes all 193 Member States; and the Economic and Social Council, or ECOSOC, which works with the 14 specialized UN agencies.

It works closely with regional bodies such as the African Union, European Union and the Organization of the Islamic Conference, and representatives from the countries who are the top financial and troop contributors to the UN, as well as from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

Increased financial support for the Peacebuilding Fund, which has allocated $623 million since its creation at the end of 2015, is also a key priority for the year. Mr. Cho said that he has “started preliminary dialogue” with the World Bank to see how to secure the targeted annual figure of $100 million.

He is also working to “enhance the Fund through strategic partnerships” with the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and other partners.

The UN News Centre highlighted the work of the PBC and the Peacebuilding Fund in a feature series this past August. Travel with us to Mali to see how the Fund is helping communities come back together after war.

Date of launch: 20 January, 2017

Number of people affected: 50,000

Number of people to be assisted: 10,000 people (with NFI distribution to 1,150 families/5,750 people, hygiene promotion to 3,600 families/10,000 people in addition to those reached through the health facilities and distribution of awareness materials)

SITUATION ANALYSIS

Description of the disaster

The Gambia is a country of more than 300 km inside Senegalese territory. It shares a common border with seven regions of Senegal, which are: Kaolack, Fatick, Tambacounda, Kaffrine, Kolda, Sédhiou and Ziguinchor. Since the presidential elections in December 2016, the political situation in The Gambia remains a concern because of the outgoing President's challenge to the results. Despite the efforts of the international community for a peaceful resolution, the situation remains tense causing massive displacement of populations for several days now to Senegal.

According to UNHCR, more than 45,000 people have reportedly crossed the Senegalese borders. These displaced persons are made up of Gambians, Senegalese, Sierra Leoneans, Mauritanians, Guineans, Malians and Ivoirians.1 To date, information collected by the various local committees of the Senegalese Red Cross (SRC) in areas bordering The Gambia have reported more than 27,563 displaced persons, including 1,851 children under five, 347 pregnant women, and 602 elderly persons.

Even though the first arrivals have been absorbed by host populations, during the last few days, massive inflow of displaced persons that exceed local communities’ capacities has been noted. The increasing number of arrivals is putting high pressure on host communities that can no longer face the urgent needs of accommodation, food, water and latrines. Food stocks are running low in host communities that were already vulnerable. There are very few partners in the area responding to the increasing needs of displaced persons and host communities. Some displaced persons have settled in the capital city Dakar and do not have any support so far.

26 January 2017

South Africa ranks highest in the first Hunger and Nutrition Commitment Index– Africa (HANCI-Africa) launched today. Produced by the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) with African Union’s New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD).

HANCI-Africa aims to hold African leaders to account on the issue and reveals the nations taking the strongest action, as well as those that have the biggest improvements to make. With 220 million Africans still estimated to be suffering from chronic hunger and 58 million children under five stunted by undernutrition, tackling hunger and undernutrition needs to be a priority.

The findings from the new Hunger and Nutrition Commitment Index - Africa (HANCI-Africa) discussed at an event today in South Africa show that African governments vary widely in their commitment to tackling hunger and undernutrition, with the rankings revealed.

How does HANCI-Africa rank other countries?

Malawi closely follows South Africa in HANCI-Africa in second place. They both provide strong constitutional protections to the right to food and provide good social safety and have made significant investments in health services. South Africa also provides sound social safety nets. However, the index shows that both countries have inadequate sanitation services. For instance, South Africa can go further by investing in agriculture and strengthening access to sanitation – these are currently lacking for a third of its South population. The government of South Africa’s investment in agriculture is also relatively low. The high commitment of the government of Malawi is critical for addressing the drought induced food crisis it is currently facing, caused by the El Nino weather phenomenon.

Sudan, Guinea-Bissau and Comoros are at the bottom of the HANCI-Africa rankings. The research shows that each are –amongst others- lacking in social safety nets, dedicated budgets for nutrition and constitutional rights to food.

Nigeria ranks 37th (out of 45), highlighting concerns that the commitment to addressing hunger and undernutrition needs shoring up in Africa’s most populated country and largest economy. While Nigeria has taken some important steps, such as introducing nutrition outcome targets with a clear time frame, it lacks investment in health and agriculture, and many Nigerians continue lacking safe drinking water and sanitation.

A larger focus on women’s empowerment

Women’s empowerment is known to be a key factor in successfully addressing hunger and undernutrition. Legal recognition and protection of women’s rights can provide an enabling framework. Yet, HANCI-Africa also shows much remains to be done in this area. Women in countries including Gambia, Ghana and Sierra Leone have no or few legal rights to own, use and control land on which to grow food, and are severely restricted by discriminatory practices.

Dolf te Lintelo, Research Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies, and lead researcher on HANCI-Africa, said: “Across countries in Africa, the research has also identified how much ground remains to be covered in supporting women’s rights. Women’s access to agricultural land or economic rights are still often on unequal terms, to advantage men, which can greatly affect women’s ability to access adequate nutrition for themselves and their children.”

Governments need to take a coordinated and consistent approach

HANCI-Africa shows that the countries at the lower end of the rankings are characterised by inconsistencies rather than poor performances addressing hunger and nutrition across the board. For example, Sudan has a strong level of public spending on agriculture and Guinea-Bissau achieves 98% vitamin A supplementation coverage, but neither country has social safety nets, ring-fenced budgets for nutrition or constitutional rights to food that can protect their people.

Over time, country leaders need a coordinated, consistent approach across a range of areas that drive hunger and undernutrition reduction, rather than focusing improvements in just a few areas, even though these may be important first steps.

Sophie Witter, Maria Paola Bertone, Yotamu Chirwa, Justine Namakula, Sovannarith So and Haja R. Wurie

Conflict and Health  2017  10:31 *DOI: 10.1186/s13031-016-0099-0*  *©  The Author(s). 2017*

Abstract

Background

Few studies look at policy making in the health sector in the aftermath of a conflict or crisis and even fewer specifically focus on Human Resources for Health, which is a critical domain for health sector performance. The main objective of the article is to shed light on the patterns and drivers of post-conflict policy-making. In particular, we explore whether the post -conflict period offers increased chances for the opening of ‘windows for opportunity’ for change and reform and the potential to reset health systems.

Methods

This article uses a comparative policy analysis framework. It is based on qualitative data, collected using three main tools - stakeholder mapping, key informant interviews and document reviews - in Uganda, Sierra Leone, Cambodia and Zimbabwe.

Results

We found that HRH challenges were widely shared across the four cases in the post-conflict period but that the policy trajectories were different – driven by the nature of the conflicts but also the wider context. Our findings suggest that there is no formula for whether or when a ‘window of opportunity’ will arise which allows health systems to be reset. Problems are well understood in all four cases but core issues – such as adequate pay, effective distribution and HRH management – are to a greater or lesser degree unresolved. These problems are not confined to post-conflict settings, but underlying challenges to addressing them – including fiscal space, political consensus, willingness to pursue public objectives over private, and personal and institutional capacity to manage technical solutions – are liable to be even more acute in these settings. The role of the MoH emerged as weaker than expected, while the shift from donor dependence was clearly not linear and can take a considerable time.

Conclusions

Windows of opportunity for change and reform can occur but are by no means guaranteed by a crisis – rather they depend on a constellation of leadership, financing, and capacity. Recognition of urgency is certainly a facilitator but not sufficient alone. Post-conflict environments face particularly severe challenges to evidence-based policy making and policy implementation, which also constrain their ability to effectively use the windows which are presented.

An estimated 1 million women live with obstetric fistula, a devastating consequence of prolonged obstructed labor, and thousands of new case develop each year. Life-restoring treatment for women with fistula is available at the health facilities on this map

Three years on from the start of the West African Ebola epidemic, lessons are still being learned. And the most surprising are not coming from the scientists, but from the affected communities themselves; about how, with hardly any help, they tackled the virus and won.

Read the full report on IRIN.

Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
27 Jan 2017

An international team of researchers representing the Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice), the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and Wageningen University, has raised the alarm over the enormous economic impact of parasitic weeds on rice production in Africa, threatening the food security and livelihoods of millions of resource-poor rice farmers and consumers in the region.

Smallholder farmers in the continent are losing every year half a million tons of rice worth about US $200 million because of parasitic weeds. This is roughly equivalent to the annual rice consumption of Liberia, a low-income country, which is highly dependent on rice imports. If the rice lost due to the parasitic weeds had been saved, it would have been enough to feed the total population of Liberia (4.5 million people) for a whole year.

Parasitic weeds are among the most destructive and problematic weeds to control. “When these plants invade food crops, they turn into ferocious weeds,” said Dr Jonne Rodenburg, Agronomist at AfricaRice. The most important parasitic weed species in rice are Striga asiatica, S. aspera, S. hermonthica and Rhamphicarpa fistulosa. They are all endemic to Africa and can also parasitize other cereal crops like maize, sorghum and millet.

The team of researchers reveal that these parasitic weeds, which survive by siphoning off water and nutrients from host crops, have invaded 1.34 million hectares of rainfed rice in Africa, affecting an estimated 950,000 rural households. They are increasingly becoming severe due to an intensification of agricultural production and climate changes.

The areas affected by parasitic weeds are home to some of the world’s poorest farmers. Studies by AfricaRice and partners have shown that parasitic weeds seem to predominantly affect women farmers in Africa as they are often forced to grow rice on the most marginal and parasitic weed-infested plots.

Parasitic weeds threaten rice production in at least 28 countries in Africa that have rainfed rice systems. The most affected countries are Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Madagascar, Mali, Nigeria, Sierra Leone Tanzania and Uganda.

The researchers warn that these parasites are spreading fast in the rainfed rice area and if nothing is done to stop them in their tracks, the damage will increase by about US $30 million a year. These findings were revealed in a recent article by Rodenburg, Demont, Zwart and Bastiaans, entitled “Parasitic weed incidence and related economic losses in rice in Africa,” published in Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 235 (306-317). It is published as open access (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016788091630528X).

Rice is the second most important source of calories in Africa. It is also critical for smallholder incomes. Demand for rice is growing at a rate of more than 6% per year – faster than for any other food staple in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), because of changes in consumer preferences and urbanization. Rice production is increasing across SSA, but the continent still imports some 40% of its rice.

Until now, there has been little information on the regional spread and economic importance of parasitic weeds in rice in Africa. “We have presented in this article best-bet estimates on the distribution as well as the agronomic and economic impact of parasitic weeds in rice in Africa,” explained Dr Rodenburg. “In fact, this is the first multi-species, multi-country impact assessment of parasitic weeds in Africa.”

The article focuses on the four most important parasitic weeds in rice. Striga species – known under the common name “witchweed” – occur in at least 31 countries with rain-fed upland rice systems. Rhamphicarpa fistulosa – known under the common name “rice vampireweed” – threatens rice production in at least 28 countries with rainfed lowland rice systems.

Dr Sander Zwart, AfricaRice Remote sensing and Geographic information systems specialist, explained that for this study, a map of rainfed rice production areas, compiled from different databases, was overlapped with parasitic weed observation data retrieved from public herbaria to visualize regional distribution of these four important parasitic weeds.

From this overlap, probabilities of actual infestation were estimated. These estimates together with secondary data on parasite-inflicted crop losses and efficacy of weed control were combined into a stochastic impact assessment model.

The knowledge acquired on the distribution as well as the agronomic and economic impact of parasitic weeds in rice in Africa underlines the importance of finding effective measures to control these pests through research.

AfricaRice and its partners have been investigating and developing efficient parasitic weed management strategies that are affordable and feasible for resource-poor rice farmers. “A range of high-yielding, short-cycle, farmer-preferred rice varieties have been identified with resistance or tolerance to different species and ecotypes of Striga, as well as varieties with good defense against R. fistulosa,” said Dr Rodenburg.

He explained that such varieties can be combined with different agronomic measures, such as late sowing (against R. fistulosa) or early sowing (against Striga), and the use of organic soil fertility amendments. Growing a leguminous cover crop such as Stylosanthes guianensis and following a zero-tillage approach also contribute to effective control of Striga, as demonstrated by agronomic experiments conducted by AfricaRice and its partners.

To study institutional and socio-economic constraints underlying the challenge posed by the parasitic weeds, and to raise awareness and improve communication on efficient management strategies, AfricaRice and its partners have brought together stakeholders, including national research institutes, extension services, crop protection services and private sector representatives in workshops in East and West Africa.

At a time where there is a decline in public sector investments in agricultural research, efficient targeting of resources is becoming increasingly important. “The results of our studies emphasize the importance of targeted investments in further research, the development and dissemination of control technologies and capacity building of farmers, extension agents and other stakeholders, to reverse the observed trend of increasing parasitic weeds in rice,” stated Dr Rodenburg.

The Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) monitors trends in staple food prices in countries vulnerable to food insecurity. For each FEWS NET country and region, the Price Bulletin provides a set of charts showing monthly prices in the current marketing year in selected urban centers and allowing users to compare current trends with both five-year average prices, indicative of seasonal trends, and prices in the previous year.

West Africa can be divided into three agro-ecological zones or three different trade basins (West Basin, Central Basin and East Basin). Both important for understanding market behavior and dynamics.

The three major agro-ecological zones are the Sahelian, the Sudanese and the Coastal zones where production and consumption can be easily classified. (1) In the Sahelian zone, millet is the principal cereal cultivated and consumed particularly in rural areas and increasingly, when accessible, in urban areas. Exceptions include Cape Verde where maize and rice are most important, Mauritania where sorghum and maize are staples, and Senegal with rice. The principal substitutes in the Sahel are sorghum, rice, and cassava flour (Gari), the latter two in times of shortage. (2) In the Sudanese zone (southern Chad, central Nigeria, Benin, Ghana, Togo, Côte d'Ivoire, southern Burkina Faso, Mali, Senegal, Guinea Bissau, Serra Leone, Liberia) maize and sorghum constitute the principal cereals consumed by the majority of the population. They are followed by rice and tubers, particularly cassava and yam. (3) In the Coastal zone, with two rainy seasons, yam and maize constitute the most important food products. They are supplemented by cowpea, which is a significant source of protein.

The three trade basins are known as the West, Central, and East basins. In addition to the north to south movement of particular commodities, certain cereals flow horizontally. (1) The West basin refers to Mauritania, Senegal, western Mali, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Liberia, and The Gambia where rice is most heavily traded. (2) The Central basin consists of Côte d'Ivoire, central and eastern Mali, Burkina Faso, Ghana, and Togo where maize is commonly traded. (3) The East basin refers to Niger, Nigeria, Chad, and Benin where millet is traded most frequently. These three trade basins are shown on the map above.

GA/11887
2 FEBRUARY 2017

GENERAL ASSEMBLY PLENARY

SEVENTY-FIRST SESSION, 69TH MEETING (AM)

Texts on oceans conference, disaster risk reduction among other items passed

The General Assembly reaffirmed its strong commitment today to the Kimberley Process and its certification scheme, an international initiative launched by the United Nations in 2003 to break the link between rough diamond purchases and armed conflict.

Adopting a wide-ranging resolution without a vote, the Assembly stressed the need for the widest possible participation in the initiative — which worked to prevent “conflict diamonds” used by rebel movements to finance military activities from entering the mainstream rough diamond market. The text recognized how international efforts to that effect had been instrumental in settling armed struggles and consolidating peace in Angola, Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Furthermore, the Assembly welcomed the commitments by Belarus, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, India, Lesotho, Sierra Leone, Turkey and the United Republic of Tanzania, which Kimberley Process members had visited in 2016, to continuously open their certification systems to review and improvements. The Assembly called upon review process participants to continue to articulate and improve rules and procedures to further enhance the scheme’s effectiveness.

Introducing the text, the representative of the United Arab Emirates said that as Chair of the Kimberley Process in 2016, he had visited more than 20 countries, including both current and prospective members. He led a monitoring team to the Central African Republic that declared the sub-prefectures of Berberati, Boda, Carnot and Nola “compliant zones” — a decision welcomed by the draft. His Government’s proposal to set up a permanent secretariat for the Kimberley Process was also included in the draft, he said, as well as its call for stronger civil society participation as a key factor in achieving success.

The representative of Australia, Chair for 2017, said his Government would focus on strengthening implementation, including ways to enhance the security of certificates and rough diamond shipments, and it would conduct a comprehensive review to strengthen the scope, integrity and implementation of the Kimberley Process to ensure its continued relevance.

Angola’s representative said the Kimberley Process served as a model for combatting natural-resource-based conflict. “I strongly believe Angola would not have faced a painful three decades of civil war — one of the longest conflicts in the history of mankind, mainly fuelled by illicit rough diamonds — if such a powerful mechanism would have been implemented earlier,” he said. He stressed the importance of the Kimberley Process’ tripartite nature and called for bolstered collaboration with diamond industry associations, international organizations and enforcement agencies, as all benefitted from the open exchange of information.

Likewise, the speaker from Botswana, a founding Kimberley Process member State, remained committed to safeguarding its tripartite character, as the involvement of civil society was integral. “For us, diamonds are our source of life,” he said. They brought food to the table and helped invest in children’s education, create human capital, promote inclusive development and build infrastructure. The challenges facing some participants, particularly those whose sanctions had been lifted recently, must be addressed. “We cannot afford to expect countries without the institutional capacity to adhere to Kimberley Process standards without a robust established process of assisting them to do so,” he said.

By another text, the Assembly declared 12 December the International Day of Neutrality, inviting all Member States, United Nations system organizations and others to educate people about the Day through various events and proposing that the Secretary-General continue to cooperate closely with neutral States, with a view to implementing the principles of preventive diplomacy and utilizing them in mediation activities.

The Assembly adopted another resolution, welcoming the report of the open-ended intergovernmental expert working group on indicators and terminology related to disaster risk reduction, acknowledging the group’s conclusions and endorsing its recommendations in section IV and V. Chile’s representative, who introduced the draft, said implementation of the indicators would make it possible to effectively measure progress in achieving the seven global goals set out in the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.

Adopting a draft decision, the Assembly decided to accredit the Commission for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic and the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission and invite them to participate in the work of the United Nations Conference to Support the Implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development and its preparatory meeting.

Also today, the Assembly took note of the appointment of Guyana as a member of the Committee on Conferences effective immediately and ending on 31 December 2018, and it appointed Sukai Prom-Jackson (Gambia), Jean Wesley Cazeau (Haiti), Gopinathan Achamkulangare (India) and Nikolay Lozinskiy (Russian Federation) as members of the Joint Inspection Unit for a five-year term beginning 1 January 2018.

At the beginning of the meeting, the Assembly took note of a 25 January 2017 letter from the Secretary-General addressed to the Assembly President (document A/71/764). The document lists the 14 Member States currently in arrears in their respective financial contributions to the Organization, and the minimum payments each one would need to pay in order to remain below the gross amount assessed for 2015 and 2016 — the threshold required to maintain their right to vote in the Assembly in 2017, per Article 19 of the United Nations Charter.

The representatives of the European Union also spoke.

The General Assembly will reconvene in plenary at a time and date to be announced.

Introduction of Drafts

AKSOLTAN ATAEVA (Turkmenistan) introduced a draft resolution titled “International day of neutrality” (document A/71/L.56) noting the link between the preservation of peace and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Peace, justice and broadening economic opportunities were interrelated, and neutral States served a vital role as stabilizers in achieving sustainable peace.

By the text, the Assembly would decide to declare 12 December the International Day of Neutrality and invite all Member States, United Nations system organizations, international and regional organizations, and non-governmental organizations to mark the day through education and events aimed at enhancing public knowledge about it. The Assembly would also propose that the Secretary-General continue to cooperate closely with neutral States, with a view to implementing the principles of preventive diplomacy and utilizing them in mediation activities.

The draft was adopted without a vote.

Next, the Assembly took up a draft decision titled “Accreditation and participation of intergovernmental organizations in the United Nations Conference to Support the Implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development and its preparatory meeting” (document A/71/L.57). By its terms, the Assembly would decide to accredit the Commission for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic and the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission and invite them to participate as intergovernmental organizations in the work of the Conference.

The Assembly adopted the draft without a vote.

CRISTIÁN BARROS MELET (Chile), introducing a draft titled “Report of the open-ended intergovernmental expert working group on indicators and terminology related to disaster risk reduction” (document A/71/L.54), said the text resulted from extensive negotiations begun in March 2015. That was just the beginning; implementation of the indicators was the next step and they would make it possible to effectively measure progress in achieving the seven global goals set out in the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. He stressed his Government’s commitment to continue supporting efforts to reduce disaster risk and form strategies to implement the Sendai Framework.

By the terms of the text, the Assembly would acknowledge the conclusions of the work of the open-ended intergovernmental expert working group, welcome the group’s report by the same name as the draft (document A/71/644) and endorse the recommendations in section IV and V.

The draft was adopted without a vote.

AHMED BIN SULAYEM (United Arab Emirates) then introduced the text titled “The role of diamonds in fuelling conflict: breaking the link between the illicit transaction of rough diamonds and armed conflict as a contribution to prevention and settlement of conflicts” (document A/71/L.55) as well as a note verbale from his country’s Mission (document A/71/665) transmitting the Report of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme to the General Assembly for 2016. As Chair of the Kimberley Process in 2016, he had visited more than 20 countries, including both current and prospective Kimberley Process members, and he had met with officials that regulated the diamond trade. He had led a monitoring team to the Central African Republic. The draft resolution noted the progress in that country towards the resumption of diamond exports and welcomed the monitoring team’s decisions to declare the sub-prefectures of Berberati, Boda, Carnot and Nola “compliant zones”. It was important to help the Central African Republic meet its Kimberley Process requirements, he stressed.

During its tenure as Chair, the United Arab Emirates had proposed to set up a permanent secretariat for the Kimberley Process; that suggestion was included in the draft, he said. Also included in the text was his Government’s call for stronger civil society participation as it was key to the Kimberley Process’ success, as well as references to workshops it had initiated to develop a uniform methodology on the valuation of rough diamonds.

By the text’s terms, the Assembly would, among other things, reaffirm its strong, continued support for the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme and the Process as a whole, stressing that the widest possible participation was essential; recognize how international efforts to address conflict diamonds had been instrumental in settling conflicts and consolidating peace in Angola, Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia and Sierra Leone; and recognize those efforts’ importance in promoting economic development. The Assembly would welcome the commitments by Belarus, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, India, Lesotho, Sierra Leone, Turkey and the United Republic of Tanzania, which received visits in 2016, to continuously open their certification systems to reviews and improvements, and call upon review process participants to continue to articulate and improve rules and procedures to further enhance the scheme’s effectiveness.

Further, the Assembly would welcome the monitoring team’s decisions to declare the sub-prefectures of Berbati, Boda, Carnot and Nola “compliant zones”. It would encourage the Kimberley Process authorities of the Central African Republic to continue implementing both the administrative decisions and the recommendations in the monitoring team’s report on its field missions to those areas in March and August 2016 as well as ensure the traceability of rough diamonds from all the zones.

ADEBAYO BABAJIDE, of the European Union, said that during its Chairmanship of the Kimberley Process in 2018, it would seek to build on its experience of actively engaging in Kimberley Process committees and working groups and review visits in order to improve the process for the benefit of all those involved in the supply chain. That chain included from diamond miners and traders to consumers. He thanked countries that had invited review visits in 2017 and welcomed the significant progress in the Central African Republic and the readmission of Bolivia in the Kimberley Process as an important first step in ensuring compliance with minimum requirements.

Further, he welcomed recent steps by the Mano River Union countries in West Africa to implement the regional approach initiative set forth in Security Council resolution 2153 (2014), which lifted the embargo on rough diamond exports from Côte d’Ivoire, and the fact that the issue of valuation of rough diamonds, particularly the development of a uniform methodology, had been given high priority in the last 12 months.

GILLIAN BIRD (Australia) noted the important work of the Central African Republic monitoring team and supported continued collaboration by Mano River Union countries to address challenges in West Africa. As Chair of the Kimberley Process in 2017, her country was committed to working with all stakeholders to ensure its continued effectiveness. Australia would focus on strengthening implementation, including ways to enhance the security of certificates and rough diamond shipments, and it would conduct a comprehensive review to strengthen the scope, integrity and implementation of the process to ensure its continued relevance. Australia would continue the practice of holding special forums to canvass broad matters pertinent to the diamond trade, such as sustainability reporting, alluvial and artisanal diamond mining, synthetic diamonds and valuation. It would hold a special session to share lessons learned from cooperation between the country’s indigenous community and mining sector.

MARCIO SANDRO ALEIXO PEREIRA BURITY (Angola) said the Kimberley Process served as a model for combatting natural-resource-based conflict. “I strongly believe Angola would not have faced a painful three decades of civil war, one of the longest conflicts in the history of mankind, mainly fuelled by illicit rough diamonds, if such a powerful mechanism would have been implemented earlier,” he said. Angola firmly supported the Kimberley Process’ aims and its certification scheme, which demonstrated that Governments could achieve meaningful outcomes when they worked with the private sector and civil society. He stressed the importance of the Kimberley Process’ tripartite nature and called for bolstered collaboration with diamond industry associations, international organizations and enforcement agencies as all benefitted from the open exchange of information.

NKOLOI NKOLOI (Botswana), a founding Kimberley Process member, remained committed to safeguarding its tripartite character. Civil society participation in the Process must be respected and recognized as integral. “For us, diamonds are our source of life,” he said. They brought food to the table and helped invest in children’s education, create human capital, promote inclusive development and build infrastructure. That was why Botswana worked to redefine the story of diamonds as it related to human life, while placing a high premium on integrity and high ethical standards for sustainable development. He welcomed the report of the Kimberley Process’ fourteenth plenary session and noted with satisfaction the significant strides in regulating the rough diamond trade. The challenges facing some participants, particularly those whose sanctions had been lifted recently, must be addressed. “We cannot afford to expect countries without the institutional capacity to adhere to Kimberley Process standards without a robust established process of assisting them to do so,” he said.

The Assembly adopted the text without a vote.

For information media. Not an official record.

OVERVIEW

In 2016, between January and December, 362,376 people crossed the Mediterranean Sea, risking their lives to reach Europe. These new arrivals are in addition to more than one million refugees and migrants who made the journey across the Mediterranean Sea on unseaworthy boats in 2015.

In 2016, the number of those arriving decreased substantially after March. Of those reaching European shores so far this year, 53% came from the ten countries currently producing the most refugees globally.

All statistics presented below refer to January to December 2016, unless explicitly stated otherwise.

MAIN TRENDS

• In December 2016, 10,757 refugees and migrants arrived by crossing the Mediterranean. Among those, 1,665 people arrived in Greece, 8,428 people in Italy and 664 people arrived in Spain. Total arrivals in Greece, Italy and Spain in December decreased by 34% compared to the previous month (16,352), primarily due to the worsening weather conditions brought on by the onset of winter. Overall, arrivals also decreased by 91% compared to the same month in 2015 (118,687), largely due to the greater number of arrivals last year through the Eastern Mediterranean route.

• In 2016 overall, between January and December 2016, 362,376 people arrived by sea, including 173,450 in Greece, 181,436 in Italy and 7,490 in Spain. This constitutes a 64% decrease compared to the same period in 2015 (1,015,078).

• In December 2016, arrivals most commonly originated Nigeria, Côte d'Ivoire and Guinea.

• So far in 2016, the majority of arrivals are from the Syrian Arab Republic (23%), Afghanistan (12%), Nigeria (10%), Iraq (8%), Eritrea (6%), Guinea (4%), Côte d'Ivoire (4%), The Gambia (4%), Pakistan (3%) and Senegal (3%).