How the Myanmar regime is surviving
3/4/2024: Despite some major wins by insurgent groups, the junta remains strong due to its control of arms and air power. International sanctions on aviation fuel supplies to Myanmar appear to be ineffective to date.
Source: The Interpreter
UN Security Council holds rare disarmament debate
3/4/2024: A high-level UN Security Council meeting on nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation has underscored the urgency of addressing the growing threats posed by nuclear weapons. It also highlighted the chronic divisions among key states on disarmament and nonproliferation issues.
Source: Arms Control Association
Why is Saudi Arabia heading top UN women’s rights forum?
2/4/2024: Saudi Arabia has been chosen to chair the UN's leading gender equality forum, the Commission on the Status of Women. International rights organizations are concerned about the country's oppressive track record and the potential impact on women's rights globally.
Source: DW
Zambia’s fossil-fuel subsidy cuts help climate and kids – but taxi drivers suffer
2/4/2024: Under pressure from the IMF, the Zambian government has redirected subsidies into education, welfare and debt reduction, leaving fuel-heavy sectors with higher costs. The IMF argues that subsidies for oil and gas make climate change worse, while also being expensive, and skewed towards helping the rich more than the poor.
Source: Climate Home News
“I’m more optimistic than before regarding the goal of ending hunger in Latin America”
2/4/2024: There are about 43 million people suffering from hunger, and more than 130 million have difficulty putting food on the table, in Latin America and the Caribbean. The regional representative of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization is optimistic that the 2030 goal of ending hunger can be achieved as more countries in the region are rethinking their plans in a forceful and clear manner.
Source: Inter Press Service
Malawi shifts perspective on land reforms in a bid to retain investors
1/4/2024: Land laws introduced in 2022 were meant to solve challenges faced by thousands of landless subsistence farmers and make it impossible for foreigners to own land in Malawi. Now the government appears inclined to create a land policy that restores incentives for large farmers. Restructuring land laws has proven to be tricky for many African countries.
Source: Devex
ICJ orders Israel to take action to address famine in Gaza
28/3/2024: Judges at the International Court of Justice have unanimously ordered Israel to ensure that basic food supplies arrive without delay to the Palestinian population in Gaza. In its legally binding order, the Court observed that worsening conditions of life and famine and starvation are spreading.
Source: Al Jazeera
Ethiopia’s social safety net programme faces a funding gap
28/3/2024: Ethiopia’s flagship social protection programme has cut food and cash transfers to the country’s poorest households, due to rising prices and cutbacks from some international donors. The Productive Safety Net Programme (PSNP) was launched in 2005 as a resilience-building social safety net, now recognised as one of the most ambitious social protection programmes in Africa.
Source: The New Humanitarian
High risk, high reward: Gavi’s investment in Africa vaccine production
28/3/2024: Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance, is a global consortium that provides affordable vaccines to lower-income countries through pooled procurement. The organisation is months away from launching a new $1 billion financial instrument to boost Africa’s nascent vaccine manufacturing sector.
Source: Devex
Expectations mount as loss and damage fund staggers to its feet
25/3/2024: Progress on getting a new UN loss and damage fund up and running is slow. Its board faces an unenviable task: figuring out how to fairly divide very little money among too many people in desperate need of it, as climate impacts accelerate. The fund isn’t expected to hand out any money until 2025 at the earliest.
Source: Climate Home News