Environmental refugees

The UN Environment Program (UNEP) called for far greater action on climate change yesterday during events of World Environment Day, established by the UN General Assembly in 1972 to raise global awareness of the environment and boost political attention and action. This year's theme is Melting Ice: A Hot Topic? though all aspects of climate change have recently climbed to the top of UNDP's and other UN agencies agendas.

Achim Steiner, Executive Director of UNEP observed that climate change is “magnifying existing disparities between rich and poor” and “aggravating tensions over fragile or increasingly scarce natural resources” such as productive land and freshwater. “It increases the potential to create a new class of displaced people known collectively as environmental refugees,” Mr. Steiner warned.

Climate change is affecting the living conditions of those in the poorest countries of the world. By creating awareness and practical programs, UNEP has a chance to curb these negative side effects.

Helping Uzbekistan in every area of development

Central Asia, home to 56 million people in 5 countries, is the most landlocked region in the world, making it incredibly difficult to take advantage of its vast natural gas and oil reserves. Uzbekistan in particular suffers from this challenge.

In May, the UNDP held a "Strengthening partnerships for Human Development in Central Asia" conference in Kyrgyzstan. For the Uzbek government, the focus was on how to achieve the MDGs by 2015. UNDP projects in the country range from:

• public finance reform
• regional microfinance schemes
• civil society and gender empowerment
• water governance
• energy and environmental sustainability

This list is far from exhaustive, and Uzbek officials have expressed gratitude to the UNDP for its commitment to development in the region. See here for an interview with Fikret Akcura, UNDP Resident Representative of Uzbekistan.

St. Lucia launches mechanism to track MDG progress

St. Lucia has recently launched its own adaptation of DevInfo 5.0, a mechanism to monitor statistics and indicators relating to progress achieved on the Millennium Development Goals. The interagency cooperation necessary to develop HelenInfo has already had a positive impact on efficiency in the country. See here for press release.

Respecting local traditions in Mt. Kenya

Global climate changes have led to the loss of Mt. Kenya’s glacial hat, which along with deforestation threatens a crucial source of water for millions of Kenyans. The UNDP-Compact project has brought together NGOs, community grouping and private companies to deal with this mounting problem.

The UN, government corporations and NGOs have been quick to exploit the mountain's immense spiritual significance to millions of the residents living around it. Some of the NGOs have joined hands with the National Museums of Kenya to initiate schemes that now "remind" relevant communities of the need to preserve and conserve sacred sites. They are now tapping into ancient, but evidently forgotten, taboos and myths to help secure the mountain's ecosystem from total ruin.

Poverty is driving the destruction of the forests surrounding Mt. Kenya. Many locals steal firewood, timber and kill animals for food in order to survive. Consequently, the spiritual significance of this UNESCO world heritage site has been forgotten.

Whether helping trout farmers continue their business, aiding women’s groups to cultivate nurseries in the Mt. Kenya forest or generating electricity from River Tungo-Kabiri, the UNDP-Compact will work with local communities to preserve this entire area and its vital contribution to Kenyan society.

Project assessment in Saudi Arabia

The UNDP’s Office of Evaluation periodically conducts regional tours in order to assess the need for new country programs, as well as ensure the effectiveness of current ones.

A UNDP team has recently returned from Riyadh with the goal of initiating a five-year plan in the Kingdom. Input from the ministries of economy, planning and foreign affairs, UN project coordinators, heads of NGOs and media staff was used to assess the impact of the current programs.

“There are several programs coming up in the context of new country programs under the UNDP five-year plan,” said leader of the delegation George Zaidan, international consultant for the UNDP. He added that these projects are being negotiated with the respective countries for implementation.

UNDP supports ex-combatants in the DRC

Soldiers returning from combat find it incredibly difficult to reintegrate themselves into a community they have been absent from for several years. This scenario is often played out in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as ex-combatants return to their homes from a decade-long, devastating civil war.

Today, the UNDP launched a pilot DDR (Disarmament, Demobilization and Reinsertion) project to support more than 3,000 ex-combatants from three armed groups in the Ituri district of the DRC. $3 million, including a contribution from the US, has been pledged by the UNDP to implement this initiative, due to begin in a few weeks.

From previous experience, UNDP reckons that more than two thirds of the combatants will chose the option of returning to civilian life. With this option, the participants will receive a once off payment for transport and reintegration of $110. They will then be assigned to high intensity manual labour (HIMO) projects in the district, principally road rehabilitation, for a period of three months.

With renewed opportunities for reintegration into civilian life, many ex-combatants will hopefully find their way back into Congolese society, contributing to the long-term peace and stability of the DRC.

A Formula for Sucess: The Dominican Republic's plan for 2015

"To achieve one MDG we have to achieve all MDGs."

This assessment by a Dominican Government official could not be more accurate. President Leonel Fernandez's Presidential Commission on the Millenium Development Goals (COPDES) has crafted a national, integrated plan to achieve the MDGs by their set date in 2015.

The Dominican Republic is an extremely poor nation suffering from a number of problems, such as disease (mostly malaria and dengue carried by mosquitoes), lack of education, energy crises, migration from Haiti and one of the highest maternal fatality rates in the world, to name only a few.

The President created working groups to partner with various municipalities and achieve local results, providing an example of how countries, with the assistance of the UNDP, can really make the MDGs their own. So far, progress has been noticeable, particularly in the impoverished village of Miches.

The excellent videos below detail the successes of COPDES, as well as the remaining challenges.

Americans support spending increases to meet MDGs

See here for an article that discusses American support for funding the Millennium Development Goals.

In addition, another World Public Opinion poll demonstrates that most people support a greater role for the UN in international affairs, such as establishing a permanent peacekeeping force, regulating arms trade and investigating human rights violations.

Secretary General Ban Ki-moon cited this poll in his pledge to translate global policies into palpable human assistance.

UNDP brings On-line training to Grenada

In an increasingly technologically savvy world, those with no Internet experience are inevitably left behind. In light of this, 100 citizens of the small Caribbean island of Grenada are scheduled to participate in an eight-week UNDP program of on-line training on June 6th, facilitated by the Virtual Development Academy world campus initiative with the launch of the Harvard/CBI.

The on-line training is geared to equip public and private officials who engage in negotiations with the skills and knowledge to achieve their professional objectives. These include development and implementation of projects and programs in partnership with international and governmental stakeholders and participation in regional and global processes and forums dealing with relevant issues.

Yet another example of how small initiatives can create large impact.

Changing lives in Tanzania, one pump at a time

Something as simple as quick access to clean water can transform the future of a community.

The 4,000 inhabitants of Lusala, a village in south-west Tanzania, depend on farming for their livelihood, yet the lack of immediate access to water inhibits the community’s growth.

As part of the Community Water Initiative, the UNDP spent $40,000 on a water project in Lusala which enabled local villagers to set up an easy-access water supply mechanism. The water scheme relies mainly on gravity, and is therefore a very inexpensive measure that has life-changing benefits.

One villager is grateful for the changes:

Life is much better now that I have clean water near my house. I don't walk all day in the heat to find water. In three to five minutes you fill your bucket by turning a tap. The water project has saved every woman in Lusala a lot of hardship and time. My children, and even myself, used to fall sick because of dirty water. Now we don't run to the hospital complaining of diarrhea any more. With clean water, we enjoy good health.

This community-led initiative demonstrates the impact that targeted programs can have, and is a great example of how seemingly small projects can achieve direct impact on human life. One step closer to achieving the Millennium Development Goals in Tanzania.

Interview with UNDP Congo

allAfrica has a nice interview with the country director of DRC, Babacar Cisse. UNDP continues to focus on helping the Congolese build the institutions of democracy at the national and local level. But in the long run, UNDP realizes they also need to help create jobs and promote economic development.

Expanding Justice

Any small business can tell you the importance of contracts. For a local book store , they offer assurances that you cannot just be thrown out leased space with no reason or warning. For a printer, they ensure that when someone orders a job they will pay for it when they pick it up. And for a little restaurant, contracts give you peace of mind that your supplies will show up every day - and recourse if someone doesn't deliver without a reason.

Unfortunately, about three billion people live and work in the "informal sector".

While most of the world’s poor possess assets of some kind, they lack a formal way to document these possessions through legally recognized tools such as deeds, contracts and permits. These individuals live
and work in the “informal economy,” outside a set of widely-recognized and enforceable rules.

The Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor, co-chaired by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, and the President of Institute for Liberty and Democracy, Hernando de Soto, is working with governments and ngos to figure out the greatest legal challenges that hinder people's ability to lift themselves out of poverty. Because identifying a problem is only the first step, they are also developing "road maps" to enable governments to implement the reforms necessary improve their justice systems.

With that mouthful out of the way, I highly recommend the stories they have compiled and this video below, which illustrate the challenges many of the worlds poorest face every day, and how the Commission can hopefully make an impact.

Rebuilding Southern Sudan

The UNDP and World Bank issued a joint grant of $5.3 million on May 22 to support the efforts of the police force and reorganize the prison system in Southern Sudan.

Under the agreement, the UNDP will construct a network of police stations and training centers, provide equipment, train police forces, and facilitate the development of a code of ethics to enhance professionalism in the force. As for the prisons, the UNDP will improve the infrastructure, provide equipment and facilitate reorganization and training to ensure more humane treatment of prisoners.

The substantial progress made by Southern Sudan since the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in January 2005 is largely forgotten amidst the crisis in Darfur, despite positive reconstruction measures undertaken by the UNDP. A more ample view of the situation in Sudan will be necessary if a holistic approach to rebuilding the country is to be adopted in the future.

For more detailed information see the UN Mission in Sudan News Bulletin.

Equator Prize Winners

This year's Equator Prize was announced yesterday.

Five community groups from the tropical regions of Africa, Asia and Latin America won the United Nations-backed Equator Prize today for their initiatives to alleviate poverty while conserving local biodiversity.

The winners include marine and grassland conservation projects in Africa, a farmers education organization in Bangladesh, and two agricultural cooperatives that have improved environmental sustainability while creating jobs for over 700 women in Latin America. For more specifics you can read about the different projects here.