Ofid Quarterly
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THE OPEC FUND FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT OFID QUARTERLY BRIDGE BUILDERS Industry, infrastructure and innovation for future generations Refugees and host communities: Where next? Data innovation and Arab youth 2019/1 2019/1 CONTENTS COMMENT DEVELOPMENT NEWS 4-5 26-37 New... and not just about us 26-27 Listen and learn: OFID's new Beyond OFID: International Director-General development and sharing best practice 28-33 Data innovation and Arab youth 34 Cancer care and education in Jordan OFID Quarterly is published four times a SPECIAL FEATURE 35 Better water for Argentina’s rural year by the OPEC Fund for International provinces Development (OFID). 36 New development funding - for China, Benin and Niger; OFID is the development finance agency 6 19 Cameroon boosts energy established in January 1976 by the Member Infrastructure, industry States of OPEC (the Organization of the and innovation potential Petroleum Exporting Countries) to promote 6-7 Introduction 37 Birzeit University in Palestine: South-South cooperation by extending 8-9 Global overview A center of excellence against development assistance to non-OPEC 10-11 Industry: A driver of the odds; World Disasters developing countries. development Report OFID Quarterly is available free-of-charge. 12-14 Filling the financial gap If you wish to be included on the distribution 15-17 Open your mind: Innovation in list, please contact us via ofid.org. Back issues Arab states EVENTS of the magazine can be found on our website. 18-19 Big help for Africa’s smallholder farmers OFID Quarterly welcomes articles and - photos on development-related topics, but 38 43 cannot guarantee publication. Manuscripts, Refugees and host together with a brief biographical note on the OFID IN THE FIELD communities: Where next? author, may be submitted to the Editor for Report: Vienna development- consideration. displacement nexus roundtable event - addresses some of the world’s most The contents of this publication do not 20 25 necessarily reflect the official views of OFID 20-21 Guinea Bissau: complex and pressing challenges or its Member Countries. Any maps are for Boosting food security illustration purposes only and are not to be and biodiversity taken as accurate representations of borders. 22-23 Bosnia and Herzegovina: Editorial material may be freely reproduced, Pursuing development beyond providing the OFID Quarterly is credited frontiers as the source. A copy to the Editor would be appreciated. 24-25 Jordan: Life skills 2 PHOTO: ADP PHOTO: 28-33 SPOTLIGHT OPEC 44-47 58 A world of opportunity OPEC says oil industry must be part of 2018 One Young World summit – one solution to climate change of the largest youth platforms on our planet for addressing the world’s most Ruslana Iurchenko/Shutterstock.com PHOTO: 35 pressing challenges PUBLISHERS THE OPEC FUND FOR INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES DEVELOPMENT (OFID) Parkring 8, P.O. Box 995, A-1010 Vienna, Austria - Tel: (+43-1) 51564-0 48 49 Fax: (+43-1) 51392-38 Mixing it up www.ofid.org Low carbon energy and developing economies EXECUTIVE EDITOR Fernando J Garay Anton Ivanov/Shutterstock.com PHOTO: 20-21 EDITOR Steve Hughes DEPUTY EDITOR Anna Ilaria-Mayrhofer CONTRIBUTORS Damelys Delgado, OFID DIARY Fatma Elzahra Elshhati, Gabriel Hurtado Gonzalez, Sasaenia Paul Oluwabunmi, Justine Würtz 50-51 PHOTOGRAPHS Abdullah Alipour Jeddi, Carlos Opitz (unless otherwise credited) PRODUCTION Susanne Dillinger DESIGN Susanne Dillinger in association MEETINGS with More Tea Design PRINTED IN AUSTRIA Druckerei Odysseus 52-57 This publication is printed on paper produced from responsibly managed 52-53 Meetings attended forests. 54-55 OFID approves more than Cover illustration by Robin Turton @ More Tea Design for OFID US$328m of development finance 56-57 Photo gallery PHOTO: Fatoumatta Kassama Fatoumatta PHOTO: 44-47 3 COMMENT NEW ...and not just about us Welcome to the new OFID Quarterly magazine. “We have made the This magazine is not simply about OFID; it conscious decision may not even be mostly about OFID. Rather, to turn our focus it is about international development, or more outward to include what other actors broadly still, human development. Within the are doing in OFID Quarterly, we investigate what is being support of the done on the ground to achieve a better and United Nations more sustainable future for everyone. We aim Sustainable Development to consider the projects, ideas, operations and Goals” initiatives that address the global challenges we face. 4 Images ferrantraite/Getty PHOTO: 1 While we will continue to use the OFID Quarterly to showcase our work as a development finance institution, we have made the conscious decision to turn our focus outward to include what other actors are doing in support OFID works closely with organizations of the United Nations Sustainable such the World Bank, specialized Development Goals (SDGs), too. We agencies of the United Nations, believe this is the correct decision for regional development banks and the the following reasons: bilateral and multilateral agencies of OFID member countries. Shining a light on their successes benefits OFID too, and ultimately helps share best practices across the global development arena. This is in line with SDG 17, which calls on us all to This re-launch edition focuses on ‘revitalize the global partnership for SDG 9 and considers some of the 2 sustainable development’. stories surrounding the building of resilient infrastructure, promoting sustainable industrialization and The OFID Quarterly, like OFID itself, fostering innovation. Did you know, aims to help shape the development for example, that telecommunications agenda and move the conversation infrastructure has improved about SDGs, progress and prosperity dramatically in Africa, even though forward. To do this, the magazine 600 million Africans lack access to needs to offer highly relevant and electricity? Or that private investment unique content sourced not only in infrastructure in Latin America from OFID, but from around the is significantly higher than in other world. We believe this will appeal to developing regions, even though it a broader readership – not simply invests the least in infrastructure of development professionals, but of among developing regions? And who policy-makers and people working in knew there was an Uber-like app both the public and private sectors, of solution to tractor access in Africa economists and academics, of social that’s helping to cut farming costs by entrepreneurs and students. up to 40 percent? Or that behavioral sciences (a combination of psychology, economics and neuroscience that examines how people make decisions) is being used to help reduce gender- based violence in the Arab region? Please let us know your thoughts about this edition and your views on development in general via bit.ly/contactOFID 5 SPECIAL FEATURE A S INNOVATION: D 6 S INNOVATION: DRIVING FORCES FOR DEVELOPMENT The United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development calls for countries to build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation under Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 9. So how is the world doing? 7 INFRASTRUCTURE GLOBAL OVERVIEW Total infrastructure investment in Latin America and the Infrastructure, industry Caribbean (US$ billion): data from InfraLATAM 2008-2015 170 and innovation are key ingredients to 160 150 economic growth and sustainable development 140 130 120 and can help countries reduce poverty and 110 100 improve wellbeing and living standards. 90 80 According to the United Nations’ (UN) Statistics 70 60 Division, in recent years, steady improvements 50 40 30 have been made in these areas but renewed 20 10 investment is needed in the least developed 0 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 countries (LDCs) to build infrastructure and Brazil Mexico Colombia Argentina Peru Chile Rest of LATAM ensure the doubling of industry’s share of GDP in those countries by 2030. Latin America: infrastructure outlook Private investment in infrastructure in Latin Transport and wastewater remain challenges, America is significantly higher than in other but the region performs quite well in terms of developing regions. For example, in Asia, only electricity and water. The report notes that Latin about 10 percent of infrastructure is privately America’s clean, sophisticated electricity sector funded, compared with over 50 percent in Latin could become a serious competitive advantage. America. While this is a seemingly favorable The main message of the report, which is aptly comparison for Latin America, governments sub-titled Spending Better to Achieve More, is Latin America across the region have set clear intentions to that Latin America can dramatically narrow its and the Caribbean increase the level of private investment over the infrastructure service gap by spending efficiently coming years. Total infrastructure investment on the right things: “…the investment gap in the region is estimated at 2.8 percent of approach necessarily focuses attention on the 2.8% GDP, which significantly trails the investment question of raising more resources. But closing requirement of 5.2 percent by the UN. Estimates the service gap should not – and, indeed, cannot of the infrastructure financing gap in the region – be just about spending more. The service gap vary, but it is generally accepted that if the gap is can be narrowed, if not closed, in two other ways: to be closed, investment levels need to increase by ensuring that spending (particularly of scarce in