The Sentinel Human Rights Action :: Humanitarian Response :: Health :: Education :: Heritage Stewardship :: Sustainable Development __________________________________________________ Period ending 23 September 2017 This weekly digest is intended to aggregate and distill key content from a broad spectrum of practice domains and organization types including key agencies/IGOs, NGOs, governments, academic and research institutions, consortiums and collaborations, foundations, and commercial organizations. We also monitor a spectrum of peer-reviewed journals and general media channels. The Sentinel’s geographic scope is global/regional but selected country-level content is included. We recognize that this spectrum/scope yields an indicative and not an exhaustive product. The Sentinel is a service of the Center for Governance, Evidence, Ethics, Policy & Practice, a program of the GE2P2 Global Foundation, which is solely responsible for its content. 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Click here to donate and thank you in advance for your contribution. _____________________________________________ Contents [click on link below to move to associated content] :: Week in Review :: Key Agency/IGO/Governments Watch - Selected Updates from 30+ entities :: INGO/Consortia/Joint Initiatives Watch - Media Releases, Major Initiatives, Research :: Foundation/Major Donor Watch -Selected Updates :: Journal Watch - Key articles and abstracts from 100+ peer-reviewed journals :: Week in Review A highly selective capture of strategic developments, research, commentary, analysis and announcements spanning Human Rights Action, Humanitarian Response, Health, Education, Holistic Development, Heritage Stewardship, Sustainable Resilience. Achieving a balance across these broad themes is a challenge and we appreciate your observations and ideas in this regard. This is not intended to be a "news and events" digest. Navigation to Main Sections: :: Week in Review :: Key Agency/IGO/Governments Watch :: INGO/Consortia/Joint Initiatives Watch::: Foundation/Major Donor Watch :: Journal Watch :::::: :::::: Humanitarian Response :: United States/USAID USAID Administrator Mark Green on U.S. Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief On-The-Record Briefing September 21, 2017 New York City, New York [Excerpt] …As we help our neighbors in Mexico and the Caribbean, I want to make clear that America is and will remain the world’s leading humanitarian donor. Whether it’s responding to an earthquake, drought, or conflict, America is committed to standing shoulder to shoulder with people in their hour of need. It is who we are as Americans. While we respond to immediate crises, America is also providing lifesaving humanitarian assistance to those suffering as the result of famine, food insecurity, drought, and conflict, all of which is driving the greatest movement of people since World War II. In the face of this unprecedented need, we are continuing to show leadership. The United – today I am announcing more than $550 million in additional humanitarian assistance from the United States to the millions of people affected by food insecurity and violence in Yemen, South Sudan, Nigeria, and Somalia – the so-called “four famines.” This funding will provide lifesaving food and health care for vulnerable groups that have been affected by these crises. And this funding brings our total contribution of humanitarian assistance to over $2.4 billion for these four crises since the beginning of this fiscal year. And we’re also responding to ongoing conflicts in the Middle East. As ISIS’s brutal rule comes to an end, we continue to support Iraqis living in cities liberated from ISIS. As the single largest donor of humanitarian assistance to the Iraq crisis, the U.S. remains committed to supporting the Iraqi people. Yesterday, I announced nearly $264 million in additional humanitarian assistance for the people of Iraq. The U.S. Government has now provided nearly 1.7 billion in humanitarian assistance for the Iraq crisis since Fiscal Year 2014. As the President said earlier this week, America is wholeheartedly committed to humanitarian assistance. This week alone, the United States has announced almost $1 billion in additional humanitarian aid. But humanitarian assistance, we all know, alone will not solve these crises. We need long-term political solutions that address the drivers of conflict and insecurity. Those four famines or near-famines that I referred to – we have to remind ourselves they are entirely man- made. As global humanitarian needs grow, we’re also working to build resilience to stave off additional needs for humanitarian assistance and emergency assistance in the future. As some of you have heard me say before, I believe firmly that the reason for foreign assistance must be to end the need for its existence, and that means working to end the root causes of famine, conflict, and insecurity, and helping to build resilient communities and families and governments as well. At USAID, our teams around the clock work daily to promote human dignity and elevate the human condition. Our assistance is not a handout; it is a hand up, and over the long run we seek to help our partners by building in-country community capacity, to strengthen governance, and to mobilize domestic resources. Our message is clear: The United States stands ready to help those in need… Navigation to Main Sections: :: Week in Review :: Key Agency/IGO/Governments Watch :: INGO/Consortia/Joint Initiatives Watch::: Foundation/Major Donor Watch :: Journal Watch :::::: :::::: Global Financing Facility in Support of Every Woman Every Child Launches Replenishment to Save Lives of up to 38 Million Women, Children and Adolescents by 2030 PRESS RELEASE September 20, 2017 Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announces US$200 million pledge to the GFF to scale up life- saving services—the first of investors’ expected contributions to GFF Trust Fund in the replenishment UNITED NATIONS, NEW YORK – The Global Financing Facility (GFF) in support of Every Woman Every Child is launching its replenishment today on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly, with the goal of raising US$2 billion to expand the GFF to a total of 50 countries1 during the next five years. This financing has the potential to catalyze enough additional domestic and global resources to close the current estimated funding gap of US$33 billion per year to help save the lives of up to 38 million women, children and adolescents by 2030. “Women, children and adolescents are the linchpin of development. Their health and well-being are critical to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,” said António Guterres, the United Nations Secretary-General during the meeting of the High-level Steering Group for Every Woman Every Child in the margins of the UN General Assembly. “Whether they are in developed countries or refugee camps, women and young people have hopes, dreams and ambitions that transcend borders and rise above conflict. We have a duty and an opportunity to help them achieve their full potential.” At the GFF replenishment launch, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced a US$200 million pledge to the GFF Trust Fund2. “The world has made historic progress against global poverty and disease, but that progress is in jeopardy,” said Melinda Gates, Co-Chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “Investing in women and children’s health is critical to lifting the world’s poorest out of poverty, and the Global Financing Facility offers an innovative blueprint to make financing health more effective.”… Each dollar invested in the GFF Trust Fund is catalytic and links to several sources of funding— domestic government resources, financing from the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), aligned external financing, and private sector resources. Together, this funding will help countries to realize much greater health and economic gains by starting to close the US$33 billion gap with just US$2 billion in catalytic funding. “The changing global landscape demands that we change the way we work—and that starts with how we finance investments in people today, and in the future,” World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim said. “The smart, scaled, and sustainable financing that the Global Financing Facility brings to countries will help us make a real breakthrough on universal health coverage, ensuring that all women, children and adolescents can live healthy and productive lives.” To date, 11 projects supported by US$307 million in GFF Trust Fund grants linked to US$1.8 billion in IDA/IBRD financing have been approved by the World Bank Group. IDA recently announced its largest replenishment ever, generating US$75 billion that is available for national priorities in low-income countries during the next three years. Navigation to Main Sections: :: Week in Review :: Key Agency/IGO/Governments Watch :: INGO/Consortia/Joint Initiatives Watch::: Foundation/Major Donor Watch :: Journal Watch The World Bank Group and the United Nations launched the GFF at the Third International Conference on Financing