Land degradation and climate change in Africa

Land degradation at the current pace is projected to render more than half of the cultivated land in Africa unusable by 2050. Human drivers of land degradation include demographic growth, grazing pressures, agricultural practices, agricultural expansion, forest clearing and fuel wood harvesting. This briefing paper provides an overview of the interactions between land degradation, human activity and climate change in Africa, with suggestions for policy responses. One of the principal signs of land degradation is the loss of soil organic carbon; land degradation interacting with climate change is an urgent challenge

Desertification and climate change in Africa

Without implementation of adequate measures, climate change will exacerbate the vulnerability to desertification among dryland populations in Africa. Desertification has led to reduction in agricultural productivity and incomes; it has also contributed to the loss of biodiversity in many dryland regions. This briefing paper provides a synopsis of the impacts of desertification in Africa. Integrated intervention options and policy responses are suggested

Act now: the EU High Level Group of Experts Report on Literacy

If smart growth is about knowledge and innovation, investment in literacy skills is a prerequisite for achieving such growth. This report is a wake-up call about the literacy crisis that affects every country in Europe. Our world is dominated by the written word, both online and in print. This means we can only contribute and participate actively if we can read and write sufficiently well. But each year, hundreds of thousands of children start their secondary school two years behind in reading; some leave even further behind their peers. This has damaging consequences for their futures. And millions of adults across Europe lack the necessary literacy skills to function fully and independently in society. Awareness and acceptance of this widespread and deep-rooted problem are the first important steps towards action. This report is as much about Europe’s citizens of all ages as it is about socio-economic developments, trends and equality of opportunities. And it is as much about acknowledging the shocking numbers and problems as it is about identifying root causes and opportunities. We hope our call to action will be read by everyone engaged in policy-making or grass-roots activities in a range of areas, be it at local, regional, national or EU levels: from employment to health, from digital developments to civic participation, and from education to poverty. In all these pressing issues, literacy is likely to play a key role. So addressing literacy provides opportunities to tackle some of the root causes and factors blocking progress in all of these areas. Grasping these opportunities requires a profound understanding that reading and writing are much more than a technique or a skill. Literacy is about people’s ability to function in society as private individuals, active citizens, employees or parents. Children need skills to learn, adolescents need them to get a job and shape their futures positively. Citizens won’t be able to pay their taxes online or vote if they’re not literate. Employees need to be able to read safety instructions. And how can patients use their medication properly if they cannot read the instructions or lack the confidence to ask others? Literacy is about people’s self-esteem, their interaction with others, their health and employability. Ultimately, literacy is about whether a society is fit for the future. We encourage everyone to read this report: parents, teachers, businesses, governments and civil society players. We hope you take our recommendations to heart and act upon them. Investing in literacy is investing in Europe’s human capital. Such investments only have winners: citizens of all ages, businesses and governments and, ultimately, Europe’s wellbeing and competitive position in the world. This report will, I hope, help kick-start an ambitious, comprehensive and structural approach within and across EU Member States to prevent and reduce literacy problems. But its usefulness is only as good as the progress made in the coming decade to implement the recommendations of the report. In doing so, we need to be both open- and single-minded in our focus on the children, adolescents and adults who need to be reached

Creating the Strategic and Technical Advisory Group of Experts (STAGE) to advance maternal, newborn, child, adolescent health and nutrition: a new approach.

The Strategic and Technical Advisory Group of Experts (STAGE) for Maternal, Newborn, Child, Adolescent Health and Nutrition (MNCAHN) which advises the Director-General of WHO, marked its first anniversary in April 2021 as it concluded its third virtual meeting. STAGE has 31 members from all WHO regions and includes the key discipline groups that focus on MNCAHN. STAGE is an independent advisory group that takes a critical look at initiatives and programmes at WHO related to MNCHAN. STAGE provides an opportunity to monitor progress, connect agendas and groups and is a space to facilitate synergies across WHO departments, as well as with other United Nations (UN) agencies.PRIFPRI3; ISI; CRP4; 2 Promoting Healthy Diets and Nutrition for allPHND; A4NHCGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH

IODE Associate Information Units : A New Opportunity for Marine Information Managers to Participate at the Global Level

How can the marine information management community participate more actively within the International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange (IODE) Network? Although there are National Coordinators for Marine Information Management, there has been no other mechanism for IODE to communicate directly with other marine information professionals, and it has been a challenge for IODE to reach the broader marine information community. This changed in 2017 at the 24th session of the IOC Committee on IODE when the Committee approved the establishment of Associate Information Units (AIUs). Interested regional or national projects, programmes, institutions or organizations with information activities can apply to become an AIU, and if approved, benefit from the ability to influence the IODE Committee decisions on global marine data and information initiatives. A representative from the Joint IODE-IAMSLIC Group of Experts in Marine Information Management in a Transitional Capacity (GEMIM- in-T), which was tasked with designing and managing the application process, presented this new opportunity to conference attendees. She outlined the benefits, reviewed the Terms of Reference, described the application process, and shared progress-to-date. For anyone wishing to apply, the AIU application form is available at: http://www.iode.org/ai

Evaluation and use of surveillance system data toward the identification of high-risk areas for potential cholera vaccination: a case study from Niger.

In 2008, Africa accounted for 94% of the cholera cases reported worldwide. Although the World Health Organization currently recommends the oral cholera vaccine in endemic areas for high-risk populations, its use in Sub-Saharan Africa has been limited. Here, we provide the principal results of an evaluation of the cholera surveillance system in the region of Maradi in Niger and an analysis of its data towards identifying high-risk areas for cholera

EAES Recommendations for Recovery Plan in Minimally Invasive Surgery Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

Background: COVID-19 pandemic presented an unexpected challenge for the surgical community in general and Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS) specialists in particular. This document aims to summarize recent evidence and experts’ opinion and formulate recommendations to guide the surgical community on how to best organize the recovery plan for surgical activity across diferent sub-specialities after the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Recommendations were developed through a Delphi process for establishment of expert consensus. Domain topics were formulated and subsequently subdivided into questions pertinent to diferent surgical specialities following the COVID-19 crisis. Sixty-fve experts from 24 countries, representing the entire EAES board, were invited. Fifty clinicians and six engineers accepted the invitation and drafted statements based on specifc key questions. Anonymous voting on the statements was performed until consensus was achieved, defned by at least 70% agreement. Results: A total of 92 consensus statements were formulated with regard to safe resumption of surgery across eight domains, addressing general surgery, upper GI, lower GI, bariatrics, endocrine, HPB, abdominal wall and technology/research. The statements addressed elective and emergency services across all subspecialties with specifc attention to the role of MIS during the recovery plan. Eighty-four of the statements were approved during the frst round of Delphi voting (91.3%) and another 8 during the following round after substantial modifcation, resulting in a 100% consensus. Conclusion: The recommendations formulated by the EAES board establish a framework for resumption of surgery following COVID-19 pandemic with particular focus on the role of MIS across surgical specialities. The statements have the potential for wide application in the clinical setting, education activities and research work across diferent healthcare systems

Military business and the business of the military

Contrary to dominant approaches that locate the causes for military entrepreneurialism in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo predominantly in criminal military elites, this article highlights the importance of the Congolese military’s (FARDC) civilian context for understanding military revenue-generation. It analyses how the latter is shaped by structures of domination, signification and legitimisation that drive and are driven by the FARDC’s governance, private protection and security practices. It argues that these practices contribute to bestowing a degree of legitimacy on both the FARDC’s position of power and some of its revenue-generation activities. Furthermore, by emphasising that the FARDC’s regulatory and protection practices are partly the product of popular demands and the routine actions of civilians, the article contends that the causes of military revenue-generation are co-located in the military’s civilian environment. In this manner, it offers a more nuanced conceptualisation of military entrepreneurialism, thus opening up new perspectives on policy interventions in this area