SPECIAL REPORTS AND PROJECTS
EU to support COVID-19 vaccination strategies in Africa
Published
3 years agoon
![](https://witnessradio.org/wp-content/uploads/Euroepan-parliament-1.jpg)
Brussels, Belgium | The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has announced today $121 million (€100 million) in humanitarian assistance to support the rollout of vaccination campaigns in Africa, which are spearheaded by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).
“We’ve always been clear that the pandemic won’t end until everyone is protected globally. The EU stands ready to support the vaccination strategies in our African partners with experts and deliveries of medical supplies at the request of the African Union,” said EU President Ursula von der Leyen.
Subject to the agreement of the budgetary authority, this funding will support the vaccination campaigns in countries with critical humanitarian needs and fragile health systems. The funding will, among others, contribute to ensuring the cold chains, roll-out registration programmes, training of medical and support staff as well as logistics. This sum comes on top of €2.2 billion provided by Team Europe to COVAX.
President Ursula von der Leyen added that, “we are also exploring potential support to boost local production capacities of vaccines under licensing arrangements in Africa. This would be the fastest way to ramp up production everywhere to the benefit of those that most need it.”
Janez Lenarčič, Commissioner for Crisis Management, said: “International vaccine solidarity is a must if we are to effectively address the COVID-19 pandemic.
He added that Team Europe are looking at ways to use our humanitarian aid and civil protection tools to help in the rollout of vaccination campaigns in Africa.
“Ensuring equitable access to vaccines for vulnerable people, including in hard-to-access areas, is a moral duty. We will build on our valuable experience in delivering humanitarian aid in a challenging environment, for example via the Humanitarian Air Bridge flights,” he said.
Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jutta Urpilainen, added: “Team Europe has stood by the side of our African partners from the onset of the pandemic and will continue to do so. We have already mobilised more than €8 billion to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa.”
Urpilainen said EU is strengthening health systems and preparedness capacities, which is absolutely key to ensure effective vaccination campaigns. They are also now exploring support through the new NDICI and how to leverage investments in the local production capacities through the External Action Guarantee.
EU scales up support after COVID-19 outbreak
The EU also has a range of instruments at its disposal, such as the EU Humanitarian Air bridge, the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, and the EU’s humanitarian budget. These tools have been used extensively in the context of COVID-19 to deliver crucial material and logistical assistance to partners in Africa.
The Commission is also currently exploring opportunities to support African countries in the medium term to establish local or regional production capacity of health products, in particular vaccines and protective equipment. This support will come under the new Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI) and the European Fund for Sustainable Development plus (EFSD+).
The EU has been scaling up its humanitarian engagement in Africa since the onset COVID-19 crisis.
A key of part of these efforts is the EU Humanitarian Air Bridge, which is an integrated set of services enabling the delivery of humanitarian assistance to countries affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
The air bridge carries medical equipment, and humanitarian cargo and staff, providing humanitarian assistance for the most vulnerable populations where the pandemic imposes constraints on transport and logistics.
The air bridge flights are fully funded by the EU. So far, almost 70 flights have delivered over 1,150 tons of medical equipment as well as nearly 1,700 medical and humanitarian staff and other passengers. Flights to Africa have aided the African Union, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea Bissau, Nigeria, São Tomé and Príncipe, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan.
*****
SOURCE: ETHE INDEPENDENT
Related posts:
![](https://witnessradio.org/wp-content/uploads/From-the-China-Africa-summit-120x120.jpg)
![](https://witnessradio.org/wp-content/uploads/AkinwumiAdesina-703x422-120x120.jpg)
![](https://witnessradio.org/wp-content/uploads/wfp-un-120x120.jpg)
![](https://witnessradio.org/wp-content/uploads/Hunger-world-vision-120x120.jpg)
![](https://witnessradio.org/wp-content/uploads/coronavirus-Africa-120x120.jpg)
You may like
-
30 civil society organizations have written to the World Bank Group demanding to publicly disclose the Africa Energy Approach paper.
-
African Civil Society Refuses To Engage With UNFSS Without Radical Change
-
Court releases a tortured community land rights defender on bail
-
Close to 120 land rights defenders, lawyers, and PAPs leaders have been arbitrarily arrested during the COVID-19 lockdown…
-
Agriculture rebounds as economy recovers
-
3 million slip into poverty as Covid-19 strikes economy
DEFENDING LAND AND ENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS
Statement: The Energy Sector Strategy 2024–2028 Must Mark the End of the EBRD’s Support to Fossil Fuels
Published
10 months agoon
September 27, 2023![](https://witnessradio.org/wp-content/uploads/statement.png)
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is due to publish a new Energy Sector Strategy before the end of 2023. A total of 130 civil society organizations from over 40 countries have released a statement calling on the EBRD to end finance for all fossil fuels, including gas.
From 2018 to 2021, the EBRD invested EUR 2.9 billion in the fossil energy sector, with the majority of this support going to gas. This makes it the third biggest funder of fossil fuels among all multilateral development banks, behind the World Bank Group and the Islamic Development Bank.
The EBRD has already excluded coal and upstream oil and gas fields from its financing. The draft Energy Sector Strategy further excludes oil transportation and oil-fired electricity generation. However, the draft strategy would continue to allow some investment in new fossil gas pipelines and other transportation infrastructure, as well as gas power generation and heating.
In the statement, the civil society organizations point out that any new support to gas risks locking in outdated energy infrastructure in places that need investments in clean energy the most. At the same time, they highlight, ending support to fossil gas is necessary, not only for climate security, but also for ensuring energy security, since continued investment in gas exposes countries of operation to high and volatile energy prices that can have a severe impact on their ability to reach development targets. Moreover, they underscore that supporting new gas transportation infrastructure is not a solution to the current energy crisis, given that new infrastructure would not come online for several years, well after the crisis has passed.
The signatories of the statement call on the EBRD to amend the Energy Sector Strategy to
- fully exclude new investments in midstream and downstream gas projects;
- avoid loopholes involving the use of unproven or uneconomic technologies, as well as aspirational but meaningless mitigation measures such as “CCS-readiness”; and
- strengthen the requirements for financial intermediaries where the intended nature of the sub-transactions is not known to exclude fossil fuel finance across the entire value chain.
Source: iisd.org
Download the statement: https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2023-09/ngo-statement-on-energy-sector-strategy-2024-2028.pdf
Related posts:
![](https://witnessradio.org/wp-content/uploads/Money-120x120.png)
![](https://witnessradio.org/wp-content/uploads/Witness-Radio-Logo-120x120.png)
![](https://witnessradio.org/wp-content/uploads/European-Bank-120x120.jpg)
![](https://witnessradio.org/wp-content/uploads/World-Bank--120x120.jpg)
![](https://witnessradio.org/wp-content/uploads/power-120x120.jpg)
SPECIAL REPORTS AND PROJECTS
Will more sovereign wealth funds mean less food sovereignty?
Published
1 year agoon
April 13, 2023![](https://witnessradio.org/wp-content/uploads/Government-Vedder-Highsmith-detail-1.jpg)
- 45% of Louis Dreyfus Company, with its massive land holdings in Latin America, growing sugarcane, citrus, rice and coffee;
- a majority stake in Unifrutti, with 15,000 ha of fruit farms in Chile, Ecuador, Argentina, Philippines, Spain, Italy and South Africa; and
- Al Dahra, a large agribusiness conglomerate controlling and cultivating 118,315 ha of farmland in Romania, Spain, Serbia, Morocco, Egypt, Namibia and the US.
Sovereign wealth funds invested in farmland/food/agriculture (2023)
|
|||
Country
|
Fund
|
Est.
|
AUM (US$bn)
|
China
|
CIC
|
2007
|
1351
|
Norway
|
NBIM
|
1997
|
1145
|
UAE – Abu Dhabi
|
ADIA
|
1967
|
993
|
Kuwait
|
KIA
|
1953
|
769
|
Saudi Arabia
|
PIF
|
1971
|
620
|
China
|
NSSF
|
2000
|
474
|
Qatar
|
QIA
|
2005
|
450
|
UAE – Dubai
|
ICD
|
2006
|
300
|
Singapore
|
Temasek
|
1974
|
298
|
UAE – Abu Dhabi
|
Mubadala
|
2002
|
284
|
UAE – Abu Dhabi
|
ADQ
|
2018
|
157
|
Australia
|
Future Fund
|
2006
|
157
|
Iran
|
NDFI
|
2011
|
139
|
UAE
|
EIA
|
2007
|
91
|
USA – AK
|
Alaska PFC
|
1976
|
73
|
Australia – QLD
|
QIC
|
1991
|
67
|
USA – TX
|
UTIMCO
|
1876
|
64
|
USA – TX
|
Texas PSF
|
1854
|
56
|
Brunei
|
BIA
|
1983
|
55
|
France
|
Bpifrance
|
2008
|
50
|
UAE – Dubai
|
Dubai World
|
2005
|
42
|
Oman
|
OIA
|
2020
|
42
|
USA – NM
|
New Mexico SIC
|
1958
|
37
|
Malaysia
|
Khazanah
|
1993
|
31
|
Russia
|
RDIF
|
2011
|
28
|
Turkey
|
TVF
|
2017
|
22
|
Bahrain
|
Mumtalakat
|
2006
|
19
|
Ireland
|
ISIF
|
2014
|
16
|
Canada – SK
|
SK CIC
|
1947
|
16
|
Italy
|
CDP Equity
|
2011
|
13
|
China
|
CADF
|
2007
|
10
|
Indonesia
|
INA
|
2020
|
6
|
India
|
NIIF
|
2015
|
4
|
Spain
|
COFIDES
|
1988
|
4
|
Nigeria
|
NSIA
|
2011
|
3
|
Angola
|
FSDEA
|
2012
|
3
|
Egypt
|
TSFE
|
2018
|
2
|
Vietnam
|
SCIC
|
2006
|
2
|
Gabon
|
FGIS
|
2012
|
2
|
Morocco
|
Ithmar Capital
|
2011
|
2
|
Palestine
|
PIF
|
2003
|
1
|
Bolivia
|
FINPRO
|
2015
|
0,4
|
AUM (assets under management) figures from Global SWF, January 2023
|
|||
Engagement in food/farmland/agriculture assessed by GRAIN
|
Related posts:
![](https://witnessradio.org/wp-content/uploads/ANM_Food-Sovereighnty-Day_English_221010LVC-Website_Post-Featured-Image-765x265-1-120x120.jpg)
![](https://witnessradio.org/wp-content/uploads/DSC00570-2-scaled-1-120x120.jpg)
![](https://witnessradio.org/wp-content/uploads/Un-food-summit-120x120.png)
![](https://witnessradio.org/wp-content/uploads/Screenshot-2021-10-20-132403-120x120.png)
![](https://witnessradio.org/wp-content/uploads/image_-1-120x120.jpg)
SPECIAL REPORTS AND PROJECTS
Farmland values hit record highs, pricing out farmers
Published
2 years agoon
November 21, 2022![](https://witnessradio.org/wp-content/uploads/original_Screen_Shot_2022-11-14_at_9.27.35_AM.png)
![](https://witnessradio.org/wp-content/uploads/photo-Afiego-80x80.png)
Oil activities in Murchison Falls National Park threaten Wildlife Conservation – AFIEGO study reveals.
![](https://witnessradio.org/wp-content/uploads/thumbimage-80x80.jpeg)
A Financial gap: Can China be stopped from financing the EACOP?
![](https://witnessradio.org/wp-content/uploads/NEMA.-1-80x80.jpg)
NEMA suspend operations to evict the World Bank project-affected community and other residents accused of being located in wetlands.
![](https://witnessradio.org/wp-content/uploads/Screenshot-2024-07-22-at-08-24-59-Farmers-count-losses-as-dry-spell-scorches-maize-gardens-Monitor-80x80.png)
Farmers count losses as dry spell scorches maize gardens
![](https://witnessradio.org/wp-content/uploads/defilement-attempt-1-80x80.jpg)
Sexual violence as a tool to grab land: a local woman accuses industrial agriculture investor Agilis Partners Limited of sexual violence.
![](https://witnessradio.org/wp-content/uploads/Kiryandongo-1-80x80.jpg)
Thirty-six (36) groups from all over the world have written to industrial agriculture investors, Agilis Partners Limited to stop human rights violations/abuses against thousands of indigenous/local communities, settle grievances, and return the grabbed land.
![](https://witnessradio.org/wp-content/uploads/WhatsApp-Image-2024-07-08-at-14.45.18_28c737d5-80x80.jpg)
CSOs, oil host communities, and concerned citizens have petitioned the President of Uganda to stop oil drilling in the Murchison Falls National Park.
![](https://witnessradio.org/wp-content/uploads/witness-radio-protest-hoima-court-0da40d81-80x80.webp)
Enemies of the State: Resistance to the EACOP becomes a deadly task
![](https://witnessradio.org/wp-content/uploads/Untitled-design3-80x80.png)
Innovative Finance from Canada projects positive impact on local communities.
![](https://witnessradio.org/wp-content/uploads/Kiryandongo3.jpg)
Over 5000 Indigenous Communities evicted in Kiryandongo District
![](https://witnessradio.org/wp-content/uploads/pet.jpg)
Petition To Land Inquiry Commission Over Human Rights In Kiryandongo District
![](https://witnessradio.org/wp-content/uploads/z5.png)
Invisible victims of Uganda Land Grabs
Resource Center
Legal Framework
READ BY CATEGORY
Newsletter
Trending
-
MEDIA FOR CHANGE NETWORK4 days ago
NEMA suspend operations to evict the World Bank project-affected community and other residents accused of being located in wetlands.
-
FARM NEWS2 weeks ago
Strengthening Small-Scale Farming in Uganda through Farmer Field Schools.
-
MEDIA FOR CHANGE NETWORK2 days ago
Oil activities in Murchison Falls National Park threaten Wildlife Conservation – AFIEGO study reveals.
-
NGO WORK1 week ago
The mothers and daughters of the global south cannot celebrate the World Bank’s 80-year legacy of harm.
-
FARM NEWS5 days ago
Farmers count losses as dry spell scorches maize gardens
-
MEDIA FOR CHANGE NETWORK5 days ago
NEMA hindering environment restoration in Wakiso – leaders
-
MEDIA FOR CHANGE NETWORK3 days ago
A Financial gap: Can China be stopped from financing the EACOP?