Air pollution is the largest environmental risk to public health globally. Exposure to indoor and outdoor fine particulate matter is associated with an estimated 7 million premature deaths each year and is responsible for millions more non-fatal health outcomes such as an increase in emergency-room visits related to exacerbated asthma, and adverse pregnancy outcomes.
Reading of the Week: A Practical Guide for Business Air Pollutant Emission Assessment
Stockholm Environment Institute
Losses and damages are increasingly felt across the globe, with the most vulnerable countries and populations most affected. At the same time, processes around Loss and Damage under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change are characterized by divergent positions and slow progress.
Making Headway on Loss and Damage
Danish Institute for International Studies
The Hydrogen Action Pact aims to strengthen joint action on power-to-X (electricity storage through conversion into hydrogen), hydrogen and derivatives (especially ammonia), and to streamline the implementation of existing multilateral initiatives. This report briefly summarizes the status and outlook for hydrogen in each G7 member, including analyses of technology, costs, strategy and stated policy support for each country.
Accelerating Hydrogen Deployment in the G7: Recommendations for the Hydrogen Action Pact
International Renewable Energy Agency
The MED This Week newsletter provides expert analysis and informed comments upon the MENA region’s most significant issues and trends. Today, we place the spotlight upon COP27, the 27th annual UN meeting, hosted this year in the Egyptian city of Sharm El-Sheikh.
COP 27: Relaunching Climate Action in a Burning MENA region
The Mediterranean Dialogue
Michel Aoun ended his term as Lebanon’s President before any replacement was selected. Once again, this led to a governmental vacuum, which is more serious now than in the past because the present government is a transitional government. The current composition of Parliament, which is responsible for choosing the president, and the internal disputes among its members make it difficult to agree on and select a candidate.
The governmental Vacuum in Lebanon
The Institute for National Security Studies
The COVID pandemic has brought into sharp relief Africa’s digital divide. COVID-induced lockdowns and restrictions on travel made it necessary for government and business meetings and conferences to be conducted virtually, via various online formats. Consumers bought online and, most importantly, schools and tertiary educational institutions moved their courses online.
Driving Digital Inclusion Within the AfCFTA Framework
The Mediterranean Dialogue
This paper proposes two new approaches for targeting the beneficiaries of social benefit programs in Tunisia, such as the cash transfer and healthcare programs. The first approach is a mixed means test, which extends the proxy means test model to explicitly combine both individual/household assessment and geographical targeting methods. The second approach is drawn from the identification step of the family of multidimensional poverty measures.
Social Safety Nets in Tunisia: Comparison of Different Targeting Methods
Economic Research Forum
Over the past two decades, the structure of Africa's sovereign debt has been changing in many important ways. For one, increasing access to international capital markets has meant that many countries now hold a significant share of debt owed to private bondholders and traded in secondary debt markets around the world.
Debt Distress and Recovery Episodes in Africa: Good Policy or Good Luck?
African Development Bank Group
Developing countries urgently need capital to finance the energy transition, in particular clean energy infrastructure to replace fossil fuels and support sustainable development. The situation is set to deteriorate as access to capital becomes more constrained amid rising interest rates and faltering global markets.
Reading of the Week: Financing the Energy Transition Through Cross-Border Investment
Belfer Center
The Russian invasion of Ukraine saw new actors and novel activities exploiting cyberspace: Numerous non-state actors, hacker groups and commercial enterprises have entered the virtual battlespace without necessarily being belligerent entities. While states were already struggling with how to regulate activities in cyberspace, the new tropes, techniques and tactics have increased legal uncertainty.
Exploiting cyberspace: International legal challenges and the new tropes, techniques and tactics in the Russo-Ukraine War
Hybrid Centre of Excellence
Climate change and environmental changes are increasingly prominent drivers of migration. The great majority of individuals displaced find refuge within their own country, while some are forced to cross international borders. By 2050, according to the World Bank’s Groundswell report, up to 216 million people across six world regions could be forced to move internally within their countries.
How Can We Protect Climate Refugees
Baker Institute
The protests that have jolted Iran’s clerical leadership over the past weeks, as well as news of Iran’s drone and missile sales to Russia, raise questions that EU policymakers and foreign policy analysts have been struggling with for years: how stable is the Islamic Republic? How to support protesters? And how to reconcile condemnation of the crackdown on demonstrators and the need to react to Iran’s uncovered support for Russia’s war effort in Ukraine?
Protests and Drones Push EU-Iran Relations to the Brink
Istituto Affari Internazionali
A review of the maritime border agreement between Israel and Lebanon reveals an agreement that both reflects a compromise between the two parties and creates a win-win situation. Its achievement is a milestone in the history of the relations between the two states and serves their respective economic, security, and strategic interests.
The Agreement with Lebanon: The Benefits Outweigh the Drawbacks
The Institute for National Security Studies
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 3.3 to 3.6 billion people are highly vulnerable to climate change effects, especially “in locations with poverty, governance challenges and limited access to basic services and resources, violent conflict and high levels of climate-sensitive livelihoods”.
Changing Opinions: Climate and the Arab Population
Brussels International Center
As a potent greenhouse gas with a high global warming potential, assumed to be 34 times that of CO2 over a 100-year period, methane is responsible for more than one-fifth of total global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Reducing anthropogenic methane emissions would have a drastic mitigation effect on climate change but requires an understanding of the largest sources of emissions to target abatement interventions more effectively.
Methane in Africa
African Development Bank
This paper assesses the extent to which Senegal’s macroeconomic policy actions both during and after the COVID-19 pandemic have been in line with its commitments to its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) targets. For the past decade the country has developed various policies to address the effects of climate change.
Is Senegal on the right track to achieve its NDC commitments
The South African Institute of International Affairs
The digitization of data spurred on by the Fourth Industrial Revolution, presents the Southern African region with very real opportunities for developmental leapfrogging. This could alleviate historically imposed dependencies and fast-track post-COVID-19 economic recovery.
SADC Futures of Digital Geopolitics: Towards African Digital Sovereignty
The South African Institute of International Affairs
Limiting global warming requires significant and urgent reductions of greenhouse gas emissions by the petroleum sector, in line with the Paris Agreement. The majority of the sector’s emissions arise downstream from the end use of petroleum products by thousands of industries, hundreds of countries and billions of individuals.
Minimising Greenhouse Gas emissions in the Petroleum Sector: The Opportunity for Emerging Producers
African Development Bank Group
International law provides the framework that determines rights and responsibilities in fishing, but there are still some gaps that are exploitable by malicious actors that have instrumentalized so-called Distant-Water Fishing.
Exclusive Economic Zone adjacent distant-water fishing as a global security challenge: An international law perspective
Hybrid Centre of Excellence
Environmental degradation, including degradation caused by climate change, armed conflict, or the illegal exploitation of resources, can be a catalyst for violence against civilians. While addressing environmental degradation goes well beyond the mandates of UN peacekeeping operations, missions are increasingly focusing on climate-related security risks, and several missions have environment and climate-related language in their mandates.
Toward an Environmental and Climate-Sensitive Approach to Protection in UN Peacekeeping Operations
International Peace Institute
It has long been said that no one knows with any certainty the population of Lagos, Nigeria. A decade ago, the United Nations conservatively put the number at 11.5 million, but other estimates ranged as high as 18 million. The one thing everyone agreed was that Lagos was growing very fast. The population was already 40 times bigger than it had been in 1960, when Nigeria gained independence.
Reading of the Week: Megalopolis - How coastal west Africa will shape the coming century
The Guardian
Saudi Arabia’s security-oriented approach to Yemen has foundered. The Saudi-led coalition has failed to defeat the Houthis militarily or to restore the government the group toppled. Moreover, Saudi militarization of the border with Yemen has damaged the Yemeni economy with negative consequences for Saudi Arabia. Crucially, Saudi Arabia’s security is contingent on Yemen’s stability and economic prosperity.
The Pitfalls of Saudi Arabias Security-Centric Strategy in Yemen
Carnegie Middle East Center
Several U.N. Security Council resolutions adopted between 2006 and 2010 required Iran to cooperate fully with the International Atomic Energy Agency’s investigation of its nuclear activities, suspend its uranium enrichment program, suspend its construction of a heavy water reactor and related projects, and ratify the Additional Protocol to its IAEA safeguards agreement.
Irans Nuclear Program: Tehrans Compliance with International Obligations
Congressional Research Service
Ever since the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam was conceived in 2011 under Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, Sudan has adopted a pragmatic stance vis-à-vis the dam, playing an integral role in a 2015 Declaration of Principles. Signed in Khartoum, the declaration promised to cooperate in good faith over the dam’s construction while also looking to alleviate concerns in Egypt over its water supply.
Water Politics. How Sudans Turbulent Transition toward Democracy Has Led It to Compromise Its Own Well-Being over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Ghana has a long history of citizens migrating to other countries. Many of these migrants send remittances to relations and acquaintances back home, often to help recipients experiencing poverty and a lack of employment and economic opportunities. Empirical studies have established the poverty-alleviation impact of remittances in Africa, including Ghana.
Declining poverty level in Ghana: Exploring the role of migrants remittances
Afro Barometer
The 27th UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) COP is scheduled to take place in Egypt from 7–18 November 2022. This will be the first time COP is hosted on the African continent since 2016, when Morocco hosted COP22. This year’s COP will address much of the unfinished business of the COP26 Glasgow Climate Summit, convened in November 2021. This includes addressing the potentially negative externalities of climate policies and the need for a just transition, establishing the necessary financial structures to support loss and damage, enhancing adaptation and implementing climate policies.
Reading of the Week: Ensuring that COP27 is Truly an African COP
The South African Institute of International Affairs
Selon la Déclaration sur l’Elimination de la Violence à l’Egard des Femmes (Nations Unies, 1994), est considérée comme violence basée sur le genre (VBG) tout acte délétère contre la femme pouvant lui causer des souffrances physiques, sexuelles ou psychologiques. Cette forme de violence menaces la vie, la santé et les capacités sociales et productives de ses victimes (Assa, 2022). Conscient de la gravité du phénomène et de ses conséquences sur les individus ainsi que sur le développement, l’État de Côte d’Ivoire affiche une volonté de plus en plus manifeste pour l’endiguer.
Les Ivoiriens sont divisés sur le caractère privé ou pénal de la violence conjugale
Afro Barometer
Between the late 1960s and mid-2010s, the Third Industrial Revolution brought microprocessors, personal computing, and the Internet that created an ecosystem that exponentially increased communication capabilities throughout the world. Computers went from expensive and hard to use, room-sized mainframe machines to inexpensive personal computers, beginning with the Commodore 64, and leading to handheld personal devices that contain more processing power than all their predecessors combined.
The Data Divide: How Emerging Technology and its Stakeholders can Influence the Fourth Industrial Revolution
Atlantic Council
As efforts to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change fall short, discussions around loss and damage (L&D) resulting from climate change have gained urgency. These discussions pivot on questions around financing, which remains very limited. Going into the twenty-seventh UN Climate Change Conference (COP27), the call for a new L&D financial mechanism has been raised by developing countries.
Options for a Loss and Damage Financial Mechanism
International Peace Institute
Just as the call for women’s full, equal and meaningful participation has grown louder, and recognition of their role has become more visible, so has the violence that threatens and limits their participation. This violence is targeted precisely at silencing their advocacy and inhibiting women in general from participating in public life. The ascendancy of extremist political actors and the resurgence of military coups and seizures of power by force have made this problem worse.
Security Council Letter S/2022/756: Protecting women human rights defenders in conflict
United Nations Security Council
Although there is international consensus on the desired outcome of the Middle East Peace Process (MEPP) - namely Israeli-Palestinian talks resulting in a two-state solution - there is no peace, and for years there has been no process either. In the meantime, Israelis still live with the threat of terrorism and rocket attacks, while Palestinians continue living without full rights under what were supposed to be interim arrangements agreed on in the 1990s.
The outlook for the Middle East Peace Process: Stuck in a one-state reality, and you cant get out of it
Finnish Institute of International Affairs
In October 2018, Carnegie published a report calling for fundamental educational reform in the Arab world and arguing for the need for that reform to move “from schooling to learning” in order to “serve the needs of pluralistic societies and foster the development of active, responsible citizens who are empowered to deal with complexity and advance constructive change.” The report gave a number of recommendations encompassing the different fields within which education takes place: the school, the state, and the society at large.
Innovation and New Directions: Searching for Novel Paths in ArabEducation Reform
Carnegie Middle East Center
Drought is a natural phenomenon caused by a prolonged period of abnormally low rainfall, accompanied by high temperatures, leading to a shortage of water. Water shortages directly contribute to crop failure and the death of livestock which can quickly result in chronic food insecurity. It is important to note, however, that the severity of a drought is not simply the result of the rainfall deficit but also depends on its timing and duration.
Somalia is calling: Averting drought from becoming a famine
Heritage Institute
The aim of this research is to assist the African Natural Resources Management and Investment Centre (ANRC), an entity of the African Development Bank (AfDB), to meet its commitment to advise regional member countries (RMCs) on important aspects of natural resource management and to ensure nature fully supports Africa’s future economic development objectives. With support from the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF), this ambitious, nature-positive development agenda acknowledges the magnitude and importance of climate and nature for the future sustainability of regional member countries and will transform the sustainable development narrative.
Debt for Nature Swaps
African Development Bank Group
The COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine have shaken confidence in the reliability of fragmented global value chains (GVCs) as a means to integrate the global economy. Supplychain disruptions during the pandemic boosted the voices of those claiming that cost optimization achieved through GVCs came at the cost of reduced resilience in the face of localized shocks that tend to affect whole chains. The war in Ukraine, meanwhile, has raised the profile of geopolitical risks as an additional factor to be reckoned with in the configuration of – and reliance on – GVCs. The pandemic and the war, followed by commodity price shocks and together with more frequent weather-related shocks, have comprised what has been called a “perfect storm” (Canuto, 2020) hitting the global economy
Pandemic, War, and Global Value Chains
Policy Center for the New South
Climate change, combined with extensive environmental destruction caused by nearly a decade of conflict, threatens to exacerbate existing tensions in Yemen. The conflict has contributed to the decimation of critical resources, such as water and agricultural land, and led to the loss of livelihoods and forced displacement. All these factors have the potential to lead to new conflicts in Yemen, warns Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC) in its new report.
Reading of the Week. Risking the Future. Climate Change, Environmental Destruction, and Conflict in Yemen
Center for Civilians in Conflict
Across the Arab world, different education reform initiatives have had varying levels of success in different contexts. This paper explores some types of education reform that could serve as groundwork for broader change.
Innovation and New Directions: Searching for Novel Paths in Arab Education Reform
Carnegie Middle East Center
The objective of this report is threefold. First, it provides an overview of the COVID-19 impact on Jordan and the associated government’s response. The latter was necessary but not sufficient, especially when it comes to the support provided to households and firms. Second, using both macroeconomic and microeconomic datasets, we examine the effect of the COVID-19 on the economy. Indeed, we show how the structural characteristics of the Jordanian economy amplified the impact of the pandemic. Finally, we provide some policy recommendations to curb the negative effects of this shock at different levels (especially monetary, fiscal, social, and trade policies).
Investigating the Effects of COVID-19 on the Jordanian Economy
Economic Research Forum
The stabbing death of world-class runner Agnes Jebet Tirop at her home in Kenya last year, allegedly at the hands of her husband, focused a global spotlight on a persistent menace to the country’s women and girls (Bieler & Boren, 2021). According to Kenya’s most recent Demographic and Health Survey (DHS), almost half (47%) of women aged 15-49 reported that they had experienced either physical or sexual violence (National Bureau of Statistics, 2014).
Most Kenyans see domestic violence as a private rather than criminal matter
Afro Barometer
Après plusieurs décennies de réformes, la situation des secteurs électriques centralisés a peu évolué. Le secteur de l’électricité subsaharien reste peu développé et les secteurs électriques font face à d’importantes difficultés financières qui ont été encore accrues par les conséquences de la pandémie puis de la guerre en Ukraine. Les pertes d’exploitation de l’ensemble des secteurs électriques africains auraient dépassé les 150 milliards de dollars en 2020. Face à l’accroissement démographique de la région, les réseaux centraux ne peuvent pas pleinement répondre aux besoins d’électricité des populations, même dans les zones déjà couvertes par le réseau central.
Nouveau paradigme de lélectrification en Afrique subsaharienne. Comment les systèmes hybrides décentralisés changent-ils la donne?
Policy Center for the New South
The E-Mobility Toolkit is developed by Electricity Lawyer, and provides a detailed country-by-country overview of the adoption of electric mobility for the productive use of energy in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).
Why E-Mobility adoption in sub-Saharan Africa is still a challenge
African Energy Portal
Sustainability-linked bonds (SLBs) are emerging as a major sustainable financing instrument, particularly for companies in hard-to-abate sectors, which use SLBs as an alternative to more constraining financing instruments such as green bonds. For firms in economic sectors with large issuances of green bonds, such as financials and utilities, SLBs represent a complementary instrument to their sustainability financing portfolios.
Sustainability-linked bonds and their role in the energy transition
The Oxford Institute for Energy Studies
dolescent girls around the world are speaking up and leading change toward a more gender equal world.1 But while girls stand ready to help shape our collective future, a myriad of concurrent and interlinked crises and barriers stand in their way. As the global community looks to “build back equal,” we have a unique opportunity to overcome these challenges, and to give adolescent girls the freedom and power they need to lead and thrive.
Building Back Equal, With and For Adolescent Girls
UNICEF
The chemicals sector is one of the three highest-emission industrial sectors globally and within the United States. It is far more diversified in terms of products and processes than the other two leaders, steel and cement, and therefore its solution set for emissions reduction is likely to be more diverse as well. George Mason University’s Center for Energy Science and Policy recently published a first-of-its-kind, bottom-up model of the cost and emissions impact of decarbonizing
a major chemical industry value chain, “Pathways to Decarbonize the PVC Value Chain in 2050.”
Decarbonizing the Chemical Industry. Policy Insights from a Case Study of PVC
Information Technology & Innovation Foundation
Saudi Arabia’s security-oriented approach to Yemen has foundered. The Saudi-led coalition has failed to defeat the Houthis militarily or to restore the government the group toppled. Moreover, Saudi militarization of the border with Yemen has damaged the Yemeni economy—with negative consequences for Saudi Arabia. Crucially, Saudi Arabia’s security is contingent on Yemen’s stability and economic prosperity. As such, Riyadh should contribute to reviving Yemen’s moribund economy, both in the borderlands and in the inland agricultural sector.
The Pitfalls of Saudi Arabias Security-Centric Strategy in Yemen
Carnegie Middle East Center
In the chaotic global post-COVID-19 economy, with the ongoing war in Ukraine, the challenge of adjusting to the global stagflation that is engulfing the world is particularly hard for the oil importing countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
A regional commission of experts, working under the auspices of the Economic Research Forum (ERF), and the Finance for Development Lab (FDL), was asked to evaluate the macro-economic risks ahead, and to make recommendations on the best course correction to avoid them.
After an elaborate process of analysis, consultation, and deliberation, the Commission came up with four sets of recommendations, which are developed in this report.
Embarking on a Path of Renewal, MENA Commission on Stabilization and Growth
Economic Research Forum
Having waged deadly violence for over a decade, Boko Haram has survived various interventions by the Lake Chad Basin countries and their partners. The longevity of the group can, in part, be attributed to its continued access to resources. This report explores the economic drivers that reinforce Boko Haram’s resilience, including the key actors involved in these activities.
Reading of the Week Boko Harams deadly business. An economy of violence in the Lake Chad Basin
Institute For Security Studies
Europe is witnessing an unprecedented energy crisis with gas prices up by eight times their ten-year average. As of August 2022, EU countries have spent 281 billion euros to curb the impact of the crisis on households and businesses. A significant portion of the crisis is due to Europe’s overreliance on Russian hydrocarbons, specifically following the Russian Gazprom’s indefinite suspension of its pipeline flow to Europe, a way to leverage European sanctions following the invasion of Ukraine.
Europes Energy Crisis and the Opportunity for an EU-Algeria Renewable Energy Cooperation
Brussels International Center
On September 13, ACET hosted its first intergenerational dialogue. Junior and senior high school students and recent graduates from across Africa were joined by policymakers and education specialists in a series of three panels and Q&A sessions on workplace skills gaps, digital skills, and soft skills. This article on digital skills is the second in a series of three articles with highlights from each panel.
Intergenerational Dialogue on Digital Skills
African Center for Econimic Transformation
Current protests present the Iranian regime with a far more immediate crisis than the selection of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s eventual successor. But the opaque succession process and the underlying questions over its legitimacy and lack of accountability will haunt Iran’s political system long after the unrest has been quelled. Having succeeded Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989, Khamenei is now the longest-ruling leader of a Middle Eastern state, and his death will herald a significant transition for both Iran and the wider region.
Iran protests highlight its crisis of legitimacy
Chatham House
The Trade and Development Report 2022 warns that monetary and fiscal policy moves in advanced economies risk pushing the world towards global recession and prolonged stagnation, inflicting worse damage than the financial crisis in 2008 and the COVID-19 shock in 2020.
Trade and Development Report 2022
United Nations Conference for Trade and Development
Global demand for wood and paper products is increasing rapidly. While decades of work to tackle trade in illegal timber have established legal and sustainable supply chains for timber and wood-based products in many areas, the share of the global market supplied by illegal exports remains significant and the forest sector needs to contribute more effectively to sustainable development and the establishment of resilient land and forest economies.
Establishing fair and sustainable forest economies
Chatham House
Created in the first few moments after the Big Bang, hydrogen (H2) is the most abundant element in the universe (US EIA 2022). At the same time, since it rarely exists in its pure form on earth, it has to be manufactured (Energy Observer, 2021). Its ability to store and deliver usable energy, means it could potentially be utilized in numerous applications, such as heat and power generation, transport.
Global trade of hydrogen: what is the best way to transfer hydrogen over long distances?
The Oxford Institute For Enegy Studies
The workforce challenge is among the most complex and urgent socio-economic and political challenges facing the Middle East and North Africa today. The growth of large and youthful populations is colliding with the constraints of slow growth and investment, which makes it impossible for regional markets to absorb surplus labor. This report presents an analysis of workforce development drawing from primary research conducted in Jordan, Tunisia, and Oman and it breaks down the problem into a set of supply and demand side factors.
Ready for Work: An Analysis of Workforce Asymmetries in the Middle East and North Africa
Wilson Center
La Chine et l’Afrique entretiennent des relations fortes depuis la vague des indépendances africaines des années 1960. Néanmoins, les échanges sino-africains ont connu un essor sans précédent depuis la fin des années 1990 et ont été accompagnés de la montée d’un discours sur le partenariat « gagnant-gagnant » entre la Chine et l’Afrique. Pour de nombreux gouvernements africains, la Chine représente une alternative viable aux bailleurs de fonds et aux partenaires commerciaux traditionnels de l’Afrique.
Reading of the Week: Les influences chinoises en Afrique
Etudes de L'ifri
This Review identifies and discusses certain unresolved aspects of the Revitalised Peace Agreement which are likely to derail the constitutional design process. The aim is to show their implications and potential impacts on constitution-making process. The Review urges parties to the Agreement, policy analysts, and researchers to be seized with these key aspects prior to the commencement of constitution-making.
The unresolved aspects of the Revitalised Peace Agreement and their implications on constitution-making in South Sudan
The Sudd Institute
Global food security, especially in Africa, has been in the media publications these past few months. While a few outspoken African leaders shifted blames to Russia-Ukraine crisis, others focus on spending state budget to import food to calm rising discontent among the population. Some experts and international organizations have also expressed the fact that African leaders have to adopt import substitution mechanisms and use their financial resources on strengthening agricultural production systems.
Mitigating Africas Food Crisis, Increased Russian Grain Exports: Can African Leaders Prioritize and Address Food Security Challenges?
Global Research
The Multilateralism Index (MI) is the first known attempt to quantifiably assess the state of the multilateral system. It focuses on developments in the multilateral system over the past decade across five domains: Peace and Security, Human Rights, Environment, Public Health, and Trade. The domains are evaluated across a total of sixty-five indicators covering three dimensions: Participation, Performance, and Inclusivity.
Multilateralism Index: Pilot Report
International Peace Institute
When reports of carbon-neutral LNG cargos began in 2019, public attention was drawn for the first time to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions specifically from LNG trade. The concept of the transaction is that equivalent emissions from an LNG cargo are offset by the purchase of credits in the voluntary carbon market from a recognized registry. It should therefore involve two principal elements: the estimation and/or measurement of emissions from the cargo, and the purchase of an equivalent offset.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions from LNG Trade: From carbon neutral to GHG verified
The Oxford Institute for Energy Studies
After a month of negotiations, the tenth review conference (RevCon) of the parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of nuclear weapons (NPT)concluded on August 26 without a consensus final document, raising concerns about weakening efforts to promote nuclear nonproliferation, disarmament, and the peaceful use of nuclear energy. It also marked the first time two consecutive RevCons have failed to produce such a document.
The Future of Nuclear Nonproliferation and Disarmament Is in Danger
Council on Foreign Relations
Gossip about Palestinian succession—who will take over Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas’s assorted job titles—is a staple of speculation among journalists, diplomats, and some Palestinians. Over the last year, the conversation has seemed to take a less speculative turn as a variety of longtime national leaders have been edged aside or have publicly broken with Abbas, the 87-year-old leader who serves as president of Palestine, president of the Palestinian National Authority, chair of the Executive Committee of the ruling Fatah movement, and chair of the Executive Committee of the Palestinian Liberation Organization.
A Procedural Guide to Palestinian Succession: The How of the Who
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Sept. 21, 2022, marked the eighth anniversary of the Houthis’ takeover of Sana’a, Yemen’s capital, under the pretext of fighting corruption and poverty. But what initially was presented as a struggle against injustice ended up being nothing more than a power grab masquerading as a rebellion. Since 2014, most of northern Yemen has become isolated after the Houthis alienated their opponents and executed their one-time ally, former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, shattering trust in the possibility of future alliances with their movement.
The Houthis War and Yemens Future
Middle East Institute
Creating the foundation for transforming the G5 Sahel countries from power fragility to power resilience by establishing sustainable and widespread energy supplies aptly summarizes the objectives of 2021 for the Desert to Power (DtP) Initiative. In this second year of the Initiative, the focus of the African Development Bank and its partners has been to support the G5 Sahel countries to identify and prepare priority projects; a difficult task while also negotiating the challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic and continued socio-political instability.
Reading of the Week: Progress Report - Transforming the G5 Sahel countries from Fragility to Resilience in the Energy Sector
African Development Bank Group
The surprise conviction in 2020 of businessman Braima Seidi Bá, arguably Guinea-Bissau’s most prominent cocaine trafficking kingpin according to law enforcement investigations, was heralded by the international community as a turning point in the West African state’s response to the cocaine economy, which had become in some respects all too synonymous with the country for several years.
Grim outlook for Guinea-Bissau elections: The fall and rise of Seidi Ba
Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime
La plus grande mission onusienne jamais déployée, la Mission de l’Organisation des Nations unies pour la stabilisation en République démocratique du Congo (MONUSCO) est actuellement dans un processus de retrait. Les détails des modalités de ce retrait, son calendrier précis et la nature exacte de ce qui prendra place ensuite font encore l’objet de nombreux échanges dont la teneur est bien entendu influencée en temps réel par la situation sur le terrain, dans l’Est de la RDC, autant que par l’évolution de la situation politique à Kinshasa à l’approche des élections prévues en 2023.
Défis et enjeux du plan de retrait de la MONUSCO
Observatoire Boutros-Ghali
The world climate imperative requires a substantial increase in clean energy investments across middle and low-income countries (“MLICs”), where energy demand growth and limited financial resources compound the problem. It is a particular challenge for these countries because of the scale and nature of the investment needed, particularly in power and other infrastructure projects.
How Project Finance Can Advance the Clean Energy Transition in Developing Countries
The Oxford Institute for Energy Studies
The present report is submitted in response to a request by the General Assembly in the Doha Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries (resolution 76/258). In paragraph 42 of the Programme of Action, the need to address severe food insecurities was recognized, and the Secretary-General was requested to explore the feasibility, effectiveness and administrative modalities of a system of stockholding for the least developed countries on a regional and sub regional basis, or alternative means, taking into account possible economic implications and risks, and to report thereon to the Assembly for its consideration at its seventy-seventh session.
Food insecurity in the least developed countries: options for a system of stockholding and complementary means at the global, regional and sub regional levels
United Nations
Since April 2021, parties to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), or Iran nuclear deal, have sought to revive the agreement abandoned by U.S. President Donald Trump. Negotiations between Iran and its interlocutors – the U.S., France, the UK, Russia, China and Germany, coordinated by the EU – made progress over eight rounds in Vienna. By March 2022, they had yielded a close to final text.
Is Restoring the Iran Nuclear Deal Still Possible?
International Crisis Group
Recent months have seen a steep rise in the use of live fire in the Palestinian cities in the West Bank against IDF forces, as well as in the number of shooting incidents and other attacks. Behind the shootings are primarily young Palestinians, including Fatah operatives, and this phenomenon reflects the chaos within the Palestinian Authority. The Israeli security response, which focuses on counter-terrorism and widespread arrests of suspects, generates a self-sustaining cycle of escalation and heightens the motivation among young Palestinians to enlist in the fight against the Israeli security forces.
Chaos in the Palestinian Authority: From Counter-Terrorism to Reconstruction
The Institute for National Security Studies
On August 29, 2022, Qom-based Grand Ayatollah Kazem Husseini al-Haaeri announced his resignation as a marjaa taqlid, a religious authority and source of emulation in the Shia community. He encouraged his emulators (muqallidin) to switch their allegiance to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. He also used his address to launch a scathing attack against Muqtada al-Sadr, the populist cleric and leader of Iraq’s Sadrist movement.
Muqtada al-Sadr and the Struggle for Religious Authority
Carnegie Middle East Center
In 2012, Tunisia announced the establishment of a free trade and logistics zone (FTZ) in Ben Guerdane, near the Libyan border. The aim is to develop marginalized southeastern border regions and formalize informal economic actors. However, the plan has stalled due to institutional resistance, political divisions, and an incapacity to exploit international geopolitical rivalries. If this persists, the project may become irrelevant because of emerging FTZs in Libya, denying Tunisia revenues its ailing economy needs.
Reckless Abandon: Why Tunisia Can No Longer Delay a Border Free Trade Zone
Carnegie Middle East Center
The present report is submitted pursuant to Security Council resolution 2636 (2022), by which the Council decided to extend the mandate of the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in the Sudan (UNITAMS) until 3 June 2023 and requested the Secretary-General to report every 90 days on its implementation. The report covers developments in the Sudan from 6 May to 20 August 2022 and contains an update on the implementation of the Mission’s mandate, with gender
considerations integrated throughout as a cross-cutting issue.
Situation in the Sudan and the activities of the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in the Sudan
United Nations
Nuclear science and technology are expected to play an increasingly important role in Africa in the near future. Nuclear power, nuclear medicine, nuclear applications in agriculture and nuclear research are all expected to enhance development.
Africas Nuclear Future: Increasing the Participation of Women and Youth
The South-African Institute of International Affairs
The energy transition from fossil fuels to low-carbon energy sources will stimulate great demand for energy storage. Batteries that can enable the clean electrification of light-duty transport and reduce the intermittency of renewable power on the grid will be a prerequisite for global decarbonization efforts. It is therefore vital that such technologies be deployed at a scale sufficient to meet the growing energy storage needs of the transition.
Alternative Battery Chemistries and Diversifying Clean Energy Supply Chains
Global Energy Center
By looking into five large transboundary river basins, this chapter analyses the extent to which programmers and policies highlight and address gender equality in transboundary water governance, and whether they are effectively implemented or remain a lip service paid with limited impact. It shows that gender at the transboundary level remains either neglected or that “checking the gender box” prevails over genuinely addressing the complexity of the gender dimension.
Gender in Transboundary Water Policies
Clingendael
The blue economy is a complex multi-theme and multi-layer conceptual paradigm according to which marine spaces are considered as spaces with great potential for sustainable development and socio-economic prosperity. This is particularly true for the Mediterranean where, since ancient times, marine and maritime activities have played a key role in the well-being of coastal countries and communities.
The Blue Economy in the Mediterranean Region and Opportunities for the Algae Industry
Istituto Affari Internazionali
The present report is submitted pursuant to General Assembly resolution 76/11. In that resolution, which deals with the Syrian Golan, the Assembly demanded once more that Israel withdraw from all of the occupied Syrian Golan to the line of 4 June 1967 in implementation of the relevant Security Council resolution.
Report of the Secretary-General: The Situation in Middle East
United Nations
The negotiations between the United States and Iran on renewing the nuclear agreement have run into serious difficulties following the opposition by the United States and the European partners to Iran's demand that the IAEA close the open files on the Iranian nuclear program before the implementation of the agreement (120 days after signing). At the same time, Iran continues to accelerate the program, including the enrichment of uranium using cascades of advanced centrifuges.
Difficulties in the Negotiations with Iran: Implications for Israel
Institute for National Security studies
The civil wars in Libya, Syria and Yemen arose from the Arab Spring that, in turn, was triggered by a broken social contract. In the old social contract, the state would provide free health and education, subsidized food and fuel, and jobs in the public sector, in return for which citizens would keep their voices low, despite widespread cronyism and corruption.
A new social contract for post-conflict Middle East and North Africa
Economic Research Forum
Increased connectivity and the use of digital technology are unlocking innovative business models for trade and economic activities on the African continent. Yet, the real potential for large-scale job creation and inclusive growth lies in the diffusion of digital innovations from the lead firms to the rest of the economy. Social gaps in the use of digital services and spatial inequalities in digital infrastructure development are limiting this potential.
Reading of the Week: Promoting Innovation and Digital Transformation in the Infrastructure Technology in Africa
African Center for Economic Transformation
The present report is submitted pursuant to Security Council resolution 2625 (2022), by which the Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) to 15 March 2023 and requested the Secretary-General to report on the implementation of the Mission’s mandate every 90 days. The report covers political and security developments, the humanitarian and human rights situation and progress towards the implementation of the Mission’s mandate between 1 June and 31 August 2022.
Report of the Secretary-General: The Situation in South Sudan
United Nations
Public utilities in most African countries have failed to deliver adequate, reliable, and competitively priced electricity to support economic growth and improve the welfare of their populations. Despite more than two decades of power sector reforms, outcomes have been varied and often disappointing. A comparative case study analysis of electric utilities in three East African countries (Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda) explores the drivers of utility performance.
A comparative analysis of electric utilities in Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda
Africa Energy Portal
Climate change causes changes in the physical environment, such as increased frequency and intensity of hurricanes or heatwaves, sea level rise and variability in rainfall and temperature patterns (IPCC 2020). In turn, these physical impacts could affect investments, accumulation of human capital and economic growth
Climate Change Vulnerability and Currency Returns
Financial Analyst Journal
As a manufactured fuel, hydrogen can be produced in a decentralized way in most countries around the world. This means, even in a net zero economy, the global trade of hydrogen could look quite different to the current international trade in fossil fuels, including natural gas. With further declines in the costs of renewable electricity and electrolyzers, regions which have lower cost renewable electricity may develop an economic advantage in the production of low-cost hydrogen, but for hydrogen to become a globally traded commodity, the cost of imports needs to be lower than the cost of domestic production. Unlike oil or natural gas, transporting hydrogen over long distances is not an easy task.
Global trade of hydrogen: what is the best way to transfer hydrogen over long distances?
The Oxford Institute For Energy Studies
Ilesha, Nigeria - In his early twenties, Simeon Abolarinwa did the grown-up thing of making a curriculum vitae for the first time. At the bottom of the document, he listed his hobbies: hunting, hiking and fishing. Unlike many of his peers doing the same to fill space or boost their profiles, these were actually his hobbies.
Reading of the Week: Gold and the goddess, How mining polluted Nigerias sacred Osun river
Al Jazeera
The ceasefire prevented the situation from escalating into a full-scale war, which would have had devastating consequences. It also allowed for the resumption of the measures implemented over the past year that have resulted in much-needed economic relief to the people in Gaza. But a ceasefire is limited to ending immediate hostilities; the underlying drivers of the conflict are still unresolved
Resolution 9116 (2022), Security Council: The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question
United Nations
It has been a year since President Ebrahim Raisi assumed power in Iran. This has been perhaps one of the most tense and uncertain years an Iranian president has encountered since the establishment of the revolutionary regime in 1979. Major challenges were inherited by Raisi upon assuming office; and these were not outcomes of his administration’s policies nor could they be avoided or resolved quickly.
One Year On: Iran Since President Raisi
Al Jazeera
Despite Israeli occupation and systemic governance challenges, the Palestinian economy faces a unique opportunity to build a thriving technology ecosystem. The current model of global philanthropy-driven tech development in the West Bank, however, is not working. Without a reboot, no progress is likely to be made.
Time to Reboot: A Blueprint for the Palestinian Tech Sector
Belfer Center
Over the past decade, significant progress has been made in Somalia’s post-conflict trajectory, including the formation of the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) in 2012 following the endorsement of the Provisional Federal Constitution. Federal Member States (FMSs) were formed from 2013 onwards and a range of significant institutional reforms have followed.
Revitalizing the negotiation of contentious political issues in Somalia
Rift Valley Institute
The research found that even during periods of high economic growth, most African countries failed to transform – exhibiting limited improvements in the economic diversification of production and exports, export competitiveness, and productivity and technological upgrading, putting at risk the steady progress on improved human economic well-being. Countries that do not transform are less resilient, meaning they are unable to withstand shocks and to quickly and strongly recover when negatively impacted, which can reverse progress on human economic well-being.
Policies for resilience and economic transformation in Africa: setting the agenda for a post-COVID-19 era
African Center for Economic Transformation
La relation entre l’Organisation de l’union africaine (Oua), aujourd’hui Union africaine (UA), et les Communautés économiques régionales (Cer) a considérablement évolué à travers le temps. Devant le manque d’effectivité de l’Architecture de paix et de sécurité sur le continent, les différents pays ont tenté de définir leurs propres cadres d’action face aux menaces. Lors de la mise en place de l’Oua en 1963, les différents ensembles régionaux sont d’ores et déjà constitués. En 1976, les premières tentatives de coopération entre les organisations régionales et l’organisation continentale sont lancées à travers l’instauration d’un découpage régional.
Le rôle de la Cedeao dans la gestion des crises politiques et sécuritaires internes de ses États membres
Policy Brief
This paper investigates inflation risks for 12 Middle East and Central Asia countries, with an equal share of commodities exporters and importers. The empirical strategy leverages the recent developments in the estimation of macroeconomic risks and uses a semi-parametric approach that balances well flexibility and robustness for density projections. Following the COVID 19 shock, price pressures have intensified in most countries as demand recovered from the pandemic, supply chain distortions persisted, and commodity prices surged (IMF, 2021). Headline inflation has spiked, while core inflation the change in the prices of goods and services excluding food and energy has started to rise as well.
Inflation at Risk in in the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia
International Monetary Fund
Climate change is at the forefront of national and international agendas. Around the world, calls for climate action are coming from international organizations, civil society, the private sector, social and political leaders and youth, amongst others. The effects of climate change are already abruptly affecting labour markets and employment. Droughts, heat waves, heavy incessant rains, sea level rise, rising temperatures and changing rainfall patterns have displaced workers, disrupted business operations and farming seasons, damaged business assets and infrastructure, and negatively impacted working conditions, occupational health and safety and labour productivity.
Mainstreaming Climate Change and Green Growth into the Project cycle for Lines of Credit
African Development Bank Group
Since the beginning of the new millennium, political and economic relations between China and Africa have intensified, leading in October 2000 to the establishment of the Forum on China–Africa Cooperation to promote industrialisation, infrastructure connectivity and facilitate trade. Between 2001 and 2007, trade between China and Africa increased by 681% and, by the end of 2009, China had overtaken the United States, becoming Africa’s largest trading partner. In 2020, according to Johns Hopkins University, the value of China–Africa trade
totalled USD176 billion.
Chinese labour practices in six southern African countries
Institute For Security Studies
The Arab region is one of the most water scarce regions in the world with 19 States below the water scarcity threshold. This is further complicated by transboundary water resources, since two thirds of all water resources in the Arab region cross one or more borders. Other factors aggravating the water scarcity situation include pollution, inefficient use of water, high population growth rates and climate change and extreme weather events.Occupation and conflict further affect people’s ability to access water and sanitation services. More than half of the Arab states rely heavily on groundwater as the primary freshwater resource.
Groundwater in the Arab Region-ESCWA Water development Report
United Nations
Somalia’s constitution-making process has become a never-ending and an expensive project throughout the last two decades. The Transitional National Charter, which established the third republic in Djibouti in 2000, called for a new constitution. In 2004, the Transitional Federal Charter established a constitution-making process for the country. Somalia’s governments have established various committees: the Independent Federal Constitution Commission, the Committee of Experts, the Technical Committee, and the Technical Facilitation Committee.
Reading Of The Week: On Reviewing Somalias Provisional Constitution Background, Challenges, and Future Prospects
Heritage Institute
Tunisian youth’s limited participation in political life is nothing new. It dates back to before the January 2011 revolution. Tunisian youth did indeed play a major role in driving the revolution, whose main slogan was "Freedom, Dignity, and Employment”, but have reverted to political objection and aversion when it comes to participating in public affairs due to several factors. Party conflicts and the collapse of economic and social indexes have further widened the gap between Tunisian youth and their aspirations, and the directions and choices politicians made during the first decade of the democratic transition.
Youth participation in Tunisias elections Some possible solutions
Arab Reform Initiative
The seven member states of the East African Community (EAC) have agreed to deploy a regional force to the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). On 15 August, a Burundian contingent was the first to enter the DRC under EAC auspices. There is no firm timetable for the force’s full deployment. The DRC joined the EAC, a regional economic bloc, in late March. Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi used the occasion of the DRC’s accession to ask his counterparts for help in tackling the dozens of armed groups that have fought each other and the authorities in the eastern DRC for years.
East Africas DR Congo Force: The Case for Caution
International Crisis Group
Over the past decade, trade between the Republic of Korea (Korea) and Africa has been in decline, having peaked in 2011. This has mainly been on account of reduced Korean exports to Africa, although imports from the region have also declined, albeit by less. Meanwhile, Africa has begun implementing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), whose objective is to increase both intra-African trade and trade with the rest of the world.
Developments in Africas Free Trade Area-Opportunities for Korean Investors
South African Institute Of International Affairs
Social protection floors were a key policy and anti-poverty focus globally, even before the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic (UNDP, 2014). In line with the global push for social protection floors, low- and middle income countries have been creating and expanding cash transfer programs targeted to the poor.
Minimum and Living Wages in Jordan and Tunisia: Implications for Social Protection Floors
Economic Research Forum
The present report was prepared pursuant to General Assembly resolution 75/226. Following a brief introduction in section I, in section II of the report the latest global levels and trends in international migration are presented, and the contribution of migration to overall population change is analysed on the basis of the latest estimates and projections of the world population. In section III, the linkages between migration and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development are addressed.
International migration and development
UN General Assembly
It is hard for anyone who has not traveled extensively in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) over a period of decades to realize just how much each nation in the region has changed in terms of basic demographics. There has been a massive increase in population in every MENA country since the end of World War II and the colonial period, and the nations in the Arab/Persian Gulf are no exception.
Demographic Change in the Arab/Persian Gulf A case Study by Country
Center for Strategic & International Studies
In order to better define the magnitude and geographic prevalence of issues pertaining to environmental degradation, climate-induced migration, economic insecurity, developmental neglect, tribal conflict, criminal and political violence, and civic mistrust and unrest in southern Iraq, IOM and Social Inquiry designed this profiling of Basra, Thi-Qar, and Missan governorates to serve as go-to sources of evidence to shape further in-depth research, analysis, and advocacy on specific issues, geographical areas, and/or population groups and guide the design, monitoring, and evaluation of interventions and policies to best meet the needs of people in these fragile environments.
A climate of fragility household profiling in the south of iraq Basra, Thi-Qar and Missan
International Organization For Migration
Africa is quickly becoming the new data frontier in the face of continued increase in the deployment of digital technologies. A proportionate data governance ecosystem is, however, still lacking. The available governance ecosystem is characterised by a lack of relevant institutions or in most cases non-functional institutions for effective data governance implementation.
Reading Of The Week: Responsible Data Governance In Africa Institutional Gaps And Capacity Needs
Centre For The Study Of The Economies In Africa
L’exploitation forestière illégale est une caractéristique croissante de la criminalité transnationale organisée en Afrique, souvent facilitée par la collusion de hauts fonctionnaires, avec des répercussions considérables sur la sécurité et l’environnement des pays concernés.
Lexploitation forestière illégale en Afrique et ses implications en matière de sécurité
Centre Detudes Strategiques de Lafrique
Rabat’s recent announcement that it would soon sign an agreement for the construction of a “gigafactory” to make electric vehicle (EV) batteries has placed Morocco in pole position to become a green mobility leader in the Middle East and North Africa.
Moroccos green mobility revolution: The geo-economic factors driving its rise as an electric vehicle manufacturing hub
Middle East Institute
Two years ago, South Sudanese President Salva Kiir, his long-time rival Riek Machar, and other opposition leaders formed a transitional unity government. The formation of the unity government marked a significant step forward in the implementation of the 2018 revitalized peace agreement (R-ARCSS), which sought to end a brutal five-year civil war that has resulted in hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths. Despite this progress, the situation in South Sudan remains dire and unstable: civilians continue to face high levels of violence in some parts of the country; a projected 60 percent of people in South Sudan will face acute food insecurity in 2022
Implementation of Do No Harm by UN Peacekeepers in South Sudan
Center For Civilians In Conflict
NATO must prepare for climate change impacts in order to effectively preserve peace and security in the Euro-Atlantic region. The Alliance does not need to transform under the climate lens; it has substantive assets and capabilities, together with consultation and decision-making mechanisms, to lead the Allies as they confront climate disruptions, a security environment of climate-related instability, and new geostrategic competition.
Reading Of The Week: NATO and Climate Change A Climatized Perspective on Security
Harvard Kennedy School
This short paper explores the question: what is environmental degradation and what are its causes? It seems an obvious question, but it is not. The paper explores definitions of environmental degradation (and restoration), challenging simplistic perspectives centred on ‘carrying capacity’. Five explanations of the root causes of environmental degradation widely applied in policy debates and promoted by different actors are identified.
What is Environmental Degradation, What Are Its Causes, and How to Respond?
Institute of Development Studies
Scientists recently discovered a crater off the coast of Guinea. While it was not as impactful as the asteroid that killed off the dinosaurs 66 million years ago, its regional consequences would have been huge.
Horrible day for dinosaurs: Small asteroid hit off coast of Guinea, 66 million years ago
France24
The current study is an attempt to provide a linguistic, a historical, as well as a sociocultural record of the language variety spoken in Bashiqa (Northern Iraq) by one of the communities which represents a religious minority in Iraq known as Yazidis. This language is an example of an under-researched language diversity. This research draws on a sample of eleven in-depth semi-structured interviews with Yezidi men and women from Bashiqa, Iraq.
The Language of the People of Bashiqa: A Vehicle of their Intangible Cultural Heritage
Institute of Development Studies
This article investigates this question by focusing on the relation between religion and politics in Lebanon. The Lebanese democracy is embedded in the consociational constitution, which distributes executive power and parliamentary representation based on the size of the nation's 18 publicly recognized confessional communities (Henley 2016).
Radical Secularism and Worldview Dilemmas in Countering Sectarianism in Lebanon
Dansk Institut for Internationale Studier
The University of Haifa, and the National Security Studies Center hosted a discussion examining Gulf-Russia relations since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
How Has the Invasion of Ukraine Reshaped Russias Influence in the Middle East?
The Arab Gulf States Institute In Washington
Korea’s export trade with Africa declined during the 2010s, although growth in its shipping, locomotive and automotive exports in the early 2020s has been encouraging.
Developments in Africas Free Trade Area: Opportunities for Korean Investors
The South African Institute of International Affairs
This research aimed to assess the extent to which mental health and psycho-social support (MHPSS) was included in the national response to the COVID-19 pandemic in African countries, and explore barriers and enablers to MHPSS integration into the COVID-19 response. A mixed-methods study, using an online survey and in-depth interviews, was conducted. Participants included Mental Health Focal Points at the Ministries of Health, the World Health Organization (WHO) country and regional offices, and civil society representatives
Challenges and Opportunities for Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in the COVID-19 Response in Africa
Africa CDC
This Weekly Review discusses the implications of this extension and its proposed Roadmap. We argue that the government’s extension meets the first stage but fails short in the case of the last two for a valid amendment to be attained. We, however, contend that the Revitalized Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission’s (RJMEC) consent is only procedural, so skipping it does not render the changes invalid provided the parliament finally ratifies them.
Amending the South Sudans Revitalized Peace Agreement: The Implications of the Extension and its Roadmap
The Sudd Institute
Two studies of young women’s employment challenges in Ghana and Senegal conducted by ACET in 2020 map the barriers and enabling factors faced by young women in the world of work across three sectors: agriculture, tourism and hospitality, and business process outsourcing (BPO).
Reading Of The Week: Barriers to Young Womens Employment in the Future World of Work in Ghana & Senegal
African Center for Economical Transformation
At present, countries are in the process of re-evaluating and adapting their energy systems to meet various demands on multiple fronts. The global energy transition is occuring in the context of international efforts to achieve net zero CO2 emissions by mid-century.
The Role of Nuclear Energy in the Global Energy Transition
The Oxford Institute for Energy Studies
As sustainable development practitioners have worked to “ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all” and “conserve life on land and below water”, what progress has been made with win–win interventions that reduce human infectious disease burdens while advancing conservation goals? Using a systematic literature review, we identified 46 proposed solutions, which we then investigated individually using targeted literature reviews.
Evidence gaps and diversity among potential win win solutions for conservation and human infectious disease control
The Lancet Planetary Health
On July 23, 2022, the Iran-backed Houthi militia attacked the residential neighborhood of Zaid al-Moshki in Taiz, one of Yemen’s most populous cities, killing one child and injuring 11 others, most of whom were under the age of 10. The attack, which drew U.N. condemnation, was particularly troubling given the U.N.-brokered truce that went into effect on April 2.
Yemens Truce Has Failed in Taiz
Middle East Institute
For the past two decades, literature has been exploring the interconnection between conflicts and climate change. However, their link is still debated, the latter being commonly identified as a ‘threat multiplier’ on political, security and socioeconomic drivers for intrastate violence. Only a few literatures have yet examined specifically the interactions between climate change and terrorism, and even fewer have been applying them to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) context. Although ambiguous, there is a tangible nexus between the two phenomena, probable to broaden in the future as global warming will continue to increase, which is particularly relevant to explore in the MENA context.
Exploring the Climate-Terror Nexus in the MENA Region
Brussels International Center
Low-profile nuclear incidents have occurred in Africa over the years, but these have not always been made known to the public at the time.
The number of African states interested in nuclear energy is rising, making nuclear safety and security increasingly important considerations.
Nuclear accidents are not the only concern; there is also a risk of radioactive material falling into the wrong hands.
Safety and Security of Nuclear Facilities and Materials in Africa
The South African Institute of International Affairs
Approximately 20 million Kenyans are set to go to the polls to exercise their democratic right in the August 9,2022, general election. As is the case in several countries around the world, technology adoption is regarded in Kenya as an important way of improving the accountability and transparency of electoral processes that have previously been tainted by controversy and mistrust.
In Kenyas 2022 Elections, Technology and Data Protection Must Go Hand in Hand
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
The security and humanitarian crisis in the Sahel is staggering into its 10th year. A conflict that began with rebels and allied jihadist groups sweeping out of the desert into northern Mali in 2012 has transformed into a dizzyingly complex cross-border catastrophe hollowing out the heart of West Africa.
Finding a Path through Quagmire
Central for Strategic and International Studies
Exactly six months ahead of the UNFCCC COP27 summit hosted by Egypt and immediately following the UNCCD COP15 summit hosted by Côte d’Ivoire, the 25-27 May 2022 Ibrahim Governance Forum aimed to help inform and articulate Africa’s position in the global debate around climate change.
Reading of the Week: The Road to COP27: Making Africas Case in the Global Climate Debate
Mo Ibrahim Foundation
Food prices have reached an all-time high in the Spring and Summer of 2022 because of the war in Ukraine, and farmers around the globe are facing substantially increasing fertilizer prices. These effects are not distributed evenly, with the Middle East, North Africa and the Horn of Africa suffering the most from the fall in grain exports from Ukraine.
Global Food Insecurity Due to the War in Ukraine
Netherlands Institute of International Relations
The Russian invasion of Ukraine marks a historical turning point for the European Union’s security and energy policy. Long-held policy tenets are quickly being reversed, and a new European energy map is being redesigned at speed. Amid this unprecedented energy overhaul, the EU and the United States have fl agged their commitment to reinforce their bilateral energy partnership, starting with short-term measures to boost US liquefi ed natural gas (LNG) supplies to Europe to promptly replace part of Russian gas imports.
A Transatlantic Energy and Climate Pact Is Now More Necessary Than Ever
Bruegel's Weekly Newsletter
Against the backdrop of a catastrophic and seemingly endless downward spiral that began in 2019, a paralysing political stalemate has once again gripped Lebanon.
Lebanons Perennial Limbo: A Paralysed System Teetering on the Brink
Istituto Affari Internazionali
The resumed employment of workers from the Gaza Strip in Israel over the last few years – after the suspension following the disengagement in 2005 – was intended to further the relative security calm and restrain Hamas from escalation. After the COVID-19 pandemic ebbed in October 2021, the income of Gazans entering Israel for work grew by more than six-fold, yet approximately one third of these workers paid for entry permits to Israel.
Gazan Workers in Israel: Implications for Employment Regulations
Institute for National Security Studies
In August 2020, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Israel signed the landmark Abraham Accords and agreed to cooperate in fields ranging from economics to security and healthcare. Afterward, Sudan and Morocco also signed peace treaties, joining Egypt (since 1979), Jordan (since 1994), and Mauritania (since 1999) in officially recognizing the Jewish state.
Can the Abraham Accords Succeed Exploring Arab Support for Normalization with Israel
Wilson Center
In July 29, 2022, the IMF Executive Board concluded the Article IV consultation with the Republic of South Sudan, and the Management extended the StaffMonitored Program (SMP), which will allow the authorities to deliver on the remaining structural benchmarks. Accordingly, the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS) has enabled the country to focus on its broader strategy to strengthen economic institutions and reengage the international community, including the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, among others.
It takes a Village to Raise a Child: South Sudans Reengagement Strategy with Key International Financial Institutions
The Sudd Institute
Today, the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) is releasing a "Migration Drivers Report" for Egypt, as a Country of Origin of applicants for international protection in Europe.The report provides up-to-date information on asylum-related migration to the EU and based on open-sources information, analyses push-pull and other enabling factors; as well as offers a forward-looking analysis to identify potential events that may impact these trends. The reference period is March 2022 to June 2022.
Migration Drivers Report: Egypt as a Country of Origin
European Union Agency for Asylum
Against a backdrop of increasing scientific concern and public awareness about the climate crisis, UNDP set out to review if policymakers were keeping the promises they made in 2019 when the global state of climate ambition was assessed with UNFCCC in the first NDC Global Outlook report, The Heat is On. We were curious. Is the Paris Agreement working?
And if yes, then who is doing the work? Which countries are leading the way on ambition – and which ones are falling behind?
Reading Of The Week: The State of Climate Ambition
United Nations Development Programme
The EU’s announced ban on Russian oil imports is a strong political measure that will heavily impact international energy markets, restricting the supply of 4.1 million barrels per day (mbd) of oil and derivates to a market which is a net importer of 10.72 mbd.
The De-Globalisation of Oil Risks and Implications from the Politicisation of Energy Markets
Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI)
Solar PV is a crucial pillar of clean energy transitions worldwide, underpinning efforts to reach international energy and climate goals. Over the last decade, the amount of solar PV deployed around the world has increased massively while its costs have declined drastically.
Special Report on Solar PV Global Supply Chains
International Energy Agency
Over the past three decades, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has undergone a geopolitical transformation, punctuated by a series of critical junctures: the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990-1991, the American and NATO operations in Afghanistan the following decade, the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the Arab uprisings of 2011. These regional geopolitical shifts – often dictated by domestic drivers – have been accompanied by global geostrategic changes. As a result, the Gulf sub-region, encompassing Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, Iraq, Yemen, and Iran, has emerged as the new center of gravity in the MENA region.
The unrealized potential of cooperative security in the Arab Gulf
NATO Defense College Policy Brief
Iraq's current institutions offer no enforceable compromise between consensus rule and majority rule. The popularity of Sadr's current farming shows that many Iraqis oppose the consensus system. With no path to compromise, violence between these two groups is difficult to avoid.
Iraq must compromise between majoritarianism and consensus government formation
Al Jazeera
Kenya’s election season is now in its final stretch. On August 9, 2022, voters across the country and members of the diaspora will head to the polls for another general election. Nationally, two front-runners—Deputy President William Ruto and long-time opposition leader Raila Odinga—are facing off in a contentious race to succeed outgoing President Uhuru Kenyatta, who is completing his second and final term in office. This election cycle comes at a time of significant economic discontent, with many Kenyans concerned about rising costs of living, public debt, and pervasive corruption. Given that Kenyatta is not up for reelection and that the country’s ruling coalition has splintered, Kenya will see a leadership change no matter what the outcome is.
The Specter of Politics as Usual in Kenyas 2022 Election
Carnegie Endowment For International peace
As the frequency of natural disasters and civil conflicts spikes globally, rapid response systems, the likes of early warning systems facilitating rapid intervention, assume prominence (Smith & Frankenberger, 2018). While such interventions alleviate crises, they seldom address the underlying vulnerability. Occasionally, the short-term interventions generate serial dependence of individuals and households on aid and handouts (Alinovi et al., 2008; Bene et al., 2016). Some of these concerns motivate the recent calls for the resilience approach to development, whereby building resilience capacity becomes a primary concern of development planning and emergency interventions (Tendall et al., 2015).
The Boko Haram Conflict and Food Insecurity: Does Resilience Capacity Matter?
Center For The Studies of African Economies (CSAE)
The role of the Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) in the process of job creation and formalization of the informal economy has been understudied. This policy study aims to examine the issue of widespread youth employment in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and the mismatch between labor supply and demand to promote the creation of start-up businesses to formalize these enterprises.
Reading of the Week: Assessing the Job Creation Potential of the Social economy in the MENA Region
EUROMESCO
In comparison with other regions, such as Asia and Europe, Africa’s participation in the digital economy is relatively limited. However, the growing demand for e-commerce, combined with pandemic-related restrictions, has highlighted the significance of digitalization for the African continent. Perhaps more importantly, the pandemic has brought to light the deep digital divide that exists between developed and developing countries.
African Participation in WTO E-Commerce Negotiations: Policy Positions and Development Issues
The South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA)
The consequences of the ongoing war in Ukraine continue to be a key topic of interest and concern for politicians, international organizations, journalists, and researchers. Following the decision of the European Union (EU) to significantly reduce its reliance on Russian gas supplies, as formulated in its REPowerEU plan, EU member states have been seeking non-Russian sources of gas imports in an attempt to secure additional and\or new gas supplies. Africa’s natural gas reserve holders are among
the first countries under consideration.
African gas supplies to Europe: between hopes and hard realities
The Oxford Institute for Energy Studies
The launch of UAVs by Hezbollah toward the Karish gas field was intended to convey a twofold message – to Israel and to the Lebanese – against the backdrop of Israel’s determination to continue production from this field and the renewed diplomatic effort initiated by Lebanon to resolve the maritime border dispute between the countries.
Resolving the Gas Dispute with Lebanon: First Exhaust Diplomatic Efforts
The Institute for National Security Studies (INSS)
We have been hearing about transitions in the Middle East for years now. There was the hoped-for democratic transition, which has been a bust. There is an energy transition looming. There is, arguably, a water transition afoot as aquifer depletion, surface-water exhaustion, and climate change all combine to make a mostly arid region profoundly more so. But an equally profound transition may be one few are talking about: a labor transition that may reorder the economics, politics, and society of the entire Middle East, from Casablanca to Tehran.
The Middle East Transition We Need to Talk About
Center for Strategic and International Studies
For decades prior to the ongoing conflict, Yemen had been vulnerable to recurring budget deficits due to a lack of meaningful fiscal reform, high recurrent expenditures – mainly public sector salaries and fuel subsidies – and an overdependence on oil revenues. While foreign debt obligations remained low, the debt market was poorly diversified, with treasury bill holders narrowly concentrated within the banking sector and government bonds held almost exclusively by public pension funds.
Addressing the Crushing Weight of Yemens Public Debt
SANAA Center for Strategic Studies
Generally, Somali women have been under-represented at all levels of government administration since the Somali Republic was established in 1960. In 2012, As Somalia ended the transition period, women were promised 30% representation in all sectors of government. Yet this remains a gentlemen’s agreement and the gender quota remains excluded from the provisional constitution. This lack of incorporation of the gender quota is reflected in the uneven representation of women in parliament in the last three indirect elections, in 2012 (14% representation); 2016 (24% representation), and 2021/22 (20% representation).
Women and Politics: Overcoming Barries of Political Representation in Somalia
Heritage Institute
The Republic of Mozambique (Mozambique for short) suffered over 25 years or so of the war, first to achieve independence from Portugal in 1975, then from the civil war raging between Frelimo and Renamo until 1992. The country was in ruins when peace was finally signed. Peace enabled over two decades (1992-2015) of high growth averaging 8% per year. During this period, Mozambique was considered a development success. Unfortunately, the hidden debt of U.S. $ 1.4 billion (equivalent to 10% of GDP) revealed in April 2016 plunged Mozambique into a crisis, just when there was a downturn in commodity prices and a regional drought.
Implications of Food Systems for Food Security: The Case of the Republic of Mozambique
Policy Brief
The potential for intra-African digital trade and e-commerce remains constrained by traditional restrictions such as logistical challenges, limited internet penetration and access to financial systems and those related to the management and governance of data.
The AfCFTA: unlocking the potential of the digital economy in Africa
Overseas Development Institute (ODI)