Month: November 2022

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has published the first report on the state of the world’s water resources , assessing the effects of climate, environmental and social change on the Earth’s water resources. . The objective of this annual balance sheet is to support the monitoring and management of the world’s freshwater resources at a time characterized by increasing demand and limited supply.

The report provides a summary of the river flow, as well as the main floods and droughts. Perspectives are offered on hotspots in terms of changes in freshwater storage, while highlighting the essential role and vulnerability of the cryosphere (snow and ice).

The report notes that drier-than-normal conditions were recorded across large areas of the planet in 2021, a year in which rainfall distribution was influenced by climate change and a La Niña episode. The area with below-mean stream flow was approximately twice as large as the area above the mean, compared to the 30-year hydrologic mean.

“The impacts of climate change tend to manifest themselves through water, with more intense and frequent droughts, more extreme floods, more irregular seasonal rains and the acceleration of the melting of glaciers, and generate cascading effects on economies, ecosystems and all aspects of our daily lives. However, insufficient knowledge is available on changes in the distribution, quantity and quality of freshwater resources,” said WMO Secretary-General Professor Petteri Taalas.

“The State of the World’s Water Resources report aims to fill this knowledge gap and provide a concise overview of water availability in different parts of the world. These data will guide investments in climate-linked mitigation and adaptation activities, as well as the United Nations campaign to focus on providing universal access within the next five years to early warnings of hazards such as floods and droughts.” added Professor Taalas.

Currently, 3.6 billion people have inadequate access to water for at least one month of the year, and this number is projected to increase to more than 5 billion by 2050. Between 2001 and 2018, UN-Water gave to know that 74% of all natural disasters were related to water. At the recent United Nations climate change conference (27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change), governments were urged to further integrate water into adaptation initiatives, which It marks the first time that water has been referred to in an outcome document of a Conference of the Parties in recognition of its critical importance.

In the first edition of the report, river flow is examined, that is, the volume of water that flows through a river channel at a given time. Likewise, terrestrial water storage is evaluated, that is, all the water found on the terrestrial surface and subsurface and the cryosphere (frozen water).

The information and supplementary maps are based primarily on modeled data (for maximum geographic coverage) as well as remotely sensed information from the Gravity Recovery Experiment and Climate (GRACE) land-based water storage mission. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Model results were validated against observed data, where available.

In the report, the lack of verified and accessible hydrological data is emphasized. The WMO Unified Data Policy seeks to accelerate the availability and sharing of hydrological data, including information on river flows and transboundary river basins.

River flow

Drier-than-normal conditions were recorded in 2021 over large areas of the globe, compared to the average 30-year reference hydrological period.

Among them, it is worth mentioning the Río de la Plata area in South America, where a persistent drought has affected the region since 2019, the south and southeast of the Amazon, and some basins in North America, for example, the of the Colorado, Missouri, and Mississippi rivers.

In Africa, some rivers, including the Niger, Volta, Nile, and Congo, had lower-than-normal flows in 2021. Also, some rivers in parts of Russia, western Siberia, and Central Asia had below-average flows. in 2021.

Higher-than-normal river flows were observed in some basins in North America, northern Amazonia, and southern Africa (Zambezi and Orange), as well as in China (the Amur River basin) and northern India.

Approximately one third of the areas analyzed corresponded to the 30-year average.

Major floods with many casualties have been reported, for example, in China (Henan Province), northern India, western Europe and tropical cyclone-affected countries such as Mozambique, the Philippines and Indonesia.

Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia have faced several consecutive years of below-average rainfall that have caused a regional drought.

Source: World Meteorological Organization

According to the analysis prepared by the United Nations ahead of the commemoration of World AIDS Day, it is inequalities that are preventing the end of AIDS. On current trends, the world will be unable to meet the agreed global targets on AIDS. In this sense, the new UNAIDS report, Dangerous Inequalities, insists on a series of urgent actions to address the inequalities that can jump-start the AIDS response.

Earlier this year UNAIDS already warned that the response to AIDS is in danger as a result of the increase in the number of new infections and the continuing deaths in many parts of the world. Now a new UNAIDS report brings to light the underlying reason: the world’s inequalities. This report presents world leaders as protagonists to end inequalities and asks them to be courageous to carry out what the tests themselves are asking of us.

Dangerous Inequalities reveals the impact on the AIDS response of gender inequalities, inequalities faced by key populations, and inequalities between children and adults. Furthermore, it highlights how worsening financial constraints now make it more difficult to address these inequalities.

The report also shows how gender inequalities and harmful gender norms are slowing down the end of the AIDS pandemic.

“The world will never be able to defeat AIDS if we continue to reinforce patriarchy,” said Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS. «We have to face all these inequalities of which women are victims. In areas with a high burden of HIV, women subjected to intimate partner violence face a 50% higher chance of contracting HIV. In 33 countries between 2015 and 2021, only 41% of married women aged 15-24 could make their own sexual health decisions. In this context, the only effective roadmap to end AIDS, achieve the sustainable development goals and ensure health, rights and shared prosperity is a feminist roadmap. Women’s rights organizations and movements are already on the front lines doing this bold work. Leaders need us to support them and learn from them.”

The effects of gender inequalities on women’s HIV risks are especially pronounced in sub-Saharan Africa, where women accounted for 63% of new HIV infections in 2021.

In sub-Saharan Africa, adolescent girls and young women (ages 15-24) are three times more likely to contract HIV than adolescents and young men in the same age group. The determining factor is strength. According to one study, allowing girls to stay in school until they complete secondary education reduces their vulnerability to HIV infection by up to 50%. When this is reinforced with a training support package, the risks for girls are further reduced. Leaders must ensure that all girls can attend school and are safe from violence, often normalized even through child marriages, and that an economic path is opened for them to enjoy a hopeful path.

By disrupting power dynamics, policies can reduce girls’ vulnerability to HIV.

Harmful masculinities discourage men from seeking medical care. In 2021, while 80% of women living with HIV were accessing treatment, only 70% of men were on treatment. Precisely for this reason, to stop the advance of the pandemic, it is essential to increase gender-transformative programs in many parts of the world. Advancing gender equality will benefit us all.

The report shows that the AIDS response is being held back by inequalities in access to treatment between adults and children. While more than three quarters of adults living with HIV are on antiretroviral treatment, just over half of children living with HIV are receiving life-saving treatment. And this has had deadly consequences. In 2021, children represented 4% of all people living with HIV, although they alone accounted for 15% of all AIDS-related deaths. Clearly closing the treatment gap for children will save lives.

Discrimination, stigma and criminalization of key population groups are costing lives and preventing the world from reaching agreed AIDS targets.

The new analyzes do not show a significant decline in new infections among gay men and other men who have sex with men in the West and Central African regions, and in the Eastern and Southern African regions. Failing to make progress in key population groups in the face of an infectious virus undermines the entire AIDS response and helps explain the slowdown in progress.

Worldwide, more than 68 countries still criminalize same-sex sexual relations. Another analysis echoed in the report underscores that gay men and other men who have sex with men living in African countries with the most repressive laws are more than three times less likely to know their HIV status than their counterparts living in countries with the least repressive laws, where progress moves much faster. Sex workers living in countries where sex work is criminalized are seven times more likely to be living with HIV than those from countries where sex work is legal or partially legal.

The report shows us that progress is indeed possible to end inequalities, and highlights areas where the AIDS response has already made notable progress. For example, while surveys among key populations often reveal lower service coverage among them, three counties in Kenya have achieved higher HIV treatment coverage among sex workers than among the general population of women. (between 15 and 49 years old). This has been supported by a strong HIV program over many years, including, among other things, community-led services.

“We know what we have to do to end inequalities,” said Ms Byanyima. “We have to make sure that all our girls can go to school, are safe and strong. We must address issues related to gender violence. We have to give our support to women’s organizations. Foster healthy masculinities: replace harmful behaviors that exacerbate risks for all. Ensure that services for children living with HIV reach them and meet their needs, in order to close the treatment gap so that we end childhood AIDS for good. Decriminalize people in same-sex relationships, sex workers and drug users,

The new report reflects that donor funding is helping to catalyze increased domestic funding: increases in external HIV funding for PEPFAR and Global Fund countries during 2018-2021 were correlated with increases in domestic funding from most national governments. New investment is urgently needed to address HIV-related inequalities. Just when international solidarity and the need for financing are needed more than ever, too many rich countries have decided to cut aid for global health. In 2021, the funding available for HIV programs in low- and middle-income countries was reduced by US$8 billion.

Budgets must prioritize the health and well-being of all people, especially vulnerable populations most affected by HIV-related inequalities. There is a need to expand the fiscal space for health investments in low- and middle-income countries, including through substantial debt cancellation and progressive taxation. Ending AIDS is much less expensive than not ending AIDS.

In 2021, 650,000 people lost their lives due to AIDS and 1.5 million new HIV infections were recorded.

“It is self-evident what world leaders have to do, there is no question about it,” said Ms Byanyima. «In a single word: Match. Equal access to rights, equal access to services, equal access to the best science and the best medicine. By matching, we won’t just be helping the marginalized. We will be helping everyone.”

Source: UNAIDS

N’DJAMENA – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, warned today of an imminent cut to food assistance to crisis-affected refugees in Chad unless urgent funding to bridge major funding shortfalls is received imminently.

WFP requires US$161 million by the end of 2022 to avert a suspension of its refugee assistance programme and provide life-saving assistance to crisis-affected communities in Chad including 519,000 Sudanese and Central African refugees.

Refugee communities in Chad already face severe malnutrition levels, with some areas seeing acute malnutrition rates of over 19% and chronic malnutrition rates of 42% – a situation expected to worsen without additional funding that could stem the food aid cuts.

Starting in June 2021, WFP was forced to provide half rations to refugees and other groups due to major funding shortages. WFP and UNHCR are concerned that any further suspension of food assistance will have a severe impact on the food security, nutrition, and protection of refugee communities – especially the most vulnerable – including children being pulled out of school, forced to work, or forced into marriage.

” Refugees count on us for what is sometimes the only meal they eat in a day – WFP’s food is a vital lifeline. Cutting this lifeline now will have devastating consequences on the most vulnerable, especially women, girls and children – we’re extremely concerned,” said WFP Country Director and Representative in Chad, Pierre Honnorat.

While WFP and UNHCR continue working with the Government of Chad and partners to find lasting solutions, refugees are largely dependent on humanitarian assistance due to limited access to fertile land and livelihood opportunities. This year, refugees and host communities have also been hard-hit by unprecedented flooding and spiralling food costs.

“We have received reports of an increase of malnourished children admitted in health centres, and have witnessed less children than usual attending school when compared to last year, as they are sent to the fields or towns to work,” said UNHCR Chad Representative Laura Lo Castro during a joint visit with WFP to assess the situation of Central African refugees in southern Chad, 40% of whom have arrived in the past three years and face a particularly worrisome situation. “Food aid is critical to save lives in the short term, but also to safeguard ongoing and future resilience programmes.”

Chad hosts 577,000 refugees, more than any other country in West and Central Africa. The refugee population has increased by 10 percent in the past year and is mainly comprised of people who fled political instability, social unrest, and insecurity in neighbouring Cameroon, Central African Republic, Nigeria, and Sudan.

Source: World Food Programme