Moscow -- The Government of Russia will be making a $10 million contribution towards UNDP programmes which support efforts to mitigate and prevent the negative effects of climate change in developing countries.

The announcement was made just a few days ahead of the signing of the Paris Climate Agreement and during the first annual Consultation Meeting on the partnership implementation between UNDP and the Russian Federation in Moscow this week.

Co-chaired by Cihan Sultanoğlu, UN Assistant Secretary-General and Director of UNDP’s Regional Bureau for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), and Gennady Gatilov, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, the meeting involved senior officials of Russian ministries, and representatives from business associations.

The announcement follows the establishment of the Russia-UNDP Trust Fund in June 2015, which launched with initial funding of $25 million, in support of UNDP projects in CIS countries and beyond.

In total, since 2010, Russia has allocated over $40 million towards UNDP projects in Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Serbia and Tajikistan, with a portion allocated to UNDP’s work in the context of humanitarian appeals in countries such as Syria, the Philippines, Cuba and Vanuatu.

The partnership focuses on the implementation of Agenda 2030, cooperation with programme countries, leveraging Russian knowledge and expertise internationally and promoting a skilled cadre of Russia’s professionals into the growing international development community.

“Russia values the cooperation with UNDP as an important contribution for the successful implementation of the state’s policy in international development assistance,” said Mr. Gatilov in his opening remarks at the consultations. “Our strategic cooperation focuses on support in building expertise in neighboring countries to accelerate momentum towards the SDGs”.

UNDP expressed its appreciation for the newly announced funding, designed to help “mitigate the negative effects of climate change”, according to a Russian Government Decree of April, 2016.

Speaking of the partnership, Ms. Sultanoglu said: “Russia is making a unique contribution towards supporting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in countries in Europe, the CIS and beyond. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the area of climate change, which happens to be among the most urgent and central development challenges of our time”.

This strategic contribution will strengthen Russia’s leadership and commitment in the follow-up to the UN Framework for Climate Change Conference of Parties, held in Paris in December 2015.

Contact Information

For more information, please contact Alexander Averchenkov, Russia-UNDP Trust Fund Manager, at alexander.averchenkov@undp.org

Rome, Italy | AFP | Sunday 5/1/2016 - 16:55 GMT

Fifteen migrants are missing after their boat sank on Friday, the second shipwreck that day in the Mediterranean, bringing the number of lives lost to almost 100, the UN said Sunday.

A boat carrying around 120 people had sunk early Friday, four hours after leaving Libya for Italy, UN refugee agency (UNHCR) spokeswoman Carlotta Sami told AFP, adding that "some 15 persons went missing".

Among the missing were four Nigerians, two people from the Ivory Coast, three from Guinea, two from Sudan and one from Mali, she said.

Survivors were being disembarked in Pozzallo, Sicily, she said, adding that eight people had been taken straight to hospital "due to their serious health conditions," and that two bodies had also been disembarked.

The news came a day after the International Organization for Migration said that only 26 people were rescued from an inflatable boat carrying around 110 migrants when it sank off Libya in a separate shipwreck Friday.

Sami said Sunday that 27 people, including four women, were rescued from that boat sinking.

Survivors had provided harrowing accounts of the tragedy, both UNHCR and IOM said.

"Due to the very bad conditions of the sea, some two hours after the departure the small boat started to take on water," just a few miles off shore, Sami said in an email.

• Boat broke in two -

IOM spokesman in Italy, Flavio Di Giacomo, told AFP Saturday that the vessel had been "in a very bad state, was taking on water and many people fell into the water and drowned."

The boat in the end broke into two parts throwing all the passengers into the waves, Sami said.

Rough seas and waves topping two metres (seven feet) hampered attempts to find any other survivors.

Sami said the health conditions of several of the survivors were "reportedly serious."

"Survivors say they lost relatives and friends during the shipwreck," she said.

The first hint of the tragedy came early Saturday, when Italy's coastguard said an Italian cargo ship had rescued 26 migrants from a flimsy boat sinking off the coast of Libya but voiced fears that dozens more could be missing.

The coastguard received a call from a satellite phone late Friday that helped locate the stricken inflatable and called on the merchant ship to make a detour to the area about four miles (seven kilometres) off the Libyan coast near Sabratha.

The migrants rescued were transferred to two coastguard vessel and taken to the Italian island of Lampedusa.

Images released by the coastguard showed two women wrapped in shawls and blankets stepping off one of their vessels.

Giacomo said five unaccompanied minors aged between 16 and 17 were among those rescued.

More than 350,000 people fleeing conflict and poverty have reached Italy on boats from Libya since the start of 2014, as Europe struggles to manage its biggest migration crisis since World War II.

The Red Cross also voiced alarm at Friday's tragic boat sinkings, warning that more were likely to come.

"As warmer weather and calmer seas approach, we can expect more people to attempt this crossing," said Simon Missiri, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies regional director for Europe.

"We must work together to focus on providing safe routes for people fleeing their homes and seeking sanctuary," he said in a statement.

More than 1,260 people have already died or gone missing trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe this year, according to UNHCR numbers.

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DS ROUNDTABLE ADOPTS ‘THE CLIMATE LAND STATMEMENT’

After two intensive days of discussion, the DS-hosted Roundtable on Improving Land Access for Climate Displaced Persons and Communities adopted THE CLIMATE LAND STATEMENT. The brief statement, agreed by consensus, outlines seven steps that should be pursued by all States, UN agencies and others to protect the rights of climate displaced persons and communities throughout the international community. Among other things, the Statement affirms the central role of land in resolving climate displacement, as well as urging authorities to assemble national land inventories for land to be allocated to those in need of new homes and lands. The full text of the Statement is available here: 2016 DS The Climate Land Statement FINAL.

Sources & Disclaimer:

Reported figures are estimates by UNHCR on daily arrivals from each country from one or more borders. UNHCR estimates are based on the most reliable information available per country, including information from UNHCR border teams, authorities, and humanitarian partners.

Daily arrivals figures to each country cannot be added, as the largest majority of refugees going through the mentioned countries are the same who arrived through the Mediterranean to Greece. However, the arrivals to Serbia from Bulgaria represent mostly land arrivals (not through the Mediterranean Sea).

These estimates cannot be considered final and might change. Estimates are sometimes corrected on following days, and the representation of past days can be visualized by scrolling over the timeline on UNHCR Web Portal: data.unhcr.org/mediterranean.

STATISTICS AND HIGHLIGHTS

• UNHCR and partners learned of 127 irregular arrivals: 110 from fYR Macedonia and 17 from Bulgaria.

• Over the reporting period between 230 and 280 asylum seekers were waiting their admission into Hungarian “transit zones”. 115 departed by accessing Hungarian asylum procedures.

• The permission for HCIT to access asylum seekers at the Hungarian border in Kelebija and Horgos remains pending the approval from the authorities.

• 49 (39 on 26/04 and 10 on 27/04) persons expressed intent to seek asylum, bringing the total in April 2016 to 503 and for the whole of 2016 to 2,444 (statistics courtesy of the Ministry of Interior).

SOUTH

50 refugees remain accommodated at the Reception Centre (RC) in Presevo. Five left the RC towards the North while ten arrived irregularly from fYR Macedonia. The UNICEF/DRC/CSW child friendly space/mother and baby corner hosted nine children and six women. The UNHCR-supported Public Health and the Natan/Humedica clinic treated 39 patients during the two days.

On 27 April, Minister of Labour Mr. Vulin, UNHCR and DRC inaugurated the rehabilitation of the 3rd phase of the Tobacco Factory in order to improve conditions for reception, accommodation and safety within the RC.

BELGRADE

UNHCR and partners assisted between 200 and 270 refugees, asylum-seekers and migrants in the city. They were mostly from Afghanistan and Pakistan, with few from Syria. The Asylum Info Centre facilitated in various referrals, including access asylum procedures to recent irregular arrivals from fYR Macedonia and Bulgaria. UNHCR/DRC doctors treated 48 patients while MSF and Divac Foundation assisted them with food and other aid. Refugee Aid Miksaliste facilities were demolished with a 48 hours information from the authorities. Up to 90 were present at night in the parks near the bus and train station.

WEST

33 refugees remain hosted in the Refugees Aid Points (RAPs) in the West: 10 in Adasevci and 23 in Sid. One Iranian departed under the IOM’s Assisted Voluntary Return (AVR) programme while five men left towards the Hungarian border. CRS/Divac Foundation continued to provide hot lunches and OM hot tea. The BCM/Sid Health Centre at Adasevci treated two refugees and WAHA 17 in Sid.

NORTH

Between 230 and 280 asylum seekers, including many women and children, waited outside the two “transit zones” in Kelebija and Horgos border crossings or were located nearby Subotica. Some arrived from Sid/Adasevci and Presevo but many were also recent irregular arrivals from fYR Macedonia and Bulgaria.

Weekly trends can fluctuate due to security conditions in the region, the political climate in Niger and neighbouring countries, presence of migrants at the flow monitoring points and availability of transport and opportunities. For more detailed analysis see the flow monitoring survey reports.

by Youssef Mahmoud

As the preparations for the May 2016 United Nations General Assembly’s high-level debate on peace and security intensify, prevention seems to be on everyone’s lips. The three 2015 UN global peace and security reviews that frame the debate have conveyed a common message: that the political instruments, tools, and mechanisms the world body deploys to address violent conflict all attest to the failure of early prevention. All three reports, not surprisingly, recommended a greater focus on prevention. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in his follow-on report on the recommendations of one of these reviews, by the High Level Independent Panel on Peace Operations (HIPPO), wholeheartedly endorsed this.

The skeptics among political observers and those who have followed UN reforms over the years should not be blamed for asking, “So, what’s new?” This is not the first time that the UN and its member states, coming to grips with the woeful shortcomings of their responses to old and emerging global threats, have rediscovered the virtues of prevention. Nothing concentrates the mind more than imminent crisis and once that danger dissipates so does the political will needed, they would argue, to make prevention the first port of call before the outbreak of violence.

To prove these skeptics wrong, it is necessary to find ways to help move the prevention discourse from rhetoric to action and to help member states deliver on their commitment to make prevention truly the core function of the UN.

At least two inter-related strategies and conversations are needed. The first is to fully appreciate the policy, programmatic, and financial implications of this renewed focus on prevention, particularly as seen through the lens of the “sustaining peace” concept which was a common theme across the three reviews. The second is to mobilize the leadership and leverage the capacity of the UN system in support of member states who have decided to make prevention an integral part of good governance and sustainable development.

Reframing Prevention Through the Lens of Positive Peace

One way of stimulating early action on prevention, as suggested by policymakers and practitioners, would be to focus on the factors that are associated with positive, inclusive peace rather than solely on the causes that feed violent conflict. For the Institute for Economics and Peace, positive peace, as first advocated in the 1960s by Norwegian scholar Johan Galtung, is the outcome of work focusing on fostering the attitudes, institutions, and structures that create and sustain peaceful societies. A well-functioning government, equitable distribution of resources, free flow of information, and acceptance of the rights of others are among the pillars on which peaceful societies rest, the Institute contends. Central to the positive peace discourse is inclusiveness and equality in the way power is exercised and resources are shared.

One of the main reasons positive peace is judged as a better strategy for moving the prevention agenda forward is its universal applicability and the fact that it is not confined to conflict-ridden countries. More importantly, it calls on the responsibility of all the world’s citizens to act as its proactive agents.

With different emphasis, other frameworks and legal instruments have strived to promote a similar shift. One of these is the_ African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance_, which became legally binding in 2012. One of the aims of the Charter is to promote and strengthen good governance through the institutionalization of transparency, accountability, and participatory democracy. Another is the UN Development Programme’s Governance for Peace strategy on creating inclusive institutions and resilient society to secure the social contract between state and citizens.

Although many of these policy or normative frameworks have encountered implementation challenges, a number of national governments have drawn on them in order to initiate reforms, which, in addition to their intrinsic political, social, and economic objectives, have explicitly integrated prevention as an added value.

This shift from conflict prevention to building positive peace through the promotion of inclusive and accountable governance has not escaped the attention of development practitioners and government officials who negotiated the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The preamble of the Agenda includes peace as one of the five key critical areas for stimulating action towards sustainable development in the next 15 years. It states, “We are determined to foster peaceful, just and inclusive societies which are free from fear and violence. There can be no sustainable development without peace and no peace without sustainable development.” Goal 16 is often cited as epitomizing the letter and spirit of the preamble.

In his reportAgenda for Humanity, prepared for the May 2016 Humanitarian Summit, the Secretary-General called on global leaders to commit to five core responsibilities. First and foremost among them is the prevention of conflicts and finding political solutions to resolve them. Addressing early on the root causes of organized violence features prominently in another report of the Secretary-General on the prevention of violent extremism. “Oppression, corruption, and injustice are greenhouses for resentment. Extremists are adept at cultivating alienation,” Ban said in presenting the report to the General Assembly in January of this year. “That is why,” he added,” I have been urging leaders to work harder to build inclusive institutions that are truly accountable to people.”

Prevention and Sustaining Peace

In the finalized draft resolution on the UN’s peacebuilding architecture, expected to be formally adopted later this month by the Security Council and the General Assembly, “sustaining peace” was adopted as the overarching framework for guiding national and international peacebuilding and prevention efforts. In the agreed draft, sustaining peace as a process and a goal is defined as encompassing, among other things, activities aimed at preventing the outbreak, escalation, continuation, and recurrence of conflict. “Prevention,” it says, “is a shared task and responsibility that needs to be fulfilled by the government and all other national stakeholders, and should flow through the political, developmental and human rights pillars of United Nations engagement at all stages of conflict, and in all its dimensions.” Inclusive dialogue, mediation, accountable institutions, good governance, access to justice, and gender equality were cited among the positive measures which, if enacted, would sustain peace.

Against this background, it is no wonder that the clarion call of prevention is heard everywhere, inside and outside UN corridors. The question now is how best to capitalize on this wealth of thinking and convergence in order to attempt once again to move the prevention agenda from rhetoric to action.

Leveraging the Leadership and Capacity of the UN System for Prevention

Beyond peace operations, the UN system has developed over the years an impressive array of tools for engaging member states, at their request or at the initiative of the secretary-general, in activities aimed at addressing emerging or incipient conflict. These activities range from good offices to preventive diplomacy and mediation, to a discrete facilitating role carried out by UN regional political offices, to targeted governance reforms and development projects, implemented by UN Country Teams, with the support of the Peace and Development Advisor network.

As the UN gears up for the selection of a new secretary-general, a number of actions could be envisaged to maintain the momentum for prevention generated by the three global policy reviews, by the various recent reports, and by the agreed draft resolution on the peacebuilding architecture, mentioned above.

One of the actions that could be contemplated would be for the new secretary-general, jointly with the president of the General Assembly and the Peacebuilding Commission chair, to launch, within six months of his or her new mandate, a high-level forum on prevention. The idea of the forum was recommended by the HIPPO report, but attracted little attention by Secretary-General Ban in his follow-on report. The primary purpose of this forum would be to develop a shared and practical understanding of the “sustaining peace” concept, and the values underpinning it. A secondary purpose would be to serve as a platform for member states, regional organizations, civil society, and the global business community to showcase innovative approaches (for example, infrastructures for peace, job creation programs, and social entrepreneurship) and experiences to promote prevention not only as a conflict mitigation imperative, but also as a cross-cutting, political, governance, and development dimension for building and sustaining positive peace. The forum would also allow members of the UN system to reflect on how to work together differently across some of the entrenched divides, in order to serve the intents and purposes of sustaining peace and prevention and help member states deliver on their 2030 Agenda commitments. The outcome of the ongoing review by UN Development Group of current capacities of the UN for prevention and mediation should go a long way in facilitating a meaningful conversation at the forum.

Another action would be to enhance the capacity of regional preventive diplomacy offices in fragile regions, which have proven on numerous occasions their added value in facilitating collective responses to national and transnational peace and security challenges, in collaboration with regional member states and organizations. As recommended by the HIPPO report and endorsed by the Secretary-General, additional, well-resourced offices, particularly for North Africa and West Asia, would be a worthwhile investment for peace in light of the multifaceted threats these regions face in increasingly unstable environments.

Much has been written about the cost of war and the devastating economic and human consequences of global violence, but relatively little on the price of peace. Nearly two decades ago, the Carnegie Commission on Preventing Deadly Conflict found that, on average, early, preventive action to avert war and mass atrocities cost 60 times less than late response and military interventions. Another action, therefore, would be for the UN, independent think tanks, and research institutions to embark on the difficult task of figuring out what investing for peace would cost compared with what would have been saved had member states summoned the political will and resources to promote accountable institutions and peaceful and inclusive societies, and acted on the early signs of much of the violence that is wracking many corners of our planet.

Conclusion

Compelling as this action plan may seem, it may still prove the skeptics right, unless member states exercise the right leadership and shoulder their primary responsibility for prevention. The plan will have a fighting chance to succeed if the same member states and the multilateral system as a whole mobilize civil society, the media, the private sector, and citizen networks, in particular women and youth associations, in its design and implementation. More importantly, without the support of local governments, including city mayors who are in the front line of much of the organized violence afflicting urban areas, this plan would have little chance of making a difference. It needs to be recalled that it is the combined leadership of governments and assertive participation of ordinary people that made last year’s Paris climate change agreement possible and the 2030 Agenda a truly global and transformative plan of action for all.

Youssef Mahmoud is a Senior Adviser at the International Peace Institute.

Originally Published in the Global Observatory

Humanitarian organisations and volunteers advocate for the use of drones technology to locate refugees at sea.

Rosie Scammell

After being stranded in the Mediterranean for three days, fear had overcome Alou Sango. "I thought that we would all die, because there was nothing left, the petrol had finished," he says of his journey from Libya.

Read the full article

Earlier this year, APOPO in partnership with the Tanzanian Veterinary Laboratory Agency (TVLA) set plans in motion to begin building APOPO’s new TB center in Dar es salaam with a top-notch lab, brand new rat facilities and TB detection rooms. Construction is progressing well and on-schedule for operations to start by July 2016.

APOPO’s detection rats work up to 50 times faster than conventional methods, and have the capacity to check all of the daily sputum samples we receive from our partner clinics in less than a couple hours. No other existing technology can handle such large volumes in such a short time. APOPO’s rats in Tanzania currently screen around 150 samples a day from clinics in Dar es Salaam at its operational headquarters in Morogoro, a 4 hour drive away from Dar.

By delivering results to the clinics within 12 hours, all the confirmed patients who return to the clinics for their results the day after their initial appointment will be put on treatment. APOPO will also be allowed to expand to cover more than the 24 clinics it currently works with, increasing the number of samples it will screen by over 50%.

APOPO works closely with Operation ASHA (OpASHA) and community-based organizations MKUTA and PASADA. The MKUTA volunteers will be working with a tablet that was developed by OpASHA. The tablet has software that allows them to take fingerprints as well as more practical contact information, which makes the follow-up for treatment easier.

With the new strategy and a center in Dar es Salaam itself, APOPO is aiming to track back 95% of the patients. Results from the OpASHA project are very positive, already the patient tracking rate has increased to around 80%.

Paris, FRANCE | AFP | lundi 02/05/2016 - 07:59 GMT

Un campement d'un millier de migrants, qui s'était reconstitué ces dernières semaines sous le métro aérien à Paris, a été évacué lundi, troisième opération au même endroit depuis mars.

"1.619 personnes ont été mises à l'abri" et acheminées "vers des centres d'hébergement" de la région parisienne essentiellement, a annoncé la préfecture.

"On est content de partir", a expliqué Moustafa, un Afghan de 24 ans, qui a raconté dormir sous le métro aérien depuis un mois. "Il y avait des bagarres tous les soirs sur le campement", installé dans le nord de la capitale.

L'opération, qui avait débuté vers 06H00 (04H00 GMT), s'est terminée à la mi-journée, le temps de trouver un point de chute aux derniers migrants dont le nombre s'est révélé plus important que prévu, a-t-on déclaré de même source.

Le dernier pointage effectué dimanche faisait en effet état de seulement "400 à 700 personnes", notamment des Soudanais et des Afghans, mais les migrants étaient largement plus nombreux lundi matin. Cette augmentation est un phénomène classique au moment des évacuations, le bouche à oreille sur l'imminence d'une telle opération contribuant à faire gonfler le nombre des personnes présentes sur le campement à l'arrivée des cars.

"Je préfèrerais rester à Paris, c'est là qu'il y a le reste de la communauté, du travail...", a expliqué Abdullah, lui aussi afghan. Il ne parle pas français mais n'envisage pas de passer en Grande-Bretagne. "C'est un bon pays ici", assurait-il, pas découragé par son premier mois passé sous le métro.

Sur le terre-plein, les tentes serrées les unes contre les autres, les matelas et les couvertures de survie laissés près des poubelles débordant de détritus témoignaient des conditions de vie dans ce campement.

Les migrants "vont demander l'asile" dans les centres d'hébergement et "ceux qui ne le font pas ou se conduisent mal, on les met dehors", a déclaré sur place Jean-François Carenco, préfet de la région parisienne. "La France n'est pas une terre de désordre et de pagaille".

C'est la troisième fois en deux mois que ce campement de fortune est évacué. Au total, une vingtaine d'opérations de "mise à l'abri" de ce type ont été organisées à Paris depuis le 2 juin 2015.

Ce campement avait été évacué une première fois le 7 mars, puis l'avait été à nouveau le 30 du même mois, et à chaque fois il s'était reformé peu après. "Ce ne sont pas les mêmes", selon le préfet de région, qui souligne le nombre important de "primo-arrivants" parmi les migrants évacués lundi.

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Paris, FRANCE | AFP | Monday 5/2/2016 - 08:41 GMT |

Police evacuated more than one thousand people from a makeshift migrant camp near a Paris metro station on Monday, the third time the camp has been cleared in as many months.

Shortly after 6:00 am, people who had been staying in the tightly packed tents under an elevated section of the Stalingrad station in the north of Paris began boarding buses to take them to reception centres.

The evacuation passed off largely without incident, authorities said.

Although only around 500 people had been counted at the camp the night before, police said around 1,350 people had gathered there Monday to be re-located to accommodation centres, suggesting that migrants from other parts of Paris had swelled their numbers.

Around 150 police officers were involved in the operation to relocate the migrants, mostly from Sudan and Afghanistan.

"We're happy to leave," said Moustafa, a 24-year-old Afghan who had been at the camp for a month.

"There were fights every night at the camp."

Another Afghan, Abdullah, said he hoped to stay in Paris long-term. "That is where the rest of the community is and there is work here."

He said he had given up hope of reaching Britain, the country which many of his compatriots try to reach from France.

"It's a good country here," he said.

Flimsy tents were packed into a small area around the station and the overflowing rubbish bins and piles of mattresses indicated that conditions at the camp had deteriorated in recent weeks.

Jean-Francois Carenco, the prefect of the Ile de France area that includes Paris, said he expected the migrants to request asylum.

"Those who do not request asylum or who behave badly will be expelled," he said. "France is not a place for disorder and chaos."

Nearly 80,000 people applied for asylum in France in 2015, but it has been affected less than its European neighbours by the mass influx of migrants over the last 18 months.

The main migrant camp in France, the so-called "Jungle" in the northern port of Calais, now holds around 5,000 people, according to charity workers, but the government says that figure is vastly inflated.

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Copenhagen, Denmark | AFP | Monday 5/2/2016 - 11:42 GMT |

Denmark on Monday extended random identification checks along the German border until June 2, saying they were needed to deter "an extraordinarily large number of refugees and migrants" from entering the country.

"There is still considerable pressure on Europe's borders and... migrants and refugees find alternative routes when the borders are closed," Integration Minister Inger Stojberg said in a statement.

"When asylum seekers without proper ID papers cannot travel to Sweden, there remains a serious risk that many refugees and migrants can become stranded in this country," she added.

The controls had already been extended five times, most recently until May 3.

They were introduced on January 4, hours after Sweden began requiring rail, bus and ferry companies to verify the identities of people travelling from Denmark.

Last year Denmark largely served as a transit country for migrants travelling to Sweden, which at the time had some of Europe's most generous asylum rules.

Denmark received more than 21,000 asylum applications in 2015, a 44 percent jump from 2014, but significantly fewer than Sweden, its northern neighbour, which registered 163,000 asylum applications in the same year.

The number of asylum seekers in Denmark has dropped significantly this year, from 641 in the week after border controls were introduced to just 45 last week, according to police data compiled by the government.

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ATHENS, Greece, May 2 (UNHCR) – All Yasin Osman Ibrahim and his three-year-old son Abdulrahman could do was watch in horror as more than 500 migrants and refugees drowned two weeks ago, in one of the Mediterranean's worst shipwrecks in modern history.

Clutching Abdulrahman to his chest, Yasin stood on the deck of a wooden boat as the sea swallowed hundreds aboard a sinking, overcrowded larger boat to which people smugglers were trying to transfer them.

The screams were deafening. Almost no one could swim. Yasin, a 24-year-old Somali who had been living in a refugee camp in Yemen, searched desperately for his five relatives among the flailing people in the water.

"We thought we would die, too," he said. "We thought, 'We are next'."

Yasin lost four relatives that day: two female cousins, one male cousin, and a cousin's three-month-old daughter. Another cousin, 28-year-old Molid Osman Adam, managed to swim to Yasin's boat, where men pulled him aboard.

Only 41 people survived: 23 Somalis, 11 Ethiopians, six Egyptians and one Sudanese. Yasin's son, Abdulrahman, was the only surviving child, and his cousin, Sowes Mohammed Dereye Mire, was one of three surviving women.

For three days they drifted aimlessly with little food or water, praying for rescue. Finally, on April 16, a Philippine cargo ship rescued them off the Libyan coast and took them to the Greek port of Kalamata. They are now staying in an Athens hotel, where they receive legal aid and psychological support from UNHCR and its local partner, the Greek NGO Praksis.

Several of the survivors have recounted to UNHCR their fight for survival at sea.

Until last year, Yasin never gave much thought to life in Europe. He had already fled home once.

He was studying information technology at university in Mogadishu when armed men killed his uncle in 2009. Afraid he would be killed, too, Yasin fled in a smugglers' boat across the Gulf of Aden to Yemen. For the next few years he lived in a refugee camp in Kharaz.

Yemen itself descended into civil war, preventing aid groups from supplying the camp with food and services and Yasin could not bear to see his family starve. Two months ago, he said goodbye to his wife, Fatima, and three-year-old daughter, Maryam, and sailed with Abdulrahman and 38 other people back across the Gulf of Aden in a smugglers' boat. They crossed Sudan and Libya by car. Then they waited for three weeks in a house run by smugglers near Tobruk in eastern Libya until they were able to cross the Mediterranean Sea.

"I came here to save my boy and his future, and the future of my wife and daughter," Yasin said. "I don't want my boy to ask me in 20 years, 'Father, why did you allow me to grow up as a refugee? Why didn't you ever try to take me out of here?' I want him to be like other children, to grow up in peace. I'm trying my best to save his life."

Before dawn, Yasin and Abdulrahman crammed into a wooden boat with 200 other people. The smugglers charged each $1,800 in exchange for safe passage to Italy.

For a full day all they saw before them was a fuzzy blue line where the sky met the sea. As night fell, they stopped beside the bigger boat. It creaked under the weight of about 300 migrants and refugees. Smugglers tied the two vessels together and made everyone transfer to the bigger boat.

The passengers panicked and protested, but the smugglers insisted. One by one, they clung to the ropes, women and children first, each trying not to look down at the water.

Suddenly, the bigger vessel began to tilt.

"The captain in that boat, he shouted, 'Balance! Balance! The boat's going down! Balance! Balance!'" said. Muhidin Hussein Muhumed, a shipwreck survivor from Hargeisa, Somalia, who was traveling with his six brothers.

Within three seconds, he said, the boat had turned over, plunging its passengers into the sea. Muhidin was still in the smaller boat, waiting to transfer.

The captain screamed that the boat was going down and the people would be killed, Muhidin said. "And my brothers are saying, 'Help me!' But I can't do nothing for my brothers."

"Why did I survive?" he added. "Why do I have my life? What is this life?"

The captain started the engine and sped away while the 41 people aboard the smaller boat tried to save people in the water. Hours later, the captain called for help, but when another vessel arrived, he went aboard and left the 41 survivors to fend for themselves.

For the next three days at sea, Muhidin thought of his wife and five children back home, all under age 10, as well as his dozens of nieces and nephews who were now fatherless after the deaths of his brothers.

He said they had left Somalia together, because their children had never known a life without conflict. The hoped to build a new life in Europe, then bring their families to join them.

Muhidin said he and other survivors stood on the deck, taking turns waving their shirts above their heads to get the attention of other passing ships, but none stopped.

Another survivor, 25-year-old Muaz Mahmud from Ethiopia, recalled that the captain had thrown a satellite phone aboard before he abandoned them. On the screen was written a phone number of the Italian coast guard, he said.

They called the number, and the coast guard explained how to find the boat's GPS coordinates. Hours later, they were rescued.

Although relieved to be alive, the survivors were still reeling from the massive loss of life.

"My wife and my baby, they died," says Muaz, who is now alone in Greece. "I couldn't do nothing. I couldn't save them because it was the middle of the ocean."

Muaz said the family, members of Ethiopia's Oromo ethnic group, were seeking safety in Europe after Muaz himself was jailed and threatened by government officials.

"If I go back to my country, they will kill me," he said.

By Tania Karas, Athens

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)’s stand-by partnerships (SBP) are an invaluable source of support for FAO in emergencies as well as in protracted crisis situations. SBPs (Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC/NORCAP), Danish Refugee Council (DRC), iMMAP, CANADEM, RedR Australia and DFID) contribute to FAO’s mandate not only through surge support but also through the provision of longer term experts that assist in the area of resilience building and disaster risk management (DRM).

In 2015, FAO responded to corporate Level 3 (L3) emergencies in South Sudan and Central African Republic, system-wide L3 emergencies such as Iraq, Yemen, Syria and the Ebola crisis in West Africa, and other emergencies like the earthquake in Nepal and the first phases of response to the El Niño phenomenon. SBPs provided support to several of these emergencies through the secondment of qualified staff in a very short time frame.

Throughout the year, 33 deployments were undertaken through stand by arrangements. Of these, eight were initiated in previous years, and continued into 2015, and 15 are continuing into 2016. Partners provided FAO with a total of 4 851 deployment days (approximately 162 person months), 4 237 of which fully funded, the rest covered by FAO through cost-sharing.

By Nichola Jones, IFRC More than 700 people attempting the lethal sea crossing from North Africa to Italy were rescued and taken to Sicily this weekend. Italian Red Cross teams at the port of Pozzallo and Messina provided emergency medical care, food, water and psychological support to survivors who were rescued by the Italian coastguard on Sunday. Two bodies were also retrieved in the rescue.

The arrivals in Sicily came just two days after 26 survivors of a capsized boat off the Libyan coast were rescued and taken to Lampedusa where Red Cross teams were on hand to provide emergency support. At least 84 people are still missing.

President of the Italian Red Cross, Francesco Rocca, said: “Our teams are working across shorelines and ports in Italy, on the frontline of this ongoing tragedy, supporting survivors left acutely traumatized by the stress and terror of these journeys.

“Last year, thousands died attempting this journey. Safe and legal routes for those escaping hunger, poverty and violence must be found otherwise people will continue to die.”

As summer approaches and waters become calmer, it is expected many more people will attempt to make the treacherous crossing to Italy from north Africa, particularly from Libya.

The Libyan Red Crescent is among the few organizations in the country providing support for migrants and their families. This includes emergency supplies, medical care and psychosocial support. Branches also work to reconnect rescued migrants with loved ones and provide support to those who are trying to return to their home countries.

Volunteers along the country’s coastline also have the difficult task of retrieving the bodies of people who have died attempting to make the crossing, in an effort to provide some dignity to those who would otherwise be easily forgotten.

Libyan Red Crescent spokesman, Mohammed Al Mosrati, said: “Unfortunately, as weather conditions are improving, the Libyan shores have come to witness more and more boat tragedies.

Last month alone, the Red Crescent provided aid and medical care to more than 250 rescued migrants.”

More than 27,000 people have arrived in Europe from Libya to Italy this year – suggesting the lethal crossing from northern Africa will again become a primary route for migrants. In 2015, more than 150,000 people made the same journey. The Italian Red Cross has teams across the country’s ports and reception centres, on hand to provide vital support to rescued migrants.

Issued in 2015, this is the 4th edition of UNHCR’s Handbook for Emergencies, first published in 1982. This digital edition replaces all previous print editions of the Emergency Handbook. It is primarily a tool for UNHCR emergency operations and its workforce. Most of the Emergency Handbook content is publicly available. As such, the Handbook is also accessible as a tool for partners in emergency operations and other interested parties.

Some sections of this Emergency Handbook are for internal use and relate to UNHCR management and administrative procedures. UNHCR personnel can access this content by signing in with their UNHCR e-mail address.

This edition of the Emergency Handbook has been completely redesigned. The digital publication channel - in the form of a website, offline USB stick version and mobile applications - allows UNHCR to keep the content updated all the time, and to distribute updates to users in real time. The content has been completely re-organised and updated to reflect current policies and good practices. It brings more attention to out-of-camp emergency response, covers all aspects of UNHCR-led refugee emergency preparedness and response, UNHCR’s involvement in IDP emergencies, and describes current inter-agency leadership and coordination systems, including the Refugee Coordination Model and UNHCR’s responsibilities within the Inter Agency Standing Committee (IASC) context.

The Emergency Handbook guidance is published in the form of “Entries”, self-contained units of content. Entries are structured along seven main topic areas:

1. “Getting ready”: Emergency preparedness;

2. “Protecting and empowering”: Community based protection; protection interventions, asylum, specific needs, registration, legal standards and principles;

3. “Delivering the response”: Programme planning and management, sector guidance and good practises by operational context (urban, rural, camps), standards and indicators, UNHCR management procedures for administration, finance, human resources, supply and information and communication technology (ICT);

4. “Leading and coordinating”: Setting strategy, coordination, emergencies, resource mobilisation and information management;

5. “Staff well-being”: Support and advice for emergency responders, also in terms of psychological and physical well-being;

6. “Security”: Security and risk management guidance, in view of emergency responders and persons of concern;

7. “Media”: Working with journalists and mass media, including print, visual and digital media.

UNHCR would like to thank the Luxembourg standby partner “emergency.lu” for developing the technical solutions for this tool. Over 120 authors have contributed their expertise to this edition, which has been conceptualised, edited and managed by the Division of Emergency, Security and Supply (DESS). We warmly acknowledge the dedication, focus and extensive work that all Divisions at UNHCR HQ have put into this initiative.

UNHCR

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees was established on December 14, 1950 by the United Nations General Assembly. The agency is mandated to lead and co-ordinate international action to protect refugees and resolve refugee problems worldwide. Its primary purpose is to safeguard the rights and well-being of refugees. It strives to ensure that everyone can exercise the right to seek asylum and find safe refuge in another State, with the option to return home voluntarily, integrate locally or to resettle in a third country. It also has a mandate to help stateless people. UNHCR is also involved in the response to internally displaced persons (IDPs) within the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) context, (co) leading at global level three clusters.

UNHCR has twice won the Nobel Peace Prize. As of mid-2014, its over 9,300 staff members work in 123 countries providing protection and assistance to more than 46 million refugees, returnees, internally displaced people and stateless persons. Some 88 per cent of UNHCR staff work in the field, often in difficult and dangerous duty stations.

UNHCR emergency preparedness and response

The agency is often faced with large scale emergencies requiring an immediate response – such as an eruption of fighting causing tens of thousands of people to flee their homes seeking safety and asylum across borders. That means the agency must be prepared and able to mount an emergency response without delay.

To prepare for and respond to an emergency, UNHCR has assembled standby teams with a range of key skills who are ready for deployment anywhere in the world at a moment's notice. The agency can mobilise trained personnel within 72 hours from its internal emergency standby rosters, as well from rosters managed by emergency standby partners. The agency put in place global emergency stockpiles of core relief items in seven strategic locations. Mechanisms are also established for the immediate mobilisation of financial resources to help meet the response to an emergency without delay.

UNHCR's eCentre, meanwhile, is helping improve emergency preparedness and response capabilities in the Asia-Pacific region through targeted training another capacity-building measures. At the global, regional and national level, UNHCR also contributes to inter-agency initiatives to enhance early warning and preparedness.

Click here to access UNHCR Emergency Handbook

Asylum applicants considered to be unaccompanied minors

Slightly more than half are Afghans

In 2015, 88 300 asylum seekers applying for international protection in the Member States of the European Union (EU) were considered to be unaccompanied minors. While their number always stood between 11 000 and 13 000 in the EU over the period 2008-2013, it almost doubled in 2014 to reach slightly more than 23 000 persons, then nearly quadrupled in 2015.

In 2015, a substantial majority of unaccompanied minors were males (91%) and over half were aged 16 to 17 (57%, or 50 500 persons), while those aged 14 to 15 accounted for 29% (25 800 persons) and those aged less than 14 for 13% (11 800 persons). Around half (51%) of asylum applicants considered to be unaccompanied minors in the EU in 2015 were Afghans.

Four in 10 applied for asylum in Sweden

In 2015, the highest number of asylum applicants considered to be unaccompanied minors was registered in Sweden (with almost 35 300 unaccompanied minors, or 40% of all those registered in the EU Member States), followed by Germany (14 400, or 16%), Hungary (8 800, or 10%) and Austria (8 300, or 9%). Together these four Member States accounted for three-quarters of all asylum applicants considered unaccompanied minors registered in the EU in 2015.

Largest share of unaccompanied minors among young asylum seekers in Italy

The largest shares of unaccompanied minors among all young asylum applicants in 2015 were recorded notably in Italy (where 56.6% of all asylum applicants aged less than 18 were unaccompanied in 2015) and Sweden (50.1%), followed by the United Kingdom (38.5%), the Netherlands (36.5%), Denmark (33.7%), Finland (33.2%) and Bulgaria (33.1%). In total in the EU, unaccompanied minors accounted for almost a quarter (23.0%) of all asylum applicants aged less than 18 in 2015.

1 out of 2 unaccompanied minors originates from Afghanistan

Most of the asylum applicants considered unaccompanied minors in the EU Member States were Afghans (51% of the total number of unaccompanied minors registered in 2015). Of the 45 300 Afghans considered unaccompanied minors in the EU in 2015, more than half were registered in Sweden (23 400). Afghans represented the most numerous citizenship of asylum seekers considered unaccompanied minors in fifteen EU Member States.

Syria (16% of the total number of unaccompanied minors) was the second main country of citizenship of asylum seekers considered unaccompanied minors in the EU Member States in 2015. Of the 14 300 Syrians seeking protection in the EU Member States and considered unaccompanied minors in 2015, 7 in 10 applied in one of the following three Member States: Germany (4 000), Sweden (3 800) and Hungary (2 200).

CILSS and FAO reinforce impact of support initiatives and tools for resilience measurement

2 May 2016, Ouagadougou/Dakar - The Permanent Interstate Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS), with the technical and financial support of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), has launched a technical Platform for the analysis and measurement of resilience of populations in the Sahel and West Africa (PTMR-SAO). The two organizations have signed a Memorandum of Understanding, which marks the beginning of joint activities in March 2016.

This platform represents a unique opportunity for producing harmonized and consensual information and analysis at national and regional levels. Those analyses will contribute to better guide investments oriented to reinforce populations’ resilience, and to assess the impact of ongoing policies as well.

Furthermore, this platform represents the basis of a more global and inclusive process for the construction of a harmonized and consensual tool to measure resilience in the Sahel and West Africa in the framework of the Global Alliance for Resilience Initiative (AGIR), as it was recommended by the Food Crisis Prevention Network (RPCA), after its meeting of December 2013 held in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.

According to the Executive Secretary of CILSS, Dr Djimé Adoum, the launching of the platform gives a new impulse to the efforts driven by the governments in the region: “To develop a methodology and tools, both consensual and adapted to the regional context, is crucial for decision makers. Our objective is to provide the necessary information to adequately guide the policies aiming to reinforce population's resilience in the Sahel and West Africa.”

Both organizations would like through this platform, to promote the synergies among regional and international partners active in the field of resilience.

Mr. Vincent Martin, FAO Representative in Senegal and Head of the sub-regional resilience Team for West Africa/Sahel (REOWA), adds: “In the context of repeated shocks faced by the most vulnerable populations, this multi-sectoral and inclusive approach will allow to better orientate the interventions aiming to guarantee food security and nutrition in a sustainable manner.”

A series of consultations will soon be organized at national and regional levels to identify the necessary data to undertake analysis and measurement of resilience at all levels, as well as, to define the analytic framework for measuring resilience in the region.

To ensure a genuine ownership of the new tools and methods, this initiative will focus on reinforcing the skills of the countries’ institutes of statistics, the national units in charge of food security analysis, the ministries of agriculture, the universities, research centers and inter-governmental and international organizations. These different actors will play a key role in conducting the national exercises of resilience measurement and analysis in Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, and Chad in an initial phase, as all countries from the CILSS-WAEMU-ECOWAS region should be covered. Nigeria has already shown interest in being part of the group of the six (6) countries, and beyond the Sahel and West Africa region, Cameroon has also shown interest in the topic of measuring resilience taking into account the importance of the crisis which currently affects the Lake Chad basin.

The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between CILSS and FAO, marking the launch of the platform, follows a regional workshop organized in Dakar which brought together delegations from the six countries mentioned above directly targeted by the platform, as well as Cameroon and Nigeria which have increased their awareness on the methodology used to analyze resilience. The workshop has enabled to finalize the programming of resilience measurement and analysis exercises at country level.

The launching of the platform marks another step forward in the longstanding collaboration between FAO and CILSS, centered on the analysis, prevention and mitigation measures for food insecurity in West Africa and the Sahel. In this respect, the development of the Cadre Harmonisé for the analysis and identification of zones and populations facing food and nutrition insecurity in West Africa and the Sahel represents an example of joint success.

Developed progressively in the region since 2004, it allows a regular follow-up of food and nutrition security in seventeen countries of the CILSS, WAEMU and ECOWAS. The FAO-CILSS collaboration falls under the European Union – FAO partnership programme: Information for Nutrition Food Security and Resilience for Decision Making (INFORMED).

Useful link : CILSS; FAO Africa; FAO/Resilience

Contacts :

CILSS

Abdoulkarim DANKOULOU
Chief of the management support unit on Communication, Information et Documentation
dankoulou.abdoulkarim@cilss.bf
+226 25 49 96 00

FAO

Sonia Nguyen
Information/Communication Specialist
sonia.nguyen@fao.org +221 33 889 16 28

Nouvelle initiative du CILSS et de la FAO pour renforcer l’impact des initiatives d’appui et le développement d’un outil consensuel de mesure de la résilience

2 mai 2016, Ouagadougou/Dakar - Le Comité Permanent Inter-Etats de Lutte contre la Sécheresse dans le Sahel (CILSS), grâce à l'appui technique et financier de l’Organisation des Nations Unies pour l’alimentation et l’agriculture (FAO), a lancé la Plateforme technique d’analyse et de mesure de la résilience des populations au Sahel et en Afrique de l’Ouest (PTMR-SAO). Les deux organisations ont procédé à la signature du Protocole d’accord marquant le démarrage des activités en mars 2016.

Cette plateforme constitue une opportunité unique de production d’informations et d’analyses harmonisées et consensuelles dans les pays et au niveau régional. Ces dernières serviront à orienter au mieux les investissements visant à renforcer la résilience des populations d’une part, et à évaluer l’impact des politiques mises en œuvre d’autre part.

Par ailleurs, cette plateforme constitue la base d’un processus plus global et inclusif de construction d’un outil harmonisé et consensuel de mesure de la résilience au Sahel et en Afrique de l’Ouest dans le cadre de l’Alliance Globale pour la résilience (AGIR), tel que recommandé par le Réseau de Prévention et de Gestion des Crises Alimentaires (RPCA), lors de sa réunion tenue à Abidjan en Côte d’Ivoire en décembre 2013.

Selon le Secrétaire Exécutif du CILSS, Dr Djimé Adoum, le lancement de la plateforme donne un nouvel élan aux efforts menés par les gouvernements de la région : « Développer une méthodologie et des outils, à la fois consensuels et adaptés au contexte régional, est crucial pour les preneurs de décisions. Notre objectif est de fournir les informations nécessaires pour orienter adéquatement les politiques visant à renforcer la résilience des populations du Sahel et de l'Afrique de l’Ouest ».

Les deux organisations souhaitent également, à travers cette plateforme, favoriser les synergies avec les partenaires régionaux et internationaux intervenant dans le domaine de la résilience.

Monsieur Vincent Martin, Représentant de la FAO au Sénégal et Responsable de l’Equipe sous- régionale Résilience de la FAO pour l’Afrique de l’Ouest/Sahel (REOWA), ajoute : « Dans un contexte de chocs répétés auxquels font face les populations les plus vulnérables, cette approche multi- sectorielle et inclusive permettra de mieux orienter les interventions visant à garantir la sécurité alimentaire et nutritionnelle de manière durable ».

Une série de consultations sera prochainement organisée aux niveaux national et régional, afin d’identifier les données nécessaires à l'analyse et à la mesure de la résilience à tous les niveaux. Elles auront aussi pour objet de définir le cadre analytique pour la mesure de la résilience dans la région.

Afin d’assurer une appropriation réelle des nouveaux outils et méthodes élaborés, cette initiative mettra l’accent sur le renforcement des capacités des instituts de statistique, cellules nationales d’analyse de la sécurité alimentaire, ministères de l’agriculture, universités, centres de recherche, et organisations intergouvernementales et internationales. Ces différents acteurs joueront par la suite un rôle clé dans la réalisation des exercices nationaux d’analyse et de mesure de la résilience au Burkina Faso, au Mali, en Mauritanie, au Niger, au Sénégal et au Tchad dans un premier temps, car tous les pays de l’espace CILSS-UEMOA-CEDEAO doivent être couverts. Le Nigeria a déjà montré son intérêt à s’ajouter au groupe des six (6) premiers pays, et au-delà des pays de l’espace Sahel et Afrique de l’Ouest, le Cameroun a également montré son intérêt dans la thématique de la mesure de la résilience compte tenu de l’importance de la crise qui sévit notamment dans le bassin du lac Tchad.

La signature du Protocole d’accord entre le CILSS et la FAO marquant le lancement de la plateforme fait suite à un atelier régional organisé à Dakar, et qui a réuni des délégations en provenance des six pays précités directement ciblés par la plateforme, ainsi que du Cameroun et du Nigéria qui ont pu bénéficier d’une sensibilisation sur les méthodes d’analyse de la résilience. Les travaux ont notamment permis de finaliser la programmation des exercices nationaux d’analyse et de mesure de la résilience.

Le lancement de cette plateforme marque une nouvelle étape dans la longue collaboration entre la FAO et le CILSS, axée sur l’analyse, la prévision et les mesures d’atténuation de l’insécurité alimentaire en Afrique de l’Ouest au Sahel. A ce titre, le développement du Cadre Harmonisé d’analyse et d'identification des zones et des populations en insécurité alimentaire et nutritionnelle au Sahel et en Afrique de l'Ouest (CH) constitue un exemple de réussite conjointe. Progressivement développé dans la région depuis 2004, il permet d’assurer le suivi régulier de la sécurité alimentaire et nutritionnelle dans dix-sept pays du CILSS, de l’UEMOA et de la CEDEAO. La collaboration FAO – CILSS s’inscrit dans le cadre du financement de l’Union européenne envers la FAO intitulé « Information pour la sécurité alimentaire et nutritionnelle et Résilience pour la prise de décision (INFORMED).

Liens utiles: CILSS; FAO Africa; FAO/Resilience

Contacts presse:

CILSS

Abdoulkarim DANKOULOU
Chef de l’Unité d’Appui au Management Communication, Information et Documentation
dankoulou.abdoulkarim@cilss.bf +226 25 49 96 00

FAO

Sonia Nguyen
Spécialiste Information/Communication
sonia.nguyen@fao.org
+221 33 889 16 28

Frankfurt – In their "Frankfurt Declaration", the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) agreed to join forces for progress on climate action and technical and vocational education and training (TVET).

The declaration spells out the intention by ADB and Germany to launch an Asia Climate Finance Facility (ACliFF) in 2017. The facility will leverage public and private sector investment in climate change mitigation and adaptation in support of the goals of the COP 21 Paris Agreement. The facility will assist developing countries in Asia and the Pacific through new and innovative co-financing measures, including guarantees and climate risk insurance, which support country-led implementation of Nationally Determined Contributions for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, as well as for investment in resilience.

ADB and BMZ also signed a declaration of intent to deepen and increase cooperation to promote TVET in Asia. The joint effort will aim to better match education and training with the skills that employers are demanding and boost workplace-based training. They aim to foster inclusive growth including the economic empowerment of women, which is in the spirit of the women’s economic empowerment initiative launched by Germany during German G7 presidency. ADB is one of the largest multilateral donors for vocational training in developing Asia. Among the activities planned for the coming year is a joint regional vocational training conference.

Germany is ADB’s biggest European shareholder and in 2015, it was the biggest bilateral co-financier of ADB projects. This year is the first time that ADB’s Annual Meeting is being held in Germany.

ADB, based in Manila, is dedicated to reducing poverty in Asia and the Pacific through inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable growth, and regional integration. Established in 1966, ADB in December 2016 will mark 50 years of development partnership in the region. It is owned by 67 members – 48 from the region. In 2015, ADB assistance totalled 27.2 billion US dollar, including co-financing of 10.7 billion US dollar.