Under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister of United Arab Emirates, Ruler of Dubai
DIHAD
23 – 25 April 2024

Dubai World Trade Centre

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23 – 25 April 2024

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Conference Summary: Day 1

Home Conference Summary: Day 1

Day 1: 14 March 2022

The Master of Ceremony welcomed all to the opening of the 18th DIHAD Conference on behalf of the Chairman of the CEO of the DIHAD Sustainable Humanitarian Foundation and PAM Roving Ambassador for the GCC, the CEO of the DIHAD Sustainable Humanitarian Foundation and all members of the Board. DIHAD is being held under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai. DIHAD is a global platform bringing together all nations. The  video set out that this year the Conference focuses on Sustainable Development Goal 17: ‘Partnerships and Cooperation for Sustainable Development’, as an urgent call for all actions to bring wellbeing for all and strive for equal and decent working opportunities. This year the conference and exhibition have more than 600 participants and 50 speakers who will document change and promote sustainable development. Poverty concerns more than one billion people who are living under one US dollar a day, whereas at least one third of the world population are in need of humanitarian assistance and protection. (Opening Video)

H.E. Dr. Hamad Al Sheikh Ahmed Al Shaibani, Director General, Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities Department (IACAD), transmitted wishes for happiness and hope from the UAE to all participants, highlighting the UAE’s humanitarian and charitable role. The DIHAD Platform is a clear indication of the UAE’s priorities on the humanitarian and development front that is in line with its policy of leadership. Together we know the suffering that needs to be addressed, in particular the impact of the COVID pandemic which the UAE has strived to address locally and overseas, in line with its plan. Fall-outs and the pre-pandemic influence must be enshrined in all humanitarian and social work. There is a need for a transparent discussion that all problems result from war and conflict and to face crises wisely to work with good intentions. The UAE has planned to continue its humanitarian work with diplomacy, bridging gaps, improving relations and widening interests. He thanked for the opportunity to raise these points aimed at bringing happiness for humanity. (Opening Speech)

Dr. Janez Lenarcic, European Commissioner for Crisis Management, reiterated that the Conference is held at a critical moment in view of the shocking humanitarian crisis with the Ukraine war coming on top of already existing steep humanitarian needs with some 274 million people in need of humanitarian aid and protection. The extreme weather events caused by climate change are feeding drivers of need, while the effects of COVID are still being felt by disruption of health care and access to education as well as a compromised food crisis. The response requires a much broader sharing of responsibilities for funding of humanitarian action, because the top 20 humanitarian donors give more than 98% of worldwide funding. As stronger partnerships are needed to be the basis for response, the focus of DIHAD on global partnerships is at the heart of EU’s work on humanitarian assistance. Many of the more than 200 partners often work at a huge risk of their own safety in line with humanitarian principles and in many protracted emergencies, and also crucial with development actors. On the Nexus it is no longer a matter of talking but rather doing to help communities to strengthen their resilience and giving tools to develop their own livelihoods. In Burundi, the EU works with WFP to set up an anticipatory action scheme, build resilience of the most vulnerable populations. It provides a chance to build up experience and look how partnerships can help focus on zero hunger, climate action, peace and strong development. In Ukraine the terrible toll on civilians, the damage and suffering are terrifying. It is imperative to be united and work tirelessly to protect civilians and personnel and ensure safe access. We are in a challenging time where effective partnerships are more important than ever. (Opening Speech)

H.E. Mr. Jagan Chapagain, Secretary-General, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), had just returned from the Polish – Ukrainian border where he had seen a tragic humanitarian situation. Red Cross/Red Crescent societies are working to assist the millions of people living in multiple global crises with the disastrous impact of climate change, unequal response to COVID, and many security crises now coming at a critical junction. We must use lessons from COVID and put vulnerable people at the centre of the response to crises. More than USD 2.8 trillion are needed for developing countries to meet the global gap, in a time when more than USD 200 trillion is owned in private capital, which must be appealed on to help in meeting the humanitarian needs. We should also take into account the value of global Islamic finance in the global humanitarian and development context. (Opening Speech)

Lessons we have to consider include that funding must be smart, innovative and meeting gaps as the number of people needing humanitarian assistance is alarming. New partnerships must build local capacity and new models of engagement, including lending financing models, to create long term impact as a principle of Islamic finance. It is important to put people at the centre for sustainable local impact, including addressing climate change, and follow a multi-partner approach to scale up sustainable funding and building a foundation for a fairer world built on peace and harmony.

In closing, the speaker expressed the hope for the DIHAD session to reach a higher level of thinking to solve the problems.

In his address, H.E. Mr. Gennaro Migliore, President, Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM) recognised the value of DIHAD as one of the most important platforms to address the most pressing humanitarian issues. There is a strong partnership between PAM and DIHAD, recognising that working together can open new paths in relations between cultures. This year’s PAM Assembly was a special event with the UAE and Qatar becoming full PAM members. PAM is a valuable forum for effective cooperation and a constructive dialogue and parliamentary diplomacy in relations between states to address priorities, including climate change. With regard to SDG-17 he pointed out that interdependence is key in summarising the new meaning of freedom and human solidarity as a condition of social justice and collaboration. The current Ukraine crisis is leading to several million people fleeing to seek protection in surrounding countries, of whom the Red Cross movement is anticipating 18 million refugees. Against this background, he stressed that the GCM has never been more relevant than now. The impact of the crisis on food security is extremely worrisome as both parties in the war are the main wheat suppliers for MENA and African regions. PAM promotes support to SMEs and has proposed an economic community of Mediterranean and Gulf countries for renewable energy, which was first presented during the World Green Economic Forum in Dubai as well as in COP-26.

COP-27 which will be held later this year in Egypt is highly important as climate change affects in particular the  Mediterranean region where focus on food and water security is needed. Furthermore, PAM also focuses on measures to combat transnational organised crime. It is in close contact with global leaders in the humanitarian sector, with many international organisations and NGOs to exchange practices to reach peace and prosperity. (Opening Speech)

Mr. Mohammed Al Yammahi, speaking on behalf of the Emirates Red Crescent Authority, stressed the need to continue the process of UAE and its highest leadership to address humanitarian challenges, including natural disasters such as floods and drought, COVID pandemic, which are bringing about more human suffering. The topic of DIHAD’s conference is Partnerships, the need to work together in many hotspots and to address dignity of people in need. The ERCA undertakes great efforts to serve humanity,  improve lives and decrease suffering, regardless of race or religion. For decades it has worked to reach a better world, often in complicated circumstances to meet needs and immediate programmes. Come out with positive messages to enhance humanitarian action and achieve strategic partnerships and increase all aspects of human fraternity. (Opening Speech)


Outline of the Conference Programme
:

H.E. Amb. Gerhard Putman-Cramer, CEO of DIHAD Sustainable Humanitarian Foundation, described the theme of the Conference as attaining the SDGs through the prism of SDG-17 with focus on partnerships. The Conference will include five keynote addresses, besides the Opening Session, one Special Presentation on the Humanitarian Foundation, six sessions and six special presentations, and one closing address. He looked forward to active participation and for participants to initiate new partnerships and personal contacts which are DIHAD’s main achievements, having strengthened over the years with positive contributions to humanitarian assistance.

SESSION 1: Zero Hunger (SDG 2)

Mr. Rein Paulsen, Director, Office of Emergencies and Resilience (OER), Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Chair, considered the conference theme as particularly opportune for partnering in the goals in the current world. He stressed that the road to achieving SDGs has not been without obstacles. Before introducing the Panel, he briefly described FAO’s main initiatives on the road to Zero Hunger. In 2020, the ‘State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World’ Report estimated that the pandemic further pushed 132 million people into hunger, up to 161 million in September 2021. Acute food insecurity trends show a 20 million annual increase, not yet including the current Ukraine crisis. Food insecurity mostly affects economically deprived populations, is driving further away from SDG-2 which requires to leave no one behind.

In Afghanistan, 80% live in acute food insecurity in rural areas, with a real risk of a systems collapse. Agriculture is only 8 percent funded while 2/3 of the population in humanitarian contexts depend on agriculture, which is one of the most cost-effective saving lives today and tomorrow. Humanitarian actions alone cannot prevent famine which requires partnerships for long-term resilience building and more ODA, in particular in fragile contexts. The Nexus approach can help to provide all-round assistance in which partnerships are the key element to make a lasting impact on hunger.

FAO has built partnerships at the global level with the Global Network Against Food Crises established in 2016 by FAO, WFP and EU, aimed at transforming agricultural food systems into sustainable food systems and thus overcome inequality and poverty. At the regional level FAO works with WFP and IGAD on the One Million Grain Stores Initiative in East Africa, helping to better preserve and manage food stocks and develop more predictable terms of trade year round. Regional partnerships are more urgent in view of the Ukraine conflict. The third form are the sector partnerships in strengthening value chains in animal feeding with stable market access for small farmers in three conflict-affected contexts. All these initiatives need political commitments, adequate resources and inclusive partnerships, which is at the heart of DIHAD 2022 to achieve Agenda 2030. (Attachment 1; Attachment 2)

H.E. Amb. Eynat Shlein, Head of MASHAV, Deputy Director-General, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Israel, shared her vision of sustainable zero hunger, agricultural growth and poverty reduction. Most smallholder farmers are women and support can help them to improve several forms of agriculture, among which substance agriculture is the most difficult one. There is a clear correlation between rural communities’ food production ability and a need for climate smarter initiatives accommodating climate change. Agricultural development, water management and irrigation, livestock production, knowledge of environment and climate change, and research and development are the key areas of focus of effective partnerships based on respective strengths and unique expertise. Agriculture and rural development in semi-arid and arid climates are a particular challenge to also achieve economic development and employment.

Speaker gave several practical examples of MASHAV’s projects, such as a Smallholder Horticulture Project in Ethiopia for avocado culture with technical support to increase income through innovative production, irrigation, testing, and marketing skills to achieve competitive and sustainable development. The results are impressive with more than 2,500 farmers trained in various skills as well as post-harvest handling techniques. The initiative is being replicated through training of trainers and also implementation of recommendations and sustainable capacity building. (Attachment)

Mr. David Kaatrud, Director, Programme (Humanitarian and Development), World Food Programme, pointed out that we fall behind reaching SDG-2 with overall need for food assistance rising with climate change, persisting political crises, COVID, and soon to be increased prices of energy and food, drivers all linked together with over eight million people going hungry every night. Transition strategies must be linked with local frontline partners placed at the centre. In 2020, over 85% of WPF’s budget was spent on humanitarian programmes and 15% (USD 1.2 billion) on sustainable development activities following the Nexus approach of resilience building pre- and post cost increases, which must be addressed in partnership as linked to SDG-17. New human development fora are emerging as platforms to advocate for collective action such as a global network to tackle rising food prices. The Food Systems Summit of last year was a foundational pillar to development as it shifted thinking about food as a basic human need and not just a commodity.

While WFP networks with a large range of institutions at the global level, there is also a trend for knowledge partnerships to keep the evidence base to feed into peace institutions such as SIPRI. With the many initiatives under way to address the food security crisis, humanitarian action to deliver lifesaving assistance must continue: “Prevention always, development where possible”. There is also a need to work with the private sector as the road to 2030 is long and needs travelling together. (Attachment)

Ms Sara Al Nuaimi, Director, Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives (MBRGI), which since 2015 combines some 30 humanitarian and development initiatives to adopt a culture of hope with support to address cultural, economic, health and human development within the world. The current focus is on the global food crisis to combat hunger worldwide based on the legacy of late Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Agency, and the leadership in developing comprehensive humanitarian aid as its key goal. As the large number of people suffering from hunger means it will not be feasible to achieve SDG-2 by 2030, the UAE has launched the National Food Security Strategy 2051 to ensure access to safe nutrition and food throughout the world, to make challenges turning into opportunities. MBRGI supports always ongoing and sustaining projects such as the “10 Million Meals Campaign” in 2020 COVID which provided mostly locally food assistance. This was in 2021 moved into “100 Million Meals”, further increased to 220 million handed out in 47 countries, and in 2022 One Billion Meals for the needy in 50 countries around the world. Besides providing food hand-outs, the projects also aims to achieve sustainable food supply and build the capacity for beneficiaries to make their own food. (Attachment video)

Comments from the floor:

What is sustainability of the meals project? How is the division of labour between FAO and WFP at the local level and how is the programme sustainable? The focus should not be just on meals but on other problems which require more cooperation despite blocking progress and calls on provision of water for irrigation at farms to prevent migration from cities to rural areas.

 

KEY NOTE ADDRESS “Conflict and Climate: A Perfect Storm”

H.E. Mr. Robert Mardini, Director-General, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)

reiterated that the topic of climate change concerns us all, but the focus now is on a full blown international armed conflict with extremely serious humanitarian consequences. Staff deployed to Ukraine has been confronted with apocalyptic scenes of terror, people running out of energy for heating in freezing temps, lacking water and basic supplies. The rules of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) are being violated, while the rules of protection of the natural environment are vital for the affected population who depend on it for food. Although the main focus is on the Ukraine crisis, it should not detract from the attention on other major humanitarian crises such as Afghanistan, Ethiopia, the Sahel and Yemen. Climate change is the defining challenge of the 21st century which mostly affects the most vulnerable living in  poor economies, with a lack of social cohesion and reversal of development progress, such as in Mali, South Sudan, or in Afghanistan. Displacement and climate change make coping extremely difficult after many years of fighting and insecurity have decreased the capacity of fighting poverty and adapting to shocks.

Concerted action is needed to limit the impact of climate change and find ways for people and communities to adapt, strengthen understanding of short and long-term environmental risks, for which global partnerships and cooperation are essential. More than 220 humanitarian organisations have signed the Climate and Environment Charter for Humanitarian Organisations, developed with support from three countries. The aim is to help people to adapt to the impacts of the crisis. Signatories also commit to reducing their own carbon footprints, working with IFIs and the private sector. It is important to put our own house in order, factoring climate risk in all humanitarian programmes in 2025, and reducing greenhouse emissions by 50% by 2030. ICRC recently launched a multi-year Climate & Environment Trust Fund aiming to fund long-term climate and environment initiatives, and ICRC at COP- 27 will give the same message as in Glasgow, i.e. that without support from the humanitarian and international community and closing the gap between words and actions it will not be possible to reach the most vulnerable and thus risking to leave them behind. Positive change for more global solidarity, working together for the most vulnerable and protecting the planet is urgently needed. There is no alternative and no time to waste. (Attachment)

 

SESSION 2: Climate Action (SDG 13)

Mr. Ovais Sarmad, Assistant Secretary-General, Deputy Executive Secretary, UN Climate Change Secretariat, Chair, expressed the focus of panel as to be on the impact of climate change which clearly needs to be addressed urgently as it is one of the main challenges we are facing. He briefly described the initiatives in addressing climate change, such as the Paris Agreement and the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development. While the COP and all intergovernmental processes to bring multi-stakeholders together resulted in the adoption of the Glasgow Climate Pact and the finalisation of the Paris Agreement rulebook,  it is now high time to move beyond talking and to move to implementation of the intergovernmental agreements through partnerships. Climate change has now become an existential threat to humanity, which needs initiatives of phasing down the use of unabated coal, reduce emissions with 45 percent by 2030, achieve climate neutrality by 2050, and focus on global adaptation. The COP-27 to be held Sharm-el-Sheikh is expected to be transformative with focus on adaptation, there is hope that 2022 will be the year of implementation. All stakeholders must work together in partnerships between governments, academia, civil society and the private sector to tackle the challenge of climate change. (Attachment)

Mr. Jacob Waslander, Netherlands Envoy to the Middle East and North Africa for Water, Energy and Food, spoke in a holistic capacity with focus on sustainability. He expressed the fear that we are now living on credit of future generations by taking out more from the earth than giving it. Climate risks are existential and an immediate reduction of Greenhouse Gas emissions by 50% by 2030 to reach a temperature rise limit of 1.5o C is imperative. Current NDCs indicate a rise of 2.7o  C by 2050 when properly implemented, while a scenario of a rise of 3.0o C will be a catastrophe for humanity.

The temperature rise is uneven over the globe, high in the two poles and in the MENA causing considerable heat and water stress. The recent IFCC report offers different scenarios and indicates that the impact will be in particular on the most vulnerable with limited per capita available and getting worse. To transition by 2030 towards a net-zero in 2050, two perspectives are climate action with focus on adaptation, and humanitarian assistance. The Dubai Summit on Water Energy Food Nexus showed that the nexus-approach may help to optimise synergies and identify where trade-offs are required. Action also includes to introduce innovations in agriculture, with better land use, and sequestration of lands and forest, and take evidence-based investment decisions by carefully handle data and ensuring access to ambitious policies to transit to green policy. Linking humanitarian assistance is key in climate adaptation and resilience by preventing humanitarian emergencies and strengthening resilience. The temperature surge must be addressed right now with governments, science and civil society working together to bringing impacts of climate change on livelihoods to scale. (Attachment)

Ms Caroline Dumas, Director General’s Special Envoy for Migration and Climate Action, International Organisation for Migration (IOM), gave a perspective of climate change as a threat to human wellbeing and health of the planet. Climate crisis affects the planet and people, requiring action at local and international level, and at global and national level.

Between 3.3 to 3.6 billion people live in regions that are highly vulnerable to climate change. With a 2oC temperature rise, 65 million people will be exposed to exceptional heat stress, whereas global warming is already leading to migration and displacement in all regions in the world, in particular in small island states, Africa and southern America. While appalling figures are seen with 30.7 million new IDPs in 2020 in 149 countries of whom 2/3 in Asia and the Pacific due to natural hazards, without action the number of IDPs in Africa and South East Asia will be more than 216 million by mid-century.

Humanitarian response alone is not enough and needs a wider approach with good data, prevention and development for which IOM supports the nexus of adaptation, mitigation and development, with programmes for better preparedness. MENA is the most water scarce region in the world, and more development action is needed when mitigation is not possible to ensure household income generation and reintegration in communities of destination and return. At the global level climate action is needed with cross-sectoral and cross-country collaboration. After COP-26 there is an urgent need for more adaptation and finance to be implemented to transform risk into more resilience, for which the review of the GCM and COP-27 can be key opportunities to reach youth to help us reaching these goals. (Attachment)

Mr. Abdul Haq Amiri, Section Chief of the MENA region, UN OCHA, focused on the impact of climate change on the humanitarian situation and gave suggestions from a humanitarian perspective to prevent and overcome challenges to humanity. In 2021 23 countries recorded temps over 50oC, including Canada with 60.7oC as the highest ever since 1913. The intersection between conflict and environmental security is clear. The economic impact in the Middle East is the highest with temperature rise by 4oC expected by 2050. The economic impact is up by 82% and large numbers of people are directly affected. The UN issued a Global Humanitarian Appeal asking for USD 43 billion. Two degree increase is a death sentence and the number of IDPs for climate reasons amounts to more than 22 million people per year.

Speaker outlined solutions to bring climate change under control, including working with governments, communities and households to adapt capacities and resilience; looking into increasing local power solutions. Since climate change is a transboundary problem so should solutions be as well. Increased competition between the humanitarian and development sectors must be changed into increased cooperation. The annual target of USD 100 billion set by UNFCCC must be reached, but more important is cooperation to address climate change, and build capacity to counter the impact of climate change in developing countries. Humanitarian action has a critical role to also build resilience and adaptation by affected communities and work cross sector and cross actors.  (Attachment)

Comments from the floor:

What is the role of local NGOs and civil society for long-term assistance to achieve SDG-13; what progress has been made since Glasgow as the climate funding gap is still large? The target of USD 100 billion annually in climate financing has not yet been achieved, but there is confidence it will be reached at COP-27.

How to combine international development and economic growth without a carbon footprint? Intersection of peace and development is needed to reduce the footprint and global warming, raising public awareness and impact on global security, and more political will is needed at all levels.

Although no specific limits of adaptation have been established, it would be wrong to put a limit. National Adaptation Plans need to be acted upon; so far there are 70 NAPs in place but more must be done.

Financial resources are available in The Netherlands to adapt, such as using floating docks in case of sea-level rise, but we should not be complacent and adapt life to changing circumstances. Adaptation is not easily measurable as no clear indicators are established and it is complex and slow.

While the Food Systems Summit focused also on water and climate change, there is still no clear link with peace and security. Link climate change and security where climate change is a multiplier after other factors of governance and security are jeopardising stability and lead to conflict. Three out of the five new non-permanent Security Council members put climate change as a priority for the Council’s work (Albania, Gabon, and Ghana) which illustrates conscience of the danger of climate change for security. The Paris Agreement was a vital tool to address the challenges and engagement by the Security Council as inclusive multilateralism also requires civil society and governments to act.

In Iraq the humanitarian – development nexus is under discussion to also address all other risks.

Regarding localisation of aid, considerable progress has been made since the Great Bargain in 2016 to increase involvement of local actors in response, e.g. in Sudan over 20% of aid through national NGOs. Behavioural and cultural changes are needed.

Climate change is impacting all parts of the world but impact is more felt in less developed countries and should give impetus to interact at all levels. The climate of today is borrowed from the future generations, and despite considerable progress more needs to be done.

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Shortage of ‘Human Resources for Health’ in Developing Countries

Supported by Noor Dubai

Subtitle:

The shortage of health workers in developing countries may undermine the attainment of the Sustainable development goals, universal health coverage and undermine control of epidemics/pandemics. So how do we improve the number and quality of health workers in developing countries?

Context:

The World Health Organization in its 2006 World Health Report reported that over 4 million more health workers are needed globally to prevent crisis in the health sector. Out of which Africa alone needs 1.5 million workers. Thus 36 of the 57 countries in the continent have critical shortages of human resources for health.

Globally all countries are challenged by worker shortage, skill mix imbalance, maldistribution, negative work environment, and weak knowledge base. However, it is worse in the poorest countries mostly of Africa and Asia where the workforce is under assault by HIV/AIDS, epidemics, out-migration, poor working environment, demotivation, undertraining and inadequate investment.

The critical shortage of health workers in developing world especially Africa is a major impediment to achievement of health/developmental goals, and could hinder the ability to control epidemics and pandemic outbreaks. In many developing countries this shortage not only affects provision of life saving interventions like childhood immunization, maternal services and prevention/treatment of the major infectious diseases –HIV, Malaria and Tuberculosis; but also hampers response to serious epidemics and pandemics like Ebola, Hemorrhagic fevers, Yellow fever and Covid-19. In addition to this the increasing aging population and change of life style in these developing countries results in rising burden of chronic diseases and non-communicable diseases like diabetes mellitus, hypertension, cancers etc needing more well trained health personnel’s and facilities.

This shortage is made worse within these countries by a vicious cycle of outbreaks of epidemics that further deplete the workforce and emigration of health workers to other parts of the world. The gross mal-distribution of the workers where by majority of health workers are in the urban areas but most of the population lives in rural areas in these countries, aggravates the situation. Furthermore the opportunities for continuous medical education and self-development is generally limited.

Thus, this human resource for health crisis in the developing countries especially Africa is not only about the quantity of the health workers and their distribution but also their quality. Due to weak educational systems and training facilities, occasioned by poor investment, health workers in many of these countries are not only inadequately trained but also lack the continuous medical education to handle emerging life threatening emergencies and chronic health conditions.

The crisis is partly caused by underfunding from governments due to competing developmental demands with very weak economies. This results in fewer ill-equipped training institutions, undertraining, under-recruitment, lack of facilities, demotivation, brain drain etc. The pull of higher salaries in industrialized countries and the push of poor working conditions at home along with political and social strife drive thousands of health workers to jobs abroad each year. This ever increasing brain drain from these poor weak countries to richer nations of the West and Middle East compound an already bad situation.

Challenge statement:

The SDG goal 3 (Ensuring health living and promoting wellbeing for all for all ages), the universal health coverage and ability to withstand epidemics and pandemics like Covid-19 cannot be achieved in many countries if the human resources for health crisis in these countries is not tackled.

So how can we address this gross shortage of health workers in developing countries especially Africa in terms of not only the number of the health workers, but their distribution and their expertise (knowledge and skills?). What innovative and technological approach can be applied to address this big challenge?

The digital literacy divide between e-learners: how to narrow the gaps?

Supported by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)

Title: The digital literacy divide between e-learners: how to narrow the gaps?

Concept: In a world that everyone is using the digital sphere to communicate and learn, there is still a gap between the e-learners as some have high digital literacy while many still have more limited literacy.

MSF’s e-Learning team (TEMO) aims at reaching 95% of the organization’s staff and not only 25% with high digital literacy, access to computers, access to internet, etc.

Challenge: In this scenario and in order for all staff to have access to distance learning and eLearning Solutions like Tembo can offer, what are proposals and ideas to promote digital literacy for the e-learners to narrow the gaps?

Overcoming Challenges to the Inclusion of Beneficiaries with Disabilities in Emergencies

Supported by International Humanitarian City

Keywords: Emergency Preparedness & Response; Disabilities

Introduction:
IHC for the 2020 Humanitarian Hackathon decided to focus the attention on a group of vulnerable populations affected by Disabilities. The purpose of this challenge is to stimulate people to think outside the box and come up with possible innovative tools that the humanitarian community can offer to people exposed to emergencies and having different kinds of disabilities. In particular, mobility and communication/ability to attract attention are two crucial factors when it comes to the immediate aftermath of a disaster as well as the short and long-term living situation the affected disabled population may find themselves in. The purpose is to integrate and enrich the humanitarian prepositioned stocks with appropriated equipment and aid and therefore strengthen the emergency preparedness and have tools ready for their use in the response phase. The aim is to involve the Humanitarian Hackathon 2020 participants and transform their ideas in humanitarian aid for the benefit of the disabled. Looking at the list of the humanitarian relief items stocked within various humanitarian hubs it appears that no specific items are kept in stock specifically to support the differently-abled living in areas affected by disasters.

Scenarios:
The most frequent emergency scenarios are due to natural disasters such as floods, Tsunamis, Earthquake, cyclones, volcano eruptions, fire-forest etc…in addition to conflict areas. Hackathon participants are invited to think about the disabled population in those scenarios, and particularly, how the disabled can attract rescue teams or humanitarian workers providing assistance. Options for innovative solutions may focus on preventive measures, especially for the populations most exposed to risks and living in prone and hazard areas and subject to frequent natural disasters. Other innovative solutions may focus more on the immediate response following disasters when the affected population is forced to vacate their accommodation, which is appropriately equipped for their disability and moved into newer and less familiar areas. How can we help them?

Below are some tips for the various potential disabilities.

Suggestions:

  • Overall, items that could be useful to most disability categories could be:
  • A Tools to attract attention (which can be distributed to all vulnerable people affected)
  • A disability-friendly app
  • Stool bags compatible with a foldable wheelchair toilet seat
  • Clear masks for lip-reading for the rescue teams
Improving Small Farmers Access to Knowledge About Crop Production Techniques through E-Agriculture

Supported by International Humanitarian City

In several humanitarian response areas, are blessed with diverse climatic conditions for almost all crops (cereal, fruit and vegetable crops), besides ample opportunity to grow high value vegetables as off season in certain zones and pristine climatic niches as well production of certain fruits and vegetables seedling in low, high and walk in tunnels.

Moreover, there is also immense scope of growing short duration vegetable in three successive seasons i.e. summer, winter and autumn such as tomato, broccoli and potato. The small farmers in general are neither aware of the opportunities of effective utilization of their physical , financial and human resources nor know the ways and means to utilize their available resources. Thus they follow the hit and trial rules to grow crops which often incur heavy losses to them.

DISTANCE LEARNING CHALLENGES IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES IN A POST COVID-19 WORLD

Supported by Dubai Cares

COVID-19 exacerbated pre-existing gaps in Developing Countries, which were already strained, underserved and faced significant tech capacity limitations, causing serious learning disruptions.

Context

The world has been brought to a standstill by the impact of COVID-19. Airports, restaurants, movie theaters and other elements of the social environment have been disrupted by this virus’ contagion. While watching movies and dining in public are not essential to our lives, work and education are.

Education systems and learning have been heavily disrupted by COVID-19. At its apex, school closures reached over 180 countries. Currently, according to the UNESCO Education Impact Tracker, there are still 34 country wide school closures and over half a billion affected child learners. “The medium and long-term implications of the learning crisis [has] forced 1.6 billion learners worldwide out of the classroom” (UNESCO). This is especially true for education in developing countries, which were already facing poor economic conditions while also coping with low literacy, numeracy, enrollment and proficiency.

In July, UNESCO estimated “that about 24 million learners, from pre-primary to university level, are at risk of not returning to school in 2020 following the education disruption due to COVID-19. Almost half of them are found in South and West Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. University students are affected the most, due to the costs related to their studies. Pre-primary education is the second most affected while at primary and secondary level 10.9 million students are at risk, 5.2 million of whom are girls.”

As closures forced students and parents home, the need for connectivity and hardware arose. “Today half of the world’s population (3.6 billion people) still lack an internet connection.” Many countries with low economic development and lack of connectivity, adapted via national broadcasts over TV and Radio, “yet the benefits of internet-based solutions vis-à-vis radio and TV solutions are considerable: connected digital technologies allow for the possibility of two-way communication, real-time interaction, gamified learning, and much more. Investments poured into efforts to make digital tools the principal hubs of learning, rather than brick-and-mortar school sand classrooms” (UNESCO).

“According to UN estimates, nearly 500 million students from pre-primary to upper secondary school did not have any access to any remote learning. Three quarters of these students lived in the poorest households or rural areas. More nuanced data showed finer disparities that traced and functioned to accentuate existing social, economic, gender and geographic fault lines. Analysis from Brookings shows that at the height of school closures, around 90 percent of high-income countries were providing some form of online remote learning, but only 25 per cent of low-income countries were doing the same” (UNESCO).

 

One of the flagship innovations responding to this at a global level is GIGA, an initiative launched by UNICEF and ITU in September 2019 to connect every school to the Internet and every young person to information, opportunity and choice. GIGA is supporting the immediate response to COVID-19, as well as looking at how connectivity can create stronger infrastructures of hope and opportunity in the “time after COVID.” The main objective of GIGA is to connect 2 million schools and 500 million children by 2025 and 5 million schools and 1 billion children by 2030, via funding of local infrastructure entrepreneurs and open source digital public goods.

Lastly, the long term effects of diminished education is worth considering, as “the World Bank has projected the financial cost of this learning loss to be as high as USD $10 trillion or 10% of global gross domestic product” (UNESCO). The human and economic impact of stunted education will ripple through the next decade as less educated students, workers and citizens will enter a world that is simultaneously regressing (climate change) and rapidly evolving (technology). Those that are already economically disadvantaged are at greater risk of getting left behind even more.

Challenge Statement:

As discussed above, distance learning is not always feasible due to low prevalence of connectivity and hardware in developing nations and economies, where the population is less able to purchase cell phones and laptops, while the public and private sectors are less likely to build connectivity infrastructure such as cell towers and Wi-Fi access points.

  • How can distance learning solutions be delivered to low income / remote / rural areas with low hardware saturation and lack of internet access so as not to exclude them from education services and systems they were already underserved by?
  • Think of innovative*, feasible and scalable solutions for learning disruption in developing countries

Things to keep in mind for solution design and review criteria:

  • Developing contexts often have limited access to transportation, clean water and sanitation
  • *Innovation does not necessarily mean very high tech and revolutionary. Sometimes the most innovative thing is using or reformulating something basic and abundant in a new and low cost way
  • Reflect on the sustainability of the design, as many solutions end up collecting dust after initial investment and intervention
  • Think through the replicability and scalability of the solution for global reach in similar environments
  • Contemplate potential cross-sectorial collaboration (telecom, government, and academia)
  • Consider the operational part of it: how is it going to work, under what umbrella, with what organizational or collaborative structure
  • Deliberate on the Who and How of funding your solution
Water Scarcity and Accessibility to Clean Water

Supported by UAE Water Aid

The UAE Water Aid Foundation, Suqia, under the umbrella of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives, works diligently to provide clean and safe drinking water to communities in dire need and that lack basic access to water. Thus, Suqia contributes directly to Goal 6, Clean Water & Sanitation, of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. It also has important contributions to goals 1 (no poverty), 3 (good health and well-being), 4 (quality education), 5 (gender equality) and 17 (partnerships for the goals).

Access to clean and safe water remains one of the most critical challenges faced by many around the world. While governments and societies work together to provide solutions to communities in need, the number of those who lack access to basic drinking water services continues to increase till date. According to recent statistics, the figure has reached a staggering 785 million in 2019. In many communities, people spend up to 6 hours each day collecting water. Not only does walking long distances while carrying 20 liters of water cause severe health issues, but it also keeps children out of school and wastes time that families could be using to earn an income.

Utilizing various solutions including artesian wells, water purification stations, water filters, water distribution networks and others, we were able to provide clean drinking water for more than 13 million people in 36 countries around the world.

The main challenge is in providing communities that need it the most. Often these communities are in remote locations difficult to get to and may be overseen in search of the places that require access to clean drinking water.

Although, the water infrastructure is not available, tele-communication networks are often available.

How can we utilize the tele-communication networks or mobile applications to support our goal of reaching out to communities in need? We are looking for a solution that would be easy to use where individuals can pin-point locations globally that face water shortage and lack easy access to clean drinking water. The solution would ideally identify the type of need in the area, the water quality, the approximate number of people living in the area, etc ..