diplomacy&development

More than 2,800 scientists from 130 countries gathered on Friday (January 15) in a virtual forum hosted by the World Health Organization (WHO) to identify knowledge gaps and set research priorities for vaccines against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. They discussed the safety and efficacy of existing vaccines and new candidates, ways to optimize limited supply, and the need for additional safety studies. “The development and approval of several safe and effective vaccines less than a year after this virus was isolated and sequenced is an astounding scientific accomplishment,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, in his opening remarks. “The approval of the first few vaccines does not mean the job is done. Far from it. More vaccines are in the pipeline, which must be evaluated to ensure we have enough doses to vaccinate everyone.” More than 30 million vaccine doses have already been administered in 47 mostly high-income countries.  But the global vac...

Natalina Cea was appointed the 14th January 2021 as the Head of Mission of the EU Border Assistance Mission (EUBAM) in Libya. She will take up her duties on 1 February 2021 succeeding Vincenzo Tagliaferri, who has been Head of Mission since 1 September 2016. Natalina Cea is an Italian civil servant who has worked at a senior level for more than 20 years, both in Italy – as Director of the International Cooperation and Technical Assistance Office of the Italian Customs Administration – and internationally, leading missions, programs and projects in the civilian security sector, particularly in the field of border management and related security and justice issues. EUBAM Libya, a civilian Mission under the Common Security and Defence Policy, was launched on 22 May 2013. It is tasked with contributing to the Libyan authorities’ efforts to disrupt organised criminal networks involved in smuggling of migrants, human trafficking and terrorism. The mission coordinates and implements projects ...

The sixth meeting of the Emergency Committee (EC), convened by the WHO Director-General under the International Health Regulations (2005) (IHR) regarding COVID-19, will be held on 14 January. Following their meeting, the EC will issue a statement with recommendations to WHO and the Member States. The IHR Emergency Committee for COVID-19 held its first meeting on 22-23 January 2020. On 30 January 2020, following its second meeting, the Director-General accepted the Committee’s advice and declared that the outbreak constituted a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. The EC’s recommendations were issued as IHR Temporary Recommendations. The Committee continues to meet on a regular basis – every 3 months. This time, the Director-General has convened the Committee two weeks earlier than the regular schedule to consider issues that need urgent discussion. These are the recent variants and considerations on the use vaccination and testing certificates for international travel. Cas...

The Great Green Wall’s plan is to plant an 8,000 km long and 15 km wide mosaic of trees, grasslands, vegetation and plants across the Sahara and Sahel. The Sahel region's Great Green Wall Initiative received a major boost from the African Development Bank (AfDB.org) on Monday. During a forum hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron and His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, the Bank pledged to assist in mobilising up to $6.5 billion over five years, to advance the landmark initiative. The resources will be made available through a range of programmes in support of the Great Green Wall by drawing on internal as well as external sources of funding, such as the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA) and the Green Climate Fund (GCF), among others. Multilateral development partners joined the Bank in pledging funding for the African-led initiative that aims to rejuvenate life in Africa’s current desert landscapes, providing food security, jobs and a reason for millions of Africans...

The recent health crisis has revealed the resilient capacities of African agriculture. More than 100 European and African actors have signed a charter of commitment to the development of the agro-pastoral sectors in Africa, particularly in the Sahel; The original initiative aims to resize and strengthen agricultural cooperation between Europe and Africa while ensuring the protection of biodiversity, a global common good. The recent health crisis has revealed the resilient capacities of African agriculture. Faced with the closing of borders, the drop of the purchasing power in urban areas, the major disruptions in the international market of raw materials and the availability of agricultural labor generally unaffected both by the virus and the traffic restrictions, the high demand for food products in cities has been a powerful incentive to the increase and the flow of local productions. Under these conditions, more than ever, agriculture should be one of the main levers of development ...

Global scientists are intensifying research into COVID-19, as the World Health Organization (WHO) moves to expand its scientific collaboration and monitoring of emerging variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. A day-long virtual meeting of scientists from around the globe, convened by WHO, brought  together more than 1,750 experts from 124 countries to discuss critical knowledge gaps and research priorities for emerging variants of the virus. Welcoming them, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, said: “Science and research have played a vital role in responding to the pandemic since day one and will continue to be the heartbeat of everything WHO does.” The consultation was structured around six thematic areas covering epidemiology and mathematical modelling, evolutionary biology, animal models, assays and diagnostics, clinical management and therapeutics and vaccines.  Scientists noted the importance of research to detect and understand early on ...

The four leading international health and humanitarian organizations announced this 12 January 2021 the establishment of a global Ebola vaccine stockpile to ensure outbreak response.  The effort to establish the stockpile was led by the International Coordinating Group (ICG) on Vaccine Provision, which includes the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), with financial support from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. The stockpile will allow countries, with the support of humanitarian organizations, to contain future Ebola epidemics by ensuring timely access to vaccines for populations at risk during outbreaks. The injectable single-dose Ebola vaccine (rVSV∆G-ZEBOV-GP, live) is manufactured by Merck, Sharp & Dohme (MSD) Corp. and developed with financial support from the US government. The European Medicines Agency licensed the Ebola vaccine in November 2019, and the vaccin...