Dozens of finance and foreign ministers met this week to call for radical action to reform the international financial architecture, empower developing countries in international institutions and channel trillions of dollars towards sustainable development in Africa and other developing countries.  

Nine years after the historic agreement on financing for development, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, United Nations Member States once again convened in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to renew the push for sustainable development financing and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

“Faced with sky-high debt burdens and costs of capital, developing countries have limited prospects of financing the Sustainable Development Goals,” stated António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations in a video message to the conference. He continued: “The Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development provides a unique opportunity to tackle these challenges head on. It opens the door for world leaders to adopt ambitious reforms to deliver affordable long-term financing at scale – and deliver the SDG Stimulus. And it presents a unique opportunity to reform an international financial system that is outdated, dysfunctional and unfair.”

After four years of a series of global shocks – including the COVID-19 pandemic, geopolitical conflicts and economic instability – the SDG financing gap for developing countries has ballooned to USD 4 trillion annually. The financing gap and accompanying debt challenges have worsened poverty and inequality, putting the world off track to meet international targets set in 2015. The challenges countries face in raising sufficient resources have laid bare structural flaws in the international financial architecture and accelerated calls for reforms.

“This meeting provided the opportunity to take stock of the steps we must take to fill the financing gaps and meet the development needs of all people around the world,” said Mr. Li Junhua, the Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), and Secretary-General of the FfD4 conference. “The ministers, experts and other stakeholders that gathered here in Addis Ababa made clear that we cannot continue with business as usual and must dramatically reshape the international financial system to ensure investment where it is most needed.”

Ministers and global experts unveiled proposals for reforming the rules and governance of international taxation, and for addressing countries facing debt crises, including through new international mechanisms to resolve situations of sovereign debt default.

“The international financial architecture created nearly 80 years ago needs to be reformed to respond to the most pressing challenges of African countries in a more effective and inclusive manner,” said Mr. Claver Gatete, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. “African countries are taking a leadership role in pressing for changes to global tax and financial systems, and they are clear that the international system needs to better support their sustainable development aspirations.”

The Preparatory Committee meeting brought together representatives of at least 103 countries, including high-level representatives, as well as representatives of multilateral development banks, United Nations system entities and other intergovernmental organizations, the private sector and non-governmental organizations. Almost 800 participants discussed the full range of financing issues, including debt, taxation, trade, private finance, development cooperation, technology and data.  

The five-day meeting was the first of four preparatory meetings to be held ahead of the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) Conference taking place in Sevilla, Spain, in 2025, with a mandate from the UN General Assembly to support reform of the international financial architecture. 

Subsequent sessions of the Preparatory Committee will be held in New York in December 2024, and in February and April in 2025.  A one-day intersessional multi-stakeholder hearing will also be convened in New York in October 2024 as part of the preparatory process for the Conference.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).

The ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE) is proud to announce the inauguration of solarization projects at three hospitals in Ghana. These projects include a 61KWp system at Finney Hospital, a 21KWp system at Barnor Memorial Hospital, and a 30KWp system at Mother-Love Hospital.

Developed and implemented in partnership with Tradeworks Limited, a local solar energy company, these projects received technical support and co-funding from ECREEE through the ECOWAS Special Intervention Fund (ESIF). The solar systems will ensure an uninterrupted power supply to the beneficiary hospitals, significantly contributing to the provision of excellent healthcare services in their respective communities.

The inauguration ceremony at Finney Hospital was attended by several notable figures, including the Director for Renewable Energy, Mr. Seth Mahu, who represented the Honourable Minister of Energy of Ghana; the Director for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency at the Energy Commission of Ghana, Mr. Kofi Agyarko, who represented the Executive Secretary; Executive Director of ECREEE, Mr. Jean Francis Sempore; the Chief Medical Director of Finney Hospital, Dr. Allen Steele-Dadzie; and the Chief Executive Officer of Tradeworks Limited, Mr. Randy Sey.

These projects mark a significant step forward in enhancing the quality of healthcare services in the region. By providing uninterrupted power supply through these solar systems, the project ensures that medical facilities can operate efficiently without the disruptions caused by power outages.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

Upon completing a four-day visit to Tunisia, in which she met with human rights defenders, civil society representatives, the Tunisian Judges Association, lawyers, political parties, journalists, victims of human rights violations and families of arbitrarily detained people, Amnesty International’s Secretary General Agnès Callamard said:

“It is alarming and distressing to witness the drastic rollback of the human rights progress that Tunisia had made since the 2011 revolution. Three years on since President Kais Saied suspended Parliament and began to seize control of the State, violations that we thought part of Tunisia’s past are becoming more and more discernible and systematic.  

“The institution of justice has been brought to heel, while arrests and arbitrary prosecutions are multiplying, affecting the leaders of the political opposition, journalists, activists, lawyers, magistrates, trade unionists, businesspeople, civil servants, women judges and activists, migrants and refugees. People who have not yet been directly affected told me they fear that their freedom could be curtailed at any time. 

“My visit to Tunisia coincided with the run up to October’s presidential elections. Instead of the vibrant debates of a pluralist political scene, I observed government repression, fuelling fear and dread about what’s to come. Many political opposition leaders and government critics are in arbitrary detention, presidential candidates face restrictions and prosecutions, many journalists and commentators have been sentenced to imprisonment, and civil society is under threat of further repression.

“Most leaders of opposition parties are being held in pre-trial detention. They include Issam Chebbi, secretary general of the Jomhouri party; Ghazi Chaouachi, former secretary general of the Attayar party; Jaouher Ben Mbarek, one of the leaders of the political coalition Salvation Front; Abir Moussi, secretary general of the Free Doustourian party, and many high-level Nahdha leaders, such as Rached Ghannouchi, Noureddine Bhiri, Sahbi Atig and others. They face an array of charges, including some under Tunisia’s counter-terrorism law, that carry heavy sentences. These prosecutions, as part of the crackdown on the rights to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly, demonstrate the authorities’ intolerance of any challenge or dissent.

“Amnesty International has documented the drastic steps that authorities have taken to dismantle judicial independence since 25 July 2021. Throughout my visit I witnessed how the rights to a fair trial, freedom of expression and peaceful assembly have been directly impacted.

“While the authorities are intensifying their crackdown, human rights defenders such as Judge Hmedi, president of the Tunisian Judges Association, and his colleagues continue to defend hard-earned guarantees of independence. They do so despite facing reprisals in the form of criminal charges, such as those brought against Judge Hmedi over a judges strike in protest at the president arbitrarily dismissing 57 judges and prosecutors.

“The highlight of my visit was meeting with the independent judges who have refused to compromise, with the lawyers relentlessly fighting the arbitrary prosecutions that political opponents are being subjected to, and with the brave family members of detainees leading the fight for their release.

“The Tunisian authorities are also committing appalling violations against migrants and refugees from sub-Saharan Africa, characterized by racist rhetoric at the highest levels of the State, the normalization of mass deportations at the borders, violent interceptions at sea, and arrests based on racial profiling. Recently, those providing assistance to migrants or advocating for their rights through their work in civil society organizations have also faced arbitrary investigations and, in some cases, arrests and detention.

“Through crude indifference to their obligations under international law, the European Union and its member states have shamefully granted a veneer of legitimacy to this government’s repression in the name of border externalization and counterterrorism. These obligations require European leaders to stand up to the Tunisian authorities’ assault on rights and freedoms, but instead they struck a deal to finance Tunisia’s containment of migrants and refugees, amid a wave of violent racism.”

Amnesty International calls on the Tunisian authorities to:

– Drop the unfounded charges against dissidents and critics and release all those arbitrarily detained solely for the exercise of their human rights;

– Reverse all measures taken to undermine judicial independence, including by repealing decree law 2022-35, which gives the President the authority to summarily dismiss judges; implement the decision of the Administrative Tribunal of 9 August 2022 and reinstate the 57 judges and prosecutors arbitrarily dismissed by the President; stop all interference of the executive in matters concerning the independence of the judiciary; and end all forms of harassment or reprisal against Tunisian judges and lawyers;

– Repeal Presidential Decree-Law 2022-54; release all those prosecuted and detained solely for exercising their rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association.

The European Union and its member states must re-assess their engagement with the Tunisian authorities to ensure that cooperation does not lead to complicity in human rights violations against migrants, refugees or government opponents, and instead contributes to progress towards Tunisia’s human rights obligations.

The Tunisian authorities did not respond to requests for meetings with the Amnesty International delegation led by Agnès Callamard during her visit from 16 to 19 July.

Background

Three years after President Kais Saied’s power grab on 25 July 2021, Tunisia continues to witness a significant rollback of the human rights progress following the 2011 revolution.    

Since 2022, authorities have carried out successive waves of arrests targeting political opponents and perceived critics of President Saied. More than 70 people, including political opponents, lawyers, journalists, activists and human rights defenders, have been subjected to arbitrary prosecutions and/or arbitrary detention since the end of 2022. At least 40 people remained arbitrarily detained as of May 2024 in connection with the exercise of their internationally protected rights such as right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. In May 2024, authorities escalated repressive measures against migrants, refugees, and human rights defenders working to protect their rights.    

In July 2023, the European Union signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Tunisia under which, among other things, the EU has agreed to provide technical support to deter Europe-bound migration, including €105 million with a focus on “border management” as well as nearly €1 billion in additional loans and financial support amid Tunisia’s unprecedented economic crisis. This deal, which lacked transparency or parliamentary scrutiny, remains in operation. Amnesty International has repeatedly written to the EU’s leadership raising concerns over the repercussions of cooperation with Tunisia without a prior human rights risk assessment.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Amnesty International.

Merck Foundation (www.Merck-Foundation.com) declared Botswana First Lady as Ambassador of “More than a Mother” to build healthcare capacity, break infertility stigma, stop GBV and support girl education; Merck Foundation Chairperson&CEO meet Botswana President and First Lady to acknowledge their Alumni and Award winners; Merck Foundation marking strong milestone of Transforming Patient Care Landscape and Supporting Girl Education in partnership with Botswana First Lady.

Merck Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Merck KGaA Germany officially launched their programs in partnership with H.E. Mrs. NEO JANE MASISI, The First Lady of Botswana, also the Ambassador of “Merck Foundation More Than a Mother”, the programs which started in 2018 with the aim to transform patient care, build healthcare capacity, break the stigma of infertility, empower women, support girl education, stop GBV in Botswana and the rest of Africa.

The program took place in esteemed presence of The President of the Republic of Botswana, H.E. Dr. MOKGWEETSI ERIC KEABETSWE MASISI and Chairman of Merck Foundation Board of Trustees, Prof. Dr. Frank Stangenberg-Haverkamp.

The Summit was chaired by The First Lady of Botswana, H.E. Mrs. NEO JANE MASISI, and CEO of Merck Foundation, Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej.

H.E. Dr. MOKGWEETSI ERIC MASISI, the President of Botswana emphasized during the launch “I deeply appreciate the joint programs of The First Lady of Botswana and the Merck Foundation. I am thrilled to see the tangible, measurable impact of these programs  and their long-term commitment to the health and social development of our beautiful country, in such a short time. Botswana needs these valuable programs; I wholeheartedly wish for their success.”

Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation and President of “More Than a Mother” Campaign emphasized, “It is a great honor to meet H.E. The President of Republic of Botswana, and our long-term partner and my dear sister, H.E. Mrs. NEO JANE MASISI, The First Lady of Republic of Botswana and Ambassador of “Merck Foundation More Than a Mother” to officially launch the Merck Foundation Programs in the country, and to underscore our commitment towards building healthcare and media capacity, patient care landscape transformation, ending GBV, breaking infertility stigma and supporting girl education, together in the country.”

H.E. Mrs. NEO JANE MASISI, The First Lady of Republic of Botswana, Ambassador of “Merck Foundation More Than a Mother” expressed, “It is a pleasure to welcome and meet Merck Foundation Chairman and CEO to our country. Together we officially launched and also celebrated important milestones of the great success of our joint programs to build healthcare capacity, transform patientcare, break infertility stigma, support girl education and stop GBV, in our country since 2018.

In a very short time, we have been able to provide 46 scholarships to our young doctors in many specialties which are very critical for us. We are proud of our achievements together.”

“I am very happy to share that we have together transformed the patientcare landscape of Botswana by providing 46 scholarships of One-Year Online PG Diploma and Two-Year Master Degree for local doctors from Botswana nationwide in many underserved and critical medical specialties such as Oncology, Diabetes, Endocrinology, Embryology, Fertility, Sexual and Reproductive care, Acute Medicine, Dermatology, Obesity and Weight Management, Respiratory Care and Internal Medicine and more, it is considered as an excellent number for 2.7 M population. And we are still going to provide more scholarships to local  healthcare providers nationwide”, emphasized Prof. Dr. Frank Stangenberg Haverkamp, Merck Foundation Board of Trustees.

“I am also very happy to share that together with Her Excellency The First Lady of Botswana, we are also supporting girl education by providing scholarships and bicycles for 40 schoolgirls to cover their transportation and other education expenses so that they can reach their potentials and achieve their dreams”, Dr. Rasha Kelej added.

Prof. Dr. Frank Stangenberg Haverkamp added, “Our aim is to improve the overall health and wellbeing of people by building healthcare capacity across Africa, Asia and other developing countries. We are strongly committed to transforming patientcare landscape through our scholarships program.”

“Merck Foundation has provided 1810 scholarships to doctors from 52 countries in 42 critical and underserved medical specialties. Out of the total 46 scholarships provided in Botswana, 19 scholarships have been provided for Diabetes, Endocrinology, and Obesity&Weight Management, for Botswanan doctors from different provinces across the country, which is very important to improve access to quality and equitable diabetes and hypertension patient care not only in Gaborone but nationwide. After completion of the course, these doctors will be able to establish diabetes or hypertension clinics in their Health Centre or Hospital with the aim to help prevent and manage the disease in their own communities”,  Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej added.

Out of the 46 scholarships, 10 scholarships have been provided to doctors in Fertility and one-year PG Diploma and two-year Master degree in Sexual and Reproductive Medicine. This is a huge number that will advance women’s health in the country.

5 Scholarships have been provided for Oncology to develop and support the cancer care capacity in the country.

Moreover, 12 scholarships have been provided for Acute Medicine, Respiratory Care, Dermatology, Gastroenterology and Internal Medicine and more as part of Merck Foundation Capacity Advancement Program.

Merck Foundation is also working closely with Botswana First Lady to inspire girls and sensitize communities about the importance of girl education. As a part of their ‘Educating Linda’ program, Merck Foundation will sponsor the education of 20 deserving schoolgirls, till they graduate. Moreover, Merck Foundation also provided 20 bicycles to encourage girls to continue going to the school, as they sometimes dropout due to long distances.          

“I really believe that when the girls are educated, their countries become more powerful, stronger&prosperous”, added Senator Kelej.

Merck Foundation Chairman and CEO together with The First Lady of Botswana also visited schools in the country to meet the beneficiaries of Sewing machines donation and witness their success.

During the Summit, Merck Foundation Awards Ceremony was held, during which 7 Winners of the Merck Foundation Awards were acknowledged by Merck Foundation Chairman, Merck Foundation CEO together with Botswana First Lady.

Additionally, they also addressed the journalists during the Merck Foundation Health Media Training conducted in partnership with The First Lady of Botswana for the Botswanan journalists, to emphasize on the important role that media plays to influence society to create a cultural shift with the aim to address wide range of social and health issues such as: Breaking Infertility Stigma, Supporting Girl Education, Women Empowerment, Ending Child Marriage, Ending FGM, Stopping GBV, Diabetes and Hypertension awareness. Apart from this, the Call for Application for 8 important Merck Foundation Awards in partnership with The First Lady of Botswana were announced for Media, Musicians, Fashion Designers, Filmmakers, students, and new potential talents in these fields Merck Foundation. The training program was also addressed by prominent Medical&Media Experts and Government Officials.

Moreover, Merck Foundation Chairman, and Merck Foundation CEO together with The First Lady of Botswana signed a few copies of their different children’s storybooks titled: “More Than a Mother” created for children and youth to emphasize and strengthen family values of love and respect from an early age; “Not Who You Are” to teach boys to love and respect their future wives and eliminate domestic violence, to emphasize on the importance of empowering girls through education and “Sugar Free Jude” and “Mark’s Pressure” to promote a healthy lifestyle and raise awareness on the early detection and prevention of Diabetes&Hypertension. Thousands of copies of these storybooks are going to be distributed to school students of Botswana.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Merck Foundation.

More images: https://apo-opa.co/3zUCmj0

Contact details:
Mehak Handa
Community Awareness Program Manager
+91 9310087613/ +91 9319606669
mehak.handa@external.merckgroup.com

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About Merck Foundation: 
The Merck Foundation, established in 2017, is the philanthropic arm of Merck KGaA Germany, aims to improve the health and wellbeing of people and advance their lives through science and technology. Our efforts are primarily focused on improving access to quality&equitable healthcare solutions in underserved communities, building healthcare and scientific research capacity and empowering people in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) with a special focus on women and youth. All Merck Foundation press releases are distributed by e-mail at the same time they become available on the Merck Foundation Website. Please visit www.Merck-Foundation.com to read more. Follow the social media of Merck Foundation: Facebook (https://apo-opa.co/4fkPtdt), Twitter (https://apo-opa.co/4c8X7oQ), Instagram (https://apo-opa.co/3y4OMEH), YouTube (https://apo-opa.co/3YrEj0u) and Flickr (https://apo-opa.co/3zVIbwS).