The Denden Award was presented to 136 outstanding students in the Southern region for their exceptional performance in the 2023/2024 national school-leaving examinations. The awardees, who achieved a GPA of 3.0 and above, hailed from schools in the sub-zones of Dekemhare, Adi-Keih, Senafe, Tserona, and Mai-Aini.

At the award ceremony, held on 13 September in Dekemhare, Mr. Girmay Gebru, head of the National Union of Eritrean Youth and Students in the region, highlighted that the Denden Award is part of a continuous effort to enhance the performance of schools and students. He emphasized that the award aims to recognize top-performing students and inspire their peers to strive for academic excellence. He also noted that, over the past three years, 881 students have received this award.

Mr. Gebremicael Okbagebriel, head of secondary schools in the Southern Region, praised the National Union of Eritrean Youth and Students for its contribution to the educational development and performance of students. He extended his congratulations to the awardees, their parents, and teachers.

Additionally, Mr. Yemane Abera, administrator of the sub-zone, encouraged the students to maintain their hard work in higher education, aiming to become competitive and successful in their future endeavors.

In related news, Anseba Elementary and Junior School in Keren presented awards on 8 September to 22 outstanding students, including 10 female students who achieved high scores in the 2023/2024 national school-leaving examination. The awardees were members of the 36th round of the national service.

Mr. Mohammed-Saleh Mohammed-Seid, director of the school, stated that the award’s objective was to recognize the students for their outstanding performance and to encourage others to follow in their footsteps.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Ministry of Information, Eritrea.

The African Development Bank Group (www.AfDB.org) has approved a $6.6m grant to support the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) in strengthening state capacity to build its financial architecture in order to promote inclusive and equitable growth.

The Somalia Financial Sector Development Project will focus on improving the capacity of financial institutions, including the Central Bank of Somalia, Somalia Development and Reconstruction Bank, and the Financial Reporting Center (FRC), to formulate efficient credit delivery, and to implement anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing measures. It will also enhance financial sector expertise through targeted training and assistance.

The reforms seek to build a competitive and globally connected financial sector in Somalia, enhancing stability, trust, and financial inclusion, and attracting private investment.

Somalia has long grappled with security threats from armed groups that depend on illicit financing. Strengthening its financial institutions is therefore crucial for its stability and that of the wider horn of Africa region. Integration into the global financial system has been hindered by insecurity as well as institutional barriers. The absence of intermediary and correspondent banking services has further isolated the country from international financial networks, limiting critical remittance inflows.

Strengthening the country’s Anti-Money Laundering/Countering Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) response, and bringing it in line with international standards will enable the integration of Somalia into the global financial architecture.

“This is a timely intervention that will enhance governance, accountability, skills, and technology development while fostering private sector growth through regulatory improvements and financial sector development,” said Ahmed Attout, the Bank Group’s Director of Financial Sector Development. “This will also build robust national financial systems that offer increased long-term finance availability, reduced intermediation costs, and improved financial infrastructure.”

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Development Bank Group (AfDB).

Contacts:
Communication and External Relations Department
Email: MEDIA@AFDB.ORG  

Technical contact: 
Grace Kyokunda
Email: G.KYOKUNDA@AFDB.ORG

About the African Development Bank Group:
The African Development Bank Group is Africa’s premier development finance institution. It comprises three distinct entities: the African Development Bank (AfDB), the African Development Fund (ADF) and the Nigeria Trust Fund (NTF). On the ground in 41 African countries with an external office in Japan, the Bank contributes to the economic development and the social progress of its 54 regional member states. For more information: www.AfDB.org

Thousands of people displaced by the floods in Koukou Angarana, in Sila province, eastern Chad, are still living in makeshift shelters without reliable access to clean water, food, or sufficient health facilities a month later. Water levels continue to fluctuate, and although the fear of another flood is decreasing, needs are only rising.

Teams from Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) have assessed that people’s most immediate needs are food, water and sanitation, shelter reinforcement, and primary and secondary health care.

“The living conditions of displaced people in Koukou are extremely difficult,” explains Julie Melichar, MSF project coordinator. ”They are exposed to the risk of epidemics given the lack of drinking water, people living on top of one another in the camps, and the absence of health facilities.”

Urgent need for clean drinking water

Access to clean drinking water is almost nonexistent in Koukou. The quality of the water at the few functional sources needs to be assessed, and the quantity available does not cover the needs of huge numbers of people in displacement sites.  

“Water sources were contaminated during the flood by a mixture of sewage and waste, including feces,” explains Melichar. “Water is not always available, pushing people to use water from flood plains. Although MSF is cleaning water wells, they are at risk of being contaminated again in the event of further rains or flooding. The situation remains precarious and requires an effective water, sanitation, and hygiene response to reduce the risk of communicable disease outbreaks.”

Lack of protection from the elements

In the shelters, there are very few blankets, and insufficient tarpaulins to protect people from repeated rains and storms. This lack of physical protection promotes the development of diseases such as acute respiratory infections and malaria.  

MSF has set up a health post where our teams provide primary health care. Between August 14 and September 9, MSF teams carried out 1,850 health consultations. Over 340 people had acute respiratory tract infections, 265 tested positive for malaria, and more than 220 were treated for diarrhea. MSF also provided prenatal consultations to 232 pregnant women who were also tested for malaria and provided with intermittent preventive treatment.

“People can’t wait much longer” 

MSF teams on the ground consistently hear from people that hunger is an immediate concern. The floods destroyed much of the food supply and made essential activities such as collecting firewood and working in the fields impossible. Many fields of sorghum, peanuts, and millet have been destroyed or are no longer suitable for cultivation. Prices have skyrocketed so what little food is available is unaffordable for many.

Despite the massive needs, international organizations have yet to materialize a significant response.

“An immediate food distribution would significantly help many people here in Koukou,” says Melichar. “This would be a crucial and much-needed first step, but despite these floods happening a month ago there has been very little in terms of international response. People can’t wait much longer.”  

Concerns for people outside Koukou  

Nearly 1,500,000 Chadians have been affected by the floods countrywide, with nearly 260,000 hectares of fields destroyed as of September 3, 2024, the government announced.

With roads still largely impassable due to flooding, information about affected villages on both sides of the Wadi Bahr Azoum river in Sila Province is beginning to trickle in. People describe many flooded villages, destroyed fields, and multiple displacements. Reaching these people is a logistical challenge and a rapid response from other organizations is essential to meet people’s most urgent needs, particularly access to health care in areas affected by the floods.

Chad is particularly vulnerable to climate change. It is frequently hit by recurrent droughts and floods, and weather projections indicate that the country will experience more days of heavy rainfall in the future.   

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Médecins sans frontières (MSF).

Nature-based solutions like urban farming, terraces, and green corridors can help cities with climate challenges including urban heat, flooding, and air pollution. But how can governments and communities determine which nature-based solutions best meet their needs? In Kinshasa, indigenous knowledge, innovative tools, and proactive local government are helping to answer the question.

The capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kinshasa, is one of Africa’s largest cities. Already home to over 15 million people, Kinshasa is growing rapidly, expanding by about 2,000 people and five hectares every day, according to World Bank estimates.

Much of the city’s growth is informal, sprawling out to the savannah south and east of the capital. Green spaces are being replaced by concrete, metal, and bare earth, ushering in climate challenges like flooding, soil erosion and higher temperatures.

These problems stem from rapid unplanned urbanization. Without sufficient planning, the capital is expanding into areas that lack basic infrastructure and services like drainage systems and solid waste management. Construction on unstable, sandy soil is putting infrastructure, homes and people at risk of erosion. Urban heat is also a challenge, with temperatures in the city recorded up to 8° C higher than outside the capital.

The untapped potential of nature-based solutions

To help tackle these challenges, the City of Kinshasa requested the City Climate Finance Gap Fund (the Gap Fund), a partnership implemented by the World Bank and European Investment Bank, to explore the potential of using nature-based solutions to build urban climate resilience, sequester carbon emissions and provide socio-economic benefits.

The Gap Fund provided US$ 260,000 in technical assistance to help identify, evaluate, and integrate specific nature-based solutions in Kinshasa. Government actors from the City of Kinshasa, the Department of Urban Development and the Ministry of Public Works partnered with World Bank specialists and consultants from Groupe Huit, ARTER and VSI Afrique to implement the Gap Fund technical assistance proposal.

The work builds on the World Bank-financed Kinshasa Multisector Development and Urban Resilience project as well as support previously provided by the World Bank’s Global Program on Nature-based Solutions for Climate Resilience at the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR).

Pinpointing solutions to design an atlas of plant species

The team used the World Bank’s Nature-based Solutions Opportunity Scan (NBSOS), a digital algorithm that uses high-resolution geospatial data and analysis to help pinpoint nature-based solutions that would support Kinshasa’s three goals: to sequester carbon, reduce natural disaster risk, and provide socio-economic benefits.

The tool helped analyze physical conditions such as topography and soil composition, determine suitable locations, and compile a list of nature-based solutions, drawn from the 14 types outlined in the World Bank Catalogue of Nature-based Solutions for Urban Resilience. Examples include urban farming, terraces and slopes and green corridors.

For the first time, the NBSOS tool was adapted to the local and hyper-local scale to provide recommendations that were site specific and customized to local needs. Local, indigenous knowledge from people living in Ibi, a village near Kinshasa known for its sustainable agroforestry practices and biodiversity expertise, was integrated in analysing suitable vegetation types. Their input was crucial in choosing native, local and exotic plant species. 

The team also integrated knowledge from the NBSOS tool with data on local vegetation types to create a ‘Vegetation Atlas’ which scored each plant’s ability to reduce vulnerability to floods, heatwaves and soil erosion, sequester carbon and enhance socio-economic development. By linking the Vegetation Atlas to the NBSOS, the team could identify the most effective nature-based solutions and plant species for specific areas.

“The Vegetation Atlas enabled us to know which types and varieties of grass, plants and trees could best meet Kinshasa’s challenges and priorities,” said Laurent Corroyer, Disaster Risk Management Specialist at the World Bank. “Vegetation choices can now be optimized by benefit, such as reduced soil erosion, heat stress, air pollution or flooding. The new tool offers practical insights, locally adapted solutions and clearer guidance for investment opportunities.”

Tackling soil erosion and flood risk, and supporting livelihoods

Results from the assessment allowed the city and experts to develop a city-wide nature-based solutions strategy and pilot solutions in Kimwenza, a hilly commune on a slope to the south of Kinshasa owned by the Loyola University of Congo. The area is a large hotspot for soil erosion and home to more than 300 families, many of whom live in basic housing, facing challenges of unemployment, poverty and soil erosion.

The pilot site was divided into three zones – uphill, intermediate and lower – with targeted nature-based solutions for each zone designed to prevent soil erosion, restore soil fertility, create jobs and provide food for local people. These solutions included the layered planting of local species of herbs, plants and trees on terraces, the creation of urban farms and pedestrian pathways, as well as the medium- to long-term maintenance of the site.

The team also trained staff from the university on implementation, including planting techniques and plant spacing. The university is now sharing this knowledge by training and working with people in local communities to implement the solutions.

Lucie Bakajika, Urban Development and Governance Specialist at the Ministry of Public works, said: “[The experts] helped us to define investments in nature-based solutions more specifically on this erosion site [in Kimwenza], which has solutions that will be implemented with the University of Loyola Congo. [They] also helped us to put in place better communication with the beneficiaries and technical assistance in the review. Thanks to this study, we were able to obtain an atlas of plant species, which allowed us to discover local plant species, and will be used on the site and which are not always the same [as those] used previously.”

The Office for Roads and Drainage, the national office in charge of drainage work, also worked with the university to identify complementary drainage solutions for Kimwenza, including building a structure that can hold and channel runoff during heavy rains. This work is due to be completed in 2024.

Impact: an integrative tool that can support nature-based solutions at the local level and in cities globally

The technical assistance provided by the Gap Fund is leading to concrete results and investments:

The City of Kinshasa developed a nature-based solutions strategy informing the city’s investment program and identifying a long list of local and city-wide investments with an estimated value of US$153M.
Of that, a selected short list of nature-based solutions investments, estimated at US$4M, will be taken up for further preparation and financing by the World Bank.
The city’s nature-based solutions strategy is expected to inform dialogue on and help mobilize additional financing for future urban investments financed by the World Bank and other development partners in Kinshasa.

The local and national government have also increased their understanding of the opportunities for nature-based solutions, including potential costs and strategic investments sequencing.

Looking ahead, the team is working with the government to explore scaling up their support to other sites in Kimwenza and Kinshasa that face similar challenges. This work could inspire and inform governments around the world that want to adopt nature-based solutions to help address urban challenges while mitigating and adapting to climate change.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of The World Bank Group.