Saharan Africa

Kenya kicks off UN-backed effort to reduce vehicle emissions across East Africa

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Kenya has officially launched its transition to low-sulphur diesel as part of a United Nations-backed effort to improve air quality and reduce vehicle emissions across East Africa.

The move is part of the Partnership for Clean Fuels and Vehicles, a global initiative coordinated by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) to promote cleaner and more efficient fuels and vehicles in developing countries.

Low-sulphur fuels reduce the levels of air pollutants emitted by vehicles – such as sulphur oxides, soot and smoke particles – which, among other health risks, can trigger respiratory and cardiovascular diseases and pose an increased risk of lung cancer.

The UN World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that almost 800,000 people die prematurely each year due to urban air pollution – with the majority of deaths occurring in developing countries.

Supported by the Governments of the United States, the Netherlands, Canada and other partners, the clean fuels initiative focuses on three global campaigns – reducing sulphur in vehicle fuels, eliminating leaded gasoline and adopting cleaner vehicle standards and technologies.

The low-sulphur diesel, which Kenya began importing in October 2010, contains only 5 per cent of the amount of sulphur in the country’s previous diesel supply, according to a news release issued today by UNEP. The cleaner fuel is available in limited stations but will soon be found in pumps nationwide. Tanzania also began introducing low sulphur diesel last month.

“The partnership that is removing lead and cutting the sulphur levels of transportation fuels in Africa and beyond is among the key successes of the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development with enormous benefits in terms of reduced air pollution and perhaps for the wider environment,” noted UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner.

UNEP’s Green Economy report, which will be launched next week at the meeting of the agency’s Governing Council in Nairobi, estimates that reducing the sulphur content of transportation fuels in sub-Saharan Africa alone with the current fleet of vehicles could save up to nearly $1 billion a year in health and related costs.

Mr. Steiner said this is proof that “investing in the environment is rarely a burden but a way of intelligently and cost-effectively growing a modern, sustainable economy.”

The financial benefits for Africa in a switch to low-sulphur diesel are also significant. A World Bank study shows that, when combined with cleaner vehicles, adoption of low-sulphur fuel would result in annual savings in health costs of $6 billion in sub-Saharan Africa. Between 2010 and 2020, total savings are projected to be $43 billion.

Through a global network of governments, fuel companies and other groups, the Partnership for Clean Fuels and Vehicles is achieving major progress, with nearly 100 countries having already adopted plans to reduce sulphur levels in diesel.

Article source: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=37564&Cr=UNEP&Cr1=

Posted in UN News Centre - Africa | Tagged Africa, East Africa, Kenya, Saharan Africa, UNEP

Unemployed African youth to benefit from UN-backed finance programme

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Some 200,000 low-income youth in sub-Saharan Africa will benefit from a United Nations-backed initiative announced today to increase access for them to financial services in a region where youth unemployment rates are two to three times that of adults.

YouthStart, co-sponsored by UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) and the MasterCard Foundation, which has made a four-year, $12 million contribution, is a competition-based programme that will identify and support up to 12 financial institutions to pilot and roll out sustainable financial services tailored to youth.

“We are excited about the potential for YouthStart to accelerate the establishment of youth financial services in sub-Saharan Africa,” UNCDF Executive Secretary David Morrison said.

“Our strong expertise in ensuring that more households and small businesses gain access to credit, savings, insurance and other financial services that expand opportunities, combined with the Foundation’s network and resources, presents another boost for reducing poverty and accelerating progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs),” he added, referring to UN targets to slash a host of social ills by 2015.

UNCDF will encourage collaboration among financial institutions and providers of non-financial services to spur innovation and influence policy decisions, enabling youth to participate in inclusive financial sectors.

Today, more than a quarter of the population of sub-Saharan Africa are between the ages of 12 to 24, making this group of youngsters the largest ever to be entering adulthood. Half of them remain illiterate, and young women in particular face a more challenging transition to the workplace and independent adulthood since they are more likely to fail to complete primary education and face increasing insecurity and discrimination in the labour market.

Early findings suggest that financial services aimed at youth can best promote asset-building and sustainable livelihoods when complemented with entrepreneurship and financial literacy training. However, less than 5 per cent of youth in the region have access to financial services. Few financial institutions have experience serving youth or working with youth support organizations to design and deliver youth-centric programmes.

Through the provision of technical assistance, market research and advice on how to partner with youth support organizations, YouthStart will help microfinance providers develop effective channels to deliver demand-driven services to youth.

“The MasterCard Foundation is committed to helping youth start out right,” said its President and CEO, Reeta Roy. “Through YouthStart, The MasterCard Foundation is opening up pathways for 200,000 sub-Saharan African youth, half of whom will be girls and young women, to gain access to financial services.”

UNCDF, the UN capital investment agency for the world’s 49 least developed countries, creates new opportunities for poor people and their communities by increasing access to microfinance and investment capital. It focuses on Africa and the poorest countries of Asia, with a special commitment to countries emerging from conflict or crisis.

It provides seed capital – grants and loans – and technical support to help microfinance institutions reach more poor households and small businesses, and local governments finance the capital investments – water systems, feeder roads, schools, irrigation schemes – that will improve poor peoples’ lives.

Article source: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=37052&Cr=youth&Cr1=

Posted in UN News Centre - Africa | Tagged Africa, Saharan Africa, UN, UNCDF, Unemployed African

New UN partnership seeks to promote reproductive health in Africa

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The United Nations has teamed up with the Millennium Villages Project (MVP) to promote universal access to reproductive health in sub-Saharan Africa, focusing mainly on young mothers.

The partnership between the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and MVP will use the Project’s primary health-care provision strategy and the UN agency’s expertise to promote reproductive rights and sexual and reproductive health.

The MVP initiative seeks to reach the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – eight anti-poverty targets with a 2015 deadline – in African countries within five years through community-led development.

Infant mortality rates are almost double among women who have children before the age of 20, compared to mothers in other age groups, a factor that makes it necessary to improve maternal and child health by providing voluntary family planning, medical supplies, training and education among younger women.

The UNFPA-MVP partnership will help local governments to provide supplies to clinics and hospitals in Millennium Village clusters. It will also identify trainers for health personnel.

“We look forward to joining forces with the Millennium Villages Project to widen the availability of sexual and reproductive health services – including family planning, skilled birth attendance, emergency obstetric care and prenatal and postnatal care – across sub-Saharan Africa,” said UNFPA’s Executive Director, Thoraya Ahmed Obaid.

“This partnership will go a long way in saving the lives of more mothers, and allowing more families to enjoy a life of prosperity and good health,” she added.

Jeffrey Sachs, the Director of the Earth Institute, said: “Many programmes such as those in the Millennium Villages show that scaling up primary health systems in rural and remote areas plays a decisive role in reducing child and maternal mortality.

“It is partnerships like these that will make a difference and enable us to achieve Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5 in the toughest parts of Africa,” Mr. Sachs added.

MVP, a partnership between the Earth Institute at Columbia University, Millennium Promise, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and governments, provides a new approach to fighting poverty.

Currently covering approximately 500,000 people, the Project has shown that an integrated package of development interventions, supported by a modest financial investment, about $110 per person annually over 5 to 10 years, can facilitate the achievement of the MDGs.

Article source: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=37049&Cr=reproductive+health&Cr1=

Posted in UN News Centre - Africa | Tagged Africa, MVP, Saharan Africa, Thoraya Ahmed Obaid

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Kenya kicks off UN-backed effort to reduce vehicle emissions across East Africa

Unemployed African youth to benefit from UN-backed finance programme

New UN partnership seeks to promote reproductive health in Africa

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Saharan Africa

Kenya kicks off UN-backed effort to reduce vehicle emissions across East Africa

Unemployed African youth to benefit from UN-backed finance programme

New UN partnership seeks to promote reproductive health in Africa

Homework assistance

English Teacher

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