CID Weekly: Covid in Africa, trust in Australia NGOs, upcoming events in the sector

+ Vaccine roll out dashboard - last 7 days

+ Australian MPs urge harder line on Myanmar

Australian lawmakers have pressed their government to step up its pressure against Myanmar’s military government, by considering the imposition of fresh sanctions on leading commanders and military enterprises, reports Sebastian Strangio in The Diplomat.

'Since the coup, at least 800 people have been killed by the security forces, while thousands have been arrested.'

New Zealand has suspended all high-level political and military contact with Myanmar, but stopped short of other sanctions.
 

+ Stuck in the Weeds: Accountability to affected people

We would be hard pressed to find a topic more pervasive in global humanitarian speak than accountability to affected people (AAP), its unofficial motto ‘putting people at the centre’ the catch-cry of almost every humanitarian reform process, discussion and publication. Self-reports indicate there is no shortage of practical effort.

But the Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS) Alliance has shown that there is a ‘difference between what we see in policy and what takes place in practice.’ In truth, 

The Humanitarian Advisory Group report 'Accountability to affected people: Stuck in the Weeds' provides a summary of the evaluations and reviews that have concluded that AAP is not having its intended impact. The paper concludes by proposing six ways to think about improved outcome-focused AAP. These are intended to support conversations and progress thinking that can support humanitarian leaders in finding a path out of the weeds.

+ Africa faces third wave of Covid

When the expected Covid crisis across Africa didn't happen, many concluded that African governments and health institutions might have something to teach their wealthier counterparts around the world, reports Devex.

'Now Africa faces a third wave of COVID-19 transmission, driven by highly contagious variants and public fatigue — and 18 months into this global crisis, the staggering inequality of access to the tools needed to fight it could mean the continent’s good news story is reaching its limit.

'Only about 1.1% of the continent’s population has been fully immunised.'

'At this month’s G-7 summit, leaders pledged 870 million vaccine doses — but they only intend to deliver half of those by the end of 2021.

It is estimated around 11 billion vaccines are needed to ensure all countries reach some level of herd immunity.

Already, 18 countries in Africa have used 80% of the vaccines they have received through COVAX. The continent needs an additional 215 million doses to fully vaccinate 10% of its population, and around 700 million doses to reach 30% of the population by the end of the year, according to WHO’s Dr. Matshidiso Moeti. 

'Health experts puzzled over how African countries initially kept Covid at bay. If the third wave proves more devastating, the collective failure to deliver proven defenses will be an obvious culprit', reports Devex.
 

+ Aid Worker fatalities in Tigray region

Three Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) aid workers who had been working in Ethiopia’s Tigray region were  found dead on Friday last week. MSF stated that they had lost contact with the workers while they were traveling on Thursday afternoon. Their bodies were found near their empty car the following morning..

The Aid Worker Security Database (AWSD) records major incidents of violence against aid workers, with incident reports from 1997 through the present. Initiated in 2005, to date the AWSD remains the sole comprehensive global source of these data, providing the evidence base for analysis of the changing security environment for civilian aid operations. The AWSD details that there have been 78 major attacks against humanitarian staff this year, with 60 fatalities recorded in 2021 alone.

+ ECOSOC - Global NGO hui with UN

This week, hundreds of representatives of member states, UN agencies, NGOs, and the private sector have been meeting (mostly virtually) at this year’s UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) meeting in Geneva to address some of aid’s most pressing issues; from the pandemic fallout on women and children to famine and data risks.

Covid and climate change topped the agenda, reports The New Humanitarian.

This year’s ECOSOC talks come under a general heading of: “Strengthening humanitarian assistance to face the challenges of 2021 and beyond: mobilising respect for international humanitarian law, inclusion, gender, innovation and partnerships.”
 

+ World Vision 40 Hour Famine

Many landmarks across New Zealand were lit orange over the weekend to mark World Vision's 40 hour famine, which sees about 90,000 young people across the country each year take part in the fundraising initiative. 

World Vision New Zealand national director Grant Bayldon said it was a special way to mark the efforts of young New Zealanders doing all they can to make a difference for children in sub-Saharan Africa who are facing ‘‘what could be the biggest hunger crisis of our lifetime’’.

In recognition of the 40 hour famine, Grant Bayldon attempted to hike 40 volcanoes around Auckland in 40 hours, raising almost $6000 in sponsorship. A huge congrats to Grant!
 

+ Trust in Australian development NGOs on the rise

According to research undertaken with the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Australian Council for International Development, public trust in Australian NGOs working in development has risen by 7% over the past year.

This is based on a question asked by Terence Wood in a survey:

“Thinking now about Australian non-governmental organisations and charities that do aid work in poorer countries, how much do you trust these organisations to do the right thing all of the time? Answer on a scale between 0 and 10, where 0 indicates you don’t trust them at all and 10 indicates you trust them a lot.”

The mean response was 5.65, increasing from 5.24 the previous year.

On the increase in trust, Terence stated "that it probably stems from a broader change: Australians are becoming more trusting in general. When I analysed which types of Australians were most likely to trust NGOs in 2019, by far and away the clearest correlation I found was with a general question about social trust that I also asked. Australians who trusted their fellow Australians were more likely to trust development NGOs. The relationship existed even when I accounted for the influence of age, education, gender, where people lived and political orientation."

Read the full breakdown of the results from DevPolicy here

+ Complete the Annual Member Survey

Did you get a link to the 2021 CID Member Survey?

It went out to all CEOs and main contacts on the 10th June and you have until the 9 July to complete the survey.

Why is it important?

The overarching results (which are anonymous) get shared with your peers, ministers and MFAT, and also media. It gives us a ‘whole of New Zealand’ snap-shot of who is working in the area of development – plus how/where/why and what different organisations are doing, who they’re working with etc. It’s also how we advocate on your behalf for issues and challenges that need addressing. And how we know the best way to support you and your team.

So whether you are a Full or Affiliate member, it’s really important your organisation’s data is represented in the Survey. Any questions contact Philippa.

+ CID Advocacy Snapshot Jan - Apr 2021

Download PDF here

The CID Advocacy Snapshot collates the advocacy activities of CID Members from the January – April 2021 period, as well as other general activities of CID Members from this period. The activities in this report have been collected from a survey sent to CID Members, as well as desktop research conducted by CID. The activities detailed in this report are not extensive, and are intended to provide a snapshot of CID Members’ activities from the period.

This period saw the continuation of significant collaborative advocacy campaigns such as ‘Big Hearts, Connected World’, and ‘Sign for Freedom’, while there continues to be a trend towards more joint campaigns and appeals with multiple CID Members.

Consistent with the previous period, there is still a distinct thematic focus on Covid campaigns and appeals. The recent Covid outbreak in India saw a significant number of CID Members respond with appeals and campaigns to secure essential equipment and vaccines for India.

Read the full Snapshot here
 

+ International SOS: Ensuring Business Success – Panel discussion  

International SOS would like to invite CID members to participate in an upcoming panel discussion focused on the policy considerations around adapting to the new health and security risk environment. 

Join senior workplace health and safety management stakeholders from MBIE, BECA, Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance, KPMG and International SOS as they discuss the key health, security, legislative and insurance considerations involved in developing employee workplace health, safety and wellbeing policy/s, navigating the current risk and compliance environment and return to travel planning and policy considerations. 

Wellington: Tuesday 13th July from 8.30am – 10am (breakfast included)
Register now to confirm your spot

Auckland: Wednesday 14th July from 11am – 12:30pm (lunch included)
Register now to confirm your spot

+ Do you want to facilitate a session at the 2021 CID Conference?
 

The 2021 CID Conference will bring together New Zealand and Pacific international development sectors after a tumultuous year to reflect, and to regroup on a new blueprint for aid and development post COVID. 

Through this conference we wish to: 

• role-model localisations and partnership, 
• help define transformation, and 
• explore how we can improve resilience. 

Participants will be a combination of INGO CEOs, MFAT staff, politicians, CEOs of sector partners (i.e. partners from businesses, academia, and CRIs), staff from our member organisations, interested members of the public, and students. 

If your organisation is interested in facilitating a CID Member session at the CID Annual Conference on 26th October 2021, we would love to hear from you! This opportunity is open to all CID Members, and is a chance to present and share collective challenges with representatives from across the sector. Please fill in this form with an outline of your proposed session idea. Sessions will provide a collaborative, active learning environment for the participants. Participants will leave with skills, knowledge, or materials that they can use in their own practice or work. 

Fill in the Expressions of Interest form here.