Category: General

Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced today, at the 2022 Doha Forum, a new strategic partnership called Nanmo, or “growing together” in Arabic. Nanmo will invest in climate-adaptive agricultural tools and technologies to build resilient food systems and markets that provide nutrition, income, and economic opportunities to small-scale producers and their communities across the African continent.

QFFD and the Gates Foundation jointly pledged up to US$200 million toward agriculture, climate resilience, and economic development projects to support smallholder farmers on drylands on the African continent. These farmers are bearing the brunt of the effects of climate change and this partnership will aim to strengthen economies in sub-Saharan Africa in four key areas:

• Equity as a primary driver of inclusive growth

• Enterprise as a means of job creation and poverty alleviation

• Agriculture as a primary source of food, jobs, and income

• Access to technologies, financial tools, and emerging best practices as a driver of productivity, nutrition, and climate adaptation

The partnership will also seek to ensure that women small-scale producers can positively contribute to, and benefit from, decisions about how their communities grow food and create jobs.

“Hundreds of millions of smallholder farmers, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, are already seeing their livelihoods threatened by higher temperatures and changing weather patterns,” said Bill Gates. “We’re building on our longstanding collaboration with QFFD to help these farmers adapt. Together, we can prevent millions of people from falling into poverty and hunger due to climate change and increase agricultural yields to jumpstart equitable economic growth where it’s most needed.”

The strategic partnership was announced by Bill Gates and Mr. Khalifa Al-Kuwari, Director General of QFFD, in the presence of Gates Foundation CEO Mark Suzman during a panel at the Doha Forum. It will support climate-adaptive tools, practices, policies, and markets as sustainable drivers of resilient food systems that provide nutrition, income, and economic opportunities to small-scale producers and their communities. It will also include systems-level research and country-level implementation to adapt to local environments.

One of the first projects funded by Nanmo will focus on improving the livelihoods of low-income women farmers in a number of African countries, working with the World Poultry Foundation to provide them with improved breeds of chicken for egg and meat production.

Mr. Khalifa Al-Kuwari said, “We are thrilled to be announcing a new initiative in collaboration with our strategic partner, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, titled Nanmo, which aims at ensuring that sustainable development goals are met everywhere.” He added, “We have high hope that these valuable partnerships will expand our efforts to improve the lives of vulnerable communities, ensuring their economic security against the backdrop of this ever-evolving planet.”

The partnership will also fund projects with a clear path to achieving impact across multiple United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including poverty alleviation, agricultural transformation, nutrition, and youth and women’s and youth economic empowerment. Investments like these are especially important at a time when conflict in one part of the world can threaten food security across the globe.

“A thriving agriculture sector generates economic growth, but that growth doesn’t automatically benefit everyone equally,” said Melinda French Gates, co-chair of the Gates Foundation. “Nanmo isn’t just about protecting agriculture against climate change. It’s also about making sure that smallholder farmers, including millions of women, can lift themselves out of poverty and invest in a better future for their families and their communities.”

The Gates Foundation has spent over US$5 billion since 2009 on advancing agricultural development to support the needs of smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Stronger food systems for smallholder farmers are urgently needed to avert more serious hunger crises in dryland regions. This will help boost economies and improve the ability of farmers to respond and adapt to climate change.

About Qatar Fund for Development

QFFD is a Qatari public institution committed, on behalf of the State of Qatar, to implement foreign aid projects by international best practices and standards.

Since 2012, QFFD has been providing aid to many countries in accordance with the international cooperation goals of Qatar National Vision 2030. Its primary goal is to achieve inclusive and sustainable development by addressing global priority issues in education, health, and economic development. In this context, priority is given to the following Sustainable Development Goals:

• SDG 3: “Ensuring healthy lives and well-being for all”;

• SDG 4: “Ensuring fair and inclusive education for all and enhancing lifelong learning for all”;

• SDG 8: “Promoting sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth and keeping full and productive employment and decent work for all.”

To realize optimal development impact, QFFD projects are also designed to have cross-cutting co-benefits within SDG 2 “Zero hunger” and SDG 6 “Ensuring availability and sustainable management of clean water and sanitation for all,” in addition to SDG 17 “Partnerships to achieve goals.”

QFFD cooperates with many reputable actors through strategic partnerships both locally and internationally. These include Civil Society Organizations, government agencies, UN agencies, and the private sector.

About the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people’s health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to ensure that all people—especially those with the fewest resources—have access to the opportunities they need to succeed in school and life. Based in Seattle, Washington, the foundation is led by CEO Mark Suzman, under the direction of Co-chairs Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates and the board of trustees.

Source: Qatar Fund for Development

South Sudan President Salva Kiir admitted on Monday the deployment of security forces in the area where his first deputy is residing citings security concerns.

“There is no issue of insecurity on the streets in Juba. What is being done is a normal thing that happens in any country. In Juba here, there are people, criminals who have filtrated and are living with civilians. And these people can go and shoot near the house, for example, if they go to the house of Riek Machar and they fire there, we will see it is Riek who has started to attack people. So, the presence of army and security forces in the streets of Juba does not show there is security. It is not”, said Kiir at a press conference held at the presidential palace on Monday.

The South Sudanese leader also admitted there are sticky issues impeding the implementation of the 2018 revitalized peace agreement adding that such issues could still be resolved through dialogue.

“Nothing is difficult for a human being. There is nothing that cannot be resolved. If there are obstacles on the way, they can still be resolved if there is a dialogue,” said Kiir.

The president convened a press conference on Monday after his FVP Riek Machar said his house has been surrounded by security forces, putting at risk his personal safety and people within the residential area in which he lives.

In his statement, Machar called on the regional, international community, and the United Nations security council to take note of the situation.

It was reported that Machar made contacts with foreign missions and embassies the whole day.

The pressure from foreign diplomats caused the President to improvise quickly a press conference in the afternoon to defuse tensions in Juba.

The huge deployment of security forces has restricted movement in the streets of Juba. During the evening people remained indoors. Also, normal business activities have been scaled-down.

Machar released a 16-point position paper including his position on how to overcome differences over the implementation of the revitalized specifically the security arrangement.

Source: Sudan Tribune

South Sudan’s First Vice President Riek Machar has rejected President Salva Kiir’s recent directive on the formation of a unified command structure, citing a lack of consensus on the unilateral decision.

Kiir, in a decree issued on March 25, Kiir, called for the unification of the army (SSPDF) and South Sudan National Police Service command structures.

The president’s directive was to be implemented with immediate effect.

Sources at the presidency claimed the South Sudanese leader was acting on a proposal given to him by the Chairman of Sudan’s Sovereign Council, Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan during his recent visit to the capital, Juba.

The Sudan Tribune could, however, not independently verify these claims.

In a statement read on the state-owned television (SSBC) on Friday, Kiir said at least three top command positions had been relinquished to dissident armed groups, including the armed opposition faction (SPLM/A-IO) led by Machar.

It, however, remains unclear as to which positions Kiir made reference to.

Multiple sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Sudan Tribune on Thursday that Kiir and his circles agreed to give positions of deputy chief of defence forces, Inspector General of South Sudan Police Forces and the assistant chief of defence forces for moral orientation to the dissident armed opposition.

These three positions, they argued, would be divided by opposition groups, with Machar taking at least two positions in the command structure and the South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA) taking one position. SSOA, our sources said, aspired for at least two positions in the command structure.

Machar, however, rejected these arrangements, continuing to prefer equal distribution of the command structure as was discussed at the workshop at which the details were discussed by the parties in 2018.

The armed opposition leader described President Kiir’s actions as “unilateral and undermined negotiations effort being facilitated by the guarantors”.

Machar, in a statement on Saturday, said the presidential decree was unilateral and a violation of the revitalized peace agreement on power-sharing.

Chapter II of the peace accord stipulates for the training and unification of the necessary 83,000 forces into one unified professional army. But many stakeholders have questioned peace parties on the slow implementation of this crucial chapter bearing all security arrangements which were supposed to be implemented before the formation of the coalition government.

Source: Sudan Tribune

Silence of the East African Community (EAC) Secretariat and Heads of States on ceasefire violations by South Sudan’s rival factions is “worrying”, Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO) said on Sunday.

The armed opposition group (SPLM/A-IO) led by First Vice President Riek Machar accused South Sudan’s army of attacking its positions in various location of Upper Nile state, contrary provision of the ceasefire agreement.

A spokesperson for the military dismissed the armed opposition’s claims.

“Community Empowerment for Progress Organization is disturbed by this silent position of EAC on the political situation in South Sudan regardless of EAC not being part of the peace agreement process from 2016,” CEPO’s Executive Director, Edmund Yakani said in a statement issued on Sunday.

“EAC has a moral obligation to demonstrate concern about the political situation in South Sudan,” he added.

CEPO said the EAC may be unreceptive to resolving South Sudan’s political tensions among peace partners due to the country’s failure to pay its membership fees and ratification of the bloc’s peace and security protocol, but being a member means that partners are obligated to ensure peace and instability, even if it means just issuing a statement to that effect

Yakani condemned the silence of the EAC Secretariat and heads of states, arguing that by assuming Juba’s political heat, the neighbours were treading on a dangerous path.

The Secretariat is the executive organ of the EAC tasked with ensuring that the regulations and directives adopted by the Council of Ministers are properly implemented and provides it with strategic recommendations.

“It is meaningless to have a protocol on peace and security that is not exercised, even in the form of a solidarity statement with reference to the protocol,” stressed Yakani.

He added, “The EAC peace and security protocol enshrined good values for peace and security if they are exercised, and the South Sudan situation requires the exercise of the protocol,”

Last week, the Troika countries (United States, United Kingdom and Norway) condemned the reported attacks by South Sudan Peoples’ Defense Forces (SSPDF) on SPLM/A-IO positions in Jekau and other towns in Maiwut County of Upper Nile State between March 19-20.

Source: Sudan Tribune

Ismail Wais, IGAD peace envoy met on Sunday with the head of the Transitional Sovereign Council to brief him about the plan of the East African block to end the political strife in Sudan.

“The Chairman of the Transitional Sovereign Council, Abdel-Fattah al-Burhan, met the IGAD Special Envoy for South Sudan, Ambassador Ismail Wais who briefed him about the IGAD initiative to achieve stability and peace in Sudan,” reads a statement released by the Sovereign Council after the meeting.

According to the statement, al-Burhan welcomed the IGAD initiative and stressed his support for achieving its goals.

For his part, Wais described the meeting with al-Burhan as “fruitful, encouraging and beneficial”.

The foreign ministry in Khartoum had rejected an IGAD call for a meeting in Entebbe, Uganda earlier this month to discuss the Sudanese crisis and to appoint a special envoy for peace in Sudan.

Sudan, which is the Chair of the regional bloc, said the IGAD executive secretary is not entitled to decide to hold this meeting without referring to Khartoum.

For his part, Workneh Gebeyehu said he consulted with the IGAD doyen President Museveni who welcomed the idea and accepted to host it.

On March 17, al-Burhan travelled to Entebbe to discuss the matter with Museveni agreed with him to hold the meeting at the earliest date.

A fact-finding mission last January was in Khartoum and made a report to the IGAD leaders about the Sudanese crisis including several recommendations on how to resolve it.

The report focused more on “the incoherence and disunity” of the civilian forces than the responsibility of the military component in the ongoing crisis.

The IGAD initially planned to lead the mediation alone. However, the UNITAMS and the Africa Union agreed to work together and opened the door for the east African bloc to join them.

Source: Sudan Tribune

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has “strongly” condemned a recent attack on a convoy of humanitarian supplies in South Sudan, urging government to bring perpetrators to justice and safeguard safety of their staff and assets.

On 24 March, armed men attacked a commercial convoy of 44 trucks carrying WFP food items between Gadiang and Yuai in Jonglei State.

Three people were killed and another injured during the attack.

“This is completely unacceptable,” said Adeyinka Badejo, acting Country Director for WFP in South Sudan.

“These continued attacks and looting only serve to make humanitarian work increasingly challenging and sabotage life-saving food assistance destined for vulnerable communities. Further attacks on humanitarian convoys will put humanitarian assistance at risk where WFP will be forced to suspend its food assistance in greater Jonglei until there is a conducive environment for humanitarians in the area,” he added.

This is the third attack on a commercial convoy in Jonglei in recent months.

Meanwhile WFP said it has invested considerable efforts to negotiate humanitarian access in hard-to-reach areas to ensure isolated and marginalized people receive the assistance they need.

The agency, however, said is the government’s responsibility to ensure safety and security for the population and the humanitarian community.

“WFP once again calls on the Government to investigate each incident where humanitarian workers and/or cargo have been targeted, including one in March 2022 and one in December 2021,” WFP said in a statement.

It further added, “Only by bringing the perpetrators to justice and ensuring respect for humanitarian operations will WFP and its partners be able to effectively assist the people of South Sudan”.

More than 70 percent of South Sudan’s population will struggle to survive the peak of the annual ‘lean season’ this year, as the country grapples with unprecedented levels of food insecurity caused by conflict, climate shocks, COVID-19 and rising costs, the UN agency warned early this month.

Source: Sudan Tribune