Brexit, ceasefire in Colombia and children at risk: This week in development news

As global markets reel after last week's Brexit vote, the Colombian government and the FARC rebel group sign a ceasefire agreement and progress is made on Zika research. This week in development news.

The U.K.’s decision to leave the European Union last week shocked global markets and sent British Prime Minister David Cameron packing. The historic vote to withdraw from the 28-member bloc triggered an immediate devaluation of the British pound, shrinking U.K. aid budgets by about 8 percent. On the EU side, it's unclear yet how profound the long-term effects will be for humanitarian, development and private sector financing instruments, but the loss of U.K. contributions would leave some EU pooled funds reduced by as much as 19 percent, according to European Commission annual reports. Aid executives told Devex the loss of EU funding will hit humanitarian organizations especially hard, while lobbying groups and aid stakeholders mount campaigns to maintain development and humanitarian cooperation with the EU — historically the world’s largest aid donor.

Negotiators from the Colombian government and the FARC rebel group signed a ceasefire agreement after three years of talks, a significant step toward reaching a final peace accord to end the country’s five-decade-long conflict. FARC agreed give up their arms within 180 days of a final peace deal being signed. The demobilization of an estimated 7,000 fighters would take place in specially designated zones under monitoring by the United Nations, which has already approved a mission planned at around 400 personnel. Despite the progress, however, significant disagreements remain between the government and the FARC, including over how the rebel movement could be incorporated into civilian political life. Critics of the deal also warn that even if a peace agreement is signed, a number of other criminal and militant elements — most notably the ELN rebel movement — who are not a part of the negotiations, are likely to continue to exert a violent influence in areas they control.