Development news roundup: Red Cross suspends work in Pakistan, Zambia inks water sector deal with MCC, and more

Today, we reported:

• Red Cross makes ‘painful’ decision to stop work in 2 Pakistani cities

• Zambia inks water sector deal with MCC

• UNDP: Asia-Pacific’s growth challenge

• World Bank approves $300M for Nairobi project

• The limitations of social media’s potential for humanitarian action

Other must reads:

• USAID and partners launch LIONS@FRICA, a partnership to promote innovation in Africa

• Build disaster resilience, preparedness in Afghanistan – Valerie Amos

• $6.5M additional aid raises US humanitarian assistance to Syria to $40M

• Funding gap hampers efforts to boost food security programs in Africa

• Development cooperation agreement with Norway ‘good departure point’ for improving human rights situation in Ethiopia

• Germany’s $19.4M additional support for the Sahel to fund food and development-oriented transitional aid, humanitarian assistance for refugees and IDPs

• GIZ-led partnership achieves goal: 100M people suffering from malnutrition now using vitamin A-fortified cooking oil

• FC Barcelona Foundation, UNICEF to extend sport and education partnership to 4 more countries

• Tajikistan Private Sector Competitiveness Project to receive $10M grant from the World Bank

• New water project to help an estimated 3M Kenyans gain access to better water, sanitation services

• Uganda to Oxfam, other NGOs: Apologize for ‘inciting violence’ over land-grabbing allegations or face expulsion

• Shift in global geopolitics could undermine progress in defining sustainable development goals at Rio+20 summit

• InterAction CEO to G8 leaders: Include nutrition in new ‘food security initiative’

• EU, through FAO, gives $8M grant to Zimbabwe’s small-holder farmers

• International oversight committee questions management of UNDP-administered fund in Afghanistan

• Muhammad Yunus renews criticism of commercialization of microfinance

• Why is it so difficult to draft concrete objectives for Rio+20?

Read more development aid news online, and subscribe to The Development Newswire to receive top international development headlines from the world’s leading donors, news sources and opinion leaders — emailed to you FREE every business day.