While all eyes are on Ukraine, my colleague Sara Jerving traveled to the middle of another heartrending crisis in Puntland, Somalia, where consecutive failed rainy seasons have brought families to the very edge of survival.
Today we’re also looking at the challenges of maintaining internet connectivity in conflict zones, the development damage in Ukraine, and the implications of two big pledging conferences.
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Sara’s report from Somalia is a must-read visual story that puts you at the center of an underreported disaster that is now reaching a critical stage.
The Horn of Africa is in the middle of one of its most severe droughts in recent history, brought on by three failed rainy seasons in a row. In Somalia, internal displacement has doubled, and is projected to double again. By May, 30% of the country’s population might not have enough to eat, Sara reports.
This is an article you need to see and read for yourself, so I’m not going to relay too much of it here. But what stood out to me about Sara’s reporting was the way that this natural disaster has compounded for the people who shared their stories with her, and the multiple ways it has affected their families.
Sara writes: “Halima Mahad, who lives in Yake, said her son recently finished treatment for malnourishment. Last year, her daughter was also treated. Because of the water shortage, the family limited washing their clothes and hand-washing. ‘I beg the children to not waste the water,’ she said. Her family is mostly eating rice and pasta. She began to feed the goats maize because there was nothing else for them to eat. Three died in January, now she only has two.”
Somalia drought: Livestock dies in droves — and without rains ‘humans are next’
+ This article first appeared in Devex Dish, our free weekly newsletter on global food systems. If you’d like to receive it Wednesday, sign up today.
Information warfare
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s delivery of Starlink internet terminals to Ukraine came with a caveat: While the satellite internet beams might help Ukraine maintain its online connection to the rest of the world, they could also be hacked by Russian forces and used to target airstrikes.
“Turn on Starlink only when needed and place antenna away as far away from people as possible,” Musk tweeted in response to questions about how to minimize the risk of inadvertently turning internet portals into Russian missile targets.
Internet connectivity is a vital lifeline in places experiencing conflict, but keeping people connected is a major challenge. In Ukraine, local internet technicians working with groups like Triolan and Kyivstar are doing the unheralded work to keep a besieged country online, Catherine Cheney reports.
Ukraine: What are the promises and perils of satellite internet in war zones?
Rising toll
The United Nations Development Programme is out with an assessment of the development impacts of the war in Ukraine.
“The war has caused 50% of Ukrainian businesses to shut down completely, while the other half is forced to operate well below its capacity. If the war deepens and protracts further, up to 90% of the population of Ukraine could be facing poverty and vulnerability to poverty.”
UNDP’s assessment considers four different scenarios corresponding to income shocks of 7%, 15%, 20%, or 60%. The latter describes “a severe and protracted crisis scenario.”
RINGO star
How can international NGOs overcome their “functional inertia” and break through “areas of stuckness” to help advance the movement for locally led development? Enter: RINGO.
“Reimagining the INGO” — or RINGO — is run by a group of development workers who are experimenting with new models to transfer more power and funding to locally led organizations, David Ainsworth reports.
RINGO has so far launched seven prototypes that aim to utilize design thinking to tackle the problems that prevent localization from taking root.
Devex Pro: 7 experiments tackling the barriers to localization
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Follow the money
• The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations is staying positive after receiving less than half of its funding goal in its latest replenishment, Jenny Lei Ravelo reports. “A number of additional commitments are in train and will be announced in due course,” says CEPI CEO Dr. Richard Hatchett.
Read: CEPI hopeful despite underwhelming replenishment
• Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, both party to the conflict in Yemen and formerly top donors to U.N. appeals for the country, contributed nothing to a U.N. pledging conference Wednesday, Will Worley reports.
Read: Saudi, UAE pledge nothing at Yemen fundraising summit
• A $1 billion gender equality fund launched by collaborative philanthropy group Co-Impact has announced its first 15 grantees, Catherine Cheney reports. “Women-led organizations have just been historically under-resourced and under-supported, and so we want to course-correct for that,” says Co-Impact’s Yasmin Madan.
Read: Grantees for $1B gender fund backed by women philanthropists
Power struggle
“The debate on transition is not a global debate,”
— Monica Juma, Kenya cabinet secretary for energyThe opening of the Powering Africa Summit in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday made one thing clear: The debate about energy access and climate change in Africa is far from settled.
For many countries on the continent it’s about leapfrogging from no energy to renewable energy rather than transitioning, Juma says. What’s critical to get there? “Money that is affordable, finance that is accessible, finance that is timely, finance that is appropriate.”
ICYMI: The growing tension between energy access and tackling climate change
In other news
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian aid worker detained by Iran in 2016, has been freed. [Bloomberg]
The International Court of Justice on Wednesday ordered Russia to cease its military operations in Ukraine. [AP]
China will start using Pfizer’s Paxlovid to treat COVID-19 patients, as the number of cases surges in the country. [New York Times]
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About the author
Michael Igoe@AlterIgoe
Michael Igoe is a Senior Reporter with Devex, based in Washington, D.C. He covers U.S. foreign aid, global health, climate change, and development finance. Prior to joining Devex, Michael researched water management and climate change adaptation in post-Soviet Central Asia, where he also wrote for EurasiaNet. Michael earned his bachelor's degree from Bowdoin College, where he majored in Russian, and his master’s degree from the University of Montana, where he studied international conservation and development.
