The most eventful week in global development is about to come to a close — with results that will drive conversations in parliaments, boardrooms and at project sites in the coming months.
Two of the biggest events at this year’s New York “Global Dev Week” aimed to address the refugee and migrant crisis: the U.N. Summit for Refugees and Migrants and U.S. President Barack Obama’s Leaders' Summit on Refugees.
A key outcome of these meetings is the adoption of the New York declaration, a set of pre-agreed commitments that aim for stronger global action toward the refugee and migrant crisis — among them a global compact on refugees in 2018.
Although all member states of the U.N. General Assembly adopted the document, it is not legally binding and many countries are already failing to fulfill some of the key principles of the declaration, which includes upholding international humanitarian law.
More on the New York declaration: A long road to shared responsibility for refugees and migrants
Meanwhile, Obama’s refugee summit aimed for global commitments to increase funding for humanitarian organizations, resettle more refugees, and work for their inclusion through education and legal work.
World Bank announced the Global Crisis Response Platform, a financial tool for projects to benefit refugee communities hosted in low- and middle-income countries. The U.S.pledged to contribute at least $50 million over the next five years to the platform.
The private sector also assessed their role in alleviating the crisis. Read our story here: The private sector imperative for the refugee crisis
At last week’s U.N. General Assembly, antimicrobial resistance was at the center of the discussion on global health as one of its biggest threats. This is only the fourth time a global health issue takes the centerstage at the meetings, the first three being HIV, noncommunicable diseases and Ebola.
According to the World Health Organization, AMR is the ability of a microorganism such as bacteria, viruses and some parasites to stop an antimicrobial from working against it — and it poses “a fundamental threat to human health, development and security,” Dr. Margaret Chan, director-general of WHO, said in a statement.
“Agriculture must shoulder its share of responsibility, both by using antimicrobials more responsibly and by cutting down on the need to use them, through good farm hygiene,” said Dr. José Graziano da Silva, director-general of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the U.N.
In the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last year said AMR was responsible for 2 million illnesses and 23,000 deaths.
“More impactful partnerships.” This was Chelsea Clinton’s answer when asked what could be the Clinton Global Initiative’s legacy at CGI’s 12th and final annual meeting. The Clintons announced in August that if Hillary is elected president, the Clinton Foundation would stop accepting foreign and corporate donations and that the CGI meeting this year would be its final regardless of the election result.
Chelsea, who is the vice chair of the foundation, said some programs will be “transferred to partner organizations or will be spun off to be independent organizations.”
You can read our recap here: Here's what happened at the final annual CGI meeting
Read about the future of one of CGI’s action networks: With CGI coming to a close, what's next for the Haiti Action Network?
As the New York Global Dev Week draws to a close, the U.N. General Assembly is expected to ratify the Paris climate agreement adopted in December 2015 at COP21.
The world’s biggest carbon emitters — United States and China — signed the pact earlier this month. And since the opening of the 71st session of the UNGA last week, more than 30 countries have signed the agreement, which aims keep to global increase in temperature below 2 degrees Celsius.
It will be a binding document once ratified by at least 55 countries, which between them produce 55 percent of global carbon emissions.
To aid in the efforts against climate change, the U.S. government agencies launched the Partnership for Resilience and Preparedness, or PREP, to engage partners to harness the data revolution for climate resilience.
Read more about PREP here: New platform aims to bridge gap between climate data and climate action
Check more of our coverage of New York Global Dev Week here, follow @Devex and join the conversation using #GlobalGoals.
