International finance, activists in Colombia, life expectancy in Africa… Thursday’s news

Guterres will launch a plan to revamp international finance

The General secretary of the United Nations will present during the next session of the General Assembly a plan to reform the international financial architecture in order to address historical weaknesses and inequalities.

António Guterres explained that the initiative will include short-term actions to provide immediate relief to highly indebted developing countries, and long-term measures to ensure debt resilience and sustainability.

Given the seriousness of the global socio-economic outlook, the head of the UN also studies a schedule for holding a biennial summit between the members of the G20, those of the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations and the international financial institutions.

Guterres made these statements in the framework of the first anniversary of the launch of the report “Our Common Agenda” that examines the next 25 years and reflects the vision of the Secretary General on the future of global cooperation and the revitalization of multilateralism.

Death threats for Colombian activists who denounce business irregularities

Colombian human rights defenders who express concern about business projects, especially those linked to land exploitation, are at serious risk, a group of UN experts said today.

The special rapporteur* on the situation of human rights defenders, Mary Lawlor, highlighted that these people receive serious threats and highlighted the case of José Velasco Tumiña, an indigenous defender of the Misak people who has been the victim of intimidation for a year.

Tumiña and other indigenous groups have been protesting for twelve months against the negative impacts of land use carried out by the Irish company Smurfit-Kappa, which controls 67,000 hectares of land, of which more than 41,500 corresponded to pine and eucalyptus plantations.

The activist has received death threats for his defense of these issues and at least one person has been killed since the start of the protests. Tumiña traveled to Dublin at the beginning of the year to communicate his concerns directly to the company, and upon his return to Colombia he received death threats.

The UN experts indicated that “the State must fulfill its responsibility to protect human rights and investigate any allegations of violation“.

And they added that “to ensure that companies respect human rights, the incoming government should encourage companies to engage constructively” with activists.

Regarding the companies, they indicated that they should publicly express their willingness to respect fundamental guarantees, “even if the claims of the defenders affect the company’s own operations.”

UNICEF/Karin Schermbrucker

Since 1995, South Africa has made significant progress in transforming its health sector, making primary care services available to millions of people who were previously denied access.

African life expectancy grows by almost ten years

Life expectancy in Africa increased by an average of 10 years per person between 2000 and 2019, according to a new assessment by the World Health Organization.

The agency highlights that no other region in the world experienced this growth during the same period, but at the same time warns that the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic could threaten these enormous advances.

The Universal Health Coverage Tracking report in the African Region shows that healthy life expectancy – or the number of years a person is in good health – increased to 56 years in 2019, compared with 46 in the year 2000.

Although these figures are still well below the global average of 64 years, global life expectancy data only increased by five years, a lower record than Africa.

Improvements in the provision of essential health services, advances in reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health, as well as progress in the fight against infectious diseases have contributed to extending life expectancy.

Boys and girls share their thoughts about their future through social media at a youth center in Nairobi, Kenya. Photo: UNFPA/Roar Bakke Sorensen

The Population Fund rewards two Latin American initiatives

The Population Fund of the United Nations today announced the ten winners of its first Joint Innovation Challenge, a competition that funds social initiatives that offer innovative solutions and promote the empowerment of women and girls around the world.

The Challenge received 300 proposals from 61 countries. After presenting some twenty proposals to a panel of experts, the ten winners signed nine-month contracts with the Fund and received a tax-free investment of $60,000.

Two of the winning initiatives correspond to Latin America.

These are the Fundación Paniamor, from Costa Rica, which creates an innovative set of digital tools for the prevention and response of adolescent girls to online violence and Tirando X Colombia, a chatbot enhanced with artificial intelligence that provides Colombian adolescents with sexual health information and services.