Speaking in her role as Chair of the WTO’s Trade Negotiations Committee, DG Okonjo-Iweala said consultations she has held with members and groups of members since the last General Council meeting in March to hear their thoughts on moving forward post-MC13 demonstrated a “constructive spirit”, with everyone “eager to complete the unfinished business from Abu Dhabi.”

“I was encouraged to hear members express determination to find pathways that allow us to do as much as possible here in Geneva, instead of waiting for ministerials to deliver things,” she said.  “In virtually every group, there was support for the notion of securing the political empowerment needed to get things finished here in the General Council.”

As part of efforts to advance work in Geneva, the Chair of the General Council, Ambassador Petter Ølberg of Norway, announced that a members’ retreat would be held on 8-9 July to reflect on how work is carried out in Geneva, how Ministerial Conferences can be optimized, and how ongoing work can be carried forward in the various workstreams.

The goal is to “ensure the WTO remains a forward-looking Organization — mindful of the pending, long overdue workstreams that require our attention and breakthrough of longstanding stalemates,” he said.

Ambassador Ølberg said he would be reaching out to members in the next few weeks to hear their views on the actual content of the retreat.

DG Okonjo-Iweala told the General Council meeting that four priorities for action repeatedly came up in her recent consultations with members — fisheries subsidies, agriculture, dispute settlement reform, and investment facilitation for development.

On fisheries subsidies, DG Okonjo-Iweala noted members were “very close” to completing the “second wave” negotiations on fisheries subsidies at MC13 and that “there is much regret that it did not happen”.

“Given this, members said we must get this done as soon as possible. So, this is a top priority, and we are going to have to work very hard to complete” before the WTO’s summer break, the goal indicated by many members, she added.

Ratification of the Fisheries Subsidies Agreement, agreed at the 12th Ministerial Conference in June 2022, is making progress, DG Okonjo-Iweala noted, with Qatar becoming the 76th member to deposit its instrument of acceptance.  Ten additional instruments of acceptance are expected in the coming weeks, raising expectations that the Agreement will enter into force this year.

On agriculture, making a breakthrough on this critically important sector is key, DG Okonjo-Iweala said. She encouraged members who have ideas on how to break the impasse to put them forward.  She welcomed Brazil’s paper on how to move the agriculture negotiations forward and said she was “encouraged by the new willingness to find a pathway to break the logjam.”

The other area where every member wants to continue work is dispute settlement reform, DG Okonjo-Iweala said, adding she was very pleased that Ambassador Usha Dwarka-Canabady of Mauritius will act as facilitator for this multilateral process.

“We need to fix what needs to be fixed so that the world will once again look at the WTO as a fully functioning organization,” DG Okonjo-Iweala declared. “The developments we’ve seen so far are positive.”

Another priority repeatedly mentioned by members in the consultations was the Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement and how to incorporate it into the WTO framework. The Agreement now has 128 WTO members as co-sponsors, of which 90 are developing economies.

Citing figures from a World Bank Group agency showing a sharp decline in capital flows to developing economies, DG Okonjo-Iweala said every instrument that can help developing economies attract investment and generate employment should be welcomed.

On development issues, DG Okonjo-Iweala said she was happy with the progress members were able to make for least developed countries and other developing  economies at MC13 and that members should build on the momentum achieved.  She noted that members indicated in the consultations that they would like to work further on the LDC graduation proposal and on the Agreement-specific proposals from the G90 group of developing economies and least developed countries.

During the 22 May General Council meeting, the negotiating chairs for agriculture (Ambassador Alparslan Acarsoy of Türkiye), fisheries subsidies (Ambassador Einar Gunnarsson of Iceland) and development (Ambassador Kadra Hassan of Djibouti) provided members with a readout on deliberations in their respective areas since the last General Council meeting in March.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of World Trade Organization (WTO).

The African Development Bank Group (www.AfDB.org) will highlight the importance of preparation, financing and coordination for water, sanitation and hygiene initiatives across Africa at the 10th World Water Forum in Bali, Indonesia. The Bank and the African Water Facility’s delegations to the world’s largest international gathering of water sector partners will share insights, strategies and stories of sustainable development successes from the continent.

The World Water Forum, held every three years since 1997, draws thousands of participants from politics, academia, multilateral institutions, civil society, and the private sector to discuss water-related issues. This year’s Forum is co-organized by the World Water Council and the Republic of Indonesia, under the theme, “Water for Shared Prosperity.”

“The African Development Bank is committed to contributing to sustainable economic growth and progress in Africa. Our participation at this forum adds to the Bank’s ongoing efforts towards a prosperous Africa where everyone has access to essential resources such as water and sanitation,” said African Water Facility Coordinator Mtchera Chirwa, who will represent the Bank Group’s president, Dr Akinwunmi Adesina at the forum.

“I am delighted to lead this delegation to share strategies from the Bank’s work, strengthen collaboration, and forge new partnerships to accelerate progress in Africa’s water sector,” he said.

The delegation from the Bank will join a high-level meeting of the G20 Bali Global Blended Finance Alliance, where the Indonesian government and partners will launch the Alliance Secretariat and hold a roundtable discussion on Global South collaboration.

The Bank will host and speak at more than a dozen Forum sessions, including an event on Tuesday 21 May presenting the African Water Facility’s Africa Urban Sanitation Investment initiative – a new financing window dedicated to improving sanitation in Africa’s urban areas. Debjyoty Mukherjee, Principal Public-Private Partnership Finance expert at the African Water Facility, will lead the discussion.

On Wednesday, 22 May, Chirwa will moderate a session on “Innovative Financing and Resource Mobilization for Climate-resilient Water and Sanitation Investments”. This event will focus on the importance of project preparation and coordination for water, sanitation and hygiene initiatives across Africa, backed by innovative financing solutions. He will also speak at the closing ceremony of the Basin Segment Day, in the “Roundtable of Basin Champions” on Wednesday.

In addition, members of the Bank delegation will speak or moderate during the following sessions:

“Roundtable of multilateral development banks” – Monday, 20 May.

“From incubation to financing: developing projects of climate change adaptation in basins of lakes, rivers and aquifers” high-level event – Monday, 20 May

 “High-level Panel on “Non-Conventional Water Resources and Associated Renewable Energies” – Tuesday, 21 May

 “Benefits from Transboundary Water Cooperation in the Nile Basin” – Wednesday, 22 May

the Bank’s water and sanitation investment areas and Bank projects such as the Kigali Bulk Water Supply System (https://apo-opa.co/3wLcCEF) – Wednesday, 22 May

 “The African Water Facility”, Africa’s project preparation facility for the development of climate-resilient water and sanitation investments – Thursday, 23 May

 “The African Development Bank and the Private Sector” – Friday, 24 May

The Bank’s delegation will meet with donors and business leaders to discuss partnerships and funding to meet Africa’s growing need for better water and sanitation services. The Bank is also co-hosting the Africa Pavilion alongside the African Union Commission, African Ministers’ Council on Water, and the African Water Facility. This collaboration aims to present a unified narrative and share knowledge from Africa’s water sector to enrich the global dialogue at the forum.

For more information on the African Development Bank’s activities at the 10th World Water Forum and to engage with the discussions, visit www.AfDB.org. Follow the conversation on social media with the hashtags #WorldWaterForum10, #AfDB, and #Bali2024.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Development Bank Group (AfDB).

Media Contact:
Mary Ajayi
Water Development and Sanitation Department
media@afdb.org

About the African Development Bank Group:
The African Development Bank Group is Africa’s premier development finance institution. It comprises three distinct entities: the African Development Bank (AfDB), the African Development Fund (ADF) and the Nigeria Trust Fund (NTF). On the ground in 41 African countries with an external office in Japan, the Bank contributes to the economic development and the social progress of its 54 regional member states. For more information: www.AfDB.org

“It happened at the hospital. I realized I was leaking urine,” fistula survivor Kadiatou Bah told UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency. 

Ms. Bah first fell pregnant more than four decades ago, when she was 17. With few health centres on hand in her mountainous village in Labé, Guinea, she’d had little chance to avail herself of services during her pregnancy; nor had she planned to give birth at a health facility. 

But her plans changed after two days of labour. “When we wanted to go to the health centre, I gave birth on the way,” she said. “The child was already dead.” 

Though she didn’t realize it at the time, Ms. Bah had suffered an obstetric fistula: A devastating childbirth injury that carries life-threatening risks for women and their pregnancies. About nine in ten women who develop obstetric fistula suffer stillbirths; meanwhile, research shows obstructed labour drives 6 per cent of maternal deaths. 

Fistula’s effects are also severe for survivors; many encounter incontinence, mental and physical ailments and societal ostracization. Ms. Bah’s disability drove a wedge between her and her husband, who offered her little support. 

“I could no longer show myself in public,” she said. “People avoided me; I suffered a lot.”

A road to recovery

Half a million women and girls across the Arab States, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and sub-Saharan Africa are estimated to be survivors of obstetric fistula. Many are girls and young women who, like Ms. Bah, were married as children and may have become pregnant before their bodies were developmentally ready. 

According to 2018 data, about 124,000 women in Guinea are affected by obstetric fistula – more than 4 per cent of women of childbearing age in the country. 

Despite its prevalence, survivors of obstetric fistula remain subject to extreme levels of stigma. “Among the complications linked to pregnancy, obstetric fistula is one of the most serious, as it also causes social exclusion,” said Dr. Sékou Diallo, a gynaecologist in Mamou.

According to experts, caring for fistula survivors requires addressing their medical, psychosocial and socioeconomic needs. Most fistulas can be repaired via surgery, although this can be difficult to access given the global lack in surgeons trained to provide this care. In Guinea, for example, only one hospital in the country’s northeast regularly offers fistula repair surgeries. 

Despite these challenges, more than 500 women were able to obtain free fistula care between 2018 and 2023. 

Fistula-free

Ms. Bah had lived with obstetric fistula for almost 20 years before her first repair surgery. “I underwent a first operation, then [a second], but I was still losing urine,” she said. 

Following a third surgery in 2019, however, she was able to make a full recovery. 

With UNFPA’s support, the Government of Guinea has developed a national strategy to combat obstetric fistula, creating fistula management units across seven regions of the country. Within these units, teams of surgeons, nurses and anaesthetists are trained to offer fistula repair surgeries to help women like Ms. Bah heal. 

“Obstetric fistula is a tragic result of our failure to protect the reproductive rights of the most vulnerable and excluded women and girls,” said UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem. 

“By addressing deep-rooted inequalities, reaching those furthest behind, and investing in universal access to timely, high-quality maternal health services, we can and must end fistula once and for all.”

This is part of a series of stories illustrating progress made since the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development, which committed to ensure gender equality and the right to sexual and reproductive health for all. Find out more.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

On May 20, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) celebrated the successful completion of the READ II Activity, which has addressed the evolving educational needs of children in Ethiopia since 2018 for over $73 million. Education stakeholders, implementing partners, and key figures in the educational sector gathered to share experiences, knowledge, and lessons learned. Initially focused on Early Grade Reading, the program adapted to reach more than four million primary school students across the country.

In response to the crisis arising from the conflict in Northern Ethiopia, the READ II Activity has played a pivotal role in supporting the reopening and operation of primary schools in conflict-affected areas of the Afar, Amhara, and Tigray regions. During its implementation of education recovery activities, READ II has successfully supported about 700,000 children to return to learning, built the capacity of caregivers to provide psychosocial support to traumatized students and established local support mechanisms to reduce school related gender-based violence.

During the event, key achievements from the past six years were shared. Teacher training reached more than 50,000 mother tongue and English primary teachers, based on evidence-based reading pedagogy to improve the classroom instruction for over 3.5 million children. Training was not limited to teachers, but also included more than 5,000 school administrators who have become strong instructional leaders. Reading culture has been enriched at school, community, and home levels in more than 3000 primary schools and the communities they serve across 81 woredas spanning seven regions.

Positive feedback was shared by teachers, students, and school directors at the event. Etege Taitu, a female grade six teacher reflected, “Before I took the training READ II provided, I used to punish students for incomplete assignments without understanding their underlying challenges. But now, I provide personalized support by addressing their individual needs. Currently, I implement student-centered teaching methods such as group discussions and interactive activities to engage students of diverse abilities and learning styles. I have witnessed a positive outcome in student engagement and academic performance.”

The half-day event featured presentations, panel discussions, and interactive sessions, giving attendees the chance to learn about innovative approaches to addressing educational challenges.

For 120 years, the United States and Ethiopia have partnered in health and education, agriculture and food security, science and the environment, and many other areas to improve the lives of all Ethiopians.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of U.S. Embassy in Ethiopia.