The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) have joined forces to foster inclusive and sustainable family farming as the central cornerstone for a vibrant, productive and profitable agriculture across the Near East and North Africa (NENA).
This was announced during the e-launch of the UN Decade of Family Farming (UNDFF) in the NENA region. The event brought together government ministries, farmers’ organizations, civil society, research institutions and international organizations to define priorities and implement a regional action plan for this decade.
“Family farms worldwide have immense potential to become core players and to support developmental strategies aimed at increasing food security, making food systems sustainable and managing natural resources,” said Dina Saleh, IFAD’s Regional Director for the Near East, North Africa, Central Asia and Europe Division.
IFAD, FAO join forces to support family farming in East and North Africa
UNAIDS calls on countries to step up global action
In a new report, Prevailing against pandemics by putting people at the centre, UNAIDS is calling on countries to make far greater investments in global pandemic responses and adopt a new set of bold, ambitious but achievable HIV targets. If those targets are met, the world will be back on track to ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.
The global AIDS response was off track before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, but the rapid spread of the coronavirus has created additional setbacks. Modelling of the pandemic’s long-term impact on the HIV response shows that there could be an estimated 123 000 to 293 000 additional new HIV infections and 69 000 to 148 000 additional AIDS-related deaths between 2020 and 2022.
“The collective failure to invest sufficiently in comprehensive, rights-based, people-centred HIV responses has come at a terrible price,” said Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “Implementing just the most politically palatable programmes will not turn the tide against COVID-19 or end AIDS. To get the global response back on track will require putting people first and tackling the inequalities on which epidemics thrive.”
SITA, Orange business services stretch the bounds of edge connectivity
SITA and Orange Business Services have implemented a multi-tenant edge SD-WAN platform at more than 60 airports globally through SITA’s shared connectivity platform AirportHub.
Leveraging Orange Business Services’ Flexible SD-WAN portfolio, SITA Connect SDN allows multiple airlines, ground handlers, and other tenants to access the same virtualized infrastructure in the cloud, delivering more scalable and agile connectivity. This drives greater cost efficiencies and supports the airline industry’s drive to migrate applications to the cloud.
Unique in its conception, SITA Connect SDN leverages the existing AirportHub, SITA’s pre-connected connectivity platform already deployed in almost 600 airports worldwide and available to airlines globally. Sydney International Airport, Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, and Zurich Airport are among the 60 airports that have already been upgraded to the ultra-fast SD-WAN network that is currently being rolled out to cover the vast majority of all airline destinations.
