The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) welcomes a contribution of 13,582 MT of rice from the Government of the Republic of Korea to our refugee operations in Ethiopia’s Afar and Somali regions, which will help meet the urgent food needs of thousands displaced by conflict.

An official handover ceremony of rice from the Republic of Korea was held at WFP’s main Logistics Hub in Adama, in Ethiopia. The ceremony was attended by Teyeba Hassen, Director General, Refugee and Returnee Service (RRS), Jung Kang, Republic of Korea Ambassador in Ethiopia and WFP Representative and Country Director Zlatan Milišić. Following the handover ceremony, the Korean delegation visited WFP’s main warehouse facility in Adama and heard about WFP operations in the country.

The Republic of Korea’s donation of rice will help WFP reach up to 290,000 refugees in Afar and Somali regions with urgently needed food assistance. This assistance is particularly crucial given that due to severe funding shortfalls, most WFP supported refugees receive 60 percent of their daily minimum nutritional requirements.

RT Academy, the international educational project of the RT global TV news network, is launching its first media course for journalists from Africa, available in both English and French. Enrollment for the course was officially announced at the General Assembly of the African Union of Broadcasting (AUB) in Botswana. The online course, which is free of charge, will commence on October 14, with applications now open on the RT Academy website.

“We have found significant interest in RT Academy from African countries since the project’s inception earlier this year. We hope that this course will foster stronger collaboration between our media institutions, enhance mutual interest in regional events and contribute to expanding RT’s audience across Africa,” said Anna Kovtunova, head of RT’s Educational Projects.

The International Journalism course, which begins on October 14, 2024, will cover essential topics such as live broadcasting, content verification and combatting fake news, social media news media strategies, filming and post-production processes, and documentary filmmaking.

SDG targets not on track

In its newly-released World Employment and Social Outlook: September 2024 Update, the International Labour Organization (ILO) finds upward pressure on inequality as the labour income share stagnates and a large share of youth remains out of employment, education or training. The report indicates slow progress on key Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as the 2030 deadline approaches.

The study reveals that the global labour income share, which represents the portion of total income earned by workers, fell by 0.6 percentage points from 2019 to 2022 and has since remained flat – compounding a long-running downward trend. If the share had remained at the same level as in 2004, labour income would be larger by US$2.4 trillion in 2024 alone.

The study highlights the COVID-19 pandemic as a key driver of this decline, with nearly 40 per cent of the reduction in the labour income share occurring during the pandemic years of 2020-2022. The crisis exacerbated existing inequalities, particularly as capital income continues to concentrate among the wealthiest, undermining progress towards SDG 10, which aims to reduce inequality within and among countries.

To support the production and distribution of life-saving medicines and vaccines in Africa, IFC; Proparco; the German Development Finance Institution (DEG); and the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), today announced a joint financing package for Aspen Pharmacare Holdings Limited (Aspen).

The €500 million loan package to Aspen Treasury Ireland Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Aspen, includes €150 million from IFC’s own account, and €350 million in parallel loans mobilized from DEG, DFC, and Proparco, a subsidiary of Agence Francaise Development, the French Government’s development finance institution. Aspen is a South Africa-based, global specialty and branded multinational pharmaceutical company.

The financing will support Aspen’s “Manufacturing in Africa for Africa” strategy, which in partnership with global multinational pharmaceutical companies aims to improve the production and accessibility of critical medicines on the continent, including insulins and pediatric vaccines. The loan package will also facilitate distribution and promotion agreements to broaden access to medicines in sub-Saharan Africa and will strengthen Aspen’s financial resilience and working capital needs.