Africa

INTERNATIONAL: Capacity-building initiatives seek to promote climate change adaptation, sustainable urban development and climate information services (CIS). They advance SDGs 13 (climate action), 11 (sustainable cities and communities) and 8 (decent work and economic growth), among others. The UNFCCC Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN) published an update on its ongoing technical assistance aiming to promote… Continue Reading »

INTERNATIONAL: The Global SDG Awards, the first international, private-sector focused sustainability competition based on the SDGs, were launched at the GLOBE Forum 2018 from March 14th-16th in Vancouver, Canada. The competition will be open to companies and social enterprises with sustainability programs and business models geared towards realizing the SDGs. David A. Klar, Global SDG Awards… Continue Reading »

INTERNATIONAL: The UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) and the Ford Foundation have issued a report titled, ‘Migration and Inclusive Cities: A Guide for Arab City Leaders,’ which aims to stimulate innovative approaches to address opportunities and challenges posed by migration to Arab cities. Part of the UN-Habitat City Leaders Guide series, the publication is intended… Continue Reading »

INTERNATIONAL: The International Disability Alliance (IDA) and the Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities for Sustainable Development found substantial variation in the inclusion of disability in Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) presented at the 2017 session of the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF). The groups released a report that present 13 case studies… Continue Reading »

INTERNATIONAL: Global growth of information and communications technology (ICT) initiatives creates unprecedented pathways for cities and countries to improve quality of life and plan for future challenges. Incorporation of ICT accessibility and digital inclusion into development efforts represents a shared opportunity to extend these benefits to all citizens, including people with disabilities and older populations,… Continue Reading »

JAMAICA: Health technology can be applied to almost every aspect of healthcare to improve efficiency and access. Radiology, though not frequently mentioned, is an important component to full healthcare digitization and tele-medicine. Through this digitization, access to qualified and talented healthcare professionals can be significantly increased, thus solving staff shortage issues in the area of… Continue Reading »

2017 saw great strides in technology; helping to improve accessibility for all. Building on innovative schemes such as the wind-up laptop, which brought accessible and portable computers to poor communities across Africa, several new digital technologies have sprung up the world over to benefit impoverished communities. Inclusivity is the buzzword for many of these new… Continue Reading »

JAMAICA: Universal access to health has been the buzz phrase for a few years now. When we think of this concept, we tend to think mostly of financial access, but it is much more than that. Our system is currently skewed to providing financial access to health, which, in itself, is very important as it… Continue Reading »

The Making It Work Gender and Disability Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) has just finalized its selection of 9 good practices implemented by 7 DPOs and 2 Women’s Organizations in 6 countries: Cameroon, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda and Uganda. The good practices include successful community-based prevention of violence, national advocacy, increased access to justice and to… Continue Reading »