Executive summary

Vienna, Austria, June 17, 2013. The Governing Board of the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), meeting in its 143rd Session on June 13, has approved 17 loans and grants totaling over US$234 million to boost socio-economic development in over 44 partner countries. The majority of the public sector funding will co-finance transportation, energy and water supply and sanitation projects.

The approved public sector loans are as follows:

Burkina Faso

Enforce Safety Standards, Prevent Child Labor in Artisanal Gold Mining

(Johannesburg, June 13, 2013) – A recent mining accident that killed 16 people at an unlicensed artisanal gold mine in Ghana underscores the need for tougher measures to end child labor and protect the safety of adult artisanal miners, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch visited the site of the mine collapse between May 31 and June 2, 2013.

N°: 158/2013

7 June 2013 [Lagos-Nigeria]

The ECOWAS Commission has called for strong support for the operationalization of its conflict prevention framework, the ECPF, as a major tool for addressing the proximate and structural causes of violent conflicts and the promotion of human security and peace building in the region.

DAKAR / GENÈVE (10 juin 2013) – Plus de 40 parlementaires, acteurs gouvernementaux, et représentants de la société civile et des institutions nationales pour les droits de l'homme se réuniront les 13 et 14 juin à Dakar afin d'identifier les meilleures pratiques visant à mettre en œuvre concrètement le droit de l'homme à une alimentation adéquate dans la région.

An insufficient rain since the start of the season has resulted in abnormal dryness across parts of northern Nigeria.

1) Despite an increase in rainfall since mid-April, the delayed onset or seasonal rainfall has led to unfavorable ground conditions for the northeastern Belg-producing areas of Ethiopia. The erratic nature of the seasonal rains has negatively impacted cropping activities, likely resulting in below-average crop yields.

Helen Clark, UNDP Administrator Speech to Symposium on Human Security at TICAD V Yokohama, Japan, Sunday 2 June, 2.00-3.30pm

I am very pleased to speak at this event on the impact of human security initiatives.

Ghana – IOM Ghana and officials of the Ghana Health Service are this week launching a TB REACH project which aims to increase tuberculosis (TB) detection amongst refugees and host communities, miners and mining communities, border communities and vulnerable urban communities.

The IOM team will use a mobile TB diagnostic van equipped with a GeneXpert MTB/RIF machine to reach at least 317,000 individuals in the Western Region of Ghana.

This report has the distinction of being the first ever Global Communities Annual Report and also the 60th anniversary report of the organization that began in 1952 as the Foundation for Cooperative Housing. It therefore explores both our new direction and our heritage, with the focus being the 60 years of partnership that has been and remains at the core of our work.