Axios: Scoop: Trump has accepted Nikki Haley’s resignation
“President Trump has accepted Nikki Haley’s resignation as U.N. Ambassador, according to two sources briefed on their conversation…” (Swan, 10/9).

New York Times: Nikki Haley Resigned as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations
“President Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki R. Haley, has resigned, leaving the White House with one less moderate Republican voice on his cabinet’s foreign policy team. Ms. Haley, a former governor of South Carolina, had been an early and frequent critic of Mr. Trump, so when he named her the envoy to the world body weeks after his election in November 2016, the appointment was seen as an olive branch…” (Haberman, 10/9).

Additional coverage on this developing story is available from CNN, The Hill, NPR, Politico, Vox, and Washington Post.

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Devex: Long Story Short #30: The new U.S. development finance institution, explained
“After almost a year of discussion and debate, the BUILD Act — which, if enacted would create a new United States development finance institution — passed on Oct. 3. The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation would absorb the Overseas Private Investment Corporation as well as several U.S. Agency for International Development functions. Last week, Associate Editor Adva Saldinger and Engagement Editor Kate Midden explored what it took to get to this point, how the bank will function, and what it means for the future of development financing…” (10/8).

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Devex: World Bank annual meetings face politics, global debt, and climate disasters
“The International Monetary Fund and World Bank Annual Meetings are now underway in Bali, against a backdrop of stark climate change warnings, economic uncertainty, and geopolitical rivalry. … The United States, the bank’s largest shareholder, has seized on the debt burden facing developing countries to point the finger at one of its greatest economic rivals, China. Through its unbridled lending, China has lured developing countries into unsustainable financing arrangements, the administration of President Donald Trump alleges…” (Igoe/Edwards, 10/8).

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Devex: U.K. aid funding headed for ‘part privatization’ after new announcement, observers say
“The United Kingdom aid chief wants to recycle profits from its private sector investments in a controversial move that could reduce the amount of funding the government puts toward official development assistance. In a speech delivered Tuesday morning, Secretary of State for International Development Penny Mordaunt said she hopes profits made by the U.K.’s development finance institution, CDC, could be reinvested in projects in developing countries to count toward the 0.7 percent of gross national income target…” (Abrahams, 10/9).

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Devex: New IPCC report provides evidence base for a 1.5 degree global climate target
“A new report released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change provides much-needed evidence to governments worldwide on the difference a rise in global temperatures of 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrialized levels will have compared to the 2 degrees pledge in the Paris Agreement on climate change. Released in Incheon, South Korea, Monday, the new ‘Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5ºC’ highlights the difference half a degree will make to future humanitarian crises and the ability to create a secure world for future populations. It was developed with 133 contributing authors covering 40 countries, who analyzed 6,000 studies. The result was approved by all IPCC member countries…” (Cornish, 10/8).

Thomson Reuters Foundation: Why does 1.5C warming goal matter to global poverty and health?
“Limiting global warming to the lower target governments agreed to aim for in a 2015 accord could reduce the number of people exposed to climate risks and susceptible to falling into poverty by up to several hundred million by 2050, climate scientists said in a key United Nations report on Monday. … Climate-related risks to health, livelihoods, food security, water supply, human security, and economic growth are projected to increase with global warming of 1.5C, and increase further with 2C…” (Rowling, 10/8).

Additional coverage of the IPCC report is available from CNN, Los Angeles Times, Newsweek, NPR, SciDev.Net, UPI, and Vox.

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Bloomberg News: Ebola Threat Heightens Surveillance in Congo’s Eastern Neighbors
“Rwanda and Uganda increased surveillance at their borders with the Democratic Republic of Congo, where instability is heightening the risk of an Ebola outbreak spreading. … Insecurity and the spread of the virus toward the Ugandan frontier led the World Health Organization to say last month there’s a ‘very high’ risk of it crossing Congo’s borders…” (Clowes/Ssuuna, 10/8).

CIDRAP News: DRC records 12 new Ebola cases over the weekend
“The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in updates released Oct. 5 through [Sunday], detailed 12 new cases of Ebola in North Kivu province. All but two of the cases were reported in Beni, the epicenter of the current outbreak. There are now a total of 177 cases (142 confirmed and 35 probable), including 113 deaths. Eleven suspected cases are under investigation…” (Soucheray, 10/8).

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Xinhua News: Malaysia eliminates mother-to-child transmission of HIV, syphilis: WHO
“Malaysia has successfully eliminated mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday in Manila. ‘Malaysia today became the first country in the WHO Western Pacific Region to be certified as having eliminated mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis,’ the WHO said in a statement…” (10/8).

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Al Jazeera: Thousands of Yemeni children malnourished (Smith, 10/8).

Al Jazeera: Saving the traditional midwife in Guatemala (Rae/Melimopoulos, 10/8).

BMJ: Who are Sierra Leone’s health security efforts for? (Kardas-Nelson/Frankfurter, 10/8).

CNN: As global temperatures rise, so will mental health issues, study says (Scutti, 10/8).

Devex: What we know about early detection and diagnosis of NCDs (10/8).

The Guardian: Nauru orders MSF to stop mental health work on island (Henriques-Gomes, 10/6).

IRIN: Sexual violence and war, from Congo to Iraq (10/8).

New York Times: Ireland Bill Aims to Crack Down on Excessive Drinking With Health Warning Labels (O’Loughlin, 10/6).

Reuters: India on alert as Zika virus hits tourism hotspot of Jaipur (Pal, 10/9).

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World Politics Review: Foreign Aid Is the Latest Casualty of American Retrenchment Under Trump
Ellen Laipson, director of the International Security Program at George Mason University’s Schar School of Policy and Government

“…There is undoubtedly some value in rethinking parts of America’s foreign assistance strategy. Questioning why some countries remain on aid rosters for decades is a fair exercise; some poor countries readily admit that taking aid from rich countries is easier than developing home-grown solutions to hard problems. Officials at USAID cannot be comfortable with the Trump team’s new politicization of aid choices, and they must despair at the prospects of closing operations in some of the world’s neediest places that no longer meet the new criteria for help. Congress and the American public do not take as harsh a view on foreign aid as the president, so any adjustments to aid levels and country criteria will probably not be as draconian as feared. … Now, despite sincere efforts by the career diplomats and public servants who Trump considers the ‘deep state,’ aid risks becoming another casualty of America’s retrenchment” (10/5).

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Washington Post: The world has barely a decade to avoid disaster. We need to combat climate change — now.
Editorial Board

“…The new [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)] report advises global leaders that the oft-cited goal of keeping warming below two degrees Celsius is riskier than many imagine. A 1.5-degree goal would be far less dangerous, but the world has only about a decade to make the ‘rapid and far-reaching’ changes required to meet that goal. … Radically changing the trajectory would require a combination of strategies. … The transition would require investment of about 2.5 percent of world GDP through 2035. This would be difficult but not impossible, if we tried. Historians will look in absolute astonishment at an American administration that not only failed to try but actually pushed in the wrong direction” (10/8).

Deutsche Welle: Opinion: 1.5 degrees — do we want climate catastrophe or not?
Sonya Diehn, environment team leader at Deutsche Welle

“…[T]he question is not can we keep global warming under 1.5 degrees. The real question is, do we want to. The fact is, it won’t be easy. Policy has not moved in step with science. Governments have demonstrated a pathetic lack of political will around climate action. … Some say it will require nothing less than a mass popular movement — to elect politicians who prioritize climate change, to hold elected officials accountable, to block the power of the fossil fuel lobby, to pressure companies to divest. Of course, many of us will have to make trade-offs as well. Fewer vacations involving flights; a smaller car; eating meat less often. … If you care at all about the future, you should be ready to make some sacrifices now and take action to hold politicians accountable…” (10/8).

The Guardian: How climate change could be a spark to create a better world
Zoe Williams, columnist at The Guardian

“…[E]nvironmentalism, while it distills everything woeful about the human condition — its short-termism, self-interest, the multiple impediments to cooperation and creativity — also contains the seed of transcendent hope. Both in what it has already achieved — the discoveries it has spurred, the alliances it has fostered — and what it can achieve in the future, including, but not limited to, saving the planet. … The battle against climate change can do more than render other political divisions trivial: its solutions have long-term ramifications for all the other crises our vexed democracies are throwing up, from the cost-of-living crisis to inequality, from insecurity to conflict. All those ramifications are good: so yes, we should hurry, before it is too late. But more importantly, we should hurry, because what comes next will be better” (10/8).

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Devex: Opinion: A defining moment in the fight against NCDs
Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen, president and chief executive officer at Novo Nordisk

“…To reduce deaths from [non-communicable diseases (NCDs)], we urgently need to ensure that all people at risk of developing an NCD and those already living with an NCD have access to diagnosis, treatment, and care no matter where they live. This can only be achieved by working in partnership and drawing on the expertise of all stakeholders. … The Defeat-NCD Partnership, a public-private partnership anchored in the U.N., was launched [in September] to move the dialogue on access to medicines from rhetoric to practical action. … A key action of the partnership will be to establish an innovative online mechanism that makes the provision of essential medicines, diagnostics, and equipment simpler and more cost effective for low-resource countries. … In addition to [establishing this] Defeat-NCD Marketplace, the partnership will work to help governments strengthen key institutions and develop practical costed action plans, increase the provision of NCD services through community action and health system strengthening, and support low-resource countries in securing financing to achieve universal health coverage. Tackling NCDs in low-resource countries may seem like a daunting task but, by working together and exploring innovative partnerships, we can break new ground…” (10/8).

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Devex: Opinion: For cash transfers to work, we can’t ignore gender
Karen Peachey, interim director of the Cash Learning Partnership

“We know that gender inequalities mean that disasters and conflicts affect populations differently. As humanitarian actors, we must carefully consider the ways emergencies can exacerbate women’s and girls’ existing vulnerabilities and create new risks for all, including men and boys. … There is a growing body of evidence on how [cash transfer programming (CTP)] impacts household relationships and can be used to empower women and girls in development settings. … Cash transfers have the potential to bring enormous benefits, including greater choice and dignity to people affected by crises. But for these benefits to be felt by everyone, and for their full potential to be realized, we need to make sure that gender outcomes are at the forefront of our thinking. We have made the commitment: Now is the time to act” (10/5).

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Brookings Institution’s “Future Development”: We need breakthrough technologies to reach the Sustainable Development Goal targets for health
Gavin Yamey, director and professor, and Alexander Gunn, research assistant, both at the Center for Policy Impact in Global Health at Duke University’s Duke Global Health Institute, discuss the need for the research and development of new global health technologies to achieve the health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The authors write, “Our global health targets have become more ambitious, yet the global health community is going backward in supporting the innovations need[ed] to achieve them. … The mismatch not only threatens the achievement of SDG3. It also represents one of the greatest missed opportunities to invest in the health, well-being, and economic livelihood of the world’s poor” (10/5).

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Brookings Institution’s “Future Development”: A quiet revolution in impact evaluation at USAID
Ariel BenYishay, chief economist at AidData and associate professor at the College of William & Mary, and colleagues discuss the benefits of using impact evaluations to evaluate USAID-funded programs, highlighting an evaluation done for a rural infrastructure program in West Bank/Gaza (10/8).

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U.S. Department of State’s “DipNote”: U.S. Provides Humanitarian Assistance for Those Affected by the Earthquake and Tsunami in Indonesia
This State Department blog post discusses U.S. efforts to respond to the recent earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia, noting, “On October 5, the United States announced an additional $3.6 million in humanitarian assistance to help people affected by the earthquake and tsunami. … The United States stands with the people of Indonesia during this challenging time, and will continue to provide assistance to help those affected by this devastating disaster” (10/6).

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USAID: Statement by Administrator Mark Green on the Launch of USAID’s Self-Reliance Roadmaps
During remarks announcing the launch of USAID’s Journey to Self-Reliance online portal on Oct. 4, USAID Administrator Mark Green said, “This new resource is a central part of how we are reorienting the way we do business to focus on strengthening each country’s ability to fund, manage, and solve its own development challenges. The portal will greatly strengthen USAID’s ability to ensure we tailor the programs we implement and the partnerships we forge to support each country’s unique Journey to Self-Reliance” (10/4).

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