African American man has been arrested for allegedly killing a woman because she laughed at him and wouldn’t apologize for telling her boyfriend about him.
The Madson resident suspect, Terrence L. Davis, 42, is charged with first-degree intentional homicide and possession of a firearm by a felon for the killing of 25-year-old Mikayla L. Rogers.
It is reported that Davis surrendered himself at Madison (WI) Police Department’s Central District to report a homicide
Officers went to his apartment and found Rogers dead, slumped on the living room sofa and cops also found a black rifle was in a bedroom closet, leaning against other items
These Sudanese refugee children are among the 748,000 refugees and asylum-seekers who have sought refuge in Egypt. Credit: ECW
CAIRO & NAIROBI, Aug 26 2024 (IPS) – As peace eludes war-torn Sudan, thousands of displaced people fleeing the deadly battle between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have found refuge in neighboring countries, including Egypt.
The Sudanese refugee population in Egypt has grown almost sevenfold in what is considered the worst displacement crisis in the world, impacting 10 million people, with at least 2 million having fled to neighboring countries, including Egypt. In Egypt, over 748,000 refugees and asylum-seekers are registered with the UNHCR, a majority of whom are women and children who have recently arrived from Sudan. This number is expected to continue to rise.
“When Sudan plunged into conflict, the international aid community, UN agencies, civil society and governments developed a response plan to meet the urgent needs of refugees fleeing Sudan to seek safety in five different countries, including Chad, Ethiopia, Egypt, South Sudan and the Central African Republic,” Yasmine Sherif, Executive Director of Education Cannot Wait (ECW), the global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises within the United Nations, told IPS.
To put it into perspective, the 2024 Sudan Regional Refugee Response Plan calls for USD 109 million to respond to refugee education needs across the region. To date, only 20 percent of this amount has been mobilized, including USD 4.3 million—or 40 percent of the requirement for Egypt.
ECW was among the first to respond in the education sector, providing emergency grants to support partners in all five countries.
The government of Egypt has demonstrated great commitment to providing refugees with access to education services, but with 9,000 children arriving every month, the needs are overwhelming.
Consequently, nearly 54 percent of newly arrived children are currently out of school, per the most recent assessment.
Sherif says despite Egypt’s generous refugee policy, the needs are great, resources are running thin and additional funding is urgently needed to scale up access to safe, inclusive, and equitable quality education for refugee as well as vulnerable host community children.
“Families fleeing the brutal conflict in Sudan endured the most unspeakable violence and had their lives ripped apart. For girls and boys uprooted by the internal armed conflict, education is nothing less than a lifeline. It provides protection and a sense of normalcy amidst the chaos and gives them the resources they need to heal and thrive again,” she said.
Yasmine Sherif, Executive Director of Education Cannot Wait (ECW), interacts with the Sudanese refugee community in Egypt. Credit: ECW
The government of Egypt has demonstrated great commitment to providing refugees with access to education services, but with 9,000 children arriving every month, the needs are overwhelming.
On a high-level stock-taking UN mission to Egypt in August 2024, ECW, UNHCR and UNICEF are urging donors, governments and individuals of good will to contribute to filling the remaining gap and scaling up the education response for refugee and host-community children.
“We have seen the important work that is being undertaken by UNHCR, the Catholic Relief Service and local organizations. But needs are fast outpacing the response, and Egypt now has a growing funding gap of USD 6.6 million. Classrooms are hosting as many as 60 children, most of whom are from host communities,” Sherif says.
Stressing that additional resources are urgently and desperately required to ensure that refugee and host community children in Egypt and other refugee-receiving countries in the region can attend school and continue learning. With the future of the entire region at stake, ECW’s call to action is for as many donors as possible to step in and help deliver the USD10 million required here and now to adequately support the refugee and host communities.
Education Cannot Wait Executive Director Yasmine Sherif, UNHCR, UNICEF, Catholic Relief Services (CRS) staff and Sudanese refugee girls and women at the CRS office in Cairo, Egypt.Credit: ECW
“We have seen the important work that is being undertaken by UNHCR, the Catholic Relief Service and local organizations, such as the Om Habibeh Foundation. But needs are fast outpacing the response,” Sherif says.
“In the spirit of responsibility sharing enshrined in the Global Compact on Refugees, I call on international donors to urgently step up their support. Available funding has come from ECW, ECHO, the EU, Vodafone, and a few other private sector partners. We should not abandon children in their darkest hour. This is a plea to the public and private sectors, and governments to step in and deliver for conflict-affected children,” she said.
Dr. Hanan Hamdan, UNHCR Representative to the Government of Egypt and to the League of Arab States, agreed.
“Forcibly displaced children should not be denied their fundamental right to pursue their education; their flight from conflict can no longer be an impediment to their rights. UNHCR, together with ECW and UNICEF, continue to ensure that children’s education, and therefore their future, are safeguarded,” she said.
“To this end, it is crucial to further support Egypt as a host country. It has shown remarkable resilience and generosity, but the increasing number of displaced individuals requires enhanced international assistance. By strengthening Egypt’s capacity to support refugees, we can ensure that more children have access to education and eventually a brighter future,” Hamdan added.
During the high-level ECW mission in Egypt, the ECW delegation met with key strategic partners—including donors, UN agencies, and local and international NGOs—and with Sudanese refugees to take stock of the scope of needs and the ongoing education response by aid partners.
Jeremy Hopkins, UNICEF Representative in Egypt, reiterated the agency’s commitment.
“UNICEF is steadfast in its commitment to ensure that conflict-affected Sudanese children have the opportunity to resume their education. In Egypt, through innovative learning spaces and the Comprehensive Inclusion Programme, UNICEF is working diligently, under the leadership of the Egyptian government, in cooperation with sister UN agencies and development partners, to create inclusive learning environments and strengthen resilient education systems and services,” Hopkins said.
“This not only benefits displaced Sudanese children but also supports host communities by ensuring that all children have access to quality education.”
In December 2023, ECW announced a USD 2 million First Emergency Response Grant in Egypt. The 12-month grant, implemented by UNHCR in partnership with UNICEF, is reaching over 20,000 Sudanese refugees in the Aswan, Cairo, Giza and Alexandria governorates.
Sudanese displaced children in Egypt are falling behind in their education. Education Cannot Wait has made a global appeal for funds to ensure they are able to continue with their education. Credit: ECW
The grant supports interventions such as non-formal education, cash grants, social cohesion with host communities, mental health and psychosocial support, and construction and refurbishment work in public schools hosting refugee children to benefit both refugee and host community children. As conflict escalates across the globe, ECW is committed to ensuring that all children have a chance at lifelong learning and earning opportunities.
Beyond Egypt, ECW has allocated USD 8 million in First Emergency Response grants in the Central African Republic, Chad, Ethiopia and South Sudan to address the urgent protection and education needs of children fleeing the armed conflict in Sudan. In Sudan, ECW has invested USD 28.7 million in multi-year and emergency grants, which have already reached more than 100,000 crisis-affected girls and boys.
During the mission, ECW called on leaders to increase funding for the regional refugee response and other forgotten crises worldwide. ECW urgently appeals to public and private donors to mobilize an additional US$600 million to reach 20 million crisis-impacted girls and boys with safe, quality education by the end of its 2023–2026 strategic plan.
Education Cannot Wait Executive Director Yasmine Sherif Statement on the 7-Year Anniversary of the Rohingya Crisis
A Rohingya refugee, Jannat is back in school and dreams of being a doctor. Credit: Save The Children Bangladesh/Rubina Hoque Alee
NEW YORK, Aug 26 2024 – Seven years ago, a brutal campaign of violence, rape and terror against the Rohingya people ignited in Myanmar’s Rakhine State. Villages were burned to the ground, families were murdered, massive human rights violations were reported, and around 700,000 people – half of them children – fled their homes to seek refuge in Bangladesh.
Today, Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar hosts the largest refugee camp in the world with close to a million children, women and men living in makeshift settlements. The crisis is an abomination for humanity. And while the Government of Bangladesh and other strategic partners are supporting the response, the resources are severely strained and access to essential services is scarce.
As the global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises within the United Nations, Education Cannot Wait (ECW), along with its strategic donor partners, government, UN agencies and civil society, has supported holistic education opportunities for both Rohingya and host community children in Bangladesh since November 2017. The more than US$50 million in funding, delivered through a consortium of partners – including government counterparts, PLAN International, Save the Children, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNICEF and other local partners – has reached over 325,000 girls and boys with quality education. Over the years, the programmes have provided learning materials for close to 190,000 children, financial support to over 1,700 teachers, and rehabilitated over 1,400 classrooms and temporary learning spaces.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, fires in the refugee camp and other pressing emergencies, the programming in Bangladesh was quickly adapted, and over 100,000 girls and boys were able to take part in remote education programmes during the height of the pandemic.
For refugee girls like Jannat, these investments mean nutritious school meals, integrated learning opportunities, catch-up classes, and security and solace in a world gone mad.
We must not forget Jannat and the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya girls like her that only yearn to learn in safety and freedom. Our investment in their education is an investment in peace, enlightenment and security across the region. Above all, it is an investment in the Rohingya people’s rights and other persecuted groups that face human rights abuses and attacks the world over.
Despite strong support from donors – as shown in this powerful joint statement by Japan, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States following their visit to the refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar in May of this year – the Rohingya crisis is fast-becoming a forgotten crisis.
The Rohingya Humanitarian Crisis Joint Response Plan 2024 calls for a total of US$852 million in funding, including US$68 million for education. To date, only US$287 million has been mobilized toward the plan. More concerning still, only 12.8% has been mobilized towards the education response, according to OCHA’s Financial Tracking Service. What we need to realize is that our investments in education are investments in health, food security and skills development. Taken together with other actions, it forms a cornerstone upon which all the other Sustainable Development Goals can be achieved.
As we commemorate seven years of persecution and attack, we must demand that perpetrators are held accountable for human rights violations, we must establish conditions conducive for a safe return of the Rohingya to their native lands, and we must enforce the rule of law and expect humanity for the people whose lives have been ripped apart by this brutal crisis.
Join ECW and our partners in urgently mobilizing additional resources to provide Rohingya girls and boys – and other children caught in emergencies and protracted crises worldwide – with the promise of a quality education. They deserve no less.
Tackling the Planetary Emergency: Supporting a Declaration of Planetary Emergency at the UN General Assembly and the Convening of a Planetary Emergency Platform
NEW YORK, Aug 26 2024 (IPS) – The world is facing a triple planetary crisis of climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss.
Climate change continues to pose an existential threat to humanity, with recent science estimating that we have possibly less than six years left to change course and rapidly reduce greenhouse gas emissions to have a chance of avoiding the worst of the climate crisis.
Pollution is crippling air and water quality, exacerbating the inequality between wealthy and low-and middle-income countries. Biodiversity loss has the potential to collapse our food and water supply chains, putting further pressure on some of the most vulnerable countries in the world to manage the ever-growing risk of poverty, hunger, and harm to human health.
We also have scientific evidence that six of the nine core Planetary Boundaries have been crossed, posing a catastrophic danger to the Earth’s overarching ecosystem.
With this in mind, the Climate Governance Commission, supported by the Earth governance smart coalition Mobilizing an Earth Governance Alliance (MEGA), seeks to assist in catalyzing the implementation of critical reforms to global governance institutions for the effective management of the triple planetary crisis.
Probably the most significant and fundamental reform that could be established quickly and effectively would be a Declaration by the UN General Assembly of a Planetary Emergency and the convening of a Planetary Emergency Platform to facilitate global cooperation to address the emergency.
Adopting a Planetary Emergency Declaration would ensure that policy actions to protect the environment – especially the climate – would be elevated to top priority in global, national and local decision-making, requiring concerted action by all sectors of government, similar to the way that other critical emergencies are addressed.
Convening the Planetary Emergency Platform would help facilitate the development of cooperative plans for urgent action at all levels of governance on specific goals such as, for example, a global, fast-track de-carbonization package. The fact that we are indeed in a serious planetary emergency justifies and indeed requires an approach that can sufficiently address such an emergency.
Why declare a Planetary Emergency?
An emergency occurs when risks (impact X probability) are unacceptably high, and when time is a serious constraint. As identified by MEGA and the Climate Governance Commission based upon the best available science, we are at such a juncture. Consequently, with scientific evidence continuing to mount depicting the grave circumstances humanity finds itself in, the UN General Assembly, with the support of climate-vulnerable countries, should consider responding in kind, declaring a planetary emergency recognising this fundamental shift toward an emergency footing and moving quickly to convene an emergency platform to reflect these circumstances and facilitate urgent, coordinated action, with linked national emergency plans.
The growing urgency for declaring a planetary emergency stems from a history of a fragmented multilateral planetary policy system, that lacks a coordinated and ambitious response at the speed and scale required. Climate change to date has been treated as a peripheral issue dealt with primarily within a two-week framework every year at the climate COPs (Conference of the Parties), leading to a lack of effective cooperation between different aspects of the multilateral system and its domestic counterparts. Further, climate change solutions have not been adequately linked to mitigating pollution and biodiversity loss.
This siloed approach to handling the crisis as just another social and economic issue, rather than the interlinked and existential threat that it poses to society, illustrates how unequipped current governance structures are to handle this all-encompassing and systemic issue.
Consequently, global governance at present lacks the preparation and resilience necessary for current and future global shocks caused by the planetary emergency (e.g. extreme weather events, potential collapse of food supply chains, major economic crises, among other shock events).
However, this emergency also opens the door for the UN General Assembly and broader multilateral system to reconsider its framing of its approach and identify new governance mechanisms to address current gaps in the system. Governments and policymakers are now presented with an opportunity for transformation – to create a sustainable governance framework that facilitates the safe operation of humanity within its Planetary Boundaries.
Climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss and its related ecological, social, and economic problems are global issues, and thus require a whole-of-system approach to provide global solutions.
By recognizing that the world is in a state of acute distress through the Declaration of a Planetary Emergency at the UN General Assembly and thereby convening a Planetary Emergency Platform to coordinate a response to this emergency, policymakers would be provided with a framework needed to transcend current political divides to effectively address the challenges we face.
What would a Declaration of a Planetary Emergency at the UN General Assembly achieve?
We have already seen regional, national, and local climate emergency declarations issued across 2359 jurisdictions (as of August 2024). Such declarations by themselves have limited impact due to the global nature of this emergency. However, they demonstrate a keen interest in responding to the triple planetary crisis within an emergency framework, providing a core foundation for multilateral cooperation.
A Planetary Emergency Declaration would be science-led and action-focused, helping to elevate global planetary policy by connecting and elevating the existing declarations and filling the gaps in our current governance framework. Activating, focusing, and coordinating existing capacities at the UN through a Declaration of this kind could form a crucial aspect in ensuring that the Declaration is not merely a reflection of well-intended aspirations, but that it provides a solid basis for building effective, cooperative action.
A Planetary Emergency Declaration could build off and connect to its predecessors’ efforts and acknowledge all inter-connected risks associated with the triple planetary crisis in order to facilitate a global green transition. This would in turn allow for the Declaration to stimulate, support and facilitate cooperation and implementation of planetary policy at multilateral, national, and subnational levels.
The Declaration could seek primarily to achieve three things at the outset.
Firstly, as noted above, it could place the multilateral system on an acknowledged emergency footing, allowing for more ambitious action at all levels of governance, and reducing the current barriers to planetary progress.
Secondly, a Declaration could open the door for more effective emergency governance platforms including in particular the convening of a Planetary Emergency Platform, in line with the broader proposal of the UN Secretary General that emergency platforms be convened to strengthen the response to complex global shocks.
A Planetary Emergency Platform, using the Declaration as its basis, could be tasked with coordinating, defragmenting, and harmonizing the international community’s response to the triple planetary crisis. This would, in turn, speed up much needed solutions to the crisis, including, for example, the unlocking of greater climate finance and increased protection of crucial global commons under threat from human activity, from the Amazon to the High Seas.
A Platform of this kind would also be capable of developing a Planetary Emergency Plan, which could outline and bring into effect these desired outcomes, as well as assist with monitoring the implementation of the Declaration.
Finally, a Declaration of Planetary Emergency would allow for scientific concepts like Planetary Boundaries to become more familiar and integrated into our global policy responses, as well as creating vital opportunities to bridge the gap between planetary science and policy.
The Declaration could seek to ensure policymakers have greater impetus to take emergency action to protect these Planetary Boundaries, helping to generate political support and reduce geopolitical barriers to progress.
A Planetary Emergency Declaration at the UN General Assembly could serve as a crucial next step toward remedying the – to date – dysfunctional and inadequate nature of our response to the triple planetary crisis and convene a Planetary Emergency Platform as a key governance mechanism to facilitate the cooperation required between national and subnational entities to ensure effective and equitable planetary action.
Working with climate-vulnerable states, and global experts, the Climate Governance Commission and Mobilizing an Earth Governance Alliance will offer support to build a coalition to advance this Declaration at the UN General Assembly and accelerate our shared efforts to capably and effectively manage the global environment.
Eoin Jackson is Chief of Staff and Legal Fellow at the Climate Governance Commission and Co-Convenor of the Earth Governance ImPACT Coalition; Nina Malekyazdi is a Summer Intern at the Climate Governance Commission and a graduate in International Relations of the University of British Columbia
Source: Mobilizing an Earth Governance Alliance (MEGA)
MEGA is a coalition of civil society organizations working in cooperation with like-minded governments, legislators, experts, private sector actors and other stakeholders to strengthen existing environmental governance mechanisms and establish additional mechanisms. MEGA is led by the Climate Governance Commission and World Federalist Movement-Institute for Global Policy (co-hosts) in cooperation with 28 co-sponsoring organizations.
