DevDispatch Podcast

In this episode,  SADC Trade Facilitation expert Tshengi Ndlovu, Country Engagement Specialist for Anglophone-Africa at the NDC-Partnership John Kasiita Ssemulema and International Trade Analyst and Development Economist, Eugene Schneider Ornella Jernigan -episode moderator- discuss UNCTAD's Trade and Environment Review 2021 focusing on Trade-climate readiness for developing countries.

You can access the report at: https://bit.ly/3JULaGx

On 1 January 2021, trading under the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) took effect. The Protocol on the Trade in Goods is aimed at creating a liberalised single market for the free flow of goods within the African continent but SMEs have are struggling to understand what the Agreement means to them. 

In this episode, Ivan Ojakol, a legal consultant at LECTRAD-Africa (Uganda) and Juliet Aigbe, owner, creative head, T. V Chef, Bakery and Sugarcraft Coach at Cakeflair (Nigeria), breakdown  the Articles in the #AfCFTA's Protocol on Trade in Goods and discuss how each of them relates to African SMEs. Listen if you are an SME owner with questions about the AfCFTA's Protocol on Trade in Goods, how it affects you and how you can position yourself  to take advantage of the trade agreement. This episode was recorded on 13 March 2021.

In this episode, Violette Uwamutara, Regional Advisor Africa for Digital Opportunity Trust Rwanda and Emmanuel Ametepey, Executive Director of Youth Advocates Ghana, reviewed and contextualised the 2020 World Youth Report on Youth Social Entrepreneurship and the 2030 Agenda to youth development in Africa.

Taking from the content of the report, discussions centered around  the role of the youth in achieving the SDGs, the opportunities and barriers faced by young social entrepreneurs and the role of technology in fostering innovation and creating a favorable environment for the youth to operate in.

You can access the report at: https://bit.ly/33wtdKG

Show Notes

For this episode, we invited African CSO stakeholders to review and discuss the just released report " Impact of COVID-19 on African CSOs". This report is the result of a survey of over 1,000 CSOs across 44 countries on the continent and is produced by EpicAfrica and AfricanNGOs. The report is accessible at https://bit.ly/3axNrFW 

The guest reviewers on this episode are:

1. Philip Mbithi,Program Development Manager, HIVO
2. Lorenzo Davids, CEO Community Chest
3. Sarah Mukasa, Deputy Director OSIEA
4. David Kode, Advocacy and Campaigns Lead, CIVICUS
5. Nqobile Q Moyo, Head of Programmes, AU - Economic Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC) Zimbabwe Chapter

Our guest reviewers analysed and contextualised the content of the report drawing from the statistics around CSO challenges as well as opportunities emanating from the survey. 

If you enjoyed this session, do subscribe to our podcast and check out our previous episodes. Our other work are available on https://developmentdispatch.com/ as well as on our social media pages.

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On this episode of the DevDispatch podcast, we review the Synthesis reports of the Voluntary National Reviews for 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019. This episode will focus entirely on highlighting the progress and challenges at country level for each SDG as submitted by the 35 African countries that have participated in the VNRs since 2016.

Links:
VNR Synthesis Report 2016 https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/127761701030E_2016_VNR_Synthesis_Report_ver3.pdf
VNR Synthesis Report 2017
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/17109Synthesis_Report_VNRs_2017.pdf
VNR Synthesis Report 2018
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/210732018_VNRs_Synthesis_compilation_11118_FS_BB_Format_FINAL_cover.pdf VNR Synthesis Report 2018
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/252302019_VNR_Synthesis_Report_DESA.pdf

Author: Division for Sustainable Development (DSD), Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), United Nations

Publication Year: 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019

Questions for consideration

1.       At the turn of the decade we are dubbing "the decade of action for the SDGs", how much of this planned action has taken stock of the progress, successes and challenges of the last four years?

2.       How much of the content of the VNRs influence program development, communication, advocacy and decision making around the SDGs?

3.       How can social innovators turn the challenges reported during the VNRs into opportunities to contribute to achieving the SDGs in the next 10 years?

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On this episode of the DevDispatch podcast, we review the UN Women Discussion Paper titled "What Will It Take? Promoting Cultural Change to End Sexual Harassment. This publication has been selected by the DevDispatch podcast in commemoration of the 2019 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence.
Link: https://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/library/publications/2019/discussion-paper-what-will-it-take-promoting-cultural-change-to-end-sexual-harassment-en.pdf?la=en&vs=1714

Publisher: UN Women

Author: Purna Sen, Executive Coordinator and Spokesperson on Addressing Sexual Harassment and Other Forms of Discrimination for UN Women.

Publication Year: 2019

Questions for consideration

1. What does it mean when do-good organisations, education institutions and companies declare "zero tolerance for sexual harassment"?
2. How can leadership practically encourage a victim-centred approach and an organisational culture that makes sexual harassment obsolete?
3. How do we put "zero tolerance for sexual harassment" into action?

Who is the publication for?

This paper is tackling the issue of sexual harassment at institutional level whether private or public. On page 11 you will find an expanded selection of target audience but in my opinion, I think this publication is relevant to management and leadership of education institutions, public and private sector entities and companies, their human resource personnel as well as their legal team. I say this because this discussion paper is in earnest a practical guide for taking zero tolerance from a phrase into action.

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