COVID-19 and the Increasing Risks of Substandard and Falsified Pharmaceutical Products in Africa

Dear CoNGO members,

I am delighted to get in touch with you for the first time since the Brazzaville Foundation’s membership in November 2020 to the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CoNGO).

On the occasion of the upcoming World Health Assembly and Africa Day, the Brazzaville Foundation is pleased to invite you to an online high-level roundtable on Tuesday 25th May to discuss “Covid-19 and the Increasing Risks of Substandard and Falsified Pharmaceutical Products in Africa: A public health and security issue”. High-level speakers are expected such as Prof. Moustafa Mijiyawa, Minister of Health of the Republic of Togo; Michel Sidibé, African Union Special Envoy for the African Medicines Agency (AMA) and Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa.

If you are interested in taking part in global health and security discussions, please register here: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Z0sYZHfPQnWICzmnQY2r0g. Simultaneous translation will be available in French/English.

We are eager to share this event with you and we look forward to collaborating together in the future.

Best regards,

Richard Amalvy, Chief Executive, The Brazzaville Foundation

À l’occasion de la 74e Assemblée mondiale de la Santé et de la Journée de l’Afrique, la Fondation Brazzaville réunira des intervenants de haut niveau pour discuter des enjeux de santé publique et de sécurité liés aux risques croissants des médicaments falsifiés et de qualité inférieure dans le contexte de la pandémie de la COVID-19. Traduction simultanée en français/anglais.

Background notes:

Poor-quality medicines can be both falsified and substandard:

Falsified medicines are deliberately fake medical products. Criminals manufacture, traffic and sell fake products to unsuspecting customers.
Substandard medicines can be the result of poor manufacturing and quality-control practices in the manufacture or distribution of the product.

Poor-quality medicines lead to death and illness:

Both fake and substandard medicines pose a threat to public health because they can lead to death, additional illness in individuals, the spread of disease within a community and antibiotic resistance.
The link between the traffic in falsified medicines and organised crime has been well established by intelligence services and law enforcement agencies. They are smuggled onto markets using the same routes and techniques as drug, weapon, or human trafficking.
Transnational organised crime also funds terrorism, destabilising countries and weakening state structures.

______________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Drugs-NY, please visit nyngoc.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace, and Security, please visit ngocdps.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Social Development, please visit ngosocdev.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.org.

COVID-19 and the Increasing Risks of Substandard and Falsified Pharmaceutical Products in Africa

Dear CoNGO members,

I am delighted to get in touch with you for the first time since the Brazzaville Foundation’s membership in November 2020 to the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CoNGO).

On the occasion of the upcoming World Health Assembly and Africa Day, the Brazzaville Foundation is pleased to invite you to an online high-level roundtable on Tuesday 25th May to discuss “Covid-19 and the Increasing Risks of Substandard and Falsified Pharmaceutical Products in Africa: A public health and security issue”. High-level speakers are expected such as Prof. Moustafa Mijiyawa, Minister of Health of the Republic of Togo; Michel Sidibé, African Union Special Envoy for the African Medicines Agency (AMA) and Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa.

If you are interested in taking part in global health and security discussions, please register here: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Z0sYZHfPQnWICzmnQY2r0g. Simultaneous translation will be available in French/English.

We are eager to share this event with you and we look forward to collaborating together in the future.

Best regards,

Richard Amalvy, Chief Executive, The Brazzaville Foundation

À l’occasion de la 74e Assemblée mondiale de la Santé et de la Journée de l’Afrique, la Fondation Brazzaville réunira des intervenants de haut niveau pour discuter des enjeux de santé publique et de sécurité liés aux risques croissants des médicaments falsifiés et de qualité inférieure dans le contexte de la pandémie de la COVID-19. Traduction simultanée en français/anglais.

Background notes:

Poor-quality medicines can be both falsified and substandard:

Falsified medicines are deliberately fake medical products. Criminals manufacture, traffic and sell fake products to unsuspecting customers.
Substandard medicines can be the result of poor manufacturing and quality-control practices in the manufacture or distribution of the product.

Poor-quality medicines lead to death and illness:

Both fake and substandard medicines pose a threat to public health because they can lead to death, additional illness in individuals, the spread of disease within a community and antibiotic resistance.
The link between the traffic in falsified medicines and organised crime has been well established by intelligence services and law enforcement agencies. They are smuggled onto markets using the same routes and techniques as drug, weapon, or human trafficking.
Transnational organised crime also funds terrorism, destabilising countries and weakening state structures.

______________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Drugs-NY, please visit nyngoc.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace, and Security, please visit ngocdps.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Social Development, please visit ngosocdev.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.org.

Alternatives to Debt and Austerity in Latin America

Alternativas frente a la Deuda y Austeridad en América Latina | Alternatives to Debt & Austerity in Latin America

Panel:

Oscar Ugarteche, Coordinator of the Economic Observatory of Latin America (OBELA) from the Economic Research Institute (UNAM).
Isabel Ortiz, Director of Global Social Justice

Comments:

How do austerity policies affect workers? Jocelio Drummond, Regional Secretary of the Public Services International (PSI) for the Americas
How do austerity policies affect women’s rights? Verónica Serafini, Latindadd
How was the IMF´s return to Latin America? Mario Valencia, Latindadd

Moderator: Patricia Miranda, Latindadd

Register here: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/5516215289568/WN_lCE-A_smQ_GEr946KztoZQ

Background:
Latin America is going through one of the worst social and economic crises, which drags structural failures of the economic model deepened during the pandemic.

In the face of confinement decisions, developed countries have responded with fiscal stimuli and monetary emissions, and some poor countries have managed to access temporary debt service suspensions. However, middle-income countries -that is to say, almost all countries in Latin America- face difficulties in accessing the neccesary financing to address health and economic emergencies.

Concerns in the region grow around the need to alleviate the situation of millions of people living below the poverty line, closing the deepening gender gaps, applying urgent measures in the face of job losses, preventing lack of education from becoming a structurally lagging factor and also, preventing countries from continuing to depend on the extractive economy as the only form of economic growth, among others.

The financing needs to face the crisis have led countries to borrow, increasing their external and internal debt in the midst of a critical fiscal situation, as well as to implement austerity measures. The IMF has returned to the region and there are no signs of a sustainable recovery in this new lost decade for Latin America. In this seminar we seek to address responses and solutions to the situation in Latin America, in the midst of a multiple crisis. Additionally, we seek to address alternatives leading to the recovery of the region.

______________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Social Development, please visit ngosocdev.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Human Rights, please email the co-chairs at bknotts@uua.org or bobbinassar@gmail.com.

Alternatives to Debt and Austerity in Latin America

Alternativas frente a la Deuda y Austeridad en América Latina | Alternatives to Debt & Austerity in Latin America

Panel:

Oscar Ugarteche, Coordinator of the Economic Observatory of Latin America (OBELA) from the Economic Research Institute (UNAM).
Isabel Ortiz, Director of Global Social Justice

Comments:

How do austerity policies affect workers? Jocelio Drummond, Regional Secretary of the Public Services International (PSI) for the Americas
How do austerity policies affect women’s rights? Verónica Serafini, Latindadd
How was the IMF´s return to Latin America? Mario Valencia, Latindadd

Moderator: Patricia Miranda, Latindadd

Register here: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/5516215289568/WN_lCE-A_smQ_GEr946KztoZQ

Background:
Latin America is going through one of the worst social and economic crises, which drags structural failures of the economic model deepened during the pandemic.

In the face of confinement decisions, developed countries have responded with fiscal stimuli and monetary emissions, and some poor countries have managed to access temporary debt service suspensions. However, middle-income countries -that is to say, almost all countries in Latin America- face difficulties in accessing the neccesary financing to address health and economic emergencies.

Concerns in the region grow around the need to alleviate the situation of millions of people living below the poverty line, closing the deepening gender gaps, applying urgent measures in the face of job losses, preventing lack of education from becoming a structurally lagging factor and also, preventing countries from continuing to depend on the extractive economy as the only form of economic growth, among others.

The financing needs to face the crisis have led countries to borrow, increasing their external and internal debt in the midst of a critical fiscal situation, as well as to implement austerity measures. The IMF has returned to the region and there are no signs of a sustainable recovery in this new lost decade for Latin America. In this seminar we seek to address responses and solutions to the situation in Latin America, in the midst of a multiple crisis. Additionally, we seek to address alternatives leading to the recovery of the region.

______________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Social Development, please visit ngosocdev.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Human Rights, please email the co-chairs at bknotts@uua.org or bobbinassar@gmail.com.

Environmental factors as an important trigger for migration

Join this virtual side event at the occasion of the 30th Session of the Conference on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice,

organized by ZONTA and co-organizers

Tuesday May 18th, 1:10-2:00 pm CET.

Reconsidering the definition of smuggling migrants in the context of (transnational) environmental disasters and hazardous legacies

Environmental factors influence migration in important ways, shaped by local economic, sociopolitical and cultural conditions. The root causes of environmental migration are often deeply intertwined and closely connected to sustainable development issues. Experts will present actual research data and share experience at the grass roots level, followed by a discussion on understanding the links between environmental change and migration, which disproportionately affect vulnerable groups, in particular women and girls.

Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81148641691?pwd=SWh2Q3NLS05IRTBWNnVTeWw2L2gxZz09

Meeting-ID: 811 4864 169

Kenncode: 478023

Panelists:

Roman Hoffmann is a research scholar at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis with affiliations at the Vienna Institute of Demography of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. He holds a PhD in economics from the University of Vienna and degrees in sociology and economics from the University of Munich. In his applied research, he studies the impacts of climate change on populations and resilience to environmental stress with a focus on climate adaptation and migration. He has served as a consultant for UNIDO, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the German Development Cooperation (GIZ), and several non-governmental organizations.
Farai Maguwu is devoted to improving the governance of natural resources in Zimbabwe. Human Rights Watch honoured him with the Alison Des Forges Award for Extraordinary Activism. He was also honoured by Rapaport, a clean diamond campaigner, for protecting artisanal diamond miners in Zimbabwe‘s Marange region. In 2012 he founded the Centre for Natural Resource Governance (cnrgzim.org), which researches and documents human rights abuse and illicit trade in minerals. Farai is a PhD candidate at the Wits School of Governance. He holds an MA in Peace and Conflict Studies from the European University Center for Peace Studies, and a Master in Peace and Governance from Africa University.

Moderator: Sharon Fisher, President, Soroptimist International

The NGO Committee on Sustainable Development–Vienna: The focus of the committee is on the environmental, social and economic dimensions of sustainable development. It provides a forum for NGOs interested in discussing and analyzing the work of the UN intergovernmental bodies in the field of sustainable development, as well as the related activities of the Vienna-based UN organizations. It encourages new initiatives and seeks inputs into civil society’s contribution to the 2030 agenda of the United Nations.

Contact point: Ingeborg Geyer, e-mail: ingeb.geyer@gmail.com

________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-Vienna, please visit ngocsdvienna.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Migration, please visit ngo-migration.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-NY, please visit ngocsd-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.org.

Environmental factors as an important trigger for migration

Join this virtual side event at the occasion of the 30th Session of the Conference on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice,

organized by ZONTA and co-organizers

Tuesday May 18th, 1:10-2:00 pm CET.

Reconsidering the definition of smuggling migrants in the context of (transnational) environmental disasters and hazardous legacies

Environmental factors influence migration in important ways, shaped by local economic, sociopolitical and cultural conditions. The root causes of environmental migration are often deeply intertwined and closely connected to sustainable development issues. Experts will present actual research data and share experience at the grass roots level, followed by a discussion on understanding the links between environmental change and migration, which disproportionately affect vulnerable groups, in particular women and girls.

Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81148641691?pwd=SWh2Q3NLS05IRTBWNnVTeWw2L2gxZz09

Meeting-ID: 811 4864 169

Kenncode: 478023

Panelists:

Roman Hoffmann is a research scholar at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis with affiliations at the Vienna Institute of Demography of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. He holds a PhD in economics from the University of Vienna and degrees in sociology and economics from the University of Munich. In his applied research, he studies the impacts of climate change on populations and resilience to environmental stress with a focus on climate adaptation and migration. He has served as a consultant for UNIDO, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the German Development Cooperation (GIZ), and several non-governmental organizations.
Farai Maguwu is devoted to improving the governance of natural resources in Zimbabwe. Human Rights Watch honoured him with the Alison Des Forges Award for Extraordinary Activism. He was also honoured by Rapaport, a clean diamond campaigner, for protecting artisanal diamond miners in Zimbabwe‘s Marange region. In 2012 he founded the Centre for Natural Resource Governance (cnrgzim.org), which researches and documents human rights abuse and illicit trade in minerals. Farai is a PhD candidate at the Wits School of Governance. He holds an MA in Peace and Conflict Studies from the European University Center for Peace Studies, and a Master in Peace and Governance from Africa University.

Moderator: Sharon Fisher, President, Soroptimist International

The NGO Committee on Sustainable Development–Vienna: The focus of the committee is on the environmental, social and economic dimensions of sustainable development. It provides a forum for NGOs interested in discussing and analyzing the work of the UN intergovernmental bodies in the field of sustainable development, as well as the related activities of the Vienna-based UN organizations. It encourages new initiatives and seeks inputs into civil society’s contribution to the 2030 agenda of the United Nations.

Contact point: Ingeborg Geyer, e-mail: ingeb.geyer@gmail.com

________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-Vienna, please visit ngocsdvienna.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Migration, please visit ngo-migration.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-NY, please visit ngocsd-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.org.

Memorial and Celebration of the Life of Pamela Kraft

Dear friends,

Please join us for this special online event celebrating the life of our dear Pamela. She is being honored in this side event at the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues – the global gathering of Indigenous Peoples at the UN that she so loved and participated in for decades, and for which Project Access prepared Indigenous Peoples.

The program will feature speakers, artistic presentations, and open sharing. Spanish and Portuguese interpretation will be available. Registration is not required to attend this virtual event. If necessary, you can use this time zone converter to see the time of the event in your time zone.

We hope to see you at this special event.

Best wishes,

Tribal Link’s staff and Board

Special note:

This has been one of the most difficult months in Tribal Link’s history, as we continue to mourn the passing of our inspirational founder and leader, Pamela Kraft. However, this has only strengthened our resolve to continue on with the crucial work of facilitating opportunities for Indigenous Peoples’ voices to be heard in international decision-making. With a record-breaking 1,400+ people already signing up for “Indigenous Peoples and the United Nations: Project Access Online,” we are sure that she is looking down on us, happy to see the fruits of her labor multiplying. We will continue to honor her legacy, as was her deepest wish.

Thank you all so much for your support during this time. Should you wish to contribute to Tribal Link’s ongoing work, memorial contributions are still being accepted at Tribal Link’s d onation page.

________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, please visit facebook.com/NGOCoRIP.

Memorial and Celebration of the Life of Pamela Kraft

Dear friends,

Please join us for this special online event celebrating the life of our dear Pamela. She is being honored in this side event at the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues – the global gathering of Indigenous Peoples at the UN that she so loved and participated in for decades, and for which Project Access prepared Indigenous Peoples.

The program will feature speakers, artistic presentations, and open sharing. Spanish and Portuguese interpretation will be available. Registration is not required to attend this virtual event. If necessary, you can use this time zone converter to see the time of the event in your time zone.

We hope to see you at this special event.

Best wishes,

Tribal Link’s staff and Board

Special note:

This has been one of the most difficult months in Tribal Link’s history, as we continue to mourn the passing of our inspirational founder and leader, Pamela Kraft. However, this has only strengthened our resolve to continue on with the crucial work of facilitating opportunities for Indigenous Peoples’ voices to be heard in international decision-making. With a record-breaking 1,400+ people already signing up for “Indigenous Peoples and the United Nations: Project Access Online,” we are sure that she is looking down on us, happy to see the fruits of her labor multiplying. We will continue to honor her legacy, as was her deepest wish.

Thank you all so much for your support during this time. Should you wish to contribute to Tribal Link’s ongoing work, memorial contributions are still being accepted at Tribal Link’s d onation page.

________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, please visit facebook.com/NGOCoRIP.

Strong Families for Strong Communities: Examples from Turtle Island

Family is the foundational institution for Indigenous Peoples and communities yet many policies and practices such as boarding schools and the Indian Act have undermined Indigenous families resulting in a legacy of abuse, intergenerational trauma, and large numbers of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW). This presentation will describe the centrality of families for the Indigenous Peoples of Turtle Island (North America), review policies and programs that have undermined Indigenous families, and discuss opportunities to support Indigenous families

Presenter:

Dr. Hilary Weaver (Lakota) Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion University at Buffalo (State University of New York)

Discussant:

Dr. Elaine Congress Associate Dean, Fordham University Board Member of UN NGO Committee on Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Questions? Contact Elaine Congress at congress@fordham.edu

________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, please visit facebook.com/NGOCoRIP. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Family-NY, please visit ngofamilyny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Social Development, please visit ngosocdev.org.

Strong Families for Strong Communities: Examples from Turtle Island

Family is the foundational institution for Indigenous Peoples and communities yet many policies and practices such as boarding schools and the Indian Act have undermined Indigenous families resulting in a legacy of abuse, intergenerational trauma, and large numbers of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW). This presentation will describe the centrality of families for the Indigenous Peoples of Turtle Island (North America), review policies and programs that have undermined Indigenous families, and discuss opportunities to support Indigenous families

Presenter:

Dr. Hilary Weaver (Lakota) Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion University at Buffalo (State University of New York)

Discussant:

Dr. Elaine Congress Associate Dean, Fordham University Board Member of UN NGO Committee on Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Questions? Contact Elaine Congress at congress@fordham.edu

________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, please visit facebook.com/NGOCoRIP. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Family-NY, please visit ngofamilyny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Social Development, please visit ngosocdev.org.

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