devinitorg/iati-policy-markers huggingface dataset:
Monitoring the impact of the 2015/16 El Nino on rural water insecurity in Ethiopia: learning lessons for climate resilience The developing drought in Ethiopia is linked to the ongoing strong 2015-2016 El Niño event and is leading to widespread food and water insecurity in the region, particularly for the large numbers of people living in remote rural areas. Whilst there is a well-developed national and international response to food insecurity, the failure of local springs and wells, the primary source of water in these areas, has caught many off guard, with growing evidence that migration is driven by water shortage. Research in east Africa during and since the last major El Niño drought in the late 1997/98, indicates that access to reliable groundwater sources is a major contributory factor to improving livelihood resilience, particularly of the poorest.  This current El Niño-related drought in Ethiopia, provides an important research opportunity to: (i) gather robust evidence of the behaviour under stress of shallow groundwater sources (mountain springs, valley springs, wells, boreholes); (ii) monitor the timing, magnitude and contamination issues associated with recovery; and (iii) assess the coping strategies developed by family groups and communities as water points fail. Methods developed since the last major El Niño event make this possible, for example: robust inexpensive sensors for continuously measuring groundwater levels, novel rapid methods for indicating pathogen contamination and a new suite of groundwater residence time indicators.    With this new evidence it will be possible to ensure vulnerable communities become more resilient to future droughts by: identifying resilient designs of water point; targeting mapping efforts to areas to identify vulnerable areas, and contributing to the design of early warning systems.  The research brings together an experienced team from BGS, ODI, and AAU, all of whom are currently working in Ethiopia, supported by partners in the meteorological department at the University of Reading and various implementation partners in Ethiopia. The Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) supports cutting-edge research to address challenges faced by developing countries. The fund addresses the UN sustainable development goals. It aims to maximise the impact of research and innovation to improve lives and opportunity in the developing world.
Expressive Mapping of Resilient Futures (E-MoRF) This project aims to develop and deploy an innovative tool for enabling transformative resilience. It takes forward and actionizes techniques tested within the NERC-GCRF 'Why we Disagree about Resilience' (WhyDAR) [NE/P01609X/1] project. This refined tool The Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) supports cutting-edge research to address challenges faced by developing countries. The fund addresses the UN sustainable development goals. It aims to maximise the impact of research and innovation to improve lives and opportunity in the developing world.
Financial planning for natural disasters: the case of flooding risk in Central Java Loughborough will co-develop with our local partners and the flooding consultancy JBA associates a 'decision support framework' (or DSF) with demonstration software implemented in R and a series of analyses ('case studies') illustrating the use of loss and financial modelling to plan ahead for the financial consequences of extreme flood events. This DSF will be developed for analysing the potential use of financial instruments in two cities, Solo and Semarang, in Central Java Province, Indonesia. The main research task is developing a structured framework for model based analysis of financial loss from pluvial and fluvial flooding events. This will combine standard spatial data rainfall and flooding with local information e.g. on the exposure of infrastructure such as roads and bridge or location of vulnerable populations.  The project will provide a software solution, incorporating exposure and financial modelling, with a graphical user interface for application by local disaster management agencies and other local stakeholders. A series of application case studies will provide illustrative applications at different levels of sophistication.  At the end of the project the DSF will be handed over to our two local university partners for them to maintain and support post-project. We will also examine what lessons can be drawn from our research for improving financial planning for natural disasters (flooding and other hazards) and putting in place appropriate pre-arranged financing in Central Java, in other Indonesian provinces and in other countries. The Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) supports cutting-edge research to address challenges faced by developing countries. The fund addresses the UN sustainable development goals. It aims to maximise the impact of research and innovation to improve lives and opportunity in the developing world.
International Innovation Project on the Computer-aided High Throughput Development and Upscaling of Tailored Zeolites as Waste Water Filters in Ghana Illegal gold mining operations are a growing problem in Ghana, owing to the practice of alluvial mining techniques and the heavy use of toxic chemicals, which leads to significant pollution by cyanide, mercury, other heavy metals and organic contaminants, of the water sources that serve the local population. The mining and other local communities are thus deprived of access to clean water, leading to serious health problems. In addition to any chemical treatment of the effluent water, there is an urgent need to develop physical absorbents to remove the pollutants, which, however, need to be both efficient and cost-effective. Microporous zeolite materials are very effective absorbents and ion exchangers, which can be tuned to be highly selective towards adsorbate(s) of interest, with the accompanying release of non-toxic ions into the environment. They can be synthesised from readily available materials and are compact, cheap and simple to maintain in full-scale operations.   This cross-disciplinary project will bring together an experienced team of geochemists, physicists, computational and materials scientists from academia and industry to develop efficient synthetic zeolites, made from naturally available minerals, for the cost-effective treatment of waste water from gold mines, before its discharge into the environment. The zeolites will be characterised and tested on a laboratory scale before up-scaling both synthesis and filtration process into an operational treatment plant to serve a local metropolitan population. The Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) supports cutting-edge research to address challenges faced by developing countries. The fund addresses the UN sustainable development goals. It aims to maximise the impact of research and innovation to improve lives and opportunity in the developing world.
Raising the value of biodiversity-friendly cocoa and carbon storage: ensuring sustainable incomes around Gola Rainforest National Park We propose to produce a methodologically transparent and continuously updated decision-support tool to support the notfor-profit company, Gola Rainforest Conservation Limited Group (GRC-LG) in Sierra Leone, which has identified a need to be able to audit The Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) supports cutting-edge research to address challenges faced by developing countries. The fund addresses the UN sustainable development goals. It aims to maximise the impact of research and innovation to improve lives and opportunity in the developing world.
Improving the Role of Information Systems in Anticipatory Disaster Risk Reduction (IRIS) Humanitarian agencies are able to use weather (and other) forecasts to act in anticipation of humanitarian crises.  For example, when a heatwave or hurricane is forecast, supplies can be moved into position early and emergency supplies positioned or pre-distributed.  This reduces the overall impact and the cost of responding to the disaster.  However, financing in advance of a disaster requires a high level of confidence in the forecast, to avoid the possibility of misallocated or wasted resources.  Many forecasts are currently available but not all are accompanied by an assessment of the forecast quality.  For example, it may be that the forecast is over-confident, predicting an event more times than it is actually observed, or it could be under confident, failing to predict events which do then occur.  We propose to develop and demonstrate a general method of measuring and displaying the information content of forecasts, using a novel idea which is based on existing research and freely available data.  This will allow humanitarian agencies to act confidently in anticipation of humanitarian crises when there is sufficient information in the forecast, and to implement forecast-based financing schemes such as insurance or anticipatory funding allocation only when there is known to be confidence that the scheme will be effective. The Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) supports cutting-edge research to address challenges faced by developing countries. The fund addresses the UN sustainable development goals. It aims to maximise the impact of research and innovation to improve lives and opportunity in the developing world.
South East Asia MArine Plastics (SEAmap): Reduction, Control and Mitigation of Marine Plastic Pollution in the Philippines This project focuses on the Cebu Islands, home to the biggest marine protected area in the Philippines. Through the development of a Sources-Pathways-Receptor (SPR) modelling framework, this project will map the transport of marine plastic litter (MPL) from source to sink. The model will incorporate novel non-conservative terms to simulate transformation of the plastic waste as it travels through the system, incorporating, among other processes, changes due to exposure to UV light and mechanical degradation due to wave action. This project will focus on the impacts of the plastic waste to mangroves - an unknown but potentially important filter in the plastic cycle.  This project will determine the role of mangroves in the microplastic (plastics less than 5 mm) cycle, since mangroves could, in fact, act to further disperse plastic as even smaller particles over longer timescales. By accurately resolving the content and type of MPL in space and time, the impact to receptors (services, industry and environment) will be accurately assessed: both physically (mortality and impact to ecosystem function) but also economically (to industries such as fisheries, aquaculture and tourism). The Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) supports cutting-edge research to address challenges faced by developing countries. The fund addresses the UN sustainable development goals. It aims to maximise the impact of research and innovation to improve lives and opportunity in the developing world.
Real-time low-cost monitoring for hydro-geomorphological risk reduction in Chile Communities in areas prone to natural hazards often have little information about the human and economic losses that may occur in the event of a disaster, or the information needed to minimize such losses. This project is therefore concerned with advancing scientific understanding of the processes occurring in extremely dynamic hydro-geomorphological (river flood) systems, some of which are continuing to adjust following volcanic eruptions over a range of timescales. Advancing process understanding will enable alerts and warnings to be provided to competent authorities, facilitating effective decision making and communication to local communities.  Lahar flows and large-scale injections of sediment into river systems during recent volcanic eruptions in Chile (e.g. Chaiten in 2008 and Calbuco in 2015) have resulted in major economic and social costs through damage to homes, transport infrastructure, power plants, salmon farms and tourist businesses. The associated evacuation of entire towns and rural areas highlights an increasing vulnerability and emphasizes the need for improved risk prediction and mitigation.    The project will develop improved systems for predicting (a) the timing and magnitude of hydrological hazards and (b) the longer term impacts of sediment release causing flooding in downstream river channels, and will provide (c) training and a 'tool kit' for local authorities to ensure that the monitoring developments in Chile have longevity beyond the project duration. The Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) supports cutting-edge research to address challenges faced by developing countries. The fund addresses the UN sustainable development goals. It aims to maximise the impact of research and innovation to improve lives and opportunity in the developing world.
Low-cost printed flexible solar cells as substitute for current (1st and 2nd generation) photovoltaics for building integrated applications in India Climate change and the 'energy trilemma' (sustainability, security, equity) are global challenges that effect us all, but most of all, the populations of developing countries.  India in particular has a currently unsustainable energy system that causes extreme pollution, is unreliable and unaffordable for many average people.  the Indian Government is working incredibly hard to address these challenges and has set an ambitious target to generate 57% of India's energy from renewables by 2027.  This project aims to contribute to these target by developing a solar energy product that is low-cost to manufacture in terms of set up costs, materials and energy consumption. The project will use well understood printing processes to scale-up recent advances in perovskite photovoltaic (PV) research to produce prototype, building integrated solar energy products tested to industry standards.  Working in collaboration with a leading UK company of building integrated photovoltaics and an Indian cleantech finance firm, the project will transfer the innovation to the context of India where it can be locally manufactured and deployed in accordance with the Indian Government initiative of 'Make in India'. It is the goal of the project to create one or more new ventures in India to complete the local supply-chain required to successfully bring the product to market, creating jobs and economic growth in the region. The Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) supports cutting-edge research to address challenges faced by developing countries. The fund addresses the UN sustainable development goals. It aims to maximise the impact of research and innovation to improve lives and opportunity in the developing world.
Socio-ecological response and resilience to El Niño shocks :The case of coffee and cocoa agroforestry landscapes in Africa In many developing country contexts, rural smallholder agroforestry landscapes are very important sources of livelihoods for millions of households, but are also constrained by ecological and climatic factors. Our understanding of how these landscapes respond to environmental shocks and long-term change is poor, but can be significantly improved by using multidisciplinary approaches that incorporate ecological, climate and social science methods (Fisher et al 2014). Combining these disciplines into manageable research projects as well as finding appropriate funding to support them remains a serious challenge.  We are exceptionally well placed to address this dearth of knowledge due to our work monitoring a coffee-farming landscape in Ethiopia and a cocoa-farming landscape in Ghana. Both studies are part of the ECOLIMITS project, funded by the NERC/DfID Ecosystem Services and Poverty Alleviation programme (ESPA). These studies are focussed on gradients of management intensity from natural forest through high shade/low fragmentation to low shade/high fragmentation agroforest farms. We have gained a detailed understanding of the ecological system (how farming is affected by and affects biodiversity, ecosystem processes and ecosystem services) and the social system (how farming relates to rural livelihoods and multiple dimensions of poverty, and how these relationships are modified by local and national institutions). In the last few months, a strong El Niño-associated drought and increased temperatures have affected both regions. This has generated many challenges in both landscapes, but also provides a rare opportunity to study the sensitivity and resilience of agroforestry landscapes to weather shocks. In this proposal, we seek to monitor ecosystem services and crop yields through this El Niño event and beyond to 2017, and survey households to understand the impacts they have experienced as well as identify the key factors that lead to their resilience or vulnerability. In particular, we plan to explore the relationships between tree cover, crop yields and vulnerability to climate shocks. Our work will directly inform regional and national agendas in both countries to develop climate strategies that are resilient to environmental shocks, and hence maintain crop yields and rural livelihoods in a changing environment.   The proposal is urgent because funds are needed to immediately conduct household surveys and biodiversity measurements during the El Niño, and maintain ecological monitoring to mid-2017 to assess recovery. The Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) supports cutting-edge research to address challenges faced by developing countries. The fund addresses the UN sustainable development goals. It aims to maximise the impact of research and innovation to improve lives and opportunity in the developing world.
Preparedness and planning for the mountain hazard and risk chain in Nepal Project which aims to improve decision-making and preparedness in order to mitigate the impacts and reduce the risks from the mountain hazard chain in Nepal. The Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) supports cutting-edge research to address challenges faced by developing countries. The fund addresses the UN sustainable development goals. It aims to maximise the impact of research and innovation to improve lives and opportunity in the developing world.
Reducing the impacts of plastic waste in the Eastern Pacific Ocean Project which aims to reduce plastic leakage in the Eastern Pacific region, supporting development of a sustainable, circular plastics resource flow and reducing the impacts of plastic pollution on livelihoods and wildlife. The Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) supports cutting-edge research to address challenges faced by developing countries. The fund addresses the UN sustainable development goals. It aims to maximise the impact of research and innovation to improve lives and opportunity in the developing world.
A user-friendly tool for effective monitoring and management of forest conservation set-asides in oil palm landscapes We have developed and field-tested a simple, paper-based survey tool to monitor forest quality in SE Asia. The survey is a robust proxy for measuring forest quality against a range of independently sampled scientific metrics. To increase the uptake of the The Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) supports cutting-edge research to address challenges faced by developing countries. The fund addresses the UN sustainable development goals. It aims to maximise the impact of research and innovation to improve lives and opportunity in the developing world.
Jordan Water Security Portal The concrete objectives of this project are: 1. Make the JWP model easier to use by providing a modern open-source browser-based graphical user interface (GUI) and visualisation tools to help assess water interventions more intuitively; 2. Collaborate wit The Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) supports cutting-edge research to address challenges faced by developing countries. The fund addresses the UN sustainable development goals. It aims to maximise the impact of research and innovation to improve lives and opportunity in the developing world.
Tsunami risk for the Western Indian Ocean: steps toward the integration of science into policy and practice The 2004 Sumatra-Andaman tsunami killed around 15,000 people on the Eastern coast of India, especially from vulnerable communities who were also deeply affected economically as a result. In 1945, between 300 and 4,000 people, including in India, were killed by a tsunami on the Western coast of India, and this coast is possibly exposed to another event soon, potentially larger. The question is then: how do we protect the communities settled on the Western coast of India from a future tsunami? In the long term, only wise planning can reduce exposure, as early warning systems only mitigate the tsunami consequences. The answer to this question will be examined through a better scientific  understanding of the tsunami hazard using Geology, numerical simulations, and Statistics. The land use and planning decisions, that should ideally prevent people from settling in zones prone to the dramatic impacts of possible future tsunamis, need to be implemented, strengthened and communicated efficiently based on the science at hand. There is currently no or very little planning for tsunami risk in these regions. These decisions will have to be made under great uncertainties and must reflect local attitudes towards risk, account for the economic value of decisions, and respect the ethical views of the authorities and the communities.   The three central aims will be to: 1.                  Analyse the tsunami risk arising from earthquakes and quantify the uncertainties regarding eventual coastal inundations that it causes. 2.                  Understand how urbanisation processes, and in particular land use and planning decisions, contribute to the impact of coastal inundation on communities 3.                  Assess the uncertainties regarding these impacts, the value put at risk by them and the information required by stakeholders to develop mitigation and response strategies that reflect these considerations.  This project will take an interdisciplinary approach that brings together natural scientific modelling of hazards, social analysis of urban development dynamic, and decision-theoretic (including ethical) evaluation of the aims of mitigation policies. In this first short-term study, we will focus on two coastal towns in India, with the intent of laying down the foundations for a more ambitious future study. By doing an initial study of this kind we can assess the feasibility of in depth mitigation planning that is sensitive to scientific uncertainty and to community values, and trial a multidisciplinary approach to managing natural hazards. The Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) supports cutting-edge research to address challenges faced by developing countries. The fund addresses the UN sustainable development goals. It aims to maximise the impact of research and innovation to improve lives and opportunity in the developing world.
Regional NPPO and Partners Taskforce meeting for CPM-13 The meeting aims to give an opportunity to West Africa NPPOs taskforce to discuss regional priorities and agree on subjects of concerns and common positions to address during the Commission on Phytosanitary Measures (CPM-13) meeting planned from April 16-20, 2018 in Rome-Italy. Program content includes.- West Africa NPPO taskforce priorities.- Presentation of North American Plant Protection Organization (NAPPO) experience.- Review and discuss West Africa NPPO taskforce mission and action plan for 2018.- Review and discuss on priority plant protection issues in West Africa .- Preparation of the upcoming Commission on Phytosanitary Measures (CPM-13) .- Review CPM-12 report and Review of pending disputes .- Identify, discuss and Agree on common subjects and positions to address during the (CPM-13). .Having the opportunity to discuss subjects of concerns and common positions to address during the CPM meeting has been a big challenge for West Africa NPPOs for many years. Thus, with this meeting APHIS wish to initiate a regional consultation process to help promote regional harmonizati