5 July 2017 – African governments should make it easier and safer for Africans to travel within the continent, the United Nations said in a new report released today, noting that tourism demand there is increasingly driven by Africans themselves.

“Tourism is a dynamic sector with phenomenal potential in Africa. Properly managed it can contribute immensely to diversification and inclusion for vulnerable communities,” said Mukhisa Kituyi, Secretary-General of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

The agency’s “Economic Development in Africa Report 2017 focuses on tourism for transformative and inclusive growth.

Chantal Line Carpentier, Chief of UNCTAD’s New York office, said tourism export revenues tripled since 1998, from $14 billion to nearly $47 billion. Tourism now contributes to about 8.5 per cent of the continent’s gross domestic product (GDP), compared with 6.8 per cent in 1998.

“African tourism is increasingly driven by Africans themselves due to a growing middle-income class,” Ms. Carpentier told a press conference at UN Headquarters, adding that four out of 10 international tourists in Africa are from the continent itself.

“By 2026, tourism’s direct contribution to GDP is forecast to surpass $121 billion,” she noted.

Highlighting some of the findings from the report, Ms. Carpentier said to realize the continent’s economic growth, governments should take steps to liberalise air transport, promote the free movement of persons, ensure currency convertibility and, crucially, recognise the value of African tourism and plan for it.

She noted the importance of easing red tape in travel between countries, such as limiting the number of visas needed when traveling on the continent, using the European Union’s one visa as an example.

The UN official also noted the importance of keeping money in the continent – such as by sourcing food from local farmers, many of whom are living in poverty, instead of importing from overseas.

“This will require capacity building for producers to meet international standards and produce in time to meet demands,” Ms. Carpentier noted.

She added that the growing tourism sector offers opportunities for young people, who globally make up about half of the tourism labour force.

The sector is also heavily women-driven, with nearly one-third of jobs taken up by women, and nearly half in the hotel and restaurant sector.

Tourism and perceptions of peace

Another important theme highlighted in the report is the mutually beneficial relationship between peace – or its perceptions – and tourism.

It notes that the economic impacts of political stability can be quite significant and long-lasting. For example, following political instability in Tunisia, total tourism receipts in 2009–2011 declined by 27 per cent on average, from $3.5 billion in 2009 to $2.5 billion in 2011.

“Addressing safety and security concerns as well as swift responses to crises by African governments and regional institutions are paramount to the growth of tourism in Africa,” UNCTAD said.

“Promoting strategies aimed at improving Africa’s image in the global media are also critical in ensuring the sector’s recovery after conflict or political unrest.”

The mere appearance of instability in a region can deter tourists, leading to devastating, long-lasting economic consequences. However, the perception of danger does not always correspond with reality, according to the UN agency.

The 2014 Ebola outbreak in western Africa, despite being isolated to relatively few countries in that region, resulted in a loss across the entire continent.

5 July 2017 – While a number of steps have been taken to address the scourge of sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA), the former deputy head of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic (CAR) has urged continued vigilance to ensure that the world body’s personnel do no harm while carrying out their duties.

“We can never take anything for granted. Every day, every step of the way, every time we set up a new mission, every time you deploy a new contingent, you’ve got to put in place the measures that are going to stamp out SEA. And we’ve got to keep doing it,” said Diane Corner.

Since 2014, Ms. Corner, a British national, served as the Secretary-General’s Deputy Special Representative with the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in CAR (MINUSCA).

The past few years have been particularly challenging for the CAR, a country of 4.5 million people that was plunged into civil conflict in 2013. According to the UN, more than half the population is in dire need of assistance. Despite significant progress and successful elections, CAR has remained in the grip of instability and sporadic unrest.

In addition, MINUSCA – which was deployed with the aim of protecting civilians, supporting the transition process and facilitating humanitarian assistance, among other tasks – has been dealing with numerous allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse by its personnel.

“It was a huge shock to the Mission,” Ms. Corner recalled in an interview with UN News upon the completion of her assignment, adding that it “really turned us upside down” in the way it approached the problem.

“I insisted that we should be transparent. I insisted that we should try and adopt a victim-centred approach. I say try because, in a country like the Central African Republic, there’s not much by way of provision for anybody actually, anybody in need. So you have to do your best to use the services that were available and maximize that.”

In the wake of the allegations that arose in CAR, as well as in other missions, the UN took a number of measures to prevent such abuses; to respond quickly and effectively to allegations that come to light; to protect and support victims; and to demand zero impunity – recognizing that in the case of uniformed personnel, accountability is a shared responsibility requiring action by Member States.

Ms. Corner noted that what happened in CAR prompted the UN system as a whole to address the problem of sexual exploitation and abuse in “a completely different way” now.

“So if there’s any good that’s come out of this, it’s the fact that the chances of it happening again are reduced but I think we need to be constantly vigilant,” she stressed. “We can never take anything for granted.

“Every day, every step of the way, every time we set up a new mission, every time you deploy a new contingent, you’ve got to put in place the measures that are going to stamp out SEA. And we’ve got to keep doing it.”

Ms. Corner also pointed out that it makes a “huge difference” having women in leadership positions in the UN. “Obviously, you see things differently,” she noted. “Not to say that there aren’t some men who’ve been fantastic champions of the fight against SEA, and we’ve had some of them in our mission as well.

“I think women have more of an understanding of what it means for the victims, and maybe have more of an insight as to how to have a more holistic response to ensure that we really are taking this seriously and that we’re doing everything that we can.”

She added that often the protagonists and the combatants are men, while women are the ones who suffer. “We’ve seen in CAR for example, that between communities, when there are problems, when there are tensions, it’s very often the women coming back together again who re-create the bonds between communities.

“And I think women take… a longer-term view because they think of the coming generation, of their children, and so they’ll really invest in trying to ensure that peace is restored, that they can look after their families,” she stated.

“I just think that they can be a very powerful force for good.”

Ms. Corner added that the importance of MINUSCA cannot be overstated. “In CAR, if MINUSCA wasn’t there, you would’ve had a genocide,” she stated.

“In my mind, there’s no doubt we’ve saved tens and tens of thousands of lives in CAR, no doubt at all.”

5 July 2017 – In a year already marked by heatwaves and new daily temperature records, the United Nations weather agency and television weather anchors have joined forces to create video forecasts that explore how climate change would make future summers even hotter in major cities of the world.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and Climate Central, a research and communications organization based in the United States, invited weather presenters from a dozen countries to work with meteorological services and other national experts to explore the implications.

“What the weather presenters have created are only possible scenarios, and not true forecasts. Nevertheless, they are based on the most up-to-date climate science, and they paint a compelling picture of how climate change may impact daily life in cities where most of the world’s population lives,” said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas in a press release.

Cities featured in the “Summer in the City” videos include Barcelona, Berlin, Brussels, Buenos Aires, Cape Town, Frankfurt, Hanoi, Havana, Kampala, Madrid, Montreal, Nairobi, Paris, Sofia and Tokyo.

If greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase, the Earth’s average global surface temperature could rise more than 4 degrees Celsius or 7.2 degrees Fahrenheit by the end of this century, according to WMO.

TV weather presenters used two different climate change scenarios – high emissions and moderate emissions – and matched each selected city with a city that already experiences such temperatures.

For instance, in 2100, the citizens of Paris, where daily summer high temperatures now average 22.7 degrees Celsius, may see summer high temperatures hit 29.2 degrees Celsius as experienced today in Fez, Morocco.

Climate Central has posted an interactive map to visualize these match-ups.

Many of the assessed cities could see their maximum daily temperatures in summer rise by as much as 6 to 9 degrees Celsius.

“Urban warming could be double that of surrounding areas due to the presence of stone materials and paved roads. This would lead in particular to higher night-time temperatures,” said Mr. Taalas.

“The enhanced heat – and an expected increase in associated extreme weather like summer storms – will have major implications for energy and water supplies, public health and transportation. More intense heatwaves would also often lead to poorer air quality, which can even be lethal,” he added.

The videos are posted on the WMO YouTube channel.

In a similar exercise, WMO previously worked with some 60 weather presenters on “Weather Reports from the year 2050.”