Environment

The high and volatile food prices that triggered a renewed interest in food security since the 2008 – 0 9 crisis are expected to continue due to several factors that include the impacts of climate change. Current policy prescriptions focus on food production; however, a broader approach based on food systems is more appropriate as it encompasses all aspects of food production, storage, dist ribution and consumption, all of which will be affected by climate change and especially by the growing frequency and severity of extreme weather events. As most low - income groups in both rural and urban areas are net buyers of food, access and affordabili ty are central concerns. There is also a need for more attention to urban food security .

The Africa Environment Outlook (AEO) is a tool of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) for monitoring environmental management in Africa. It provides a framework for reporting at the national and subregional levels and seeks to enable AMCEN member countries to institute environmental management policies and programmes for the sustainable future of the continent. The AMCEN Secretariat partners with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), through its Regional Office for Africa (ROA) and the Division of Early Warning and Assessment (DEWA), in producing periodic series of the report

Background

Feasible universal health coverage in South Africa seemed ever more remote last month as a dysfunctional Department of Public Works continued to stymie vital public hospital revitalisation projects, and five provinces proved grossly incapable of spending their health budgets.

There is widespread consensus that providing universal, sustainable, affordable and quality health services underpins efforts to achieve equitable health outcomes. UNICEF in 2010-2011 conducted a two-phase landscape analysis, funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, to investigate how health insurance and other social health protection mechanisms contribute to achieving universal health coverage (UHC). The work built on previous research examining the protection from impoverishment that health insurance provides to vulnerable groups, the potential for increasing and expanding insurance coverage, and the options for and constraints limiting the use of insurance to attain UHC. 

This is the twelfth volume of Gender, Poverty and Environmental Indicators on African Countries published by the Statistics Department of the African Development Bank Group. The publication also provides some information on the broad development trends relating to gender, poverty and environmental issues in the 53 African countries.

Gender, Poverty and Environmental Indicators on African Countries 2012 is divided in three main parts: