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Red Cross Publishes World Disasters Report of 2018

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The International Red Cross has published the 2018 World Disasters Report — with sobering data, and motivating recommendations, concerning the gap between those impacted by disasters and those who receive adequate relief.

Location: Global.

Entity/Organization: International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

Source: MacArthur Foundation Press Release (June 2018).

Synopsis of Philanthropic Activity: Report assessing discrepancies between peoples in the world impacted by distasters and those who receive adequate aid; five ways in which such discrepancies are reproduced year after year; and recommendations to address them.

Further Description: The International Red Cross has published the 2018 World Disasters Report, Leaving No One Behind, focusing specifically on millions affected each year by inadequate disaster response and relief.

The report’s title takes up the oft-repeated world pledge to ‘leave no one behind’ as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and identifies a perenniel insufficency in world attention to humanitarian crises caused by disasters.

The reports identifies five ways said insufficencies are reproduced each year, creating millons of unattended who find themselves to be:

out of sight (of those assessing need and directing resources);

out of reach (due to impediments that are infrastructural, economic, political, etc);

left out of the loop (through often unintentional exclusion e.g. minorities, disabled);

out of money (due to insufficient prioritization during budgeting or allocations); and

out of scope (with respect to those defining limits to crises or problems to be addressed).

Recommendations provided are as follows:

prioritizing those who are hardest to reach;

recognizing, supporting, developing, and partnering with local responders and communal humanitarian action;

intergrating community participation in all areas of planning and response, before, during and after crises;

increased and continued support for resilience-building in vulnerable areas and communities; and

improved and ethical use of data and technology in disaster assessment, response, and relief.

For more information, including online and downloadable summaries and the full report, please see the report site here.

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Frances Tiafoe, of the US, Wins First Tennis Title at Delray Beach

Frances Tiafoe of the US seems well on his way to fulfilling the promise of not only his tennis talent but also his parents' dreams on moving from Sierra Leone. We take brief note of his path with his win in Florida.

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DELRAY BEACH, FLORIDA. Long watched as one of the most promising prospects of his generation of tennis players, Frances Tiafoe has won his first ATP Tour tennis tournament, at the Delray Beach Open. Many observers, careful not to alter the possible trajectory of a future champion with early and burdening expectations, still see the accomplishment as having significance for both his career and recent tennis history. Tiafoe, at 19, has become the youngest to win a professional tournament since Andy Roddick did at Atlanta in April 2001. Roddick eventually won the US Open two years later.

Tiafoe's expressed concerns were slightly more immediate. During his post-match interview, he said, "Now I'm in a position not only to help myself, but help fund my family. It's an unbelievable place to be in, and it's bigger than tennis." His parents had immigrated from Sierra Leone to Maryland, upon which his father had worked as maintenance for the Maryland tennis club where Frances, as a boy tagging along, acquired an early passion (and lessons) for the sport.

On Sunday, he defeated his opponent, Peter Gojowczyk of Germany, ranked #51 in the world, by the score of 6-1, 6-4. His prize money for the win was $94,280, bringing his total player's earnings for the year to $169,592 and $1,028,856 over a professional career that began in 2015. His ranking, come Monday will rise 30 places from #91 to 61, near his career high of #60 in July of 2017. That earlier ranking was due in great part to remarkable talent that has over the year been developed and honed, evidence of which can be seen by the objective watcher in his improved stroke production, point construction, composure, and mental acuity. More clear evidence this week: the quality of his wins over a series of quality opponents: Juan Martin del Potro, Hyeon Chung, and Denis Shapovalov.

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A Digital Archive for Gabriel García Márquez

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The Ransom Center at the University of Texas, Austin has digitized over 27,500 items from its collection of Gabriel García Márquez's personal papers — an the resulting archive is a feast for any reader's eyes.