Month: July 2022

Mary Kay Inc. is feeling ’22. Throughout the first half of the year, the iconic global entrepreneurship company has furthered its innovations in skin science, continued its social impact efforts, and garnered several prestigious awards for its business and leadership. It’s a thing of beauty—and the nearly 60-year-old brand is just getting started.

Mary Kay logo (Graphic: Mary Kay Inc.)

2022 AWARDS & HIGHLIGHTS

30 total awards for business excellence, social impact and sustainability

10 employer awards recognizing Mary Kay as a great place to work and for operational excellence

7 awards for Mary Kay’s c-suite and senior leadership

17 self-released reports reinforcing Mary Kay’s operational and philanthropic efforts supporting its sustainability commitments for its Enriching Lives Today for a Sustainable Tomorrow strategy

3 mentions in annual reports from social impact partners highlighting Mary Kay

8 leadership speaking engagements raising awareness for women’s empowerment and equality, supplier diversity and inclusion, water conservation, and access to education

2 film festival selections

4 research studies about gender-responsive procurement and geographic studies on women’s economic opportunities

7 research grants awarded supporting girls in science, cancer research and women’s empowerment

ETHOS & ECOSYSTEM: BUSINESS EXCELLENCE

A Great Place to Work

Resume.io published a list of “The Companies Employees Don’t Want to Leave,” and Mary Kay ranked #8. Other companies included: Virgin Atlantic, Merck & Co. and Thomson Reuters.

Mary Kay received five top employer awards throughout the United States, Europe, and Malaysia from Kincentric.

Mary Kay was named one of America’s Best Midsize Employers 2022 by Forbes.

Deloitte named Mary Kay Inc. one of the 2022 US Best Managed Companies.

Mary Kay China was named “Best Employer of the Year” by Yidianzixun.

Mary Kay Poland was named one of Poland’s Best Employers for 2022 by Financial Magazine.

Mary Kay Czech Republic / Slovakia received the “Best Employer” designation by the Kincentric Best Employers Program.

Mary Kay Belarus received the “Direct Sales Cosmetic Company Number One Award” from the “Number One” Belarusian annual national awards, whose task is to promote healthy competition and to determine the best players in the Belarusian market.

Mary Kay Spain received “Best Employer” designation by the Kincentric Best Employers Program.

Organizational Effectiveness

Deborah Gibbins, Chief Operating Officer, expanded her role in operations to support the company’s digital strategy to be a more technology-enabled business with all IT functions now reporting to her.

Nathan Moore was appointed to the newly-created role of President, Global Sales and Marketing, and will assume responsibility for all Mary Kay markets around the world supporting Mary Kay independent beauty consultants.

Chaun Harper expanded his role to Chief Supply Chain Officer with additional responsibilities for direct procurement and contract manufacturing functions.

Dr. Lucy Gildea expanded her role to Chief Innovation Officer, Product and Science. Her additional duties include new product development, product portfolio strategy and planning, process development & commercialization (PrD&C), package engineering (PE) and R&D Compliance.

Leadership Recognition

David Holl, CEO, received the Bravo Leadership Award from Direct Selling News.

Julia Simon, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary, received the Robert H. Dedman Award for Ethics & Law from the Texas General Counsel Forum. Simon also serves as Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer.

Sheryl Adkins-Green was selected as Dallas 500 by D CEO recognizing influential leaders in North Texas.

Ewa Kudlinska-Pyrz, Mary Kay Poland/Lithuania General Manager, was recognized as one of 50 most influential Polish women by Home & Market magazine, won the Pearls of Polish Business award, and recognized in “Rzeczpospolita Babska” created by Financial Magazine.

Science Behind the Beauty

To mark International Day of Women and Girls in Science, Mary Kay released a statement from Dr. Lucy Gildea about the importance of STEAM for young girls.

Mary Kay’s Girls & Women in STEAM series highlighting girls and women who are making changes in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics awarded recipient, Ivanna Hernandez from Colombia, a continuing education grant to further her dream of being the first Latin American woman astronaut to go to space.

Mary Kay, in partnership with the Society for Investigative Dermatology, awarded four skin health / skin disease research grants to female researchers.

Mary Kay Germany/Netherlands/Switzerland earned the Top 100 Innovator seal from Compamedia.

Product Development

Mary Kay received the Gold Stevie award for “COVID: Most Valuable Product” for its hand sanitizer at the 20th Annual American Business Awards.

Digital Innovation

The Mary Kay® App was named a finalist in the Technology Innovation category by the Direct Selling Association.

PURPOSE & SOCIAL IMPACT: CATALYST FOR CHANGE

Women’s Empowerment & Equality

The Women’s Entrepreneurship Accelerator (WEA), established by Mary Kay in collaboration with six United Nations agencies, announced the launch of the first-ever free online Entrepreneurship Certificate Programme developed by International Trade Centre (ITC) SheTrades. Powered by Mary Kay, the 27 module-digital curriculum covers the 7 key stages of the entrepreneurial journey. Free, with no barrier to entry, it is available in English, Spanish, French—and soon Arabic—and is enriched with 200 videos.

ITC SheTrades, Mary Kay, and WEA hosted the “Entrepreneurship: Where to Start?” virtual event to celebrate the launch of the Entrepreneurship Certificate Programme. Deborah Gibbins, Mary Kay Chief Operating Officer, spoke at the event.

Mary Kay and WEA welcome International Telecommunication Union (ITU) the newest UN partner in bridging the digital gender divide.

ITC and WEA, in partnership with Mercado Libre, hosted a virtual workshop series in support of the launch of the online Entrepreneurship Certificate Programme. Workshops were held in Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, & Argentina.

The SDG Pilot Village Project (2017-2021) in Waipula, China, established by Mary Kay, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the China International Center for Economic and Technical Exchanges (CICETE), the China Women’s Development Foundation and local partners was shortlisted for a P3 Impact Award and selected as a finalist for the P3 Impact Accelerator program. The P3 Impact Award was created by Concordia, the University of Virginia Darden School Institute for Business in Society, and the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Global Partnerships to recognize and honor leading public-private partnerships (P3s) that improve communities and the world.

Julia Simon, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary, interviewed Everjoy Mahuku, an accomplished leader from Zimbabwe, for CARE’s International Women’s Day (IWD) 2022 Campaign.

CARE recognized Mary Kay as one of the five sponsors of its IWD22 campaign titled #HerVoice. Other sponsors included P&G, The Coca-Cola Company, Cargill, and UPS.

Erin Duncan, Senior Director of Product Portfolio Strategy and Planning, delivered opening remarks to the Glamhive Live Spring Style & Beauty Summit panel: “Unstoppable: Ladies Who Launch.”

During its annual Cornerstone conference in Chile, International Women’s Forum (IWF) recognized Mary Kay as the supporter of groundbreaking research on Latin American Women in 18 countries over the past 25 years: “Democracy & Society from a Gender Perspective,” commissioned by IWF and conducted by the LatinBarometro.

Mary Kay sponsored the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) World Series of Innovation (WSI) for the 2021-22 school year. Twenty-one teams of emerging social entrepreneurs won a total of $16,800 for their proposed solutions to WSI’s seven challenges, each of which focuses on advancing an SDG. Sponsors of the seven innovation challenges included: Bank of the West, Citi Foundation, Mary Kay, Saint-Gobain North America, Ernst & Young, LLP (EY), Maxar Technologies, and PIMCO.

International Labour Organization (ILO) and WEA released a Women Entrepreneurship Development (WED) Assessment in Mexico powered by Mary Kay, titled “Evaluación de las condiciones marco para el desarrollo empresarial de la mujer, Sectores de comercio e industria en la Ciudad de México.”

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI)

Through its partnership with the Equal Rights Trust, Mary Kay helped jumpstart the “Algorithmic Discrimination Initiative”, a new research and advocacy programme which aims to gather evidence on patterns of discrimination arising from the use of artificial intelligence and algorithmic decision-making systems and make the case for a proactive, pre-emptory and precautionary approach to addressing the discriminatory impacts of these technologies. The Equal Rights Trust undertook analysis of existing and proposed international law frameworks in this area; launched a “Call for Evidence on AI and Algorithmic Discrimination” through a gender-based lens; started the development of a new standard-setting document, the Principles on Equality by Design in Algorithmic Decision-Making; and began building a coalition of support for these Principles.

At the SCC75 Annual meeting for the Society of Cosmetic Chemists (SCC), Ms. A’Lelia Bundles, the great-great-granddaughter of Madam C.J. Walker, and Michelle Hines, Ph.D., Director of Product Formulation at Mary Kay, presented the Madam C.J. Walker Scholarships for under-represented minority students pursuing higher education in STEM disciplines related to cosmetics and personal care industry. The award is supported by the Society of Cosmetic Chemists and partnered and funded by Mary Kay. The winning recipients included: Joy Rutherford, fifth-year PhD student and NIH Research Fellow who works on synthesizing important compounds found in medicine and nature using the power of photochemistry and radical mediated pathways; and Imani Elaine Porter, Hampton University (second year undergraduate/biochemistry).

Mary Kay joined the UN Global Compact Target Gender Equality Accelerator as a follow up to the June 2021 UN Global Compact Gender Equality Strategy Consultation.

Gender-Responsive Procurement & Supplier Diversity

Deborah Gibbins, Mary Kay Chief Operating Officer, signed the forward to the UN Women’s Gender-responsive Procurement Advocacy Brief, titled: “Procurement’s Strategic Value. Why gender-responsive procurement makes business sense.” To inform the Advocacy Brief, UN Women engaged over 350 stakeholders in 2021, of which over 150 private sector companies were represented, and incorporated 7 case studies on companies’ procurement journeys.

Mary Kay was named 2022 Silver Champion for Supplier Diversity & Inclusion by WEConnect International in partnership with Disability:IN and the National LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC) for its commitment to global supplier diversity and inclusion regarding growing inclusive spend, policies and procedures—alongside Bayer, Eaton Corporation, Goldman Sachs and Marriott International.

Julia Simon, Chief Legal Officer and Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer, spoke at the UN Women Europe and Central Asia (ECA) and KAGIDER event presenting the findings of a GRP survey conducted by IPSOS in Turkey with the support of Mary Kay to better understand the barriers women entrepreneurs face. Simon called on the private and public sectors to adopt gender-sensitive procurement strategies. KAGIDER is the Women Entrepreneurs Association of Turkey.

Virginie Naigeon-Malek, Global Head of Social Impact and Sustainability, gave the opening remarks at the virtual GRP & Investment Pilot (GRPI) launch event coordinated by UN Women ECA and KAGIDER in Turkey. The innovative training is powered by Mary Kay.

During the “Investors Pitch Finale” event organized jointly by UN Women and KAGIDER as part of the WEA initiative, 25 women from 8 countries pitched their business blueprints and plans to a jury of businesspeople and an investor panel.

At its Target Gender Equality meeting, UN Global Compact released a GRP Advocacy video produced with the support of the Women’s Entrepreneurship Accelerator and powered by Mary Kay.

Cancer Research

Dr. Lucy Gildea, Mary Kay Chief Innovation Officer, accepted the Cancer Support Community North Texas Thrive Award on behalf of the Mary Kay Ash Foundation.

The Mary Kay Ash Foundation, in collaboration with the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, announced another recipient of the International Postdoctoral Scholars in Cancer Research Fellowship, awarding Dr. Maria del Rosario Chica Parrado, a post-doctoral student biologist from Málaga, Spain with a research grant.

Gender-based Violence (GBV) & Domestic Violence (DV)

At the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW66), the UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women’s 2022 annual report on its 2021 activities recognized the Mary Kay Ash Foundation and Mary Kay Inc.’s efforts to eliminate violence against women and girls—alongside the governments of 16 countries and nine UN Women National Committees.

Mary Kay was featured in a white paper published by UN Action against Sexual Violence in Conflict Network (UN Action) and the organization, Committed to Good, on how the private sector can engage in conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) efforts. Efforts include addressing gender inequalities and discriminatory social structures that preserve unequal gender relations, as well as activities that give back to communities in need. The UN Action against Sexual Violence in Conflict Network (UN Action), a coordinated body of 21 UN entities working to prevent and respond to conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV).

Emergency Response

In conjunction with a statement of support, Mary Kay announced a donation to the Ukraine Humanitarian Crisis Appeal of the Red Cross.

Mary Kay received the American Red Cross Corporate Partner Award for its Emergency Response to the conflict in Ukraine.

Mary Kay Ash Foundation received a Bronze Stevie award for its COVID-19 relief efforts at the 20th Annual American Business Awards.

Global Social Impact & Local Community

Mary Kay placed #91 on the Purpose Power Index. This is the third iteration of the largest study ever measuring perceptions of brand purpose, based on more than 20,500+ individual ratings amongst more than 5,500 U.S. consumers and employees, encompassing more than 200 different brands.

SUSTAINABILITY & ESG: ENRICHING LIVES TODAY FOR A SUSTAINABLE TOMORROW

Climate Change

At the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW66), WEA hosted a panel titled “Investing in Women Entrepreneurs to Tackle Climate Change.” Moderated by Elizabeth Vazquez (WEConnect International), the panel featured guest speakers from the leadership of six UN agencies. Deborah Gibbins, Mary Kay Chief Operating Officer, gave opening remarks and called on the private and public sectors to join WEA and catalyze women’s entrepreneurship.

The documentary Forest of Hope follows Doña Angelica, a 71-year old ecosystem warrior and her all-female team, from Mujeres Unidas Para La Conservacion De Laguna Sanchez, one of The Nature Conservancy’s partner organizations in Mexico. The film was officially selected for the North Dakota Environmental Rights Film Festival and the Hot Springs International Women’s Film Festival. The short film, produced by Mary Kay in partnership with The Nature Conservancy and written, directed, and produced by an all-female team, was previously named a semi-finalist in the Films for the Forest festival.

Water Stewardship

Mary Kay participated in a consultation with the governments of the Netherlands and Tajikistan to help define the role of the private sector in the Water Action Agenda and the Conference overall. The Water Action Agenda is a non-negotiated outcome document where Member States, stakeholders, private sector etc. can submit commitments which will be presented during the 2023 UN Water Conference. He will be joined by colleagues from Tajikistan as well as UN-DESA.

Mary Kay served on a panel, Making Waves: Women in Water Conservation in collaboration with The Nature Conservancy. The virtual conversation focused on women leaders from all over the world who are rising to the challenge and leading efforts to restore the health of our oceans.

Transparency & Advocacy (Self-Reporting & Updates)

Mary Kay released its 2021 Year-End Highlights Report highlighting its 58 awards and recognition honors, and its efforts in social impact and sustainability throughout the year.

On various globally recognized awareness days throughout the year Mary Kay released updates or additional information about its continued journey to be a purpose-driven brand and a sustainably-focused company committed to the future of our planet and generations to come:

International Day of Forests and World Tree Day—released a report detailing Mary Kay’s long-standing partnership with the Arbor Day Foundation.

World Wildlife Day—Through our global partnerships with The Nature Conservancy and Arbor Day Foundation, Mary Kay Inc. supports critical ecosystem conservation and restoration projects that help protect land and marine wildlife health around the world.

Solar Appreciation Day/World Energy Efficiency Day—highlighted our use of solar energy in the 80s; and since 2014, the Mary Kay world headquarters and global manufacturing facility are powered by 100 percent renewable energy.

International Day of Action for Rivers Report—Through our global partnership with the Arbor Day Foundation, Mary Kay Inc. supports critical watershed restoration projects that help protect the biodiversity health of our riparian ecosystems.

Global Recycling Day—Highlighted our commitment to reduce the amount of waste we generate and to reuse or recycle materials through strategic alignments and historical actions.

World Water Day—Water is an essential element in our manufacturing activities, as well as in our entire value chain. Reinforced our sustainability commitment to making efficient use of this increasingly precious natural resource and to limit the environmental impact of the way we consume and discharge water.

Arbor Day Foundation 50th Anniversary—Mary Kay and the Arbor Day Foundation are committed to revitalizing forests to ensure improved quality of natural resources and local environments for human and all other forms of life. Our tree planting projects contribute to the 1 trillion trees campaign launched by the World Economic Forum in January 2020 in support of the UN’s Decade of Ecosystem Restoration, which aims to restore, protect, or plant 1 trillion trees by 2030. Mary Kay was an early supporter of the campaign, pledging 1,130,000 trees on Day 1.

National Love A Tree Day Report—Highlighted our “favorite tree” located at Richard R. Rogers (R3) Manufacturing facility. The ceremonial tree was planted at the grand opening of R3 facility in Lewisville, Texas, (U.S.A.) celebrating the achievement of planting its one-millionth tree.

World Endangered Species Day—Highlighted our projects supporting critical ecosystem conservation and restoration projects that help protect endangered species around the world around the world.

World Fish Migration—Celebrated the theme for the day, “Connecting Fish, Rivers, and People” highlighting projects and raising awareness about the impact migratory fish have in creating healthy river systems.

International Day for Biological Diversity/World Biodiversity Day—Celebrated the theme for the day, “Building a shared future for all life” aimed at increasing understanding of the importance of biodiversity.

World Turtle Day—The theme for World Turtle Day was “Shellebrate” and aimed to raise awareness about their endangered status. Through our global partnership with The Nature Conservancy, Mary Kay Inc. supports sea turtle conservation projects in the Solomon Islands that help protect hawksbill turtles, a critically endangered species, through local female-led ecotourism.

World Reef Day—Highlighted our work with The Nature Conservancy supporting the restoration of reefs in Australia, Hong Kong, China the Coral Triangle and the Cakaulevu Reef.

World Environment Day—Celebrated under the theme “Only One Earth” raising awareness about environmental threats and actions needed to restore our planet. Highlighted our projects with The Nature Conservancy and Arbor Day Foundation.

World Oceans Day—Supported the theme “Revitalization: collection action for the ocean” about the impact of human actions and mobilizing people behind the work for sustainable management of the world’s oceans. Highlighted our global oceans and ocean protection projects supporting The Nature Conservancy focused on improving ocean health for nature and people.

Coral Triangle Day—The theme “Sustaining the Coral Triangle Ecosystem through Blue Economy” focused on marine environment to the livelihoods and economies of the Coral Triangle. Highlighted our work in Indonesia and working with indigenous communities to protect their traditions and economic security through protecting marine habitats.

About Mary Kay

One of the original glass ceiling breakers, Mary Kay Ash founded her beauty company 57 years ago with three goals: develop rewarding opportunities for women, offer irresistible products, and make the world a better place. That dream has blossomed into a multibillion-dollar company with millions of independent sales force members in nearly 40 countries. Mary Kay is dedicated to investing in the science behind beauty and manufacturing cutting-edge skin care, color cosmetics, nutritional supplements and fragrances. Mary Kay is committed to empowering women and their families by partnering with organizations from around the world, focusing on supporting cancer research, protecting survivors from domestic abuse, beautifying our communities, and encouraging children to follow their dreams. Mary Kay Ash’s original vision continues to shine—one lipstick at a time

Source: Cyprus News Agency

EU Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth Marija Gabriel and the Mayor of the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca Emil Boc, rapporteur of the European Committee of the Regions for the opinion on the European University Alliances initiative, expressed their support of transnational alliances of European universities in a co-signed opinion article on Thursday.

As Commissioner Gabriel and Mayor Bocque say there are around 5,000 higher education institutions in Europe, each of which is a centre of knowledge and innovation in its own right, whether you are looking at research universities or higher vocational education and training institutions, universities of applied sciences, institutes of technology or schools of arts.

For this reason, they note, Europe is is globally considered a knowledge and innovation powerhouse that attracts and retains talent. Our higher education institutions are gold mines for skills development and drivers for sustained growth, for entrepreneurship and quality jobs throughout Europe.

The European Union’s vision for the sector, according to the article’s authors, includes European inter-university campuses where students, staff and researchers from all parts of Europe can enjoy seamless mobility, and create new knowledge together, across countries and disciplines. A vision of a common long-term structural, sustainable and systemic cooperation on education, research and innovation throughout Europe.

This vision may sound ambitious, but in fact there are already 41 so-called European Universities, ambitious transnational alliances of higher education institutions, that have been testing what kind of structural, strategic and sustainable cooperation is really possible and most beneficial for their students, staff and communities, say the two European officials.

To support their work and push the European Universities initiative further, the Commission launched an Erasmus+ call for proposals in November 2021 with a record total budget of €272 million. The call had two aims: one was to provide support for already existing alliances so that they could continue or even enlarge their cooperation. And the second was to establish new alliances.

The overwhelming response to this call is in line with the continued enthusiasm and commitment from the higher education sector.

Through their joint article, Gabriel and Bock announce announce that 16 existing European Universities will continue to be supported by the Erasmus+ programme. They have expanded their cooperation by involving about 30 new higher education institutions from all parts of Europe, mainly in non-Capital cities, anchoring them even more in various and diverse regions.

In addition, four new European Universities alliances will start their common journey, meaning that, together with the 24 alliances already selected in 2020, there will be a total of 44 European Universities spanning across Europe.

As noted, 340 higher education institutions from all EU Member States and several Erasmus+ associated countries (Iceland, Norway, Serbia and Turkey) will be involved, and higher education institutions from Bologna Process countries beyond Erasmus+ countries such as Ukraine, the UK and Switzerland can now also join their alliances, although these collaborations will need to be financed outside of Erasmus+ funding for European universities.

The article also states that following encouragement to not limit themselves to their academic circles, European universities are working with around 1,300 NGOs, businesses, cities, local and regional authorities, with European university alliances being anchors of knowledge and civic engagement within regions and cities as proven by the numerous cities and regions directly involved as associated partners in the alliances, developing together with the higher education institutions smart solutions to their local challenges.

Gabriel and Bock say they will continue to support European universities in realising their full potential, as over time, they will connect more and more faculties, departments, staff and students, offering more innovative pedagogies rooted in transdisciplinary approaches, implementing more joint programmes, being even more inclusive and engaging more with their communities.

It is noted that the next Erasmus+ call for proposals will be launched in autumn this year, offering renewed funding for existing alliances and to create new ones. The objective is to expand to 60 European Universities, involving more than 500 higher education institutions by mid-2024.

At the same time, they are focusing on work on the establishment of institutionalised cooperation instruments, such as a possible legal status for alliances of higher education institutions, and the examination of options for joint degrees at all levels, based on European criteria, with a view to recognising the transnational study experiences that these alliances offer to their students, while work on the European Student Card is continuing in order to provide students with a unique identifier and to simplify the administrative process around their mobility.

“We all work together at EU level, Member States, regions and higher education institutions across Europe, to increase the scope and quality of European higher education. We will keep pushing the boundaries to the benefit of Europe’s 17.5 million students, 1.35 million educators and 1.17 million researchers – and at the end of the day, to the benefit of us all”, they conclude.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

Rome – The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) will fast track an impact-oriented project in Central America and in sub-Saharan Africa for digital soil nutrient mapping thanks to a $20 million contribution from the Government of the United States of America. This type of soil mapping can improve the efficiency in the use of fertilizers and help to boost food security and nutrition.

“This contribution is timely and allows us to scale up the use of soil mapping in regions where it is most needed and where we are seeing a decline in fertilizer use due to price hikes,” stated QU Dongyu, FAO Director-General, as he welcomed the investment. “By understanding what nutrients our soils and crops need, we will reduce waste when applying fertilizers and increase their effectiveness.”

Ambassador Cindy McCain, U.S. Permanent Representative to FAO and the Rome-based UN agencies, announced the contribution during a week-long field visit to Guatemala and Honduras. The funds will help tackle what she called an unparalleled global food crisis and address both immediate and long-term needs many countries are facing due to skyrocketing food and fertilizer prices. The impacts of the climate crisis, such as frequent droughts, floods and high temperatures also put food security and nutrition at risk. Managing soils sustainably to increase resilience and adapt to these changes is essential and must be based on informed decisions and continuous monitoring of soil health.

The funding will be primarily used to conduct targeted soil nutrient mapping to systematize and improve the existing soil maps in Guatemala and Honduras, as well as in other countries in Central America and sub-Saharan Africa, where Ambassador McCain noted FAO has proven experience in building capacity and digitizing soil maps, which have fast, positive impacts on crop yields and sustainability.

FAO has already been supporting the scaling up of a pioneering project in Ethiopia, where agriculture – almost all of it practiced by smallholders – accounts for 40 percent of value-added economic activity and employs more than 80 percent of the population. That project used digital soil nutrient mapping technologies to generate timely information, particularly on how to optimize fertilizer use, and has already led to yield and availability increases of high-quality grains in the country.

Fostering the creation of national soil databases and soil information systems as public goods to be used by policymakers, the private sector and especially farmers can generate long-term benefits, as well as improve short-term flexibility to adapt to trends in fertilizer markets and climate dynamics without compromising output.

The need to support Central America

About one in six people in Guatemala and Honduras suffer from undernourishment, and around half cannot afford a healthy diet, according to FAO’s latest report on The State of Food Insecurity and Nutrition in the World.

Around a third of arable land in Central America is covered by degraded soils, broadly in line with the global average. Agriculture has traditionally been based in the subregion’s mountains, whose slopes are particularly vulnerable to landslides and water erosion. These forces, exacerbated by extreme weather patterns catalyzed by the La Niña phenomenon, whose effects are often further magnified by deforestation and other human factors, remove topsoil rich in organic matter and can trigger soil nutrient imbalances. One result is steady outward migration pressure, from rural areas to cities and from cities abroad. Poverty and vulnerability to livelihood-crushing disasters are particularly intense in Central America’s Dry Corridor, home to 10 million people, making it a prime target for resilience-building initiatives that the soil maps will support.

FAO is creating a regional soil information system (SISLAC) which serves legacy soil data from around Latin America and the Caribbean.

More on FAO’s work on soils

**This week, FAO and its Global Soil Partnership are hosting the Global Symposium on Soils for Nutrition where discussions are ongoing on the fertility of global soils and ways to enhance soil nutrient availability for crops without damaging the environment.

FAO’s Global Soil Partnership has been supporting countries in establishing national soil information systems and developing country-driven global maps, including the Global Soil Organic Carbon Map, the Global Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration Potential Map, the Global Salt Affected Soils Map and the Global Black Soil Distribution Map.

To date, the Global Soil Partnership, has reached more than 500 national experts from 52 countries in Central America and sub-Saharan Africa and supported them in producing high priority data products focusing on major soil threats, potential of soil resources to address the impacts of the climate crisis and tackle food insecurity.

FAO is also working with Members on the preparation of the Global Soil Nutrient and Nutrient Budget Maps to inform effective decisions to boost soil health and productivity. FAO is also working on the establishment of the Global Soil Information System (GLOSIS) and of the Global Soil Laboratory Network (GLOSOLAN) to improve the capacities of soil laboratories, including soil spectroscopy for rapid, cost-effective and non-destructive characterization of soil properties.

The FAO-UNESCO Soil Map of the World, which was launched in 1961 and which has been serially updated ever since, is a world reference base. Increased efforts, often using geospatial and machine-learning technologies, are leading to greater precision and nutrition-sensitive policy tools, as well as pathways to improve the return on investments from agricultural inputs such as fertilizers.

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

As the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends long-acting injectable cabotegravir (CAB-LA) for HIV prevention, Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) called on governments in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) to urgently include this drug in national HIV guidelines and accelerate its roll out to prevent HIV transmission, and called on the producer of CAB-LA – the UK pharmaceutical corporation ViiV Healthcare – to take swift actions to support countries’ access for everyone who needs it.

Administered as an injection every two months,CAB-LA is the most effective form of pre-exposure prophylaxis(PrEP) for people at high risk of HIV. However, as detailed in a new MSF reportreleased ahead of the 2022 International AIDS Conference, the lack of transparency around the pricing and plans for registration of the drug; unnecessary delays over agreeing a voluntary license; and implementation-science conditions for procurement, set by ViiV, pose as barriers to access to this medicine, particularly in LMICs.

“WHO’s recommendation for use of long-acting injectable cabotegravir offers a more effective option for people in countries like Mozambique, where there is a high prevalence of HIV, who would hugely benefit from rollout of this drug to help reduce new infections,” said Dr Zaid Seni, Medical Activity Manager, MSF Mozambique. “While the current oral preventive treatment available in low- and middle-income countries is effective, taking a daily pill can be challenging for some. CAB-LA offers a more discreet option that can facilitate better adherence for people at risk of HIV infection. We urge ViiV to make the drug available at an affordable price to support timely use of this game-changing drug to help avoid millions of new HIV infections.”

CAB-LA was approved for the prevention of HIV infection by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in December 2021, and ViiV currently charges US$3,700 per vial in the US($22,200 per person per year). Researchfrom the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) has shown that generic manufacturers could produce this drug for around $2.60 per vial (less than $20 per person per year). Although ViiV has publicly said they would provide CAB-LA for their at-cost price in many LMICs, they have yet to announce the price.

ViiV holds patents on CAB-LA in multiple middle-income countries, including Brazil, India, Nigeria and South Africa. The patent monopolies of the pharmaceutical corporation will block access to more affordable generic formulations and allow Viiv to sell CAB-LA at high prices, keeping the medicine out of reach for many who need it. In May 2022, ViiV announced that it is finally engaged in negotiations for a voluntary license on CAB-LA with the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) for generic manufacturers to bring the drug into the market. It will be essential for MPP and ViiV to include not just low-income and lower middle-income countries but also upper-middle-income countries in the territory of the license for CAB-LA.

Also, ViiV currently makes CAB-LA available in LMICs only under implementation-science proposals that are approved by the corporation,wherein the drug is donated based on approval by ViiV to the organisations submitting protocols for studying the drug for PrEP. Granting access exclusively for research purposes may deny the most vulnerable populations, particularly in humanitarian settings, from accessing CAB-LA.

“ViiV has been dragging its feet in making cabotegravir supply available for low- and middle-income countries despite repeated calls from public health activists, treatment providers and civil society,” said Jessica Burry, HIV/HCV Pharmacist, MSF Access Campaign. “Following WHO’s recommendation for the use of CAB-LA as PrEP, ViiV must take immediate steps to publicly announce the price for this drug for all low- and middle-income countries, finalise its licensing deal with the Medicines Patent Pool, and ensure sufficient supply everywhere by allowing procurement without any conditions to treatment providers and countries, until generics are available. It’s high time that the corporation fulfil its promise of making CAB-LA widely available to those in need, as further delays will only result in new HIV infections.”

Source: Médecins Sans Frontières