Africa

Evidence shows that when women are empowered, farms are more productive, natural resources are better managed, nutrition is improved, and livelihoods are more secure. Credit: Kristin Palitza/IPS

By Tharanga Yakupitiyage
UNITED NATIONS, Sep 30 2018 (IPS)

Despite women being key figures in agriculture and food security, gender inequality is holding back progress towards ending hunger, poverty, and creating sustainable food systems. 

During a high-level event on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, the African Union (AU) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the U.N. (FAO) reviewed the persistent gender gaps in agri-food systems in Africa and highlighted the need for urgent action. “It is therefore economically rewarding to invest in women’s education and economic empowerment since women often use a large portion of their income on children and family welfare.” -- AU commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture Josefa Leonel Correa Sacko.

“There is a strong momentum to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment in agri-food systems because women constitute the majority of agricultural labour,” said AU commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture Josefa Leonel Correa Sacko.

However, despite women’s crucial role in such systems, there are persistent gender gaps.

“We need to better recognise and harness the fundamental contribution of women to food security and nutrition. For that, we must close persisting gender gaps in agriculture in Africa,” said FAO’s Director-General Jose Graziano da Silva.

“Evidence shows that when women are empowered, farms are more productive, natural resources are better managed, nutrition is improved, and livelihoods are more secure,” he added.

While women account for up to 60 percent of agricultural labour, approximately 32 percent of women own agricultural lands across 27 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa through either joint, sole ownership, or both.

Only 13 percent of women, compared to 40 percent of men, have sole ownership on all or part of the land they own, according to the Regional Outlook on Gender and Agrifood Systems, a joint report by the FAO and AU that was presented during the event.

In 2016, thousands of rural women across Africa gathered at Tanzania’s Mount Kilimanjaro to protest and demand the right to land and natural resources.

Some even climbed to the peak of Africa’s highest mountain, showcasing their determination for change.

Even when women are able to own their own land, many still lack access to productive resources and technologies such as fertiliser, agricultural input, mechanical equipment, and finance.

This poses numerous challenges along the food value chain, including food loss.

Globally, approximately one-third of all food produced is lost or wasted. Food loss and waste is a major contributor to climate change and in Sub-Saharan Africa, the economic cost of such losses amount up to USD4 billion every year, FAO found.

Closing productivity gaps could increase food production and consumption by up to 10 percent and reduce poverty by up to 13 percent.

While women account for up to 60 percent of agricultural labour, approximately 32 percent of women own agricultural lands across 27 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa through either joint, sole ownership, or both. Credit: Busani Bafana/IPS

The FAO-AU assessment also estimated that agricultural output could more than triple if farmers had access to the finance needed to expand quality and quantity of their produce.

Panellists noted that addressing the agricultural gender gaps in Africa could additionally boost food security and nutrition in the region.

Globally, hunger is on the rise and it is worsening in most parts of Africa. Out of 821 million hungry people in the world in 2017, over 250 million are in Africa.

Many African nations are also seeing a rapid rise in obesity, which could soon become the continent’s biggest public health crisis.

“It is therefore economically rewarding to invest in women’s education and economic empowerment since women often use a large portion of their income on children and family welfare,” Sacko said.

Graziano da Silva noted that among the key issues is the lack of women in governance systems and decision-making processes. 

Between five and 30 percent of field officers from ministries and rural institutions are women while only 12 to 20 percent of staff in ministries of agriculture are female.

This coincides with the lack of gender targeting and analysis mechanisms, resulting in services that target male-dominated sectors.

If such trends continue, Africa will not be close to achieving many of the ambitious development goals including the Malabo Declaration, which aims to achieve inclusive growth, sustainable agriculture, and improved livelihoods.

There has been some positive trends as many African countries have started to recognise the importance of putting women at the heart of the transformation of rural food systems.

Botswana’s Women’s Economic Empowerment Programme provides grants to women, enabling them to start their own enterprises and advance their economic well-being.

First Lady of Botswana Neo Jane Massi attended the high-level event and stressed the “importance of inclusive growth in our national development agendas in order to ensure that no one is left behind.”

Similarly, the Joint Programme on Accelerating Progress towards the Economic Empowerment of Women, implemented by various U.N. agencies including FAO and U.N. Women, has provided more than 40,000 women with training on improved agricultural technologies and increased access to financial services and markets.

While women’s participation in decision making has increased from 17 to 30 percent, Graziano da Silva stressed the need for better and more balanced representation of women at all levels.

Presenting the recommendations from the AU-FAO outlook report, Sacko called for an “enabling environment,” reinforcement of accountability mechanisms for gender equality and women’s empowerment, and a “gender data revolution” to better inform gender-sensitive policies and programs.

“Let us be ambitious, and let us all put our wings together,” Massi concluded.

Related Articles

• Development of ICT Innovation Expected to Help in Fight Against Banana Disease in Rwanda
• Recognising the Debilitating Nature Conflict Has on Food Security
• In the Race to Achieve Zero Hunger and Mitigate Climate Change, We Must Look Down — to the Soil
• How Filling in the Agricultural Data Gap Will Fill Empty Plates

The post More Women Owning Agricultural Land in Africa Means Increased Food Security and Nutrition appeared first on Inter Press Service.

The Malawi FA president, Walter Nyamilandu, is elected to the Fifa Council at a special sitting of Caf's Executive Committee in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.

The Bangui Wind Farm located in the northern Philippines hosts 20 wind turbines with a capacity of 33 megawatts. GGGI works mainly with governments that express an interest in sustainable growth and is supporting the Philippines in mainstreaming green growth into the country’s development planning. Credit: Kara Santos/IPS

By Carmen Arroyo
UNITED NATIONS, Sep 30 2018 (IPS)

When the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) was founded eight years ago, the general public thought that renewable energies would never replace oil and coal. Today, the tables have turned.

Dr. Frank Rijsberman has been the director general of the institute since 2016, and for him, green growth is no longer a matter of morality, but of economics. Renewable energies are now cheaper than fossil fuels. They create employment, do not pollute and provide countries with the amount of energy they need. Last week he joined several side events at the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

GGGI is an intergovernmental organisation that works with over 60 countries. It seeks commitments among governments and private companies to switch to green growth—economic growth that takes into account environmental sustainability.

The organisation, based in Seoul, South Korea, works mainly with governments that express an interest in sustainable growth. Its work does not directly depend on changes in administrations.

Under Rijsberman, GGGI has consulted with Colombia on their protection of the Amazon rainforest, the United Arab Emirates on how to diversify its economy, and more recently with New Zealand. Rijsberman is especially proud of the organisation’s work in Ethiopia and Rwanda, with its president Paul Kagame, who he considers a “champion of green growth”.

Rijsberman is not only very knowledgeable, he also calls his job “his passion”. When he describes GGGI’s presence worldwide, he jumps from Australia to Ethiopia, from South Korea to Mexico, and from Norway to the Philippines.

He talks slowly, like a teacher giving his first class, or a father trying to get his point through. And when he talks about GGGI’s achievements, he smiles in the affable way most Dutch people do. His excitement is justified: renewable energies are the present. And public opinion cares. Excerpts of the interview follow:

Director general of the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) Dr. Frank Rijsberman outside the Office of the Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning in Thailand Photo Credit: Sinsiri Tiwutanond/IPS

Inter Press Service (IPS): Why has green growth become relevant?

Frank Rijsberman (FR): A variety of countries are already convinced green growth is their only option for pollution and climate reasons. For example in Asia, air pollution is a strong driver of investors in green growth. In Seoul, everybody checks the air condition in the morning, because it is a real issue. We have to decide whether we are going to wear air masks or not. In the West, last summer we saw fires and heat waves. And in Africa, the average farmer is convinced the climate has changed."In the end there are gonna be more jobs with renewables than with coal." -- Director general of the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) Dr. Frank Rijsberman.

I’ve been involved in climate change for a long time, and it used to be something we talked about that would happen in a 100 years. Then for our grandchildren. Then our children and then… it’s today.

Before, ministers of finance used to say they wanted first to develop and then they would care about the climate. Now, they also care about the quality of growth.

IPS: Has that international public opinion changed since United States president Donald Trump’s election?

FR: The truth is that the U.S. government was very influential in making the Paris Agreement exist in the first place. We have to thank them for that. They brought China to the table.

And after Trump was elected, the Chinese government did not back out, because solar and wind has become cheaper than coal. Wind energy prices have dropped by 66 percent and solar by 86 percent. In the last three years, the atmosphere has changed. There is a stronger belief that renewable energies are making a breakthrough.

Apart from the prices, the second big deal is batteries.Generally, you need a grid or a diesel generator to back solar and wind up. But instead of using diesel generators, now we can use batteries that store energy. Battery prices have also gone down by 80 precent. And over the next five years, batteries will be cheaper than the diesel backups. The investment recommendation we make is to buy batteries now, not diesel generators.

IPS: Where have renewable energies impacted the most?

FR: For example, in electricity production, we’ve seen a huge disruption. Most of the investments go to renewable energies. However, electricity is only 20 percent of energy use.

The other 80 percent is transportation and buildings. But I am confident that in some years, electric vehicles will be cheaper than normal fuel cars. These autonomous vehicles could reduce the number of vehicles in cities by three, which would reduce pollution, traffic, and costs.

IPS: The institute must also face challenges when promoting green growth. Is shifting investment patterns its biggest challenge?

FR: Yes. The hardest has been convincing Southeast Asian countries with fast-growing economies. They still invest in coal. Convincing those governments that solar and wind are cheaper remains the biggest challenge.

Sometimes we also find resistance in the utilities, companies that work with fossil fuels. We’ve had one government for which we did a plan for renewable energies, and then they told us they had already signed with fossil fuels. There are also countries where hotels want to put solars on their rooftops, but utilities say: “we will cut you off the grid.”

However, once the government agrees, it can take a short amount of time for them to transition to sustainable energies. In India it took two years. India had coal fired power plants. But as soon as the price of renewables decreased, the coal fired plants went down.

The example of Canberra (Australia) is also enlightening. They decided they wanted to be renewable by 2020. So, they put solars in schools, and they made it accessible so people could also put it on their homes. People got used to it and then they moved to utility-scale renewables.

IPS: Does this resistance in transitioning have to do with the loss of jobs?

FR: In the end there are gonna be more jobs with renewables than with coal. Trump talks about the job losses in coal, but he doesn’t talk about the new jobs with renewables. It’s true they may not be the same people, so you need some formal training. But that is normal. One industry dies and another is born.

IPS: You have been director general for two years, what have you achieved so far?

FR: GGGI has been strong in policy for a number of years. My predecessor saw there was a gap in developing bankable projects, and he started green investment finance services.

In 2017, we mobilised half a billion dollars in green and climate finance for the first time. I increased our goals to mobilise a couple billion dollars in our strategic planning. We raise it by investor commitments. Although our clients are governments, sometimes they can’t find investment themselves for renewable plans. We help find projects, we bring investors to the table, they sign a letter of intent, we hand it to the government and they decide over it.

IPS: And what do you want to accomplish in the next two years?

FR: We want to demonstrate that we can do it. Our goal for 2020 is to raise more than two and a half billion dollars in green and climate finance. And then convince more governments that this is crucial. Not only renewable energy, also waste management, pollution, and green jobs. We want to get more evidence that this works, and scale it to more countries. Our goal is to transform countries’ economies to green growth.

Related Articles

• Q&A: Why Young and Smart Greenpreneurs are the Future of Sustainable Development
• Ethiopia’s Struggle Against Climate Change Gets a Boost from Green Climate Fund
• Q&A: Achieving Sustainable Goals: “In the End it is All About People. If People Want, it Will Happen.”

The post Q & A: Why Switching to Renewable Energy Sources is No Longer a Matter of Morality, But of Economics appeared first on Inter Press Service.

By WAM
DUBAI, Sep 30 2018 (WAM)

The Ministry of Climate Change and Environment (MOCCAE) has conducted an overall assessment of climate adaptation in the health context in the UAE. Through surveys and a stakeholders’ workshop, MOCCAE outlined the direct and indirect climate-related health risks and the existing and possible actionable solutions for public health adaptation.

Officials from the Ministry of Health and Prevention (MOHAP), Department of Health – Abu Dhabi, Dubai Health Authority, as well as representatives from the private sector and academia attended the workshop and contributed their insights on the topic.

Fahed Al Hammadi, Acting Assistant Undersecretary of the Green Development and Climate Change Sector at MOCCAE, said, “We are already feeling the impacts of climate change in all aspects of our lives. Given the current projections, such impacts will continue to grow in intensity and frequency, and adaptation is the only viable response strategy.

“This assessment of climate-related health risks is the first brick in the wall to identify the current impacts of climate change on various sectors and come up with ways to adapt to these impacts. Such assessments will help us understand the bigger picture and act accordingly.”

For his part, Dr Hussein Abdul Rahman Al Rand, Assistant Undersecretary for Centers and Health Clinics, MOHAP, said, “We are pleased to join forces with the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment to confirm that the National Climate Adaptation Program is delivered as planned. It is crucial to take concrete action to mitigate and adapt to climate change impacts and build national capacities that can effectively tackle these impacts. In order to ensure a comprehensive overview, we need to capitalize on the research and experiments carried out by other nations as well as the data generated across the UAE.

“In this context, MOHAP has long worked on raising public awareness of the climate-related health risks and enhancing the health system across the country to ensure the UAE is well-poised to adapt to climate change. The recent assessment reveals the burden of climate-related diseases, which should be monitored and addressed. These include diseases associated with carbon pollution, such as cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, climate-related infectious diseases, malnutrition, and heat stress, which leads to reduced labor productivity and spiraling health costs.”

Health experts concluded that the direct and indirect impacts of climate change on human health in the UAE are primarily seen in the form of heat stress. This results in reduced labor productivity, particularly for outdoor laborers, and mortality or morbidity due to heat stroke.

They also noted that the multiple initiatives that have been carried out as part of environmental health and occupational safety policies are relevant – either directly or indirectly – to climate adaptation in the health sector. They highlighted the Ministerial Order No. 401 of 2015 that determines the afternoon working hours of laborers employed outdoors to reduce heat exhaustion and heat stress.

Another finding is that despite the existence of adaptation-related initiatives for climate risks, there is still a lot of room for more climate-focused adaptation policies and programs. Health experts proposed multiple actions to help address high and medium risks. Proposed actions include enhancing early warning systems and developing heat alert plans, especially for outdoor laborers during extreme heat events, and developing the capacity of clinics and health stations to recognize and respond to labor concerns on reduced productivity due to climate-related factors.

Furthermore, they recommended that more research needs to be undertaken on the effects of climate change on labor productivity, in addition to strengthening enforcement of existing initiatives such as the Safety in Heat and midday break programs. They also suggested enhancing monitoring and evaluation to objectively assess results, and mainstream climate change adaptation through reorienting existing programs on environmental health and occupational safety to better highlight their adaptation components.

To reduce climate change impacts and pave the way for green economic diversification, the UAE has adopted various policies at the federal and emirate levels to facilitate the transition from a hydrocarbon-dependent economy to a sustainable knowledge-based economy in line with the UAE Vision 2021.

The assessment findings correlate to those of the Leaders’ Roundtable: Climate Change and Public Health held on the sidelines of the 73rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA 73). The roundtable touched on the non-communicable disease (NCD) dimension of the climate-health nexus, given that many greenhouse gas emission sources are key drivers of NCDs.

Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al-Zeyoudi, Minister of Climate Change and Environment cohosted a roundtable, alongside Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Nikolai Astrup, Norwegian Minister of International Development, and Gina McCarthy, Professor of the Practice of Public Health in the Department of Environmental Health at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the Director of the Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment (C-CHANGE).

At the roundtable discussions, Dr Al Zeyoudi said: “It’s evident that our health and the infrastructure underpinning the health industry will be at increasing risk as climate change intensifies. That is why, the health sector is one of the first sectors we are addressing under the National Climate Adaptation Program launched in September 2017, along with energy, infrastructure and environment sectors. We are systematically assessing risks and identifying mitigation options.”

 

WAM/Hatem Mohamed

The post Ministry of Climate Change and Environment assesses adaptation to climate change in UAE appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Ubah Mohamed used aliases to get work before breaking into Hollywood.

Mortada Mansour, chairman of Egyptian giants Zamalek, is banned from all football-related activity for a year by the Confederation of African Football.

SOURCE: TWITTER

By Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury
Sep 29 2018 (The Daily Star, Bangladesh)

America has had a fairly inscrutable history. Haven to the oppressed in the European continent, its early settlers, while relishing the fruits of freedom, pretty much exterminated its indigenous inhabitants. At the same time, as a reaction to absolutist monarchies elsewhere in the world it created pluralist institutions. In this “New World” the Lord did not supposedly anoint Kings investing them divine rights, but imparted them directly to the people through the Constitution. While their leaders penned and pronounced praises to liberty (in the “Federalist Papers” written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay, for instance), notions of equality were not extended to their black African slaves. While they were explicit in expressions of their new world coming to the aid of the old, their entry into the Great Wars of the twentieth century was actually effected only when their interests were directly threatened. They initiated the use of nuclear weapons of mass destruction in warfare, only to champion their elimination when others, particularly not of their ilk, sought to acquire them. While their intelligence agents relentlessly worked towards regime-changes in other countries, they themselves reacted adversely when others allegedly sought to do the same in theirs. So, how was it that America, such a bundle of contradictions, able to project itself as a beacon of morality on the international scene over such a sustained period of time?

The answer perhaps lies in what Americans have always excelled in: effective marketing. About 1775-76, Thomas Paine had published the “Common Sense”. The historian Gordon Wood saw it as “the most incendiary and popular pamphlet of the entire revolutionary era”. It marshalled the arguments for the fight for liberty of the 13 American colonies against the British. The fact that the American Revolution almost coincided with the French counterpart helped. Indeed the French political scientist Viscount de Tocqueville in his two works, Democracy in America (in the 1830s) and The Old Regime and the Revolution (1856) extolled American values. He viewed them as a healthy relationship between the market and the State. Soon America was being projected as the “City on the Shining Hill”, with a “manifest destiny” to expand territorially and ideologically. Eventually a political culture evolved that stressed America’s “exceptionalism”.

Doubtless American support to allies helped defeat German Nazism and Japanese imperial might. The establishment of the United Nations and the Bretton Woods institutions on American soil aided the perception of America as the leader of the “free-world”. It saw itself charged with the responsibility of “containment”, a term coined by the diplomat George Kennan, of Soviet expansionism and Communism. When Karl Marx’s theories were turned on its head and instead of “capitalism” it was “communism” that collapsed due to its inner contradictions, America emerged as the unchallenged superpower. With it came a sense of hubris. Its ultimate evidence was the 2003 invasion of Iraq under President George Bush. President Bush understandably made no claims to higher enlightenment. However, his administration was moved by some who did. They were the Neo-conservatives or the “neo-cons”, people like Paul Wolfowitz, Charles Krauthammer, and Doughlas Feith. They were disciples of Professor Leo Strauss, the German-American thinker who was deeply influenced by the Classical Greek philosopher, Plato.

Plato believed that it is only a handful of individuals, who truly understood the essence of what is great and good. He called them “Philosopher Kings”. He lauded “empiricism” over “abstraction” and “shadow-learning”. This was characterised perhaps the world’s most famous apologue in philosophy, in his “allegory of the cave”. It is not just that new ideas have ancient roots. All “true history” is really “contemporary” as Benedetto Croce observed. Alas, ancient sources are also often distorted to justify current unsavoury acts. Even if the neo-cons were pushing their interpretation of Platonism, they were in contrast to the founding fathers who derived inspiration from the study of Constitutions by Plato’s student, Aristotle. And for the record, Aristotle had famously said “Amicus Plato sedmagisamicaveritas” “dear is Plato but dearer still is the truth”!

Fast forward to the present. The supposed leadership role of America came with a heavy price. America was made to play the very role that traditionally the founding fathers had been chary of: searching for monsters to destroy abroad. While they won the Cold War because of the implosion within the adversary camp, they either drew or lost many fights like Korea or Vietnam, or became mired in an unending conflict like Afghanistan. They were the strongest power in the world. But situation that meant little because their power derived from weapons that they could never use. Sometimes unfairly to the Americans, others fuelled their ego of leadership of the free world, in the words of the current President Donald Trump, ripped them off in trade and commerce! Newer powers were emerging. Some had acquired the dreaded nuclear-weapon retaliatory capacity. China was rising. Not just militarily, but also economically. In the contemporary digital world, it was catching up with America in Artificial Intelligence. It had the capacity to feed the machine more mass-data, and algorithms to improve products and services and invent new ones. A “Thucydides Syndrome” was in the making. The sage of that name had observed that when Athens grew strong there was great fear in Sparta. History is replete with rising powers challenging established ones.

Trump is the product of exhausted America. He represents the viewpoint that the so-called leadership role with its high-price tag is not worthwhile. To him, the United States should be like any other nation that should act only in pursuance of its narrow self-interest. Recently at the United Nations, he rejected globalism and embraced patriotism. Many, like the Europeans, may think patriotism delinked from multilateralism could lead to nationalism. In Europe in the past it has in turn resulted in war. But Trump thinks differently. And right now he is the President. This thinking may be in many ways germane to contemporary American ethos. Some may argue that the idea of an intellectual restraint to the proliferation of such predilections might be in order. So has the time come for the “containment” of America by others in an ironical reversal of history? Opinion will be divided .The Emperor, in this case represented by the power of America, may not be wearing the clothes as the pretentious monarch in the fairy tale, which the clever and deceitful tailor had claimed were too fine for the human eye to see, but it is only because now he has chosen not to.

Dr Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury is a former foreign adviser to a caretaker government of Bangladesh and is currently Principal Research Fellow at the Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore.

This story was originally published by The Daily Star, Bangladesh

The post Why does the emperor have no clothes? appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Caf punishes Madagascar following a stampede at the country's national stadium earlier this month, which killed one person and left nearly 40 others injured.

Amal Fathy has publicly criticised the government over the extent of sexual harassment in Egypt.

Caf confirms Ghana will host this year's Women's Africa Cup of Nations as planned and a decision on Cameroon 2019 will be made at the end of November.

Natasha Museveni's film charts her father's journey from rebel leader to Ugandan president.

An antelope caught on camera in Uganda for the first time sheds light on an unexplored rainforest.

The post Venezuela’s Surname Is Diaspora appeared first on Inter Press Service.

How artist Othello De'Souza-Hartley explores human skin and nudity through his work.

By GGGI
Sep 28 2018 (GGGI)

Being a greenpreneur goes beyond being part of an international competition, being a greenpreneur goes beyond getting mentorships from the best experts in sustainability issues, entrepreneurship, finance, clean technologies; being a greenpreneur is a matter of attitude, of innovating, of generating a true change to local problems with global solutions, it is not a question of competing with the other teams, but of collaborating for the same purpose that is to generate green growth for a sustainable development and collaborate in the fulfillment of the Sustainable Development Goals.

The Greenpreneurs competition has allowed to connect 10 teams from different countries with international expertise, which has demonstrated the ability of the Global Green Growth Institute (GGI), Student Energy and the Youth Climate Lab to achieve a 10-week online program that allows that we can improve from the approach and identification of the problem to the business model and its final presentation. This is a great contribution, since startups and ideas from all over the world in different stages of consolidation have been able to grow thanks to the mentoring of experts in the field, at the same time breaking down the barriers of language and distance, as is the case with the team that I am part of which is GREENfluidics®, which represents Mexico in this competition.

In addition, the networking we have been able to achieve through the Greenpreneurs program has been valuable in our performance, as part of the personalized mentoring of our Greenpreneurs’ mentor Chuy Cepeda, which despite having a different area of ​​application but linked to the solution energetic that we propose, has collaborated with high value advice related to the presentation of a disruptive technology, since the challenge of communication is vital to demonstrate the value we add with our solution.

We also had the fortune to coincide with the representative of our country of the GGGI, Pablo Martínez, with whom we were able to discuss the action plans in which he is focused at this moment, related to the green growth of the nation, which gave us a general view of where we are going within our region, but also the opportunities that we have with the global GGGI connection. This type of meetings has allowed us to develop both communication and sales skills, as well as having another point of view outside of our comfort zone, showing the areas of opportunity that will strengthen us in the local market, thus having a closeness of support in the GGGI Mexico.

In this way we can mention that the experience of the Greenpreneurs is unique in the world, for all the value that it adds through its panel of mentors, experts in the subject and exercises for the development of the teams, for which it is an honor to be able to demonstrate in this competition what GREENfluidics is capable of achieving in the energy transition, not only of Mexico but of the world towards the use of new energies, where we want to go beyond the competition and impact on the lives of people.

Energy is everywhere, GREENfluidics #wemakeitflow

 

The post Greenpreneurs: the experience appeared first on Inter Press Service.

By GGGI
Sep 28 2018 (GGGI)

The knowledge of some of the microorganisms with which we share the planet Earth has allowed us to have another perspective of the life, we have known how to take advantage of its characteristics to advance science and use them in technology.

Personally, I have fallen in love with some fascinating microorganisms called microalgae that seem to have superpowers, take advantage of solar radiation to feed themselves and adapt to any situation that life presents them as the Chloromonas reticulata that lives between low temperatures (8 ° to 14 ° C), high solar radiation and few nutrients or Isochrysis galbana that lives in high temperatures and is rich in lipid production, in other words they are so adaptable and flexible that they can be domesticated but careful, they have their physiological challenges, get control requires a 4.0 strategy, make them feel in optimal conditions with the minimum requirements to take full advantage, the amount of products that can be obtained from microalgae ranging from biofuels to food supplements, are rich in proteins and essential oils such as omega 9 and chlorophyll .

They generate components that the industry demands. Their ability to fix carbon dioxide makes them a powerful solution for the mitigation of greenhouse gases.All these skills make them worthy of being part of the future, I firmly believe that nature has the best designs that adapt evolutionarily to solve the most complex problems. What stops us from learning from nature? For this reason I want to continue learning from the microalgae, explore them, thoroughly know their strengths and weaknesses, their applications can be incomparable. I have studied Scenedesmus sp, I have seen them grow and change shape by the different ways of cultivation to which I submit them and they never stop surprising me.

The industry is recognizing the power of microalgae and demand is increasing, for example Buggy Power, a European company that recognizes that the future of nutrition lies in the oceans and bodies of water, they are interested in the nutritional and pharmaceutical value of microalgae, even in the energy industry are becoming popular. There is the case of BIQ algae house is “building with Bio-Intelligent Quotient” (BIQ) is the first algae powered building in the world, located in Hamburg, Germany; xtrae all the energy needed to generate electricity and heat from renewable sources. In addition to generating energy using the biomass of algae collected from its own facade.

GREENfluidics knows the potential of microalgae and trusts that the energy future lies in the combination of high-end technology with the adaptive abilities of microalgae, that’s why we have designed a bioenergetic system inspired by nature that mitigates the environmental impact of dioxide. carbon at the same time that electric power is decentralized. In a few words, it can not be denied that microalgae will be part of future bioenergetic 4.0

 

 

Being on trend is part of the new energies.

In the XXI century the use of fossil fuels still remains constant in many of the most developed countries. Only by the end of 2017 was it estimated that the global production of energy by fossil fuels increased by two percent!, according to the International Energy Agency. This is incredible, since at the critical point for climate change in which we find ourselves, it seems that carbon dioxide emissions are in the background, which is not cool.

However, despite continuing to use natural gas, oil, diesel, among others, I do not see myself proudly placing a hashtag in TW that says -My new #petrol car or my house is lit with #naturalgas-. It is well known that we are in the age of social networks, and that everything that is a trend we want to feel part of and in doing so, it produces well-being. But unconsciously we know that we do wrong by continuing to pollute and affect our planet, but we continue doing it because that is what our parents, grandparents and previous generations have done and it has worked.

It is time to make a change and get trendy, today’s are the new energies. As such, the term new energy refers to that which is generated from sources other than fossil fuels, which can create confusion with clean energies, however, they are associated, combining more than one type of clean energy will help to the generation of new energies.

Using new energy impacts beyond generating energy free of fossil fuels, the efficiency with which it is generated is sought to be greater, also that it can generate by-products for its use, such as biomass, oxygen, biofuels, among others. Not only will using new energy make you look like a person committed to the planet and reduce your expenses substantially, but also give a stylized touch where you apply, from houses or skyscrapers, to greenhouses or hotels. This type of energy is expected to reach even the most remote areas, where energy will allow human and economic development.

Some companies immersed in energy production have already joined this movement of new energies, including some multinational like Shell with its division of New Energies. Therefore, in GREENfluidics we have joined the change, and we want to contribute to the energy transition of the new energies, through bio-inspired technologies in nature that generate decentralized energy in a sustainable way.

 

 

We have witnessed how in communities of high poverty are marginalized by geographical areas of difficult access in which they are. So, the fashion to generate a change is not only in the cell phone, or in the construction of technological buildings, but promote change from the most affected areas such as poor communities to industries that generate a large amount of environmental pollution by dioxide of carbon. Let’s be promoters of green growth, where different social strata seek the same common good.

Let the new energies become a trend to create a real change in the population, in the economy and on the planet.

Energy is everywhere, GREENfluidics #wemakeitflow

 

 

Designing the future.

Even among the originality of man during his development and evolution there are designs inspired by the most natural for example the daggers were inspired by the shape of the claws of the big hunting cats. The human being has learned to observe and design from observation even to modify the errors that nature itself seems to forget.

Today is not different and tomorrow will be more noticeable than today. I mean that the past, the future and the present have a Constructional design, what does that mean? That adapt and evolve. This change is faithful to the Constructional Law generated in 1996 that states that for a finite system to be constant, it is necessary that its design be predictive.

Are there predictive designs? There are, because they have learned from the circumstances, for example, the branches and roots of the mangroves are designed to face the most aggressive wet seasons, capable of filtering and with very high leaves far from water reach or the prepared anatomy of the migratory birds, not all the time they are in the crossing of the migration even though they realize it for the first time these animals are prepared because lines of birds previous to theirs experienced it, adapted and evolved.

So must and can be the technology made by man. Ideally, systems in complex processes capable of learning from their current production states, to be finite systems need a fluidity of efficiency to be optimal.

 

 

 

Millennials: The generation that uses technology to combat climate change

In recent years, the concern due to the remarkable climatic changes that have occurred at a global level, the increasing impact due to natural disasters and the great impact that this has had on the economic and cultural development of societies, has prompted governments to work in global agendas to mitigate this problem (as is the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development), but above all to motivate new generations to take action to solve these major problems.

 

 

Millennials this generation that is criticized by many and respected by a few stands out for its impetus to get involved and have control in all processes that have an impact on their economy and lifestyle, almost nomadic lifestyle, that thanks to new technologies allows us to have control and communication of their activities anywhere in the world

 

Blockchain the chains that generate energy confidence

In the 90´s, this technology called blockchain arose, a development that would impact the world a short time later, changing the way in which transactions had been carried out so far, popularizing peer-to-peer transactions due to accessibility and feasibility. what they offer to users. Impact that energy transactions have reached.

Peer-to-Peer (P2P) energy trading represents direct energy trading between peers, where energy from small-scalen Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) in dwellings, offices, factories, etc, is traded among local energy prosumers (regular consumar that are able generate and distribuite its own energy) and consumers.

Recently studies shown that P2P energy trading is able to improve the local balance of energy generation and consumption. Moreover, the increased diversity of generation and load profiles of peers is able to further facilitate the balance and bring control to people to create new energy networks. Providing millennials with the control they now seek to have over the generation of energy.

 

Technological control over new energies

Existing electrical energy systems were designed and built to accommodate large- scale generating plants, with demand traditionally considered as uncontrollable and inflexible, and with centrally controlled operation and management. Recently, there has been a revival of interest in connecting Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) to distribution networks, and microgeneration and flexible loads at the premises of end users. DERs suffer from the issues of uncertain availability due to varying weather conditions. Power networks are undergoing a fundamental transition, with traditionally passive consumers becoming ‘prosumers’.

A key question that remains unresolved is: how can we incentivize coordination between vast numbers of distributed energy resources, each with different owners and characteristics? Virtual power plants and peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading offer different sources of value to prosumers and the power network, and have been proposed as different potential structures for future prosumer electricity markets.

This addresses social, institutional and economic issues faced by top-down strategies for coordinating virtual power plants, while unlocking additional value for P2P energy trading.

The post The future is green and … microscopic! appeared first on Inter Press Service.

By GGGI
Sep 28 2018 (GGGI)

Back in December 2017, Jonathan was staying for a two-month community service in Sidomulyo, a village under the administration of Batu, a famous tourist city in East Java, Indonesia. Despite its status, Sidomulyo did not fit the description of typical third-world village. They had wide roads, the streets were clean, and also, numerous, well-maintained attraction parks. In fact, one could find hotels and villas, many of which were styled to the taste of affluent population of Surabaya, a metropolitan within two-hour drive range.  

Although tourism drove a significant part of the economy, most villagers grew flowers for a living. With such relatively developed economy, it was not surprising to see that the farms were beautifully arranged and well-maintained, with colorful chrysanthemums and roses here and there. Everything seemed great until Jonathan saw local farmers were used to do unthinkable things in their farms, one of which was burning empty pesticide bottles, along with other municipal waste.

At first, he thought it was accidental and directly covered his mouth and nose with his right hand, but then they flipped the bottles to complete the burning. Out of curiosity, he asked a farmer nearby, whether it was a custom in the whole village. The farmer nodded. Later in that week, he was less surprised to find two farmers were hanging out in the sun while smoking cigarettes on one hand, and diluting pesticides with the other.

 

 

As an emerging economy, Indonesia has a lot of problems, many of which seems urgent enough that lack of safety awareness is easily overlooked. For a foreigner just arriving in the country, this problem is observable on so many occasions. From the first time landing at Soekarno-Hatta, its main airport, one could witness the chaotic Jakarta traffic, where cars move around like motorcycles in developed economy and motorcycles like no other. In the streets, it is also not uncommon to find motorcycle riders going at 50 mph while not wearing a helmet. When visiting local middle-class houses, fire alarm is hardly ever found although the people use portable liquefied gas tank to cook daily.

As an agricultural economy, the number of farmers, although decreasing, is still quite high, yet sparsely distributed in remote areas, even separated by seas, considering its archipelagic nature. This makes local government initiative to promote occupational safety, even if there is one, would be ineffective. In the case of farmers in Sidomulyo, local government’s department of agriculture actually had had many socialization on this matter, yet farmers’ adoption was proven uncertain.

 

 

BUMDest, consisting of Albertus, Jonathan, Natali, and Yohanes, were privileged to access a world-class education at Department of Chemical Engineering, Universitas Gadjah Mada. The undergraduate program, accredited by Institution of Chemical Engineers in UK, included significant portion of occupational safety in its curricula. We are passionate to translate our knowledge in chemical process and safety for our community, specifically farmers. Our initiative was supported by long-standing tradition of our university to prioritize applied over theoretical research, aiming to empower underprivileged communities.

Mentored by Dr. Wiratni, who was recently featured in Business Insider as one of ‘The Most Powerful Female Engineers of 2018’, BUMDest developed an organic pesticide to tackle the forementioned safety issues. We acknowledge that changing farmers’ habits and tradition is still a long way to go, therefore we aim to first find a substitute for the toxic chemicals they handle. Our product, CountrySide is mainly composed of clove leaf oil and lemongrass oil. Per our market survey, the most wanted feature in a pesticide is rainfastness, or the ability to withstand being washed away by rain. This feature is more urgent in areas with high precipitation like Indonesia.

We named our pesticide, CountrySide, to revive the imagery of old-fashioned farming, the good old days when the land was green and toxic chemicals were nowhere to be found. After a prototype had been made, we had it tested for viscosity and effectivity. Two commercial pesticides, one for organic and one for synthetic, were used as benchmark. Laboratory test result showed that CountrySide was twice as viscous as the other two. We conducted the effectivity test independently, against Tenebrio molitor, a common pest in Indonesia, and showed that qualitatively, there was no significant difference between the performances of CountrySide against of the synthetic benchmark. The viscosity test was to prove that CountrySide would be more rain-resistant and the effectivity was an attempt to debunk the common myth that organic pesticide could never beat its synthetic counterpart.

Thanks to Greenpreneurs, we dared to approach our target customers to test whether our products would suit the market. According to local farmers, if farmers in an area consisting of farms with same crops were to use different pesticides, the discrepancy of effectivity between each pesticide would make pests more likely to congregate in a farm whose pesticide is the least deadly. Therefore, we need more detailed tests for CountrySide against multiple types of pests to conclude its feasibility for widespread commercial use. We have our fingers crossed to snatch this opportunity to create a positive impact in our beloved homeland through Greepreneurs. Wish us luck!

The post BUMDEST: Providing Your Better Pesticide appeared first on Inter Press Service.

By GGGI
Sep 28 2018 (GGGI)

Like many African countries (Benin, Cameroon, Togo, Nigeria …), Morroco has had a rapid increase in its urban population (over 65%), with high demand for garden produce, such as fruits and vegetables. Large quantities of chemical fertilizer and inputs are used by the horticulture sector each year. The distribution system remains very traditional and lacking in modern agricultural technology. Also, there are huge post-harvest losses and food waste (up to 40% for fruits and vegetables according to the FAO) despite the productivity declines, the high vulnerability of small producers and family farms to climate change.

This causes significant water and soil pollution, biodiversity, high GHG emissions, price spikes and high poverty. Huge total losses of good quality soils for agricultural production are recorded each year with the scarcity of water resources.

Food insecurity affects a large part of the population and the various health consequences of thousands of urban households are worrying.

 

 

Innovation in greentech and agroecology

To solve this challenge, we reconcile ICTs, the circular and solidarity economy, and the applied management.

Awarded Best World “Innovations for Agroecology” by FAO, Winner of the ICAF AWARD (Climate Initiatives) 2017 at COP23, and distinguished as one of the top 10 most advanced Agritech startups in Africa at the Presidential Summit in AGRF 2018, PREMIUM HORTUS is the African greentech for scaling agroecology to achieve the SDGs, specializing in the e-commerce of agroecological products, organic production and farmers support.

Available as a Web, Mobile platform, Big data, blockchains and Payment solutions, ” Premium Hortus ” allows you to subscribe, order, pay online, so as to get home-delivered fruits, vegetables, and organic products safely. In this way, users can control their consumption, reduce waste, donate or transfer food, and receive a food insurance credit. Waste is limited and recycled for organic composting, biogas, and for the cosmetics industry.

With our organic farms, farmers benefit from adequate technologies that facilitate their responsible production and adaptations to climate change. They have easy access to natural seeds, technical support (informations, pest management, control of rainfall, seeds, water control techniques, planning, biological processing, recycling, diversification, marketing, and green management.), knowledge and sharing of experiences. They can easily monitor the evolution of stocks remotely by phone or PC.

 

 

In line with the SDGs (1,2,4,5,6,8,12,13,14,15), PREMIUM HORTUS has real socio-economic, cultural and ecological impacts verified by several international experts with reports.

PREMIUM HORTUS strengthens the resilience of family farmers, increasing access for all to healthy foods, in a healthy environment. Many young and women family farmers can access technical support, optimize their agricultural productivity and reduce postharvest losses of up to 50 percent. They benefit from a short circuit, and market their small quantities of products more easily. Thus, the population can enjoy low-cost organic food, at steady prices, and improve their nutritional security.

PREMIUM HORTUS enhances professionalization, facilitates climate change adaptation, and empowers farmers from all backgrounds. Through responsible production and consumption, PREMIUM HORTUS reduces greenhouse gas emissions, and preserves the soil, water, biodiversity and health of thousands of African households.

PREMIUM HORTUS has been initiated in Benin since January 2016 and is in the internationalization phase. It has, according to the Bilan Carbone, a reduction of 46.67% GREENHOUSE GAS over a total of 1681 Kg / ha / year emitted. It promotes the Saving 31.12% of direct energy out of a total of 3088 Kwh / ha / year used for transportation, tractors, irrigation, and self-propelled in-line farming. Our innovation therefore has a direct energy reduction of 6727 KWh / year, reduction of crop losses and reduction of at least 40% of GHG emissions generated.

Our team of co-founders have complementary expertise in management, corporate communication, computer engineering, agronomy and nutrition sciences. We all know each other, we respect each other, accept our differences to innovate and impact together. We share the same values ​​of innovation, professionalism, responsibility, leadership, excellence and eco-citizenship.

GREENPENEURS Program, a real implementation support of PREMIUM HORTUS in MOROCCO

The GREENPRENEURS Program organized by GGGI, Youth Climate Lab and Student Energy, is very important for the implementation of PREMIUM HORTUS in Morocco. Laureate of the 1st GREENPRENEURS Program, ou team have benefited from various expertise and mentors that have allowed us to deepen the study of needs and market, to increase accessibility to our green innovation, to improve our financial strategy and fundraising. The various modules and experience sharing are very edifying for better team performance.

The perpetuation of GREENPRENEURS will certainly allow the development of the green economy in Africa and in the world.

 

 

Let’s work together for green growth !

Local agroecological practices and innovations can be scaled up to achieve the SDGs. PREMIUM HORTUS is a profitable, replicable Green Technology based on the principles of agroecology, Which can be supported by organizations, state and nonstate actors, and investors

We are available for a lasting partnership with you and do not hesitate to contact us.

Agriculture has developed with imperfections, but thanks to GGGI, Youth Climate Lab, Study Energy and You, it is possible to scale up acgroecology to achieve SDGs.

The post Use ICTs for Scaling up agroecology to achieve the SDGs: PREMIUM HORTUS, the African greentech for Agroecology in implementation in Morocco appeared first on Inter Press Service.

By GGGI
Sep 28 2018 (GGGI)

Many Ugandans are not familiar with the SDGs, and those that have heard of them picture a complex, international project meant only for those in the United Nations or government to implement. This was the case too for the youth we work with before they became engaged in our Waste to Energy Youth Project. It is our aim to change this lack of knowledge and to deliver action at the community level.

WEYE stands for Waste to Energy Youth Enterprise because the company produces carbonized fuel briquettes from agricultural waste materials, and municipal organic waste from households and food markets. This company is not the first to make briquettes, but what is unique is that we produce our briquettes from organic waste materials and we supply our products to institutions.

Institutions use 80% of firewood harvested in Uganda, and with our new institutional briquette stove technology using our quality briquettes, these institutions can now use briquettes, thus reducing demand for firewood and consequently reducing deforestation in Uganda. I feel it is my duty to do anything in my ability to promote affordable and clean energy access for all (SDG 7) and these institutions make up the majority share of Uganda that had no access to clean energy.

These institutions, including schools, universities, vocational institutions, hospitals and many more, lacked the appropriate stove technology to enable them to use clean cooking briquettes as an alternative to firewood.

 

 

Despite the presence of solar, hydro power and gas as alternative sources of cooking energy, fuel briquettes are the most affordable and efficient alternatives for these institutions at this point in time. The new stove and our briquettes enable institutions to transition from firewood to clean smokeless briquettes, reducing deforestation for firewood and the respiratory complications faced by cooks from burning firewood.

Our solution guarantees our clients a 35% reduction in cost of cooking fuel,  50% reduction in cooking time and most importantly a smoke free cooking environment for the cooking staff.

During the pilot study, the results from St. Kizito High School – the first school to adopt our technology – were amazing. The school registered an annual financial saving of over US$2500, a 50% reduction in cooking time and increased job satisfaction among the cooking staff due to the healthy, clean and smokeless cooking conditions.

Our project uses organic waste from farmers and food markets such as maize combs, banana peelings and many others, which were considered useless. We offer the farmers and waste collectors monetary value for this organic waste and give them a new avenue to generate income, boosting the agricultural and waste management sectors.

 

 

If this business is expanded, it has a potential to open up new entrepreneurial opportunities in organic waste collection and sorting for briquette production. Apart from the profit to the owner, with a minimum of five customers, this business has the potential of directly and indirectly employing over 40 individuals in waste collection, sorting, production, marketing, distribution and finance.

With a potential market of over 30,000 institutions, the company runs a training program to train youth and women with the skills in briquette making to take advantage of the government youth fund to start up their own briquette companies, because the market is too big for one company to satisfy. This 30,000 institution potential market has the potential to create over 100,000 new jobs for youth and women. Apart from the income generation and employment benefits, we also have the environment (forests and shrubs) preservation aspect.

In the greenprenuers program, we have been able to get expert advice and mentorship on how to this green business can be taken to the next level. Our highlights so far have been;  the connection to the GGGI team in Uganda to discuss more in local context, how to improve our product. The new raw material sourcing approaches from Sanyal Palash, a subject matter expert in the program.

 

 

Our Mentor Zeleke Nahom has been very instrumental in the development of our business plan and new strategies to approach institutions owned by government bodies and NGOs. Overall, I can gladly say that this program has provided our team with the required knowledge and expertise to take our solution to a new level,  the kind of knowledge that would have taken us 3 years of challenges to gain.

The project is mainly aimed to contribute to achieving SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), but also greatly contributes to SDG 8 (Decent work and Economic growth) by providing an alternative economic activity and source of income for youth. SDG 5 (Gender Equality) is a key focus because our training programs have women as a key target market, as well as youth. SDG 15 (Life on Land) and SDG 13 (Climate Action) are also addressed, by providing an alternative to wood fuel, thus saving forests and their inhabitants.

We all can affect SDG implementation on not just one but multiple goals if we start with what we have. By focusing on our communities and the solutions that lie within, we can achieve the SDGs.

 

The post Climate Action through commercialization of grass root waste to energy solutions appeared first on Inter Press Service.

A student walks by a board displaying names of freedom fighters. The New Digital Security Act 2018 makes speaking against any freedom fighter leader a punishable offence. Credit: Stella Paul/IPS

By Stella Paul
HYDERBAD, Sep 28 2018 (IPS)

It has been six and half years since the killing of Bangladeshi journalists Meherun Runi and Sagar Sarwar in Dhaka. Runi, a senior reporter from the private TV channel ATN Bangla, and her husband Sarwar, news editor from Maasranga TV, were hacked to death at their home on Feb. 11, 2012.

Years later, with no official updates on the progress of the investigation, their families wait for justice as the fear of impunity looms large.

The atmosphere in Bangladesh’s journalism today is one of trepidation and caution.

It has witnessed a series of attacks against students and journalists in the capital city of Dhaka, followed by the passing of a cyber law that has come under scathing criticism.

The Digital Security Bill 2018, passed on Sept. 19 has been strongly criticised by journalists, who have called it a tool designed to gag the press and freedom of speech.

The draft bill had been actually introduced last year, and there had been strong demands for amending several provisions of the law. The government had publicly promised to consider the demands. However, on the advice of the law makers, the government decided to go ahead without any changes and passed it last week. IPS Journalists worldwide stand in solidarity for press freedom and join the Nobel Laureates and 17 eminent global citizens, and British MP Tulip Siddiq as they call for the immediate release of Shahidul Alam. IPS also calls for the release of journalists who have been detained in the course of duty across the globe, including those in the Congo, Turkey, and Myanmar.

IPS has noted with concern the increasingly repressive environment that our reporters are working in and call on governments to review their media laws and support press freedom. It is incredibly important for IPS that our reporters are safe as they do their work in holding governments and institutions to account.

One of the most worrying provisions of the law (section 43) is that it allows the police to arrest or search individuals without a warrant.

Other provisions of the law includes 14 years of imprisonment for anyone who commits any crime or assists anyone in committing crimes using a computer, digital device, computer network, digital network or any other electronic medium.

As expected, the new law has come under scathing criticism of the media.

“The act goes against the spirit of the Liberation War. Independent journalism will be under threat in the coming days. We thought the government would accept our [Sampadak Parishad’s] suggestions for the sake of independent journalism, freedom of expression and free thinking, but it did not,” said Naem Nizam, editor of Bengali news daily Bangladesh Pratidin, in a strongly-worded public statement.

The Editor’s Council, known as Shampadak Parishad, also was unanimous in labelling the law as a threat to press freedom and independent media in the country.

To protest against the law, the council has called all journalists and media bodies to join a human chain on Sept. 29 in Dhaka.

The legislation “would violate constitutional guarantees of freedom of the press, and would create extensive legal dangers for journalists in the normal course of carrying out their professional activities,” Steven Butler, the Asia programme coordinator of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), said in a statement.

Interestingly, the new law was originally developed in response to the media’s demand for scrapping Section 57 of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Act, 2006—a broad law against electronic communication.

Under Section 57, intentionally posting false, provocative, indecent or sensitive information on websites or any electronic platforms that was defamatory, and can disrupt the country’s law and order situation, or hurt religious sentiments, is a punishable offence, with a maximum penalty of 14 years imprisonment and a fine of USD120,000.

It was under this section 57 that Shahidul Alam, an award-winning independent photographer, was arrested.

Alam was arrested on Aug. 5 from his home in Dhaka and has been charged with inciting violence by making provocative statements in the media. He has been held without bail since the arrest, despite repeated appeals by the media, human rights groups and the international community for his release.

IPS contacted several local journalists and academics but everyone declined to comment on the issue of Alam’s arrest. However, last month, British MP Tulip Siddiq, and the niece of Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina, called on her aunt to release Alam saying the situation was “deeply distressing and should end immediately”.

Protestors demanded the unconditional release of Shahidul Alam, and for charges against him, and others held in similar circumstances, to be dropped. Courtesy: Salim Hasbini

Alam’s family organised a protest in New York on Sept. 27 to coincide with prime minister Hasina’s address to the United Nations General Assembly.

The protest was endorsed by human rights groups and journalist associations, rights activist Kerry Kennedy, actress/activist Sharon Stone, and attended by Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, among others.

At the demonstration, Columbia University professor Gayatri Spivak pointed out, “What is really important for the state is that if one silences the creative artists and intellectuals, then the conscience of the state is killed because its the role of the creatives artists and intellectuals to make constructive criticism so that the state can be a real democracy.”

According to Meenakshi Ganguly, Asia director of Human Rights Watch (HRW), the Bangladesh government wants to show that no one who dares criticise or challenge its actions will be spared.

“Newspaper editors face being charged with criminal defamation and sedition. Journalists and broadcasters are routinely under pressure from the authorities to restrain criticism of the government,” Ganguly said.

“As a photographer, Alam documents the truth; his work and his voice matter now more than ever,” she said. 

In Bangladesh, the media has been demanding the scrapping of Section 57, explains Afroja Shoma, an assistant professor of Media and Mass Communication at American International University of Bangladesh.

“However, the Digital Security Act left this untouched and so this new law is nothing but ‘old wine in a new bottle,’” Shoma told IPS.

“Section 57, in the past, has been misused several times. The media wanted the government to scrap this. The government then brought this whole new law [the Digital Security Bill 2018]. But it has retained the same old provisions of the section 57. As a result, the law has created an atmosphere of fear among the journalists of the country,” said Shoma.

Digital security breeding insecurity

However, digital laws are not just threatening press freedom in Bangladesh. Several countries in south Asia have had similar punitive laws passed.

India had its own “Section 57” known as the Section 66A of the Information Technology Act 2000.

Section 66A in the act made provisions for “punishment for sending offensive messages through communication service” and included information shared via a “computer resource or a communication device” known to be “false, but for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience, danger, obstruction, insult, injury, criminal intimidation, enmity, hatred or ill will.”

In March 2015, the Supreme Court of India struck it down, calling it “open ended, undefined, and vague.”

However, of late, India has also seen a spate of vicious attacks on journalists. These include the murder of journalists Gauri Lankesh and Shujat Bukhari as well as online attacks on investigative journalist Rana Ayyub who authored the book Gujarat Files. No arrests have been made in any of these cases so far.

Nepal, a country not known for attacks on the press, has just passed a new law  that makes sharing confidential information an offence resulting in a prison sentence. The code criminalises recording and listening to conversations between two or more people without the consent of the persons involved, as well as disclosing private information without permission, including private information on public figures.

Under the law, a journalist could face fines of up to 30,000 rupees (USD270) and imprisonment of up to three years, according to the CPJ. The CPJ has released a statement asking the government to repeal or amend the law.

Badri Sigdel, Nepal’s National Press Union president, said in a recent press statement: “The NPU condemns the Act with provisions that restrict journalists to report, write and take photographs. Such restrictions are against the democratic norms and values; and indicate towards authoritarianism. The NPU demands immediate amendment in the unacceptable provisions of the law.”

Pakistan, which ranks 139 in the Press Freedom Index (India ranks 138, while Bangladesh and Nepal rank 146 and 106 respectively), has witnessed the killings of five journalists while working between May 1, 2017 to Apr. 1, 2018.

Also, according to a study by local media watchdog the Freedom Network there have been:

• 11 cases of attempted kidnapping or abduction,

• 39 illegal detention and arrest,

• 58 physical assault and vandalism,

• and 23 occurrences of verbal and written threats.

The country has just, however, drafted the Journalists Welfare and Protection Bill, 2017, which aims to ensure safety and protection of journalists. The draft, once adopted, will be the first in the region to provide physical protection, justice and financial assistance for all working journalists—both permanent and contractual.

 

Related Articles

• The Shrinking Space for Media Freedom in Uganda
• When Being ‘Offensive’ or ‘Morally Improper’ Online Carries an Indeterminate Jail Sentence in East Africa
• Social Media – the New Testing Ground for Sri Lanka’s Freedom

The post Impunity, Harsh Laws Trouble Journalists in South Asia as Protesters March on the U.N. For Release of Bangladeshi Journalist appeared first on Inter Press Service.