Africa

Liverpool and Egypt forward Mohamed Salah accuses the Egyptian Football Association of ignoring his complaints over image rights.

Credit: Abir Abdullah/WaterAid

By Ruth Romer
LONDON, Aug 27 2018 (IPS)

Tea picker Bina, 45 from Sylhet, Bangladesh, used to walk for an hour each day to collect water from a well, also using water from a nearby stream, which was contaminated. Bina and her children were often sick as a result; leading to missed work and a loss of income.

WaterAid worked with the owner of the tea estate to introduce clean water and toilets in the tea gardens and surrounding areas. The new pumps and latrines have transformed Bina’s life, and have benefitted the estate too. A tea garden manager said: “Waterborne diseases have reduced so we pay fewer sick days. Efficiency has increased.”

It is clear that access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) increases productivity and results in economic benefits. There are fewer illnesses and deaths due to diarrhoeal disease, time benefits as staff seek less healthcare, and greater productivity.

In macro-economic terms, it is estimated that every dollar invested in sanitation returns US$5.5 in benefits and every dollar invested in drinking water supply returns US$2. Yet 844 million of people still don’t have access to this vital resource.
In macro-economic terms, it is estimated that every dollar invested in sanitation returns US$5.5 in benefits and every dollar invested in drinking water supply returns US$2. Yet 844 million of people still don’t have access to this vital resource.

Business must be part of the solution to the global WASH crisis; no one organisation or sector will be able to tackle it alone.

The global challenge and the role of business

The UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 6 is clean water and sanitation for all by 2030, and currently, the world is on course to fail to reach this. Good governance and partnerships are vital for progress.

Globalised operations and supply chains mean businesses are often operating where the lack of access to WASH is most serious. In a report released by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, water is posed as both a risk and an opportunity for businesses. And while it commends the 47 companies that have committed to providing access to clean water, safe sanitation and hygiene to their employees, it calls on more to get on board.

Some companies are starting to recognise there are business benefits from investing in WASH, which go beyond the moral commitments of companies to invest and contribute to the human rights, health and safety of workers like Bina in the tea gardens.

Making the business case for WASH

However, one key problem is there is not enough company-level data to build a compelling case for business action on WASH. There is a growing body of positive case studies, but the evidence remains largely anecdotal and unquantified. To drive action at the speed required to reach everyone everywhere by 2030, the sector needs more robust evidence showing the financial value.

In response, WaterAid has launched a new guide, which has been championed by Diageo, Gap Inc. and Unilever, and endorsed by the initiative WASH4Work. The guide will help companies provide evidence of the benefits and financial value, or return on investment, of their WASH programmes, and make the case for greater investment in it within the company and beyond. It provides an opportunity for progressive companies to lead and showcase the incentives for business investment on these basic facilities whilst catalysing action.

It also responds to the growing need for the evidence that improving access to clean water, good sanitation and hygiene should be more than a philanthropic measure or means to tick a corporate social responsibility box; it should be a core business priority.

Diageo, Gap Inc., Unilever and HSBC are already leading the charge and investing in WASH. Diageo is rolling out the guide in Ethiopia, HSBC in India and Bangladesh. Gap Inc. is exploring current opportunities to test the guide in its supply chain as is Unilever.

The new guide launched at World Water Week in Stockholm this August and calls for companies to use the guide – test it, learn from it and share your results with us. We will be developing a community of learning via WASH4Work and we will plan to compile the data and share a consolidated business case in due course.

For real change to be made, more companies need to scale up their WASH investments in the workplace, communities and in supply chains.  Sustainability is no longer a fringe ‘green’ issue.

It has moved from the corporate margins into the mainstream, and it’s time for SDG thinking to be absorbed into business-as-usual. As far as citizens are concerned, waiting isn’t an option – nor is leaving SDGs for others to achieve.

The post Making the Case for Investing in Water, Sanitation & Hygiene appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Ruth Romer is Private Sector Advisor, WaterAid UK

The post Making the Case for Investing in Water, Sanitation & Hygiene appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Credit: Andrew Stanbridge / Amnesty International

By Amnesty International
Aug 27 2018 (Amnesty International)

A blistering report released by the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar (FFM) today brought yet more damning evidence of the Myanmar security forces’ atrocity crimes against the Rohingya and against ethnic minorities in northern Myanmar, Amnesty International said.

The FFM – a body of independent experts appointed by the UN Human Rights Council – released its key findings and recommendations today in Geneva, with a more detailed report to follow in the coming weeks.

“This report, which adds to a mountain of evidence of crimes under international law committed by the military, shows the urgent need for independent criminal investigation and is clear that the Myanmar authorities are incapable of bringing to justice those responsible,” said Tirana Hassan, Director of Crisis Response at Amnesty International.

“The international community has the responsibility to act to ensure justice and accountability. Failing to do so sends a dangerous message that Myanmar’s military will not only enjoy impunity but is free to commit such atrocities again.

“The UN Security Council must refer the situation in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court as a matter of urgency. Until it does, it’s vital that countries establish a mechanism through the UN to collect and preserve evidence for use in future criminal proceedings.”

Background

Ahead of the shameful one-year anniversary of the Myanmar military’s ethnic cleansing campaign against Rohingya in northern Rakhine State, Amnesty International slammed the international community’s failure to hold those responsible to account.

More than 700,000 Rohingya women, men, and children were forced to flee from northern Rakhine State to neighbouring Bangladesh after 25 August 2017, when the Myanmar security forces launched a widespread and systematic assault on hundreds of Rohingya villages. The onslaught came in the wake of a series of attacks on security posts by a Rohingya armed group, the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA).

Amnesty International has documented extensively the military’s ethnic cleansing campaign, which included targeted burning of Rohingya villages, the use of landmines and the commission of crimes against humanity including murder, rape, torture, forced starvation and forced deportation as well as other serious human rights violations against the Rohingya.

Amnesty International has also documented war crimes and other human rights violations by the Myanmar Army against ethnic minorities in Kachin and northern Shan States, including extrajudicial executions, torture, forced labour, the use of landmines, and indiscriminate shelling. Serious violations against civilians remain ongoing in northern Myanmar, amidst the armed conflicts that continue to rage.

The post UN report adds to mountain of evidence of Myanmar’s atrocities against ethnic minorities appeared first on Inter Press Service.

The young MP is facing treason charges for his alleged role in the stoning of a presidential car.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan (centre) addresses a Security Council Meeting on Iraq. 07 June 2004. Credit: UN Photo/Mark Garten

By Ian Williams
UNITED NATIONS, Aug 27 2018 (IPS)

Looking at the deserved outpouring of eulogies over Kofi Annan I could not help remembering the advice of the old Latin saying, “Say nothing about the dead unless it’s good.”  

But one can’t help wishing that there had been more support of Kofi Annan when he was alive, not least when the Murdoch media Faux News fabricators persecuted him with the spurious Oil For Food scandal.

It was one of the greatest Fake News concoctions in history, almost up there with Iraqi WMDs, perhaps unsurprisingly since many of the sources for both were the same based on alleged UN corruption in the program that delivered food to Iraqi civilians in the face of US insistence on maintaining sanctions against the Iraqi regime.

They knew what they were doing: it was not just an individual they were slandering. Kofi Annan epitomized several facets of the role of a UN Secretary General, but none better than being an inspiring public face for the organization whose manifested dignity and integrity helped mitigate the sad reality of a body often hamstrung by the self-seeking sordid squabbles of its member states.

The attack was both an attempt to punish him for his temerity in saying that the Iraq war was illegal, and to challenge the prestige of the UN and the whole concept of international order.

The onslaught was all the heavier because they sought to demolish the reputation of someone who was the archetypal nice guy, who would have made a good electoral candidate. He remembered families and people, greeted everyone of all ranks affably and kept his cool.

The attack was both an attempt to punish him for his temerity in saying that the Iraq war was illegal, and to challenge the prestige of the UN and the whole concept of international order.

The only time I saw him lose his temper was when he reprimanded the juvenile behavior one of the Murdoch press corps who was baiting him about trivia associated with the Oil For Food scandal. Some of the correspondents were shocked that when this animal was attacked he fought back. Others welcomed the well-merited comeuppance.

His original election had come about against the background of the Balkan Wars and it must be remembered that it was the result of an American veto against the reappointment of Boutros Boutros-Ghali, who suffered from a bipartisan alliance of Madeleine Albright and Republican Senator Jesse Helms, who were both incensed by the Secretary General’s refusal to bow to Washington.

Of course, that made Kofi Annan the American candidate, subject to some suspicion from other nations, and indeed his ideas of world governance and policy were not too far from the stated principles of the Clinton administration. However, as he was well aware, because an administration declared lofty ideals did not necessarily mean they would implement them in practice, and even more often they would  he was alive.

Boutros-Ghali was also posthumously the subject of eulogies from many who stayed silent when he was under attack, since he confronted the same quandary as Annan: how to cope with a US that wanted to treat the UN as, not just an instrument of foreign policy, but as a foil in domestic politics.

The White House wanted to make reassuring liberal noises about stopping atrocities to one wing of American politics, while promising the isolationist wing that it would trim spending on the UN and would not risk American lives to implement policies that the US supported.

At the time of Rwanda, that entailed a Presidential Directive from Clinton that was in essence more isolationist than anything most of the Republicans could dream up: that the US would veto any peacekeeping operation that did not directly benefit US foreign policy objective, which did not at the time seem to include the prevention of genocide, as untold thousands of Bosniaks and Rwandans discovered

It was at first unsure whether Kofi Annan’s years of service in the UN were an asset or a disadvantage, but it became clear how useful they were, since he knew just how the organization worked and was all too aware of the competing pressures on UN staff, not least the political pressures.

And among those pressures was the major one: how to accommodate the US, which was essential for the effective functioning of the organization, while preventing the organization from becoming a mere instrument of US policies often opposed by most of the members.

He was no mob orator. He was not cut out for the bully pulpit or the soapbox. When he was first elected, his advisors pushed him into being coached for public speaking but gave up and people realized that his quiet authority was in some ways more effective than soaring rhetoric and inspired but content-free demagoguery. People had to strain to listen to him – and they did, because what he had to say was worth listening to.

His statements were carefully weighed  before delivery and designedly non-provocative. They aspired to higher things, but they were definitive and authoritative, and usually soundly based both in ethics and his own pragmatic sense of what was possible. He was an accomplished tightrope walker, even he was wobbling by the end, since while most of the member states recognized the competing imperatives. American administrations, of all complexions have a notorious lack of empathy for other agendas beyond the re-election of the President.

People sometimes say that he was not outspoken enough, not loud enough, but that was actually a strength. When he spoke, it was not just a trite soundbite, he said what had to be said even it was sometimes unpopular.

When he came back from negotiating with Saddam Hussein and said it was a testament to the efficacy of diplomacy, not enough people listened to his corollary – when backed with the threat of force.

His other breakthrough was teamwork. He had risen through the UN ranks without acquiring the pompous self-importance of many promoted above their capabilities and assembled an articulate and confident team who could push out the envelope on events and say what needed to be said, without implicating him directly.

One of his landmark changes to UN culture was to open up a degree of transparency: Before only designated spokespeople were allowed to talk to the media but he mandated staff to respond to journalists’ enquiries as long as they did not purport to represent the organization’s views.

That posture of dignity allowed him to steer the landmark Responsibility to Protect resolution through the sixtieth anniversary summit and it is still a landmark even if many of those who did not have the political courage to oppose him and it at the Summit have done so much to frustrate it since. It allowed him to rally support for an ambitions world development agenda backed by a wide spectrum of disparate constituencies.

All idols have feet of clay, but for some the mud goes much higher than others. No one is perfect, high office demands compromises for practical achievements to win allies and majorities. But in office, on development goals, poverty, human rights, gender equality, Rwanda, Cyprus and many other issues, he advanced the UN agenda even as he rewrote it.

After leaving the UN he continued to do so, with the Elders and his own foundation. He was no mere bureaucrat, he was not after the big desk and the title, he wanted to contribute to the world and thought the SG’s office was the best place to do so.

His legacy  will survives for sometime, but one must wonder how he would have coped with the present President who unlike Clinton is unable to betray his principles, since he does not seem to have any.

But it is perhaps not too late for the present Secretary General to study and emulate Kofi’s tradition of quietly but prominently presenting himself on behalf of the organization, and the team work that made it possible.

Ian Williams is also a senior analyst who has written for newspapers and magazines around the world, including the Australian, The Independent, New York Observer, The Financial Times and The Guardian.

The post Annan Victim of One of the Greatest Fake News Concoctions in History appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Ian Williams is a former President of the UN Correspondents’ Association (UNCA) and author of UNtold: The Real Story of the United Nations in Peace and War

The post Annan Victim of One of the Greatest Fake News Concoctions in History appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa must beat Guinea's Horoya at home on Tuesday to reach the quarter-finals of this season's African Champions League.

Livingston have signed Angola international Dolly Menga on a two-year deal, subject to clearance.

Artists, photographers and street performers from around the world take over the streets of Ghana's capital, Accra for the annual Chale Wote street art festival.

Images of the scars on a young woman who says she was abducted and raped cause widespread disgust.

A Rohingya refugee finds an enterprising way to carry his belongings. PHOTO: NAYANA BOSE/ISCG

By Sumbul Rizvi
Aug 27 2018 (The Daily Star, Bangladesh)

It is a tented city of nearly a million souls crammed in just 26sq km of undulating terrain. Plastic and bamboo sanctuaries perched upon clay mounds flap in the wind, succouring the hapless Rohingyas who fled horrific violence in Rakhine. Shrubs and trees gave way to settlements in Ukhiya and Teknaf Upazilas in the southernmost district of Bangladesh sitting on the edge of the tumultuous Bay of Bengal.

As the monsoons descended, rainfall triggered mudslides and floods as the soft clay collapsed in heaps, bringing down some of the flimsiest shelters that form the world’s largest refugee camp—Kutupalong/KTP, or more popularly, the Mega Camp. In addition, smaller camps dot the southern tip of Teknaf between the Naf River flowing down in muddy torrents from the Arakan mountains. For a layperson, the sight of the camps in the monsoons is chilling, though experienced humanitarians will appreciate the massive effort it took to create this landscape. The UN Secretary General António Guterres has poignantly captured both sentiments when he called it “a miracle—on the edge.” Closely monitoring the Bangladesh Meteorological Department reports, we pray for the weather to be kind. While record-breaking rainfall has lashed the camps, the wind factor has been limited, though for how long? September storms and the October-November cyclone season are still to come—a daunting reality in the absence of cyclone shelters in the area.

Until it holds, the bit-by-bit efforts of building mud-track roads and bridges, digging drains, culverts and water channels, strengthening clay slopes with bamboo and sandbags have ensured some safety in a fragile environment. Shelter upgrade kits comprising ropes, bamboo and tools have been widely distributed to strengthen fragile homes. Efforts to improve safety continue, including through the Ministry of Disaster Management and Response-led Cyclone Preparedness Programme and its volunteers, training refugees on disaster response. Relocation of those at high risk continues as camps become more congested; vulnerable families uprooted from their homes and communities agonise about moving “yet again” away from their neighbours and village folk. Convincing the families of the risks of being on a 40-degree mud slope or at its bottom—sure to flood—challenges the persistent community volunteers. Latrines and water points jostle for space and, during heavy rains, merge into the other. The risk of disease is high and breaths are drawn as frequent water contamination tests determine results.

Amelioration

Amidst shoring up to survive an “emergency within an emergency”, little boys and girls play with their multi-coloured wrist strips attached to identify them in case of family-separation in a disaster. None of the prevention work would be enough on its own: in an emergency situation, it is the inspiring commitment demonstrated by government-assigned camp officials, military, United Nations staff, national and international NGOs and refugee volunteers who unhesitatingly wade through thigh-deep mud and slush to assess damage or conduct repairs even though it is pouring—this camaraderie has prevented casualties, helped move families to safety, repaired roads and bamboo bridges, as all joined hands with site maintenance teams to fix damage as rapidly as humanly possible so that the majority of refugees could retain access to food distribution and safer shelters.

Having worked for over three decades with forcibly displaced persons, I have rarely seen a refugee population as maligned and downtrodden, yet I am repeatedly amazed by their spirit. The Rohingyas, young and old, women and men, display an inner strength. Generations of statelessness and persecution have left them proudly resilient. They have so little, yet remain community-oriented. I can now begin to comprehend how orphaned children, single women, as well as injured and disabled individuals, all managed to flee from Rakhine. An overwhelming 80 percent of refugees in the camps are women and children who are eager and impatient for opportunities to live a full life. The vulnerability of this population is astounding—as is their tenacity. They manage to survive as community networks in the camps are strong, staying together, sharing and working hard. Their spirit is the backbone of this response.

 

Regional context

South Asia is not new to refugees. None of the states have signed the Refugee Convention, yet a strong tradition of asylum endures. The 1947 partition of India resulted in over 14 million people uprooted in the most violent manner. They could have become refugees overnight in the new dominions of India and Pakistan, if both states had not immediately absorbed them. The liberation of Bangladesh in 1971 displaced an estimated 10 million refugees to India. Like most refugees, nearly all chose to return to their liberated homeland once Bangladesh was created. It is perhaps this memory that guides the generosity of spirit in Bangladesh, despite its own constraints of population density and natural disasters.

 

Fulfilling basic needs

One year ago, the most recent influx of the Rohingyas began. They fled to Bangladesh at a staggering pace; some 500,000 refugees arrived within the first month. Undoubtedly, the main responder and largest donor have been the government and people of Bangladesh as the local community opened their homes and hearts. The world community has notably stood alongside Bangladesh, as evidenced by the rapid international response to the influx. Now, one year on, as the generosity of the local community risks being outpaced by the sheer scale of needs, the international community needs to continue their partnership and to walk the talk.

The Joint Response Plan (JRP) launched in March 2018 is a prioritised appeal for USD 951 million to assist 1.3 million individuals including 884,000 Rohingyas and 336,000 affected Bangladeshis. The JRP is just about one-third funded, at 34 percent. Urgent funding is critically required to meet life-saving humanitarian needs. More than half the appeal (54 percent) is for food, water, sanitation, hygiene, shelter and non-food items combined. Food alone is 25 percent of the overall appeal while just 18 percent of food security needs are funded. Some 850,000 refugees require food rations monthly; health care, both psychosocial and physical, as well as other basics for sustainable human life are needed. Camps remain dangerously congested, and most refugees lack adequate shelter from high winds and heavy rains. Children have lacked education for years: in Rakhine, they were denied, now we need funds and access to quality education to prevent a generation of lost children.

Protection needs are significant and the impacts of funding gaps are alarming. Through no fault of their own, the Rohingyas have been forced into near-complete dependency on aid compelled by inadequate attention to self-reliance initiatives. Humanitarian responders have maximised their available resources to the extent possible, but the needs far outweigh existing capacity. Important projects remain pending and the expanse of protection activities remains limited. Multiple government departments have stretched themselves in addressing the needs of not only an underdeveloped part of the country but of a million more in an area lacking previous infrastructure. Admirable progress is being made, however, including rapid establishment of governance systems marking the assertion of state authority through Camp-in-Charge officials and the Office of the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner expanding their previous ambit.

Much is being achieved through fostering the innate strength of the Rohingya community, keen to overcome the traumas that forced their escape. This work is done every day by individuals in women’s groups, child-friendly spaces, as well as elderly and disabled support networks. This work is also done through more systemic changes, such as restructuring how camp representatives are elected to provide equal opportunity to the majority female population to contribute to social cohesion. But more is needed to support and mutually sustain a protection-sensitive environment.

What now?

The Rohingya crisis is the most globally compelling refugee situation in terms of the numbers of people affected. These numbers are exacerbated by location, terrain and climate, adding to the complexity of the response. The historic joint visit of the UN Secretary General and the World Bank President to Cox’s Bazar in July underscored the need for collaborative humanitarian and development action. Given remarkably early on in the crisis, the World Bank Refugee Grant to Bangladesh demonstrates the flexibility of an international community in addressing an unusual situation. The nimble response by the Asian Development Bank also echoes a similar approach. Quick and visible implementation is critical.

One year on, as we await improvements in Rakhine, one that will allow for a voluntary repatriation process, the here-and-now is more imminent. Will we continue to manage the situation as we have this past year? Or will we seize the initiative? Can we turn around a seemingly confounding situation to mutual advantage for both refugees and the local population? A well-planned common vision can boost an underdeveloped district in a country already on the fast path to growth, one that facilitates access to opportunities for both refugees and local communities alike. Plans are being tested in Cox’s Bazar to merge development opportunities with humanitarian work. These plans must deliver for the sake of the Rohingyas and for Bangladesh—a country that has bucked the global trend by demonstrating humanity in action. Their courageous leadership deserves all our support.

Sumbul Rizvi is Senior Coordinator of the Rohingya Refugee Response in Cox’s Bazar.

The post The Rohingya influx: One year on appeared first on Inter Press Service.

By WAM
DUBAI, Aug 27 2018 (WAM)

The UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, has launched a digital campaign that aims to secure much-needed support for millions of displaced Syrian children, both inside Syria and in neighboring countries. The campaign, which comes at a time when students around the world are preparing for the new academic year, aims to help millions of school-aged Syrians access education and to go back to school.

According to UN reports, one out of every three schools in Syria has been damaged or destroyed, while more are used as a shelters or for other purposes, thus creating a major impediment for more than 2 million children’s access to education within the country. In neighboring countries, the situation is equally troubling as increasing poverty and debt among refugees has prevented some 700,000 Syrian children from attending school.

One out of every three schools in Syria has been damaged or destroyed, while more are used as a shelters or for other purposes, thus creating a major impediment for more than 2 million children’s access to education within the country

Noting the importance of access to education for displaced children, Houssam Chahine, Head of Private Sector Partnerships in the Middle East and North Africa region at UNHCR, commented, “As parents and caregivers in the region prepare their children to return to school, we hope that children who have been deprived of their basic right to education remain in their thoughts. We believe that we can all ensure that they do not lose out on their education.”

The humanitarian crisis in Syria, now in its eighth year, has resulted in multiple challenges for Syrian children, particularly with regards to access to education which directly impacts future. Conflict, harsh conditions and limited financial resources have deprived almost 3 million Syrian school-age children of education, including inside Syria and neighboring countries in the Middle East and North Africa region.

“Supporting education is one of UNHCR’s most important priorities – it is an invaluable investment in the future of refugee and displaced children as well as a key form of psycho-social protection. Education protects displaced families and children from having to resort to negative coping mechanisms such as child labor, early marriage, among others”.

UNHCR and its partners have been providing education to refugees and displaced persons since the onset of the humanitarian crisis in Syria. This has been achieved by focusing on three key aspects: access to education, improving the quality of education and strengthening educational systems. Through this campaign, UNHCR seeks to complement its efforts to ensure the rehabilitation of schools, training of teachers and the provision of resources to displaced and refugee families to ensure education for millions of children.

 

WAM/مبارك خميس/Esraa Ismail

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The Prime Minister will present the bell to the President of South Africa in Cape Town on Tuesday.

Using honey to boost the income of the archipelago's residents.

The Uganda Cubs reach next year's Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations with a 3-1 win over Ethiopia in the final of the Central East Zone qualifying tournament.

By WAM
DUBAI, Aug 26 2018 (WAM)

The UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, MOCCAE, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, on Sunday, with Etihad Energy Services Company, to bolster the principles of sustainability in the public and private sectors.

In the presence of Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al-Zeyoudi, Minister of Climate Change and Environment, the MoU was signed by Saif Mohamed AlShara, MOCCAE’s Assistant Under-Secretary for the Sustainable Communities Sector, and Ali Mohammed Al Jassim, Etihad ESCO’s CEO.

Under the MoU, the parties seek to encourage the principle of cooperation on the consolidation of sustainability principles in the public and private sectors by exchanging knowledge and experiences on global best practices in sustainability, as well as raising awareness of successful business practices.

Commenting on the signing, AlShara said that the MoU comes in line with the joint commitment of both sides to achieve the vision of the UAE 2021 and to implement the UAE Green Agenda 2030.

“In accordance with the directives of our visionary leadership, MOCCAE is keen to promoting partnerships and cooperation on integrating sustainability in the public and private sectors. The ministry also seeks to involve UAE businesses in the diverse supply chain of financial institutions and technology service providers across the enterprise development stages,” AlShara added.

In turn, Al Jassim said, “We are keen to implement green projects in partnership with the MOCCAE and cooperate with them to achieve the UAE Sustainability vision of 2030 and in the implementation of the government directives.

MOCCAE and Etihad ESCO aim to identify the key elements of success and enhance mechanisms of data collection and information exchange in climate change and green development. They also aim to promote partnerships in the creation and application of innovative and sustainable solutions for the conservation of natural and environmental resources, and the ensuring coherence and planning between strategies and policies with regards to sustainability.

Both sides also agreed to prepare sustainability-related documents and reports to raise the level of stakeholders’ scientific knowledge on various environmental issues and support national and global partnerships to develop innovative and intelligent industry related to climate change and green development.

WAM/سالمة الشامسي/Rola Alghoul/Tariq alfaham

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French club Guingamp announces that Guinea international Abdoul 'Razza' Camara will never appear for the club again, due to 'medical reasons.'

His inauguration comes a day after his main rival rejected a court ruling upholding the result.

A new technique is helping turn dogs at one Kenyan port into super-sniffers.

Mother Teresa at Mji wa Huruma Elders' Home when she visited Nairobi in August 1981. Photo courtesy: The Standard.

By Siddharth Chatterjee
NAIROBI, Aug 26 2018 (IPS)

“If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.”   This profound statement was made by the late Nobel Peace Prize winner Mother Teresa, who was born on this day, August 26, 1910. An icon of love, tolerance, generosity and tremendous integrity and spirituality.

Recently, Archbishop Charles Chaput wrote in America’s National Catholic Register: “The reason the church names anger as one of the ‘seven deadly sins’ is because it’s simultaneously so poisonous, so delicious and so addictive. Anger congeals quite comfortably into hatred.”

Where ideas used to take years – and sometimes centuries – to spread around the globe, they now do so in seconds, thanks to the new communication technologies. While this is a force for good in countless ways, it has also facilitated and strengthened the rise of movements that are based on hatred rooted not in nation or state identity, but in extremist ideologies based on rancorous opposition to a particular faith or race, sexual orientation or to liberal democracy in general.

Across the world, politics of division and rhetoric of intolerance are targeting gender, racial, ethnic, linguistic and religious minorities, and migrants and refugees. From anti-Semitism to attacks on hijab-wearing women, racism to sexual assault, we are witnessing what words of fear and loathing can do, and the damaging consequences.

If we need proof that it often takes surprisingly what seems like simple gestures to reduce the levels of polarising animus in society, we only need to look at how the ‘handshake’ between President Uhuru Kenyatta and opposition leader Honourable Raila Odinga has brought political reconciliation to levels that nobody would have predicted.

 

A handshake says a thousand words- President Uhuru Kenyatta and Opposition leader, Hon Raila Odinga at Harambee House on March 9, 2018. /Jack Owuor.

 

From just under a year ago, when political partisanship gridlocked this country and seemed destined to polarize Kenyans, we are now witnessing an important and urgent discourse on vital issues such as the fight against corruption.

These are hopeful signs; this is a demonstration of true leadership.  One must not, however, underestimate the challenge of combating hatred. If hatred is an epidemic, then we need to treat it as such and plan to contain and reverse it.  

So, what is the antidote to the rise of chauvinism, xenophobia, racism, bigotry and misogyny?

The human spirit is strong, and never stronger than when joining forces for justice. Around the world hatred has been met with purposeful love, and with actions engineered to counter the hatred. From the Women’s March in the United States to demonstrations against discrimination in many European countries, people have joined hands to fight hatred and discrimination.

First, incendiary speeches driving bigotry against any group based on religion, race, gender or sexuality must be reined in.

Second, citizens standing up against hate must continue to use and expand all available avenues to engage with others across the world who share their concerns and bolster their ability to affect change.

Third, meaningful change often comes from the bottom up, thus citizens must be educated on how they can change their leadership by voting with their conscience –in national, state, municipal and civic body elections.

Fourth, it is the duty of elected officials to reflect the will of the electorate. They must therefore support their citizens with actions and not merely words in the pursuit of social justice.

Fifth, the voices of moral and thought leaders from around the world who espouse tolerance must be amplified. The lessons of acceptance and mutual respect and equality must be heard, especially by the young, because if we teach them that it is unacceptable to hate and that it is their responsibility to speak up or stop hatred from spreading, we have the odds in favour of justice prevailing in the future.

To Kenya’s advantage, the growth of social media as an established influential platform used ubiquitously by the youth could be a persuasive avenue for mobilising them against all forms of intolerance.

There is a chance to change the world here – to counter hatred with love, anger with joy, and bigotry with acceptance – but it requires the deliberate coming together of concerned people around the world. It requires the understanding that, despite our different realities, we have common hopes for ourselves and for our children, as well as common destinies.

The UN Secretary General, Mr. Antonio Guterres has said, “Diversity enriches us.  But if we want diversity to be a success, we need to invest in social cohesion.”

Despite the forces of pessimism that have at times painted a picture of gloom, I am convinced that Kenya can harness the reality of a shared humanity, that they can overcome the fraying forces and bridge the chasms that nurture intolerance. And serve as a beacon of hope for the world.

That would be a real tribute to the memory of Mother Teresa.

 

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Excerpt:

Siddharth Chatterjee is the United Nations Resident Coordinator to Kenya and was born in the city that was Mother Teresa’s home- Calcutta, India.

The post Shared Humanity our Only Hope Against Hatred appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Senegal coach Aliou Cisse names five uncapped players in his 23-man squad for the Teranga Lions' 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in Madagascar.