Africa - INTER PRESS SERVICE

By Katja Iversen
Sep 20 2019 (IPS-Partners)

Women Deliver President/CEO Katja Iversen discusses women in leadership and links between sexual and reproductive health and rights and Universal Health Coverage (UHC) to advance gender equality with the first female President of Ethiopia, Sahle-Work Zewde.

Katja Iversen: You have had a remarkable career, breaking down barriers as the first woman to hold several leadership positions across the UN and now as President of Ethiopia. How did you find the strength, the power, and the resilience to pursue this pathway to change?

President Sahle-Work Zewde: For me strength, resilience and power are all learned and accumulated over time. The more you know about yourself, excel at the work you do and understand the world you live in, the more you realize how nothing worthwhile in life comes without a fight and a lot of patience. When I look back at my life that is what I observe – my resilience and determination grew with every challenge life threw my way. With each opportunity and new position, I had the fortune of holding, I always made sure to be humble enough to learn what I did not know and confident enough to never forget my self-worth. That self belief made me aspire for more while discharging my duties to the best of my abilities.

Through all this, it is important to recognize the role of the many people who believed in me, trusted me with positions of power at a young age in the world of diplomacy and much later in life as well. Because, we are who we are through our connections and the people around us. And I have been so blessed to work with and be recognized by many remarkable people who have opened doors of opportunities to me.

Katja Iversen: You are the first female President in Ethiopia and currently the only female Head of State in Africa. This creates a critical opportunity for you to influence policies and priorities that advance gender equality not just nationally but also across the continent. Given Ethiopia’s standing on the continent and your expertise from your recent role as the UN special representative to the African Union, how will you – and Ethiopia more broadly – use your power to encourage other leaders across Africa to prioritize the health and rights of girls and women and to accelerate action toward gender equality across the continent?

President Sahle-Work Zewde: As the President of Ethiopia I hope to do my part and use my position in two ways. The first one is by pushing for the implementation of laws and policies that Ethiopia has in place, including regional human rights instruments. By implementation I mean going beyond the rhetoric and transforming social norms and strengthening the systems and structures in place and monitoring the progress regularly. This can be done in three ways:

• Individual empowerment – Investing in young women students and women entrepreneurs. Recognizing, celebrating and uplifting seasoned role models for young people and high achieving students. Building connections between them through my Gender Transformative Universities Project.
• Social norm transformation – I will work to shine a light on positive indigenous social norms to magnify and highlight the ones that are harmful and need changing. I will push for National Gender Audits to be conducted and undertake sustained dialogue on Gender Equality. This is especially important in higher education institutions since these are perfect entry points into the different regions in our country and a give us the perfect setting for learning and growing.
• Structural intervention – by bringing different stakeholders with structural power together to push for meaningful reforms. What is currently missing is alignment and collaboration. Good ideas and efforts are everywhere. I will use my power to create all the platforms necessary for these connections to happen.

There is a lot we can learn from one another at a continental level on how to build an inclusive and just society. We are ready to exchange with our African sisters and brothers to move our continent forward.

Katja Iversen: Around the world, we are seeing more governments commit to advance gender equality and promote women in leadership. How can we – as individuals, communities, and organizations – hold governments accountable to these commitments, to realize equal rights and opportunities for all girls and women? Please give an example and concrete suggestions.

President Sahle-Work Zewde: I think when we speak of accountability we should also think of sustainability.

How can we not only set goals, make plans and meet once in a while to see how things are going, but also make sure these accountability mechanisms are internal, sustained and predictable?

The best way to make this happen is to strengthen civil society organizations within member states. As our governments do their very best to keep their promises and deliver on Gender Equality and all other SDGs, we should remember that the best way to keep them and us on our toes is to have local committed advocates who are strong and well established to push the cause of Gender Equality and keep the standard of delivery high. These should be grassroots groups who properly understand the lives of our people and their needs.

In addition to this, all of us need to take our role seriously and use every opportunity we get to put women and girls on the agenda as a central issue and not as an after thought. I made that public commitment on the first day I took office and have not relented ever since.

Katja Iversen: You recently joined us at the Women Deliver 2019 Conference where we, alongside more than 8,000 advocates and leaders from around the world, discussed power, and how it can drive – or hinder – progress and change. This is a topic you have also written about, highlighting the need to redistribute power and close gender pay gaps. In addition to these key issues, how will you prioritize gender equality during your administration? Please share the specific areas you will focus on.

President Sahle-Work Zewde: As I said on the day I took office, I will be focusing on Gender Equality and advocate for Women’s Rights. Gender Equality is a complex problem. It is something that we have to tackle from multiple sides and using varying approaches. With this understanding in mind and the need to focus and conduct impactful work I will be focusing on the following major areas and designing projects within that framework.

The first one is in the education sector – supporting female university students. This is intended to make sure we are nurturing the female leaders of tomorrow and that the small percentage of female students that enter our universities excel and graduate with a chance to become a young leader. The improvement of access to education is directly linked to health outcomes for women – specially on reproductive health issues.

My second area of focus is women’s economic empowerment. I would like to facilitate the establishment of a network of women’s organizations working on women’s economic empowerment and create much needed platforms so that more attention and investment is given to women entrepreneurs.

A national program for the advocacy and policy discussions on gender equality is my third area of focus. This is one of the many areas of partnership with our Federal Ministry of Women, Youth and Children’s Affairs. The goal is to change the depth and focus of the national women’s day celebration by providing more time and engaging several line ministries to make sure that gender equality is not merely a one day a year rhetoric.

And finally an initiative that brings all the other projects together with a long term impact is my work on the National Gender Road Map. This effort will bring together multiple stakeholders and will strive to provide a clear and strategic framework for the advancement of gender equality nation wide.

Katja Iversen: This month, during the UN General Assembly (UNGA), world leaders will meet for the first High Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage (UHC). Ethiopia has made tremendous progress toward ensuring all Ethiopian people have access to quality health services without facing financial hardship. I was happy to see your country renew its commitment to UHC earlier this year, and thrilled to be at the opening of the state of the art St. Paul Center for Fertility and Reproductive Medicine in Addis Ababa in February. How is Ethiopia prioritizing the health of girls and women, including their sexual and reproductive health and rights, within broader efforts to achieve UHC and why do you think this is important to Ethiopia’s development?

President Sahle-Work Zewde: The health of girls and women is directly linked to and imperative to achieving our development goals. This understanding is changing the priorities of many countries including Ethiopia. The impact of health and especially reproductive health on the productivity of our citizens, the health and nutrition of the family and the future of our children is very critical.

That is why our Ministry of Health is working more than ever to improve the reproductive health of women by reaching out to the most rural parts of the country through health workers who understand the community more than anyone else. This is also why we have been working on a national road map to end child marriage and FGM that was launched a few weeks ago.

These efforts are all the result of a firm belief in the importance of UHC and the sexual and reproductive health of girls and women. This is not a women’s issue, this is a national issue and it is being treated as such.

Katja Iversen: At the Women Deliver 2019 Conference, you spoke about the ability of girls and women in rural communities to identify and execute solutions that lift up economies, shift gender norms, and power progress for all. Unfortunately, we know girls and women are often left out of these critical conversation – this is something you are uniquely positioned to change. How can leaders – including yourself – give girls and women a seat and a voice at the table to make decisions about programs, policies, and financial investments that affect their lives? Please be specific and share examples based on your leadership.

President Sahle-Work Zewde: I will say two things on this. In order to include women and girls in the decisions that impact their lives we ought to do two things. The first one is recognize that this is an absolutely fundamental thing to building sustainable solutions and systems that are truly gender transformative. It is often done as an after thought to silence critiques. It should be the first thing that comes to mind at the start of any project, discussion or policy design. All of the rooms we are in should reflect the real world we live in and women are 51% of the population. But this will require patience and persistence.

Secondly, we need to realize that we all have gender biases that affect the way we look at women and girls. As people raised in a largely patriarchal culture both women and men struggle with this. That means even when we think we are not discriminating based on gender we might actually be perpetuating sexist practices. Therefore, we need to recognize that changing our board rooms, work places and nations starts with changing how we ourselves, even those of us who are gender equality champions, see women’s place in the world and express that in our decisions.

As a way forward, I would urge my fellow leaders, specially those in Africa, to empower the women in their country, trust their work, value their opinions and allow them to flourish. The most critical step in this effort is to stop holding women to an unfairly high standard and subject them to needless scrutiny that does not apply to men whenever they are given a certain position or responsibility.

Trust women, that is the first step in making room for them.

Because you don’t elevate those you don’t consider trustworthy. I would like to emphasize that this access to leadership and participation is not a favor we do for women; this is their Human Right. Respecting their rights to equal access and participation will transform our nations.

Katja Iversen: Your position as President is an inspiration to young girls and women across Ethiopia and around the world. What advice would you offer to these girls and women as they strive to become leaders in their families, communities, countries and on the global stage?

President Sahle-Work Zewde: To the women and girls reading this I would like to say please know that you are strong and can be leaders in the spaces that you already occupy. Specially to the young women, know that leadership is not about being in a high level position, getting some title or a political office. Some of the best leaders in the world never had formal titles and offices. They took risks and did what needed to be done. Leadership is an attitude and starts with paying attention to your environment and having a sense of responsibility. You can nurture this wherever you are. To the women out there building careers, leading households, serving their communities and countries – the world owes you a debt of gratitude. There is so much that you do, that often goes unnoticed. To change that, we ought to shine a light on each other’s work and lift up the young women around us. We really are each others keepers.

This story was originally published by Deliver for Good

The post Women In Leadership: A Q&A with President Sahle-Work Zewde appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Credit: Bigstock.

By Daisy Simmons
Sep 20 2019 (IPS)

Food may be a universal language – but in these record-breaking hot days, so too is climate change. With July clocking in as the hottest month on Earth in recorded history and extreme weather ramping up globally, farmers are facing the brunt of climate change in croplands and pastures around the world.

Here in the U.S., for instance, climate impacts like more downpours make it harder to avert flooding and erosion on farms across the Midwest. California farmers, on the other hand, must find ways to stay productive despite increasing drought and wildfire risks.

It all amounts to far more than anecdotal inconvenience: The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Fourth National Climate Assessment report projects that warming temperatures, severe heat, drought, wildfire, and major storms will “increasingly disrupt agricultural productivity,” threatening not only farmers’ livelihoods but also food security, quality, and price stability.

If these anticipated effects sound extreme, so too are the causes.

 

Five climate impacts affecting food production now

Climate change poses not just one but a whole slew of challenges to farmers – and to the larger communities that depend on them for food. From erratic precipitation to changing seasons, consider just these five key climatic changes and how they stand to affect food availability now and in the future:

1) More extreme weather can harm livestock and crops. Major storms have always devastated farms, whether from damaging winds during a storm, or erosion and landslides that can rear up even as the storm subsides. But now they’re becoming even more common. In spring 2018, for example, unusually heavy rain and snow storms caused massive flooding across the U.S. Midwest, leaving some areas 10 feet deep in sand. In Nebraska alone, farmers lost an estimated $440 million of cattle. As a result of these flooding conditions, many farmers had to delay spring planting. Delays in commodity crops like corn and soybeans aren’t just stressful for farmers, either – they could lead to food price volatility and even potential food insecurity.

2) Water scarcity across the U.S. Southwest makes it more expensive and difficult to sustain crops and livestock. Drought is in the long-term outlook across the U.S. West, with declining snowpack making it more challenging to keep reservoirs full through summer. Lack of adequate water can easily damage or destroy crops, dry up soil, and threaten livelihoods. Between 2014-2016, for example, California endured an estimated $3.8 billion of direct statewide economic losses to agriculture as a result of drought.

3) Seasons aren’t what they used to be. Growing seasons are starting earlier and getting hotter in a warming climate. A longer growing season, over time, could theoretically have some advantages, but it also presents more obstacles in the short term, such as an uptick in pest populations is possible, with more generations possible per year. Early spring onset can also cause crops to grow before the soil holds enough water and nutrients, or to ruin fruit crops that bud early and then experience later spring frost. Plus, warmer winters can affect other farming practices like grain storage.

4) Wildfire can devastate farms – even when the flames don’t actually reach them. Ranchers across the West have recently seen major losses as a result of worsening fire seasons, from outright loss of life to charred grazing lands and decimated hay stocks. What’s more, “secondary impacts” abound, from a smoky taint that can ruin wine, to the ordeal of keeping a farm operational when fires are raging nearby and evacuation orders seem just around the corner. All this also causes costs to mount given that the respiratory dangers of laboring in smoky, excessively hot conditions can force farms to send workers home in the height of harvest season.

5) Warmer weather and rising CO2 levels adversely affect food supply, safety and quality. According to a 2019 IPCC land use report, between 25 and 30 percent of the food produced worldwide is wasted, not all of it for the same reasons. In developed countries, for instance, consumers, sometimes seemingly with abandon, simply discard what they see as “excess” or “surplus” food. In developing countries, much of the waste is brought about by a lack of refrigeration as products go bad between producers and consumers. The IPCC report estimates that food waste costs about $1 trillion per year and accounts for about 10 percent of greenhouse gas emissions from food systems. Meanwhile, some two-billion humans worldwide are overweight or obese even as nearly one billion are undernourished, highlighting the inefficiencies and inequities in food distribution.

In addition, rising temperatures can alter exposures to some pathogens and toxins. Consider: Salmonella, Campylobacter, Vibrio parahaemolyticus in raw oysters, and mycotoxigenic fungi, which can all potentially thrive in warmer environments. More carbon dioxide in the atmosphere also can decrease dietary iron, zinc, protein, and other macro- and micronutrients in certain crops.

Now for the elephant still in the room: Food production isn’t just being affected by climate change – it’s actively contributing to climate change, too. According to IPCC’s land use report, agriculture and other land uses comprise more than one-fifth of global CO2 emissions, creating a vicious cycle.

 

Credit: Bigstock.

 

Growing solutions to the climate crisis

The July IPCC report cited above lists various adaptation and mitigation measures that could help reduce the adverse impacts of food and dietary preferences on climate change. The suggestions address more sustainable food production and diets (more plant-based, less meat-based); improved forestry management (including reducing deforestation and increasing reforestation); agricultural carbon sequestration, including no-till farming practices; and reducing food waste.

And it warns that delaying action will be costly:

Deferral of [greenhouse gas] emissions reductions from all sectors implies trade-offs including irreversible loss in land ecosystem functions and services required for food, health, habitable settlements and production, leading to increasingly significant economic impacts on many countries in many regions of the world.

So, what can individuals do to help avert some of the worsening impacts of climate on food supply? There in fact are a number of ways to help support climate-friendlier food production.

Improving soil health, on a large-scale, is one key way forward. Nutrient-rich soil stores carbon better than degraded, overworked soil. Plus, healthy soil helps farms stay productive – a win-win. Consumers can boost these efforts, by supporting farmers and ranchers who engage in sustainable practices like cover cropping and composting.

Reducing meat consumption is another way to reduce the climate impact of food production, given that a livestock farm is like a methane factory, contributing an estimated 14.5 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Meatless Mondays, “flexitarian” diets, and the rise of faux-meat brands are all testimony to the growing efforts aimed at reducing meat consumption.

In addition to consumer actions, there are interesting new ways forward on the industry side. Manure digesters, for one, can convert methane from manure into electricity. And seaweed is gaining scientific interest for its potential in making cattle burp less often. (Yes, you read that right.)

Policy efforts will likely be key also. California for its part has goals to direct some cap-and-trade funding to build compost facilities, and incentivize methane reduction in dairies.

The challenges ahead are steep. But so too are the opportunities to adapt to new realities and reduce assorted diverse impacts. According to Project Drawdown, three of the top 10 best climate solutions have something to do with food, from reducing food waste (3) and choosing a plant-rich diet (4) to silvopasturing (9), which integrates trees and pasture into a single ecosystem.

It isn’t always easy to make such changes. What is getting easier, though, is to see that the world’s collective appetite for fossil fuels is having a negative impact on real food and on dietary options.

And the option of inaction on something so fundamental? Through their food-purchasing and dietary preferences, Americans increasingly, albeit perhaps only gradually, are showing that they are increasingly wary about swallowing that one.

 

This story originally appeared in Yale Climate Connections . It is republished here as part of IPS Inter Press Service’s partnership with Covering Climate Now, a global collaboration of more than 250 news outlets to strengthen coverage of the climate story.

 

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By Crystal Orderson
CAPE TOWN, South Africa, Sep 20 2019 (IPS)

From Nigeria, to Kenya to the Democratic Republic of Congo, to South Africa, thousands of African climate campaigners have taken to the streets joining millions around the world for the global Climate Strike ahead of the United Nations Climate Action Summit 2019, which starts in New York next week.

In Cape Town, learners from around 50 schools across the city mobilised by the African Climate Alliance made their voices heard. Over the past year, young people from around the world have been taking Friday off from school in protest of the inaction by decision makers when it comes to climate change.

IPS correspondent Crystal Orderson joined the strike and filed this report.

 

The post ‘I Want my Kids to Know What a Rhino and Turtle Are’ – #ClimateStrike Kids Say appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

IPS Correspondent Crystal Oderson took to the streets in Cape Town, South Africa and chatted to children about the #ClimateStrike.

The post ‘I Want my Kids to Know What a Rhino and Turtle Are’ – #ClimateStrike Kids Say appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Courtesy: United Nations

By Meera Shenoy
HYDERABAD, TELANGANA, India, Sep 20 2019 (IPS)

As companies begin to focus on hiring people with disabilities, we need to shape how they think and act on this interest.

In the first decade of this century, Andhra Pradesh had several self-help groups (SHGs)–women who were saving, borrowing, and generating livelihood opportunities for themselves as well as their communities.

As these groups grew, the government began to notice that the aspirations of children were different from their SHG-member mothers, who were mostly marginal farmers or weavers. The state felt that they needed to do something to fulfil these aspirations and from this was born the Employment Generation and Marketing Mission (EGMM)–a skilling mission under the Department of Rural Development in undivided Andhra Pradesh.

EGMM started in 2004 with a pilot–a Rural Retail Academy was set up in Warangal for youth who were 10th and 12th standard dropouts; local school teachers were taught to train them on customer-facing skills, and after six months they were ready to be placed.

Higher efficiencies, near-zero errors in an industry where margins are small–opened up almost 50,000 cashiering jobs for disabled youth in the retail sector.

Kishore Biyani of the Future Group was the first one to hire these young people, and him doing so changed the way India looked at rural youth. It made people realise that: a) you didn’t need graduates with degrees for customer service, and b) rural youth, if skilled right, could get formal private sector jobs.

Prior to the establishment of the EGMM, government skilling programmes didn’t think of job placement as something they were responsible for. All of them did skilling for skilling’s sake. Now placement has become the norm in every skilling programme offered by either the government or the private sector.

EGMM was also able to demonstrate innovation at scale. However, it’s relatively easy to achieve scale when you are sitting inside the government. When I thought of what to focus on after rural youth, it was important for me to enter a space where there wasn’t an existing model for scale, and to prove that it could be done outside of the government as well. Disability was that space.

 

Moving to disability

The statistics around disability are alarming–80 percent of the world’s disability population is in developing countries like India. Despite this, a decade ago, little was being done about it.

Cities with a booming IT industry like Bangalore and Delhi, had organisations training and placing disabled people in jobs, but this was limited to 30 people a year at best. And, most of them were urban and educated. However, 69 percent of the disabled youth in India live in the villages–and at the time, in 2012, nobody was focusing on less-educated rural youth with disability. 

 

There were many challenges

When we went to the villages, we faced several obstacles:

• Getting youth to join: Disabled youth who lived in rural areas were doubly disadvantaged: they were cut off from the job market because of their rural location, and they (and their families) didn’t believe that they could ever get a job.
• Finding trainers: We were also faced with a shortage of people who could train these youth. Disability is one word but within that word there are different kinds of disability–speech impaired, visually challenged, physical disabilities, and so on–and each one of them has different needs. Even when we did find trainers who could work with disabled youth–sign language instructors, for example–they were ill-equipped to train in the short-term training formats that we had developed.
• Providing them job opportunities: Companies came with a lot of mindsets. They would ask us “Can you give us youth who look like you and me? Will it be expensive to hire and manage them? Will my other employees have a problem if I hire your youth?”

 

There is a gap in the urban disabled space as well

As we started working with the corporates, some multinational companies started asking us, “Where are the youth with English, the ones who are educated?” The perception is that if the disabled youth are educated, they will perhaps get jobs on their own.

However, in most cases, educated youth with disability have low skill levels. They qualify as engineers, have an engineering certificate and so their aspirations are to get into the well-known global and Indian tech companies. However, their technical knowledge is poor since colleges don’t have special educators to guide them.

 

The perception is that if the disabled youth are educated, they will perhaps get jobs on their own. However, in most cases, educated youth with disability have low skill levels. Picture courtesy: Rawpixel

 

The market is beginning to think about disability more actively

We are hearing companies talk about focusing on disability. So, while the timing is right, we need to shape how companies think and act on their interest.

Here are a few approaches that skilling organisations that work with disabled youth can adopt to ensure that larger numbers of corporates hire and retain these young people and that they do it in the right manner.

 

1. Try to place youth with disability in customer-facing roles

When they have to interact with customers, awareness about the issue of disability goes up automatically; you don’t have to work on that separately. We piloted this hypothesis by placing a speech- and hearing-impaired individual in a cashier’s job, with some simple workplace adaptations.

Three months later the retailer ran a survey to ask their customers for feedback and 95 percent of the respondents said that having ‘silent’ cashier had led to faster service. This insight–higher efficiencies, near-zero errors in an industry where margins are small–opened up almost 50,000 cashiering jobs for disabled youth in the retail sector.

 

2. Create a sensitive ecosphere

Hiring youth with disabilities is not just about matching profiles to jobs. We do sensitisation workshops, low cost adaptations, accessibility audits, going as far as to sync companies’ existing software to ensure that hired youth are productive. Otherwise, it merely reiterates the myth that youth with disabilities cannot work.

 

3. Build up jobs sector by sector

We did this with the automotive industry. We started with one company–Valeo–and hardwired all our best practices over there. More importantly, their HR director and I started talking about these innovations and the value provided by these youth at conferences and forums. As a result, 15 more auto companies started hiring disabled youth.

 

4. Teach portable skills and not specific job skills

Typically, skilling organisations give youth job-specific training–like say a three-day training in folding clothes. However, the danger with this approach is that if the folding clothes process stops, so does their job. It is important therefore, irrespective of the sector, to teach English, communications, and life skills–skills that they can take across jobs. This allows them to be mobile across jobs and capitalise on the opportunities available.

 

5. Encourage companies to measure impact

An executive from a multinational company that we at Youth4Jobs work with said that our alumni manage 75 forms a day versus their average of 45-50. Once companies experience the business case and see the results, their senior executives become champions for the programmes.

 

6. Prepare companies to be ready for changes in the law

It is likely that one day, a particular state might suddenly decide to make hiring of disabled youth mandatory in sync with the Right to PwD Act 2016 which speaks to the right of disabled to education and employment. And if that happens, other states will follow. It is important that companies are ready for it when it happens.

 

Meera Shenoy is the founder of Youth4Jobs, where she works on skilling young people with disabilities. She has been at the forefront of job-linked skilling for rural youth, tribal youth, and now youth with disabilities, at a scalable level. She was previously Executive Director, Employment Generation and Marketing Mission (EGMM), the first state government skilling mission. Meera has also consulted with the World Bank and the UNDP.

 

This story was originally published by India Development Review (IDR)

 

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By Blerim Mustafa
GENEVA, Sep 20 2019 (IPS)

The proliferation of political crises and armed conflicts in every corner of the world does not exclude religious groups, which unfortunately also contribute to animosities, intolerance and hatred. The Middle East has been on the hit-list of violet extremist groups for decades. One telling example is Syria where clashes have on occasion taken religious or denominational overtones, fracturing Syrian society for decades to come. They have given rise to sectarian divisions along ethnic and religious lines in a country where inter-religious harmony once prevailed. We observe a similar situation in Iraq. In Myanmar, government security forces unleased a brutal campaign of ethnic cleansing and hatred against the Muslim Rohingya population. The military crackdown on the Rohingya community has significantly aggravated inter-communal violence in the country. And in the Central African Republic, armed militant groups sloganizing misrepresentations of Islam and Christianity, commit abuses and human rights violations on each other on a daily basis.

The conclusion that can be drawn is that the proliferation of political crises and armed conflicts indiscriminately target communities and societies regardless of religious beliefs or denominations. Violent extremism cannot be ascribed to one religion or region of the world. The recent appalling violent extremist attacks in Christchurch, Oslo and Colombo illustrate that violent extremism targets societies and communities blindly and where we least expect it to happen.

In a time where racism, racial discrimination intolerance and the fear of the other is on the rise, defusing inter-religious conflicts and enhancing understanding for religious diversity is needed more than ever.

In this spirit, inter-faith dialogue and cooperation remains an essential vehicle for religious believers to know, understand, and respect one another. Interreligious and religious-secular dialogues have the power to promote lasting change through a dialogue that fosters mutual coexistence, tolerance and empathy. This entails sharing a relationship of respect and mutual confidence as well as to identifying commonalities among religions, creeds and value systems in promoting multidimensional equalities, accepting diversity between human beings and promoting empathy. As His Holiness Pope Francis reminded us in Sarajevo in 2015 during his visit to Bosnia-Herzegovina:

“We need to communicate with each other, to discover the gifts of each person, to promote that which unites us, and to regard our differences as an opportunity to grow in mutual respect.”

This is a telling reminder that interreligious dialogues can serve as a vector to help break down the walls of ignorance that characterize many societies around the world. There is a need to build alliances between all religions and faiths to address the surge of racial discrimination, intolerance and prejudice. The visit of Pope Francis to the United Arab Emirates in February this year, for instance, and the historical signing of the joint document on “Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together” between the Pope and the Grand Imam of Al Azhar Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb are eloquent examples of endeavours made by religious leaders to promulgate a vision of unity in diversity.

It is likewise one of the greatest paradoxes of the contemporary world that major world faiths and creeds are being perverted by violent extremist groups to justify hatred and exclusion. All major world religions advocate peace and justice. The religious teachings of many traditions recognise that prevention of conflict in society by acceptance of the other is rooted in the dignity endowed to the human being. It is through unity — not division — that humanity can promote a world living in peace and harmony. All religions can play an important role.

Let me cite some examples.

Islam, for instance, puts strong emphasis on equality, proclaiming that all human beings are borne free and equal. During the era of Prophet Muhammed (PBUH), he said to his followers:

“An Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a white has no superiority over a black nor a black has any superiority over white except by piety and good action.”

In Judaism, equality before the law plays a strong role in the enhancement of human dignity, human conduct and responsibility towards one another. Sanhedrin 4:5 teaches us that “(…) none should say, (my) Father is greater than yours,” for we are all descendants of the same ancestor.

In Christianity, we are taught in Galatians 3:28 that equality must guide our actions. “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

The right to equality is also emphasised in Hinduism. The Vedas – the sacred scriptures of Hinduism – observe: “No one is superior or inferior. All are brothers and all should strive for the interest of all and progress collectively.” So too in Budhism, as indeed Buddha taught a social message of love, equality and fraternity which underpin equal citizenship rights.

In Confucianism, the notion of “datong” or ‘Great Community’ symbolizes a world in peace and unity in which all people live in harmony with each other, collective and individual human rights being affirmed and closely interwoven.

These examples illustrate that religions and faiths themselves are not the source of hatred and intolerance, but only their distorted instrumentalization for vested interests by violent extremist groups. One must therefore harness the collective energy of all religions and faiths in the pursuit of peaceful and inclusive societies as stipulated in Sustainable Development Goal 16 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. There is no reason for religious communities to fear one another as our commonalities clearly exceed our differences.

Blerim Mustafa, Project and communications officer, the Geneva Centre for Human Rights Advancement and Global Dialogue. Postgraduate researcher (Ph.D. candidate) at the Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Leicester (UK).

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By Andrew Norton
LONDON, Sep 20 2019 (IPS)

In an alarming imbalance struggling families in rural Bangladesh spend almost US$2 billion a year on preventing climate-related disasters or repairing damage caused by climate change ― far more than either the Bangladesh government or international bodies.

In the first report to measure household spending on climate change in any country compared to public climate finance, the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) reveals that rural families in Bangladesh, many of whom are living in poverty, are spending double the amount of the government, and nearly 12 times the amount Bangladesh receives in multilateral international climate financing in absolute terms, according to the latest data.

Bangladesh is one of the poorest countries in the world and is among the most vulnerable to climate change and extreme weather events. The majority of its population, roughly two-thirds, lives in rural areas.

It is unacceptable that the most vulnerable people in the country are shouldering the burden of spending for adapting to climate change. Far too little support is being directed to the communities that are being most affected.

Much more needs to be done to make sure more public climate finance from the government and international community reaches the women, children and men who need it most.

‘Bearing the climate burden: how households in Bangladesh are spending too much’ shows that even though the Bangladesh government’s annual budget for addressing climate change in rural areas increased to US$1.46 billion (123.18 billion taka) in 2018-19 from US$884 million (74.32 billion taka) in 2014-15, it is still less than the amount rural households are spending due to climate change.

Rural households received an estimated total of US$154 million a year in international climate and disaster finance ― or US$6.42 (533 taka) for each rural household per year.

As a result of this disparity, households living in poverty are diverting money away from many of the basic necessities they need to live in order to address the effects of climate change, such as repairing damage to their homes, spending on ruined crops and building defences against damage.

This includes money they need to send their children to school, for healthcare and to put food on the table. As a result, we found that these families are having to turn to informal lenders who charge high interest rates, which is pushing them deeper into poverty. Low-cost loans from formal financial institutions and microfinance NGOs need to be made more widely available.

‘Bearing the climate burden’ also found that female-headed households spend three times more money as a share of their income than households headed by men. This important revelation shows that addressing the impacts of climate change is more of a priority for women, so it is crucial that extra support is directed to female-headed households.

Climate finance is a fundamental building block for tackling the emergency the world is facing. The high costs of climate change that developing countries face are largely as a result of other countries’ actions.

Recognising this in 2010, developed countries meeting in Cancun, Mexico committed to mobilise US$100 billion a year by 2020 to help address developing countries’ needs in tackling climate change. We are now just one year from this key deadline.

It is clear that, not only are governments falling short of this goal, but previous IIED research shows that less than US$1 in US$10 of international climate finance is being directed to the local level.

Plus, 93% of it is not transparent enough to track how it is being used. Because of a lack of transparency, often it is not possible to identify exactly what donor countries are investing their climate finance in. Reporting methods are hard for many to understand and often they are obscure, and the information provided too limited.

As a result, local priorities and the flexibility to respond both to rapidly changing needs and new opportunities are not being met. Changing this and making sure money reaches where it matters most is crucial for developing countries to be able to achieve the Paris Agreement’s targets for keeping temperature rise below 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. It is vital that more climate finance is directed to the local level and that local people are included in designing programmes to ensure their priorities are met.

On 23 September, leaders from around the world will meet at the United Nations in New York for the Climate Action Summit. This is an opportunity for all governments to raise their commitments to tackle climate change. For the richer countries responsible for the bulk of historic emissions, this must include both meaningful commitments to deliver cuts in emissions, and a renewed determination to deliver support to those who need it most.

 

This story is part of Covering Climate Now, a global collaboration of more than 250 news outlets to strengthen coverage of the climate story. 

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Excerpt:

Andrew Norton is Director of the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED)

The post Rural Bangladesh Families Spend 2.0 Billion Dollars on Climate Change ― Dwarfing Government & International Finance appeared first on Inter Press Service.

By Mario Osava
ENTRE RIOS DO OESTE, Brasil, Sep 20 2019 (IPS)

Biogas has the potential to provide 36 percent of the electricity consumed in Brazil or replace 70 percent of diesel if purified as biomethane, according to the Brazilian Association of Biogas and Biomethane (Abiogas).

This new source of energy is only recently gaining a foothold in this country, especially in the agricultural south. Its future is promising in an agro-diverse Brazil, which is the world’s largest producer or exporter of sugar, coffee, meat and soybeans.

Its expansion also serves environmental purposes, reducing soil and water pollution from livestock excrement and waste and urban sewage.

Entre Rios do Oeste, a small town of 4,400 people and 155,000 pigs in the western part of the state of Paraná, inaugurated a mini biogas thermoelectric plant on Jul. 24.

 

 

It is the product of a pioneering agreement promoted by the International Centre for Renewable Energies-Biogas (CIBiogas), which involves the municipal government, 18 pig farmers and the Paraná Energy Company (Copel).

With a capacity of 480 kilowatts, the plant will enable the municipal government to save what it used to spend on electricity for its 72 buildings, including offices, schools and other services.

The 18 pig farms, with around 39,000 hogs, will produce the biogas that, through a 20-km network of pipes, will reach the plant.

Copel financed the project with 17 million reais (about 4.5 million dollars) and receives the electricity generated, with which the municipality pays its energy bill.

The project took 11 years to crystallise from the initial idea. It harnessed an earlier experiment – the Agroenergy Family Farming Condominium of the Ajuricaba River Basin, in the municipality of Cândido Rondon, 34 km northeast of Entre Rios.

The west of Paraná, where pig and poultry farming is intense, is experiencing a biogas production boom driven by CIBiogás, an association of international and national institutions founded in 2013 at the Technology Park of Itaipu, the giant hydroelectric plant shared by Brazil and Paraguay.

The Haacke Farm in the nearby municipality of Santa Helena uses chicken manure and devotes part of its biogas to produce biomethane, which it sells to Itaipu as fuel for the hydropower plant’s vehicles.

Several companies already use biogas to generate their own electricity, such as Cerámica Stein, from Entre Rios.

BioKohler, a biodigester factory in the municipality of Cândido Rondon, is an example of the small industry and services that make up the local biogas economy. The Kohler family has also just installed its mini biogas thermoelectric plant, in partnership with a German company in the sector, Mele.

 

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The post Not Enough Good Information About Africa’s Climate for Climate Adaptation appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

In this edition of Voices from the Global South Dr James Kinyangi head of the African Development Bank's climate and development Africa special fund, and fellow climate scientist Laban Ogallo, a Professor of Meteorology at the University of Nairobi and an author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, chat to IPS correspondent Isaiah Esipisu about local solutions that can help the fight against climate change.

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“We were so close you couldn’t put one finger between one person and the next, we were like razorblades in a pack”. Illustration @2019 John Holmes for Human Rights Watch.

By Jo Becker
Sep 19 2019 (IPS)

“Khadija” was just 8 years old when Boko Haram fighters attacked her village in northeast Nigeria and took her by force to their camp. Her abductors tried to marry her and other captives to members of the armed Islamist group, she told me. When the captives refused, they were locked in a room.  

They managed to escape a month later, but Khadija’s ordeal didn’t end there. Nigerian soldiers found her. But instead of returning her to her family, they detained her in a military prison for two years as a suspected Boko Haram member.

Boko Haram’s crimes in northeast Nigeria are notorious: abductions, forced marriage, suicide bombings, and attacks on schools perceived as providing “Western education.” But the victims of the insurgency also include thousands of children imprisoned by Nigerian authorities for suspected Boko Haram involvement, often with little or no evidence.

Since 2012, the United States has spent over US$100 million to help Nigerian authorities try to defeat Boko Haram. As part of its counter-insurgency efforts, Nigeria’s military has detained thousands of suspected Boko Haram members. Those detained since 2013 have included at least 3,600 children, the UN says.

In 20 years of human rights work, I’ve never come across conditions as bad as the children described at Giwa barracks, the main military detention facility in northeast Nigeria

In June I interviewed some of these children, including one 10-year-old boy who was detained when he was only 5 years old. What became clear is that most of these children were victims of Boko Haram. The government’s detention policies simply add another layer to their suffering.

One boy I met said he was detained for two-and-a-half years for allegedly selling yams to Boko Haram members. Other children told us soldiers arrested and detained them after they fled Boko Haram attacks on their villages, sometimes singling out adolescent boys perceived as being of fighting age. Several children said that soldiers accused them of being Boko Haram because they hadn’t left their villages soon enough after Boko Haram attacks. Girls who were abducted and forced to become Boko Haram wives have also been detained.

The vast majority of these children are never charged with a crime. Most are held for months and often years with no contact with the outside world. Their families often presume they are dead. Of the 32 children a colleague and I interviewed, none said they were ever taken before a judge or appeared in court. Only one said he saw someone who he believed might have been a lawyer.

In 20 years of human rights work, I’ve never come across conditions as bad as the children described at Giwa barracks, the main military detention facility in northeast Nigeria. They described cells so crowded that they were forced to sleep on their sides, packed tightly together in rows. “We were so close you couldn’t put one finger between one person and the next,” said one. “We were like razorblades in a pack,” said another.

They described beatings, overwhelming heat, and an overpowering stench from hundreds of detainees sharing a single open toilet. Many spoke of frequent hunger or thirst. Deaths were common, and many of the children said they saw soldiers carry bodies out of the cells.

Many of the children I met felt doubly victimized, first by Boko Haram for abducting them or attacking their village, and then by the government for detaining them. Many felt frustrated that the military did not adequately investigate their claims that they were not part of Boko Haram. “My years were wasted in suffering,” said one bitterly.

 

Illustration @ 2019 John Holmes for Human Rights Watch.

 

Several of Nigeria’s neighbors, including Chad, Niger, and Mali, have signed “handover protocols” with the United Nations to ensure that children detained by soldiers are swiftly transferred to child protection authorities for rehabilitation, family reunification, and community reintegration. Nigeria should do the same, and immediately release children in military custody to national child welfare authorities. The US, as a major supporter of Nigeria’s counter-insurgency operations, should urge Nigeria to take these steps.

Boko Haram has caused untold suffering for millions, and it’s possible some children may have committed serious crimes. If Nigerian authorities have credible evidence of criminal offenses by children, they should transfer them to civilian authorities for treatment in accordance with international juvenile justice standards.

Locking up children based on speculation or dubious evidence is not an effective way to counter Boko Haram’s violence. The former child detainees I met had no sympathy for Boko Haram or interest in fighting. They want to go to school or find work to support themselves. Instead of putting them in prison, Nigerian authorities should help them build their future.

 

Jo Becker is the children’s rights advocacy director at Human Rights Watch and author of “They Didn’t Know if I was Alive of Dead”: Military Detention of Children for Suspected Boko Haram Involvement in Northeast Nigeria. Follow her on Twitter at @jobeckerhrw.

 

The post Boko Haram’s Youngest Victims appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Jo Becker is the children’s rights advocacy director at Human Rights Watch

The post Boko Haram’s Youngest Victims appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Protestors rallied outside a library building in Manhattan on Wednesday, carrying placards about Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen and referencing the “bone saw” that was reportedly used to dismember Jamal Khashoggi, a prominent critic of Saudi prince Mohammad bin Salman. Credit: James Reinl/IPS

By James Reinl
UNITED NATIONS, Sep 19 2019 (IPS)

A New York library appeared to bow to pressure this week when it canceled an event that was being co-hosted by Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammad bin Salman, who is accused of a range of human rights abuses.

On Wednesday, the New York Public Library (NYPL) said it was scrapping the so-called Misk-OSGEY Youth Forum, a workshop on Sept. 23 that was being co-hosted by bin Salman’s Misk Foundation and U.N. youth envoy Jayathma Wickramanayake. 

The event had been blasted by Human Rights Watch (HRW) and other campaign groups, who said it served to whitewash bin Salman’s reputation after the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in October last year — reportedly on the crown prince’s orders. 

Evan Chesler, chairman of the NYPL board, said that dropping the workshop was the “appropriate thing to do” after weeks of protests and an online petition that had garnered more than 7,000 signatures.

In a statement, the library said it had cancelled the “space rental” amid “concerns about possible disruption to library operations as well as the safety of our patrons” amid “public concern around the event and one of its sponsors”. 

It remains unclear whether the Misk Foundation will seek an alternative venue for the workshop at short notice. A U.N. spokesman told IPS it was “up to Misk to provide information on whether the event will take place elsewhere or not”.

Saudi Arabia’s mission to the U.N. and the Misk Foundation declined to comment on the controversy.

Protestors rallied outside a library building in Manhattan on Wednesday, carrying placards about Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen and referencing the “bone saw” that was reportedly used to dismember Khashoggi, a prominent critic of bin Salman. 

“This week’s protests show that the public will not keep quiet while the leadership of the NYPL, a treasured repository of civilisation, hires our library out to the butcherer of Khashoggi,” Matthew Zadrozny, president of the Committee to Save the New York Public Library, told IPS.

“The NYPL leadership must explain to the public it serves who signed the deal with bin Salman’s foundation and why.”

Kenneth Roth, director of HRW, blasted the “repression-whitewashing event” on Twitter and asked U.N. secretary-general Antonio Guterres to scrap the partnership between his youth envoy, Wickramanayake, and the crown prince’s charity. 

 

Now that the New York Public Library has withdrawn as a venue for the Saudi crown prince’s repression-whitewashing event https://t.co/JvGG6cyLd2 will UN chief @AntonioGuterres withdraw his youth envoy’s sponsorship before a replacement venue is found? https://t.co/ZA1Ctd8iIO

— Kenneth Roth (@KenRoth) 19 September 2019

 

Suzanne Nossel, CEO of rights group PEN America, said the library had made the “right choice”, addiing bin Salman’s government had “orchestrated the murder and dismemberment of journalist Jamal Khashoggi”.

“Hosting this event just days before the anniversary of Jamal’s killing would have been particularly appalling not just for his family, friends, and colleagues, but also for those currently being persecuted in the kingdom.”

Nossel also noted that the library “is the crown jewel of the literary community in New York” and it stands for “free exchange of ideas and free expression, qualities that the crown prince has repeatedly disdained in both words and actions”.

The NYPL event was set to see some 300 budding young entrepreneurs learn about green themes, corporate responsibility and other parts of the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) agenda.

Khashoggi, a U.S.-based journalist who frequently criticised the Saudi government, was killed and dismembered on Oct. 2 last year after visiting the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, where he collecting documents for his wedding.

The CIA assessed that bin Salman had ordered Khashoggi’s killing. U.N. expert Agnes Callamard has described the death as a “premeditated execution,” and called for bin Salman and other high-ranking Saudis to be investigated.

Officials in Riyadh, who initially said Khashoggi had left the premises unharmed, now say the journalist was killed by a rogue hit squad that did not involve bin Salman. Activists have since pushed for accountability over the killing.

Related Articles

• U.N. Criticised for Link-up with Saudi Prince MBS
• Petition and Critics of Khashoggi Killing Heap Pressure on U.N.-Saudi Event

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CANOPY COVER: Nepal’s midhills have seen the greatest increase in forest cover over the past 25 years. Outmigration from villages and the success of community forests like this one in Chitlang of Makwanpur district have contributed to the regrowth. Photos: KUNDA DIXIT.

By Peter Gill
KATHMANDU, Sep 19 2019 (IPS)

New analysis of historical satellite imagery indicates that Nepal’s forest area has nearly doubled, from 26% of land area in 1992 to 45% in 2016. The midhills have experienced the strongest resurgence, although forests have also expanded in the Tarai and in the mountains. This makes Nepal an exception to the global trend of deforestation in developing countries.

These findings may come as a surprise to readers who regularly hear about deforestation. Indeed, recent infrastructure expansion projects seem to pit development against nature. Protesters have pushed back against the felling of trees for the Ring Road expansion project in Kathmandu, as well as the plan to cut down 8,000ha of jungle in Bara district for a proposed airport in Nijgad.

But the new research, conducted by a NASA-funded team whose members are based in the US, Switzerland and Nepal, does not indicate that Nepal has been free from deforestation in recent decades. Rather, the data show that on average, more new forests have grown up than have been cut down. As a result, there has been net forest gain.

Unlike government officials, local communities were seen to have a vested interest in preserving forest resources for long-term, sustainable use. They also were better positioned to monitor forests and enforce rules for harvesting forest products.

Jefferson Fox, a geographer at the East-West Center in Honolulu who is the project’s principal investigator, thinks it is important to acknowledge Nepal’s forest successes, even if localised deforestation remains a problem in parts of the country.

“When I did my dissertation work in the early 1980s, Nepal was all over the international press for deforestation,” he says. “Now that Nepal has turned it around, it can’t get any attention!”

From 1950 to 1980, Nepal lost much of its forest cover. Deforestation was due in part to a growing rural population that cut trees to harvest timber and convert land to agriculture. Nepal had nationalised all forests in the 1950s, but the government was often ill-equipped to oversee them. Bureaucrats were frequently unaware, or turned a blind eye, when villagers cut trees for household use, and sometimes they colluded with commercial loggers to illegally exploit timber.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the government began handing over what eventually amounted to 1.8 million hectares of national forest land to communities to manage. Unlike government officials, local communities were seen to have a vested interest in preserving forest resources for long-term, sustainable use. They also were better positioned to monitor forests and enforce rules for harvesting forest products.

Fox’s research team found that areas with high rates of community forest membership experienced the most forest recovery, implying that decentralised forest management has played a key role in Nepal’s reforestation.

Demographic changes have also been important to forest recovery. Although Nepali villagers have migrated to India for seasonal and military work for centuries, migration to Gulf countries, Southeast Asia and beyond has exploded since the 1990s.

Migrants’ families often abandon marginal farmland because they lack the manpower to use it, allowing forests to naturally regenerate. Likewise, the families often harvest fewer forest products, like firewood, because they have more money to purchase alternatives, such as LPG. Fox’s team found that areas of Nepal where people receive the most remittances have also experienced greatest reforestation.

The data also indicate that Nepal’s forest gains have been concentrated in the midhills. This is not surprising, because community forests are widespread in this region and outmigration and agricultural land abandonment are increasingly common. The data also show that forests have expanded in the Tarai, despite greater population growth, fewer community forests and more conflicts over resources there. However, gains in the Tarai — and in the mountains — have been smaller than in the midhills.

Importantly, forest extent is not the same thing as ecological value, which can vary greatly from forest to forest. For example, young, dry, and isolated forests do not provide as good wildlife habitat as old-growth and riverine forests, or forests located along wildlife corridors. Similarly, a forest on a steep slope helps reduce soil erosion, giving it conservation value that a forest in a flat area may not have.

Fox’s team is not the first to analyse Nepal’s forest cover change using satellite imagery. A group at the University of Maryland (GlobalForestWatch.org) has monitored forest change globally since 2000. In Nepal, its data show there has been forest loss — the opposite of Fox’s team’s findings. This data has been cited by numerous academic studies and the media, including this newspaper.

Both the old and new data were generated using computer algorithms that look at historical satellite images to determine — based on the colour and shade of pixels in each photograph — what is forest and what is not. Forests are considered to be any area with at least 50% canopy cover — meaning that, looking from the air, at least half of the ground is obscured by trees. (This may not sound like much, but the FAO standard is only 10%.)

While the Maryland team used algorithms designed for application around the world, Fox’s team have created algorithms specifically tailored for Nepal. Alex Smith, a member of Fox’s team who is also a PhD candidate at Oregon State University and a current Fulbright-Hays scholar in Kathmandu, says that image-analysis algorithms designed for worldwide use can be inaccurate in Nepal because of the mountainous terrain.

 

 

By contrast, his team’s algorithms use topographic correction techniques to compensate for shade and other visual distortions caused by steep slopes. Furthermore, they ensure their algorithms are accurate by cross-analysing results with other high-resolution photographs of the same areas — a process known as ‘ground truthing’.  For these reasons, the results are probably far more accurate for Nepal than the University of Maryland data.

Some would argue that because Nepal nearly doubled its forest area since 1992, it can spare a few thousand hectares here or there for infrastructure projects like Nijgad. But according to Smith, this is not the upshot of his team’s research.

“Our study provides a big-picture view about what is happening, but the decision to convert any specific forest should be taken after considering local factors as well,” he says.

These might include the potential benefits of the infrastructure project weighed against the value of the forest as wildlife habitat and as a source of resources, cultural values and aesthetics for local people.

Infrastructure aside, some people argue Nepal should allow more timber harvesting, which has hitherto been tightly regulated, as long as it is accompanied by sustainable forest management. Proponents of this approach say that forest-based industries could boost the economy without leading to deforestation, because trees would be replanted once cut.

Sceptics counter that ensuring long-term sustainability would be difficult, given pervasive problems with corruption and short-term thinking among leadership.

The new research by Fox’s team does not provide conclusive evidence for one side or the other. Decisions about how much, and where, to harvest will inevitably involve balancing conservation and development objectives.

However, the research does highlight the continued importance of community forestry. “Local communities have put in a huge amount of effort conserving these forests,” says Smith. “Whatever happens next, you want to keep people invested.”  

This story was originally published by The Nepali Times

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Sven Lilienström is Founder of the Faces of Democracy initiative & Faces of Peace initiative

By Sven Lilienström
STOCKHOLM, Sep 19 2019 (IPS)

In an interview with Dan Smith, Director of the renowned Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) and Professor of Peace and Conflict at the University of Manchester. The native Londoner, he has been researching conflicts and peace for decades and served in the UN Peacebuilding Fund Advisory Group, which he chaired for two years.

SIPRI Director Dan Smith. Credit: SIPRI

Lilienström: What does “peace” mean for you personally?

Smith: Peace is the situation in which it is possible to pursue conflicts and disagreements – between states, between individuals and at every level in between – without damage to those involved in the conflict, to others, or to others’ ability to live in peace with each other.

Lilienström: After the demise of the INF Treaty, the USA has announced that it intends to deploy intermediate-range missiles in the Indo-Pacific region. The Chinese government is responding with threats of its own. How dangerous are the power games with China?

Smith: The difficult US-China relationship holds many risks including the trade war and confrontations at sea as well as a potential arms rivalry.

Lilienström: China was never part of the INF Treaty. As a result, the People’s Republic is now believed to have 2,000 ballistic missiles. Do we need a new treaty that includes the Chinese?

Smith: There are various estimates of how many missiles China has of the ranges covered by the INF Treaty (500-5500 km); the highest estimate is about 1,700, plus a maximum estimate of some 300 cruise missiles. The total includes both nuclear and conventional warheads. In total, China is widely estimate to have about 300 nuclear warheads. The US and Russia have over 6,000 nuclear warheads each.

A new treaty that includes China would be a positive development!

Accordingly, including China in a future arms control treaty would probably exert a downward pressure on US and Russian warhead numbers, as it is hard to see why China would otherwise agree to sign up. A new treaty that includes China would therefore be a positive development. It is, however, unclear whether China will find the proposal of joining a new treaty credible when the old has just been abandoned.

Lilienström: The Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for international trade, has become the stage for an international conflict. What do you think of a US-led mission to protect oil tankers in the Persian Gulf?

Smith: Safe passage by sea should be secured by agreement, subject to international law; neither a US-led military mission nor any other military deployment will contribute this aim.

Lilienström: Cyber-attacks, propaganda, and disinformation are means of conducting a hybrid conflict. How vulnerable are Germany, the EU and the NATO countries to becoming targets of hybrid threats and campaigns?

Smith: All European countries are already subject to cyber incidents of various scales from a wide variety of sources. What is called “hybrid warfare” normally also involves the use of armed force; currently, NATO and EU countries face a relatively low risk of experiencing that kind of conflict.

Lilienström: Regarding climate conflicts: The drought in the region around the drying Lake Chad demonstrates the effects of global warming. Is climate change a global security risk?

Smith: Climate change leads to violent conflict in a context of poor governance. Unfortunately, many areas that will face the strongest direct impact of global warming lack the structures and capacities in government needed to adapt to it. In these locations there are and will be severe climate-related security risks.

Lilienström: Mr. Smith, our seventh question is always the same: What three trouble spots are in your opinion currently the most dangerous and what measures do you suggest to de-escalate conflict and stabilize peace?

Dan Smith: Northeast Asia, the Gulf, the wider Sahel. The great need is for dialogue, respect for the rule of international law and a clear recognition that international cooperation is required to solve any and all of the world’s severest problems.

The post International Cooperation Required to Solve World’s Severest Problems appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Sven Lilienström is Founder of the Faces of Democracy initiative & Faces of Peace initiative

The post International Cooperation Required to Solve World’s Severest Problems appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Contaminated flood waters in Beira, Mozambique after Cyclone Idai hit presented a significant risk for water-borne diseases like cholera. Credit: Sergio Zimba/Oxfam

By Abby Maxman
BOSTON, USA, Sep 19 2019 (IPS)

As the UN General Assembly begins, we are once again ringing the alarm on the urgent issues of climate and development that demand our global attention and action. And I worry yet again leaders will not heed the warnings and not act with the clarity and at the scale the issues we’re here to tackle demand.

This year the global meetings open with the electrifying cry of young people demanding our attention and our action on climate. I hope this will push us to refocus and deliver on the promises we have made to the world’s most vulnerable people—and to future generations to whom we are bequeathing a planetary disaster.

When we’re talking about the climate crisis and the profound problems the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aim to address, we cannot stress enough just how high the stakes are. These high-level meetings are the perfect platform for nations to step up and take action – and we hope to see that, but initial signs from countries have been discouraging.

If not now, then when can we expect to see these actions taken?

We can’t keep pushing pledges and actions to a future date – we are in crisis now. Oxfam believes that multilateral approaches are key, and will continue pressing for action on these issues, holding the powerful to account to ensure the voices and needs of the world’s most vulnerable – who these meetings are designed to serve – are addressed.

The unprecedented and remarkable activism led by young people must be heeded and translated into concrete action. Intent to act is not enough – we need to see every nation, especially the wealthy and high-emitting ones, committing to combat this crisis together with urgent and drastic steps.

Abby Maxman, President and CEO of Oxfam America

The science is telling us that we’re running out of time to avert climate change’s worst impacts. Some world leaders have gotten the message, but there is more work to be done, and Oxfam is joining urgent calls for politicians, businesses, and individuals to take ambitious and urgent action to save our planet.

Particularly in making good on wealthy nations’ climate finance commitments which are continuing to fall short of what is needed to protect the world’s poor from the devastating impacts of climate change.

We welcome any commitments made, but we don’t expect to hear enough of those to show leaders are taking this seriously. Too many are delaying, and we are still lacking leadership from the world’s major players and polluters. If anything, we are seeing potentially devastating rollbacks on climate issues in countries like the United States, when we have no time to waste.

Politicians need to go further and faster and to listen and act on the leadership of the students and strikers on the streets, the indigenous peoples and communities on the frontline of climate change, and to the constituencies that they represent. Oxfam is working with our partners to ensure that climate solutions don’t come at the expense of vulnerable communities.

The climate crisis is a defining issue of our day, and it is inextricably linked with other challenges we must face together like the growing global economic equality – the fact that too many still live in poverty and without the basic services and resources to live a healthy, safe and happy life. The SDG’s aim to address these issues and more, but they are far off track.

Two successive cyclones hit southern Africa within 6 weeks of each other, and Oxfam has been responding with clean water, sanitation, and hygiene support to avert cholera and other water-borne diseases.

Oxfam is disappointed by the lack of progress made on the SDGs – the latest Secretary General report shows that the world will not meet the SDGs by 2030. The lack of proper financing, growing inequality, gender injustice, and closing civic space are fundamental constraints to the achievement of the SDGs.

Oxfam is highly concerned that the world is not coming together to make the right political choices and fulfill previous commitments on development finance, which is key for reaching any of the SDGs. We need healthy national fiscal and monetary policies, and people-centered multilateralism with new rules and institutions that seek a more human economy.

At high-level meetings on the SDGs, civil society is provided with very limited time and opportunities to engage in the political process and outcome documents. This year, the outcome document for the SDG Summit was finalized before the actual proceedings of the events in both July and September, which is a clear signal these moments aren’t open for dialogue.

We need to have an open and inclusive process, with more concrete and aggressive actions to address the urgent and interrelated issues the SDGs tackle. We can only achieve the SDGs if we collectively strengthen global and national movements for human economics, accountable capitalism, and a new generation of public and private institutions and norms.

These are massive and complex issues that need sweeping yet specific actions. We must see countries step up and commit to making those now. This work at the UNGA is an opportunity to bring the voices, priorities, challenges and solutions to the table.

I hope we leave this General Debate, Climate Action and SDG Summits with a feeling of momentum – that we are not letting down our young people and the people facing the harsh realities of the climate crisis. Oxfam works with the world’s most vulnerable communities impacted by climate change, disasters, and poverty every day—and we are committed to being a part of the solution that addresses the crisis they feel so acutely.

*Prior to joining Oxfam in 2017, Abby Maxman served as Deputy Secretary General of CARE International in Geneva, providing leadership across the CARE confederation. She previously served as Vice President of International Programs and Operations for CAREUSA, and in other country and regional leadership roles in Africa, Latin America, Asia and the Middle East. Before CARE, Maxman had assignments with the U.S. Peace Corps, German Agency for Technical Cooperation, UN World Food Programme, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

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Excerpt:

Abby Maxman is President, Oxfam America

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Credit: Fanabc

By GGGI
Sep 19 2019 (IPS-Partners)

In 2019, the Ethiopia government, led by Prime Minster Dr. Abiy Ahmed, launched the ambitious Green Legacy campaign that set a milestone to plant 200 million tree seedlings within 12 hours as integral part of an annual target to plant 4 billion tree seedlings.

July 29, 2019 was declared to be Green Legacy day, which aimed to plant 200 million seedlings in a day countrywide by all stakeholders based on the Prime Minister declaration to all Ethiopian citizens, governmental and Non-governmental institutions, Civil and Private organizations, Embassies, Agencies and others. Subsequently, the GGGI Ethiopia country office joined the campaign, with Environment, Forest and Climate Change Commission (EFCCC) as a key partner on the country’s green growth initiatives, to be part of this historic event.

This campaign has shown substantial government dedications towards green development actions, mobilizing stakeholders and forest development initiatives as a country.

Following the Prime Minster national call, a core national technical committee was established and led this campaign to coordinate and ensure tree planting activities across different parts of the country properly and effectively at respective planting sites.

Moreover, a national archive and communication center was established to record and communicate planting tallies as they happen on the site through the application of GPS and modern communication technology. National and international medias have recorded and broadcasted the events, which enabled global outreach to demonstrate Ethiopia’s efforts and achievements on tree planting.

 

Credit: Fanabc

 

The core technical team disclosed the outcome that both targets have been met, in which annual achievement has reached more than 4 billion seedlings. It’s also reported that more than 350 million seedlings have been plated on a single day, which was recorded to be the world’s highest tree seedling planting event ever.

This is a significant measure for Ethiopia to address forest problems, especially to reduce deforestation and enhance forest development, and thereby, improve forest goods and services that have crucial social, economic and environmental roles.

Various scholars have reported that historically, Ethiopia is said to have about 40% forest coverage, which currently has declined to less than half. A recent EFCCC report indicated that Ethiopia has about 15.5 percent forest cover. Apparently, no one would argue about the fact that Ethiopia forest resources have been declining in size and quality through time and deficit between annual forest gain and loss.

 

Credit: Fanabc

 

For Ethiopia, forest development and management is not a matter of choice, rather it’s compulsory to ensure sustainable development and to achieve overarching Climate Resilient Green Economy (CRGE) and Growth Transformation Plan (GTP) strategies.

Ethiopia’s land features are characterized by mountainous and rugged topographic landscapes that are suitable for natural resources conservation including flora and fauna, water reservoirs and multiple functions.  Therefore, landscapes and watersheds management though natural regeneration and restoration have important contributions for the country and beyond the territory. For instance, forestry development has a critical role to address climate changes effects through mitigation and adaptation measures, which have national and international significance.

 

Credit: Fanabc

 

Ethiopia hydro dams have been under serious challenges due to watershed degradations that led to soil erosion and siltation that impacts electricity generation and power supply. In turn, this has been impacting industry and manufacturing sectors due to power shortages, which have direct implications on the economy and livelihoods.

Afforestation and reforestation activities reduce wood supply and demand gaps, as Ethiopian rural communities significantly depend on the forest products for their livelihood, which includes income generation, construction materials, energy, farm tools, foods and so on, both for home consumption and commercial uses. Agroforestry practices have critical roles to improve land management and productivity, which contribute to household incomes and reducing forest pressure.

The forest sector is one of the four pillars under the CRGE strategy to promote green growth development and address climate change mitigation actions.  Generally, this forest development action has multiple contributions and effects that encompasses social, economic and environmental aspects at local, national and global scales.

 

Credit: Fanabc

 

This event is the beginning of long journey, which requires building on this momentum and transforming it into an institutional and strategic approach to realize the intended objectives. It’s believed that the ultimate goal of tree planting is to enhance forest resources to provide improved goods and services sustainably.

Hence, it needs silvicultural and management interventions, scientific knowledge and technology to devise a sustainable management system, demonstrate economic contributions and impacts, forest products value addition and benefit sharing mechanisms, technical supports and law enforcement, knowledge management and sharing on best practices and lessons.

Finally, beyond the accomplishment, this is a lesson that demonstrates how leadership, coordination and joint efforts can make a difference on a pertinent issue. Furthermore, it’s good to reiterate that many individuals, organizations and countries have witnessed how the Ethiopia Green Legacy action has been landmark and exemplary. With this, GGGI commends and is honored to be part of this event and looks forward to further supporting the country’s inclusive green growth efforts.

 

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By Geneva Centre
GENEVA, Sep 18 2019 (IPS-Partners)

A panel debate was organized by the Geneva Centre for Human Rights Advancement and Global Dialogue (The Geneva Centre) and the Permanent Mission of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to the UN in Geneva on the enhancement of access to justice for children in the UAE and the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). It was held on the margins of the 42nd regular session of the Human Rights Council.

The purpose of the panel was to raise awareness about the need to protect the rights of children in vulnerable situations, in particular to seek redress for injustices, to gain a deeper understanding of the root causes and risk factors of child abuse and neglect, and to identify best practices in this domain.

In this connection, the panel took stock of the progress achieved in the UAE to enhance the legal empowerment of children, and identify areas of improvement in line with the provisions set forth in the CRC and other relevant international legal frameworks. It included the participation of Safety Ambassadors, created under the precept of the Wadeema Law.

The Executive Director a.i. of the Geneva Centre Dr Umesh Palwankar served as the panel moderator. The panel was opened by introductory remarks made by HE Obaid Salam Al Zaabi, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the UAE to the UN in Geneva.

This was followed by panel statements by the following panellists:

– (1) Professor Velina Todorova – Vice-Chairperson and Member of the Committee on the Rights of the Child;

– (2) Ms Fatma Ghulam Murad Albooshi – Head of Section of the Department of Child and Woman Protection. General Department of Human Rights, Dubai Police;

– (3) Ms Beate Andrees – Chief, Fundamental Principals and Rights at Work Branch, ILO;

– (4) Mr Phenny Kakama – Child Protection Specialist, UNICEF Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia.

Professor Velina Todorova stressed the need for actions to be taken for prevention, protection and support to child victims. She referred to target 3 of SDG 16: “Promote the rule of law at the national and international levels and ensure equal access to justice for all” as the standard bearer with regard to enhancing access to justice for children.

Ms Murad Albooshi presented the endeavours made by the Dubai Police and the UAE to promote access to justice for children, in particular through the adoption of Wadeema Law and to spread the culture of child rights, enhance child security, monitor and report violations of their rights and seek redress through appropriate mechanism and institutions. In this regard, she explained the innovative role of the Safety Ambassadors who are in fact schoolchildren themselves.

Ms Andrees commended the endeavours made by the UAE to end the worst forms of child labour and for having been one of the first countries to have ratified the Child Labour Convention 182 of 1998. She echoed the recommendations made by ILO to the Government of UAE to continue to provide any information relating to the nature, extent and trends of the worst forms of child labour, and in particular statistical data on the number of children covered by the measures giving effect to the Convention.

Mr Kakama highlighted amongst others that access to justice means more than just the procedural process and that access to justice is the gateway to other rights. He stressed that it is of utmost importance to strengthen accountability mechanisms, enhance transparency and collaboration across sectors that will ensure the full realisation of all the rights of children.

In the panel discussion that followed, the Safety Ambassadors presented their activities and objectives and the positive results obtained in terms of addressing violations of child rights and in providing remedies to address such injustices.

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Credit: United Nations

By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Sep 18 2019 (IPS)

The two key goals in the UN’s development agenda are the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger by 2030.

But most of the world’s developing nations, currently fighting a losing battle against rising poverty and hunger –and suffering from the devastating impact of climate change– are likely to miss the deadline for most of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), according to the latest report by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Jens Martens, executive director of Global Policy Forum (New York/Bonn), told IPS that four years after the adoption of the 2030 Agenda, most governments are off-track to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

He said recent reports of the UN, including the Global Sustainable Development Report and the Spotlight Report 2019 show that in many areas there is no progress at all, and in some even regression.

“Destructive production and consumption patterns have further accelerated global warming, increased the number of extreme weather events, created plastic waste dumps even in the most isolated places of the planet, and dramatically increased the loss of biodiversity,” said Martens, who has coordinated the international Civil Society Reflection Group on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

He pointed out that most governments have failed to turn the proclaimed transformational vision of the 2030 Agenda into policies that bring about real change.

“Even worse, national chauvinism and authoritarianism are on the rise in a growing number of countries, seriously undermining the social fabric, and the spirit and goals of the 2030 Agenda,” he noted.

And on the eve of a high-level summit meeting on SDGs on September 24-25, the UK based Overseas Development Institute (ODI) has released a new report predicting that at least 430 million people are expected to live in extreme poverty by 2030, – an increase of 7.5% on previous projections.

In a worrying sign that global efforts to reduce extreme poverty are failing, new ODI calculations find that, compared to figures released last year, an additional 30 million people will be living on less than $1.90 a day by the end of the next decade.

Credit: United Nations

Asked if poverty figures have declined in the world’s two most populous nations, namely China and India, Jesse Griffiths, head of the Development Strategy and Finance programme at ODI, told IPS that while many emerging market economies like China and India have been rapidly reducing poverty, in many of the world’s poorest countries the situation has been getting worse.

He said ODI research suggests that 430 million people will be living in poverty by 2030, and poverty will be increasingly concentrated in the poorest countries.

In the report titled Financing the end of extreme poverty: 2019 ODI, researchers say extreme poverty could be eradicated if governments in poor countries increased their tax revenues by a quarter and all donors met the UN 0.7 aid spending target.

Lead author Marcus Manuel, senior research associate at ODI, said: ‘We know that extreme poverty could be eliminated but this research shows that without major change hundreds of millions of people will remain living on less than $1.90 a day by 2030.

‘While economic growth will continue to help lift millions of people out of extreme poverty, many are being left behind. This does not have to be the case”.

The key challenge for countries and donors is whether they are willing to increase their financial effort and better target their spending in order to meet their commitment of ensuring nobody has to live in extreme poverty.

Martens told IPS that the implementation of the 2030 Agenda is not just a matter of better policies. The current problems of growing inequalities and unsustainable production and consumption patterns are deeply connected with power hierarchies, institutions, culture and politics.

Hence, policy reform is necessary but not sufficient. “What we need are fundamental governance reforms at all levels, including at the United Nations,” he noted.

Martens said Governments established the High-level Political Forum (HLPF) as the central UN body in overseeing SDG follow-up and review processes at the global level.

But compared to other policy arenas, such as the Security Council or the Human Rights Council, the HLPF remained weak, he argued.

“With an agenda of equal importance, the HLPF should be transformed to a Sustainable Development Council, supported with complementary machinery at regional and thematic levels”.

Unfortunately, he noted, the SDG Summit on September 24-25, is not expected to make this kind of necessary fundamental decisions. The official result is already clear: a political declaration with the ambitious title “Gearing up for a Decade of Action and Delivery for Sustainable Development”.

The governments promise a “higher level of ambition” in the further implementation of the SDGs and stress the “urgent need for accelerated action at all levels”.

“The fact that governments have left it at this level of abstraction and vagueness was the price of being able to agree a consensus declaration with Trump, Bolsonaro & Co. at all,” he added.

But there is a rapidly growing global movement for change, a movement that takes the commitment of the 2030 Agenda to “work in a spirit of global solidarity” seriously.

“Let’s hope that the year 2020 with its official occasions, particularly the 75th anniversary of the UN, will provide an opportunity to translate the calls of this movement for social and environmental justice into political steps towards a new democratic multilateralism,” he declared.

Meanwhile, asked how far behind donor nations are from the 0.7 aid targets, ODI’s Griffiths, said: ‘While ODI’s report reveals that if donors met their 0.7% aid commitment and channelled half their aid to the poorest countries, all countries could have enough resources to end poverty, sadly donors are collectively less than half way there, giving just 0.31% of their GNI in 2018.’

In 2018 five OECD DAC (Development assistance committee, that sets the rule for what counts as aid) members met the 0.7 target: UK, Sweden, Norway, Luxembourg, Denmark. (Owing to its small size, Luxembourg might not be counted as a ‘major’ donor. Netherlands used to but not recently.

The ODI report makes key recommendations for governments and donors to end extreme poverty by 2030.

Governments in the poorest countries should:

Increase their tax revenues by a quarter, to the maximum level that is economically feasible

Allocate half of their public spending to health, education and social protection, as Ethiopia and Tanzania have come close to doing

Donors should:

Ensure all donors meeting the UN target for ODA, following the example of other major donors the UK, Sweden, Norway and Denmark

Double the share of collective aid given to the poorest countries from one quarter to a half, following the example of Ireland

The writer can be contacted at thalifdeen@ips.org

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By Karim Hussein
ACCRA, Sep 18 2019 (IPS)

Transformations in international agricultural and rural development issues

Some major changes in international agricultural and rural development over the last 30-40 years need to be taken into account in efforts to promote sustainable development and an inclusive rural transformation (IFAD 2016) as we approach the third decade of the millennium. This opinion piece, drawing on a longer article published in Agriculture for Development Journal (Summer 2019 Issue), seeks to stimulate reflection and debate on how work to support agricultural and rural development can evolve to address key challenges and opportunities related to migration, sustainable urbanization and youth in a changing global policy context.

Karim Hussein

Current issues and challenges

While key themes have remained on the agenda such as enhancing productivity, environmental sustainability, inclusion and participation, availability and access to food and addressing trade issues, since the 1980s the global development landscape has evolved. The transformations occurring in the global economy and society are moving at a rapid pace, particularly in the context of the application of new technologies and innovations, information and communications technologies (ICTs) and digital approaches in agriculture or ‘digitalisation’ (Dahlberg Advisers and CTA 2019), all in an increasingly complex and globalised development context. A key question has become how do agricultural and rural development adapt in a world of rapid globalisation and urbanization to reduce hunger, food insecurity and contribute to eliminating poverty FAO 2019 and Jacquet et al, 2011)?

The roles of partnerships among all stakeholders to address food systems challenges and build resilience to shocks among smallholders are key. Smallholders constitute the majority of the world’s rural producers, and among these special attention is needed to empower women and youth and to address the challenges faced by vulnerable groups, including migrants, in the context of rapid transformations in the global economy and food systems.

Major challenges to an inclusive and sustainable rural transformation in the 21st Century are reviewed in more detail in the paper published in Agriculture for Development cited above. Clearly, the pace of innovation has to increase to address these challenges. Here, I will highlight just three areas: migration; rapid urbanization; and youth (https://taa.org.uk/publications/journals/).

Migration is a dramatic global and regional phenomenon shaping the policies and decisions of governments and populations around the world. The roles of mobility in agriculture and rural development require more attention than they have received to date. They are increasingly significant given rapid growth in youth populations in developing countries, along with dynamic rural-urban connectivity, and the impacts of climate change and spread of conflict (Suttie 2018, ‘Migration and rural advisory services’, GFRAS Issues Paper 2). Tailored, context-specific approaches to promoting agriculture and access to advisory services for young people and women is critical to the 2030 Agenda, especially SDGs 1, 2, 5, 8 and 11. There is a need to work on how to adapt technical agricultural analysis, advice and rural advisory services to respond to the needs of mobile populations in both rural and urban areas.

Rapid urbanisation. A rapid rate of urbanization has occurred and will likely accelerate in the coming years such that in 2050 some 66% of the world’s population is expected to live in urban areas (see FAO 2019 cited above). In 2013, over 58 % of the total population in developing countries was considered to live in rural areas with most involved in agriculture, mainly smallholder farming (Hussein and Suttie, 2016). Given the major transitions related to the global trend of urbanization, the roles that rural economies and societies will have to play in creating sustainable and inclusive food systems require more attention in the years ahead. Rural-based populations are increasingly connected to urban areas and markets, but many are primarily engaged in informal sector economic activities and low productivity agriculture and lacking access to basic services. The incentives for people in rural areas and for those engaged in agriculture to migrate to towns, cities and abroad in search of better jobs and income earning opportunities are very powerful, particularly for young people.

Youth. In many developing countries, the population of young people is growing and youth have become the centre of attention for development practitioners and decision makers. Addressing the challenges related to a bulging population of young people seeking better work and incomes in developing countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, will be vital in the years ahead. This is critical to work to strengthen rural-urban linkages and food systems to facilitate youth migration for real job opportunities but also to ensure they have attractive economic opportunities in agriculture and rural areas.

Suttie argued that higher incomes, urban growth, increasing demand for food, the spread of technologies and greater rural-urban connectivity have created new opportunities for skilled remunerative work in agri-food systems (Suttie 2018). In this context, skills development tailored to opportunities for young people (particularly smallholder family farmers, rural workers and rural women) in agriculture – whether in urban or rural contexts – is strategically important for making progress towards achieving the SDGs.

Concluding remarks

Hunger, poverty, environmental crises and sustainability remain as important if not more important than they were 40 years ago. While the issues have perhaps not changed so much over this period, the context has in this rapidly changing, fluid and globalised world where technology and innovation are leaping ahead. In order to achieve the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and an inclusive and sustainable agricultural and rural transformation, special attention needs to be paid by development actors to addressing issues related to migration, rapid urbanization and youth.

This opinion piece is drawn from a longer article published in Agriculture for Development journal, No. 37, Summer 2019 (see: https://taa.org.uk/publications/journals/)

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Rescuing a sex worker and institutionalising or criminalising them is not a solution | Picture courtesy: Sanjog.

By Uma Chatterjee
KOLKATA, India, Sep 18 2019 (IPS)

Human trafficking is perhaps one of the most well-organised crimes being committed in India. How else do we explain the phenomenon of adolescent girls and young women from remote villages across India being found in brothels in our cities?

This trend has sustained itself, despite laws that criminalise child sexual exploitation and trafficking, because of the demand for adolescents in the sex trade and the steady supply of girls from rural India, made vulnerable by poverty. Unforgivably, those who profit from trafficking the vulnerable enjoy impunity.

 

Where are the gaps in the fight against human trafficking?

Disorganised response to an organised crime

While the criminal network of trafficking is very well organised, the response of the police, the state, and nonprofits, is disorganised. The investigators entrusted with trafficking cases are from local police stations, which are essentially meant to maintain law and order and address issues of the precinct in which they are located. They are not meant to investigate crimes that are transborder. And so, the police investigate cases either at destination or source, but hardly ever in conjunction.

State governments also have no coordinated systems and work in silos. Over a decade ago, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued directives to state governments to create specialised investigation units, called the Anti Human Trafficking Units (AHTUs). On paper, there are more than 220 AHTUs across the country, but less than five percent of them are notified.

This means that existing police officers have been given additional responsibility to man AHTUs, but do not have the time, resources, or infrastructure to investigate these cases. Bad investigations lead to low conviction rates, which break the morale of the police, who then avoid filing FIRs, because they believe it is a waste of their effort.

 

Failure to look at the lifecycle of trafficking

We often find that a child or a young person who gets victimised today may become part of the criminal network for her or his own survival tomorrow. For instance, brothel managers or madams, as they are known, have shared that they too were once trafficked, and recruited girls and women to work for them when they got older.

The investigators entrusted with trafficking cases are from local police stations, which are essentially meant to maintain law and order and address issues of the precinct in which they are located. They are not meant to investigate crimes that are transborder. And so, the police investigate cases either at destination or source, but hardly ever in conjunction.

Because this is stigmatised labour, there is no easy supply of younger women. Consequently, brothel managers rely on traffickers to supply young girls, which is where the demand lies.

When the state does manage to rescue girls and young women from sexual exploitation, they put them up in closed institutions that are referred to as shelter homes.

Shelter homes have however failed to rehabilitate survivors. They are unable to provide skills and training that make survivors employable with reasonable incomes, but instead make them feel punished and incarcerated.

In addition, sex workers are often in debt bondage. They cannot open bank accounts due to lack of proof of residence and are therefore unable to save and borrow through financial institutions.

This makes them dependent on moneylenders who operate in these communities and borrow at high interest rates of 25-50 percent. This keeps them in perpetual debt.

We need to invest in the financial and social inclusion of survivors. Rescuing a sex worker of 35 or 40 years of age and institutionalising or criminalising them is not a solution.

 

Gaps in law and its implementation

Laws on human trafficking—the Immoral Traffic Prevention Act, the Bonded Labour Act, and even certain sections of the Indian Penal Code—have not been very successful in securing convictions or increasing rehabilitation for survivors of trafficking.

These laws criminalise brothel managers and employers, but not traffickers. They try to fight the crime at one end (the destination) while allowing impunity at the other (the source).

 

What is the role of civil society in the anti-trafficking sector?

Most nonprofits working on human trafficking have taken over responsibilities of service delivery, such as running shelters, but do so amidst many challenges. They are dependent on either foreign funding or state budgets. With foreign funding many have created large facilities with a sizeable workforce, who are not always trained for the job.

Government funding for service delivery remains frugal and inefficiently disbursed. This leads to poor quality of services resulting in poor benefits to survivors. There needs to be a shift in the role of civil society organisations (CSOs) from being service providers to becoming facilitators. Five approaches that we advocate for are:

 

Build survivor leadership

There is a tendency in the anti-trafficking sector to label survivors of trafficking as ‘victims’, who need to be protected and spoken for. Nonprofits must transition out of being ‘saviours’ and focus on building leadership among survivors, encouraging them to fight for their rights and services from panchayats and governments.

There is an assumption that survivors do not want to come to the fore or show their faces. In my experience, survivors seldom feel the shame that our society associates with them. When CSOs help them to resist and challenge stigma, they reject that shaming and are able to fight for their own justice.

Instead of being the voice for survivors, nonprofits must assist them to speak for themselves. Often, nonprofits themselves treat sex work as a sin or a reason to feel shame. However, when trafficking gets treated as a crime, the strategies to fight it will be different.

The focus will shift from saving survivors, to empowering them to fight through robust legal aid, training, sharing information, collectivising, collaborating, and so on. As leadership gets built among survivors’ groups, they will take the lead in this effort.

 

Secure compensation

India has a strong provision for compensating survivors, but it is poorly implemented. According to the State Legal Services Authority, no compensation has been awarded to survivors of trafficking in many states, because there were no applications.

This happens because survivors do not know that they are entitled to compensation and are unable to secure legal aid to access these funds. The Nirbhaya Fund of the central government, which pays for this, has been poorly used by many state governments and nonprofits.

But some lawyers like Kaushik Gupta and Anirban Tarafdar have managed to secure compensation amounting to INR 4 to 6 lakhs. This enables survivors to pay for their own rehabilitation rather than having to depend on CSOs.

 

Make rehabilitation community-based rather than institutional

The focus of rehabilitation for governments and nonprofits has been on shelter homes. But it needs to shift to helping survivors return to their families, and then helping the families combat stigma and poverty, and claim services from panchayats, police, and healthcare providers. Working in groups and collectives helps to fight stigma and challenge traffickers.

 

Facilitate work that is already happening

To effectively counter human trafficking, nonprofits working separately in source and destination areas must come together. This is an opportunity for larger organisations to play the role of the facilitator—bring together organisations from the villages as well as those working in red-light areas in cities, so that they can communicate with each other and coordinate their efforts.

There will be barriers to this, such as language and mobility, and nonprofits can work to remove them. Nonprofits can also facilitate dialogue between survivor leaders and the state. Instead of speaking on behalf of survivors, nonprofits can bring survivor leaders to the same platform as parliamentarians, so that they can speak for themselves, and present their concerns using their own voice.

 

Gather and disseminate information

For any kind of policy advocacy or activism against a social issue, evidence is key. Here, nonprofits can play the role of researcher, evidence builder, and synthesiser of information. They can then arm survivors’ groups with this information.

For instance, government departments often release legal and policy documents, which have a direct bearing on the lives of survivors, but which could be difficult for them to understand.

We, at Sanjog, took one such document, translated it to Bengali, because the survivors’ groups that we were working with were from West Bengal. We took each clause of that document, and explained its implications through the use of examples, over a 3-day workshop. As a result, they are now better equipped to negotiate with the government for their rights and justice and can respond to questions that are thrown at them.

 

What lies ahead?

The MHA has introduced a National Investigation Agency (Amendment) Bill (NIA), which, despite being controversial, promises to investigate human trafficking cases and improve infrastructure in the judiciary for prosecution. We wait to see how these cases will be referred to the NIA, how the NIA will engage with the AHTUs, the role boundaries and convergence issues, etc.

The previous government tried to reform the law in human trafficking, but the Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2018 lapsed, and it is yet to be seen whether the present government will revive it. Perhaps there will be changes made based on earlier objections, particularly on issues of shelter homes and lack of community-based rehabilitation.

Meanwhile, there are organisations that help survivors of human trafficking form their own collectives and create SHGs and federations; and leadership is emerging from these groups. The volume of discussion on trafficking in the past two years is unprecedented.

The media and the parliamentarians are talking about it, and while it hasn’t yet become a mass issue, it is no more just a social sector issue. These are all positive developments, and herein lies the dream of making our societies free of human trafficking.

This story was originally published by India Development Review (IDR)

The post Human trafficking: A Disorganised Response to an Organised Crime appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Uma Chatterjee is the co-founder and executive director of Sanjog, a technical resource organisation based in Kolkata

The post Human trafficking: A Disorganised Response to an Organised Crime appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Kathmandu at night

By GGGI
Sep 18 2019 (IPS-Partners)

Sonika Manandhar, Aeloi Technologies’ co-founder, knows the Kathmandu public transportation system inside out. Her family has been running micros (vans that operate as buses) as a business for over twenty years. She also insists on taking public transportation every day, although most of her peers in the technology industry rather save up and buy a motorbike. “Buses are just safer and more environmentally friendly,” says Sonika. “Unfortunately, all the buses, micros, and tempos stop after 8 pm. Then taxis or motorcycle hailing apps are the only options. I don’t feel safe with either, so I often miss out on networking opportunities or professional meetings over dinner,” she adds.

Sonika trying to negotiate with a taxi driver

Sonika’s frustrations inspired our team to dig deeper into the public transportation industry. We found out that Kathmandu is actually a green city pioneer, with over 700 electric minibuses, locally called safa tempos, that have been steadily servicing the city for 20 years. This industry is uniquely suited to Nepal because of Nepal’s immense hydropower potential, which is predicted to be sufficient for all electricity and fossil fuel use in the country by 2020. In particular, safa tempos are majority owned and operated by women, even though the rest of the public transportation sector is dominated by men. Aeloi’s team thought: what a perfect industry for us to start in!

A typical safa tempo which is an electric minibus that seats 11

Sachita is the owner and driver of her safa tempo

Aeloi Technologies – token powered finance

Aeloi is a fintech social enterprise in Nepal. We are making micro-impact investments accountable and accessible for green microentrepreneurs using digital tokens. Digital tokens are a flexible form of shop credit only usable at pre-vetted vendors. Our SMS platform doesn’t require smart phones or mobile data and is specifically designed for first time digital financial services users. We digitally link impact investors, local microfinance institutions, entrepreneurs, and vendors in real time, ensuring each dollar of investment is used productively.

Investments with an impact focus – such as subsidized loans, social impact bonds, or carbon offsets – are usually not “user-friendly” for microenterprises in emerging markets. Stringent reporting requirements means layers of management and high administration costs, rendering small investments unfeasible. Therefore entrepreneurs in the grassroots green economy are left behind in the move towards a sustainable future, as indicated by the US$2 trillion credit gap for 65 million emerging market microenterprises.

A problem of trust between lenders and borrowers, we believe, is the fundamental reason for the continued lack of affordable financing at the grassroots level. Aeloi’s digital token platform helps increase trust between lenders, borrowers, impact investors, vendors, and other stakeholders.

For example, an impact investor invests US$1 million into a microfinance cooperative in Nepal as a fixed deposit. The deposit generally earns about 12% interest per annum at such microfinance institutions. Then, 4% is returned to the investor, 4% is used to subsidize loans for microentrepreneurs, and 4% is Aeloi’s operations fee. The subsidized loan is issued in digital tokens, therefore ensuring the investment is spent on business expenses. A transparent record is automatically generated in real-time.

Green Energy Mobility (GEM)

Initial online research showed us that the number of safa tempos had not increased since the mid-2000s. Curious about the reason, we started interviewing a lot of safa tempo drivers and owners to understand their challenges. We found out that actually there are an estimated 100 safa tempos just sitting and slowly rusting in garages. It was a sad sight to behold.

Some garages had many safa tempos that sat rusting because of a lack of financing to buy batteries

The reason behind this is that one of the main challenges for safa tempo owners and drivers is to upgrade their battery and engine technology. For example, the owners often buy a pair of lead acid batteries that last only 1 to 1.5 years. This costs about US$4500. Lithium ion batteries that last 5-8 years are available and the technology is quite mature, but they cost almost US$10,000, which is completely out of reach for most women employed in the informal sector. So if an owner cannot afford a new set of batteries, they tend to leave the safa tempo at a garage because it is not worth the loan amount and interest rates. The interest rates can go as high as 26% p.a., depending on if the borrower has any collateral or credit history. If the owners have to take credit from loan sharks, then the interest rates are unpredictable and can go as high as 120% p.a. Often, they can’t access any loan, even with very high interest rates.

We believe our technology platform can help safa tempo owners and drivers. We envision a way to directly connect impact investors and customers to safa tempo owners and drivers through digital tokens. Not only will we help them access more affordable loans, we’ll also be able to help with the savings and repayment process. In addition, we’ll be able to use these digital footprints to create alternative credit scores for access to future loans if they want to expand their business.

With all of this information brewing in our minds, we reached out to the Electric Vehicle Association of Nepal and a safa tempo union to learn more about potential for partnership. We also started doing more customer market research, seeking companies that wanted to provide daily commute support for their employees, events that wanted to provide pooled transportation options for their attendees after 8 pm, and gated communities that wanted to provide transportation options to their elderly and children. We are continuing our customer interviewing process to make sure we can discover and target specific segments that will become our early adopters.

We are also engaging microfinance institutions and banks to see who would be interested in piloting digital token loans for safa tempo owners and drivers. The loans will be small at first to help with daily operations costs, which provides us data to construct an alternative credit score to ultimately access a loan for lithium ion batteries.

As a startup, we are continuously iterating to make sure our product truly addresses our stakeholders’ pain points. The Greenpreneurs program has been tremendously helpful in helping us carve out time to look at each part of our business from a holistic point of view. We also iterated on our business model to make our value proposition for each stakeholder stronger. We will continue to use the knowledge and skills we learnt from Greenpreneurs to move forward with our pilots.

Our vision is for detailed behavioural data from thousands of microfinance products to feed into our big data platform. In fact, we launched our agriculture product pilot, named ReGrow, two months ago and we are receiving very encouraging data. We will be launching our GEM pilot in October this year.

We are actively seeking impact investors who are interested in our model for partnership. Please reach us at hello@aeloi.com.

The global impact investing market was US$502 billion in 2018. Join us in helping grassroots green entrepreneurs directly access such financing!

 

Biography

Tiffany Tong (CEO) and Sonika Manandhar (CTO) are co-founders of Aeloi Technologies. They bring a combined 20 years of experience in fintech, international development, and computer engineering. While working with the World Bank and the Microsoft Innovation Center, they both graduated from the Singularity University based in Silicon Valley. Passion for using exponential technologies to improve livelihoods fuels their partnership. Aeloi’s mentors include advisors and staff from the Greenpreneurs program, Civil Society Academy (Welthungerhilfe), the UN Capital Development Fund, and the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.

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