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Credit: UN News/Li Zhang

By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 2 2020 (IPS)

The deadly coronavirus COVID-19, which is spreading across China, Japan, South Korea, Iran, Italy, the Philippines– along with new cases in Asia, Western Europe and the Middle East– has claimed one of its first casualties at the United Nations.

The annual inter-governmental meeting of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), due to take place March 9-20, is being described as dead on arrival (DOA).

But it is still likely to take place as scheduled— minus the participation of over 5,000 to 6,000 delegates from overseas.

The 11-day meeting, the largest single gathering of women delegates from 193 countries, is being significantly downgraded because of the threat of COVID-19.

The United States, meanwhile, has postponed its own summit of world leaders of the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) due to take place in Las Vegas March 14.

“As the international community works together to defeat the novel coronavirus, the United States, in consultation with ASEAN partners, has made the difficult decision to postpone the ASEAN leaders meeting previously scheduled for mid-March,” a senior administration official was quoted as saying.

Ma.Victoria (Mavic) Cabrera Balleza, Chief Executive Officer, Global Network of Women Peacebuilders, told IPS the 64th session of the upcoming CSW session should not be cancelled because of the outbreak of coronavirus disease — but its methodology should be modified.

“It is a very important event that brings a big momentum to our advocacy for women’s rights and gender equality, especially this year as we are commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the most comprehensive global women’s rights agenda,” she pointed out.

In light of the outbreak of coronavirus disease, the UN Secretary-General’s suggestion to the Chair of the CSW that Member States consider amending the format and conduct of the session is a good idea, she said.

“However, I don’t think it should be limited to New York-based delegations only. The valued-added of CSW sessions lie on the huge participation of women’s rights activists and gender experts from around the world,” said Cabrera Balleza.

Such strong participation allows for discussions on diverse topics that impact on women’s enjoyment of their rights in political, economic, and social arenas, she noted.

UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters February 28 that given the fast evolving situation regarding COVID-19– and the need to balance the UN’s critical work and public health concerns—UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has suggested to the Bureau of the Committee on the Status of Women that they hold a scaled down meeting, limiting participation to New York based representation.

This, in effect, would bar delegates coming from their home countries preventing the spread of the virus through travel.

The limited participation, Dujarric pointed out, would still enable the CSW to adopt decisions and implement its mandate.

The final decision, which is likely to be aligned with the recommendation made by Guterres, will be taken by the 193 member states later this week.

Emergency room nurses wear face masks at Second People’s Hospital of Shenzhen in China. Credit: Man Yi/ UN News

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said his first priority “is to protect our homeland. We have imposed prudent travel restrictions and strong travel advisories to slow the spread of the virus in the United States.”

This could, in effect, prevent women delegates from some the US blacklisted countries from entering the US and participating in the CSW session.

Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the US National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said at a news briefing February 24: “It’s not so much of a question if this will happen anymore but rather more of a question of exactly when this will happen.”

She said that cities and towns should plan for “social distancing measures,” like dividing school classes into smaller groups of students or closing schools altogether. Meetings and conferences may have to be canceled, she said. And businesses should arrange for employees to work from home.

Purnima Mane, a former UN Assistant Secretary-General and Deputy Executive Director of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), told IPS the CSW session, like in the case of other large meetings and conferences, is under serious consideration on the part of the organizers of canceling the meeting due to the growing epidemic of the coronavirus COVID-19.

“As an advocate of women’s issues, I will of course be disappointed if the meeting is not held as planned but as a public health professional as well, I would advocate for caution.”

She said the situation of the virus is evolving rapidly and merits a careful assessment of the risks of any global meeting.

The meeting is next week and countries remain at different stages of preparedness to deal with the epidemic, said Mane, a former President and CEO of Pathfinder International.

She pointed out that the World Health Organization (WHO) has consistently advised against the application of travel restrictions.

However, several countries have imposed restrictions nonetheless, such as quarantine, visa restrictions or denial of entry of passengers.

In others there is far stricter screening of passengers on arrival and discrimination against citizens from certain regions of the world, even though the epidemic has spread to every continent except Antarctica, and cases are growing on a daily basis, she declared.

Cabrera Balleza told IPS: If most CSW participants will not be able to travel to New York, virtual conferences can be organized.

However, UN country teams and governments in developing and conflict-affected countries should open up their offices so grassroots women’s rights activists can go there, use the internet and participate in virtual conferences.

The UN should also provide transportation and interpretation support during virtual conferences, she noted.

As WHO has declared a global emergency over the coronavirus and has been lending support to China and other countries, the UN HQ in NY should ensure that it is taking all necessary precautions and its operations are not in any way contributing to the spread of the disease.

There are a number of logistical challenges in organizing a modified CSW session but they are not insurmountable.

If the UN and Member States are truly committed to women’s rights, gender equality, and women’s empowerment, they will mobilize necessary resources to ensure that the CSW session in 2020, will contribute to making this a pivotal year for the accelerated realization of women’s empowerment and gender equality for all women and girls around the world, said Cabrera Balleza.

The other key concern, she said, is the lack of “care planning” if participants catch the virus.

“What if they get sick when they are already in New York? Are there enough facilities that are equipped to handle coronavirus cases? Let alone the cost of medical care in NY. What if they get sick on the way back to their countries? Not having immediate access to care when traveling is a big problem,” she cautioned.

Mane told IPS that in a situation in which many countries are not in a state of topnotch preparedness for dealing with this epidemic, it is judicious to wait to hold a global meeting.

“And in a situation in which some countries are imposing travel restrictions despite WHO advice, it is obvious that not everybody who wants and should be present at this important meeting will be able to participate in person, anyway, reducing the impact of the CSW meeting.”

She said that each of the intergovernmental meetings is expected to be assessed on a case-by-case basis depending on the evolving situation.

But since the CSW is the first major intergovernmental meeting of 2020, the decision will undeniably impact other intergovernmental meetings to follow.

For the CSW, taking into consideration the pragmatic and public health considerations, it makes sense to give countries more time for building preparedness and to permit the presence of more delegates at the CSW.

It might be optimal either to organize country level meetings to feed into global recommendations for the CSW or an outright postponement of the date, so that when the CSW is held, it is a truly global event. In view of the vital subject of women’s status being dealt at the CSW, it would be prudent and ethical to do so.

UN Spokesperson Dujarric said the advice given by the Secretary-General is based on inputs from the Senior Emergency Policy Team and very close consultations between the U.N. Medical Services and the WHO.

“Forthcoming intergovernmental meetings at Headquarters and elsewhere will be assessed on a case-by-case basis, taking into account the specificities of the meetings and evolving circumstances,” he added.

The writer can be contacted at thalifdeen@aol.com

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Members of the Alliance for Food Health, a collective of organisations and academics, called in Mexico for better regulation of advertising of junk food aimed at children and of food and beverage labelling, during the launch of the report “A childhood hooked on obesity” in Mexico City. Credit: Emilio Godoy/IPS

By N Chandra Mohan
NEW DELHI, Feb 28 2020 (IPS)

Paradoxically, when the number of people suffering from undernourishment or hunger has risen in the world, so, too, have those afflicted by overweight and obesity. Latin America’s second largest economy, Mexico, for instance, is currently battling one of the world’s largest epidemics of obesity and its success is bound to be emulated by countries of the South. The numbers involved are staggering. The director-general of the National Institute of Public Health, Dr Juan Rivera told the Financial Times that “seventy five percent of adults and 35 percent of children and adolescents are overweight or obese… The State has a duty to protect public health.”

Mexico’s public health crisis is reflected in the third edition of the Food Sustainability Index (FSI) – based on the pillars of sustainable agriculture, food loss/waste and nutritional challenges — developed by the Economist Intelligence Unit and the Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition in Italy. Nutritional challenges in particular are tracked by several indicators like life quality (prevalence of malnourishment, micronutrient deficiency), life expectancy (prevalence of overnourishment, impact on health) and dietary patterns (diet composition, number of people per fast food restaurant and quality of policy response to dietary patterns).

Out of a scale of 0 to 100, where 100 represents the greatest progress towards meeting a performance indicator, Mexico registered low scores of 13.9 on the prevalence of overnourishment or overweight that ranks it 61st out of 67 countries tracked by the FSI.The share of those who are overweight among adults and children are also broadly in line with what was indicated by Dr Rivera. Mexican diets have high levels of sugar with a score of 10.3 that places it among the bottom five out of the 67 countries as per this indicator. The score for the number of people per fast food restaurant is also rather low at 1.9.

N Chandra Mohan

However, Mexico is in the top five countries for its policy response to dietary patterns. The country now plans to have a compulsory labeling system in place by March whereby food and beverage products sold in the country will have warnings that they “contain too much sugar” or “too many calories” or “too much fat”. In 2014, this country imposed taxes on sugar in foods like soft drinks and junk food. But this taxation route has had a limited impact in curbing consumption of these items as obesity has acquired epidemic proportions. Non-communicable diseases in the population have also increased like diabetes, hypertension and heart disease.

The proximate causes of this obesity epidemic stem from more and more Mexicans living in urban areas with economic development. Only a fifth now resides in rural areas. Urbanisation in turn has been associated with shifts in dietary patterns from traditional foods including fruits and vegetables towards low-cost energy-dense foods that are high in sugar and deficient in micronutrients. Metropolitan life styles are also sedentary than living in the rural countryside. With the consumption of more fast food and sugary drinks, the energy imbalance between calories consumed and calories expended is manifested in overweight and obesity.

To combat obesity, a welcome factor of change is that local communities, especially in Mexico’s countryside, are also getting involved in this effort. Last year, IPS reported the efforts of the non-governmental Amaranth Network in the Mixteca region, in the southern state of Oaxaca, to grow a native crop amaranth alongside traditional corn and beans. The inclusion of amaranth with other high protein seeds helps to significantly improve the nutritional quality of diets. The cultivation of this crop has produced benefits such as the organisation of farmers, processors and consumers and much-needed public funding to scale up this laudable initiative.

In contrast to Mexico, elsewhere in the South – in vast parts of sub-Saharan Africa and Asia like India — the problem is much grimmer with the paradox of undernourishment or hunger coexisting with obesity. This double burden of malnutrition co-exists within countries, within communities and also within households according to Dr Raghav Gaiha, Professorial Research Fellow, University of Manchester. The excess energy from low-cost energy-dense food can affect children and adults within the same household differently: The children may use up the excess energy and remain underweight while adults are likely to become overweight.

In India, for instance, the ranks of the hungry are also set to further rise with domestic food prices (including global as well) going through the roof amidst a sharp slowdown in overall economic growth. This can constrain budgetary resources for vastly stepping up outlays for nutrition initiatives for children through schemes like the Integrated Child Development Services and Mid-day Meals Programme. The provision of healthy food items like millets and pulses through the nationwide public distribution system is also necessary. The prevalence of hunger with rising obesity calls for best practices to be shared within the South.

N Chandra Mohan is an economics and business commentator

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Civil protection volunteers engaged in health checks at the "Milano Malpensa" airport. This week a joint team between WHO and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control arrived in Rome to review the public health measures put in place to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Courtesy: Dipartimento Protezione Civile

By Samira Sadeque
UNITED NATIONS, Feb 28 2020 (IPS)

Just a month since the World Health Organization declared the Coronavirus a public health emergency, it is now taking steps to contain misinformation being spread about the disease. Globally, there have been more than 82,000 cases of Coronavirus, which has claimed 2,800 lives — the majority being in China, where the disease has been traced to. 

On Thursday, United Nations Secretary General António Guterres reiterated at a talk in New York that it’s not yet a pandemic but urged people to practice caution. 

“We are not yet in a pandemic, but there is a clear risk there and the window of opportunity to avoid it is narrowing,” he said, adding that governments must do everything possible to stop the transmission and to do it now. He also expressed his concern about countries in the developing world that “lack the capacity” to address the massive scale of the issue. 

“This is still the moment to ask for countries to contain the disease and to do everything possible to contain the disease because we’re not yet in an irreversible pandemic,” he said. 

He urged people to avoid stigmatising the illness, and to “have a human rights approach to the way this disease is fought”.

However, as health officials around the world continue to gear up for the disease, which seemingly has no cure, there is another aspect of the crisis to be dealt with: misinformation about it spreading on the internet. 

David P. Fidler, a senior fellow for cybersecurity and global health at the non-profit think tank, Council on Foreign Relations, detailed the issue of misinformation and the harm it does during a health emergency like this. 

“Disinformation threatens health because it undermines confidence in the underlying science, questions the motivations of health professionals, politicises health activities, and creates problems for responses to disease challenges,” he wrote in 2019 about how disinformation during an Ebola outbreak was a major concern. 

He went on to explain that it has historic roots: often, illnesses are mistakenly associated or linked to immigrants or a foreign country in order to perpetuate xenophobic sentiments.

“Spreading misinformation about diseases was a tactic of disinformation campaigns by governments before the social media era,” he wrote. 

IPS caught up with Fidler on how misinformation in the current situation can exacerbate the crisis:

Inter Press Service (IPS): Usually during a crisis like this (or in the past during Ebola or SARS), what is the main challenge in containing misinformation being spread?

David Fidler (DF): In past outbreaks, two factors typically converged to produce problems from information and misinformation: uncertainty about the outbreak on the part of national and international health officials making efforts to address the disease, and lack of trust in the population in the information provided by official sources. These factors appeared in disease outbreaks before the advent of social media, and the scale and intensity of information and misinformation circulating on social media platforms exacerbates the two factors noted above.

In addition, the ease with which misinformation can be spread and amplified on social media has become yet another factor public health officials have to address in dealing with outbreaks. Social media even makes communicating accurate information more difficult. I have seen, across my Twitter feed, a cacophony of attempts to share information that has frustrated experts trying to identify and share the latest information about COVID-19.

 

IPS: What leads to misinformation during times like this?

DF: In the past, people with political agendas would exploit the fear that serious outbreaks create to produce and spread misinformation. Such misinformation in essence weaponised the outbreak for other political purposes. In the age of social media, this “weaponisation” of outbreaks for political purposes has become, for lack of a better term, industrialised by state and non-state actors exploiting the potential of social media to spread misinformation on a scale and at a speed never seen before, especially in the public health context.

 

IPS: What, in your opinion, is currently the biggest misunderstanding about the Coronavirus?

DF: We are seeing, I think, a “triple burden” in the information space concerning COVID-19. First, international and national health officials are struggling to communicate information concerning a new virus about which much is not known.

However, at the international level, WHO has made the information climate worse by praising China’s response even though much of what China has done in trying to address the outbreak in its territory is not consistent with WHO’s recommendations on the outbreak or WHO’s emphasis in the past on responses to outbreaks that do not unnecessarily restrict trade, travel, and human rights. WHO’s credibility, I think, has taken a massive hit. At the national level, we see, for example, the current circus in the U.S. government about communicating to the American people about the outbreak, and I imagine other national governments are also scrambling to get the “messaging” right.

What’s astonishing to me, having studied outbreaks for nearly three decades, is that this communication problem continues to flummox national and international health officials just about every single time–so that “lesson learned” is apparently never actually learned.

Second, we are seeing the weaponisation of the outbreak in the misinformation being circulated for different political purposes. For me, this outbreak is different in that the weaponisation has connected to the change in geopolitics, with the rise of China and worries about China’s growing power and influence sharpening and broadening criticism of China’s response to the outbreak. Here, unlike Ebola in Africa, we have the outbreak entangled with the increasing rawness of balance of power politics between the United States and China.

Third, we have the social media effect where state and non-state actors are spreading misinformation widely and rapidly in a context where no government or international organisation has any effective policy responses to address this problem.

 

IPS: What is your recommendation to the following sections of society to do their role in making sure misinformation doesn’t spread:

 

DF: Policymakers: The touchstones of effective communication during outbreaks have been studied and promulgated frequently, so follow the playbook, including making the most up-to-date information available with great frequency across media outlets in ways accessible to people, and include in the information advice on any steps individuals can take to protect themselves and their families. Rinse and repeat, again and again as the outbreak evolves. The information/misinformation environment is more competitive now because of social media, but the basic principles of effective communication in a crisis context remain valid even amidst more noise.

 

DF: Institutions such as schools and workplaces: School and company leaders should monitor information being released by the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and translate that information into actionable steps and plans for the school context and for specific workplace contexts. Again, be fast, frequent, and user-friendly with the information that school and company leaders provide to students and employees.

 

Individuals: Do not rely solely on social media for information about the COVID-19 outbreak and how it might affect you and your family. Visit and re-visit the information provided by the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and translate that information into your individual and family circumstances. 

• In order to tackle the misinformation concerns, WHO launched its EPI-WIN initiative, which aims to provide users with timely and accurate information while also filtering through “infodemics”, which the organisation describes as “excessive amount of information about a problem that makes it difficult to identify a solution”. 

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The delegation visit a water pumping and desalination station in Wajir County, constructed under a Public-Private Partnership between the Government of Kenya, USAID, the Swiss Government, World Vision, Boreal Light and the Millennium Water Alliance.

By PRESS RELEASE
NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 28 2020 (IPS-Partners)

From 26 February to 28 February 2020, the United Nations in Kenya supported a joint visit to the Frontier Counties of Kenya.

The objective of this mission was to allow delegates from the Government of Kenya, United Nations, and development partners to identify opportunities and innovation beyond what any individual stakeholder can accomplish, assess Public- Private Partnerships at county level, and ultimately promote socio-economic transformation in historically marginalised counties.

The mission was conducted as part on ongoing efforts by the Ministry of Devolution, Arid and Semi Arid Lands ( ASALs) and the UN system to build on the existing United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) 2018-2022 which responds to the clarion call by the United Nations Secretary General, Mr Antonio Guterres of “leaving no one behind and reaching the furthest behind first”.

The thematic focus of the mission is on access to water. Specifically, to facilitate both high-level dialogues and visits to development initiatives related to water which have the potential to advance the Kenyan development agenda, the Big 4 and enabling environment, with the CIDPs as its context and the realization of Vision 2030 and MTP III and 2010 Constitution asserting Kenya towards Shared Prosperity.

Analysis shows that a deficit of water impacts negatively on pastoralism and agriculture. Combined with the egregious effects of climate change, scarcity of water is one of the root causes of conflict and a driver of extreme poverty, leading over into degraded health, livelihoods, opening to other negative trends, radicalization, criminality; and forced migration. Water is also one of the most important inputs for industries and economic development: it can have positive impact, unlocking risk capital in SMEs if it is available, or a negative impact if it is scarce.

The development initiatives visited during the mission, which were located in the counties of West Pokot, Turkana, Wajir, Garissa, Isiolo and Marsabit, had common themes of targeted intervention and local ownership. Specifically, these initiatives were conceived to bring water and other essential services to historically marginalized communities and areas, and members of those same communities were supported to undergo technical training to both develop and maintain them.

This visit follows a previous high-level mission organised by the UN and FCDC in 2018, which had a thematic focus of Realization of the SDGs in the Counties which informed the current UNDAF.

The mission was also able to see first-hand the positive effects of devolution.

President Uhuru Kenyatta in his State of the Union address in 2019 said, “ There is No Turning Back on Devolution. The System is sound and has proven its value and contribution to national development. Its potential and value will be greatly enhanced by focus on service delivery, prioritizing development expenditure, unwavering commitment to integrity and anti-corruption, and strict commitment to value for money in procurement. Devolution will, no doubt, transform our Nation.”

Led by the Cabinet Secretary of Devolution and ASALs Hon Eugene Wamalwa and the United Nations Resident Coordinator to Kenya Siddharth Chatterjee, this joint mission had wide representation from the Government of Kenya, the FCDC secretariat, the Council of Governors, the United Nations Country Team in Kenya as well as Ambassadors/High Commissioners/senior representatives from the missions of Norway, India, Russian Federation, Portugal, Switzerland, Netherlands, European Union to Kenya, the United Kingdom and Canada.

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Souylemane (second to the right) and other technicians gather to learn about tree care.

By Lindsay Cobb and Ashleigh Burgess
SILVER SPRING, Maryland, USA, Feb 28 2020 (IPS)

Souylemane Samb sits under a crowded tent on a hot Senegalese day. He wears a canvas vest with Trees for the Future printed across the back.

Despite his dark sunglasses, his expression is easy to read – the tall 43-year-old is smiling contentedly as he waves a flag that says “Kaffrine 2 Graduation Day.”

Souylemane is at a graduation for more than 200 farmers celebrating the completion of a four-year agroforestry program with Trees for the Future (TREES). Using what TREES calls the Forest Garden Approach for the last four years, the farmers have successfully planted themselves out of hunger and poverty.

Souylemane is an Assistant Technician for TREES, his job is to work with farmers and help them become experts in agroforestry and regenerative agriculture. Ultimately helping them succeed as farmers in a region and climate where farmers don’t typically fare well.

As he presents diplomas to graduating farmers, Souylemane remembers being in their position. In 2018 Souylemane graduated from the TREES program himself, after joining the program in 2015.

Obstacles in Farming

“Before joining TREES, my land was not well organized. I planted things randomly and with no real knowledge of how best to do it or what kinds of crops to pick,” he recalls. “My soil was also degraded from years of chemical use.”

A farmer all his life, Souylamene points out that farmers like him were never set up for success. Despite practicing agriculture for centuries, he says farming has never really evolved in a way that benefits both the land and the farmer.

“Farmers want to do the work but they don’t always know how to do the work, how long things take to grow, or seasonal and market planning.”

Recalling some of the biggest challenges he faced before implementing the Forest Garden Approach, Souylemane says deforestation is rampant in Senegal because farmers are forced to cut down what little tree cover they have to try to protect what little crop production they can achieve.

“Now live fencing saves money, so we have no more worries that animals will get in. The principal aspect and foundation of Forest Gardens is protection! It’s the number one most important thing! And now we feel our land can flourish, and all the life that comes with it can flourish, too.”

Seed supply was another major obstacle for him.

“There were many seasons that I unknowingly bought bad seeds from market. I spent 50,000 CFA (about $100 USD), that was a third of my entire earnings for the year back then. I spent all that money and nothing came up. Nothing came of it!”

Souylemane and fellow technician Namang visit Forest Garden farmers throughout the region by motorcycle.

A Reliable Support System

In late 2014, he met a TREES technician while in town. Although he says he was weary of another international development organization in his community, he decided to attend an informational meeting to learn more about the program.

“We’ve had many interactions with organizations trying to help us, but none has spoken truth like Trees for the Future,” he says today. “Everyone in Kaffrine, all of the Forest Garden farmers, say they have never seen a project as successful as this.”

Souylemane joined the program at the beginning of 2015 and soon began learning everything about agroforestry from his Forest Garden Training manual and the TREES technicians.

“Training has brought me so much knowledge! I learned about agroforestry and its importance for making farms better, faster,” he says. “I learned how to graft, how to organize my field, tree pruning, nursery care, composting, how to save and select seeds.”

Souylemane also participated in TREES’ water initiative. In semi-arid Senegal, farmers like must have a reliable source of water, but with such little tree cover, wells can regularly dry up.

To break this cycle of poor groundwater recharge and rapid evaporation, TREES launched its Loxo Loxo program in 2019, connecting farmers’ land to a central water source in town. Souylemane says the water initiative helped improve his land even more.

Finding Success in the Forest Garden

Where before, he was growing meager crops of chili peppers, lettuce, and okra, Souylamene now proudly describes a completely different world.

“When you open the door you see two piles of compost, tons of big trees that are pruned properly, crops growing in the alleys between trees. We have a water spigot now and so many varieties of vegetable crops. You can hear the sounds of birds, bees, wind that comes and passes over the garden… peace only.”

“But it’s a lot of work to get to that point!” he adds.

A lot of work that he says was most certainly worth it. Today, Souylemane, his wife, and their five kids are living healthier and more stable lives. With diverse foods in their garden he says their nutrition has improved greatly and they can now make a consistent living from their harvests.

“I have things to sell at the market now, before I did not. I would go and buy things but I rarely had anything I could sell there. Now I bring my vegetables and I make money.”

A Bright Future

Often, Forest Garden farmers report using their newfound income to pay for their children’s school fees. With his Forest Garden income and his salary as a TREES technician, Souylamene can afford to send his younger children to school and his older daughters to university where they are studying business and law.

As a technician, Souylemane says he enjoys being able to help other farmers change their land and lives.

“I’ve never seen a program so successful that is reflective, well-conceived, that really takes farmers out of poverty. TREES accompanies them sustainably through all of these steps and then that’s it, they have the skills they need for the rest of their lives!”

When he comes home from a day of traveling to other farmers’ Forest Gardens, he says his favorite thing to find in his own garden is tomatoes.

“Tomatoes! Sometimes I will just eat them raw with a little salt. Or my wife will pick some lettuce fresh from the garden and we make a salad with dressing and dinner is ready.”

The Kaffrine 2 graduation marks five years since Souylamene joined Trees for the Future and became a Forest Garden farmer. He is one of 75,000+ farmers to have joined the Forest Garden Training Program.

Learn more about Trees for the Future’s work with smallholder farmers, and visit their Forest Garden Training Center to learn how to implement regenerative agriculture practices.

The post Senegal Farmer Succeeds with Regenerative Agriculture & Begins Teaching Others appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Lindsay Cobb, is Marketing & Communications Manager, Trees for the Future (TREES) and
Ashleigh Burgess is Deputy Director of Programs, TREES

The post Senegal Farmer Succeeds with Regenerative Agriculture & Begins Teaching Others appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Demonstrators in the neighborhood of Cotiza, on the north side of Caracas. Credit: Courtesy of EfectoCocuyo.com

By External Source
CARACAS/BOGOTA/BRUSSELS, Feb 28 2020 (IPS)

Power in Venezuela is slipping away from state institutions and concentrating in the hands of criminals, guerrillas and other non-state actors. Any new negotiations between government and opposition must consider how to defang these armed irregulars, who might otherwise scuttle an eventual settlement.

What’s new? Political turmoil, economic ruin and heightening tensions with neighbouring countries have furnished non-state armed groups, including guerrillas from Colombia, criminal syndicates, paramilitaries and pro-government vigilantes known as colectivos, with the means to expand their influence and presence across Venezuela.

Why does it matter? Armed groups filling the vacuum left by a government determined to resist domestic opposition, international pressure and mounting sanctions pose a threat of escalating violence in the absence of negotiations, while also entailing major risks of sabotage in the wake of any eventual political settlement.

What should be done? These groups’ threat to peace must be contained, and that imperative should feature prominently in future talks aimed at settling the crisis. Those negotiations should include Venezuela’s military. Demobilising each armed group will require a tailored approach, but most should aim for deals securing acquiescence in a comprehensive political settlement.

As Venezuela’s turmoil deepens with no end in sight, power is seeping out of formal state institutions and pooling in the hands of various armed irregulars. Behind this phenomenon are diverse causes.

As Venezuela’s turmoil deepens with no end in sight, power is seeping out of formal state institutions and pooling in the hands of various armed irregulars. Behind this phenomenon are diverse causes.

The ceaseless struggle for supremacy between President Nicolás Maduro’s government and opposition forces has turned state organs into partisan bodies that either solicit support from armed groups or overlook them.

Economic ruin brought about by government mismanagement – now worsened by U.S. sanctions – has pushed numerous Venezuelans into illicit livelihoods and the orbit of organised crime.

Meanwhile, the country’s long, porous borders have allowed Colombian guerrillas to gain footholds deep inside the country. The armed groups are far from identical, but all are ready to use violence and territorial control to further their goals, and any might sabotage a settlement that Venezuela’s competing political forces eventually agree to.

Defanging them will require approaches tailored to each outfit, but the main goal should be to demobilise fighters and seek their buy-in to a deal that ends Venezuela’s collective agony.

Guerrillas from Colombia, loyalist pro-government militias known as colectivos, paramilitaries and a catalogue of criminal gangs stand out as the main non-state armed groups now operating in Venezuela. Their methods, goals and affinities vary hugely.

Some profess ideological motivations while others pursue naked criminal profit. Some work in alleged collusion with ruling elites, while others purportedly have ties to opposition elites. The opposition led by Juan Guaidó and its international allies, now numbering close to 60 countries, accuse all but the right-wing paramilitaries of complicity with state security forces, or even with the high military command and political elites within chavismo, the movement named after the late president, Hugo Chávez.

But the exact nature of the ties between these armed groups and the state, and the mutual benefits that arise from them, are not always easy to identify. Skirmishes between state and non-state actors acting in supposed coordination have exposed the high levels of mistrust that divide them.

Formal talks between the government and opposition are moribund, but if and when they restart, they should urgently address the questions of how to reduce the armed irregulars’ influence and how to stop them from scuttling agreements that the sparring Venezuelan sides may reach. As the types of armed groups present different problems, each will need its own remedy.

Dealing with Colombian guerrillas will require intensive cooperation between Caracas and Bogotá, ideally as part of efforts in the latter capital to end the insurgencies through negotiations aimed at general demobilisation.

Some colectivos may be persuaded to reassume their historical role as mediators between state and society. As for criminal elements, several of them may also accept deals whereby they avoid prosecution or face reduced sentences in exchange for giving up arms.

Experience in other Latin American countries shows that such tactics, while not always easy to swallow, are more likely to help the Venezuelan state reassert its writ with a minimum of additional bloodshed.

This story was originally published by International Crisis Group, You can find the full report here.

 

The post A Glut of Arms: Curbing the Threat to Venezuela from Violent Groups appeared first on Inter Press Service.

View of the Italian Pyramid, at 5,050 m a.s.l. located 20 minutes awayfrom Lobouche, Nepal. Credit: Valentina Gasbarri

By Valentina Gasbarri
MILAN, Italy, Feb 27 2020 (IPS)

 
Hello! Are you Italian?
No, I’m from Nepal.
Ops.

Kaji Bista is the staff manager of the Ev-K2-CNR’s innovative Pyramid International Laboratory/Observatory (known as the Italian Pyramid) at 5,050 m a.s.l. located in Lobouche.

He usually does not welcome trekkers, unless they stay overnight in the Nepali style lodge, located in the base of the building.

When planning the Everest Base Camp Trek, the last thing one would expect to find is a Pyramid that made it to the Guinness Book of World Records in 1998 for being the highest point in the world.

Covered with Perspex solar panels and sitting atop a low-stone building, the Everest Pyramid is about 20 minutes away from Lobuche. Crossing the glacier and a narrow lunar valley, the route reveals the vista of a past, glorious and visionary research center.

Our curiosity opened up a way for me to enter the forbidden area – entry reserved only for researchers. Inside the Pyramid there were a number of warm, clean, western-style rooms, crammed with scientific equipment, advanced lab machinery and paper files. Italian electronics labels and stickers were everywhere.

“Look – it’s just like being at home!” I said.
“I’m Italian and here it’s so strange to be in a place thats familiar, thousands of kilometers away”.

Kaji smiled, maybe not surprised anymore by my obvious reaction.

He then narrated the story of the Italian research center.
It all started more than 30 years ago, when in 1986 an American expedition declared K2 was taller than the Everest. It was the beginning of a mountaineering competition between Italy and the US.

Agostino Da Polenza and Prof. Ardito Desio, both researchers could not resist this challenge and, in 1987, they combined their scientific and mountaineering knowledge to launch the “Ev-K2-CNR Project” in collaboration with the Italian National Research Council (CNR).

They organized expeditions which put mountaineering at the service of science and re-measured both mountains using traditional survey techniques and innovative GPS (Global Positioning System) measurements.

Not only did they confirm Everest’s title but they also set the standard for altitudemeasurements to come.

Two years later, the two researchers founded the Ev-K2-CNR Committee to continue promoting technological and scientific research at high altitude.

Since then, Ev-K2-CNR has been recognized for this unique scientific research base, the quality and importance of the research carried out there and the specialized scientific contributions, combining technical and logistics know-how with scientific excellence.

I asked Kaji if he has opened the place up as a lodge for trekkers too.
He smiled and replied saying that this was the only thing he could do as the only manager still left there.

“ I had to. I’ve not been paid a salary for three and a half years”.
The Italian government stopped funding the Centre since 2015.

Kaji went on to say that they were a team of 15 people and he has been a staff manager for more than15 years. Now, he is doing more or less everything from maintaining the facility and collecting all the data himself.

“If I leave, the research station will close. So, for my income now I offer the empty space as a trekking lodge for the scientists and journalists visits, too”.

Kaji hopes the new Italian government will free up some funds to finance the Centre.

Microplastics in the Himalayas: Lessons-learned and Best Practices

Ev-K2-CNR continues to promote technological and scientific research at high altitude on health, climate change and environment as well develop new technologies.

One of the major projects carried out, despite the financial challenges, is one on micro-plastics, promoted by the Nepalese Government.

According to the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), plastic pollution has emerged as an environmental crisis of international concern. With the scale of global plastic pollution now painfully clear, it is high time for corporations and governments to take into consideration scientific-based research to find alternatives to plastics.

“It is a testament to how ubiquitous this pervasive material has become in our society that it can now be easily found even on the very highest point on our planet – Mount Everest, in the Himalayas” the EIA states.

In an unprecedented clean-up campaign launched by the Nepali Government in 2019, over four tonnes of plastic debris were collected in the high-altitude region of the Everest in the first five days alone. Consequently, since January, the Nepalese authorities have banned single-use plastics in the Everest region in a bid to cut down on waste left by climbers.

All plastic drinking bottles and plastics of less than 30 microns in width will be banned in the province.

The government says the army will be used for the task, which will cost 860 million Nepali rupees ($7.5m). It has also brought in measures to encourage people not to litter, asking for a $400 deposit before climbing, which is returned if they bring their waste back down with them.

Travel agencies and sherpas have a key role to play in sensitising trekkers and citizens to curb plastic waste.

During treks, the waste is coming from a variety of products, such as climbing gear and other rubbish like food wrappers, cans and bottles. Often, abandoned oxygen and cooking gas cylinders are found on the higher levels to the Summit.

Recently, iced bodies have also being discovered, creating a global debate on the expeditions and impact on the landscape and environment in the Mt. Everest region.

Scientific tools outside the building. Unfortunately, since 2015 the research projects are all frozen due to lack of funding from the Italian Government. Credit: Valentina Gasbarri

Few Everest Base Camp trekkers expect to find a pyramid high in the Himalayas. Covered in solar panels and sitting atop a low stone building, the Everest Pyramid is an unusual sight among the rock and snow of the mountains. Credit: Valentina Gasbarri

Entrance of the Research Center entered in 1998 in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the highest in the world. Credit: Valentina Gasbarri

Kaji and Sherpa Paesang collecting samples of water for studying the effects on microplastics on water and soil in the Khumbu Valley. Credit: Valentina Gasbarri

Plastic Waste in the Everest Base Camp Trekking Route. Plastics do not quicklybiodegrade, but instead break down into smaller pieces. This has led the NepaleseGovernment to ban single-use plastics from 2020. Credit: Valentina Gasbarri

Arriving close to the highest point in the world, one can still find plastic waste and garbage to collect.
Ev-K2-CNR Side Event at the 15th meeting of the UN Committee on SustainableDevelopment, New York (2007). Credit: Valentina Gasbarri

Tourists and trekkers are considered one of the biggest polluters in the Everest Region.
Education and Awareness Raising campaigns would be critical to educate people to adoptsustainable tourism practices. Credit: Valentina Gasbarri

The post The Italian Pyramid: Scientific Observatory at the Top of the World appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Mantfombi Msibi (left) and Bheki Ginindza, the Climate-Smart Market Oriented Agriculture project manager (right) talking in her field while her grandchildren look on. Thanks to Climate-Smart Agriculture, the 63-year-old Msibi no longer has to spend days on end weeding her fields. Credit: Mantoe Phakathi/IPS

By Mantoe Phakathi
NGWEMPISI, Eswatini, Feb 27 2020 (IPS)

Aside from the seven hours Mantfombi Msibi (63) would spend daily during the Eswatini farming season planting, applying herbicides and weeding her 1.2-hectare maize field, she would also spend E1 750 ($125) on tractor services. It was a huge cost of both time and money. But this season, Msibi will be benefiting from climate-smart farming technology that has opened up a new world of farming to her, saving her time in the process. 

“Not only was this activity laborious for my ageing husband and I, but one of our grandchildren would be forced to abscond from school for several days just to help out with the work,” Dlamini told IPS.

Besides cultivating the field, the family also has livestock; cattle, pigs and chickens, which also have to be taken care of. That excludes other household chores such as cooking and looking after her three younger grandchildren all whose parents passed away.

This season, Msibi was introduced to climate-smart agriculture techniques, which has significantly improved her life and that of her family. Compared to the amount of work that she used to do for many hours a day over several weeks, with the new climate-smart techniques of direct seeding and boom spraying, she only spends about five hours cultivating her field.

• Direct seeding refers to farming systems that fertilise and plant directly into undisturbed soil in one field operation or two separate operations of fertilising and planting. Much of the residue from the previous crop is retained on the soil surface.
• While boom spraying is used to apply liquid fertilisers, pesticides, or other liquids to crops during their vegetative cycle. 

These are promoted by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) as part of the Climate-Smart Agriculture technique. 

• This is defined by the FAO as an approach towards developing agriculture strategies that will ensure sustainable food security in times of climate change.

Now Msibi has no need to till the soil anymore because climate-smart technology destroys weeds, thereby saving her from the laborious weeding process.    

• According to FAO, 50 to 75 percent of farm labour time is spent on weeding by hand, with 90 percent this being done by women. 

“I now have enough time to look after other family responsibilities. Most importantly, I get time to rest and none of the children is forced to abscond from school because of farming,” said Msibi.

Msibi is one of the beneficiary farmers under the Ministry of Agriculture’s conservation agriculture programme, whose aim is to improve the uptake of Climate-Smart Agriculture.

According to Jabu Dlamini, the conservation agriculture chairperson for the Manzini Region, this technology applies herbicide that destroys weed without any residual effect to the soil.

“It’s a very environmentally friendly technology and that’s why the government is promoting it as a CSA technique,” Dlamini told IPS.

Besides the benefits to the environment, Dlamini said it reduces the number of time farmers have to spend in the field. 

“When using the conventional way, a farmer would pay for seven to eight hours on a 1.2ha field for tractor services and would still have to do other things such as applying herbicides and weeding which is laborious,” said Dlamini.

Introduced as a pilot in two Regional Administrative Areas; Ngwempisi and Ntfonjeni, this programme is relatively new although it is gaining momentum among farmers.

“We’re working on the data for now on how many farmers are benefitting but those who have tried it don’t want to look back to conventional farming,” said Dlamini.

This technology follows research by the Climate-Smart Market Oriented Agriculture Project (CSMA) where it was discovered that women have too many household chores yet they still have to spend many hours for days on end in the fields.

This does not only limit the quality of their production but it also puts a strain on their health.
According to Bheki Ginindza, the CSMA project manager, the idea is to increase the uptake of the use of this technology by up to 30 percent because of its ability to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 70 percent.

“This technology increases soil organic matter in that after harvesting the maize stalks are left to rot in the field which improves the soil health,” said Ginindza, adding: “The soil is a very important carbon sink.”

What is also a benefit about the direct seeder is that it uses much less fuel compared to its conventional counterpart in that it works for a much shorter time and its fuel consumption is less.

While this promises to be a good technology for farmers, it is relatively new in the country so there are fewer suppliers who are importing these types of tractors.

“What is a benefit though is that now the direct seeder can be modified in the country,” Ginindza told IPS. “Some of the direct seeders come with a chisel that is designed for softer soil and they need to be modified to work on harder soil.”

The CSMA is also promoting agro-forestry, which is a CSA technique where crops and trees are grown alongside the same field to improve soil health and food and nutrition security for the whole family.

“But the challenge is that farmers don’t like trees in their fields because they need to be maintained so that they don’t create shade for the crops,” said Ginindza. “The trees also attract thieves who want the fruits.”

The CSMA aims to support farmers to be climate-resilient, generate sustainable income, incorporate gender balance and reduce poverty in Eswatini. It is funded by the European Union (EU) through the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).

Related Articles

• Q&A: Africa Must Innovate its Food Systems in Order to Beat Hunger and Poverty
• Does Africa’s Food Future Really Lie with Young Farmers?

The post Climate-Smart Agriculture means More Time for Eswatini Women Farmers appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

In the southern African nation of Eswatini, women, who already have too many household chores, have had to spend many hours for days on end in the fields, tilling and weeding the soil. But thanks to the gradual introduction of Climate-Smart Agriculture, some are beginning to harvest the gains of more time for their families.

The post Climate-Smart Agriculture means More Time for Eswatini Women Farmers appeared first on Inter Press Service.

This partnership looks beyond getting children back in school, focusing on learning, child development and well-being. Ethiopia will be one of the pilot countries for the partnership. Photo UNICEF Ethiopia.

By External Source
NEW YORK, Feb 27 2020 (IPS-Partners)

To improve learning outcomes for girls and boys caught in emergencies and protracted crises, Education Cannot Wait (ECW) is now partnering with the global philanthropic organization Porticus to develop, test and document fit-for-purpose solutions towards measuring the learning of children in crises-affected countries.

The pilot programme will be implemented in three countries between 2020 and 2022, as part of ECW’s Acceleration Facility. Bangladesh and Ethiopia are shortlisted, and a third country is in the process of being selected.

“There is a growing global movement to address the pressing needs of the 75 million children and youth caught in crises who do not have consistent access to a quality education. This partnership looks beyond getting children back in school, focusing on learning, child development and well-being. This includes the measurement of progress in academic learning, but equally gives attention to psycho-social, as well as social and emotional domains of learning and development. With this focus on measurement we can better understand whether and how children being exposed to multiple risks and adversities can develop the academic, social and emotional skills and competencies needed to achieve their full potential. The results of measurement can inform concrete program design, as well as policy,” said Gerhard Pulfer, Porticus representative for Education in Displacement.

Porticus’ goal in the field of Education in Emergencies is to “to promote a transition towards holistic, quality education for displaced learners and host communities.” According to Pulfer, Porticus seeks education systems for displaced children that take responsibility for learning outcomes, and that encompass both academic and social and emotional learning.

Holistic Approaches
Learning is different and vastly more complex for children and youth caught in crises and emergencies, including armed conflict, forced displacement and climate-change induced disasters. Stress, trauma, fear and anxiety make it hard for them to concentrate in school and learn. Of greater concern, too many girls and boys are simply left behind and excluded from the hope, opportunity and protection that a quality learning environment provides.

To address these challenges, ECW supports Multi-Year Resilience Programmes (MYRPs) that use a ‘whole-of-child’ approach to deliver quality education to children and youth affected by emergencies and protracted crises. These MYRPs focus on increasing access, teaching capacity, conducive school environments, more relevant curricula, tailored learning material, physical and emotional safety, as well as other aspects related to school feeding, and water and sanitation in schools.

Together with its partners – including host governments, United Nations agencies, public and private donors, civil society organizations and non-profits – ECW has launched MYRPs in 10 crisis-affected countries to date and plans to expand its support to a total 25 countries by 2021.

The new partnership between Porticus and ECW will measure the effect of these initiatives and provide a better understanding of what is working and is not working for children caught in emergencies and protracted crises to learn.

To do so, the partnership will take a holistic approach to measure learning outcomes, looking beyond academic achievements in literacy and numeracy to also include aspects of social-emotional learning. The social-emotional aspect is often overlooked in stable settings and requires specific attention for children affected by conflict. These skills include self-awareness, emotional regulation and respect for others, as well as interpersonal skills such as listening and conflict resolution. They also include skills such as critical and creative thinking, goal setting, study skills, teamwork and time management.

“Every child and young person have a right and need to enjoy an education that is holistic and addresses the full spectrum of developmental needs. The fact that they are caught in war zones, forced displacement or natural disasters does not remove their right to a quality education. On the contrary, a quality education is the only hope and viable solution left,” said Yasmine Sherif, Director of Education Cannot Wait. “As we supercharge ideas to create solutions as part of the UN’s Decade of Action, we must improve our evidence base and adjust approaches accordingly. This is part of our global promise to leave no one behind, and to ensure not just universal and equitable access to an education, but also universal and equitable access to a quality education.”

Partnerships for the Future
Porticus and ECW will work in close collaboration with in-country partners as well as global actors to ensure broad exposure, inclusive feedback and close collaboration as the partnership is implemented. Lessons learned through the partnership will be shared across a broad group of relevant stakeholders.

To kickstart the partnership, Porticus is granting EUR1 million (approximately US$1.1 million) to ECW. ECW will co-fund this valuable partnership with a US$500,000 investment.

As the partnership develops, both Porticus and ECW intend to broaden and grow the collaboration, to mainstream and accelerate best practices and help ensure children and youth caught in crises benefit from improved learning outcomes.

Bangladesh, where ECW supports a multi-year resilience programme for Rohingya refugees and host communities, is also targeted as part for the partnership. Photo UNICEF

###

About Education Cannot Wait: ECW is the first global fund dedicated to education in emergencies. It was launched by international humanitarian and development aid actors, along with public and private donors, to address the urgent education needs of 75 million children and youth in conflict and crisis settings. ECW’s investment modalities are designed to usher in a more collaborative approach among actors on the ground, ensuring relief and development organizations join forces to achieve education outcomes. Education Cannot Wait is hosted by UNICEF. The Fund is administered under UNICEF’s financial, human resources and administrative rules and regulations, while operations are run by the Fund’s own independent governance structure.

Please follow on Twitter: @EduCannotWait @YasmineSherif1 @KentPage
Additional information at: www.educationcannotwait.org

For press inquiries: Kent Page, kpage@unicef.org, +1-917-302-1735
For press inquiries: Anouk Desgroseilliers, adesgroseilliers@un-ecw.org, +1-917-640-6820
For any other inquiries: info@un-ecw.org

The post Education Cannot Wait and Porticus announce new partnership focused on measuring holistic learning outcomes for children and youth caught in protracted crises and emergencies appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Luvunzu Mutwale, his wife, and their seven children are from the Katanga region in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). They fled to neighboring Zambia in 2015 to escape civil unrest at home, and they currently live in the Meheba refugee camp in Zambia’s Northwestern province.

By Emely Mwale
LUSAKA, Zambia, Feb 27 2020 (IPS)

The Mutwales farm a small plot of land in the camp, growing primarily cassava and maize for food. They are also one of the 105 refugee farming families participating in an initiative during the 2019/2020 growing season to help them cultivate nutritious, vitamin A-biofortified orange maize, which was developed by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in partnership with HarvestPlus.

The initiative is part of a livelihoods project supported by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and implemented by CARITAS, a Catholic humanitarian organization.

HarvestPlus provides technical assistance, including demonstrations and training on growing biofortified maize, as well as nutrition education.

“My family and I are most grateful to UNHCR for providing us with inputs to grow a half hectare of orange maize,” said Mutwale. “I have heard of the many nutrition and health benefits and I’m very delighted that after harvest, my family will experience them when we start consuming the maize.” Mutwale also hopes to be able to sell some of the harvest to earn income and invest in inputs for a second growing season and pay his children’s school fees.

Vitamin-A deficiency can lead to impaired vision—even blindness—and a higher risk of diarrhea and other infections. Pregnant women with vitamin A deficiency may be at increased risk of mortality. Nationally in Zambia, more than half of children under five are vitamin-A deficient.

Zambia has been a refugee destination for more than 50 years, primarily from Angola, the DRC, Rwanda, and Burundi. The three major refugee settlements are Meheba in Northwestern Province, Mayukwayukwa in Western Province, and Kala in Luapula province.

Luvunz Mutwale and his wife pick up seed inputs.

Through the UNHCR, the refugees are provided basic food, shelter, and access to clean water and sanitation, as well as health services and education infrastructure.

The UNHCR livelihoods project is one of many social welfare interventions aimed at improving the well-being of refugees in the Zambian camps.

In addition to farmer training and nutrition education, Harvestplus Zambia also helps catalyze an orange maize business model for the farmers based on forging linkages with input suppliers and establishing formal contracts with maize purchasers (i.e., processors and offtakers).

The system helps build confidence on all sides, ensuring sufficient maize is grown as well as purchased. For example, Butemwe Milling, a local processor, has already placed an order for 10,000 bags of the refugee farmers’ orange maize at 50 kgs per bag, for a total order of 500 metric tons.

There was strong interest from refugee farmers to participate in the orange maize initiative—about 1,500 applied but resources were limited during the pilot. Selection criteria included the applicants’ level of economic vulnerability and the capacity of the household to grow the maize.

The 105 participating families received 10 kilograms of orange maize seed and various inputs required to cultivate a half hectare. The fertilizer and other inputs were procured through an open tender process, which attracted bids from several suppliers, including local agro-dealers. A true platform for business engagement in biofortification was created.

The objective is for the participants to eventually “graduate” to self-sustaining investment in orange maize cultivation after receiving start-up support during the 2019/20 season (which runs from about November 2019-May/June 2020). And if this pilot in Meheba camp provides successful, the program may expand to other refugee camps.

HarvestPlus and its partners are eager to get biofortified crops to refugees and other vulnerable populations who are at high risk of nutritional deficiencies and related health impacts.

Another refugee-focused project is under way in Uganda, where HarvestPlus is partnering with Self-Help Africa to support more than 1,000 households in eight refugee settlements and host communities in the northern Adjumani district.

HarvestPlus is a program of the CGIAR global research partnership for a food secure future and is based at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), a CGIAR research center.

For more information about the work of HarvestPlus Zambia, contact Joseph Mulambu: j.mulambu@cgiar.org

The post Biofortified Crop Project Reaches Refugees in Zambia appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Emely Mwale is Assistant Country Manager at HarvestPlus

The post Biofortified Crop Project Reaches Refugees in Zambia appeared first on Inter Press Service.

An eight-month-old boy is examined by a doctor in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Credit: Kristin Palitza/IPS

By External Source
NAIROBI, Feb 27 2020 (IPS)

Grief over the loss of a child poses a threat to public health in Sub-Saharan Africa, as nearly two-thirds of mothers in some countries suffer the death of at least one child, a study has found.

According to the World Health Organization, 5.3 million children under five died in 2018 globally. The risk of a child dying before reaching five is about eight times higher in Africa than in Europe.

According to the study published this month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, more than half of women aged 45 to 49 years in some Sub-Saharan African countries have experienced the death of a child under the age of five.

“In Benin, Burkina Faso, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, and Niger, having had at least one infant die was a more common experience than having had all of one’s children survive infancy,” the study explains.

5.3 million children under five died in 2018 globally. The risk of a child dying before reaching five is about eight times higher in Africa than in Europe

“In no country has the [total infant deaths] fallen below 100 per 1000 for mothers age 45 to 49, and only in Benin, Kenya, Namibia and Zimbabwe has it fallen below 200 per 1000.”

Researchers analysed the prevalence of infant and child deaths for every 1000 mothers using demographic and health surveys over a 30-year period, from 20 countries.

“In the shadows of very high child mortality rates that the global health community typically focuses on are all these grieving parents that never receive any attention,” says lead author Emily Smith-Greenaway, an assistant professor of sociology at the US-based University of Southern California.

“These results increase our recognition of bereavement as itself a public health threat — one that’s unfairly concentrated in low-income regions of the world.”

A recent study of child deaths in Iceland over 200 years notes that mothers who lose a child have elevated risks of psychiatric symptoms and psychiatric hospitalisations, cardiovascular disease, and some cancers. The study found that “child loss is likely to constitute a major threat to the survival of mothers in societies with high infant mortality rates”.

The study, in eLife Sciences Publications, found there was a “large increase in the rate of premature maternal mortality after child loss”, but only a limited increase in paternal deaths, suggesting differences in attachment, and emotional responses to trauma, as possible factors.

This is known by some as the ‘maternal bereavement effect’.

A seemingly universal maternal reaction to the loss of a child is a feeling of guilt. The World Health Organization reports that cultural and societal attitudes to baby or child deaths vary globally, but in Sub-Saharan Africa it is a common belief that a baby may be stillborn because of witchcraft or evil spirits.

Female genital mutilation and child marriage cause immense damage to girls’ sexual and reproductive health, and the health of their babies, the WHO says. The way women are treated during pregnancy is linked to sexual and reproductive rights, which are lacking in many parts of the world.

Smith-Greenaway tells SciDev.Net that although parental bereavement research has been receiving increasing attention in North America and Western Europe, it is overlooked in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Phelgona A. Otieno, a paediatrician and epidemiologist at the Kenya Medical Research Institute’s Centre for Clinical Research, praises the researchers for conducting a study that “takes an interesting turn and calls for countries to recognise the impact of child mortality on women and bereavement as a public health threat”.

Otieno attributes increased child death to healthcare-related factors.

“Poor access to quality, affordable health care is one of the biggest factors especially in low-income countries. Poor nutrition is also a factor since children who suffer from malnutrition are more vulnerable to disease,” she says.

The burden of loss is especially heavy for mothers not only because of the pregnancy and childbirth experience, but because they are also the primary care givers to their children, she adds.

Smith-Greenaway says it is important to create programmes in Sub-Saharan Africa that support bereaved mothers as they navigate life after loss.

By Stephanie Achieng’

This piece was produced by SciDev.Net’s Sub-Saharan Africa English desk.

 

References

Emily Smith-Greenaway and Jenny Trinitapol  Maternal cumulative prevalence measures of child mortality show heavy burden in sub-Saharan Africa (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 10 February, 2020)

 

This story was originally published by SciDev.Net

 

The post Child Death Grief a Public Health Threat appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Thousands of children from different schools and colleges bring out a procession at Manik Mia Avenue expressing solidarity with the global climate strike. PHOTO: STAR/PRABIR DAS

By Saleemul Huq
Feb 26 2020 (IPS-Partners)

The Bangladesh parliament, led by the parliamentary standing committee on environment, recently declared a planetary emergency in Bangladesh. This is ground breaking in that most other parliaments around the world have declared a climate change emergency, but none have also added a biodiversity emergency as the Bangladesh parliament has. So ours is a twin track emergency, not just a single track.

While this is indeed a pioneering resolution, it will mean very little unless implemented.

The climate emergency side of the twin track declaration has already received significant priority within national planning and even budgeting by virtue of the clearly visible adverse impacts of climate change that Bangladesh has already started to face over the last few years.

The good news is that the government is about to publish the revised Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan (BCCSAP), which will take us to 2030, while the original BCCSAP from 2009 has reached its end. The most important element in the revised BCCSAP is that instead of having separate and parallel funds and projects for tackling climate change, we now need to rapidly shift into mainstreaming or integrating climate change actions into all national, sectoral and local level plans, as well as into every ministry’s and agency’s workplan going forward.

The upcoming preparation of the 8th Five Year Plan is a great opportunity for the Bangladesh government to again show how to integrate climate change into all chapters of the plan, and not just a stand-alone chapter for environment and climate change.

At the same time, the ministry of finance should be lauded for preparing a climate change budget every year for the last few years, and should be encouraged to include even more ministries in the next year’s budget. It also needs to enhance the monitoring and evaluation of these expenditures to assess their actual effectiveness on the ground.

Also, non-government organisations (NGOs), private sector, education sector and media need to gear up their own actions to tackle climate change so that it is a whole-of-society effort and not just a whole-of-government effort.

Here, it is important to also point out the synergies with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), of which, SDG 13 is explicitly about tackling climate change—hence these efforts at finding synergies across sectors will give us significant dividends in enhancing the quality of our economic development going forward.

When it comes to protecting our biodiversity, which includes both individual species of plants and animals, as well as entire habitats and ecosystems, we are unfortunately in a very bad position as we have failed to protect our natural environment because of the kind of growth we have pursued. We now stand at a very significant crossroad, where a business-as-usual attitude will lead to us losing whatever natural resources we have left in a very short period of time. Hence, protecting the environment while also growing has to be the new agenda going forward. This paradigm shift goes under several terms such as green development or Nature Based Solutions (NBS), but the label is less important than the necessity to acknowledge that every day we are destroying our natural environment bit by bit, and that this must not just stop but be reversed as soon as possible.

This is where the parliamentary standing committee on environment has a very important role to play, as it is the constitutionally mandated body to oversee that national development is protecting and not destroying our natural environment. It’s declaration of the planetary emergency has demonstrated that it is indeed very concerned about these issues. But now it needs to exert its constitutionally mandated power over the executive to ensure that it means what it says.

I would also like to add that there is an extremely energetic resource that they can harness if they wish, namely the youth of our country, starting with all the university students and then high school and even primary school students. The paradigm shift that is needed is to make this agenda everybody’s agenda and not just leave it to government authorities only.

At the same time, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MOEFCC) has an extremely important role to play within the government, where its role is to try to protect the natural environment against forces, often other powerful ministries within the government, who want to get permission to build over natural habitats. I must say that over the last few decades, the different heads of the ministry have recognised their duty and done their best to try and protect the environment, but have often failed against the desires of powerful interests, both within as well as outside the government.

Hence, we have to realise that protecting our natural environment requires us to fight the forces who want to destroy it in every way possible, from within the government by the MOEFCC, and outside it by conscious citizens, who will oppose any visible destruction of the natural habitat that they see happening anywhere in the country.

The most effective means of protecting our natural environment is for every citizen to see it as her or his duty to do so. I believe we can do it.

Saleemul Huq is Director of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development at the Independent University, Bangladesh.

This story was originally published by The Daily Star, Bangladesh

The post Protecting the environment should be everyone’s concern appeared first on Inter Press Service.

By Jewel Fraser
PORT OF SPAIN, Feb 26 2020 (IPS)

The Environmental Defence Fund and its partners in conservation are this month celebrating a major milestone in Belize’s efforts to safeguard its fisheries.

On Feb. 14, the Belizean Parliament passed into law the Fisheries Resources Act that establishes legal safeguards for marine protected areas and that country’s managed access programme for fishers. The Central American country of Belize was a pioneer in 2016 in bringing its entire territorial waters under a system of licensed fishing rights that gave fishers designated spots.

Doug Rader, chief ocean scientist at the EDF, tells Voices from the Global South that this new law is a win-win for all, since the marine protected areas and the managed access programme reinforce each other, ensuring the livelihood of Belizean fishers. In this Voices from the Global South Podcast, IPS Caribbean correspondent Jewel Fraser speaks to Rader about the problems the law will solve and the ways Belize and neighbouring countries will benefit.

The post Belize Passes Milestone Law to Safeguard Fisheries appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Credit: Patrick Burnett/IPS

By Ifeanyi Nsofor
ABUJA, Feb 25 2020 (IPS)

Recently, Nigerian feminist author Ukamaka Olisakwe spoke about her post-partum depression after giving birth in the city of Aba, southeast Nigeria. This follows her 2019 Longreads essay, in which she narrated painful details of her experience. 

In 2007, Olisakwe was 24 years old when she had her first encounter with post-partum depression. She had just given birth to her first child of three – a daughter.

Olisakwe’s experience convinced her that, No one really cares about how the women feel, if they are still haunted by the memories of childbirth, how they are coping with the immense bodily changes, if they are emotionally ready to have sex, if they even want to go through pregnancy ever again. They are expected to perform their roles as virtuous wives and good mothers, or they’ll fall short of societal expectations, of which the consequences are grave.

Post-partum depression is a mental health disorder. It is much more than baby blues. Globally, 13% of women who give birth experience post-partum depression. In some U.S. states, prevalence can be as high as 20%. In South Africa, up to 40% of women suffer from post-partum depression.

Post-partum depression is a neglected part of mental health. It is hardly spoken about. In most cultures, women who suffer post-partum depression are stigmatized and made to feel unworthy

According to the U.S. Centres for Disease Control, symptoms of post-partum depression include; crying more often than usual, feelings of anger, withdrawing from loved ones, feeling numb or disconnected from your baby, worrying that you will hurt the baby and feeling guilty about not being a good mom or doubting your ability to care for the baby.

It could also present with other symptoms of depression such as, thoughts of suicide or suicide attempts, difficulty falling asleep or sleeping too much and overeating or loss of appetite.

On the extreme end,  a few women have harmed themselves and their loved ones. In 2014, for instance, a woman named Carol suffering from post-partum psychosis stabbed and killed her three children aged 2 years, 1 year and 3 months. In 2016, another woman named Elizabeth committed suicide, after months of battling post-partum depression.

Without a doubt, post-partum depression is a neglected part of mental health. It is hardly spoken about. In most cultures, women who suffer post-partum depression are stigmatized and made to feel unworthy.

They are made to keep caring for their children, husbands and families despite suffering a serious disability, which dangerously impacts their quality of life. Women who suffer post-partum depression suffer in silence. When they cry out for help, society and health systems don’t listen.

It’s’ time to listen. We must help prevent post-partum depression and provide care to sufferers. These are ways to achieve both.

Post-partum depression diagnoses and treatment must be included in Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) projects. Right now, it is hard to find a project with treatment of post-partum depression as a core component.

Between 2008 to 2010, for instance, I was part of a MNCH project in Nigeria, which focused on managing excessive bleeding after birth in communities and health facilities. Post-partum depression was not a part of that project. With hindsight, I can imagine the number of women who gave birth, looked “okay” but could have been battling post-partum depression. This makes me feel bad. A decade later, these kinds of services are still lacking.

Donors that fund MNCH programs should work with governments and ensure that such services are available to pregnant women and mothers. It is no longer a question of whether post-depression would happen, we know up to 40% of women who give birth will suffer this mental health disorder.

Community education to improve awareness on post-partum depression must be redesigned to show how serious it is. Governments, donors, private sector and community based organisations should work with communities, religious and traditional leaders to dismantle patriarchal cultures that perpetuate this mental disorder. As Olisakwe mentioned in her recent interview, “I think not discussing postpartum depression is the legacy of patriarchy, not the illness itself”.

There should be open non-judgmental discussions about post-partum depression and sufferers should not be shamed but supported to heal. Referral systems for mental health treatment should be established to cater for the women who would require such specialized care.

Communities must understand that not all women have same birth experiences. Therefore, every woman deserves individualized support during pregnancy, birth and afterwards.

Male involvement in pregnancy, childbirth and after birth should be institutionalized. Involving men leads to better outcomes for women. In Nigeria, Tolu Adeleke, popularly known as “Tolu the Midwife” champions male involvement.

Through her interventions, she organizes couples antenatal classes and dads’ antenatal classes. Topics covered during these classes include, what to expect when you are expecting, partner’s role in pregnancy, partner’s role at birth, breastfeeding and partner roles, postnatal recovery and adjusting to life with a newborn.

Parental leave should be non-negotiable. After 9 months of pregnancy, women and their partners need time off work to recover while caring for their newborns. All countries should emulate Finland’s parental leave laws which give each parent 7 months of leave after a child’s birth. This is a good way to involve men in caring for new mothers and newborn.

There is no time to waste, too many women are suffering in silence and crying out for help. It took Ukamaka 17 years of suffering in silence before she was able to write and speak about her experience.

Post-partum depression is a mental health disorder. It should be accorded the recognition it deserves. Period.

 

The post Let’s Prevent Post-partum Depression and Provide Care to Those in Need appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Dr. Ifeanyi Nsofor is a medical doctor, the CEO of EpiAFRIC, Director of Policy and Advocacy for Nigeria Health Watch

The post Let’s Prevent Post-partum Depression and Provide Care to Those in Need appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Tanzanian investigative journalist, Erick Kabendera has finally been released from jail after seven months in prison. Courtesy: Amnesty International

By Isaiah Esipisu
KAMPALA, Feb 25 2020 (IPS)

After six months in prison, Tanzanian investigative journalist Erick Kabendera has finally been released at a cost of $118,000.

Kabendera was arrested in July 2019 after police claimed that his citizenship was in question.

“We are holding him (Erick Kabendera) for questioning because authorities are doubting his citizenship. We are communicating with the immigration department for further measures,” Regional police commissioner Lazaro Mambosasa told journalists soon after the arrest.

However, when he appeared in court a week later he was charged with leading an organised criminal gang, money laundering and failure to pay taxes.

According to the charge sheet, the journalist “knowingly furnished assistance in the conduct of affairs of a criminal racket, with intent either to reap profit or other benefit”.

In a twist of events, the charge against his citizenship was dropped, and he was later cleared of charges for leading a criminal gang. This left him with the charges of economic crimes which included money laundering and tax evasion.

After postponing his case a number of times, the Director of Public Prosecution on Monday Feb. 24 accepted Kabendera’s plea bargain application, which paved the way for the Kisutu Magistrate’s Court to begin hearing his case.

He pleaded guilty to the charge of money laundering and was fined TZS100 million ($43,000), which he paid, thereby securing his freedom.

However, according to reports, the court slapped him with another fine of 250,000 shillings ($108) for evading tax, and a further 173 million shillings ($75,000) in compensation for the tax evasion, bringing the total fine to about $118,000.

“We welcome his release, but we are deeply concerned about the hefty fines levied against him,” Muthoki Mumo, the sub-Saharan Africa representative to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) told IPS in an interview.

Amid speculations that Kabendera pleaded guilty to the crimes due to frustrations of being held indefinitely, Mumo said that she would leave that for the accused to say. “I am hesitant to speak on his behalf because I do not know the circumstances under which he pleaded guilty,” she told IPS.

Amnesty International also welcomed the news of Kabendera’s release, also criticising the fines levied against him.

“It is outrageous that he had to pay such a hefty fine to gain his freedom after having been unjustly jailed for exercising his right to freedom of expression.

“Kabendera’s mother died while he was in custody shortly after she was filmed pleading with President John Magufuli to let her son free. He has already suffered so much simply for doing his job and should have been released unconditionally. There is absolutely no justice in what transpired in the Dar es Salaam court today,” Amnesty International Director for East and Southern Africa Deprose Muchena said in a statement.

Kabendera also reportedly suffered illness while in jail.

His detention became a concern for many individuals and organisations, including the United States Embassy and the British High Commission in Tanzania.

In a joint statement, they said, “The U.S. Embassy and the British High Commission are deeply concerned about the steady erosion of due process in Tanzania, as evidenced by the ever more frequent resort to lengthy pre-trial detentions and shifting charges by its justice system.”

“We are particularly concerned about a recent case — the irregular handling of the arrest, detention, and indictment of investigative journalist Erick Kabendera, including the fact that he was denied access to a lawyer in the early stages of his detention, contrary to the Criminal Procedures Act.”

Attempts to reach Kabendera’s family by IPS went unanswered today. But Kabendera reportedly said after the release, “Finally I’ve got my freedom, it’s quite unexpected that I would be out this soon. I’m really grateful to everybody who played their role.”

According to Reporters Without Borders, since Magufuli became president of Tanzania in 2015 the country has suffered an unprecedented decline in press freedom, as the president refuses to tolerate criticism of himself or his policies.

Kabendera has been one of his critics. Prior to his arrest, Kabendera, who also wrote for international news agencies such as the Guardian, the Independent and the local East African, had published an article in The Economist Intelligence Unit about the nation’s president entitled: ‘John Magufuli is bulldozing Tanzania’s freedom’. 

It will be remembered that during Magufuli’s second year in office, the Media Services Act was passed. The law allows for harsh penalties for content deemed defamatory, seditious or illegal.

According to a recent report by Amnesty International, the Media Services Act, 2016, enhances censorship, violates the right to information and limits scrutiny of government policies and programmes.

“From 2016, the Tanzania government has used the Media Service Act to close, fine and suspend at least six media outlets for publishing reports on allegations of corruption and human rights violations and the state of Tanzania’s economy,” reads part of the report.

In 2018, the government approved another law to regulate content posted online. According to the new rule, Tanzanians operating online radio stations and video (TV) websites, including bloggers are required to apply for a licence, pay a licence fee upon registration as well as annual fees, totalling about $900 a year.

Meanwhile, Amnesty International is urging Tanzania’s regional and international partners and human rights mechanisms to put pressure on the authorities to ensure that the human rights situation in the country does not deteriorate further, including by strongly and publicly condemning the growing human rights violations and abuses and raising individual cases with government officials.

Last year Amnesty International reported that Tanzania had “withdrawn the right of individuals and NGOs to directly file cases against it at the Arusha-based African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights” in a move said to block the ability for individuals and NGOs to seek redress for human rights violations.  

The arrest of Kabendera, according to analysts, could be a strategy by the government to instil fear in journalists who are critiques of the government and its policies.

Related Articles

• Tanzania Switches Track, Charges Kabendera with Economic Crimes
• Tanzania Detains Freelancer Kabendera over ‘Citizenship’
• Investigative Journalist Erick Kabendera Arrested
• When Being ‘Offensive’ or ‘Morally Improper’ Online Carries an Indeterminate Jail Sentence in East Africa

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By Anis Chowdhury and Jomo Kwame Sundaram
SYDNEY and KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 25 2020 (IPS)

Meeting the President of the Republic of Korea in September 2019, President Donald J Trump bragged that the “US economy is the envy of the world”. Trump reiterated such claims in his State of the Union address in early February, hailing his own policies with typical humility.

Anis Chowdhury

Trump touted US economic success at the Davos World Economic Forum in January as “nothing short of spectacular”, asserting “I’m proud to declare the United States is in the midst of an economic boom, the likes of which the world has never seen before.”

Facts hardly matter
To the contrary, US economic growth slowed after Trump started the ‘trade war’ with China, dropping from 3.5% in the second quarter of 2018 to 2.1% in the last quarter of 2019, much less than the 5.5% per annum peak in the second quarter of 2014 during the Obama presidency.

Meanwhile, annual growth declined from 2.9% in 2018 to 2.3% in 2019. Growth in Trump’s first three years was well below the Clinton era (1993-2000) average around 4%, the highest for any presidency in the last half century, although growth was even higher at times in earlier years.

Obama inherited a recession following the global financial crisis from September 2008, with the deepest post-war contraction when real GDP fell by about -4% p.a. in the second quarter of 2009. The US economy then turned around by the end of that year.

While US growth peaked under Obama at almost 4% p.a. in the first quarter of 2015, Trump’s peak in the last three years was around 3% p.a. in mid-2018.

Making America great again?
The United Nations, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank all expect the US economy to continue slowing to 1.7-1.8% annually in 2020-2021. US manufacturing growth slowed to its lowest level in almost a decade in August 2019 as the purchasing managers’ index (PMI) signalled contraction for the first time since September 2009.

Jomo Kwame Sundaram

Meanwhile, with its agricultural sector experiencing higher levels of farm debt, the number of US farm bankruptcies grew by a fifth in 2019, from 498 in 2018 to 595, despite the government’s US$28 billion bailout for farmers, double the 2009 bailout of its Big Three automobile producers.

The US Congressional Research Service doubts that the supply-side incentive effects of Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, mainly benefiting the wealthiest 10% of Americans, will be as significant as he claims.

Much of the funds released by the tax cut have been used for a record-breaking spree of stock buybacks, worth more than US$1 trillion in the first quarter of 2019, augmented by easy money policies.

In December 2019, the IMF noted that “Global growth recorded its weakest pace since the global financial crisis a decade ago” despite monetary policy easing all round.

Meanwhile, slower global growth has been increasingly blamed everywhere on the US-China trade war. Hence, while Trump’s attempts to ‘make America great again’ have largely failed to lift US growth, they have been harming the rest of the world.

Election economics
President Trump kicked off his 2020 re-election campaign at an Orlando, Florida rally in June 2019 with his characteristic modesty, claiming that the US economy under his watch was “perhaps the greatest economy we’ve had in the history of our country”.

To enhance his appeal, Trump has successfully pressured the US Federal Reserve to keep monetary policy and credit conditions ‘easy’. However, the funds have not gone into productive investments, but instead to portfolio investments, mergers, acquisitions and share buybacks, transferring more wealth and income to the rich.

Trump has also been repeatedly promising more tax cuts, ostensibly for the “middle-class”. His economic advisor, Larry Kudlow told Fox News that Trump wants to give the middle class a 10% tax cut in September, weeks before the polls.

Meanwhile, Trump has claimed victory and struck a less aggressive tone on international trade conflicts, declaring the end of hostilities with China in January after concluding the US Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA), with some minor, largely cosmetic changes to the preceding North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

But he has also turned on Europe, threatening at Davos to levy huge tariffs on European car imports. This was followed by another threat from Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to punish European countries that have the audacity to tax American digital firms.

The art of the ordeal
Trump Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross’s blatant schadenfreude over the coronavirus outbreak that it could boost US jobs is telling. The coronavirus pandemic has shut down Chinese businesses and ports as efforts to contain the pandemic wreck China’s manufacturing supply chains.

Under the US-China Phase-One trade deal, China will increase imports of US farm goods by US$32 billion over two years, enhancing his appeal to the US rural farm vote.

So, if anything goes wrong, Trump can always blame China or the pandemic for any shortfalls, while heroically claiming to be protecting the US from a new Chinese threat. Meanwhile, Trump seems likely to ratchet up his rhetoric against Europe’s farmers.

To mitigate the economic impacts of the trade conflicts and the coronavirus outbreak, other countries, including China, are further easing monetary policy. The US Fed can thus more easily remain dovish, at least until November, ensuring more buoyant equity markets, and helping Trump’s re-election prospects.

The Donald has much reason to grin again.

The post Lucky Trump Looking Smug appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Credit: United Nations

By Louis Charbonneau
UNITED NATIONS, Feb 25 2020 (IPS)

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has long needed to overhaul his approach to human rights. Hopefully his call to action announced in Geneva yesterday is the start of something new.

Guterres’ low-key approach to human rights may have been calculated to avoid conflicts with big powers like the United States, Russia, China, and Saudi Arabia. But human rights groups and former senior UN officials have criticized it for being ineffectual.

The secretary-general’s new initiative contains some excellent ideas. The link he makes between human rights and the impacts of climate change is crucial, and those who fight to protect the environment are increasingly at risk.

Forest defenders in Brazil and elsewhere are threatened, attacked, and killed by those who seek to benefit from the forests’ destruction. And Guterres is right to highlight the risks posed by new technologies, whether it involves government surveillance, artificial intelligence, or fully autonomous weapons, so-called “killer robots.”

The test for any initiative is the implementation. No one is suggesting the secretary-general do everything alone. But he needs to lead by example.

Louis Charbonneau

That means publicly calling out rights abusers and advocating for victims. Human rights violations aren’t like natural disasters.

They are frequently planned and executed by government officials or their agents – whether it’s the mass arbitrary detention of Uyghurs in China, Myanmar’s ethnic cleansing campaign against Rohingya Muslims, indiscriminate Russian-Syrian bombing of civilians in Idlib, or the forced separation of children from their parents at the US border.

It also means using the authority of the secretary-general’s office to launch investigations and fact-finding missions when appropriate. That includes launching an inquiry into China’s massive rights violations in Xinjiang, and pressing for an international accountability mechanism on Sri Lanka.

The secretary-general should order a follow-up inquiry into the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi to help determine whether Saudi Arabia’s top leadership ordered his slaying. He should also publicly release the findings of his inquiry into attacks on hospitals and other protected facilities in Syria, likely carried out by the Russian-Syrian alliance.

None of this is to say Guterres should abandon “private diplomacy” with governments. But he should re-emphasize public diplomacy on human rights at the UN. Human rights advocacy shouldn’t be the sole responsibility of High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet and her office.

The secretary-general should be the UN’s leading voice on human rights, not only working in the background.

Secretary-General Guterres has issued a call to action on human rights. Now it’s up to him to act.

The post UN Chief Should Lead by Example on Human Rights appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Louis Charbonneau is United Nations Director, Human Rights Watch

The post UN Chief Should Lead by Example on Human Rights appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Credit: Bigstock.

By External Source
Feb 25 2020 (IPS)

A silent revolution is happening in investing. It is a paradigm shift that will have a profound impact on corporations, countries and pressing issues like climate change. Yet most people are not even aware of it.

In a traditional investment fund, the decisions about where to invest the capital of the investors are taken by fund managers. They decide whether to buy shares in firms like Saudi Aramco or Exxon. They decide whether to invest in environmentally harmful businesses like coal.

Yet there has been a steady shift away from these actively managed funds towards passive or index funds. Instead of depending on a fund manager, passive funds simply track indices – for example, an S&P 500 tracker fund would buy shares in every company in the S&P 500 in order to mirror its overall performance. One of the great attractions of such funds is that their fees are dramatically lower than the alternative.

In 2019 there was a watershed in the history of finance. In the United States, the total value of actively managed funds was surpassed by passive funds. Globally, passive funds crossed US$10 trillion (£7.7 trillion), a five-fold increase from US$2 trillion in 2007.

 

 

This seemingly unstoppable ascent has two main consequences. First, corporate ownership has become concentrated in the hands of the “big three” passive asset managers: BlackRock, Vanguard and State Street. They are already the largest owners of corporate America.

The second consequence relates to the companies that provide the indices that these passive funds follow. When investors buy index funds, they effectively delegate their investment decisions to these providers. Three dominant providers have become increasingly powerful: MSCI, FTSE Russell and S&P Dow Jones Indices.

 

Steering global capital flows

With trillions of dollars migrating to passive funds, the role of index providers has been transformed. We traced this change in a recent paper: in the past, index providers only supplied information to financial markets. In our new age of passive investing, they are becoming market authorities.

Deciding who appears in the indices is not just something technical or objective. It involves some discretion by the providers and benefits some actors over others. By determining which players are included on the list, setting the criteria becomes an inherently political activity.

Especially relevant are the dominant emerging markets stock indices, particularly the widely tracked MSCI Emerging Markets Index. This is a list of large and medium-sized companies in 26 countries, including China, India and Mexico.

MSCI sets the standards for countries to qualify for inclusion. Above all, they have to guarantee free access to domestic stock markets for foreign investors. If a country is included, massive amounts of capital will flow into their national stock market almost automatically. As a result, MSCI and the other big three providers’ rival indices are now effectively steering global investment flows.

For example, when Saudi Arabia was recently added to the list of qualifying countries for these indices, it was predicted to trigger inflows into the Saudi stock market of up to US$40 billion.

And when Saudi Aramco, the largest global oil producer, went public last year, it was fast-tracked by the same three index providers into their emerging markets indices. Millions of investors around the world now unknowingly hold shares in this controversial corporation – either through owning emerging markets index funds or having pensions that hold such funds on their behalf.

When China was added to the key emerging market indices in 2018, reportedly after heavy lobbying from Beijing, the capital steering effect was expected to be larger by an order of magnitude. It was estimated that the long-term inflows into Chinese stocks would be up to US$400 billion.

 

The future role of index providers

The three dominant index providers’ income mainly derives from the funds replicating their indices, since they have to pay royalties for the privilege. The providers are therefore currently enjoying a fee bonanza. For 2019, MSCI reported record revenues and said the assets tracking its indices were at all-time highs.

Our research suggests that these providers’ brands are so well established that competitors will struggle to take away that business. This suggests that MSCI, FTSE Russell and S&P Dow Jones will increase their role as a new kind of de facto global regulators.

Arguably the most important aspect of their private authority for the future of our planet pertains to how corporations tackle climate change. BlackRock recently made headlines with plans to divest from firms that make more than 25% of their revenues from coal. Yet this only applies to BlackRock’s actively managed funds: most of its funds track indices from the major index providers, so they will keep investing in coal until the providers remove such companies from their indices.

Similarly, BlackRock, Vanguard and State Street all recently announced they will increase their range of so-called ESG funds, which profess to exclude the worst performing firms according to environmental, social and governance criteria. Again, these criteria are increasingly defined by the index providers, using proprietary methodologies. As The Economist has noted, the providers often decide which companies to include based on whether they go about their business sustainably rather than what business they are actually in.

For instance, Saudi Aramco produces few emissions extracting oil from the ground. It’s a comparatively “sustainable” oil company, but it’s still an oil company. Most ESG indices include industry leaders in each sector and exclude worst performers – irrespective of the industry. Consequently, many ESG funds still heavily invest in the likes of airlines, oil and mining companies.

They are also sometimes quite arbitrary about who qualifies as a good performer. For instance, the American bank Wells Fargo is ranked in the top third by one index provider, while another ranks it in the bottom 5%.

In short, this tightly interlinked group of three giant passive fund managers and three major index providers will largely determine how corporations tackle climate change. The world is paying little attention to the judgements they make, and yet these judgements look highly questionable. If the world is truly to get to grips with the global climate crisis, this constellation needs to be far more closely scrutinised by regulators, researchers and the general public.

Jan Fichtner, Postdoctoral Researcher in Political Science, University of Amsterdam; Eelke Heemskerk, Associate Professor Political Science, University of Amsterdam, and Johannes Petry, ESRC Doctoral Research Fellow in International Political Economy, University of Warwick

 

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Delegates gather at FAO headquarters to advance negotiations of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework. Credit: Maged Srour/IPS

By Maged Srour
ROME, Feb 24 2020 (IPS)

“The world out there is watching and waiting for results,” Elizabeth Maruma Mrema warns while talking to IPS regarding the preservation of biodiversity of our planet.

The acting Executive Secretary of the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, is referring to a worrying report[1] released by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) which paints a grim picture of the planet.

“Many key components of biodiversity for food and agriculture at genetic, species and ecosystem levels are in decline and evidence suggests that the proportion of livestock breeds at risk of extinction is increasing,” the report says.

The FAO also warns that “nearly a third of fish stocks are overfished, and a third of freshwater fish species assessed are considered threatened”.

These are just some of the critical issues being debated during the open-ended working group on the post-2020 biodiversity framework. This round of negotiations is taking place at FAO headquarters from 24 to 29 February. In the run-up to October’s historic UN Biodiversity Conference, government officials, experts and activists from around the world gathered today at FAO headquarters, Rome, to forge ahead with negotiations. This round of talks was supposed to take place in Kunming, China, on the same dates. Due to the ongoing situation following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19), it was moved to Rome, Italy.

Background

The fourteenth meeting of the Conference of Parties (COP) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) had its meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, in 2018. It was here that the working group on the post-2020 global biodiversity framework was appointed. The working group’s mandate was to prepare the text of a framework that would guide the work of the Convention after the year 2020. At the working group’s first meeting held in Nairobi in August 2019, the Open-ended Working Group (WG2020) requested the Co-Chairs and the Executive Secretary to prepare a zero-draft text of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework. This framework is under consideration at its second meeting, which is currently taking place in Rome. The aim of the second meeting of the Working Group is to significantly advance the negotiation of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework, discussing the different aspects of the whole ambitious project.

‘Healthy Diets’ was among the proposed initiatives during the first day of the six-day event at FAO headquarters. The initiative emphasised the importance of ‘geographical indications’ for biodiversity, with examples and experiences from Africa and Eastern Europe. Credit: Maged Srour/IPS

Negotiations in Rome: Promoting a bi-directional approach

In the coming days, the working groups will be divided on a regional basis. They will discuss a wide variety of concerns including biodiversity, food, agriculture and fishing systems, to the importance of promoting an approach that leaves no one outside of this circuit. Civil society, the private sector, indigenous people, local communities, women and youth are all represented to create a functional framework for the whole society and at all levels. Many organisations, like Bioversity International, supported by a host of international agencies, have submitted research reports on biodiversity and food systems. It has also made representations on alternative models for access and benefit-sharing rules, practices and impacts in the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework.

The voice of indigenous people

Key to the discussions is the role of indigenous people in biodiversity and Aslak Holmberg, the representative of the indigenous people, is convinced that policymakers can learn from these groups.

“There is a key message we want to share with other groups here during these negotiations,” he told IPS. “Indigenous peoples and local communities’ management of natural resources is (in fact) conserving biodiversity. (This is) because these management practices are built on a balanced relationship with the respective environment.

“Biological and cultural diversity are linked, and by this, I mean that (for indigenous communities) culture plays a fundamental role in the process of preserving biodiversity: it is in our culture to use our areas in a sustainable way. That is the message we want to share with others”.

The voice of the business sector

Representatives of the private sector too, in particular of the business world, wish to be part of the framework that will result from the negotiations and officially approved in October, in China.
Eva Zabey, Executive Director of the Business for Nature Coalition, told IPS she was grateful to the CBD secretariat for giving business and opportunity to engage and contribute to the zero draft of the post-2020 framework.

This coalition is a unique global group of influential business and conservation organisations participating in the negotiations.

“Forward-thinking businesses are starting to change the way they operate, based on their understanding of the value of nature – but this is still the exception, not the norm,” she told IPS.
“Therefore,” said Zabey, “Political leadership is needed now to transform our economic and financial systems in a way that places nature at the heart of global decision-making. It needs to create a level playing field and a stable operating environment for business.”

Zabey is looking forward to an ambitious post-2020 framework which will facilitate businesses’ involvement and create and positive “policy-business feedback loop,” she said.

Perspectives

Audrey Azoulay, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Director-General, perfectly summarised urgency at the negotiation.

Commenting on the global assessment report, she said: “The present generations have the responsibility to bequeath to future generations a planet that is not irreversibly damaged by human activity.”

“Our local, indigenous and scientific knowledge are proving that we have solutions and so no more excuses: we must live on earth differently”.

Zabey echoes Azouley. She said entrepreneurs are increasingly aware that the profit-sustainability ‘conflict’ is no longer feasible or conceivable.

“Companies planning on being successful in the future are starting to realise that financial performance is irrelevant on a dead planet.’

[1] http://www.fao.org/3/CA3129EN/ca3129en.pdf

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The post India’s Orange Farmers Search for Sustainable Agriculture appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

India’s Jampui Hills – a picturesque hill station in the north eastern province — has been know for decades as the Orange Bowl. But a changing climate has led farmers on a search for sustainable agriculture.

The post India’s Orange Farmers Search for Sustainable Agriculture appeared first on Inter Press Service.