Africa - INTER PRESS SERVICE

Masood Ahmed is President of the Washington-based Centre for Global Development (CGD) & former Vice President, Poverty Reduction & Economic Management, at the World Bank

By Masood Ahmed
WASHINGTON DC, Mar 18 2019 (IPS)

All incoming World Bank presidents bring a public record of their views about the bank and about development more generally. David Malpass, who is on track to become the bank’s next president, has not been shy in criticizing the role and management of the institution he now plans to lead.

The commentary on his nomination has detailed how his vision of the World Bank’s role and his reservations about multilateral solutions to global development challenges are at odds with the views of the bank’s shareholders and staff and—most importantly—with the needs of its clients, developing countries.

Past statements need not predetermine the direction of the Malpass presidency. Through his initial pronouncements and actions, Mr. Malpass can demonstrate that he is now the leader and guardian of an organization of 189 member countries acting together to achieve shared goals and promote common interests.

A good starting point would be for Mr. Malpass to acknowledge that the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris climate agreement provide a framework for action that most of the bank’s members have endorsed.

Recognizing the value added by multilateral, regional, and national development finance institutions acting as a system, not just in their own narrow interests, would also be an important step.

Here are the seven priorities for the World Bank that Mr. Malpass should consider endorsing in his initial statements and actions:

1. Support Africa’s development and integration into the world economy.

The central development challenge for the next two decades will be to help low-income Africa deal with its demographic, environmental, and developmental challenges. The success or failure of this endeavor will determine the future of the 2.5 billion people who will inhabit the continent by 2050—with major spillovers for every other region in an increasingly interconnected world.

The World Bank is already the largest multilateral financier of Africa’s development, but it can play an even stronger role to facilitate a more coherent approach by Africa’s other large development partners—including the European Union and China. In doing so, it needs to promote and finance country platforms for joined up development support and recognize that much of this development will come from private sector initiative.

2. Target the people left behind.

Development progress is always uneven. Even as countries move up to middle-income status, women, minorities, and disadvantaged regions disproportionately suffer from disease that is simple to prevent; struggle with basic numeracy and literacy, which is simple to teach; and lack human security that is taken for granted elsewhere.

And the transition from below to just above the poverty line is both fraught with challenges and easily reversed. More broadly, two billion people live in countries where sustainable development outcomes are affected by fragility, conflict, and violence, making delivering on the SDGs an intellectual and operational challenge.

Jim Kim—Mr. Malpass’s immediate predecessor—helpfully pushed the bank further into these spaces and Mr. Malpass would do well to confirm the institution’s continued focus on this agenda.

3. Help middle income developing countries make the right development choices.

Emerging markets and middle-income developing countries will increasingly drive global growth. The sustainability of their new infrastructure will define how livable our planet will be for the next century. Their economic success will provide markets for global exports and jobs around the globe.

The policy and investment decisions they make will impact our collective financial and environmental future. It would be a missed opportunity of historic proportions for the World Bank to watch these developments from the sidelines. It has a critical advisory and financing role in middle-income countries—not least as a catalyst for private finance.

Working with these countries also provides the bank with hands-on knowledge of development progress on the ground—knowledge that is essential for the bank to be a credible intellectual interlocuter for its low-income members.

So, it is important for Mr. Malpass to signal that focusing the bank’s financial support on where it has the most impact is not shorthand for pulling back from the vibrant partnership it enjoys with middle-income countries.

4. Mainstream work on global public goods.

Any number of knowledgeable observers, including a high-level group convened by the Center of Global Development (CGD) and an Eminent Persons Group set up by the G-20, have convincingly articulated why the challenge of development cannot be met without addressing problems—and opportunities—that span across countries in an increasingly interconnected world.

Whether it is preparing for the next pandemic; dealing with climate change; managing the ever-increasing flow of refugees; establishing an international tax regime that limits avoidance through tax havens; or coping with the regulatory and ethical challenges posed by big data, AI, and digital technology; action will need to be coordinated across countries and regions.

The Bank for good reasons, the bank has progressively become a major player in a number of these areas, but it still does this as an add-on to its main business, which continues to be organized around country-by-country lending.

Shareholders have not helped by creating a plethora of special facilities and trust funds that the bank manages on their behalf, which sometimes subvert the very priorities that they set for the institution when they meet in its the board to set strategy.

Mr. Malpass has the opportunity to rationalize the bank’s work on global public goods and to make this a core part of the Bank’s regular operations.

5. Be an active player in the debate on development pathways for the 21st century.

Every retrospective evaluation of the World Bank’s value add emphasizes the intellectual contribution it has made to furthering development thought and practice. That role is even more important given the widespread questioning of so much of what was taken as “good practice” in development cooperation.

Many countries are looking to China as the new model for shaping their own economic development strategy, and, no doubt, there is much to learn from China’s extraordinary journey over the past 50 years.

However, it is the World Bank as a global organization that should provide the home for discussing which of those lessons can be usefully emulated by others. Learning from China should be part of the World Bank’s intellectual agenda—not an alternative to it.

6. Engage actively with the other players who finance development.

Regional development banks are sometimes bigger players in their regions, national development banks are an underestimated force, and private foundations are major actors for driving innovation and a results-focus.

Private finance will be the key for making real the aspiration of ‘billions to trillions’ for development finance. Civil society provides ideas and holds the system accountable. The WB has a special role in making the development finance system be more than the sum of its parts. Mr Malpass needs to approach this task with serious commitment and a degree of humility. The results will be well worth the effort.

7. Don’t move around the boxes!

Every incoming president is tempted to reorganize the bank—partly to make it “their bank” and partly out of a genuine desire to make the machine work better. While no organizational structure is without its shortcomings, the cost of reorganization is often grossly underestimated.

The dust is only just beginning to settle on Jim Kim’s badly implemented and long drawn out reorganization; the last thing that an incoming president should do is embark on another round of moving boxes around.

Nor is this the moment for a wholesale changing of the guard at the senior leadership level just to show there is a new sheriff in town. The organization will deliver more and better with a bit of stability and continuity, albeit with the nudges that Mr. Malpass will want to give to align it better with his own vision.

The World Bank’s role as a multilateral development organization cannot be completely insulated from tensions among its major shareholders. Mr. Malpass comes from an administration that sees the World Bank as an instrument in a broader stand-off with China’s growing influence.

Perhaps the greatest challenge facing him will be to demonstrate that he has now moved to lead a multilateral organization that can be a “zone of mutual interest” where, with the cooperation and trust of all shareholders, he can advance global development goals that are in the interest of all.

Excerpt:

Masood Ahmed is President of the Washington-based Centre for Global Development (CGD) & former Vice President, Poverty Reduction & Economic Management, at the World Bank

By Jan Lundius
STOCKHOLM / ROME, Mar 18 2019 (IPS)

EU Parliament elections take place every fifth year and votes have steadily been decreasing. In the last 2014 election, the overall turnout was 42.54 percent of those entitled to vote, in some nations it was just around fifteen percent. Nevertheless, results will not only be eagerly awaited by pro- and anti-EU activists, but also by ideologist from non-member countries. Particularily vociferous among such people are Steve Bannon, who wants to “Make America Great Again” and Aleksandr Dugin who wants to “Make Russia Great Again”.

Bannon, former Chief Strategist in the Trump administration, has identified “EU globalism” as his main enemy, “if I drive the stake through the vampire, the whole thing will start to dissipate.” To that end he has in Brussels founded The Movement to support right-wing populist groups opposing the EU. However, the initiative has so far not been particularily successful. It is hard to unite nationalistic secessionists. Marine Le Pen´s right-wing party Rassemblement national constitutes the biggest section of Europe of Nations and Freedom (ENF), a EU parliamentary group comprising far-right parties from across Europe. In spite of agreeing with most of Bannon´s ideas Le Pen does not want his support: “He is an American, not European and can thus not play a leading role in a nationalist drive to save the real Europe.” She would probably state that neither can a Russian like Aleksandr Dugin.

Describing himself as the only “ideologue” Donald Trump listens to, Bannon might nevertheless be a useful ally for European far-right wingers. He has his tentacles all over the world and did for example tell Brexiter Nigel Farage: “You’re going to have to fight to take your country back, every day. Whether it’s Italy, France, England, or the United States. If we quit, they [the Liberals] are going to be in control.””

Even if he has been called Putin´s Rasputin, Dugin has probably not the same hold on his President as Bannon has on Trump. Yet, after criticizing him for “ignoring ideas and history”, Dugin later became convinced that Putin had improved and now declares that the President´s later speeches are inspired by Dugin´s ideology and he hails Putin as an incarnated tsar:

There are no longer any opponents to Putin’s line and if they exist, they are mentally ill and should be clinically examined. Putin is everywhere. Putin is everything. Putin is absolute. Putin is irreplaceable.

Bannon might agree, since he repeatedly has acclaimed Putin´s intelligence and pointed out that the Russian President shares his views of traditionalism and nationalism: “Putin is very, very, very intelligent. I can see this in the United States where he strongly reaches out to social conservatives with his message about more traditional values.” Bannon would probably also agree with Dugin when the Russian “philosopher” exposes opinions like:

The so-called ideology of human rights inherently refuses to recognize any kind of collective identity, including that of nationality and citizenship. Hence, we see provoked and uncontrolled migration, refugees, European self-hatred. The EU will necessarily continue the same politics of immigration, promoting transgenderism, transhumanism, postmodernity, and so on. If Trump would become the real Trump and not a puppet, America could play a positive role, though currently it is not Trump’s America, but rather an aggressive neocolonialist and interventionist country. Trump has been hijacked by neocons and fanatical groups who are trying to start a global war.

Is an ideologue like Dugin really capable of influencing European politics? Maybe. Recently, the Italian weekly L´Espresso provided an example of Russian alleged covert support to a nationalistic party.1 By following tracks left by the Russian oligarch Igor Rotenberg, who had avoided paying off huge Italian debts, L´Espresso unveiled a complicated pattern of suspicious bank accounts in tax havens and well-known banks. Igor is the son of Putin´s close friend and judo instructor Arkady Rotenberg. Arkady and his brother Boris gained billions of rubles through lucrative state contracts; like a new highway between Moscow and Saint Petersburg, huge building projects in Sochi, a bridge between Kertj on Crimea and Krasnodar Kraj, which with its 18 kilometres is Europe´s longest. The Rotenberg brothers also invest in real estate abroad. Due to their economic support to the war in Ukraine they were blacklisted by the US and the EU. Like many other oligarchs they have found various means to circumscribe the sanctions, one is covert support to European populist parties.2

The Rotenberg family has interests in Gazprom, Russia´s biggest, mainly state-owned company, though it is also supported by oligarchs close to Putin, among whom we find Konstantin Malofeev. He is not only a wealthy man providing economic support to the annexation of Crimea and the war in Donbass, he has a life mission as well – fighting “moral disintegration” in the form of atheism, liberalism, feminism, abortion, immigration and homosexuality. Malofeev supports several European fringe groups, as well as established xenophobic political parties.

In July 2018, Italy’s Supreme Court ordered the nationalist party Lega Nord to repay 49 million euros misappropriated from the Italian State, while freezing 1.5 million euros deposited in Lega Nord’s bank accounts. The ruling might be withdrawn and the party assets released if Lega Nord begins to repay the embezzled funds. According to L´Espresso Matteo Salvini, leader of Lega Nord, as well as Italy´s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior has with Konstantin Malofeev worked out a scheme meaning that Lega Nord will receive a four percent commission from the sale of 3 million tons of diesel administered by Malofeev´s Avangrad Oil & Gas.

Aleksandr Dugin is assumed to have played an important part in the deal. His influential foundation Edinenie, Unity, is headquartered at the same address as Konstantin Malofeev’s company. Dugin is a frequent visitor to Italy and serves as a contact with Malofeev. His involvement is more ideologically than financially motivated. He considers Italian culture to be opposed to “detrimental influences” from the US and has declared that “Italy will be at the forefront of a great populist revolution that will change the world.” What Dugin probably refers to is Lega Nord`s “achievements”, like turning away immigrants and asylum seekers. He also appreciates that Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte from the beginning of his term has promoted a foreign policy characterized by an increasing rapprochement of Italy with Russia. He has advocated termination of international sanctions, which according to him is damaging to Italian economy and has offered Russia a strategic partnership in the fight against Islamist terrorism.

Bannon is also a great friend of Italy and as a conservative Catholic he would probably agree with Dugin´s declaration that:

We nationalists want a strong, stable state. We want order and healthy families, positive values and a strengthening of the influence of religion and the Church.

However, Bannon´s piousness and earnest belief in “family values” might be questioned. He has been married and divorced three times and his ex-wives have accused him of misdemeanour, domestic violence and battery. Bannon considers Pope Francis’s influence as detrimental to the “true” Catholic Church and has in Italy joined ranks with ultra-conservative Catholics who actively oppose Pope Francis, among others Istituto Dignitatis Humanae, a faction that within the Catholic establishment attempts to undermine the Pope’s position with the hope that he will resign.

Whatever we may think of Dugin´s and Bannon´s influence over the leaders of their respective nations and their nutty ideas, based on ultra-nationalistic nativism, fascist ideologies, Oriental mysticism and conspiracy theories, it cannot be denied that they in Europe, Russia and the US are influencing nationalist and xenophobic movements. An effort to counteract these dangerous notions would be to vote in the upcoming EU Parliament elections.

1 L´Espresso No. 9, anno LXV, 24 febbraio.
2 In 2018, Forbes Magazine estimated Arkady Rotenberg´s personal wealth to 2,7 billion USD.

Jan Lundius holds a PhD. on History of Religion from Lund University and has served as a development expert, researcher and advisor at SIDA, UNESCO, FAO and other international organisations.

Excerpt:

“Though this be madness, yet there is method in it.”
                                                       Polonius in Hamlet

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

Words cannot express adequately the pain and anguish we feel at the heinous attacks in New Zealand. We share the anguish of our fellow Muslims at those who have orchestrated such diabolical carnage in a place of prayer. As husbands, fathers and grandfathers, both of us can only imagine the pain and suffering felt by the families affected by this tragedy. In the weeks and months ahead, we must all stand together and raise aloft those values that must form the core of Islamic belief that we share with People of the Book– compassion, respect and dignity. If we fail in this, then terror is victorious.

Those ideologues and demagogues who set themselves above the rights of man and the laws of God have no place in our world, no matter who their victims or what their ideologies are. Their targets reflect the increasing polarisation of people worldwide, where hatred and fear can be spread and exacerbated at the click of a mouse, and where atrocities are streamed live for the voyeuristic thrills of criminal extremists and white supremacists. If it is true that ‘evil only wins when good people do nothing’, then let us now raise our collective voices, both Christians and Muslims alike, in repulsion and condemnation of these attacks.

Let us move away from the insidious culture that allows everyday hatred to creep into how we think about each other. Let us remember that it is empathy and not ethnicity that creates a community. Let us instead focus our thoughts on the shared humanity, which ties us to each other more deeply than any superficial differences might suggest.

We echo the words of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern who spoke about the ostracisation of immigrants and the Muslim community. “They are us,” she said and we would add, “and we are you.

This is a time not only for good government, but more importantly, for good governance. We must face up to the divisions blighting our world. We must all work together to defeat hatred and give hope. This is not a mission of optimism, but one of necessity.

We may never properly come to terms with the senseless hatred that fuelled this outrage. However, we must offer our heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims who lost their lives and our support to the wounded survivors of these attacks as they struggle to recover from the physical and mental trauma. Let us draw strength from our faith and our shared values. Most importantly, these terrible attacks must not be allowed to feed the hateful inhumanity of the few. Rather, these images of death and destruction must strengthen our compassion and elevate our common humanity. Instead of retribution and prolonged vitriolic responses, let us call now for peace and decency, standing together as one. When all is said and done, our conscience may question, “What part did I play? Did I help or was I part of the problem?” Now is the time to cling onto our shared ideals, our hopes and to the ties that bind us all, no matter where we come from or who we are. Now we work to overcome this darkness and remember that, in the words of Rabindranath Tagore, ‘Faith is the bird that feels the light and sings when the dawn is still dark.’

In these dark moments we wish to assure the peace-loving government and people of this exemplary nation that we are all New Zealanders.

*The signatories are HRH Prince Hassan Bin Talal of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and Ambassador Idriss Jazairy, Executive Director of the Geneva Centre on Human Rights and Global Dialogue

Thousands of youth gather in Rome on Friday, Mar. 15, to join the climate strike, a global movement that aims to make governments and institutions aware of taking serious steps to implement the Paris Agreements and save the planet. Credit: Maged Srour/IPS

By Maged Srour
ROME, Mar 16 2019 (IPS)

Friday, Mar. 15, hundreds of thousands of young people across the world took to the streets to join the climate strike. “We are demonstrating today for our planet and for our future. This is the place where we and those who come after us will live,” Jennifer, a 16-year-old girl from Rome, the Italian capital, who opted to join the protests, told IPS.

The climate strike has become a symbol of the global movement that aims to urge governments and institutions to take serious steps to implement the Paris Agreement and save the planet.

It is a unique voice that has united over 125 countries in more than 2,000 places around the world. Protestors want to ensure that actions—which include reducing CO2 emissions, eliminating the use of plastics, promoting more sustainable agriculture—are wisely managed within the United Nations deadline of 2030. In a nutshell: take concrete action today to save the world of tomorrow.

Jennifer was following the example of Greta Thunberg, the Swedish 16-year-old girl who, without realising it, gave birth to a global movement. Indeed, this wave of youth activism began in August when Thunberg camped outside the Swedish parliament. She accused politicians of failing to uphold their commitments to fight climate change as agreed to under the Paris climate accord.

In a short time word of her civic engagement spread worldwide and the young Swedish teenager became an international celebrity who was invited to speak to climate negotiators in Poland in December, as well as to the global elites at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Thunberg has become an example for many young people across the world who have begun to organise themselves to promote similar initiatives. Her name has even been proposed to the Nobel Committee as a candidate for the Peace Prize. “We have nominated Greta because the climate threat may be one of the most important causes of war and conflict,” parliamentary representative Freddy Andre Oevstegaard said. “The mass movement that she has triggered is a very contribution to peace.”

Not only a responsibility of the youth

Although it was an event mostly organised by young people, some did not like the fact that adults are seemingly discharging the responsibility of caring for the planet to the youth. “Thanks to the efficiency of healthcare, those who are 60 years old today could still live for another 20 or 30 years. So it is not true that the future is ‘ours alone’. The future belongs to all of us,” another young protester in Rome told IPS.

Politics was not exempt from criticism.

“I think that this global ‘climate strike’ is important for the whole community because the environmental problem has a strong political component in it. If it is true that a lot is in the hands of individual initiatives and in the commitment of each of us, it is also true that there are mechanisms which are very complex and that can only be managed by politics,” Matteo Cappello, a naturalist from Sapienza University in Rome and specialised in environmental sciences and sustainable development, told IPS. “Not only ordinary young people and not only ordinary adults: responsibility must be universally shared and it obviously must include those who manage the decision-making processes,” he added.

The climate strike was embraced by a wide and varied audience in Rome. Among the mass of people, there were large numbers of teenagers and also university students, young workers, families and the elderly.

Lodovica Cattani, a graduate in Political Science who has been specialising in Arctic studies and sustainability, participated in the event not just as a citizen but also as a worker who aims to deal with these issues in her professional life.

“I am 28 years old and have been volunteering with the organisation Climate Reality Leaders for six years now, precisely because when I was in high school I could already see that global warming was becoming a problem and that we were going to see the results in the next decades to come. I felt there was need to be informed and take action,” she told IPS.

“The youth who have the power to succeed”

“In my opinion, the Earth has a spirit that occasionally manifests itself when it really cannot bear any more. This time it manifested itself in the form of Greta and of these thousands of young people,” Sandro, a 60-year-old farmer who came from Tarquinia, a town 100 km away from Rome, to demonstrate in the capital city, told IPS.

“I really hope that these young people will go ahead and continue to pursue their dream because it is truly in their hands. My generation is responsible for many of today’s environmental disasters and often has no open-mindedness or ability to reverse this course. It is young people who have all the potential to succeed.”

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The post Climate Strike: Hundreds of Thousands Unite for the Planet’s Future appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Due to the saline water in the Khulna region, people suffer from a lack of pure drinking water. Shila Bawali and Suchitra Biswas set up a committee run by women to help the community. The purified water, generated by the reverse osmosis plant, will be available at a cheap rate to the people in their area. WaterAid, powered by the bank HSBC, is supporting this project in Dacope, Khulna, Bangladesh. Credit: WaterAid/ HSBC/ Drik/ Habibul Haque

By Jonathan Farr and Samia Mallik, WaterAid
LONDON / DHAKA, Mar 15 2019 (IPS)

The stakes are high for women when faced with a warming world – their livelihoods jeopardised by labour markets that tend to put men first, their family responsibilities increasing rapidly in the face of droughts and flooding, and politicians who refuse to acknowledge the challenges they face. The story of those living on the frontline of a harsher climate is simply not being heard.

Women commonly face higher risks and greater burdens from the impacts of climate change. Combined with the fact that climate change has a greater impact on people who are heavily dependent on natural resources for their livelihoods, women also have the least capacity to respond to increasingly severe natural disasters such as droughts, landslides, floods and cyclones. Despite this, and often because of this, it is women who are the drivers of adaptation to climate change.

By promoting their local knowledge of sustainable resource management, and leadership in sustainable practices at the household and community level, women are the innovators, entrepreneurs and pioneers when it comes to tackling climate change on a day-to-day basis. With this in mind, policies and projects should strive to not only involve women in decision-making and leadership processes for climate change mitigation, but put them in the driving seat to make the tough choices.

Shila Bawali working in her grocery shop in Dacope, Khulna, Bangladesh. Credit: WaterAid/ HSBC/ Drik/ Habibul Haque

In developing countries, there are many other examples of women’s inclusion at the local level, which have led to enhanced outcomes of climate-related projects and policies at a much wider often national level.

For example, in Dacope – a community in a climate-vulnerable region of Bangladesh where water resources are so heavily saline as to be poisonous. Children and adults of the community were suffering from skin allergies, stomach problems and water-borne diseases due to the daily consumption of unsafe water from their only water source – ponds and canals.

A group of women decided they could not stand by as their health and that of their families deteriorated due to lack of safe water. Things needed to change.

WaterAid and HSBC have been working partnership for four years in this region of Bangladesh helping to provide water, sanitation and hygiene services to many communities.

Shila Bawali along with her daughter inside her shop in Dacope, Khulna, Bangladesh. Credit: WaterAid/ HSBC/ Drik/ Habibul Haque

Through the project, mother-of-two, Shila Bawali, 35, successfully enlisted another 44 women into a committee called “Khona Khatail Mahila Samity” to start a fund for the installation of a reverse osmosis plant to purify their water.

This plant has started the water filtration process, which takes out the impurities out of the water and makes it safe for drinking. With this plant removing the salinity from ground water, it is now safe and pure to drink for the 1,300 people living in the village and also those from other communities at a very low-price. Shila plans to sell it to restaurants and cafes, so the water not only brings health benefits but improves her family’s economic outlook too.

And, as a number of the women are now trained with the essential skills to be able to maintain the water plant, it is sustainable and resilient to future climate pressures.

How does Shila feel about this success? She told WaterAid that she’s now incredibly optimistic about the future – she’s confident that life will be better, her children will be healthier, and she will be able to rely on her new source of clean water.

She is happy to serve the customers in her shop and is eager to see her own community blossoming with new hope.

Let’s applaud women like Shila who take control of their rightful destiny, and take on new challenges and risks in their hectic lives. Through their incredible drive and ambition, they can bring about lasting change to secure the future of their family and community in the face of climate change.

The post Women Take the Lead Tackling Climate Change in Bangladesh appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Jonathan Farr is WaterAid’s Senior Policy Analyst on water security & climate change, based in London & Samia Mallik is WaterAid Bangladesh’s Communications Officer, based in Dhaka.

The post Women Take the Lead Tackling Climate Change in Bangladesh appeared first on Inter Press Service.

By Mark Baker
SOUTH CAROLINA, USA, Mar 15 2019 (IPS)

Those of us working in disaster relief know what to expect when a hurricane or earthquake strikes with devastating fury.

We know that safe water, food, and shelter will be the most immediate needs for survivors. And we have a good idea of the kind of wreckage we’ll see, although we never cease to be humbled and sobered by the tragic sights.

We also know that each crisis will offer unique challenges and opportunities that can inform our future relief work. At Water Mission, we respond to disasters because we care deeply about the people affected. As a result, we constantly seek to improve the efficiency, timeliness, and excellence of our work.

When Water Mission arrived in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria swept through the island, we were met with a different set of circumstances than we have seen in most other disaster contexts around the world.

As a U.S. territory, most communities did not need a new, central system for treating and distributing safe water. What they needed was power for their existing water and septic systems that were inoperable.

Pivoting to address this need led to a few valuable takeaways that will refine our approach to future disasters: Be prepared to adapt your response as needs unfold.

With 18 years of disaster response experience, we know that most crisis situations require immediate solutions to turn contaminated surface water into safe drinking water for entire communities.

This means that we typically deploy our Living Water Treatment Systems — designed for swift set-up in disaster zones — or other water treatment equipment appropriate for that context.

Water Mission in Puerto Rico

In Puerto Rico, this approach was helpful in a few circumstances, but it did not meet the greatest need of most communities. When our team began working on the island, we realized that many rural communities still had intact water and septic systems.

They were simply unable to use them due to the lack of electricity. Rather than treating surface water and setting up community distribution points, we needed to provide an independent power source and the electrical expertise necessary to reconnect their existing water systems.

Transition to long-term solutions as soon as possible

Although this is always the goal, it requires creativity to adapt disaster relief projects into sustainable community solutions. Since the rural Puerto Rican communities needed power to get safe water flowing, we quickly changed our strategy from providing water treatment equipment to restoring short-term access through generators.

Then, to reduce communities’ future dependency on the island’s electrical grid, we began replacing generators with long-term solar solutions. Water Mission installed more than 1,300 solar panels in 22 arrays, which generated more than 400 kW of power and created sustainable microgrids that support solar pumping solutions.

These solar projects are currently supporting 22 communities, and we have another 30 projects under construction with plans to work in up to 60 more communities. Today, the electrical grid is still unreliable or extremely expensive in many of the communities we serve.

Solar power offers a reliable day-to-day solution for these communities, with the added assurance that they will still have access to safe water if another storm strikes and the electrical grid is damaged again.

Adjusting our response also required Water Mission to immediately blend a sustainable community management model with our typical disaster response strategy.

Before installing solar arrays, we needed to invest time collaborating with local leaders and providing the training necessary for communities to assume ownership of the project moving forward.

To ensure they can afford to maintain the solar arrays as needed, we also worked together to develop practical financial models that would set the communities up for success.

Deploy more technical staff as soon as the needs are assessed

The unique situation in Puerto Rico demonstrated the value of quickly determining the true needs of community members and shifting strategies accordingly.

Moving forward, we plan to continue building out our response team so that we can have even more engineers and technical employees available for immediate deployment when the right skillset and equipment are identified

This strategy will allow us to provide the most helpful solutions to communities as swiftly as possible.

In the aftermath of a natural disaster, the only thing we can count on is chaos. Every situation will be different, but each offers valuable takeaways for how we can improve the excellence and expediency of our response in the next crisis.

When we evaluate our own relief efforts along with the successes or challenges of other field partners we’ll become more effective and efficient in the field.

At Water Mission, our hope is that these learnings will allow us to decrease our response time and reach more people in future disasters, while providing the most useful solutions for their unique situations.

*Water Mission is a global engineering nonprofit that has engineered and implemented safe water solutions in 55 countries. In addition to disaster relief work, it has delivered safe water to refugee settlements in Uganda, Tanzania, and Bangladesh, and have established programs in 10 different countries to provide sustainable solutions to remote, rural communities.

The post Three Takeaways from Disaster Relief in Puerto Rico appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Mark Baker is Director of Disaster Response at Water Mission*

The post Three Takeaways from Disaster Relief in Puerto Rico appeared first on Inter Press Service.

By Geneva Centre
GENEVA, Mar 15 2019 (IPS-Partners)

(Geneva Centre) – The Executive Director of the Geneva Centre Ambassador Idriss Jazairy has strongly condemned the two terrorist attacks killing at least 40 people today in Christchurch, New Zealand.

The attacks occurred this morning inside the Masjid Al Noor mosque and the Linwood mosque.

Ambassador Jazairy expressed both shock and sadness at the attack: “The Geneva Centre strongly condemns the terrorist acts killing innocent men, women and children who were gathered for the Friday prayers in Christchurch,” the Geneva Centre’s Executive Director said. “This is an attack on multiculturalism and human dignity that constitute the founding pillars of peaceful and inclusive societies. It feeds on the rise of hatred, bigotry and the fear of the Other that have contributed to an atmosphere of social exclusion, division and rejection in many societies.”

The rise and threat of extremist violence and terrorism in both developing and developed countries illustrate that indiscriminate terrorist attacks can occur anywhere in the world. Ambassador Jazairy added:

“Indiscriminate terrorist attacks have brought bereavement to societies worldwide and constitute a threat to peace, social stability and to human wellbeing at large. Decision-makers worldwide must remain united in addressing unequivocally all incitement of discrimination, hostility, hatred and violence against Muslims and other victims of terrorism and hate crimes. The language of peace must prevail over the language of hatred and fear of the Other.”

In conclusion, the Geneva Centre’s Executive Director expressed his solidarity and condolences to the victims of the terrorist attacks and to the people of New Zealand: “In the face of this brutal murder, the Geneva Centre stands in full solidarity with the victims, their families and the people of New Zealand in their griefs.”

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By Geneva Centre
GENEVA, Mar 15 2019 (IPS-Partners)

(Geneva Centre) – At the 40th regular session of the UN Human Rights Council, the Geneva Centre presented on 14 March statements with regard to Saudi Arabia and Jordan.

In its statement on Saudi Arabia, the Geneva Centre commended the various steps that the Kingdom had taken towards strengthening the protection and promotion of human rights which reflected a number of important recommendations contained in the report of the Working Group on the UPR.

It welcomed the adoption and efforts towards implementation, as recommended in the report of “Saudi Vision 2030”, whose framework includes goals which address a number of human rights.

In particular, the Centre congratulated Saudi Arabia for its implementation of several recommendations pertaining to amendments to legal frameworks in compliance with international human rights standards, development of a human rights education system to strengthen the culture of human rights, formulation of a national human rights strategy, combatting human trafficking and the promotion of the freedom of expression and association.

It welcomed the specific promotion and protection of the rights of women including gender equality and non-discrimination, children and people with disabilities.

The Geneva Centre encouraged Saudi Arabia to ratify the International Covenants on civil and political rights and on economic, social and cultural rights, the Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and the Convention and Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees, and to abolish the death penalty. Furthermore, it invited Saudi Arabia to set a date for a visit by the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders.

The Centre seized this opportunity to congratulate Saudi Arabia for having adopted the Global Compact for Migration.

In its statement on Jordan, the Geneva Centre welcomed the endeavours made by Amman to enhance the improvement of its own human rights situation, and to comply with the recommendations put forward by UN member States during the UPR review process.

In particular, it took note of the measures adopted with regard to enhancing women’s rights, promoting the right to work and advancing the right to education.

The Geneva Centre encouraged Jordan to implement the remaining recommendations it had approved, particularly in relation to strengthening the independence of the judiciary system, enhancing capacity building for law enforcement agencies and combatting trafficking in persons.

It likewise appealed to Jordan to ratify other human rights treaties to which it is not yet a party, including the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.

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Kishan Kumarsingh, lead negotiator for Trinidad and Tobago on climate change. Credit: Jewel Fraser/IPS

By Jewel Fraser
PORT OF SPAIN, Mar 15 2019 (IPS)

Trinidad and Tobago unveiled its monitoring, reporting and verification system in mid-March with a flourish, with government authorities underscoring the launch of the Monitoring, Reporting, Verification as a milestone in that country’s efforts to reduce its emissions in line with its commitments under the 2016 Paris agreement.

And even while acknowledging the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s report that current efforts such as these globally are unlikely to protect the world from warming more than 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels, Trinidad and Tobago’s lead negotiator at climate negotiations since 1998, Kishan Kumarsingh, remains upbeat. He told IPS the Paris agreement is the foundation for a world a transition thanks to the exercise of “political will” and national sovereignty.

“It all goes back to the function of political will,” he said. “Because the efficacy of international law is invariably a function of political will because it is underpinned by national sovereignty.” He said it was governments that would create an enabling environment for a carbon free world since it was these same governments, not private citizens, that negotiate climate agreements.

But Dr. Leon Sealey-Huggins, a senior teaching fellow in Global Sustainable Development at the University of Warwick and a self-proclaimed scholar activist, is of the view that that is where the problem lies for the Caribbean in its efforts to secure its future against climate change. “Whether or not it’s even possible through the United Nations framework to achieve the kind of change needed for the Caribbean is questionable,” Sealey-Huggins told IPS. “The global structures of decision-making such as the UN are born out of a legacy of imperialism and globalism,” he said, with its unequal power structures and wealth distribution that have contributed to the current difficulties the Caribbean faces with climate change and its inability to successfully defend itself against it.

As a consequence, Sealey-Huggins said, the solutions promoted at climate change negotiations tended to focus on funding for“more technical approaches” like MRV systems that do not allow for the kinds of “social, political and economic reorganisation” that could shift the climate agenda towards more meaningful transformation and innovative solutions.

Trinidad and Tobago’s new MRV system will focus on emissions from industry, transportation and power generation, enabling identification of the source and quantity of emissions, and helping with efforts to reduce emissions in these three sectors by 15 percent by 2030, a press release from that country’s Ministry of Planning and Development said..

But such solutions “limit other options in terms of what is funded”, limiting research on other potential solutions, said Sealey-Huggins, in spite of the evidence that the global trajectory on carbon emissions reductions is insufficient to achieve the Paris goals.

Nevertheless, Kumarsingh maintains there are signs of real progress, particularly since Copenhagen. He points to the launch of the Green Climate Fund which was agreed upon at Copenhagen, and the establishment of the Warsaw International Mechanism for dealing with the sticky question of loss and damage.

“The Green Climate Fund is one manifestation of advancement for provision of finances and support…to developing countries,” he said. “It is not a cut and dried issue that the interests of developing countries are locked out of negotiations, because they are negotiations by nature and even among the developed countries, among the developing countries there are varying interests.”

He said the issue of loss and damage has proved to be “challenging”. Besides this, however, “there is widespread acceptance that beyond adaptation there is the issue of permanent loss, permanent damage that needs to be addressed.”

But how these issues would be addressed remains to be determined since monetary compensation alone might not be sufficient to compensate for the loss. “Would a monetary compensation for the loss of an island be adequate for the people themselves?…. these ideas are now being ventilated and discussed. But the cut and dried issue of compensation just won’t happen because of the historical nature of the negotiations themselves,” Kumarsingh told IPS.

He stressed that countries sit at the negotiating table with the intention uppermost in mind of protecting their own country’s interest, not that of another. And while developed countries had accepted they have a responsibility towards SIDS in terms of technology transfer and financing, he acknowledged that their delivery of such help could be increased.

“Of course more could be done to advance the multilateral cooperation to protect the planet as a whole from climate change because climate change is everybody’s business, particularly given the urgency and the accelerating rate of climate change we have seen in recent years,” Kumarsingh added.

Grenada’s former Ambassador to the UN Dessima Williams, who was chair of the Association of Small Island States from 2009 to 2012, told IPS that the effects of climate events on the region’s economic development was a cause for great concern and needed greater action. “The issue of risk has to be broadened from beyond climate events” to factor in the increasing financial burdens these events are placing on countries that are already strapped with development debt, she said. Williams said the question of climate financing must be placed firmly on the climate agenda “in a meaningful way to impact debt reduction and share the burden in an equitable way.”

However, whether Caribbean SIDS do get their concerns over financing on the agenda “could very well be an issue of negotiating capacity and negotiating skills to actually get what [we] want,” Kumarsingh concluded.

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The post Scholar Questions ‘Techie’ Approach to Dealing with Climate Change appeared first on Inter Press Service.

By Fabiana Frayssinet
RÍO DE JANEIRO, Mar 15 2019 (IPS)

“More than 50 countries in the world have discriminatory laws against people affected by Hansen’s disease. There is also a lot of discrimination in the public administration…and in society,” Alice Cruz, U.N. Special Rapporteur on the elimination of discrimination against persons affected by leprosy and their family members, said in this interview with IPS (in Spanish, with English subtitles).

The Portuguese-born expert is one of the special participants in the First Latin American and Caribbean Assembly of Organisations of People Affected by Hansen’s Disease – another name for leprosy – taking place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Mar. 12-14.

 

 

Among the many examples of violations of the rights of those affected by the disease, Cruz cited the case of children who are expelled from school.

“People lose their jobs, there is discrimination in the community, they aren’t allowed to enter places of worship, etc, and there is discrimination in the family too,” added the Special Rapporteur in the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Cruz pointed out that in 2010, the United Nations adopted “a human rights instrument to guarantee the rights of people affected by Hansen’s disease.”

According to this document, entitled “Draft principles and guidelines for the elimination of discrimination against persons affected by leprosy and their family members”, “States should enforce this instrument which covers all areas of affected persons and protects them from the violations mentioned,” she stressed.

This is the first time that a meeting has been held in Latin America dedicated to people affected by a disease that the World Health Organisation defines as infectious and chronic, caused by the bacillus Mycobacterium leprae and which mainly damages the skin, peripheral nerves, the mucosa of the upper respiratory tract, and the eyes.

Brazil, the host country, accounts for 95 percent of all cases in the Americas, with between 25,000 and 30,000 new diagnoses per year.

The regional meeting is an initiative of the Brazilian Movement for the Reintegration of People Affected by Hanseniasis and the Colombian Federation of Organisations of People Affected by Hanseniasis, with support from Brazil’s Health Ministry and the independent Nippon Foundation.

The region’s findings, together with the ones that emerged from similar assemblies in Asia and Africa, will be incorporated into the proposals for the World Congress on Leprosy, to be held in the Philippines in September.

 

Related Articles

• People Affected by Leprosy in Latin America Unite for Their Rights and Their Voice
• In Latin America, the Term Leprosy Still Carries a Burden from Biblical Times
• People Affected by Leprosy Still Face Stigma in Latin America

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A farmer in Woliyta area of Ethiopia experiences higher yields of taro since adopting disease-resistant and drought tolerant seed varieties. Credit: Ed McKenna/IPS

By Esther Ngumbi
ILLINOIS, United States, Mar 15 2019 (IPS)

The latest UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s annual Africa Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition Report highlighted drought as one of the key factors contributing to the continuing rise in the number of hungry people in sub-Saharan Africa. And in South Africa, the Government’s Crop Estimates Committee announced that the country would harvest 20 percent less maize in 2019 because of drought conditions. 

Drought, a period of inadequate rain or no rainfall, is the main cause of crop yield loss in Africa, ultimately causing food insecurity and famines. In early 2018, over 15 million people from countries ranging across the continent — including Somalia, Ethiopia, South Africa and Kenya — were affected by drought.

Drought isn’t uncommon in Africa. It happens somewhere on the continent every year. But weather patterns are becoming more unpredictable, as well as more severe. For example, the droughts of 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017 made headlines across the continent and total cost the region an estimated at USD$ 372 billion.

Smallholder farmers are most affected by drought because many don’t have irrigation technology and rely on rainfall for their crops. With the unpredictability of rainfall patterns smallholder farmers are no longer able to plan their planting seasons.

To ultimately become drought resilient, Africa's smallholder farmers must grow drought tolerant crops. Growing drought tolerant crops has many benefits including increasing on farm crop yields

To deal with this, various stakeholders — from national governments to non-governmental organizations — have used different approaches, like food aid and funds, safety net systems ( like water storage) to help cover citizens during droughts and the implementation of irrigation schemes. But to ultimately become drought resilient, Africa’s smallholder farmers must grow drought tolerant crops. Growing drought tolerant crops has many benefits including increasing on farm crop yields.

Drought tolerant crops — like maize, cowpeas and rice — have been bred through conventional plant breeding techniques or biotechnology and continue to grow and produce even when rains fail. They’ve been around since the 20th century, but the last two decades have seen an increase in drought tolerance research that targets staple crops like maize, rice and wheat.

There are some challenges involved, however. Breeding crops for drought tolerance takes time. On average, bringing new drought tolerant crops to market can take an about five years. Testing the seeds to accurately characterize the traits involved can take many years and requires several locations. Another challenge is that significant investment is needed to breed drought tolerant crops and make them available to farmers.

Nonetheless, the uptake of  these crops has been promising. Though the scale with which they are adopted by farmers varies by country, about 40 million smallholder farmers across sub-Saharan Africa benefit are using more than 200 drought tolerant maize varieties, benefits that include increases in crop yields.

But, there are still several hurdles to overcome.

For example, unlike traditional seeds, drought tolerant seeds have to be bought every year. Though drought tolerant crops produce seeds, they lose some of their drought protection capacities so farmers are encouraged to buy new seeds, not save them from the previous harvest. Many farmers are afraid of being locked in this cycle of financial obligation.

Secondly, just like any other new technology, there are several determinants to whether it’s successfully adopted by farmers. For the case of drought tolerant crops, research shows that early adopters to drought tolerant maize are more educated and have better access to agricultural extension personnel.

Nevertheless, research has demonstrated that the pros of adoption, and costs involved, outweigh the cons. And the good news is that drought tolerant crops are available across Africa. For the past decade, institutions like the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre, Kenya’s Agricultural Research Institute and private foundations like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have invested in breeding and strengthening the adoption of drought tolerant crop varieties across the continent.

Importantly, there are benefits of planting drought tolerant crops including producing larger crop yields. According to research, planting climate resilient maize varieties in most environments leads to 25% more crop yield. This is because these crops are still able to grow in periods when the rains fail. In Zimbabwe, for example, farmers earned USD$240 more per hectare when they planted drought-tolerant maize varieties because of larger yields.

Of course, even though there are benefits to planting drought resistant varieties, they aren’t a silver bullet. There are other steps farmers must take to make the most out of planting these tolerant varieties. For example, they must still look after the health of soils and practice mulching — covering soil between plants with a layer of material to keep the soil moist — to keep moisture in during periods of drought.

But they are still a smart strategy and investment for Africa’s smallholder farmers. They offer a buffer to drought, both now and in the future, bringing greater yields, improved incomes and increased food security.

 

Esther Ngumbi is Distinguished Post Doctoral Researcher, Entomology Department at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, Illinois. She was the 2015 Clinton Global University (CGI U) Mentor for Agriculture and 2015 New Voices Fellow at the Aspen Institute.

 

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Family photo of part of the 111 participants in the First Latin American and Caribbean Assembly of Organisations of People Affected by Hansen's Disease, on the steps of the Morisco Palace, the headquarters of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, which hosted the three-day meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Credit: Mario Osava/IPS

By Mario Osava
RIO DE JANEIRO, Mar 14 2019 (IPS)

With the decision to found a regional coalition to promote rights and greater participation in national and international forums and decisions, the First Latin American and Caribbean Assembly of Organisations of People Affected by Hansen’s disease, popularly known – and stigmatised – as leprosy, came to an end.

The final session of the meeting, on Mar. 14, approved 40 of the 58 proposals presented by the 111 participants in three days of debates at the headquarters of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, a renowned scientific, medical and epidemiological research centre in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

José Picanço, 46, separated from his family and taken as a newborn to an orphanage because his parents were diagnosed with the disease in 1972, is one of those affected whose right to reparations remains unfulfilled. His three siblings are in the same situation.

When the family was reunited eight years later, the father turned his back on the children. The mother took them in, but died shortly afterwards. “I only lived with her, a saint, for five months,” Picanço recalled, barely managing to hold in his tears while giving testimony at the meeting.

“Humiliated as the children of lepers, suffering bullying and sexual harassment, many of the other children who were with me at the orphanage fell into drug abuse and alcoholism. It was a holocaust,” he said. “I hit my brother on the head, not knowing he was my own brother.”

“Of the 15,000 to 20,000 children separated from their families, more than 80 percent suffer from depression,” said Picanço in an interview with IPS, detailing some of the damage caused by the old rule of segregating the people then called “lepers”.

Mandatory isolation was widespread around the world, during different historical periods, and continues in some countries, even though it is known that the disease is curable and that patients cease to be contagious shortly after starting treatment.

Officially, Brazil abolished this practice in 1976, although it actually lasted 10 more years. Its direct victims were compensated starting in 2007, but their children were not. The activists gathered in Rio de Janeiro called for working for policies of reparations for children separated from their families.

Their complaints and proposals will be taken to the World Congress of associations of people affected by leprosy in Manila in September, which will also receive contributions from Africa and Asia, approved at recent similar regional assemblies.

“The goal is to form a large network of activists, to strengthen the movement” for the eradication of the disease and for care and reparations for those affected, said Kiyomi Takahashi of the independent Nippon Foundation, which is driving this international process of debate and cooperation.

The meeting in Rio de Janeiro fostered “a high-level dialogue, the result of Morhan and Felehansen’s long history of activities,” the Japanese expert told IPS, referring to the Movement for the Reintegration of People Affected by Hanseniasis (Morhan) in Brazil, and the National Federation of Entities Affected by Leprosy or Hansen’s Disease (Felehansen) in Colombia, the two organisers of the regional meeting.

Brazilian activists José Picanço (front) and Evelyne Leandro testified about how Hansen’s disease affected them during a Latin American and Caribbean meeting in Rio de Janeiro. Picanço was separated from his parents when they were diagnosed with leprosy when he was born in 1972 and was only reunited with them eight years later, shortly before his mother died. Leandro wrote a book about the difficulties of being diagnosed with the disease in Germany, where she lives. Credit: Mario Osava/IPS

“Morhan is my safe haven, to preach that separated children should be heard and have opportunities,” said Picanço, who explained that he joined the movement in 1992. Today he gives talks on the direct and indirect effects of the stigma still surrounding the disease, that is suffered by those affected and their families.

A blessing

The disease “was a blessing for me,” Isaias Dussan Weck, 50, the vice-president of the Colombian association Felehansen, told IPS without hesitation.

The diagnosis in 2006 destroyed him, he said. He lost the desire to work or to go out, he let his business of supplying cleaning products to companies go bankrupt, he even contemplated suicide. He ignored the stains on his body that did not prevent him from working and traveling, until they spread to his face, and he noticed that parts of his body were going numb.

He received treatment and was cured, left with only slight numbness in one arm and pains in his left leg.

But everything went badly for him until he was invited to meetings with other people affected by leprosy. “I began to understand, when I heard their testimonies and tears, why a young black girl with severe disabilities said that leprosy was a blessing to her,” Dussan said.

Activism for the benefit of those affected, against the stigma and the damage caused by the disease, in the association of the department of Huila, in southwestern Colombia, allowed him “to gain new meaning for life and to understand and practice love for my neighbour.”

“Helping and seeing a patient’s life improve is a wonderful emotion, and you help other people want to live,” he concluded. That new passion led him to Felehansen, where he took on leadership roles in the federation.

Irma Romero, 42, president of the Nuevo Amanecer Foundation in Barranquilla, on Colombia’s northern coast, had a similar experience. Her lengthy odyssey to a specialist’s diagnosis five years ago reveals the medical system’s shortcomings when it comes to detecting and treating the disease, also known as hanseniasis, which is still viewed by many as “a divine punishment.”

Romero stopped working in the textile industry due to disability and depression. “I couldn’t even walk,” she recalled. “I even denied God,” she told IPS.

Colombian activist Irma Romero, a native of the city of Barranquilla, sitting on the bus that transported the participants of the First Latin American and Caribbean Assembly of Organisations of People Affected by Hansen’s Disease, held Mar. 12-14 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Credit: Mario Osava/IPS

Treatment using medicinal herbs, self-medication, rejection by relatives, attempts to separate her from her two children and abandonment by her husband all formed part of her suffering, which did not end with her treatment and cure.

The only permanent physical effects are numbness in her hands and feet, and sciatic nerve pain. But the discrimination continued.

“My life changed when I joined the association of affected people” four years ago, she said. “There I found people who had things in common with me, and a newfound love of my neighbour that I did not feel before,” said the activist, who became president of the Foundation the following year and reconciled with God.

Her foundation currently has 60 members. In Barranquilla she estimates that there are “about 200 affected people, but many more are hidden.”

The foundation is one of the 10 associations that make up Felehansen, eight of which call the disease hanseniasis or Hansen’s disease, one of which uses the term leprosy, and another of which refers to disabled people and is made up of patients who received a very late diagnosis.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines leprosy – the term it uses – as an infectious and chronic disease “transmitted by air through droplets from the nose and mouth, during close and frequent contacts with untreated cases.” It also specifies that leprosy is “one of the least infectious diseases.”

WHO reports that in 2017 there were 211,009 new cases worldwide, according to official data from 159 countries. That amounts to 0.3 cases per 10,000 inhabitants, which means it classifies as having been “eliminated,” according to WHO criteria.

Change of name: another recommendation

Proposing hanseniasis as the official name for the disease is one of the proposals that came out of the Latin American meeting, headed by Brazil, which has already adopted it, even prohibiting the mention of leprosy in the health system since 1995.

They are different concepts, because leprosy and leper have very negative connotations of “dirt, plague, impurities and divine punishment,” strengthened by numerous mentions with that moral burden in the Bible, argued Faustino Pinto, one of Morhan’s national coordinators.

But the activists from Colombia are not convinced. “People only know leprosy, they don’t know it’s Hanseniasis. To explain the issue to the population, you have to mention leprosy,” argued Romero.

“It will be necessary to educate the new generations about the concept of Hansen,” the Norwegian doctor Gerhard Hansen who discovered the bacillus that causes the disease, because adults are not likely to forget the stigma, said Dussan. “It’s harder to unlearn than to learn,” he added.

Another proposal of the Latin American Assembly is to extend the current Committee for Assistance to Brazilian Immigrants Affected by Hanseniasis to all Latin Americans and people from the Caribbean, in addition to extending it to other regions.

The reference point in this is Evelyne Leandro, a 37-year-old Brazilian who has lived in Germany for nine years and had a lot of difficulties getting diagnosed with the disease in a country where it is very rare and where very few doctors are familiar with it.

She was helped by her mother’s suspicion, awakened in Brazil by an outreach campaign on the disease, and by the Institutes of Tropical Medicine in Germany.

Her case and those of other immigrants in Europe are recounted in her book “The Living Death: the struggle with a long forgotten disease”.

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The post People Affected by Leprosy in Latin America Unite for Their Rights and Their Voice appeared first on Inter Press Service.

By Kenton X. Chance
KINGSTOWN, Mar 14 2019 (IPS)

From an influx of sargassum in near-shore waters, to fish venturing further out to sea to find cooler, more oxygenated water, fishers in St. Vincent and the Grenadines are battling the vagaries of climate change. The country is doing what it can to respond.

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The post Helping St. Vincent’s Fishers Maintain an Essential Industry in a Changing Climate appeared first on Inter Press Service.

A cigarette vendor in Manila sells a pack of 20 sticks for less than a dollar. Credit: Kara Santos/IPS

By Wendell Balderas and Mary Assunta
BANGKOK, Thailand, Mar 14 2019 (IPS)

International Women’s Day on 8 March recognized and celebrated the progress women are making globally. The day also acknowledged the risks, exploitation and suffering many continue to endure.

The Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA) puts the spotlight on the tobacco industry’s marketing tactics targeting women and girls especially in Asia to market its deadly products.

While smoking prevalence among females remains relatively low in Asia, smoking rates among adolescent girls in the Philippines, Malaysia, and Thailand however are higher than the rate among adult women respectively (9.1% vs 5.8%; 2.4% vs 1.4%; 5.2% vs 1.7%). Despite governments’ efforts to protect public health, tobacco use remains at epidemic proportions.

This is no coincidence. The tobacco industry needs “replacement” customers to maintain and increase its profits, and women and girls are an important market segment which represent the largest product-marketing opportunity the tobacco industry exploits.

Internal tobacco industry documents reveal that the tobacco industry has been notoriously targeting women and girls through their ads and novel products that promote social desirability, independence, sophistication, glamor, romance, and fun.

Women and girls, especially in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), are smoking in greater numbers than ever before. The tobacco industry has been introducing new products framed as “innovation” by refreshing brand marketing devices and imagery to appeal to women and young girls.

Through these product “innovation”, transnational tobacco companies (TTCs) introduce cigarette brands with new characteristics as flavored capsules and flavored filters and packaged and labelled with glitzy promotion.

These so-called innovations are gimmicks on specific product designs including filters, capsules, flavors, shape, color and perceived product’s strength or mildness.

Credit: Bigstock

Some of the tobacco industry’s deceptive tactics which blur the truth about the hazards of tobacco and instead promote smoking in developing countries among women and girls include the following:

• • In Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, some cigarettes brands are in “Lipstick” packs. Female-targeted elegant slims or super slim cigarettes are also packaged in slimmer packs and influences beliefs about smoking and weight control – an important predictor of smoking behavior among women.

 

• • In Malaysia, Cambodia and Vietnam “Less smoke smell (LSS)” technology has been used to promote cigarettes designed to reduce secondhand smoke odor.

 

• • Kiddie packs (10 to 12 sticks) are also available in Indonesia and the Philippines.

 

• • Flavor capsules in cigarettes are becoming increasingly popular and increase attractiveness of smoking. Some cigarettes sold in Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam have capsule filters that can be crushed to release additional menthol or other flavoring.

 

• Colors play an important role to enhance cigarette packaging and labeling to represent flavors and strength within brand families. The brand image is created by attention-grabbing designs and appealing colors to indicate flavors (such as strawberry, orange and apple) and communicate the false impression of lower tar or mild cigarette. Gold and silver convey ‘low-tar’, green for menthol and blue for ‘light’ or icy/cool.

To divert public attention away from the harm and damage caused by the industry, the TTCs have been conducting public relations stunts about employment and gender equity.

Philip Morris International boasted an ‘Equal-Salary certification’ it received, conveniently timed for International Women’s Day. TTCs routinely receive an obscure ‘top employer’ awards while simultaneously fighting smoke-free policies.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “a woman’s risk of dying from smoking has more than tripled and is now equal to men’s risk”. This means that women are also at higher risk for heart attacks, strokes, lung cancer, emphysema, and other serious chronic illnesses such as diabetes.

A sudden concern for smoking is the new public rhetoric of the tobacco industry to justify a new range of so-called “less harmful” products such as heated tobacco products, while simultaneously selling regular cigarettes which form the bulk of their profits.

The current sixty-third session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, (11 – 22 March) is expected address women empowerment and their vital roles as agents of development in making progress across all Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and targets.

It is timely to discuss the tobacco epidemic among women especially in the LMICs and the concerted effort governments must make to curb this scourge.

Preventing an epidemic of tobacco-related diseases among women in the LMICs is one of the greatest public health opportunities for governments of our time. The global health treaty, WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) has been explicitly identified as a means to achieve the SDG health goal.

Steps governments should take to prevent this epidemic include banning tobacco advertising and promotions such as pack displays and applying plain packaging which requires cigarette packs to be sold in a standardized size, shape, and drab brown color, free of any logos or images.

In September 2019, Thailand’s legislation on standardized packaging of tobacco will take effect and Singapore will follow soon. Standardized packaging removes the attractiveness of tobacco products and reduces the ability of tobacco packaging to mislead consumers about its harmful effects.

Other equally important actions in the FCTC include increasing tobacco taxes and making public and work places 100% smoke-free.

*SEATCA is a multi-sectoral non-governmental alliance promoting health and saving lives by assisting ASEAN countries to accelerate and effectively implement the evidence-based tobacco control measures contained in the WHO FCTC. Acknowledged by governments, academic institutions, and civil society for its advancement of tobacco control movements in Southeast Asia, the WHO bestowed on SEATCA the World No Tobacco Day Award in 2004 and the WHO Director-General’s Special Recognition Award in 2014.

The post Tobacco Industry Targets Women in Asia appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Wendell Balderas is Media & Communications Manager & Mary Assunta is Senior Policy Advisor, Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA)*

The post Tobacco Industry Targets Women in Asia appeared first on Inter Press Service.

In the panel on Hanseniasis versus Leprosy, the need to change the name of a disease surrounded by stigma with no scientific basis was debated, during the Latin American and Caribbean Assembly of Organisations of People Affected by Hansen's Disease, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Credit: Fabiana Frayssinet/IPS

By Fabiana Frayssinet
RÍO DE JANEIRO, Mar 13 2019 (IPS)

Known scientifically as Hansen’s disease, leprosy carries a symbolic burden from the past that people affected by the disease and experts from around Latin America are fighting, including the terminology used.

The debate took place during a panel called Hanseniasis versus Leprosy, at the First Latin American and Caribbean Assembly of Organisations of People Affected by Hansen’s Disease, taking place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Mar. 12-14.

“People still use the term leprosy as an instrument of prejudice and discrimination, but that causes those affected to be afraid and to refrain from seeking medical attention and early treatment,” Francisco Faustino, a Brazilian who received treatment and was cured, told IPS."We're not going to change Hollywood movie concepts about lepers, nor the biblical stories. What we need to change are attitudes. It's as if we have to create a new concept, work on a new product. No bank would be called a 'bankrupt corporation' because everyone would be afraid to put money in that bank." -- Artur Custodio

The activist is a member of the Movement for the Reintegration of Persons Affected by Hanseniasis (MORHAN), which organised the conference together with the Colombian National Federation of Organisations of People Affected by Leprosy.

The meeting brings together international institutions and representatives from seven Latin American countries along with others from the industrialised North and is being held with the special support of the Brazilian Health Ministry and the independent Nippon Foundation, which is accompanying the process of regional meetings ahead of the World Congress on leprosy, to take place in the Philippines in September.

Brazil is the only country that has replaced the word leprosy in its health campaigns. Hansen’s disease or hanseniasis is often used as official terminology in most countries along with leprosy, while the World Health Organisation (WHO) uses Hansen’s disease as a second name but still mainly uses the term leprosy.

Regardless of what name is used, this country is the only one in the Americas that, according to official data, has failed to eliminate the disease, and is the one that accounts for 95 percent of the roughly 30,000 new diagnoses annually in Latin America.

Organisations such as the Brazilian Society of Hansenology say the number of unregistered cases could be four or five times that.

WHO considers the disease eliminated when there is less than one case detected per 10,000 inhabitants.

Faustino attributes this largely to the “prejudice still surrounding the term.” “We hope that the health community will change its stance and begin to treat it as a disease that has a diagnosis, treatment and a cure,” he said.

He continues to suffer stigma and discrimination even now that he is cured. “People still think it’s a disease that is spread merely by contact, by being near you,” he said.

According to the Pan-American Health Organisation (PAHO), “Leprosy is transmitted via droplets, from the nose and mouth. Prolonged, close contact with someone with untreated leprosy over many months is needed to catch the disease. You cannot get leprosy from casual contact with a person who has Hansen’s disease.”

PAHO and WHO explain that leprosy is caused by a bacillus, Mycobacterium leprae, also known as Hansen’s bacillus. It is infectious and chronic, multiplies very slowly and the incubation period is on average about five years, although some people do not show symptoms until 20 years later.

Francisco Faustino, who had leprosy and was completely cured, is a Brazilian activist who advocates replacing that term with hanseniasis, as he explained during a special panel at the Latin American and Caribbean Assembly of Organisations of People Affected by Hansen’s Disease, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Credit: Faiana Frayssinet/IPS

The disease mainly affects the skin, the peripheral nerves, the mucosa of the upper respiratory tract, and the eyes. If left untreated, it can lead to nerve damage, loss of feeling and paralysis of muscles in the hands, feet and face.

Artur Custodio, coordinator of Morhan, recalled that in ancient times leprosy was the name given to a group of diseases such as syphilis, elephantitis, vitiligo, and today’s hanseniasis.

“Biblical leprosy refers to scaly skin, dirtiness and sin, and hanseniasis is nothing like that. We have to give a new meaning to this disease in order to combat the stigma. The word is strong,” he told IPS.

“We’re not going to change Hollywood movie concepts about lepers, nor the biblical stories. What we need to change are attitudes. It’s as if we have to create a new concept, work on a new product. No bank would be called a ‘bankrupt corporation’ because everyone would be afraid to put money in that bank,” he said, by way of comparison.

Custodio said the debate on the name and the burden of its meaning is also occurring in countries such as Colombia, Japan and the United States.

“This is an important movement. Words do carry stigma. The word used for a name is a strategy,” he maintained.

Luciano Curi of the governmental Federal Institute of the Mineiro Triangle in Brazil did research for his doctoral degree on the history of ancient, medieval and modern leprosy that convinced him that the term did not refer to today’s hanseniasis.

“Treating it as a synonym, in addition to lacking a historical and scientific basis, is very dangerous. The leper of the ancient and medieval world was seen from a religious foundation, and was associated with the impure. And hanseniasis is seen from a medical point of view. The first medical works date back to the 19th century, when the disease began to be understood scientifically,” he told IPS.

The figure of the leper, he said, existed in several ancient populations of the region of Mesopotamia or Egypt, and also among the Hebrews, and they were seen as having “some kind of spiritual pollution,” while priests were instructed to expel them.

In Brazil and other Latin American countries, this definition led them from exclusion to isolation, in leper colonies isolated from everyone, including their families, until the mid-twentieth century.

According to Curi the “change of terminology is urgently necessary.” He noted that Brazil was a pioneer in changing other terminologies. “We don’t say ‘madness’ any more, we say ‘mental illness’, we no longer use the word ‘plague’. That effort, at a worldwide level, is important. The name is not a minor issue,” he argued.

Jorge Domínguez, a representative of Peru’s Health Ministry, also told IPS that the name “leprosy” does not help bring patients in for consultations in health clinics.

During his 10 years working as regional coordinator of Hansen’s disease in the province of Alto Amazonas, bordering Ecuador, he witnessed numerous cases of people “hiding” from the health authorities for fear of being sent to the “leprosarium”, as some Latin American countries called these now-abolished institutions, some of which were virtually citadels.

“It was just like during the times of Christ, when lepers were banished and isolated. The same thing happened in the jungle. When I started to work, I went to visit once and there was a person who had leprosy and was shunned by his own family. They had made him a room and passed his food to him under the door,” said Domínguez, a nurse by profession.

“People’s lack of knowledge about the disease was very great,” he said.

Domínguez pointed out that in their health network they began to work on “the issue of stigma and rejection,” training doctors and nurses mainly “because there were even some who hid when they saw a patient with leprosy.”

That campaign reduced the number of reported cases of leprosy in his region from 35 or 45 a year, to between eight and 10 today.

“No matter how much awareness-raising we have done through the media, many people still get scared. Changing the terminology would help people avoid discrimination,” he said.

But above and beyond the question of terminology, Dominguez believes that research on a disease about which very little is known should be strengthened.

“Why does it affect some people more than others? Why are there so many cases in Brazil and we have so few of them, and people living along the border don’t get it?” he wondered.

“It is also important to strengthen communication, and information for the public. The treatment for Hanseniasis, which lasts six months to a year, is free, the disease is curable, and even people who already have suffered damage can mitigate it,” Custodio concluded.

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• People Affected by Leprosy Still Face Stigma in Latin America

The post In Latin America, the Term Leprosy Still Carries a Burden from Biblical Times appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Former rebel fighters from South Sudan’s civil war, manually packing improved sorghum seed in Yambio, South Sudan. over 1,900 ex-fighters have been taken through rehabilitation programmes, and have been released to join vocational training and engage in agribusiness, with others being integrated into organised forces. Credit: Isaiah Esipisu/IPS

By Isaiah Esipisu
YAMBIO, South Sudan, Mar 13 2019 (IPS)

Almost a month to go ahead of the traditional rainy season in Gbudue State, 430 kilometres west of South Sudan’s capital, Juba, smallholder farmers are already tilling their land as they prepare to plant purer, drought-tolerant seeds.

“We are preparing our land this early because we are never sure when it is likely going to rain, and yet we cannot afford to miss out on the seed production programme, which is our new source of livelihood,” said Antony Ezekiel Ndukpo, a father of 19 children and a smallholder farmer based in Yambio region.

Africa’s youngest nation does not have reliable weather and climate information services, and this forces farmers to rely on traditional methods of forecasting, which are no longer accurate due to what experts say is climate change. However, the process of multiplying drought-tolerant seed is being taught to local farmers through a new initiative meant to promote peace in the country.

The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), in collaboration with the Gbudue State and the Netherlands government, is working with a local seed company and local smallholder farmers to produce fast-maturing improved seeds of different, drought-tolerant crop varieties that can be planted in the coming seasons by thousands of young men and women fighters who are returning home from the conflict.

Since 2013, South Sudan has experienced war between the government and opposition chiefs, which has led to deaths of thousands and the displacement of hundreds of thousands. According to the United Nations, since 2013 “more than 2.2 million refugees have fled across the border, famine in some areas, and a devastated economy.”

Antony Ezekiel Ndukpo with a packet of certified maize seed that he and other smallholders like him have produced in Gbudue State. Local smallholder farmers are being taught to produce fast-maturing improved seeds of different drought-tolerant crop varieties. Credit: Isaiah Esipisu/IPS

Farmers are taught how to take the pure versions of breeder’s and foundation seed and produce certified seed.

Breeder’s seed is produced from a pure or nucleus seed. This is further bred under supervised conditions into foundation seed for the sake of producing certified seed.

“As much as we are seeking peace, we must face the reality and use climate-smart techniques so as to make a meaningful change especially for a country that has just been at war,” said Dr Jane Ininda, a plant breeding expert at the AGRA.

“We need to give farmers drought-tolerant seeds because we are never sure of the climatic conditions ahead, and we need fast maturing varieties to escape the drought in case the duration of the rainy season turn out to be too short,” Ininda told IPS.

Over the course of the last six years a number of peace agreements have been signed, and as a result, many young people who had been recruited by rebel groups have begun returning home. In order to reintegrate them into normal life, the government wants them to start engaging in income-generating activities.

Previously “the government could apprehend and imprison all the ex-fighters returning from the bush,” Pia Philip Michael, the Gbudue State Minister for Education, Gender and Social Welfare, told IPS in an exclusive interview. “But we later found that most of them were children aged between 12 and 17 years, and the best way to help them was to draft a re-integration proposal and implement it.”

According to the minister, nearly all the returnees confessed that they joined the rebel groups because they were promised a constant salary of 200 dollars every month, and “this points to a livelihood issue,” he said.

According to the Governor of Gbudue State, Daniel Badagbu, guns cannot be used to win the war. “All we need is to create jobs, especially for the youth by introducing them to agribusiness and giving them livelihood skills through vocational trainings,” he told a United Nations Mission that visited Gbudue State late February.

In Gbudue State alone, over 1,900 ex-fighters have been taken through rehabilitation programmes, and have been released to join vocational training and engage in agribusiness, with others being integrated into organised forces.

“Creating livelihoods and economic empowerment is the only way of creating peace,” reiterated Badagbu.

“It all begins with seed,” said AGRA’s Ininda. “If we have to make a difference, then we need to avail certifiable seed to all famers, and it should be compatible with the prevailing climatic conditions,” she told IPS.

Unfortunately, the country does not have a system for seed certification in place. AGRA and its partners were forced to import breeder’s and foundation seed from the National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO) in Uganda.

With this seed, local seed company Global Agriculture Innovation and Solutions (GAIS) has trained 7,200 smallholder farmers in Gbudue and Lakes States on seed multiplication.

To multiply, the seed has to be planted in an isolated place, so that it does not collect pollen grains from other varieties of maize to maintain purity. The farmers are also taught about agronomic practices and what works best to ensure good quality seed, how to irrigate the seed in low rainfall in order to sustain growth. 

“In the two states, we concentrate on improved seeds of fast-maturing maize varieties, groundnuts, sorghum and cowpeas, which are the most appreciated food crops in these two states,” said Rahul Saharan, the Chief  Executive Officer for GAIS.

The farmers have already produced the first season of foundation seed.

While in most countries these processes are supervised by seed certifying agencies, because there are none present in South Sudan, GAIS does this.

The main aim of the project is to have sufficient seed that can be distributed to many farmers to improve their harvests. The country heavily relies on food aid, and that is evident at the Juba Airports, where the number of United Nations cargo and mission planes outnumber commercial jets.

“We are happy that we can now produce improved seed from our own soils. I believe this will yield better than the seeds we’ve been planting, which were grown in different places with different environmental conditions,” said Ndukpo.

According to the Netherlands Director-General for International Cooperation Reina Buijs, it is only by taking action that peace will prevail in South Sudan.

“It is good to see the government, the private sector, the civil society, the clergy, and the people come together for the sake of peace,” Buijs told IPS. “There can be many nice words on paper, or spoken, but if it does not translate in concrete actions, people cannot believe any more.”

“It feels great to see the donor support being translated into future hope for the people and in implementing the peace agreement,” she said, adding that the Netherlands would be proud to continue supporting such initiatives in South Sudan.

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The post Using Climate-Smart Solutions to Promote Peace in South Sudan appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Girls at Galkayo Center in Puntland, Somalia

By Hawa Aden Mohamed
PUNTLAND, Somalia, Mar 13 2019 (IPS)

Aisha Elias Adan was abducted on the evening of February 24th at a market in Israc village, Puntland, Somalia.

Her body was carelessly dumped in front of her family home the following morning. A doctor’s report showed that she had been brutally gang-raped.

Her genitals were severely injured and stuffed with plastic bags, apparently to make it more difficult to collect DNA evidence. She had been strangled to death.

Aisha’s heartbroken mother told the police that she had heard some noise in a nearby compound during the night. On storming the house the following morning they found her daughter’s dress close to two suspects who were still sleeping.

A third man managed to escape but was also arrested on his way to nearby Bosaso town.

Sexual violence is sadly not a shocking occurence in Puntland. Many people say that it is simply “not taken seriously”. For years it has been relatively common place and perpetrators have enjoyed impunity.

The Galkayo Education Center for Peace and Development, an organisation I set up in 1999, supports dozens of cases of sexual violence every single year.

The situation has gotten even worse lately, with gang rapes committed by not only civil society but also military professionals, marines and even the police themselves – men who are tasked with protecting girls and women rather than causing them harm.

Women in Puntland are exasperated by how difficult it is to get people to care and to get justice after crimes have been committed against us.

For many years I worked with other local activists to push for Somalia’s Sexual Offences Bill, which was finally passed in late 2016. This was the first of its kind in Eastern Africa and banned sexual exploitation, harassment and gang rape.

It took a long time to get it through, but in the end it enjoyed widespread support from religious and community leaders as well as the Justice, Religious Affairs and Women, Development and Family Affairs ministries.

We really saw it as a landmark moment and hoped that it would mean that women and girls in this region would finally be given some form of legal protection against sexual violence.

A little over two years later it seems to have achieved very little. It is close to impossible to get accurate statistics, but although we know the prevalence of rape and murder in the Puntland region is high, Aisha’s case is one of the first reported instances. Her story is only coming to light because of its shocking nature.

Somali women – and men – have coming together in protest over the past two weeks, marching to demand justice for Aisha and all girls like her.

However, we know that since there is only one under-resourced forensic facility in the region (in Garowe), and other limitations on police resources, this may prove to be more difficult than we would like.

In this politically unstable region the police service complain of not only a lack of funding for themselves, but also to pay for meals for suspects while they are in custody. In some cases this means that they are released, as it just costs too much to keep them until their trial is scheduled to be held.

While people in general support the law there continues to be some resistance from many in societies, including – incredibly – from some judges, who would prefer that customary and religious laws are used instead of the formal legal system.

This runs contradictory to what is written in our constitution, but in practice it means that Aisha’s family will now be approached by the perpetrators’ families to negotiate some form of trade off.

Attitudes need to urgently change on this as it means that the female victim is never really considered as men make deals behind closed doors. This International Women’s Day we hope that this does not happen on this occasion and that Aisha’s case is brought through the official courts.

Aisha was buried on February 26th. Hers is a truly tragic case, which has resonated very deeply here in Puntland. I hope that it will shake things up. The seemingly never-ending violence against women and girls, where men can evade any responsibility for what they do, has to end.

The only way we can achieve this is to put rapists and murderers behind bars, using proper legal channels and protecting victims and their families for as long as it takes to ensure justice can take hold.

The post Gang Rape & Murder of 12 Year Old Somali Girl Sparks Fury appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Hawa Aden Mohamed is founder of The Galkayo Centre, an organisation based in Galkayo, Puntland, Somalia, which educates and protects girls from female genital mutilation (FGM) and other forms of violence. It is the local partner of international group Donor Direct Action.

The post Gang Rape & Murder of 12 Year Old Somali Girl Sparks Fury appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Illustration: Manan Morshed

By Khushi Kabir
Mar 13 2019 (IPS-Partners)

(The Daily Star) – I do not usually write very easily. As someone working mostly with people with little or no literacy, my forte, as I would like to call it, is the oral tradition. I speak, I talk, I converse. I write today based on my perceptions from my work with rural women with whom I have lived and learnt from over the last four decades.

Women come from different backgrounds, in terms of class, religion, ethnicity, ability and so on. Yet, where land is considered, we tend to see similarities. What is the relationship between women and land? Is she simply a passive and submissive recipient of the benefits she receives as a family member? Is she an unpaid and unrecognised pair of hands needed for fulfilling family chores? Does she feel the same ownership and entitlement over the land of her family, as the men do? Does ownership have the same connotation as entitlement? These are questions that often come to my mind as I work with both men and women, when I try to promote or introduce the idea of what ownership of land means to women.

Let’s be clear on one front: without confronting existing patriarchal structures, any intervention only serves to continue existing imbalances. In the area of resources too, land rights and a pro-women land redistributive policy are considered too radical or not an option, even as we loudly proclaim our commitment to women’s progress. Excuses of cultural practices, traditions and taboos are conveniently brought up when women’s, and particularly excluded and marginalised women’s, access and rights are in question. The only place where women’s access to land is mentioned is in case of inheritance rights, as determined by religious, traditional or social constructs, but not as an entitlement, not as a right as an equal citizen and not as part of a redistributive policy.

Given the changes in the current agriculture production systems, the peasant no longer produces for the family or for the local market; the system is now a market-led production system, in which the women, too, are being employed or engaged simply as labour. Previously, the woman in the peasant family had a crucial role to play post-harvest, in seed preservation, growing of vegetables, and tending of poultry and cattle for her family. Even though her role as the carer and in many cases the provider was never given the value it deserved, at least it allowed her to demarcate a space of her own.

The commercialisation of production processes which were traditionally the domain of women and the intrusion of a market-led economy even at the lowest household level of production have further exacerbated women’s alienation from the means of production. The process of transforming fertile agriculture land into a barren saline desert through the promotion of a deliberately created global market for shrimp aquaculture industry—forcibly grabbing land from local agriculture producers and fishers dependent on the existing natural resources for their livelihoods—is a prime example of the negative consequences of an export-led market economy where women get demoted to lowly paid insecure labour, from being a main actor in agriculture or related processes. Additionally, since this industry enjoys the protection of the powers that be—within the government, political bigwigs, donors and business interest groups—women living in shrimp cultivation areas face the added fear of violence and rape without having access to any kind of recourse.

Another example of a destructive market-led intervention would be the conversion of indigenous lands for tobacco plantations and other forms of cash crops or pulp forests for profit. These types of exploitation of natural resources in the name of development have most severe impacts on indigenous and rural populations. Yes, women do find employment opportunities as a result of these changes, but at what cost? Low paid employment in which they have no agency, as opposed to what they were in control of, even if it did not provide them with cash. We should learn to calculate and put an economic value to what has been lost, and compare it to the meagre amount she is now forced to work for.

The gendered discrimination so firmly entrenched in our personal laws add even more to women’s vulnerabilities. In Muslim family laws, though the woman does inherit in theory—albeit half of what her male counterpart in the family structure does—in reality, whatever little she receives does not go to her. It is controlled and manipulated in the brothers’ name to keep it within the family. She forgoes her inheritance in the misguided belief that when in distress, she will be looked after by her brothers—a phenomena that seldom happens. If she does keep her inherited property, for the sake of maintaining her marriage, she often gives it to her husband. As is well known, in Muslim law, if a man has no sons and only daughters, the daughters will only inherit a part, while the rest will go to male relations as specified. In Hindu law, a widow or unmarried daughter only gets the right of residence but no inheritance rights.

Previously, women in peasant families had a crucial role to play post-harvest. It allowed her to demarcate a place of her own. PHOTO: STAR

The social norms of the Muslim majority of the country are now penetrating the practices of other religions that are more equal in this matter, seeping even into matrilineal societies such as the Khasis and Garos. A case that I am familiar with, which needed my intervention, involved a childless Catholic couple, where the male partner died. After his demise, many of his relatives insisted on following the Muslim practice of transferring the property to the husband’s family rather than to the wife. They even managed to get a priest from a neighbouring area (not of their own), who stated the same. Luckily, the case was resolved with the widow now living in peace in her own marital home. However, the episode does highlight how religious or customary laws are being bent to suit the status quo.

For the landless with whom I work, government rules state that women headed households, who now constitute over 15.5 percent of Bangladesh’s population, will only receive khas land provided she has an able-bodied son. In all other cases, the Khas land is registered in the name of both the husband and wife. However, as is to be expected, the wife has no say, control or possession of the land in her name. In case of a divorce, the man simply states the land was given to his wife, thus the land is not hers. Even when laws have been enacted and attempts made to implement them, not much progress can be noticed when something as crucial, as central, as land is concerned.

Empowerment is a key factor in ensuring women’s right to development. Empowerment is the process of change through which those who have been denied the ability to articulate their needs, exercise their rights and influence the decision-making processes which shape their lives, are enabled to do so. The dimension that needs to be looked at concurrently when understanding the concept of empowerment is that of resources, both tangible as well as intangible—including the question of power and agency, i.e. the ability to define and articulate needs and priorities and to act upon them. The failure of the poor and disenfranchised, more particularly women, to achieve their valued goals, is a reflection of the underlying asymmetries in their basic capabilities. However, it has to be understood that these underlying asymmetries do not exist due to their just being so, but very clearly due to the structures of power that are reinforced continuously, often in the name of culture and development.

Khushi Kabir is a rights activist and the coordinator of Nijera Kori.

This story was originally published by The Daily Star, Bangladesh

The post HER LOST LAND appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Women's relationship with land, within family, religion and culture

The post HER LOST LAND appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Women from the Mishing community in Dhemaji district are shocked by the siltation caused by the floods. Credit: Priyanka Borpujari/IPS

By Victor Tsang and Shari Nijman
NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 13 2019 (IPS)

When Mandelena became a mother, she was only 16. During the prolonged dry season in Gwor County, South Sudan, her community saw crops failing and cattle dying. Children stopped going to school because of hunger and women and girls had to walk up to five hours every day to collect water.

When resources for families further dwindled as the drought prolonged, young girls were married off for a dowry as soon as they reached puberty. Mandelena’s situation was no different. Indirectly, the course of her life had been forever changed by the environmental crisis that crippled her country.

All hands on deck

While environmental changes affect everyone, due to existing gender inequalities, women often bear the bulk of the burden. In patriarchal societies, cultural, legal and political restrictions often undermine women’s adaptability and resilience to climate change.

When cyclones and floods, droughts and extreme heat rip through the social fabric, communities need all hands on deck to deal with the repercussions. Lack of access to land and financial credit make it especially hard for women to bounce back from the onslaught.

When the effects of climate change don’t present themselves as emergencies that grab our attention on the evening news, but rather as slow-onset changes in landscapes and livelihoods, the most severe social consequences are for women and girls first.

• Being in charge of domestic fuel and water provision, women and girls have to walk farther to find these threatened resources. More and more unpaid hours are spent, which could otherwise have been spent on remunerative tasks or in school.
• Every year, indoor air pollution kills 4.3 million people, most of them women and children, because three billion people rely on inefficient cooking technology, such as wood, charcoal or animal waste.

The struggles of women and girls are only part of the picture, as gender equality concerns both men and women. In Mandelena’s community in South Sudan, cattle raiding is common and intimately linked with men’s needs to pay a good dowry for a young bride. This practice is upheld even as resources are becoming scarcer.

The result is a culture of violence, including sexual violence, to the backdrop of climate change and environmental degradation, which intensifies hunger, reduces water availability and kills cattle.

Holistic approach to a sustainable world

More than ever, the world is realizing that the sustainable development goals we set for ourselves aren’t standalone targets but rather a holistic approach to a more inclusive world. We need to recognize the key role women play in taking care of our communities, as they bear the brunt of environmental changes.

When we empower women – by supporting equal access to land, agricultural extension services, financial inclusion and education – we give them the tools to become true custodians of our biodiversity.

Some of the world’s most passionate environmentalists have shown the world that women could be powerful guardians of our planet and agents of change. We can capitalize on their knowledge and experiences.

As we increasingly become aware of the existential climate risks and repercussions of environmental degradation, governments and the private sector are pledging to take action in order to ensure a livable future for all, it is time to consider the role that women are already playing in the sustainable future of our world.

Who will lead our green revolution? Who will take the green jobs? And where will the science and innovations that facilitate our sustainable future come from?

If we want to make a real difference in our future, we have to empower every woman and man to be custodians of our earth. Because the legacy of our environment is the legacy of Mandelena’s daughters as much as her sons.

• The World Food Programme said in a statement after the crash: “We also mourn the loss of our colleagues at other United Nations agencies and all of those who died in the crash. Among them was Victor Tsang, a former employee of WFP who moved to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). We ask that everyone keep those who lost loved ones in their thoughts and prayers.”

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• When Environmental Crises Hit Homes, Women Suffer the Most

The post From 2018: When Environmental Crises Hit Homes, Women Suffer the Most appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

IPS is reissuing this piece that appeared in Mar 5, 2018 in memory of one of the authors, Victor Tsang, who tragically passed away on Sunday in the Ethiopian Airlines crash along with 156 others. There were 21 United Nations officials on board the flight. The fatalities included people from 35 countries, including 32 Kenyan citizens, 18 from Canada, nine from Ethiopia, eight from Italy, China and the US, and seven from the UK and France.

 
 
This article is part of a series of stories and op-eds launched by IPS on the occasion of this year’s International Women’s Day on March 8.

 
 
Victor Tsang is UN Environment gender expert and Shari Nijman, UN Environment communication officer

The post From 2018: When Environmental Crises Hit Homes, Women Suffer the Most appeared first on Inter Press Service.

By Geneva Centre
GENEVA, Mar 13 2019 (IPS-Partners)

(Geneva Centre) – Multilateralism must be people-driven. The current rise of populism around the world is inextricably linked to a feeling of being excluded and kept out of decision-making processes broadly shared by ordinary people. These were the main conclusions of a joint event between the Geneva Centre for Human Rights Advancement and Global Dialogue and the UNOG Library entitled Leadership in Modern Multilateralism. The debate was held on 12 March 2019 at the United Nations Office in Geneva in the Library Events Room at Palais Des Nations.

At a time when the UN and other international organizations in Geneva are actively celebrating “100 years Anniversary of Multilateral Diplomacy in Geneva” to mark the Centenary of the founding of the League of Nations, multilateralism is under important strain. The effectiveness of global institutions and of global policymaking is constantly questioned whilst alliances are fraying. Against this background, the timely debate co-organized by the UNOG Library and the Geneva Centre discussed multilateralism as the most logical approach to the challenges the world is facing in our time of fast-paced globalisation. The panellists explored the principles and ideas underpinning multilateralism against a complex background of climate change, the rise of technology and the future of the global economy.

Often, in times of transition, drawing lessons from the past is a good way to find solutions and inspiration for the way forward. In this vein, the Geneva Centre and UNOG Library proposed an interactive discussion in light of the legacy of two great figures of multilateralism – Boutros Boutros-Ghali and Maurice F. Strong, as depicted in two publications issued by the European Centre for Peace and Development (ECPD) in 2018, entitled Remembering Boutros Boutros-Ghali, and Remembering Maurice F. Strong respectively. The panel underscored the role of these eminent persons who shaped international affairs and discussed the changes in the nature of leadership in the 21st century, with the rise of modern multilateralism.

A book signing with Mr Roberto Savio, coordinator of the publications, journalist; President Emeritus of Inter Press Service (IPS) and Chairman of IPS Board of Trustees, was arranged after the debate.

Mr. Michael Møller, Director-General of United Nations Geneva, delivered welcoming remarks, in which he highlighted that, despite enduring grave challenges like climate change, pervasive inequality, health issues and ongoing conflict, the world is however in an overall better situation today than at any time in history.

Mr. Møller underscored that multilateralism was at a crossroad today. According to the Director General of UNOG, it was imperative to address the crisis of confidence affecting international institutions, and to better define the roles of International Organizations, of Nation-States, of the private sector and of Civil Society Organizations in the leadership of multilateralism.

Mr. Møller conclude his welcoming remarks by quoting Kofi Annan: “Whether our task is fighting poverty, stemming the spread of disease or saving innocent lives from mass murder, we have seen that we cannot succeed without the leadership of the strong and the engagement of all.”

The discussion benefited from the participation of the following experts:

• Mr. Roberto Savio, Author; Journalist, President Emeritus of Inter Press Service (IPS) and Chairman of IPS Board of Trustees;

• Prof. Thomas Biersteker, Professor of International Security and Director of Policy Research, Graduate Institute;

• H. E. Ms. Hala Hameed, Ambassador & Permanent Representative of the Republic of Maldives to the United Nations Office and other international organisations in Geneva.

Ms. Corinne Momal-Vanian, Director of the Division of Conference Management at United Nations Office Geneva moderated the debate.

The Executive Director of the Geneva Centre, Ambassador Idriss Jazairy, delivered introductory remarks. Ambassador Jazairy reviewed the evolution of post-WWII multilateralism, taking the UN as an example. Ambassador Jazairy carried out this review through the prism of his own experience as an Algerian diplomat and Head of a UN specialized agency. In this regard he also paid special tribute to former Executive Director of UNICEF, Jim Grant, who designated his Ambassador Audrey Hepburn to read the outcome document of the World Summit on the Economic Advancement of Rural Women, which Ambassador Jazairy organized as President of IFAD in Geneva, in February 1992 in the presence of Boutros-Ghali, with the involvement of 64 First Ladies and 20 Cabinet Ministers. The Summit was chaired by Queen Fabiola of Belgium.

Ambassador Jazairy emphasized that, whilst the multilateral climate in the 1970s was dominated by a cooperative spirit, the climate changed significantly afterwards. The Director of the Geneva Centre further discussed the concept of “Responsibility to protect” or R2P and the misuses that led to this concept being manipulated into a tool for externally imposed regime change. In this regard, he underlined that the “weaponization of humanitarianism was a wanton outgrowth of the responsibility to protect.”

Finally, Ambassador Jazairy insisted on the importance of understanding that multilateralism had to be people-driven. He noted that the current rise of populism around the world was inextricably linked to a feeling of being excluded of decision-making processes shared by ordinary people. As such, the Director of the Geneva Centre emphasized that the solutions for tomorrow’s multilateralism lay in, on the one hand, “breaking the logjam on Security Council reform”, and on the other hand, in empowering citizens worldwide, by involving credible civil society actors headquartered in the South as well as in the North.

Mr. Roberto Savio echoed Ambassador Jazairy in saluting the three heroes of multilateralism, Jim Grant, Boutros Boutros-Ghali and Maurice F Strong, that in the 1980s, multilateralism went into crisis. He spoke of the legacy of Jim Grant who had saved millions of children from death and remained, however, largely unknown. Furthermore, according to Mr. Savio, Maurice Strong had been, throughout his career, mixing his abilities of management of private enterprises and his visionary skills as a UN leader. He saluted his pioneering engagement for the environment and the climate, and his crucial role in the 1992 Rio Conference on Environment, which initiated an inclusive process on environment that continued in Kyoto and Paris.

Furthermore, Mr. Savio reiterated that it was imperative that all countries accepted other countries’ right to an equal voice in international fora. In this sense, he remarked that the multilateral climate had suffered a change of direction that exacerbated inequality and opened the way to nationalist, populist and extremist political movements. He noted that “The two engines of history are greed and fear”.

H. E. Ms. Hala Hameed remarked that for a small country like the Republic of Maldives, multilateralism is an essential tool to ensure cooperation, to work jointly on peace, security, economic partnerships, as well as to promote and to protect human rights. According to Ambassador Hameed, small countries could gain a voice in the international arena only through multilateral cooperation.

In this regard, the Ambassador & Permanent Representative of the Republic of Maldives remarked that the Maldives had been very involved in the work of the UN Human Rights Council and particularly in the creation of the mandate of Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment.

Ambassador Hameed remarked that the Maldives, immediately after obtaining independence in 1965, became a member of the UN. She further emphasized the importance of dialogue for leaders in multilateralism, particularly for small countries, who needed to be persistent and to use diplomatic channels, both formal and increasingly, informal ones, in order to bring to the agenda matters that concern them.

Prof. Thomas Biersteker presented multilateralism today as a crisscross of formal intergovernmental organizations, informal intergovernmental organizations and transnational or trans-governmental institutions, the latter having known an exponential rise over the years. Whilst formal governance was driven by member states, based on international treaties, and grounded in domestic law, the world was witnessing, according to Professor Biersteker, the emergence of a “new governance”.

Professor Biersteker concluded that, whilst the first type of formal multilateral structures remained crucial, as it lies at the very foundation of multilateralism, it was important to acknowledge and work with the emerging informal networks and forms of government.

Professor Biersteker remarked that the world today was not necessarily lacking good leaders. He noted that new leaders were emerging among pioneers such as Malala Yousafzai or the Swedish teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg. Referring to the characteristics that leaders today should have, he highlighted flexibility, including seeing the possibility of all forms of governance and operating simultaneously in formal and informal initiatives; as well as the capacity of listening to others.

During the ensuing Q&A session, a representative of UN Youth underlined the importance of participatory processes in multilateralism and of understanding the value of collective leadership versus traditional leadership, of connected networks instead of hierarchies, and of collaborative processes instead of top down approaches. Another member of the public underlined the importance of inclusive multilateralism and highlighted the need to bring more women leaders to the forefront of multilateral institutions and processes.

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