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The Sessions Court in Gujranwala where Junaid Munir was sentenced to death. Credit: Ehtisham Shami/IPS

By Zofeen Ebrahim
KARACHI, Mar 20 2024 (IPS)

Justice Zafar Yab Chadhar’s March 6 order sentencing 22-year-old Junaid Munir to ‘be hanged by his neck till he is dead’ on charges of sharing blasphemous material over WhatsApp was devastating for his family.

“The earth moved from underneath my feet,” is how 57-year-old Chaudhry Munir Hussain, Munir’s father, described his feelings as he heard the judge read out the judgment that day in a court in Gujranwala, a city in Punjab province.

“My daughter [who had accompanied Hussain to the court] collapsed and fell down on the floor there and then,” said Hussain, adding, “She was unable to sit for her civil services examination,” that was taking place around the time. He was talking from Tokyo, where he is staying. He has lived between Pakistan and Japan for the past 30 years, running an “import-export car business in Japan.” But this time he had fled Pakistan, believing his life was under threat.

Blasphemy is an offense with an unwaivable death penalty but is notoriously known to be used to carry out personal vendettas.

To date, no one has been executed, yet scores continue to be convicted and then languish in jail. Data provided by the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) shows there are 587 prisoners in various jails across Punjab. Among these, 515 are under trial, including 508 male, six female, and one juvenile prisoner, all confined under blasphemy.

The momentum has gained. In 2023 alone, said CSJ, at least 329 people were accused of blasphemy. Of these, 247 (75%) were Muslims, 65 Ahmadis (the Pakistani constitution has declared them non-Muslims), 11 Christians, and one Hindu. The religious affiliation of the remaining five remains unknown. Punjab was the most affected province, where 179 were accused.

At least 2,449 people had been accused of blasphemy between 1987 and 2023. The highest number of accused were 1,279 Muslims, followed by 782 Ahmadis. The highest number of cases (1770) were reported in Punjab (72%), according to the CSJ.

The signed and stamped ‘warrant’ on Munir, sent to the superintendent in Gujranwala’s Central Prison by the judge, quoted here verbatim, states videos and photographs showed “writing most sacred name of the Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) and the kalma [declaration to Islam] on sex part of human bodies with intention to defile the Holy name of the Holy Prophet (PBUH)”.

It added that it was done intentionally and deliberately with the intent to “outrage the religious feeling of Muslims”.

Outside Justice Zafar Yab Chadhar’s courtroom. Credit: Ehtisham Shami/IPS

The accusation perplexes Hussain.

“We are devout Muslims belonging to the Barelvi Sunni sect. There are verses etched at the entrance of my house, paying homage to Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him). For over 40 years, my family has been serving the neighborhood mosque and sweeping its floors, which we consider an honorable duty. We illuminate the entire lane every year to celebrate the Prophet’s birth. Do you think we would ever defame him?” Hussain tried to reason. He said his son has been falsely accused and framed on this serious charge. “I brook no enmity with anyone,” adding cautiously, “There are people who want to get hold of our property for a very long time.”

According to the community living in his village, Hussain belonged to a humble background, but his business picked up and he did extremely well, which may have caused jealousies.

“Still, I went to those who had accused my son, fell on their feet and apologized to them on behalf of my son if he had hurt their sentiments,” said Hussain. “I even got fatwas [ruling on a point of Islamic law] from different religious seminaries that said a person can be forgiven.”

“Wherever there is even a slight bit of doubt, confusion, or the case is not clear-cut, one should find a middle ground,” according to Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi, chairman of the Pakistan Ulema Council (PUC), talking over the phone from Islamabad. Over the years, the council has intervened in 103 out of 114 cases that have come to its attention, and the accused has been saved from the wrath of people.

Ashrafi had also been part of another high-profile case where Junaid Jamshed, a pop singer turned popular religious scholar, was accused of blasphemy but later acquitted.

Having seen the material sent allegedly by Munir, which he found “extremely obscene,” and being privy to the investigation, Ashrafi said, “The FIA [Federal Investigation Agency] had investigated this thoroughly and I don’t think anyone is framing the boy.”

“I would think the FIA should have the technical capacity and the resources to discern, decipher, and verify people who impersonate other people’s pages and carry out blasphemy, or deepfake and AI-generated content,” said Nighat Dad, heading the Digital Rights Foundation, adding her organization’s experience with the FIA’s cybercrime wing had shown they are adept at handling cyber harassment.

Munir, a first-year law student, was arrested on June 15, 2022, from Lahore by the FIA’s cybercrime wing, under anti-blasphemy laws in the Pakistan Penal Code, 1980. His case was later shifted to Gujranwala at the direction of the Lahore High Court, with explicit orders that the trial be completed within two months. But it took the court two years to convict him.

“The last two years have been like a thousand years for me,” said Hussain. “Our lives have been ruined by these cruel people.”

Munir has also been charged under cybercrime legislation, the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA), 2016, termed a draconian law by human rights defenders.

Farieha Aziz, a cybercrime expert and co-founder of Bolo Bhi, an advocacy forum for digital rights, said: “Various sections of PECA 2016 criminalize speech in an excessive and overly broad manner and have been used routinely against journalists, academics, and political workers from time to time.” PECA, she said, has anti-speech, anti-privacy, and anti-Internet provisions.

“It is not uncommon for people to be booked for alleged blasphemy online,” said Aziz. We have seen how malicious online campaigns have been run against activists in the past, labelling them as blasphemers or pushing for them to be booked under the blasphemy law where no such offense has been committed but this is used to silence them by putting a target on a person’s back, which has offline consequences and endangers their life.”

Lawyer Mohammad Jibran Nasir and Dr Arfana Mallah, associate professors at the University of Sindh, in Jamshoro, have had their share of close calls for speaking in support of alleged blasphemers.

But the bigger concern, said Aziz, was that “accounts are hacked or impersonation accounts put out material” that is not by the accused. And even before that is established, the latter is booked.

“Expanding the use of blasphemy cases against people for what they say or share on social media is an invitation for witch hunts,” stated Patricia Gossman, Associate Asia Director at Human Rights Watch, in a dispatch. “The Pakistani government should amend and ultimately repeal its blasphemy laws, not further extend their scope online,” said the statement.

Dad admitted: “Technology can be extremely harmful, especially where the law enforcing agencies are not so well equipped.”

But this is not the first time.

In 2014, a Christian couple was sentenced to death for sending a blasphemous text message in English to their local cleric. The couple denied it, saying they were illiterate and did not know the language. In 2016, a Christian named Nadeem James was sentenced to death for sending a poem to a Muslim friend that insulted Islam and 30-year-old Taimoor Raza was sentenced to death after getting into a sectarian debate about Islam on Facebook with a man who was a counter-terrorism official.

Then there is the case of Junaid Hafeez, a lecturer at the Bahahuddin Zakariya University in Multan, a city in Punjab, who has been imprisoned since 2001 after being accused of uploading blasphemous material over Facebook by a student. His lawyer, Rashid Rehman, was murdered in 2014.

More recently, Aneeqa Atiq, 26, was sentenced to death by a court in Rawalpindi in 2022 for allegedly sharing blasphemous material via WhatsApp.

When not imprisoned, those who have been marked are often killed by the people. In 2017, Mashal Khan, a student at Abdul Wali Khan University in Mardan, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, was beaten to death by students accusing him of posting blasphemous material over social media. An investigation later proved he was innocent. Last year, seven people were killed extrajudicially. From 1994 to 2023, 95 people have been lynched.

“We’ve also seen campaigns targeting activists fighting for any change in the blasphemy law and know how lethal these can be, leading to the loss of lives, as we saw with Salman Taseer and Shahbaz Bhatti for proposing amendments and reforms to the country’s blasphemy laws,” said Aziz.

So far, only one person has ever been punished: Mumtaz Qadri, the bodyguard of Governor Salman Taseer for killing his employer. Qadri was hanged for killing the governor in 2016.

Earlier this month, in a brave attempt, a young policewoman, Shehrbano Naqvi, averted mob lynching of a woman wearing clothes that had Arabic calligraphy written on them, which people thought were verses from the Quran. Following the incident, the CSJ issued a statement calling for action to address “the flaws in the existing laws and looming religious intolerance.”

“My son is suffering from a very rare sickness called immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), an autoimmune disorder,” implored the worried father. “He is just skin and bones under the khaki-colored jail uniform. It breaks my heart to see my child, who keeps insisting he is innocent,” said Hussain in a heavy voice. He said he is going to appeal his son’s sentence in the Lahore High Court this week.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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By Romeo Jara
QUEZON CITY, Philippines, Mar 20 2024 (IPS)

Throughout history, Indigenous Women have made remarkable contributions to forwarding the aspirations of their communities for self-determination. Amid the compounded burdens they face as Indigenous Peoples, as women and an oppressed class, let us recognize and celebrate the bravery of Indigenous Women as they strive and inspire with their courage, heritage, leadership and knowledge.

The reality of oppression and exploitation based on gender and their Indigenous identity has been a continuing plight. And on a global scale, the wars of aggression and genocide, land dispossession and resource exploitation being carried out trample underfoot, kill and discriminate women, including Indigenous Women.

In Ogoniland, Nigeria, women and their families are being violently driven out of their land by armed groups backed by big oil companies that seek to extract oil. Just last March 4, heavily armed gunmen shot a farmworker in the area, while six others, including his wife and other community members were impacted.

Against illegal mining, against violence, and for land recognition, quality health care, education, and livelihood, eight thousand Indigenous Women in Brazil marched to assert their political power and create their space in public policies.

In the Philippines, indigenous women have been campaigning to stop the Marcos government’s attempts to change the Philippine constitution to make way for 100% foreign ownership of land and other neoliberal economic policies.

If pushed through, this will make the already vulnerable ancestral lands in the Philippines more open to corporate plunder.

In Northeast India, Adivasi women have been pushing back against the violent counterinsurgency campaign of the State. Since last year the Meira Paibi, a women-led movement in Manipur has been leading the charge against heavy militarization in their communities.

On top of judicial harassment and political persecution, military operations have been ceaseless in targeting Adivasi women and their communities. Nonetheless the struggle for peace in Manipur has persisted.

We live in critical times when everyday we see stories of how Palestinian women have been non-stop at shedding blood struggling for self-determination against Zionist Israeli forces. Even in situations where mothers and their families are only accessing food, Zionist forces have no qualms with dropping bombs and carrying out airstrikes against starving families.

Our Indigenous sisters, mothers, and grandmothers raise their voices, standing side by side with other marginalized and oppressed sectors, crossing multi-cultural barriers, and expressing their indignation against injustice.

The solidarity among women and oppressed peoples is a cause for celebration, and an important reminder of our capacity to fight.

To stand and fight with Indigenous Women means recognizing and respecting their rights, amplifying their voices, and addressing imperialist oppression that systematically suppresses their cultures and autonomy, and perpetuates structural violence and discrimination.

When power is used to sow fear among women, those are the times when power fears women!

Romeo Jara is the Communications Officer, International Indigenous Peoples Movement for Self Determination and Liberation (IPMSDL), a global network of Indigenous Peoples rights activists.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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By Jomo Kwame Sundaram
NEEMRANA, Rajasthan, India, Mar 20 2024 (IPS)

Developing countries wanting to pursue industrial policy were severely reprimanded by advocates of the ‘neoliberal’ Washington Consensus. Now, it is being deployed as a weapon in the new Cold War.

Industrial policy vs colonialism
Industrial policy is often seen as pioneered by Friedrich List. But List was inspired by George Washington’s first Treasury Secretary, Alexander Hamilton. He advocated promoting manufacturing as the Industrial Revolution was beginning in England.

Jomo Kwame Sundaram

For List, post-colonial national development required tariffs. Despite a title deceptively similar to his earlier Principles of the Natural Economy, List’s Principles of the National Economy was quite different, clearly inspired by Hamilton.

The Meiji Restoration started in 1868, after a quarter millennium of Tokugawa shogunate military rule. Meiji emperor rule was no mere palace coup but involved industrial policy to catch up with the already industrialising West.

Meanwhile, public intellectuals like Dadabhai Naoroji and Sayyid Jamaluddin al-Afghani rejected Western imperialism. They criticised how parts of the global South were being transformed – and ruined – by Western imperialism.

Half a century later, Harvard’s Josef Schumpeter rejected the idea that capitalism had become imperialistic. The Austrian economist insisted imperialism was a pre-capitalist atavism that capitalism’s ascendance would wipe out.

Weaponising industrial policy
Today’s geopolitics has seen a renewed Western interest in industrial policy as a weapon in the new Cold War. US President Joe Biden’s National Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan, is widely credited with articulating its use as an economic weapon.

This contrasts significantly with longstanding interest in industrial policy in the global South over several decades. For many, industrial policy has long been associated with post-colonial development efforts.

Meanwhile, strong stagnation tendencies in the West after the 2008 global financial crisis underscored the failure of purported neoliberalism. Advocacy of transformative, including green industrial policies by Mariana Mazzucato and others in Europe, was well received by desperate governments keen to resume growth.

Developmental, industrial policy
However, in developing countries, there has long been interest in developmental industrial policy. Neoliberal economists and the many influential financial institutions they control have long frowned upon this.

Alfred Marshall, Petrus Johannes Verdoorn, Nicholas Kaldor and others urged Europe to industrialise. Selective industrial policy has been even more controversial, with the government favouring some manufacturing activities over others, e.g., due to increasing returns to scale.

Typically facing resource, including fiscal constraints, developing countries have had little choice but to be selective. However, with such powers associated with governments, there was understandable concern about the potential for abuse, arbitrariness and error.

Instead, the market was supposed to decide in the best interests of society without recognising its own inherent biases and ‘failures’, especially in highly unequal post-colonial societies. Neoliberal economists were quick to caricature industrial policy with dismissive metaphors (e.g., picking winners) rather than rigorous analysis.

Asian miracles?
The East Asian Miracle was simplistically caricatured due to the abandonment of import-substituting industrialisation in favour of export-orientation. A more nuanced alternative narrative of ‘effective protection conditional on export promotion’ in Northeast Asia was thus ignored.

Industrial policy is much more than trade policy, involving a range of policy instruments. Recognising the variegated aspects, dimensions and tools of industrial policy is essential. Besides investment, finance, and technology, human resource development is also significant.

For instance, the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) were an important initiative to support its industry. However, with India’s gradual neglect of industrial policy, IITs have probably contributed more to the development of US hi-tech.

Evaluating industrial policy
For years, economists working on India have criticised industrial policy, usually referring to the Nehruvian experience. But rushing to such a conclusion solely referencing that experience requires cherry-picking evidence.

India’s pharmaceutical policy has been crucial to the health and well-being of its population. Affordable, often generic medicines in India have been central to its improved public health outcomes. However, unlike Western pharmaceutical transnational corporations, Indian companies have not been accused of price-gouging.

Bangladesh has since utilised its special dispensation as a least developed country (LDC) to export affordable generic medicines to many other poor countries. However, the West blocked the Indian-South African initiative to suspend patent royalties to address the COVID-19 pandemic for its duration.

Effectively, the West was reneging on its 2001 agreement to the Public Health Exception to Trade-Related Industrial Property Rights (TRIPS). This compromise was needed to restart WTO processes after the African walkout from the 1999 Seattle World Trade Organization (WTO) ministerial meeting.

If not for India and Bangladesh, the costs of medicines would have been much higher, and there would be more ill health in the world today. Defining industrial policy success solely in terms of the financial profitability of investments ignores such gains.

It is, therefore, crucial to build coalitions to create the conditions for sustained and appropriate but adaptive industrial policies. These are needed to accelerate growth and structural transformation to achieve sustainable development in the face of stagnation and regression in much of the world, especially the global South.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Credit: Luis Acosta/AFP via Getty Images

By Inés M. Pousadela
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay, Mar 19 2024 (IPS)

This year more than half the world’s population has the chance to go to the polls. That might make it look like the most democratic year ever, but the reality is more troubling. Too many of those elections won’t give people a real say and won’t offer any opportunity for change.

2024’s bumper election year comes as a record number of countries are sliding towards authoritarianism, and global advances in democratisation achieved over more than three decades have been all but wiped out. In 2023, no authoritarian state became a democracy, and while some countries made marginal improvements in the quality of their democracies – by improving civic space, making inroads on corruption or strengthening institutions – many more experienced often serious declines.

Nearly three quarters of humanity now live under authoritarian regimes. Defending democracy and holding political leaders to account is becoming harder as civic space is shutting down. The proportion of people living in countries with closed civic space, 30.6 per cent, is the highest in years.

The latest State of Civil Society Report, from global civil society alliance CIVICUS, shows how conflict is exacerbating this regressive trend. In war-torn Sudan, hopes for democracy, repeatedly denied since the 2019 overthrow of dictator Omar al-Bashir, receded further as elections were made impossible by the civil war between the military and militia that erupted last April. Russia’s sustained assault on Ukraine brought intensified repression of domestic dissent, and there were no surprises in the recent non-competitive vote that maintained Vladimir Putin’s grip on power.

The ineffectiveness of civilian governments in dealing with jihadist insurgencies has also been the justification used by military leaders to take or retain power in Central and West Africa. As a result, rule by junta is in danger of becoming normalised after decades in which it appeared on the verge of extinction. A ‘coup belt’ now stretches coast to coast across Africa. None of the states that fell victim to military rule in recent years have returned to civilian government, and two more – Gabon and Niger –joined their ranks last year.

Authoritarian regimes that experienced mass protest movements in recent years, including Iran, Nicaragua and Venezuela, have regained their footing and hardened their grip. In states long characterised by autocratic rule, many civil society activists, journalists and political dissidents have sought safety in exile to continue their work. But they often didn’t find it, with repressive states – China, Turkey, Tajikistan, Egypt and Russia are the worst five abusers –increasingly using transnational repression against them.

Many elections are held with no competition. Last year several non-democratic states of various kinds – including Cambodia, the Central African Republic, Cuba, Eswatini, Uzbekistan and Zimbabwe – held votes in which autocratic power was never in question. Voting was ceremonial, its purpose to add a veneer of legitimacy to domination.

Many more regimes that combine democratic and authoritarian traits have been home to recent elections with less predetermined results, where there was at least some chance of the ruling party being defeated. But incumbent advantage was reflected in the fact that change rarely materialised, as seen in Nigeria, Paraguay, Sierra Leone and Turkey. The outlier was Maldives, where voters have a history of rejecting sitting presidents.

Some hybrid regimes, notably El Salvador, experienced further democratic backsliding through the erosion of freedoms and institutional checks and balances – a road typically travelled by populist authoritarians who claim to speak in the name of the people and insist they need to concentrate power to deal with crises.

When voters do have a genuine say, in free and fair elections, they’re increasingly rejecting mainstream parties and politicians. In a time of economic uncertainty and insecurity, many express disappointment with what democracy is offering them. Anti-rights political entrepreneurs are successfully exploiting their anxieties by scapegoating migrants and attacking women’s and LGBTQI+ people’s rights. Right-wing populists using such tactics recently took control of Argentina, came first in elections in the Netherlands and Switzerland and entered government in Finland. Even where they don’t take office, far-right forces often succeed in shifting the political centre by forcing others to compete on their terms. They’re expected to make big gains in the European Parliament elections in June 2024.

Polarisation is on the rise, fuelled by disinformation, conspiracy theories and hate speech. These are made so much easier by AI-powered technologies that are spreading and evolving faster than they can be regulated. The first elections of 2024, including those in Bangladesh and Indonesia, offered cautionary tales of the unprecedented levels of manipulation that AI can enable. We’re likely to see a lot more of this in 2024.

But our research findings support our hope, because they show movement isn’t all in one direction. In Guatemala, a new party born from mass anti-corruption protests was the unlikely 2023 election winner, and people mobilised in numbers to defend the result in the face of powerful political and economic elites. Despite China’s concerted attempts to derail Taiwan’s election, including through cyberattacks, people vindicated their right to have a say in their own future. In Poland, a unity government pledging to restore civic freedoms came to power after eight years of right-wing nationalist rule, offering new potential for civil society to partner in retrieving democratic values and respecting human rights. In Mexico, which is among the many countries going to the polls in 2024, people mobilised in numbers against the threat posed by a democratically elected leader seeking to override checks and balances. Given the dangers it may entail, civil society is pushing for transnational regulation of AI.

Things would be much worse were it not for civil society, which continues to mobilise against restrictions on freedoms, counter divisive rhetoric and strive for the integrity of electoral processes. Throughout 2024, civil society will keep pushing for elections to take place in free and fair conditions, for people to have the information they need, for votes to be properly counted, for losers to accept defeat and for winners to govern in the common good.

Inés M. Pousadela is CIVICUS Senior Research Specialist, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report.

 

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By External Source
Mar 19 2024 (IPS-Partners)

 

Professor Mohammed Belhocine is an Algerian national. Former Head of the Department of Internal Medicine, he held various positions in Algeria, at the Faculty of Medicine and the Ministry of Health, before joining the international civil service in 1997. Former Director of the Division of Non-Communicable Diseases at the WHO Regional Office for Africa (in Harare, then in Brazzaville), he was also WHO Representative in Nigeria and Tanzania. He ended his career as UN System Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Tunisia from 2009 to 2013. From June 2015 to February 2016, at the request of the WHO Regional Director, he returned to duty as WHO Representative in Guinea, playing an active role in providing technical support and expertise to the country’s response to the Ebola epidemic. In October 2021, supported by his country, he was elected to the position of Commissioner for Education, Science, Technology and Innovation within the African Union. Professor Belhocine is the father of three children and has six grandchildren.

ECW: 2024 is the Africa Year of Education. How can African Union Member States work with donors, civil society partners and multilateral organizations to transform and accelerate the delivery of education for girls and boys impacted by armed conflicts, forced displacement and climate-induced disasters in Africa?

Professor Mohammed Belhocine: The AU Theme of the Year 2024 is dedicated to Education, and it presents a crucial opportunity for African Union Member States to collaborate with various stakeholders to enhance education delivery for children affected by conflicts, displacement and climate disasters.

Leveraging existing frameworks like the Continental Education Strategy for Africa (CESA 16-25), countries can embark on policy alignment, ensuring the alignment of national education policies, prioritizing inclusive and quality education for all, particularly in crisis-affected areas.

In addition, AU Member States can embark on work with civil society partners, multilateral organizations such as UNICEF, UNESCO, WFP, Global Partnership for Education (GPE) and Education Cannot Wait, and multilateral or bilateral funding partners, to mobilize resources for education programs in conflict zones and areas affected by displacement and climate disasters; and they can advocate for increased attention and investment in education in crisis settings at regional and global forums, while forging partnerships with governments, NGOs, and international agencies to amplify impact and reach. Many examples can be drawn, throughout the continent.

For example, on education delivery for girls and boys impacted by armed conflict, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has established the “Children, Not Soldiers” campaign in collaboration with the United Nations, advocating for the release and reintegration of child soldiers and prioritizing their education and rehabilitation.

In Somalia, GPE has partnered with the government to support the rebuilding of its education system, providing funding for teacher training, school construction and curriculum development in conflict-affected regions.

On displaced children, civil society organizations play a crucial role in engaging communities, advocating for children’s rights, and providing education services in hard-to-reach areas. They can work closely with communities to identify needs, mobilize resources and implement education programs tailored to local contexts.

In South Sudan, for instance, organizations like Save the Children and UNICEF have established temporary learning spaces and community-based education programs to reach children affected by conflict and displacement, ensuring continuity of learning in challenging environments.

The Education Cannot Wait (ECW) fund has supported countries like Nigeria in providing education for internally displaced children affected by the Boko Haram insurgency, focusing on building inclusive and resilient education systems. Likewise, in the Western Sahara refugee camp of Tindouf (Algeria) UNICEF, WFP, UNHCR and NGOs are supporting children’s education.

On climate change-induced disasters, following the devastating impact of Cyclone Idai in 2019, Mozambique has been working with international partners to rebuild and strengthen its education infrastructure. The intervention includes constructing cyclone-resistant schools and developing early warning systems to protect schools from future disasters. Kenya is implementing a climate change curriculum in primary and secondary schools to educate about climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies.

By leveraging the expertise, resources and collective efforts of African Union member states, donor organizations, civil society partners and multilateral organizations, it’s possible to transform and accelerate the delivery of education for children impacted by crises in Africa, ensuring they have access to quality education and opportunities for a brighter future.

AU Member States can foster innovation in education delivery, such as leveraging technology for remote learning and establishing temporary learning spaces in refugee camps and disaster-affected areas; enhance the capacity of education systems to respond effectively to crises, including training teachers and education personnel in trauma-informed pedagogy and psychosocial support; and engage communities, including parents, local leaders and affected populations, in the design and implementation of education programs to ensure relevance and sustainability.

For instance, through Japanese funding, the International Institute of Capacity Building in Africa (UNESCO-IICBA) supports the African Union International Centre for Women and Girls Education (AU-CIEFFA) in two main projects. The first one aims at creating safe, supportive, and resilient learning environments to safeguard children’s right to education amid conflict and crises in the Sahel, Central and East Africa with a budget of US$1,155,000. The second relates to capacity-building of teachers to promote continuous and inclusive access to safe and quality education for girls in west Africa with a budget of US$3,260,000.

ECW: Approximately 98 million children are out-of-school across sub-Saharan Africa. In areas impacted by armed conflict, forced displacement, climate change and other protracted crises, girls are especially at risk of dropping out, being forced into child marriage, and being denied their human rights. Why must we redouble investments in girls’ education?

Professor Mohammed Belhocine: Redoubling investments in girls’ education is imperative, especially in areas affected by armed conflict, displacement and climate crises, considering the Safe Schools Declaration. It is believed that girls in these contexts face heightened risks of dropping out, child marriage and human rights violations. This adds to the fact that even in “normal” times, less girls attend school than boys.

Against this backdrop, the African Union Commission established the African Union International Centre for Girls and Women (AU-CIEFFA), to coordinate the promotion of girls’ and women’s education in Africa, with a view of achieving their economic, social and cultural empowerment. The Centre works closely with AU Member States and government, civil society, and international partners to keep girls’ education as a priority concern. We all know that education is a driver for peace and stability. By ensuring that girls have access to safe and quality education, we can help prevent conflict, promote social cohesion and contribute to long-term peacebuilding efforts which, invariably, will promote gender equality and women’s empowerment. It will protect girls from social abuses: child marriage, human trafficking, sexual abuse, child labour and so on. We must redouble investments in girls’ education to implement the Safe School Declaration, which has been ratified by 35 AU member States and which reaffirms the commitment to protect education from attack during armed conflict. Redoubling investments in girls’ education should include implementing measures outlined in the declaration to ensure safe learning environments for all children, especially girls, in crisis-affected areas. COVID-19 exacerbated those vulnerabilities.

ECW: There is a massive funding gap for education across Africa, particularly for girls and boys impacted by emergencies and protracted crises. Why should donors, the private sector and high-net-worth individuals invest in education in Africa through dedicated funds such as “Education Cannot Wait”?

Professor Mohammed Belhocine: Donors, the private sector and high-net-worth individuals are encouraged to invest in education in Africa, through efficiently dedicated funds, such as Education Cannot Wait.

One of the reasons here should be for long-term stability and peace. We all know that education plays a crucial role in fostering social cohesion, promoting peacebuilding and preventing conflict. By investing in education in Africa, donors can support initiatives that provide safe and inclusive learning environments, promote tolerance and understanding, and empower young people to actively participate in building peaceful and stable societies.

On the other hand, education is a key determinant for economic development. Education is a powerful catalyst for economic growth and poverty reduction. By investing in education, donors can help equip young Africans with the knowledge and skills they need to participate in the workforce, start businesses, and contribute to their communities’ development. This, in turn, can have positive ripple effects on Africa’s overall economic prosperity. Experts teach us that the mid-term return on investment in education is one of the highest.

In addition, education is closely intertwined with health outcomes. By investing in education, donors can support initiatives that provide children with essential health education, promote positive health behaviours, and contribute to better health outcomes for individuals and communities. Furthermore, education can also serve as a protective factor against issues such as child marriage, early pregnancy and other harmful practices.

Therefore, investing in education in Africa through dedicated funds such as Education Cannot Wait is not only a moral imperative, but also a strategic opportunity to build a better future for millions of children and youth, unlock the continent’s potential, and contribute to global progress and prosperity.

ECW: As seen by droughts in the Sahel, flooding in Libya and East Africa, and other climate-induced disasters, climate change is a major threat to sustainable development across Africa. How can we better connect the dots between climate action and education action to build a more sustainable future for Africa?

Professor Mohammed Belhocine: Connecting climate and education actions is better done within existing African Union’s Frameworks, aligned with Agenda 2063, for a more sustainable future in Africa.

One of the steps to take is to implement initiatives to make schools more environmentally sustainable, such as smart water management, incorporating renewable energy sources, promoting waste reduction and recycling, as well as integrating environmental themes into school activities and infrastructure development. This can also be done by engaging local communities in climate education and action through outreach programs, community-based projects, and partnerships with grassroots organizations, fostering a sense of ownership and collective responsibility for climate change resilience and environmental stewardship.

These actions cannot go without providing training and support to educators, policymakers and community leaders on climate change mitigation, adaptation and resilience-building strategies, empowering them to lead effective initiatives at the local, regional and national levels. This can also lead to investment in research and innovation to develop context-specific solutions to climate-related challenges in education, leveraging indigenous knowledge and technology to build resilience and promote sustainable development.

Lastly here is the need to foster collaboration between education and environmental ministries, as well as other relevant sectors such as agriculture, energy and water resources, to develop holistic approaches in addressing climate change through education and policy integration. The need to raise awareness about the interconnectedness of climate change and education, calls for increased funding, policy support and international cooperation to address both issues effectively and equitably.

ECW: We all know that ‘leaders are readers’ and that reading skills are key to every child’s education. What are three books that have most influenced you personally and/or professionally, and why would you recommend them to others?

Professor Mohammed Belhocine: The more you read, the more you learn. As one famous singer put it: “I am a beginner with whitening hair.”

It’s difficult to select only three books, as all of them would influence you in one way or another. Screening through my recent and ancient readings, and trying to link your question to our discussion, I would single out three important titles: The first one is the monumental work of Cheikh Anta Diop, Pre-colonial black Africa (1960), which, when published, constituted a major epistemological break with hitherto received ideas on African historical sociology. It is a must for whoever wants to better understand the anthropological, social, cultural, scientific and economic foundations of African societies. The second relates to the famous best seller Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind (2012) by Yuval Noah Harari. Combining natural and social sciences, the author offers, in a simple and pleasant style, an overview of the history of mankind from the Stone Age to the 21st century. This book was followed by another one from the same author, questioning the future of humankind: 21 lessons for the 21st century in an era of ever evolving technologies.

Many other titles come into my mind. These include, for instance, the works of Joseph Ki Zerbo on African history, culture and education, and many novels from African and non-African novelists, but let me stop here.

As we enter the digital era, I cannot but encourage our youth to read books, because reading a book helps consolidate our knowledge, our memory and our critical thinking, and ultimately, forge our character.

 

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The MMC, the Accra Metropolitan Assembly, and local community leaders celebrate the construction of a childcare center in an informal area of Accra, Ghana. Credit: Samer Saliba

By Elizabeth K. T. Sackey and Vittoria Zanuso
ACCRA / NEW YORK, Mar 19 2024 (IPS)

For the past eight years, Chiso has collected waste as part of Accra’s informal waste management sector. Since arriving in Ghana from Nigeria, he has earned enough to allow him and his family to survive, but saving money has been nearly impossible.

For Chiso, accessing the formal labor market has been challenging due to factors like obtaining a national ID. Without access to a formal job, Chiso has no negotiating power, leaving him at the mercy of fluctuating market prices and aggressive competitors, jeopardizing his health and livelihood.

For years, Accra has faced two concurrent trends: the arrival of displaced people like Chiso into the city from elsewhere in the country and West Africa, and a growing need for workers in green jobs to make the city cleaner, healthier and safer. Many displaced people in Accra, like most other cities, struggle to find good-paying jobs.

At the same time, Accra grapples with improper waste management – the World Bank estimates that around 20,000 Ghanaians die prematurely each year from poor water, sanitation and hygiene, most of them living in Accra,

Teaming up with the Mayors Migration Council, the Accra Metropolitan Assembly devised a solution to tackle both of these issues at once, and turn what could be seen as a challenge into the opportunity to build a greener, more inclusive city: we would help migrant workers enroll in formal waste cooperatives, while helping fill gaps in the city’s waste management value chain.

Since the program’s launch last year with support from the Global Cities Fund for Migrants and Refugees, we’ve successfully established a cooperative of 40 waste workers and assisted over 250 people in situations similar to Chiso’s register for national health insurance.

We also convened national and city authorities to advocate for nationwide policy changes to make it easier for migrants to access jobs by simplifying requirements for national identification and other services.

And we’re alleviating the daily strains that migrants in Accra face, such as creating a child care center in a major hub for informal waste workers to provide safe spaces for children away from the hazardous sites where their parents work.

This program not only demonstrates what happens when funds are given directly to the governments closest to the people, but also illustrates how migrants can fill employment gaps, contributing to greener and more inclusive cities. And it can be done anywhere in the world – including in the U.S.

Like Ghana, many cities have large numbers of migrants eager to work in the formal economy, coupled with a shortage of workers to take on green jobs. In the U.S. this is particularly the case following recent investments from the Inflation Reduction Act that will boost the green labor market with more than 1.5 million new clean energy jobs by 2030.

Given the large scale of labor demands, this could result in a worker shortage. But migrant workers could play an important role in accelerating the green transition by filling skills gaps and labor needs like those that are expected in the U.S. in the next few years. We believe that mayors across the U.S. and the globe could also develop win-win programs that match migrants who want to work with jobs that cities need to fill.

Several U.S. mayors for example, including Mayor Ron Nirenberg in San Antonio, Mayor Kate Gallego in Phoenix, Mayor Karen Bass in Los Angeles, Mayor Mike Johnson in Denver, and Mayor Brandon Johnson in Chicago, have already been champions for migrants in their communities.

In these cities, migrants constitute a large proportion of the workforce in rapidly growing green industries like waste management and manufacturing.

As the number of migrants and displaced individuals seeking refuge in cities continues to rise in the U.S. and worldwide, there’s a need to support the mayors embracing them as active contributors to the transition to a green economy. Despite doing more with less, mayors often lack access to the funding and resources needed to implement solutions like Accra’s at scale.

Accra’s green jobs program serves as a model for the effectiveness of directly funding mayors who know their cities’ needs and opportunities best. We call on the philanthropic community to join us and lead by example by localizing their giving and investing directly in cities, and we call on mayors across the world to consider how they can create win-win opportunities for migrants and their city’s economies.

Elizabeth K. T. Sackey is Mayor of Accra, Ghana and Vittoria Zanuso is Executive Director of the Mayors Migration Council.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Ten ambitious scholars have the opportunity to participate in the Nippon Foundation-Partnership for Observation of the Global Ocean Centre of Excellence in Observational Oceanography. Credit: Riley Smith/Courtesy OFI

By Alison Kentish
DOMINICA, Mar 19 2024 (IPS)

Picture yourself as an early-career ocean researcher. You have the opportunity to be at sea in addition to learning on campus. Through cutting-edge technology and immersive facilities, you experience the most realistic ocean exploration scenarios, including braving extreme cold and harsh environments. That’s the experience at the Launch, a ‘living lab’ at the Marine Institute of Memorial University in Newfoundland and Labrador, located on the east coast of Canada. It’s an experience meant to prepare you for the real-world complexities of the type of ocean research needed to tackle urgent global issues like climate change.

In the same spirit of immersion, imagine being able to conduct research at two unique ecological observatories: Hakai Institute’s Quadra Island with labs for genomics, ancient DNA, and physical and chemical observatory, and the Institute’s remote Calvert Island observatory—an off-grid site and the only settlement on the island, which is located between Vancouver and Alaska. There, you can conduct research in oceanography, ecosystems mapping, nearshore habitats, watersheds, and biodiversity.

What sounds like a researcher’s most ambitious dream is the reality for scholars of the Nippon Foundation-Partnership for Observation of the Global Ocean Centre of Excellence in Observational Oceanography. Once spearheaded by the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences and the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, the next phase of the programme is being hosted by the Ocean Frontier Institute (OFI), which is led by Dalhousie University, in partnership with the Faculty of Open Learning and Career Development at Dalhousie University. Partnerships with the Marine Institute of Memorial University and the Hakai Institute make for dynamic learning and hands-on experience.

“By providing 10 scholars a year the opportunity to develop and fine-tune their interdisciplinary skills, all relevant to observation of the global ocean, the Centre of Excellence is equipping the next generation of leaders and mentors,” says Tracey Woodhouse, OFI’s Training and Early Career Development Program Manager.

The Centre of Excellence is being hosted by the Ocean Frontier Institute (OFI) in partnership with the Faculty of Open Learning and Career Development at Dalhousie University. Credit: Courtesy OFI

With a significant number of applicants received, priority consideration is being given to candidates from developing and emerging nations who hold positions at research, academic, or governmental institutes in their home country, and who anticipate returning there after the completion of the program.

“They learn about the climate-ocean nexus, how to communicate with diverse groups, including policymakers, data management practices, coding, and modelling, all while networking with researchers at the forefront of ocean and climate work.”

Since its start in 2008, there have been 10 cohorts of scholars, producing over 100 scholars. Woodhouse says the scholars join a larger network of alumni and have inspired the next generation of ocean observers. Founder and President of the Tula Foundation’s Hakai Institute, Eric Peterson, says the values of the Centre of Excellence seamlessly align with those of the partners.

“Our Hakai Institute is an integrated program of coastal science and community programs on our Pacific coastal margin. We say that we study everything from “icefields to oceans,” mainly through the lens of climate change. Together with many partners, we conduct long-term observational science and experimentation ranging from analyzing water masses upwelling across the continental shelf to glacial loss and coastal instability,” he told IPS.

“We provide the fellows with exposure to the Pacific Coast, hands-on field research, and greater exposure to Indigenous perspectives on science, resource management, and education,” he told IPS.

Peterson says the programme’s diversity ensures that no region is left out of ocean science research.

The scholars have the opportunity to experience both ocean exploration and learning on campus. Credit: Courtesy OFI

“Our other program, which has been in place for over 20 years, is a public health and nursing education program (TulaSalud) in the rural Indigenous regions of Guatemala. We welcome initiatives that build links between our ecological work in Canada and our longstanding work in global health, in the spirit of what is now called OneHealth. The Centre of Excellence, with its emphasis on educating future leaders from the global south, is therefore a very good fit for us,” he said.

Officials of the Marine Institute campus of Memorial University agree. Vice President Dr. Paul Brett told IPS that the programme is “creating space” for early-career researchers to expand their work in ocean observation within the wider context of ocean research.

“This program sees scholars come together worldwide and with varied academic experiences. The diversity in perspectives will be beneficial in many elements of the group’s shared learning and in the independent research projects they will engage in throughout the program. It is anticipated that participation in the independent research work, coupled with curricular elements of science communication and presentation skills, will equip students to engage in critical conversations concerning ocean research in Canada and their home country.”

Brett says the Marine Institute will host the scholars for about six months and they will be part of a programme ‘tailored to the fundamentals of observational oceanography’.

“Topics include applied oceanography, ocean observation, and remote sensing. The curriculum will be delivered through classroom theory, practical hands-on shops, labs, and time spent on the water from MI’s Holyrood facility, The Launch,” he said.

With the Hakai Institute’s assistance, the scholars will benefit from investment in geospatial science. According to Peterson, this includes satellites, aircraft, drones, and bathymetry.

“Most of the work we do from our ecological observatories is fortified by detailed mapping, modelling, etc. This ranges from mapping of ocean dynamics, planktons, kelps, and seagrass, intertidal invertebrates, snow and ice cover, geomorphological change to our coastline, and even identification of ancient human settlements has a geospatial component,” he said.

OFI has confirmed International Ocean Institute Canada and DeepSense as additional curriculum delivery partners and the Institute intends to forge new partnerships as the programme progresses.

The Centre of Excellence will be hosted by OFI for at least three years, with the possibility of an extension. Institute officials say that through this partnership, the scholars are given the tools, facilities, mentorship, and opportunities to make their mark on ocean research.

“Graduates from the Nippon Foundation-Partnership for Observation of the Global Ocean Centre of Excellence go on to complete higher-level degrees; guide ocean stewardship in their home countries; teach, mentor, and inspire the next generation; lead innovative ocean research; inform policy; and more. There’s no limit to the number of doors the Centre of Excellence can open for the scholars,” said Woodhouse.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Excerpt:

The Ocean Frontier Institute is hosting the fourth Nippon Foundation-Partnership for Observation of the Global Ocean Centre of Excellence in Observational Oceanography. The immersive programme is empowering scholars and advancing ocean research.

Women in Ahmedabad slums work from home at tailoring, embroidery, kite-making, snack-making, or running grocery shops, micro-retailing vegetables and flowers, with little respite from the brutal heat waves that have been steadily worsening. Until now…

Credit: Silvana Flores/AFP via Getty Images

By Inés M. Pousadela
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay, Mar 18 2024 (IPS)

Global progress on gender rights has slowed almost to a halt. After decades of steady progress, demands for the rights of women and LGBTQI+ people now play out on bitterly contested territory. Over the course of several decades, global movements for rights won profound changes in consciences, customs and institutions. They elevated over half of humanity, excluded for centuries, to the status of holders of rights.

The reaction is intense. Gains for feminist and LGBTQI+ movements have brought severe backlash. In the last year, this has been apparent all over the world, from Russia’s crackdown on LGBTQI+ activism, to new extreme anti-gay laws in Ghana and Uganda, to anti-trans hysteria in the USA, to the Taliban’s imposition of gender apartheid in Afghanistan and the ruling theocracy reasserting itself in Iran.

The latest State of Civil Society Report, from global civil society alliance CIVICUS, shows that crises – which invariably hit women and girls the hardest – worsened in 2023. The global femicide epidemic is showing no sign of abating and prospects of gender equality are receding. Women remain vastly underrepresented in decision-making, with only about 10 per cent of states female-headed – likely a major reason why gender-based violence, one of the most prevalent human rights violations in the world, continue to receive such little attention.

The gender gap – the unfair disparities between women and men in status and opportunities – has only barely returned to pre-pandemic levels. It’s estimated that, at the current pace, it will take another 131 years to achieve gender parity.

The story of the last year has, however, also been one of resistance. In war after war, women’s bodies have become battlefields, weapons and bounty – but still, women are refusing to be pigeonholed as victims and are standing at the forefront of humanitarian response and peacebuilding efforts, including in Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine.

Anti-gender narratives are making headway on all continents and across cultural and ideological divides, driven by well-organised and well-connected anti-rights movements. Supported by powerful conservative foundations, anti-rights movements are much better funded than their progressive counterparts, and they’re coopting human rights language to shift the narrative. In country after country, anti-rights discourse is being instrumentalised for political gain and driving a rise in attacks on activists who defend women’s and LGBTQI+ people’s rights. But brave activists around the world are rising to the occasion, devoting increasing efforts to defending hard-won rights. And they’ve still managed to achieve some memorable victories in the process.

Thanks to sustained civil society activism, last year Mexico legalised abortion, Mauritius defied the African anti-LGBTQI+ trend by decriminalising same-sex relations, Estonia became the first ex-Soviet nation to legalise same-sex marriage, and Latvia and Nepal took crucial steps towards equal rights. Long-term struggles for marriage equality continue in every region, recently coming to fruition in Greece and likely soon in Thailand as well.

Amid rising femicides, women are mobilising against gender-based violence in numerous countries, from Italy to Kenya to Bulgaria, sometimes scoring significant policy changes.

Even in the direst of circumstances, women are finding new ways to resist oppression. In Afghanistan and Iran, they’re circumventing restrictions by holding clandestine demonstrations and building international solidarity. Last year, besieged Afghan and Iranian women joined together to launch the End Gender Apartheid campaign, demanding international recognition – and condemnation – of their countries’ regimes as based on gender apartheid. They want the 1973 UN Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid, which so far applies only to racial hierarchies, extended to gender. They want this specific and extreme form of gender-based exclusion to be codified as a crime under international law so that those responsible can be prosecuted and punished. United Nations human rights experts are already acknowledging and amplifying these efforts.

In the USA, the source of so much of the global backlash, LGBTQI+ rights are under unprecedented strain and abortion rights are at their worst state in 50 years following the 2022 Supreme Court overturning of the Roe v Wade ruling. But civil society and allies have stepped up, successfully pushing for state laws to shield abortion and LGBTQI+ rights. The pro-choice movement has regrouped to assist women lacking access to reproductive health services. They’ve managed to improve many lives and are proving it’s far from game over for gender rights.

While these are testing times, the situation would be much worse without the enormous efforts of countless civil society unsung heroes. Progress has slowed significantly, but most historic gains are enduring. Across the world, civil society is resisting – through street protest, advocacy, campaigning, solidarity, mutual support and litigation – and standing firm.

The fight is on. Short-term setbacks won’t succeed in halting long-term progress because civil society is set on keeping up the struggle until there’s freedom and equality for all.

Inés M. Pousadela is CIVICUS Senior Research Specialist, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report.

By Margee Ensign
BLAGOEVGRAD, Bulgaria, Mar 18 2024 (IPS)

Putin’s regime has made it abundantly clear that it will violently repress and punish political opposition. Even as protestors chanted “Russia will be free!” at Nalvalny’s funeral, dozens were arrested simply for honoring his memory.

Nalvalny’s martyrdom and the crackdown on his followers points up a loss of freedom not only in Russia but around the world, as authoritarian regimes everywhere seek to stifle dissent and undermine democracy through ever-more sophisticated disinformation campaigns. It’s a lethal threat which requires a coordinated international response.

The Framework to Counter Foreign State Information Manipulation, which the US, UK, and Canada endorse, posits a multilateral approach to nurturing fact-based information ecosystems resistant to manipulation by foreign states.

That’s a start, but countering growing authoritarianism requires a bigger, more interconnected ecosystem of robust civil society, media, and academia, each of which underpin democratic values and an informed citizenry, and connect the individual to the state.

They are the institutions which nurture and amplify the voices daring to speak out against tyranny. They incubate grassroots movements pushing back against disinformation, and demanding accountability.

Universities are a key part of this mix. In the struggle to preserve freedom, they can’t stand above the political fray. They must embrace their crucial role in building courageous citizenship and equipping students to think critically and serve the higher good.

My institution, the American University in Bulgaria (AUBG) has produced people like investigative journalist Christo Grozev. He and his team exposed the operatives behind the 2018 poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury, England, and Navalny’s poisoning in 2020, landing him on Putin’s “most-wanted” list. Grozev was prominently featured in the 2022 documentary “Navalny” and shared an Oscar for it.

Universities around the world should consciously cultivate their role in producing the next generation of Navalnys, Volkovs, and Grozevs. With Russia assuming the presidency of the BRICS bloc and expanding disinformation campaigns across the Global South, authoritarianism is getting deliberately globalized.

We therefore should be deliberate about globalizing independent journalism and courageous citizenship. Universities must make it part of their mission to nurture them, and governments and civil society need to consciously protect journalists and activists.

It’s getting more and more dangerous to be either. Youth activists engaging on social media have never been more at risk. Killings of environmental activists are at record highs. Recently more journalists died in Palestine in three months than were ever killed in a single country in a whole year.

When journalists are murdered for doing their jobs, nine out of ten times the killer walks free. So groups advocating for journalists are calling for stepped up prevention, protection, and prosecution of their attackers.

Such measures aren’t acts of charity; they are necessary, strategic defense of the infrastructure of democracy, which is under attack from disinformation campaigns. International awards and recognition, multilateral legal instruments, and diplomatic pressure are necessary but often insufficient, as Navalny’s death proves.

He had no lack of support from Western democracies, and a slew of awards from many countries, including a nomination for the Nobel Prize.

We must learn from Navalny’s death as well as his life, and from growing attacks on democracy advocates everywhere, and get serious about building a better, stronger bulwark against the rising tide of authoritarianism. The global community must invest in training, legal protection, access to international platforms, and material and moral support for journalists under threat.

Universities must own their role as crucibles for courageous inquiry, truth-telling, public service, and unflinching civic engagement. That’s why AUBG will organize a series of workshops this year in Alexei Navalny’s memory, working with journalists and government officials to recognize and redress the dangers posed by disinformation campaigns.

In the end, it is by the courage with which we pursue truth that our era will be defined and freedom will stand or fall. Journalists who face down repression and bear witness, and activists who speak truth to power, are the architects of democratic resilience.

As authoritarianism and disinformation seek to expand around the world, we must optimize and globalize not only our markets and technologies, but also our active defense of truth and democracy.

Dr. Margee Ensign is the 10th president of the American University in Bulgaria.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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It is critical that African scientists tackle African problems, and the reasons extend beyond access. Credit: Jeffrey Moyo/IPS.

By Khisi Mdluli
BOSTON, US, Mar 15 2024 (IPS)

I was born in Brakpan, Johannesburg, South Africa, and grew up in eSwatini (known then as Swaziland). People in these two countries share one predominant fear: unemployment. Other worries in these countries and others in the region include unwanted pregnancies, low income and food safety. The diseases that are dreaded the most are cancer and diabetes. Feared infectious diseases include HIV-AIDS, COVID and cholera.

Even though South Africa and eSwatini are among the more than two dozen African countries with a high burden of either tuberculosis (TB), drug-resistant TB or HIV/TB co-infections, TB is not feared in the same way, even though it is the disease that haunts my people the most.

More than 90% of current funding for TB R&D currently comes from North America and Europe, and most of those funds stay in the high-income countries, and train and develop and indeed employ scientists in the high-income countries. Of the high-burden countries, only India has an investment in the field large enough to be noted — at 1.9% of the total global funding

So many are affected on the African continent by TB, which hits the young and vibrant the hardest in our region and in the world. Eswatini joins the seven most populous sub-Saharan African countries — Ethiopia, DR Congo, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda and Tanzania — where TB hits the 25-34 and 35-44 age brackets especially hard.

It is not just the years of life that this disease takes away from us, but also the future leadership and economic productivity of our countries. I see this even within my own family, with one niece currently being treated for TB and another niece having survived drug-resistant TB a few years back.

World TB Day is March 24, a day when we will hear about ending TB by 2030 — even though it is a disease that has been with us forever. With only six years left, that goal seems too distant. To achieve this goal, we need better awareness, yes. But we also need Africans to be fully engaged with the rest of the world, which includes conducting drug discovery and development research for TB in Africa.

Most of the current TB drugs, like the drugs for most diseases that affect Africans, are developed by companies in high-income countries. We saw what that meant in the delayed rate at which lifesaving COVID vaccines reached African countries; the high-income countries that helped develop the vaccines received them much faster.

This is why, for the Gates Medical Research Institute’s trials testing investigational treatments or vaccine candidates, the relationships that we establish with the trial sites in Africa and elsewhere are meant to support those facilities when they eventually take the lead on future trials.

It is critical that African scientists tackle African problems, and the reasons extend beyond access. Local scientists have a better understanding of the social fabric and context threatened by diseases like TB; they understand which solutions could be adopted and embraced and which will remain on the shelf.

In September 2023, the United Nations held a High-Level Meeting where member states agreed to boost the amount of funding for TB research by a fivefold increase by 2027 — but no guidelines on geography were placed on this pledge.

More than 90% of current funding for TB R&D currently comes from North America and Europe, and most of those funds stay in the high-income countries, and train and develop and indeed employ scientists in the high-income countries. Of the high-burden countries, only India has an investment in the field large enough to be noted — at 1.9% of the total global funding.

Funding specifically earmarked for TB (and antimicrobial resistance) research in Africa would ensure that more of it takes place on African soil. Funding is needed to build appropriately equipped research and production infrastructure, much like the new mRNA vaccine facility being built in Rwanda.

Such facilities would be staffed with African scientists, who would get opportunities to expand their basic and applied research skills. The H3D Research Centre at the University of Cape Town, led by Dr. Kelly Chibale, is one example of how successful African ingenuity can be, with four patents already filed.

Together with the much-needed funding from Africa’s better-resourced foreign partners in high-income countries, African governments should incentivize African businesses, African foundations and charities, and high-net-worth Africans to build African Research Institutes to train, develop and employ African scientists.

Developing medicines for diseases like TB that are killing African youth and stunting Africa’s economic growth should be everyone’s priority, in Africa and the world.

It is critically important that such efforts are not tied to immediate profits, as this leads to disappointment and ends with dwindling funds for research.

Drug discovery is a “long and winding road” that begins with building talent and infrastructure and expanding the critical mass of well-trained drug developers. Investment in biomedical research should be for the sake of expanding biomedical knowledge and training young scientists; the discoveries and the profits will follow.

The timing couldn’t be more appropriate than now as new futuristic technologies — including artificial intelligence, machine learning and high-speed connectivity — are entering the drug development arena.

We can now see a point when the health profile and the life expectancy of people in Africa could be comparable to the rest of the world. Africa and the world should be guided by the belief that all lives have equal value and that health equality is ensured for everyone, on all continents.

Khisimuzi (Khisi) Mdluli, PhD, is a TB Drug Scientist and a Discovery Project Leader at the Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute (Gates MRI).

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations is training young beekeepers in Zimbabwe. Credit: Farai Shawn Matiashe/IPS

By Farai Shawn Matiashe
CHIMANIMANI, Zimbabwe, Mar 15 2024 (IPS)

Honeybees quickly react with a sharp and loud buzz sound as beekeeper Tanyaradzwa Kanangira opens one of the wooden horizontal Kenyan top bar hives near a stream in a thick forest in Chimanimani, 412 kilometres from Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare.

The 26-year-old puffs some smoke, a safety measure, as he holds and inspects a honeycomb built from hexagons by the honey bees.

Many people in this part of the country rely on many forms of agriculture, from agroforestry and horticulture to crop production.

Nonetheless, with increasing floods and droughts as a result of climate change, both rainfed and irrigation agriculture have become somewhat unreliable, forcing farmers to diversify into other forms of farming like apiculture to sustain their livelihoods.

Kanangira is part of the 11 young people in Chimanimani, Manicaland Province, who have been supported by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) with training in beekeeping as well as market linkages since June 2023.

“Factors to consider when establishing an apiary include the type of forage, such as flowers and herbs, warm climatic conditions, and water availability,” says Kanangira, wearing a white sting-proof bee suit.

Silence Dziwira, another beekeeper, says the use of chemicals by farmers is restricted in areas surrounding an apiary.

“We are planting bushy trees within the apiary and other different speeches. This helps in keeping the ground intact, preventing land degradation,” Dziwira, a mother of one, whose first harvest was late in 2023 and supplies the local market, tells IPS.

Beekeeping is not new in Zimbabwe, as it is part of the tradition and culture.

The knowledge has been passed from generation to generation.

But traditionally, people used log hives, which promoted deforestation.

In this day and age, farmers use modern-day hives like the Kenyan top bar hive used in Chimanimani, made out of sustainable materials.

An agroecology case study from the Alliance for Food Sovereignty Africa shows that there are more than 50,000 beekeepers in Zimbabwe today.

Patrice Talla, FAO representative in Zimbabwe, says they are supporting the beekeepers with capacity building on beekeeping, including hive making, honey harvesting and processing, and business management.

“Since 2021, FAO, under the Green Jobs project, has trained and equipped 300 youth in selected communities to increase employment amongst rural youths, enhance food security, reduce poverty, and support environmental sustainability,” he tells IPS.

To date, 319 beehives have been built to set up apiaries in different areas, according to Talla.

So far, out of 48 hives belonging to Kanangira and team, 13 have been colonised with Apis mellifera honey bees, the size of a paper clip.

Admire Munjuwanjuwa, a beekeeping expert based in Mutare, says beekeeping helps preserve forests.

“Beekeeping reduces deforestation because people cannot cut trees where there are bees; by so doing, trees will work as carbon sinks and reduce climate change,” he says.

A beekeeper holds a honeycomb in Chimanimani, Zimbabwe. Credit: Farai Shawn Matiashe/IPS

Robert Mutisi, another beekeeping expert, says apiaries protect the forests that act as bee habitats as well as sources of nectar.

“Beekeeping encourages farmers to plant trees and not cut trees indiscriminately. Beekeeping can act as a fire protection tool to guard against forest and vegetation destruction,” he says.

Kanangira says they have planted 3500 gum trees covering more than 2 hectares.

Three out of every four leading food crops for human consumption and more than a third of agricultural land worldwide depend in part on pollinators, according to the FAO.

Talla says bees are a barometer of the health of natural ecosystems and pollinators in forests.

“They play a major role in maintaining biodiversity, including wild, horticultural, and agricultural crops,” he says.

People consume honey as food, spreading it on bread and as a sweetener in tea.

Other byproducts of bees include beeswax, propolis, and pollen.

Traditionally, the beekeeping industry has been male-dominated but there has been growing interest in the sector by women building and running their apiaries across the country.

In Chimanimani, out of Kanangira’s team of 11 people, seven are women, showing that they are changing the narrative.

These beekeepers get monthly stipends from FAO.

“Earning a living from beekeeping makes me happy. As a woman, I did not think that I could venture into such a project as beekeeping,” says Dziwira, a mother of two.

“This initiative has made me realise my full potential as a woman and that I can successfully run a big project.”

Talla says revenue generated from the initiative will be saved and used to pay wages beyond the two-year support.

FAO’s beekeeping project, Green Jobs for Rural Youth Employment, funded by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), is currently being implemented in three countries, including Zimbabwe, Sierra Leone, and Timor-Leste.

In Zimbabwe, the project is running in six districts, targeting young people.

Kanangira, who uses the money from beekeeping to look after his siblings, is planning to supply honey to markets in Harare.

“We plan to sell in large quantities to companies in Harare. To add value, we want to have a processing plant where we make things like toothpaste and floor polish using products from honeybees,” he says.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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A woman holds her young daughter at a migrant camp in Syria. Credit: UNFPA Syria

By Laila Baker
CAIRO, Egypt, Mar 15 2024 (IPS)

“I don’t think the world understands what it means to be a woman living in Syria today,” explains Shatha, a woman from Deir-ez-Zor, Syria, who is a survivor of gender-based violence. “It is a life filled with danger, grief, and daily struggle.”

Shatha’s story is not isolated but echoes the harrowing experiences of many Syrian women and girls over the past 13 years. In late 2023, Shatha’s hometown of Deir-ez-Zor became one of the epicentres of the most significant escalation of hostilities in Syria since 2019, which displaced over 120,000 people and affected numerous health facilities, schools, water systems, and other crucial infrastructures.

This was mere months after the devastating earthquake that struck the country’s north-west in February, causing incalculable destruction and impacting nearly 9 million people.

As the Arab region — and indeed the world at large — appears to sink ever deeper into the clutches of armed conflict and humanitarian disasters, it’s crucial to remember the profound impact that the Syria crisis in particular has had on women and girls, who are often the hardest hit during such emergencies.

Since the onset of hostilities in 2011, the situation has escalated to unprecedented levels, with 16.7 million people requiring humanitarian assistance throughout the country. Among them, more than 8 million are women and girls, facing not only the loss of their homes and loved ones but also the erasure of their futures and dreams.

In addition to experiencing ever-growing difficulties in accessing basic services, particularly essential sexual and reproductive health care, the stories from within Syria and among refugee communities throughout the region tell of a distressing normalization of gender-based violence.

Women and girls report spiralling risks of harassment, intimate partner violence, forced and child marriages, conflict-related sexual violence, and other forms of exploitation, now compounded by the proliferation of technology-facilitated abuses.

These are not merely fleeting narratives but reflections of deeper inequalities that are becoming entrenched aspects of post-war Syrian society, fuelled by economic collapse and the disintegration of social and protection networks.

More importantly, the worsening needs of Syrians are a cautionary tale, unfolding against a backdrop of multiplying armed conflicts and humanitarian crises across the globe, from Gaza, Sudan, Yemen, and Lebanon in the region, to the catastrophic and far-reaching war in Ukraine, each demanding urgent attention and significant resources.

This expanding landscape of human misery has strained the already limited humanitarian funding, overshadowing the needs in Syria and diminishing the support for its most vulnerable populations.

The underfunding of the humanitarian response in Syria, particularly services aimed at women and girls, is already being felt by numerous communities. Essential health facilities providing life-saving reproductive healthcare are at risk of imminent closure. Women and girls’ safe spaces, critical for survivors of gender-based violence, are shutting down, leaving them with neither refuge nor support.

The ripple effects of such underfunding also threaten to reverse any progress made towards gender equality and women’s empowerment, undermining societal development and stability at large. A telling example of this is a draft of a so-called “morality law” currently being circulated by the de facto ruling authorities in north-west Syria.

In addition to severely curtailing and criminalising basic human rights, the law essentially codifies male supremacy, significantly preventing women and girls from freely engaging in public and cultural life, manifesting their opinions and religion in public places, or seeking employment or professional training.

Despite these challenges, the resilience shown by Syrian women and girls is nothing short of extraordinary. Many have risen above their circumstances, becoming community leaders, activists, and entrepreneurs, striving for a better future for themselves and their communities. Their unyielding spirit underlines the importance of not just meeting immediate needs but also investing in their long-term well-being and empowerment.

As we reflect on the ongoing crisis, it is imperative to put people before politics. The international community must not allow Syrian women and girls to be forgotten amidst the political deadlock and the shifting priorities of global aid.

Their health, safety, and dignity demand our immediate and unwavering support. We must ensure that the humanitarian response is fully funded, not only to meet the urgent needs but also to invest in building a more resilient Syria.

After 13 years, it’s time for the international community to renew its commitment to Syrian women and girls, ensuring they have the support they need to navigate the challenges they face today and in the future.

While their strength and resilience inspire us, they should not have to face the darkness alone. Let us stand with them, ensuring they are not forgotten but supported to rebuild their lives and communities.

Laila Baker is the Regional Director for Arab States of UNFPA, the UN’s sexual and reproductive health agency.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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A small farmer checks his corn field in the southern state of Guerrero. The grain is the star of the staple diet in Mexico, consumed in many different forms. CREDIT: Sader

By Emilio Godoy
MEXICO CITY, Mar 14 2024 (IPS)

Mexico has taken important steps to protect native corn, even standing up to its largest trading partner, the United States, to do so. But the lack of a comprehensive legal framework in its policy towards genetically modified crops allows authorizations for other transgenic crops.

In fact, the dispute with Washington over corn exposes the regulatory gaps regarding opposition to the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in Mexican agriculture."If we win, we will call into question a model of production. We will take a huge step forward, we will set an international precedent. But if corn is defeated in its center of origin, we will see the same in the birthplaces of other crops, and the offensive strategy of the companies will be strengthened." -- Monserrat Téllez

Experts consulted by IPS concurred with the need for a better legal framework to strengthen the evaluation of GMOs.

Monserrat Téllez, a researcher at the non-governmental Seeds of Life Foundation, pointed out that GMOs appeared after the reform of agricultural and trade policies derived from the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between Canada, the United States and Mexico.

These free trade policies, she added, harmed Mexican farmers by eliminating subsidies and opening the market to imports.

“There was already a concern about regulation. The aim of the law was to boost planting. Although there is a special regime (for corn), it is not enough. It is not only a genetic reservoir, but also includes a series of traditional cultivation practices. The basis should be the precautionary principle, we would like very careful regulation,” she told IPS.

Téllez was referring to the Law on Biosafety of Genetically Modified Organisms, in force since 2005, which specifies three types of cultivation.

Experimental plantations must be in controlled areas, protected to prevent contamination, with risk assessments and other safeguards. In pilot plantations they are optional, and in commercial plantations they do not exist.

However, Mexico lacks an effective GMO monitoring system, say the experts.

In the case of corn, it applies a special protection regime that, based on the centers of origin and diversity of corn and its wild relatives, prohibits the release of GMOs in certain areas.

Lessons learned

In December 2020, the current government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador issued a decree ordering the replacement of the herbicide glyphosate with environmentally friendly alternatives by Jan. 31, 2024 and putting a halt to permits for the planting of genetically modified corn and its use in the food industry.

In order to ingratiate itself with the industry, and therefore with the United States, the Mexican government softened the decree by endorsing the importation of yellow corn for industrial and animal feed purposes, but it failed to win over the United States.

During the last few months of 2022 and the first months of 2023, both governments held several unsuccessful technical meetings to resolve the conflict.

For this reason, the United States announced last August the opening of a dispute settlement panel within the framework of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), based on the chapter on sanitary and phytosanitary measures.

However, it does not mention the chapter of the USMCA, in force since 2020 and which replaced NAFTA, on biotechnology and its trade, which is the elephant in the room, since in the background lies the use of biotechnological products.

At these meetings, the Mexican government conveyed to its U.S. counterparts that the priority was corn, for environmental, health and cultural reasons, and that they were not concerned about other crops, such as canola or soybeans.

The United States accuses its partner of applying excessive measures, lack of scientific evidence on the effects of GMOs and economic damage to corn exports.

In its response dated Jan. 15 and published on Mar. 5, Mexico presented scientific studies that demonstrate the negative impact of GM crops on animals such as rats and on the environment, while at the same time showing that the economic damage complained about by the U.S. did not exist.

The planting of GM corn has been blocked since 2013, when a group of 53 people and 20 small farmer, indigenous, academic, scientific, artistic, consumer and gastronomic organizations won an injunction in a class action lawsuit filed for damage to the biological diversity of native corn and the rights to food and health.

Mexico depends on corn imports, especially from the United States, to satisfy its high domestic consumption. Despite its attempts, the government has failed to increase production. Infographics: Conahcyt

The three million corn farmers who plant around eight million hectares allocate two million to family consumption, in a country that has 64 varieties and 59 native ones.

Mexico is the world’s seventh largest corn producer and the second largest importer of corn, producing some 27 million tons annually. But it still has to import some 20 million tons to meet domestic consumption.

Corn is not only a native and predominant crop in Mexico, but a staple in the diet of its 129 million inhabitants that goes beyond the culinary sphere and is part of the country’s cultural roots.

Despite the promises made, GMOs have not raised agricultural yields, improved pest resistance or offered greater resistance to the effects of the climate crisis, such as drought. Moreover, there is evidence of damage to health.

The planting of genetically modified soybeans offers lessons on regulation. In 2012, US biotech transnational Monsanto obtained a commercial planting permit for some 235,000 hectares in seven Mexican states.

After a legal battle, the Mexican Supreme Court blocked the authorization in 2015 due to potential environmental damage and lack of consultation with affected indigenous communities.

But in the southeastern state of Campeche the crop has expanded, with strong impacts on biodiversity and beekeeping, as foreseen by the government’s National Commission for Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity, which recommended not approving the permit in 2012.

Despite the loopholes, the lawmakers of the governing National Regeneration Movement (Morena) have not modified the legal framework.

“The formal regulatory framework has shortcomings. There are no clear criteria, and there is a lack of clarity on precautionary measures. The law includes special protection for corn, but it is not defined in the regulations. So any authority can interpret it in its own way,” Alma Piñeyro, a researcher at the public Autonomous Metropolitan University, based in Xochimilco, south of Mexico City, told IPS.

This country is the origin and center of corn and cotton cultivation and the government bases its control on this, but the history of GM soybeans shows the lack of breadth of the approach. Therefore, GMOs should be regulated more strictly than corn and with specific measures for each crop.

Unbalanced figures

In Mexico, the release of GMOs into the environment began in 1988, with an authorization for a tomato planting trial, which has since expanded to 19 crops. Since then, agribusiness has focused on crops such as cotton, corn and soybeans.

Statistics from the government’s Interministerial Commission on Biosafety of Genetically Modified Organisms on requests and approvals are inconsistent, contradictory, if not inaccurate, which hinders evaluation, according to the review by IPS.

Between 2005 and 2021, Mexican authorities issued 671 permits, of which 359 were for cotton, 202 for corn, 50 for wheat, 44 for soybeans and the rest for other varieties. The vast majority consisted of experimental licenses, although the total does not match the reported number of permits.

Mexico’s official response to the U.S. complaint, made public on Mar. 5, lists 651 permits, of which 53 percent are for cotton and 30 percent for corn, suspended by the 2013 class action lawsuit.

The administration of López Obrador, who took office on Dec. 1, 2018 and whose term ends on Oct. 1, slowed the pace of approval of GM crops.

In 2022, it rejected six applications for corn, five for cotton, one for soybeans and one for canola. But between that year and the next, it endorsed four permits for canola, two for cotton, two for potatoes and one for soybeans.

On the corn panel, five Mexican and five U.S. non-governmental organizations are preparing to submit comments by Friday, Mar. 15, in an attempt to support the Mexican position.

Piñeyro said it is necessary to analyze each species in the Mexican context.

“Canola, as a crop, can become invasive, because it survives weeds and can displace other native species. It has undergone genetic dispersal, which has happened in Canada, where they have an agronomic problem, and it could happen in Mexico. The monitoring data are opaque. Without sufficient data, it is very difficult to evaluate the whole picture,” she said.

Téllez said the panel with the United States is decisive. “If we win, we will call into question a model of production. We will take a huge step forward, we will set an international precedent. But if corn is defeated in its center of origin, we will see the same in the birthplaces of other crops, and the offensive strategy of the companies will be strengthened,” she stressed.

The USMCA review is scheduled for 2026 and its future appears to be tied to that of corn.

A family cooks in the rubble of their home in the Gaza Strip. Credit: WFP/Ali Jadallah

By Alon Ben-Meir
NEW YORK, Mar 14 2024 (IPS)

In recent weeks, the Biden administration has found itself facing a serious dilemma as to how to balance its commitment to Israel’s national security along with the humanitarian crisis facing the Palestinians in Gaza.

Whereas the United States provides military aid to Israel, including bombs and other defense systems, as a part of the US strategic alliance, this support has always been rooted in their shared democratic values, mutual security interests, and historical ties.

It is also influenced by domestic political factors within the United States, including strong support for Israel among the American people and American lawmakers.

At the same time, the US is facing tremendous pressure to provide humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians in Gaza, including food, water, medicine, and fuel.

Having failed to persuade Israel to increase these supplies to the Palestinians recently, the United States decided to drop this aid from the air and now is also considering building a floating pier to provide such support from the sea, aiming at alleviating the humanitarian crisis.

This could lessen, to some extent, the dire shortages of these essential supplies, but they are no substitute for direct deliveries from Israel in terms of quantities and speed.

This dual approach of supporting Israel’s security needs while also providing humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians is part of the US’ broader diplomatic effort to balance its interests in the region.

However, the United States’ effort to promote regional security by supporting Israel’s right to defend itself while advocating for the Palestinians’ humanitarian needs and acting on them presents a dilemma for President Biden. The Biden administration may well have to resort to direct measures to force Netanyahu to change his policy.

There are significant policy differences between Netanyahu and Biden that go back years before the Israel-Gaza war. They include policy differences related to the expansion of the settlements in the West Bank, the Iran nuclear deal, and President Biden’s efforts to renegotiate a new deal in the wake of Trump’s withdrawal from the JCPOA.

In addition, and perhaps most importantly, they differ dramatically regarding the overall approach in the search for a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, where the United States supports a two-state solution to which Netanyahu vehemently objects.

There is also significant disagreement on two other major issues: The Biden administration would like the Palestinian Authority to take charge of the Strip following the end of the war.

Conversely, Netanyahu completely opposes the return of the PA to Gaza, primarily because he wants to maintain security control over most of the Palestinian territories and prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state.

As he stated in January, “I will not compromise on full Israeli security control over the entire area in the west of Jordan – and this is contrary to a Palestinian state.”

In addition, whereas President Biden wants to see a clear exit strategy from the war, Netanyahu is insisting on maintaining indefinite security control over Gaza, which, from the United States’ perspective, will result simply in the expansion of the Israeli occupation and creeping annexation of Palestinian territories, with no resolution in sight.

It should be noted that the upcoming US presidential elections in November are playing a role in Netanyahu’s strategy. If there are only two people in the world who want Trump to win the election this fall, the first is Trump himself, and the second is Netanyahu. The Israeli prime minister will do everything in his power to undermine President Biden’s reelection.

He is cheering the fact that President Biden is intensely criticized by some Congressional Democrats as well as a multitude of young voters who oppose his unwavering support of Israel while tens of thousands of Palestinians have died and counting.

He will prolong the war as long as it serves his personal interest and weakens Biden politically as he is embarking on his reelection campaign.

President Biden should not allow Netanyahu to set the agenda. He must now take definitive measures to alert the Israeli public that, although the US commitment to Israel’s national security is unshakable, the US administration differentiates between the state of Israel and the current Netanyahu government with which he has fundamental disagreements.

To that end, there are five different measures that will not affect the US commitment to Israel’s national security but will send a clear message to Netanyahu that the US must draw the line and will not allow him to drag the US into the morass of his own creation.

Although some of these measures are sensitive and may raise some objections from Congress, nevertheless, the Biden administration has no choice but to act to alleviate the massive humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

First, as one of Israel’s largest financial supporters, the US could use its economic aid as leverage. Adjusting such aid levels and stipulating specific conditions related to its use could pressure Netanyahu, at least in part, to reconsider his policies, albeit as indicated, this particular approach is sensitive and would need to be carefully balanced to prevent unintended consequences.

Second, since the United States provides significant military aid to Israel, the administration should assess the kind of weapons it is providing to Israel that indiscriminately kill many innocent Palestinians, such as bombs.

This may well force Netanyahu to follow the US’ advice to resort to a surgical approach to weed out Hamas fighters and potentially capture or kill some of Hamas’ leaders. This, too, would send a clear message that the United States cannot sit idly by while the carnage in Gaza continues, however inadvertently that might be.

Third, on a political level, the United States can introduce a resolution or vote in favor of a resolution in the United Nations Security Council that calls on Israel to agree on a ceasefire for six to eight weeks and allow the flow of aid to the Palestinians while negotiating the release of the hostages.

Fourth, since President Biden has been advocating a two-state solution, he should act by taking interim measures to demonstrate his commitment to that objective. To start, Biden should allow the reopening of the United States mission in East Jerusalem to serve the Palestinians.

In addition, Biden should invite the Palestinian Authority to reestablish its mission in Washington, DC, to restore ties between the United States and the Palestinians. These two measures will demonstrate to the Palestinians that Biden means what he says and, community, congressional Democrats, and many of the EU and Arab states.

Fifth and most importantly, President Biden himself should make a public statement to the effect that while the United States is and will remain committed to Israel’s national security, it has clear disagreements with the Netanyahu government.

As such, the US will no longer support the Netanyahu government in any way that might aid it in continuing its military campaign without clearly spelling out a strategy that will achieve four objectives: 1) dramatically minimize civilian casualties by resorting to surgical operations; 2) articulate a credible exit strategy from Gaza; 3) allow for the creation of an international peacekeeping force to assume overall security; and 4) facilitate the return of the Palestinians to their homes once the fighting comes to an end.

Needless to say, these measures rest on a set of considerations as stated above and their political implications. Nevertheless, President Biden has no choice but to act to balance his commitment to Israel’s national security and his determination to permanently alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Dr. Alon Ben-Meir is a retired professor of international relations, most recently at the Center for Global Affairs at New York University. He taught courses on international negotiation and Middle Eastern studies.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Much of the Gaza Strip lies in ruins. Credit: UNRWA/Ashraf Amra. February 2024

By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 14 2024 (IPS)

The Biden administration’s sheer hypocrisy is reflected in its policy of dropping food packages into a devastated Gaza, while at the same time, it continues to arm Israel with missiles and heavy artillery to kill Palestinian civilians suffering hunger and starvation.

As US Congressman Ro Khanna (Democrat of California) said last week: “You can’t have a policy of giving aid (to Palestinians) and giving Israel the weapons to bomb the food trucks at the same time”

And as the New York Times put it: “From the skies over Gaza these days fall American bombs and American food pallets, delivering death and life at the same time, and illustrating President Biden’s elusive effort to find balance in an unbalanced Middle East war.”

Mouin Rabbani, Co-Editor of Jadaliyya and Non-Resident Fellow at the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies, told IPS the US deliveries of token amounts of aid to the besieged Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip has several, inter-related dimensions:

At one level, he pointed out, the air drops, plans for a mobile pier, and the like are pure theater, smoke and mirrors intended to divert scrutiny away from active US participation and complicity in Israel’s genocidal assault, including its medieval siege, on the Gaza Strip.

“The current crisis has demonstrated Israel’s extraordinary dependence on the US and its inability to conduct sustained military operations or evade accountability without US sponsorship.”

Yet the US, he said, has made it a matter of policy not to instruct its Israeli proxy to either cease its genocidal onslaught, nor to terminate a siege that is explicitly designed to produce famine, epidemic disease, and the like.

“To the contrary, Washington has deployed the full range of its influence, including the delivery of tens of thousands of tons of high explosives, UNSC vetoes, and bullying of its allies and client regimes, to ensure that Israel can continue with its genocidal onslaught and continue to do so with impunity.”

These theatrical air drops are as much of a charade as is the recent decision to promote an image of opposition to Israel’s state policy of West Bank settlement expansion by sanctioning four Israeli settlers, Rabbani said.

A calculation of the ratio of bread to bombs delivered by the US to the Palestinian population of the Gaza Strip tells you all you need to know regarding US intentions, priorities, and preferences, he declared.

In an oped piece for IPS, Dr. Alon Ben-Meir, a retired professor of international relations, most recently, at the Center for Global Affairs at New York University, wrote the dual approach of supporting Israel’s security needs while also providing humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians is part of the US’ broader diplomatic effort to balance its interests in the region.

However, the United States’ effort to promote regional security by supporting Israel’s right to defend itself while advocating for the Palestinians’ humanitarian needs and acting on them presents a dilemma for President Biden.

The Biden administration may well have to resort to direct measures to force Netanyahu to change his policy, he added.

“It should be noted that the upcoming US presidential elections in November are playing a role in Netanyahu’s strategy. If there are only two people in the world who want Trump to win the election this fall, the first is Trump himself, and the second is Netanyahu. The Israeli prime minister will do everything in his power to undermine President Biden’s reelection.”

He is cheering the fact that President Biden is intensely criticized by some Congressional Democrats as well as a multitude of young voters who oppose his unwavering support of Israel while tens of thousands of Palestinians have died and counting. He will prolong the war as long as it serves his personal interest and weakens Biden politically as he is embarking on his reelection campaign.

“President Biden should not allow Netanyahu to set the agenda. He must now take definitive measures to alert the Israeli public that, although the US commitment to Israel’s national security is unshakable, the US administration differentiates between the state of Israel and the current Netanyahu government with which he has fundamental disagreements, said Dr Ben-Meir, who taught courses on international negotiation and Middle Eastern studies.

Elaborating further, Rabbani said every specialist and agency that has commented on these air drops has without exception concluded that air drops cannot even begin to address the humanitarian emergence created by the US and Israel in the Gaza Strip, but that this can be addressed by the delivery of aid which is already present through overland routes.

“The latter would require no more than a phone call from the White House to the Israeli government. Washington has made a policy decision not to pursue this option”.

Secondly, these charades are intended to legitimize Israel’s genocidal onslaught on the Gaza Strip, much as the November temporary truce was, in the words of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, required to maintain Western endorsement for Israel’s war and for its resumption and intensification in early December of last year.

Given the above, Palestinians would be better off without these air drops, particularly since at least five have already been killed by them, declared Rabbani.

Meanwhile, in a new report released March 13, CIVICUS, a global alliance of civil society organizations (CSOs), said hypocrisy by powerful countries undermined the rules-based international order in 2023, making it harder to promote human rights and resolve the world’s most devastating wars.

In its 13th annual State of Civil Society Report, the Johannesburg-based CIVICUS detailed how powerful states selectively chose to respect international laws, shielding allies but castigating enemies.

The most blatant examples are countries that rushed to Ukraine’s defence against Russia’s invasion but backed Israel’s assaults on civilians in Gaza, and vice versa.

“Armies, rebels and militia around the world committed horrific human rights abuses in 2023 because they knew they could get away with it thanks to a flailing international system full of double standards,” said Mandeep Tiwana, CIVICUS Chief Officer of Evidence and Engagement.

“Starting with the UN Security Council, we need global governance reform that puts people at the centre of decision making,” he declared.

Asked about a report from the Gaza Health Ministry that deaths in Gaza have now topped 31,000, UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters March 13: “It’s another grim marker, and I wish we weren’t here waiting for these markers to fall’.

“What we want yet again, and we’ll call it for it again, is an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, a silencing of the guns so we can get the humanitarian access that we need, we can run the humanitarian operations on a scale that we need, that the civilians in Gaza can stop suffering, can get food, can get the basic services they need, and that we see the hostages, the Israeli hostages and others still held in Gaza immediately released,” he said.

Meanwhile, amid the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, US Senators. Bernie Sanders, Chris Van Hollen, Jeff Merkley, and five Democratic colleagues in the Senate on Monday sent a letter to President Joe Biden urging him to enforce federal law by requiring Netanyahu’s government to stop restricting humanitarian aid access to Gaza or forfeit U.S. military aid to Israel.

In the letter, the senators made clear that Netanyahu’s interference in U.S. humanitarian operations in Gaza violates Section 620I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, also known as the Humanitarian Aid Corridor Act.

The law states: “No assistance shall be furnished under this chapter or the Arms Export Control Act to any country when it is made known to the President that the government of such country prohibits or otherwise restricts, directly or indirectly, the transport or delivery of United States humanitarian assistance,” according to a press release from the office of Senator Sanders.

To President Biden, the senators wrote: “According to public reporting and your own statements, the Netanyahu government is in violation of this law. Given this reality, we urge you to make it clear to the Netanyahu government that failure to immediately and dramatically expand humanitarian access and facilitate safe aid deliveries throughout Gaza will lead to serious consequences, as specified under existing U.S. law.”

“The United States should not provide military assistance to any country that interferes with U.S. humanitarian assistance,” the senators continued.

“Federal law is clear, and, given the urgency of the crisis in Gaza, and the repeated refusal of Prime Minister Netanyahu to address U.S. concerns on this issue, immediate action is necessary to secure a change in policy by his government.”

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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An Air Force plane brings home Brazilians who managed to escape the war in Gaza as part of a humanitarian operation. Airplanes shorten distances but pollute the atmosphere and aggravate the climate crisis by emitting two percent of greenhouse gases. Sustainable biofuels can mitigate that damage. CREDIT: FAB

By Mario Osava
RIO DE JANEIRO, Mar 13 2024 (IPS)

Brazil is counting on biofuels to assert itself as an energy powerhouse in the near future, as a decisive supplier of low-carbon jet fuel, a requirement of the climate crisis.

The electrification of automobiles has tended to curb the strong ethanol and biodiesel agribusiness developed in the country since the 1970s. But demand for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) now offers the possibility of significant new expansion for many decades to come.

Electrically powered airplanes are not viable with current technology, and will not be for a long time. “Batteries are very heavy and store little energy,” said Arnaldo Walter, a mechanical engineer and professor at the University of Campinas."Brazil has favorable conditions for biofuels, such as available land, good climate and rainfall, although they are now more uncertain than before." -- Arnaldo Walter

Nor is green hydrogen, the fashionable ecological fuel, an alternative for aviation, because of the difficulty of storage and the need for temperatures of more than 250 degrees Celsius below zero to keep it in a usable liquid form. In addition, the entire design of aircraft would have to be changed, a process that could only be achieved in the long term.

Brazil has everything it needs to become a major producer of green hydrogen, which is generated by electrolysis of water, but requires abundant electricity from renewable sources. That is the case in this country, especially in the Northeast region, which has huge potential in wind and solar energy, in addition to ports closer to Europe than those of other competitors.

The solution is biomass-derived fuel, which does not require altering the format of aircraft or their turbines, by naturally replacing aviation kerosene, the use of which generates two percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Climate requirements

“Not just any biofuel will do, it has to meet the requirements for environmental, social and economic sustainability certification,” Walter told IPS by telephone from the southern city of Campinas, with a population of 1.1 million people located 90 kilometers from São Paulo.

Deforestation, for example, is one of Brazil’s Achilles’ heels, given the reports of forests being cleared to grow soybeans, whose oil will probably be one of the main raw materials for SAF. It is not enough to decarbonize the fuel, but also the whole process of its production.

The goal is to meet the target set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

“SAF is the only economically viable and available alternative, despite its sustainability challenges,” argued Amanda Ohara, a chemical engineer and fuel specialist with the non-governmental Climate and Society Institute, in an interview with IPS in Rio de Janeiro.

Soybean monoculture represents half of agricultural production and is the main Brazilian export. It occupies extensive areas of the Cerrado, the Brazilian savannah, and part of the Amazon rainforest, after extensive deforestation. It can now provide the oil for the production of sustainable aviation fuel, known as SAF. CREDIT: Mario Osava / IPS

Soybeans and sugarcane, abundant but disputed

Brazil is the world’s largest soybean producer, with an output of 154 million tons in 2023, about half of which was exported to China. Its oil is the main raw material for biodiesel, which is blended with fossil diesel in this country at a current proportion of 14 percent. Congress is discussing the possibility of raising it to 25 percent in the future.

In addition to its thriving agriculture, based largely on oilseeds and sugarcane, which can supply SAF plants, the country has ample potential for expansion.

“Brazil has favorable conditions for biofuels, such as available land, good climate and rainfall, although they are now more uncertain than before,” said Walter. Tens of millions of hectares of land degraded by extensive cattle ranching in the past can be used to recover production.

In Latin America’s largest country, with 850 million hectares of territory, only 61 million hectares were dedicated to agriculture and 164 million to cattle pastures in 2022, according to MapBiomas, a monitoring platform of a network of organizations focused on climate change.

The government set a goal of recovering 40 million hectares of degraded land in 10 years, almost the same as the area planted with soybeans today: 44.6 million hectares.

Soy already has a well-established market and consumers. Dedicating part of its oil to SAF competes with these uses and will require a large expansion of its cultivation, that is to say, new lands and the risk of deforestation, which together with changes in land use constitute the great source of greenhouse gases in the country.

They represent economic and environmental costs that drive the search for alternatives.

The macauba, a tropical palm tree whose scientific name is Acrocomia aculeata, is attractive because of its high oil productivity and its presence in almost all of Brazil, as well as in other Latin American countries under various names, such as coyol, corojo, grugru or macaw palm.

It has not yet been commercially produced, nor has it been domesticated, making it a long-term, risky bet.

But Acelen, a company controlled by the Mubadala Investment Company of the United Arab Emirates, is promoting a project to grow macauba palm trees on 200,000 hectares of land in northeastern Brazil to produce SAF as of 2026.

To this end, it has an oil refinery in Mataripe, 70 kilometers from Salvador, capital of the northeastern state of Bahia, acquired in 2019 from the state-owned oil company Petrobras.

Ethanol is another alternative raw material, which, like soybean oil, has the advantage of large-scale production, but competes with other uses. In Brazil, sugarcane is the main source of ethanol, whose consumption as a fuel is almost as high as that of gasoline.

In its anhydrous form, it currently accounts for 27 percent of gasoline sold, a mix that is expected to rise to 30 percent or even 35 percent. But ethanol is also used alone, in its hydrated form. In Brazil today, almost all cars have flexible engines, powered by gasoline or ethanol, or by a mixture of any proportion.

A photo of the monotonous landscape of sugarcane in one of the plantations in the interior of the state of São Paulo, which provides almost half of the sugar and ethanol produced in Brazil. The 31 billion liters of ethanol in 2023 could be tripled in 20 years by increasing productivity and monoculture, to provide surpluses for the production of SAF. CREDIT: Mario Osava / IPS

Cane and corn ethanol

Ethanol lags behind vegetable oils in the production of SAF, but will benefit from a production boom expected in the coming years. It will be able to triple its annual production, which totaled 31 billion liters in 2023, without the need to greatly expand the cultivated area, according to industry leaders.

Brazil is already the country that grows the most sugarcane in the world, which allows it to lead the sugar market and occupy second place in ethanol, surpassed only by the United States, where corn is the main source.

Raízen, a joint venture between the British oil transnational Shell and Brazil’s Cosan, is studying the new biofuel, also in partnership with universities, while expanding its ethanol production, of which it is the national leader.

It is a pioneer in second-generation ethanol, extracted from sugarcane bagasse and other cellulose-based waste. This ensures up to 50 percent more ethanol, without the need for more crops. The company has already started up eight plants of this type and expects to have 20 in operation by 2030, despite the fact that they are more expensive than conventional plants.

Sugarcane productivity should also increase in the coming years, according to agronomic researchers, who expect to see production rise twofold mainly due to the planting of new varieties with genetic improvements.

In addition, second-crop corn, generally planted after soybeans in the same area, has allowed an increasing production of ethanol, especially in the midwest region of Brazil. It already represents 17 percent of the national total.

There are other alternatives, such as fossil derivatives but with reduced greenhouse gas emissions, wood from trees that grow faster in tropical countries such as Brazil, animal oils, and even cooking oil.

Each one requires different technologies, with their own costs, maturation times and environmental effects, said Walter. Logistical conditions, dispersion or facilities for collecting raw materials can also determine the most promising alternatives.

“There is no single solution, no silver bullet. We will have to combine various alternatives, depending on the intended or possible scale,” Ohara said. The choice is no longer purely economic, but also responds to the climate emergency, because “gas emissions must be reduced as a matter of urgency,” she added.

The expansion of monocultures will be inevitable in a country like Brazil, which aims to ensure a sustainable supply, but the damage can be mitigated with agroforestry systems, combining oilseeds with other crops, which diversify the vegetation and conserve the soil, proposed the chemist and environmentalist who worked for six years with biofuels in the state-owned Petrobras consortium.

Humanitarians warn that hunger has reached catastrophic levels in northern Gaza. Credit: UNRWA

By Jake Johnson
WASHINGTON DC, Mar 13 2024 (IPS)

A group of senators said Tuesday that under U.S. law, the Biden administratio must cut off American military assistance to Israel unless the Netanyahu government immediately stops impeding aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip, where children are dying of starvation after months of incessant Israeli bombing and attacks on humanitarian convoys.

“The severe humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Gaza is nearly unprecedented in modern history,” the eight senators—led by Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.)—wrote in a letter to U.S. President Joe Biden.

“Your administration has repeatedly stated, and the United Nations and numerous aid organizations have confirmed, that Israel’s restrictions on humanitarian access, both at the border and within Gaza, are one of the primary causes of this humanitarian catastrophe.”

The senators argued that the Israeli government’s systematic obstruction of aid deliveries violates U.S. law, pointing specifically to Section 620I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. The law states that “no assistance shall be furnished… to any country when it is made known to the president that the government of such country prohibits or otherwise restricts, directly or indirectly, the transport or delivery of United States humanitarian assistance.”

Biden administration officials have admitted that Israel is impeding aid deliveries to desperate Gazans. But when asked last week whether Israel’s actions amount to a “breach” of the Foreign Assistance Act, U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said he would “have to go back and look at the language of that text.”

“It’s not something that I’ve spent a lot of time looking at,” he added.

The senators wrote to Biden on Tuesday that “according to public reporting and your own statements, the Netanyahu government is in violation of this law.”

“Given this reality, we urge you to make it clear to the Netanyahu government that failure to immediately and dramatically expand humanitarian access and facilitate safe aid deliveries throughout Gaza will lead to serious consequences, as specified under existing U.S. law,” the letter reads. “The United States should not provide military assistance to any country that interferes with U.S. humanitarian assistance.”

“Federal law is clear,” the senators added, “and, given the urgency of the crisis in Gaza, and the repeated refusal of Prime Minister Netanyahu to address U.S. concerns on this issue, immediate action is necessary to secure a change in policy by his government.”

The senators’ letter was made public hours after the head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said Israel turned away a truck “loaded” with humanitarian aid because there were scissors in children’s medical aid kits—just one of many examples of Israel blocking the delivery of badly needed assistance.

Israel has limited the flow of aid to Gaza for years, but its siege has become much more restrictive since October 7, when Israel began its latest assault on the Palestinian territory following a deadly Hamas-led attack.

The U.S., by far Israel’s biggest arms supplier, has yet to impose any substantive consequences on the Netanyahu government for its mass killing of civilians or obstruction of humanitarian aid. The Biden administration has quietly approved more than 100 separate weapons sales to Israel since October.

Instead of using its leverage to force Israel’s hand, the administration has resorted to airdropping aid into Gaza and planning the construction of a temporary port off the enclave’s coast—steps that aid groups say won’t be anywhere near enough to avert famine.

Citing four unnamed U.S. officials, Politico reported Monday that Biden “will consider conditioning military aid to Israel” if it launches a ground invasion of Rafah, a small city near the Egyptian border where more than half of Gaza’s population is sheltering.

Brian Finucane, senior adviser for the U.S. program at the International Crisis Group, wrote in response to Politico‘s reporting that “U.S. law and policy already impose conditions on military aid to Israel as well as every other country.”

“The Biden admin has just refused to enforce those conditions so far,” he added.

Source: Common Dreams

Jake Johnson is a senior editor and staff writer for Common Dreams.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Enabling women to transition quickly from traditional cookstoves to cleaner technologies would save millions of lives, especially in poorer rural areas where biomass use is concentrated. Credit: Athar Parzaiv/IPS

By Philippe Benoit and Kaushik Deb
Mar 13 2024 (IPS)

One of the key efforts under the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals is to provide poor households with access to clean cooking technologies to replace, in particular, the burning of solid biomass (e.g., fuelwood and charcoal) in traditional open stoves that kills millions of women and children.

To date, one of the preferred options has involved the substitution of solid biomass with bottled liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). This approach, however, can be seen to run afoul of the climate change-driven opposition to fossil fuel use generally. However, LPG for clean cooking can and should be permitted as a transitional fuel to save lives in the short-term until we can provide universal access to alternative low-emissions clean cooking systems.

Africa is disproportionately burdened by a lack of access to clean cooking technologies, with over 60 percent of its population relying on biomass. That increases to over 85 percent in rural Africa. In Asia, over 45 percent of the rural population relies on biomass for cooking.

The poorest 50 percent of the world’s population (which includes those households currently relying on biomass) are responsible for a mere 8 percent of greenhouse emissions, a figure that would be marginally affected by the adoption of LPG

Enabling women to transition quickly from traditional cookstoves to cleaner technologies would save millions of lives, especially in poorer rural areas where biomass use is concentrated.

As report after report has documented, several million women and children die each year from the adverse impact of the very localized air pollution created by burning fuelwood and other solid biomass on open cookstoves (often used indoors without adequate ventilation).

Shifting away from unstainable harvesting and use of biomass would, in addition to avoiding these negative health impacts, generate important greenhouse gas mitigation and other environmental benefits.

There are a variety of clean cooking technologies that would address this issue. One solution is replacing biomass use with stoves fueled by LPG. Other alternatives include electric stoves and stoves that burn the biomass more efficiently.

Notably, electric stoves, when powered with renewable electricity, are near-zero emitting solutions. In contrast, even though LPG stoves potentially result in fewer greenhouse gas emissions than the traditional use of biomass, its promotion can be criticized as running counter to the climate change-related campaigns to eliminate all fossil fuel combustion and related emissions.

Efforts to phase out fossil fuels have gained momentum in the climate change discussions, as reflected in the discussion at COP 28 that targeted all forms of fossil fuels (i.e., coal, oil and gas), as compared to, for example, COP 26 which was focused on coal.

However, this broader and strengthened effort is occurring after many developing countries have already launched substantial clean cooking programs premised on the use of LPG. For instance, India introduced a program in 2013 to achieve universal access to LPG. Cameroon is executing a masterplan to increase the share of LPG for cooking from less than 20 percent to 58 percent by 2035.

Many of these programs attempt to target one of the problems with LPG, namely its affordability for poorer households. For example, Indonesia’s Zero Kero Program (a program initially targeting kerosene but then extended to solid biomass users) provides a free stove and first cylinder and subsidized LPG thereafter.

India’s flagship cooking energy program, Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, launched in 2016 provides a subsidy and loan for the upfront cost of adopting an LPG connection and has resulted in an uptake by over 80 million households. Many ongoing LPG programs enjoy degrees of institutional momentum that would be difficult to replicate quickly if replaced by new efforts premised on a different choice of cooking technology.

Climate sustainability forces generally align with anti-poverty efforts such as the UN goal to achieve universal access to clean cooking, but the use of LPG presents tensions.

While shifting to LPG for cooking can generate the above-referenced health and other benefits for poor households currently relying on biomass, these same households are also amongst the most vulnerable to the negative impacts of climate change induced by fossil fuel emissions.

And in the context of the climate change campaigns to reduce emissions, it is arguably strategic to adopt straightforward and clear goals and communications, such as “phasing down/out fossil fuels”, rather than a nuanced message that targets “most but not all fossil fuels.”

Given this context – one in which the poor are adversely affected by biomass use but also by emissions-induced climate change – how should LPG cooking programs be treated?

In deciding which and whose emissions to prioritize in the effort to advance global climate goals, and specifically how to address emissions from LPG-based cooking,  it is useful to place the discussion and choices in the broader emissions inequality context.

As pointed out by a recent Oxfam report on the topic, the poorest 50 percent of the world’s population (which includes those households currently relying on biomass) are responsible for a mere 8 percent of greenhouse emissions, a figure that would be marginally affected by the adoption of LPG. In contrast, the wealthiest 10 percent is responsible for 50 percent, and the top 50 percent for 92 percent.

Moreover, the use of fossil fuels for cooking is something that manifests itself at all income levels. For example, the US government has just issued regulations that tighten efficiency requirements for gas stoves, thereby also, implicitly, legitimizing their continued use for years to come.

The consumers targeted by the US regulations fall within the top 10 percent richest of the world’s population, while the women using unhealthy traditional cookstoves fall within the world’s poorest segment.

Given the lives of poor women and children that can be saved today by LPG-based cooking, coupled with the minute per capita emissions of these consumers, LPG-based efforts should continue and potentially even be expanded under a ‘transitional regime, with the focus of emissions-reduction activities in the near-term targeted at the activities of the world’s richest top 10 percent responsible for 50 percent of global emissions.

Importantly, this transitional regime would include a sunset provision on the use of LPG with a clear second transition to renewables-based electric and other non-emitting cooking solutions. The primary objective is to save lives that would otherwise be lost to cooking-related pollution in the short to medium term, while also supporting net-zero emissions over the longer run.

LPG has a productive role to play in poverty-alleviation efforts and specifically the UN’s goal of achieving universal access to clean cooking. However, the use of LPG for cooking is a strategy which, given its attendant carbon dioxide emissions, should be structured as transitional pending the fuller deployment of low-emissions clean cooking alternatives.

 

Philippe Benoit is the managing director at Global Infrastructure Advisory Services 2050. He previously held management positions at the World Bank and the International Energy Agency.

 Kaushik Deb leads the India Program at the Center on Global Energy Policy at the School of International and Public Affairs in Columbia University.

Oksen Lisovyi, Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine; Yasmine Sherif, Executive Director of Education Cannot Wait; and Yevhen Kudriavets, First Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine, address a briefing on funding for Ukrainian education. Credit: UN Photo/Evan Schneider

By Naureen Hossain
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 13 2024 (IPS)

The UN’s global education fund and the government of Ukraine have announced a new multi-year program funded at USD 18 million that will go toward education for children impacted by the conflict in Ukraine.

In New York, Ukraine’s Minister of Education and Science, Oksen Lisovyi, and Education Cannot Wait (ECW) Executive Director Yasmine Sherif announced the launch of a multi-year resilience program that will take effect from March 2024 until February 2026. In addition to the 18 million, they called on donors to mobilize an additional USD 17 million to fully fund the program. The program is building on ECW’s previous investments in Ukraine, which totaled USD 6.5 million; this has already reached over 360,000 children and youth for the purpose of quality education support.

According to Sherif, the program was developed “in close coordination” with the Ministry of Education and members of civil society in Ukraine. Teachers and students in the southern and eastern states will have access to mental health and psychosocial support. The program will also renovate and strengthen the damaged infrastructure.

Lisovyi stated that the program will support the government’s ongoing plans to reform its education system while also addressing the challenges that have emerged due to the conflict.

“We work toward fundamentally changing the education system,” he said. “Modernize the networks of universities and strengthen the agencies of students, providing them with more freedom and instruments for self-development.”

“Now we concentrate on our efforts to provide the usual normal education for each kid. Giving access to safe education of high quality despite the war,” said Lisovyi. This will include building shelters in schools, a new prerequisite for schools to work offline. It’s been estimated that during this conflict, children spent up to 5,000 hours in underground shelters.

More than 3500 educational institutions have been damaged since the conflict between Ukraine and Russia began in February 2022. Families and children that have been displaced by the conflict struggle to access a proper, comprehensive education. More than 900,000 children are currently receiving a blended education of in-person classes and online learning. As of September 2023, only half of the functioning schools have the capacity to provide face-to-face learning. The other alternative, online learning, has not been accessible to all students, especially those who have been displaced due to the conflict. Under this program, there will be efforts to expand access to digital education, especially for those children left behind.

In collaboration with the government of Ukraine and national organizations, the multi-year resilience program’s investment will be delivered by Finn Church Aid, an NGO whose work in Ukraine centers on education support through providing temporary learning spaces and psychosocial support, and the Kyiv School of Economics Institute, a think tank that has consulted on recommendations for Ukraine’s post-war economic recovery. It is expected that the program will reach 41,000 girls and boys, as well as indirectly benefit 150,000 children through renovated learning spaces in the eastern and southern states.

The program is also intended to invest considerably in teachers, including the estimated 43,000 teachers that have been displaced by the conflict. In addition to receiving mental health and psychosocial support, they will also receive vocational training, which Lisovyi has stated is one of the biggest priorities in his government’s education reform. The expected outcome of this is that at least 12,000 teachers will be supported with professional development and well-being support.

Investing in education reform will go toward building a stronger, more resilient state, said Lisovyi. “The role of education here is crucial, so our efforts are currently focused on restoring access to education for every child. I am incredibly grateful to Education Cannot Wait and all the partners for their shared vision and support.”

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