Africa

Amateur clubs in Cameroon drop their case against the Confederation of African Football at the Court of Arbitration for Sport over the hosting of the 2019 Nations Cup.

Creating artworks from ARV bottles and old pills to encourage Ugandans to take their medicine.

Championship side Nottingham Forest sign Monaco midfielder Pele on loan until the end of the season.

Cameroon forward Gaelle Enganamouit moves to struggling Spanish club Malaga from Norwegian side Avaldsnes IL.

Morocco's Confederation Cup holders Raja Casablanca name former Mali, TP Mazembe and Al Ahly coach Patrice Carteron.

A Ugandan minister has warned that online sports betting is causing serious problems.

Bullet-proof vests can save lives but present problems if you want to be discreet, writes journalist Elizabeth Ohene.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp believes snow on the Anfield pitch contributed to a frustrating night as his side was held to a 1-1 draw by Leicester.

Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson says he "can't condone" the reaction that earned Wilfried Zaha his second yellow card against Southampton.

Six women tell the BBC they were raped by security forces as part of a government crackdown.

Kennedy Agyapong tells the BBC he regrets journalist Ahmed Hussein-Suale’s death, but has a clear conscious.

The prosecutor said that by spreading misinformation the politician had incited violent clashes.

By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Jan 30 2019 (IPS)

The steady decline in multilateralism—accompanied by a rise in unilateralism– is beginning to threaten democratic norms, including press freedom, global governance, civic participation and human rights across Asia, Africa, South America and the Middle East.

The threats – directly or indirectly – are being sourced to the outbreak of right-wing nationalism in the United States, reflected in the jingoistic political rhetoric coming out of several countries, including Brazil, the Philippines, Hungary, Poland, Austria, Turkey, Myanmar and Egypt.

Speaking to reporters last month, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that multilateralism is under attack from many different directions precisely “when we need it most.”

“In different areas and for different reasons, the trust of people in their political establishments, the trust of states among each other, the trust of many people in international organizations has been eroded and … multilateralism has been in the fire,” he complained.

Lysa John – Credit: CIVICUS

So, how will civil society survive against these heavy political odds during 2019?

Lysa John, the new Secretary-General of the Johannesburg-based CIVICUS, a global alliance of civil society organizations (CSOs) advocating citizen action worldwide, told IPS: “Sadly in this current political climate, governments are undermining decades of work by citizens and leaders across the world to build an effective framework for global cooperation’.

She specifically cited the withdrawal of the United States from the 2015 Paris Climate Change Agreement and the UN Human Rights Council as “a stark reminder that we are living in a world where governments are operating in a state of active denial”

Across the world, there is a sense of outrage as leaders – including of major democracies such as Brazil and India – are seen championing the interests of the elite while suppressing citizen and community movements that are working to ensure civic participation and governance accountability, said John, who has worked on issues of governance accountability and social justice since 1998.

She most recently worked with Save the Children International as their global Campaigns and Advocacy Strategy Director, and previously served as Head of Outreach for the UN High Level Panel on the Post-2015 Agenda.

Asked how CSOs will cope with this growing new trend against multilateralism, she said that in a globalised world,” the solutions to the new and complex challenges we face – such as conflict, climate change and inequality – are heavily inter-dependent”.

“We need governments to adopt a ‘one-world’ approach that allows them to actively combine resources, share lessons and scale up innovations to cope with the social, environmental and economic changes that are unfolding at a rapid rate”.

In this context, she pointed out, multilateralism isn’t just a “nice-to-have option”, but an urgent necessity which will determine the survival and well-being of future generations.

Excerpts from the interview:

IPS: What are some of the key political and socio-economic issues that will be on the CIVICUS agenda this year?

John: 2019 has kicked off with some alarming signals for the global civic space emergency that we have been calling out over the last year.

In Brazil, the new Bolsonaro government has threatened to close down human rights organisations, while in Zimbabwe protesting activists and groups have been subjected to shocking levels of force and intimidation.

Overall, internet shut-downs and violence as a means of curtailing voice and dissent is on the rise. In this context, ensuring governments take measures to protect and expand the right to organise and express dissent will continue to be a massive priority for us this year.

Across the world, journalists and activists are often the most vocal and visible when it comes to calling out governance failures or violations – making them an easy target for government and businesses who have an interest in keeping them silent.

Alongside this, we will continue to work on ways to connect, amplify and strengthen the great work that civil society does across the world.

In a hyper-connected world, it is ludicrous that governments continue to use archaic laws and policies to stifle the global flow of knowledge, technology and resources that can help millions trapped in poverty and discrimination to harness the benefits of modern development.

Ensuring public and donors invest in creating an enabling environment for civil society – one that allows us to be the most innovative, diverse and accountable version of ourselves – will also be an important part of our work this year.

IPS: How will the erosion of multilateralism — as singled out last month by UN secretary general Antonio Guterres — impact on CSOs in general, and CIVICUS in particular.

John: Where governments fail to act in the interest of ordinary people, civil society has had to step in and step up!

Across the world, voluntary organisations are acting as the first line of refuge for the most marginalised communities.

This includes extending life-saving assistance to fleeing from violent conflicts, fighting to change laws and practices that perpetuate discrimination against traditionally excluded communities or standing as the last line of defence.

It is disturbing that in this context many governments are choosing to increase surveillance and criminalise civil society rather than recognising and supporting their critical efforts.

Our research on civic space through the CIVICUS Monitor shows that attacks on civil society around the world are predictably common, and often severe.

Currently only 4% of the world’s population live in countries where the freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly are adequately protected.

Six in ten people live in countries where there are serious constraints on civic space.

Without the national and global mechanisms to protect and expand civic freedoms, civil society and citizens across the world would be left even more vulnerable.

This is why it’s important to continue to fight to not only protect multilateralism as it stands but also to make our global institutions more democratic and inclusive.

The writer can be contacted at thalifdeen@ips.org

The post Right-Wing Nationalism Threatens Democratic Norms, Human Rights & Press Freedom appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Cardiff City are targeting a deal for Monaco defender Almamy Toure ahead of the 31 January transfer deadline.

For every 14 migrants who cross the Mediterranean Sea, one dies, a UN report has found.

Some figures within African football have called for a unified window across the continent.

When St. Vincent was hit hard by flooding and landslides in recent years, it was blamed on climate change and deforestation. Credit: Desmond Brown/IPS

By Desmond Brown
GEORGETOWN, Jan 30 2019 (IPS)

The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) has debunked the notion that there is no funding available for countries to prevent, reduce or reverse land degradation.

UNCCD Executive Secretary Monique Barbut says there are millions of dollars available for Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) projects that are based on sound scientific guidelines and human rights principles, as set out in the Convention’s Scientific Conceptual Framework for LDN.

The LDN concept represents a paradigm shift in land management policies and practices by providing a framework to counterbalance the expected loss of productive land with the recovery of degraded areas.

To date, more than 100 countries have embarked on national processes to set and implement voluntary LDN targets as part of their contribution to the third target under Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 15 (life on land).

“We have about 125 countries which have decided to set what we call their LDN targets. But we are difference from many other conventions. We have decided to also follow up on the implementation,” Barbut told IPS. She was speaking to IPS at the 17th Session of the Committee for the Review of Implementation (CRIC17) of the UNCCD which opened in the Guyana capital on Monday, Jan. 28

“We have said targets are not enough. We would like now for the countries to go for what we call the transformative projects. This is where the funding discussion comes up because those transformative projects are usually large scale. We are not taking about pilot projects of 200,000 dollars here and there.”

The Executive Secretary said countries can rest assured that if they want to go into major projects, UNCCD will finance the pre-feasibility exercise.

She explained that “major projects” are which cost a minimum of 5 million dollars and can run into hundreds of millions of dollars. She pointed to China and India as examples where large scale transformative projects have been implemented.

“Nobody can say that the funding is not available. None of those transformative projects is yet at a stage that we are going for the funding outside,” Barbut said.

“I have been, prior to this position, the CEO of the GEF (Global Environmental Facility) which is the largest funding mechanism of the world; and I am going to tell you something which might surprise you. The lack of funding is never a problem. The problem is to get the right project. If you have a good project, I can tell you that the funding is always available.”

United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) Executive Secretary Monique Barbut says t says there are millions of dollars available for Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) projects. Credit: Desmond Brown/IPS

Barbut said UNCCD wants to help countries identify and build projects, as well as help them go for the funding at a later stage “to all those big international multilateral and bilateral institutions.”

“To give you an example, we are working with Burkina Faso in Africa. They have decided to transform 3,000 of the 5,000 villages that they have into what we call eco-villages. By doing that, they will restore two million hectares of degraded land and they will give jobs to almost one million people,” she said.

“This project is going to be between 150 million to 300 million dollars and I have no doubt that we will raise funds because it’s going to be done in a way that donors will accept.”

“Many developing countries say there is no funding, I am saying no. The project that you are presenting are not right or rightly presented to attract the donors. Our job is to help you to make them attractive enough,” Barbut added.

She cited the Gambia as another example where the necessary political will was demonstrated when the entire government, including the president, decided to go for a very large-scale project and put their full GEF allocation into it.

“It means, already, we have about 12 million dollars secured. Just by doing that, showing the world that they were willing to put their full allocation into that, we have already got IFAD, a big global multi-lateral financial institution which has said, we’re ready to add 45 million dollars,” Barbut explained.

“So, without even yet having the project being designed, we know that we have about 55 million dollars for that project that we are going to set up in the Gambia.”

Meanwhile, Dr. Richard Byron-Cox, action programme alignment and capacity building officer at UNCCD, also said that funding is available, but he said Caribbean countries have several problems.

The first of these problems, he said, is that in the Caribbean, most people are not trained to deal with the ramifications of applying for these funds.

“Sorry to say this, but some of these funds they have such a bureaucratic procedure and our people are not trained as to how you prepare projects and how you beat that bureaucracy,” he told IPS.

“The second problem is that we are not interested. We really don’t go out and look for it. In other words, it is there for the taking but we are not aggressive towards it.”

Additionally, the Guyanese national said that until recently, Caribbean countries always thought that their problem was only climate change and so their only focus was on climate change and getting money for it.

But Byron-Cox said there was yet another problem which Caribbean countries faced.

“A lot of those who give us money never really want to give us money for land. They would prefer to give you some money to build a hospital because when you build a hospital, everything comes from the donor abroad – the windows, the doors, the toilet and the engineers who build it. So, they give you 10 million dollars and the 10 million dollars goes back to them,” he explained.

“Outside of that, whenever anything breaks in the hospital or if you need new machinery you have to go back to them again. So, at the end of the day they gave you 10 million dollars but they end up getting 20 million dollars.”

Byron-Cox said because Caribbean countries know that donors are not usually willing to give money for land, they do not bother to ask.

He said the time has come for governments in the Caribbean to appoint an environmental overseer who covers the entirety of the environment in each country.

“One of the roles of this environmental czar would be to find the necessary resources. If we had a regional approach where the expertise is shared it might be easier to tackle this question,” Byron-Cox said.

“I have no doubt that the funding can be found. It is there and if we go searching for it, we can get it. It is there, we have to go out there and aggressively look for it.”

Related Articles

• Desertification, Land Degradation and Climate Change Go Hand in Hand
• The Silent, Invisible Crisis Destabilising Communities Could be a Subject of Hope

The post Billions of Dollars Available for Reducing and Reversing Land Degradation appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Members of Caribbean Youth Environment Network (CYEN) Guyana chapter. CYEN is on a drive to empower youth to address big issues, like climate change, facing their generation. Credit: Desmond Brown/IPS

By Desmond Brown
GEORGETOWN, Jan 30 2019 (IPS)

A group of youngsters in the Caribbean who promote environmental protection in the region is on a drive to empower other youth to address some of the big issues facing their generation.

National Coordinator of Caribbean Youth Environment Network (CYEN), Kiefer Jackson, says the organisation has been working to gather the youth perspective, build capacity at a grassroots level and fill the gaps that would have been missed by government initiatives or plans.

“The Ministry of Presidency’s Office of Climate Change has recognised the work being done by this chapter of CYEN and has asked us to join with them this year in facilitating their climate change awareness in schools around Guyana,” Jackson told IPS.

“We believe this partnership to be one step in the direction of ensuring that young people play an active role in climate action and ensure non-governmental organisation and government partnership for the betterment of our people.”

Jackson said CYEN Guyana has been offering young people experiential learning opportunities and internships overseas which help to build the country’s capacity for climate resilience.

As far as capacity is concerned, last year, CYEN was approved by YOUNGO, the Children and Youth constituency to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, to undertake a Conference of Youth in the countries where CYEN operates. CYEN’s website reflects a presence in Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Saint Lucia, among others.

Jackson added that the activity was used to assist in further building the current participatory environmental awareness programmes for young citizens of Guyana.

“We have also been engaging in a series of panel discussions, in an effort to inform and educate young people on the Sustainable Development Goals,” Jackson said.

“The last talk would have been on Goal 13 (Climate Action). Based on the feedback of these activities, we have recognised that young people in Guyana, have robust and innovative ideas and we have been working on creating a platform for them to showcase their ideas or projects that guarantee the strengthening resilience and adaptive capacity to climate change in Guyana.”

In addition to facilitating larger scale education and awareness, Jackson believes more attention should be given to ensuring adequate and appropriate infrastructure and housing that can withstand, as far as possible, the perils of climate change.

Guyana is plagued by poorly-maintained drainage and sea defence infrastructure.

The low coastal plain which houses the capital Georgetown, and where a large percentage of the population resides, is below sea level and at high risk of flooding. “With the effects of climate change becoming even more present through intensifying natural disasters, more should be done to prepare this region for what seems to be inevitable,” Jackson said.

“We can also ensure that there are early warning systems and more accurate forecasts – information that can be passed on to farmers through simple technology.”

In addition to being prone to flooding, Guyana is also affected by drought.

Joseph Harmon, Minister of State in the Ministry of the Presidency of Guyana, says drought and flooding have proven to be a double-edged sword, especially for the country’s farmers.

“Some people might find it difficult to appreciate that in a country like Guyana, a part of the tropical rainforest, that you can still have portions of this land which have drought,” Harmon told IPS.

“But I can say to you that in the south Rupununi . . . we do have some portions of that land that for a part of the year they have drought, and at other times they have flooding.”

He said government has taken steps to address the problem of flooding with the implementation of projects by the Ministry of Agriculture.

“They are dealing with how to sustainably harvest water so that it can be utilised for farming and other domestic purposes,” Harmon said.

“In the period of drought, we are now looking at the question of utilisation of wells.”

In December 2017, the Guyana Government and the Government of the Federative Republic of Brazil signed a technical cooperation agreement for the implementation of a project to reduce the impact of drought in the Upper Takatu-Upper Essequibo, Region 9 of Guyana.

Harmon said the agreement was established to mitigate the historical impact of droughts in the Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo region and its implementation has so far resulted in the drilling of eight wells that are now providing year-round potable water to the indigenous peoples in the south Rupununi.

In its quest to bridge the gap between climate change and climate awareness, Jackson said CEYN is hampered by limited availability of financial resources, particularly for long term projects that could ensure sustainability.

Additionally, she said quite often, urgent need for climate action is hampered by the effects not always being glaring to the public eye.

“So, the challenge is making climate seem real in the context of day to day life in the Caribbean,” Jackson said.

“Hurricane season is once a year. Sea level rise is slow and almost unnoticeable. We try to identify indicators which can catch people’s attention, and which are personal as well as immediate.”

Related Articles

• The Caribbean Island of Mayreau Could be Split in Two Thanks to Erosion
• The Caribbean Reiterates “1.5 Degrees Celsius to Stay Alive”
• When Salt Water Intrusion is Not Just a Threat But a Reality for Guyanese Farmers
• How Guyana Must Prepare to Cope With the ‘Jeopardies and Perils’ of Oil Discovery

The post Youth Bridge the Gap Between Climate Change and Climate Awareness in Guyana appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Ivory Coast will stage the Africa Cup of Nations in 2023, allowing CAF to give 2021 to Cameroon.

The post Crusade Against Sex Education Undermines Progress Made in Latin America appeared first on Inter Press Service.