Africa - INTER PRESS SERVICE

A Rohingya refugee, Jannat is back in school and dreams of being a doctor. Credit: Save The Children Bangladesh/Rubina Hoque Alee

By Yasmine Sherif
NEW YORK, Aug 26 2024 (IPS-Partners)

Seven years ago, a brutal campaign of violence, rape and terror against the Rohingya people ignited in Myanmar’s Rakhine State. Villages were burned to the ground, families were murdered, massive human rights violations were reported, and around 700,000 people – half of them children – fled their homes to seek refuge in Bangladesh.

Today, Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar hosts the largest refugee camp in the world with close to a million children, women and men living in makeshift settlements. The crisis is an abomination for humanity. And while the Government of Bangladesh and other strategic partners are supporting the response, the resources are severely strained and access to essential services is scarce.

As the global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises within the United Nations, Education Cannot Wait (ECW), along with its strategic donor partners, government, UN agencies and civil society, has supported holistic education opportunities for both Rohingya and host community children in Bangladesh since November 2017. The more than US$50 million in funding, delivered through a consortium of partners – including government counterparts, PLAN International, Save the Children, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNICEF and other local partners – has reached over 325,000 girls and boys with quality education. Over the years, the programmes have provided learning materials for close to 190,000 children, financial support to over 1,700 teachers, and rehabilitated over 1,400 classrooms and temporary learning spaces.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, fires in the refugee camp and other pressing emergencies, the programming in Bangladesh was quickly adapted, and over 100,000 girls and boys were able to take part in remote education programmes during the height of the pandemic.

For refugee girls like Jannat, these investments mean nutritious school meals, integrated learning opportunities, catch-up classes, and security and solace in a world gone mad.

We must not forget Jannat and the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya girls like her that only yearn to learn in safety and freedom. Our investment in their education is an investment in peace, enlightenment and security across the region. Above all, it is an investment in the Rohingya people’s rights and other persecuted groups that face human rights abuses and attacks the world over.

Despite strong support from donors – as shown in this powerful joint statement by Japan, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States following their visit to the refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar in May of this year – the Rohingya crisis is fast-becoming a forgotten crisis.

The Rohingya Humanitarian Crisis Joint Response Plan 2024 calls for a total of US$852 million in funding, including US$68 million for education. To date, only US$287 million has been mobilized toward the plan. More concerning still, only 12.8% has been mobilized towards the education response, according to OCHA’s Financial Tracking Service. What we need to realize is that our investments in education are investments in health, food security and skills development. Taken together with other actions, it forms a cornerstone upon which all the other Sustainable Development Goals can be achieved.

As we commemorate seven years of persecution and attack, we must demand that perpetrators are held accountable for human rights violations, we must establish conditions conducive for a safe return of the Rohingya to their native lands, and we must enforce the rule of law and expect humanity for the people whose lives have been ripped apart by this brutal crisis.

Join ECW and our partners in urgently mobilizing additional resources to provide Rohingya girls and boys – and other children caught in emergencies and protracted crises worldwide – with the promise of a quality education. They deserve no less.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Excerpt:

Education Cannot Wait Executive Director Yasmine Sherif Statement on the 7-Year Anniversary of the Rohingya Crisis

Tackling the Planetary Emergency: Supporting a Declaration of Planetary Emergency at the UN General Assembly and the Convening of a Planetary Emergency Platform

By Eoin Jackson and Nina Malekyazdi
NEW YORK, Aug 26 2024 (IPS)

The world is facing a triple planetary crisis of climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss.

Climate change continues to pose an existential threat to humanity, with recent science estimating that we have possibly less than six years left to change course and rapidly reduce greenhouse gas emissions to have a chance of avoiding the worst of the climate crisis.

Pollution is crippling air and water quality, exacerbating the inequality between wealthy and low-and middle-income countries. Biodiversity loss has the potential to collapse our food and water supply chains, putting further pressure on some of the most vulnerable countries in the world to manage the ever-growing risk of poverty, hunger, and harm to human health.

We also have scientific evidence that six of the nine core Planetary Boundaries have been crossed, posing a catastrophic danger to the Earth’s overarching ecosystem.

With this in mind, the Climate Governance Commission, supported by the Earth governance smart coalition Mobilizing an Earth Governance Alliance (MEGA), seeks to assist in catalyzing the implementation of critical reforms to global governance institutions for the effective management of the triple planetary crisis.

Probably the most significant and fundamental reform that could be established quickly and effectively would be a Declaration by the UN General Assembly of a Planetary Emergency and the convening of a Planetary Emergency Platform to facilitate global cooperation to address the emergency.

Adopting a Planetary Emergency Declaration would ensure that policy actions to protect the environment – especially the climate – would be elevated to top priority in global, national and local decision-making, requiring concerted action by all sectors of government, similar to the way that other critical emergencies are addressed.

Convening the Planetary Emergency Platform would help facilitate the development of cooperative plans for urgent action at all levels of governance on specific goals such as, for example, a global, fast-track de-carbonization package. The fact that we are indeed in a serious planetary emergency justifies and indeed requires an approach that can sufficiently address such an emergency.

Why declare a Planetary Emergency?

An emergency occurs when risks (impact X probability) are unacceptably high, and when time is a serious constraint. As identified by MEGA and the Climate Governance Commission based upon the best available science, we are at such a juncture. Consequently, with scientific evidence continuing to mount depicting the grave circumstances humanity finds itself in, the UN General Assembly, with the support of climate-vulnerable countries, should consider responding in kind, declaring a planetary emergency recognising this fundamental shift toward an emergency footing and moving quickly to convene an emergency platform to reflect these circumstances and facilitate urgent, coordinated action, with linked national emergency plans.

The growing urgency for declaring a planetary emergency stems from a history of a fragmented multilateral planetary policy system, that lacks a coordinated and ambitious response at the speed and scale required. Climate change to date has been treated as a peripheral issue dealt with primarily within a two-week framework every year at the climate COPs (Conference of the Parties), leading to a lack of effective cooperation between different aspects of the multilateral system and its domestic counterparts. Further, climate change solutions have not been adequately linked to mitigating pollution and biodiversity loss.

This siloed approach to handling the crisis as just another social and economic issue, rather than the interlinked and existential threat that it poses to society, illustrates how unequipped current governance structures are to handle this all-encompassing and systemic issue.

Consequently, global governance at present lacks the preparation and resilience necessary for current and future global shocks caused by the planetary emergency (e.g. extreme weather events, potential collapse of food supply chains, major economic crises, among other shock events).

However, this emergency also opens the door for the UN General Assembly and broader multilateral system to reconsider its framing of its approach and identify new governance mechanisms to address current gaps in the system. Governments and policymakers are now presented with an opportunity for transformation – to create a sustainable governance framework that facilitates the safe operation of humanity within its Planetary Boundaries.

Climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss and its related ecological, social, and economic problems are global issues, and thus require a whole-of-system approach to provide global solutions.

By recognizing that the world is in a state of acute distress through the Declaration of a Planetary Emergency at the UN General Assembly and thereby convening a Planetary Emergency Platform to coordinate a response to this emergency, policymakers would be provided with a framework needed to transcend current political divides to effectively address the challenges we face.

What would a Declaration of a Planetary Emergency at the UN General Assembly achieve?

We have already seen regional, national, and local climate emergency declarations issued across 2359 jurisdictions (as of August 2024). Such declarations by themselves have limited impact due to the global nature of this emergency. However, they demonstrate a keen interest in responding to the triple planetary crisis within an emergency framework, providing a core foundation for multilateral cooperation.

A Planetary Emergency Declaration would be science-led and action-focused, helping to elevate global planetary policy by connecting and elevating the existing declarations and filling the gaps in our current governance framework. Activating, focusing, and coordinating existing capacities at the UN through a Declaration of this kind could form a crucial aspect in ensuring that the Declaration is not merely a reflection of well-intended aspirations, but that it provides a solid basis for building effective, cooperative action.

A Planetary Emergency Declaration could build off and connect to its predecessors’ efforts and acknowledge all inter-connected risks associated with the triple planetary crisis in order to facilitate a global green transition. This would in turn allow for the Declaration to stimulate, support and facilitate cooperation and implementation of planetary policy at multilateral, national, and subnational levels.

The Declaration could seek primarily to achieve three things at the outset.

Firstly, as noted above, it could place the multilateral system on an acknowledged emergency footing, allowing for more ambitious action at all levels of governance, and reducing the current barriers to planetary progress.

Secondly, a Declaration could open the door for more effective emergency governance platforms including in particular the convening of a Planetary Emergency Platform, in line with the broader proposal of the UN Secretary General that emergency platforms be convened to strengthen the response to complex global shocks.

A Planetary Emergency Platform, using the Declaration as its basis, could be tasked with coordinating, defragmenting, and harmonizing the international community’s response to the triple planetary crisis. This would, in turn, speed up much needed solutions to the crisis, including, for example, the unlocking of greater climate finance and increased protection of crucial global commons under threat from human activity, from the Amazon to the High Seas.

A Platform of this kind would also be capable of developing a Planetary Emergency Plan, which could outline and bring into effect these desired outcomes, as well as assist with monitoring the implementation of the Declaration.

Finally, a Declaration of Planetary Emergency would allow for scientific concepts like Planetary Boundaries to become more familiar and integrated into our global policy responses, as well as creating vital opportunities to bridge the gap between planetary science and policy.

The Declaration could seek to ensure policymakers have greater impetus to take emergency action to protect these Planetary Boundaries, helping to generate political support and reduce geopolitical barriers to progress.

A Planetary Emergency Declaration at the UN General Assembly could serve as a crucial next step toward remedying the – to date – dysfunctional and inadequate nature of our response to the triple planetary crisis and convene a Planetary Emergency Platform as a key governance mechanism to facilitate the cooperation required between national and subnational entities to ensure effective and equitable planetary action.

Working with climate-vulnerable states, and global experts, the Climate Governance Commission and Mobilizing an Earth Governance Alliance will offer support to build a coalition to advance this Declaration at the UN General Assembly and accelerate our shared efforts to capably and effectively manage the global environment.

Eoin Jackson is Chief of Staff and Legal Fellow at the Climate Governance Commission and Co-Convenor of the Earth Governance ImPACT Coalition; Nina Malekyazdi is a Summer Intern at the Climate Governance Commission and a graduate in International Relations of the University of British Columbia

Source: Mobilizing an Earth Governance Alliance (MEGA)

MEGA is a coalition of civil society organizations working in cooperation with like-minded governments, legislators, experts, private sector actors and other stakeholders to strengthen existing environmental governance mechanisms and establish additional mechanisms. MEGA is led by the Climate Governance Commission and World Federalist Movement-Institute for Global Policy (co-hosts) in cooperation with 28 co-sponsoring organizations.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Palestinians living in Gaza struggle to access humanitarian aid. Credit: United Nations

By Oritro Karim
UNITED NATIONS, Aug 24 2024 (IPS)

The latest Israeli evacuation order on August 17 led to the displacement of over 13,000 individuals, Secretary-General Stéphane Dujarric told a press conference at the UN headquarters.

The briefing held on October 19, 2024 detailed the impact of the continuation of the hostilities since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

The evacuation order was the latest in a series by the Israeli government that have exacerbated the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The conditions in the region are dire, with Palestinians facing a lack of access to food, clean water, fuel, and healthcare, as well as constant bombings, outbreaks of diseases, and displacement.

The number of Palestinians that have been killed during the course of the Israel-Hamas War this past year greatly exceeds that of any point during the entire Israeli-Palestinian conflict. While it is difficult to pinpoint the exact number of lives lost in the Gaza Strip, it has been confirmed to exceed 40,000.

During a press briefing at the UN Headquarters on August 14, 2024, the Secretary-General’s deputy spokesperson, Farhan Haq, said, “Ongoing bombardment and hostilities in Gaza continue to kill, injure and displace Palestinians, as well as damage and destroy the homes and infrastructure they rely on…  In the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Israeli settlers and forces killed five Palestinians between August 6 and August 12.  Another 54 Palestinians, including 11 children, were also injured during the same period.”

In addition to the deaths and displacements, Palestinians have been forced to relocate to refugee camps and reside in the remnants of children’s schools and hospitals, which were bombarded and are now nearly inhospitable.

Earlier in the month, the Secretary General’s spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, said, “The ongoing hostilities, constant evacuation orders, and severe shortages of essential supplies are making it increasingly difficult for displaced families to access basic services at their place of arrival.”

Dujarric added that severe fuel shortages interfere with the operations of healthcare facilities, as ambulances and essential surgeries are often halted or postponed. This is particularly concerning as Palestinians need widespread access to healthcare, with many of them suffering from disease, malnutrition, and life threatening injuries as a result of constant Israeli blockade, bombardment, and relocation.

There was also concern that humanitarian aid was being denied.

According to Haq, Israeli authorities have rejected about a third of aid missions to Gaza since August 1.  The cumulative impact of these access constraints is to perpetuate a continued cycle of deprivation and distress among affected people who are facing death, pain, hunger and thirst on a daily basis.”

This built on an earlier statement from Dujarric that while 500 aid trucks were sent to the Gaza Strip every day, a daily average of 159 trucks were allowed in unimpeded.

Israel denies blocking humanitarian aid.

The International Court of Justice earlier this year ordered that Israel halt its military offensive in the Rafah governorate. This followed an earlier order that Israel should take all measures to prevent any acts contrary to the 1948 Genocide Convention. South Africa brought a case arguing that Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip during the Israel-Hamas war led to a humanitarian crisis and mass killings, potentially amounting to genocide.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Palestinians living in Gaza struggle to access humanitarian aid. Credit: United Nations

By Oritro Karim
UNITED NATIONS, Aug 24 2024 (IPS)

The latest Israeli evacuation order on August 17 led to the displacement of over 13,000 individuals, Secretary-General Stéphane Dujarric told a press conference at the UN headquarters.

The briefing held on October 19, 2024 detailed the impact of the continuation of the hostilities since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

The evacuation order was the latest in a series by the Israeli government that have exacerbated the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The conditions in the region are dire, with Palestinians facing a lack of access to food, clean water, fuel, and healthcare, as well as constant bombings, outbreaks of diseases, and displacement.

The number of Palestinians that have been killed during the course of the Israel-Hamas War this past year greatly exceeds that of any point during the entire Israeli-Palestinian conflict. While it is difficult to pinpoint the exact number of lives lost in the Gaza Strip, it has been confirmed to exceed 40,000.

During a press briefing at the UN Headquarters on August 14, 2024, the Secretary-General’s deputy spokesperson, Farhan Haq, said, “Ongoing bombardment and hostilities in Gaza continue to kill, injure and displace Palestinians, as well as damage and destroy the homes and infrastructure they rely on…  In the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Israeli settlers and forces killed five Palestinians between August 6 and August 12.  Another 54 Palestinians, including 11 children, were also injured during the same period.”

In addition to the deaths and displacements, Palestinians have been forced to relocate to refugee camps and reside in the remnants of children’s schools and hospitals, which were bombarded and are now nearly inhospitable.

Earlier in the month, the Secretary General’s spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, said, “The ongoing hostilities, constant evacuation orders, and severe shortages of essential supplies are making it increasingly difficult for displaced families to access basic services at their place of arrival.”

Dujarric added that severe fuel shortages interfere with the operations of healthcare facilities, as ambulances and essential surgeries are often halted or postponed. This is particularly concerning as Palestinians need widespread access to healthcare, with many of them suffering from disease, malnutrition, and life threatening injuries as a result of constant Israeli blockade, bombardment, and relocation.

There was also concern that humanitarian aid was being denied.

According to Haq, Israeli authorities have rejected about a third of aid missions to Gaza since August 1.  The cumulative impact of these access constraints is to perpetuate a continued cycle of deprivation and distress among affected people who are facing death, pain, hunger and thirst on a daily basis.”

This built on an earlier statement from Dujarric that while 500 aid trucks were sent to the Gaza Strip every day, a daily average of 159 trucks were allowed in unimpeded.

Israel denies blocking humanitarian aid.

The International Court of Justice earlier this year ordered that Israel halt its military offensive in the Rafah governorate. This followed an earlier order that Israel should take all measures to prevent any acts contrary to the 1948 Genocide Convention. South Africa brought a case arguing that Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip during the Israel-Hamas war led to a humanitarian crisis and mass killings, potentially amounting to genocide.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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By Saifullah Syed
ROME, Aug 23 2024 (IPS)

The student movement in Bangladesh demanding reform of the quota system for public jobs was the straw that broke the camel’s back. The Awami League (AL) government led by Sheikh Hasina, in power continuously since 2008, collapsed on 5th August 2024. With Sheikh Hasina fleeing to India and leaving the country in disarray, her authoritarian rule of 15 years just melted away.

Saifullah Syed

Prior to this sudden and dramatic turn of events, during her rule, the country was mired by institutional and financial corruption, crony capitalism, authoritarian administration, and forced disappearance of opponents. In addition, the AL government of Sheikh Hasina monopolised all lucrative appointments and commercial privileges for people belonging to her party, banning political discourse and dissent.

She developed the personality cult of her father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who led the country to independence in 1971 and who was brutally murdered on 15th of August 1975. The personality cult was so perverse that liberation of the country was attributed to Sheikh Mujib alone and all the other stalwarts of the liberation war and her party were ignored. Everything of significance happening in the country was attributed to his wisdom and foresight alone and were often named after him. Every Institution, including schools across the country and embassies around the world were obliged to host a “Mujib corner” to display his photo, and books about him only.

Yet, no political party, including the leading opposition Bangladesh National Party (BNP) succeeded in mobilising an uprising against Hasina’s regime. This was partly due her ability to project AL and her government as the sole guarantor of independence, sovereignty and secularism. Everyone else was cast as a supporter of anti-liberation forces, being communal, and accused of being motivated to turn the country into a hotbed of Islamic extremism. BNP was also accused of committing crimes and corruption when it was in power.

The founder of BNP is linked to the cruel murder of Sheikh Mujib and the members of her family, and the current leader of BNP is accused of masterminding the grenade attack aimed at killing Sheikh Hasina at an AL rally on 21st August 2004. Hasina survived the attack, but it killed 24 people and injured about 200.

Why did the student movement succeed ?

Like most historical events there are several factors, but the ultimate ones were that (i) the students were willing to die and (ii) the Military displayed patriotism and wisdom by refusing to kill. The students came from all walks of life, transcending party lines and economic background. Hence, attempts to cast them as anti-liberation did not succeed. The army refused to kill to protect a despotic ruler. Bangladeshis have always overthrown dictatorial rulers.

Why the students were ready to die and the army refused to kill are important issues for analysis but the critical question right now is: what next and where do we go from here ?

What Next for Bangladesh ?

The students have shown support for the formation of an interim government with leading intellectuals, scholars and elite liberal professionals and civil society actors under the leadership of Dr Younus, the founder of the Grameen Bank and a Nobel Laureate. These people were previously silenced and harassed during Hasina’s 15 year rule.

Many people remain sceptical, however. Many fear collapse of law and order and communal disturbances in the short run, which may lead to the emergence of another dictatorial rule. Neighbouring India, which supported Hasina’s government, is concerned about the rights of minorities in Bangladesh, although they showed scant concern for the minorities in India in the recent past.

Political and geo-political analysts are busy analysing the geo-political implications and the role of key players in mobilising the students to overthrow Hasina. This is raising questions about who engineered the Regime Change.

Fortunately for Bangladesh and the Bangladeshis, things can get only better. None of the short-term concerns have materialised. No major collapse of law and order nor oppression of minorities have taken place, barring a few localised incidents. Regarding the long run, things can only get better: it is extremely unlikely that another leader can emerge with reasons to substantiate a “moral right to rule”, disdain political discourse and project a personality cult – the basic ingredients of a dictatorial regime.

Hasina embodied several factors which were intrinsically associated with who she was. It is unlikely that anyone else with a similar background will emerge again. She started as a champion of democracy by seeking to overthrow the military rule that followed the murder of her father, then as a champion of justice by seeking justice for the killing of her father. Over time, however, she became a despot and a vengeful leader. Even if AL manages to regroup and come to power, it will be obliged to have a pluralistic attitude and not identify with Sheikh Mujib alone. All the stalwarts of the party have to be recognised, as only by recognising the forgotten popular figures of the party can it re-emerge.

Regarding the wider geo-political play by bigger powers, it may be important but cannot take away the fact that the majority of people are in favour of the change and are happy about it. It could be similar to gaining independence in 1971. India helped Bangladesh to gain independence because of its own geo-political strategic objective, but it has not reduced the taste of independence. If Bangladeshis’ desire coincides with the objective of others’ then so be it. It is win-win for both.

Eventually, Bangladesh will emerge with robust basic requirements for the protection of the institutions to safeguard democracy, such as independent judiciaries, a functioning parliamentary system with effective opposition parties, vibrant media and civil society organisations. It will become a country that will recognise the collective conscience of the leading citizens and intellectuals and establish good governance and social justice. The economy may go through some fluctuations due to troubles in the financial sector and export market, but a robust agriculture sector, vibrant domestic real estate market and remittances will keep it afloat.

The author is a former UN official who was Chief of Policy Assistance Branch for Asia and the Pacific of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus meets with Dr Wenceslas Nyamayaro, Acting Chief Director for Public Health of Zimbabwe to discuss the current issues dealing with health, wellbeing, and economy. Credit: Christopher Black/WHO Photo Library

By Oritro Karim
UNITED NATIONS, Aug 23 2024 (IPS)

On August 7th, Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General Farhan Haq spoke at a press briefing at the United Nations Headquarters, detailing the high levels of food insecurity and socioeconomic distress in Zimbabwe as a result of the El Niño drought that continues to ravage the ecosystem. In April of this year, the president of Zimbabwe, Emmerson Mnangagwa, declared a nationwide state of disaster.

“More than half of the harvest was destroyed, and some 7.6 million people are now at risk of acute hunger”, Haq stated. He added that approximately 5.9 million people are expected to face severe food insecurity early next year as the peak-hunger period approaches.

UN Resident Coordinator in Zimbabwe Edward Kallon states “this crisis has far-reaching consequences across sectors such as food and nutrition security, health, water resources, education and livelihoods”.

The El Niño drought has generated a multitude of environmental issues in Zimbabwe, including reduced rainfall, increased temperatures, depleted rivers, and compromised air quality.

This is particularly troubling as Zimbabwe is heavily reliant on rainfall as it determines the success of crop production and livestock health. The efficacy of their agricultural system is crucial for the nation as more than half of the population relies on it as a source of income. Additionally, agriculture accounts for roughly 15 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product.

As a result of decimating crop yields, roughly 42 percent of the population is faced with extreme poverty. This has led to young children being pulled out of school to join the workforce in an effort to keep their families afloat.

“The drought has strained Zimbabwe’s economy, with more than a fifth of school-aged children now out of school”, Haq added. The El Niño drought has produced significant economic turmoil in Zimbabwe, putting families in a state of disarray as they struggle to make enough income to support themselves.

According to The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), “more than 45,067 children dropped out of school, 3,000 more compared to the annual average. Currently, the El Niño-induced drought may result in increased school dropouts, as families face increasing poverty levels, thus making it difficult to pay school fees”. Furthermore, OCHA predicts that there will be higher rates of child marriages, violence against children, child migration, and child abandonment.

In addition to lower rates of education among children, they are the most vulnerable in terms of health. Due to widespread food insecurity and compromised diets, children are at high risk of succumbing to famine, malnutrition, and disease. The World Food Programme (WFP) states that approximately 27 percent of children in Zimbabwe have stunted growth.

Zimbabwean women are also highly vulnerable to the socioeconomic detriment caused by the drought. OCHA states that in addition to higher rates of child violence, there has been an increased level of gender-based violence recorded. In addition, there has been an observed increase in sexual violence, domestic violence, and gender-based violence as a result of “heightened family tensions caused by crop damages and income losses”.

OCHA adds that rural communities have been hit the hardest. Rural communities in Zimbabwe account for the majority of the nation’s population, with roughly 62 percent working in agriculture.

Additionally, the drought had a detrimental impact on the nation’s water supply, with many rivers being run dry and not expected to recover for years. This greatly limits access to clean water for many rural communities. OCHA states “35 percent of rural households were accessing inadequate water services, while 45 percent of rural households were traveling more than half a kilometer to fetch water”.

The diminishing access to clean water greatly exacerbates levels of poor hygiene and the spread of disease, particularly cholera, which continues to run rampant among poorer communities.

During an April 8th press briefing at the UN Headquarters, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General Stéphane Dujarric stated “The humanitarian community in Zimbabwe is also concerned that the scarcity and depletion of safe water resources could lead to an uptick in communicable diseases”.

OCHA adds that the risk of contracting infectious and waterborne diseases is significantly raised by the drought. The current cholera outbreak has been aggravated by poor hygiene practices as a result of the dry spells, with 591 deaths being reported between February 2023 and April 2024.

In addition, the drought increases the likelihood of developing malaria and maternity related complications. Pregnant women are highly vulnerable to stillbirths, infections, miscarriages, and maternal mortality. OCHA adds that this is primarily due to the drought greatly limiting resources essential for medication and quality of care.

Plans to mitigate the effects of the drought and assist communities in Zimbabwe are underway by the United Nations. Haq stated “the UN and partners continue to work with the Government to support response efforts. However, the $429 million flash appeal launched in May — which aims to assist more than 3 million people — is only about 11 per cent funded”.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Bungalow on a Samoa beach. Credit: Vidi Drone on Unsplash
 
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is currently visiting Samoa and the Kingdom of Tonga, where he will participate in the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting. He will also make various site visits to engage with local communities and civil society representatives, including young people, where he will emphasize the impacts of sea-level rise in the region and beyond.
 
At a press conference with the World Meteorological Organization in Tonga on Tuesday 27 August, the Secretary-General will highlight the present-day impacts and future projections of sea-level rise - including coastal flooding - at a global and regional level, including for major coastal cities in the G20 and Pacific Small Island Developing States. A technical brief providing a summary of the latest science on sea-level rise will be published on the UN climate action site (www.un.org/climateaction) at the time of the press conference.

By Cedric Schuster
APIA, Republic of Samoa, Aug 23 2024 (IPS)

In Samoa, we use a simple phrase to capture our way of life: Fa’asamoa. At the core of this concept is respect for others, devotion to family and a deep appreciation for the preservation of our natural resources. Importantly, Fa’asamoa has enabled us to sustainably fish our vibrant coral reefs for millennia, in a way that provides good health and prosperity for everyone in our communities.

We share our bounty of our fish species — including albacore, yellowfin, bigeye and skipjack tuna — with the globe, but the fish in our waters also serve as a bedrock of our local cultures and diets. Without it, Fa’asamoa cannot exist.

But the coastal fisheries spread across our four inhabited islands halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand are under threat like never before. This is because carbon pollution is changing the ocean around us. Its waters are rising, more acidic and less full of life than we ever imagined was possible.

A surge of cyclones and heat are damaging delicate coral reefs that support our fisheries and flooding and eroding our coastal areas. We’ve built seawalls, battled flooding, and relocated communities whose lands were damaged by cyclones and slow onset climate change impacts such as erosion.

Our actions have not caused the climate crisis, yet we are facing its most dramatic impacts. This is why leaders from the Pacific and other island nations have become world leaders on climate action.

In recent years, island nations have taken our calls that countries should be held accountable for the damage they’ve done to our climate and ocean through their greenhouse gas emissions, to the highest courts and the most important international gatherings. Finally, the world is starting to listen.

Recently, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea determined that countries are legally accountable for polluting the ocean with greenhouse gas emissions. The Pacific nation of Tuvalu, together with leaders of small island nations worldwide, brought the case to court. Vanuatu pushed through a similar measure at the International Criminal Court of Justice.

We’re riding on a wave of success, but our work has only just begun.

This October, Samoa will host a gathering of leaders from 56 commonwealth countries, 49 of which are bordered or surrounded by water. As the first-ever Pacific country to host the bi-annual meeting, we have a timely opportunity to call attention to the urgent need for ocean action.

Fortunately, His Royal Highness King Charles III has shown unwavering support for one of the best opportunities we have to protect the ocean—marine protected areas (MPAs).

Science has long shown that setting aside marine areas, where damaging activities are banned, increases the food supply, provides economic benefits, and builds resilience against the climate crisis. Based on this research, pledges to protect 30% of the ocean are now enshrined in multiple global agreements—including the biodiversity agreement which will be discussed in Cali, Colombia, also in October.

But simply pledging protection is not enough. MPAs that strictly protect the ocean from extractive activities must be created — and quickly. Countries across the Pacific have established MPAs and are on course to establish many more in collaboration with scientists, local communities and conservationists.

In Samoa, traditional communities had established more than 70 no-take zones — traditional fisheries reserves managed and looked after by the villages themselves. We established national sanctuaries for migratory sharks, whales, dolphins and turtles in 2003.

As part of Samoa’s Ocean strategy and Marine Spatial Planning process, 30% of our EEZ will be protected as marine protected areas with 100% of it sustainably managed.

Niue, Solomon Islands, the Republic of Marshall Islands and several other Pacific countries have also established vital MPAs, some of which are community-led.

For so long, the industrial fishing industry has blocked the formation of MPAs. Their argument is almost always that fishing bans are bad for their business. But recent studies have shown us that MPAs actually replenish fish supplies.

So even if fishing is banned inside an MPA, more fish spillover to areas outside the protected zone, where fishing is allowed. The fishing industry benefits. A recent study of more than 50 MPAs in more than 30 countries worldwide found that the protections boosted either fishing or tourism, with some profits in the billions.

In Samoa, coastal communities have long known that sustainable fishing methods ensure steady fish supplies. They use a combination of traditional techniques and high tech tools. We know that many Commonwealth countries have a similar relationship to the ocean, from Scotland and Trinidad to Tobago and the Seychelles.

The international community has a critical opportunity in the coming months to recognize the urgency of protecting the ocean, our collective resource, before it’s too late.

Cedric Schuster is the Minister for Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and Minister for Samoa Tourism Authority, which collectively oversee the country’s climate change, forestry, water resources, and lands. The Minister is a traditional chief from the village of Satapuala.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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In Kubewo village in eastern Uganda, children often go to work with their parents in the coffee gardens. Earnings from Arabica coffee are used, their parents and grandparents say, to pay for children’s education and other expenses for the family.  Farming families justify the labour, saying that children are observing adults and learning from their […]

Sarah Al-Hassan lost her baby due to the lack of care in the camps. Credit: Sonia Al Ali/IPS

By Sonia Al Ali
IDLIB, Syria, Aug 22 2024 (IPS)

Pregnant women in northern Syria’s camps for internally displaced people fear about their health and the health of their unborn children because of a lack of basic medical care and a healthy diet. These conditions exacerbate the illnesses and challenges faced by women, particularly amid the region’s widespread poverty, food insecurity, and the remoteness of hospitals and health centers from the camps.

Pregnant women in the camps are susceptible to anemia, malnutrition, and giving birth to stunted children if they survive. The delay in obtaining care poses a significant health risk to both pregnant women and their infants.

Fatima Al-Aboud, a 26-year-old displaced woman living in the Ma’arat Misrin camp north of Idlib, is six months pregnant and suffering from severe anemia, which threatens both her health and that of her fetus.

“The doctor told me that I need to eat a balanced diet in sufficient quantities throughout my pregnancy to maintain my health and that of my fetus, but poverty and high prices have made me unable to buy fruits and vegetables rich in vitamins and proteins. I am also unable to afford the necessary medications for pregnant women.”

Al-Aboud does not hide her fear of giving birth to a child in poor health due to malnutrition or of her labor starting without a car available to transport her to the hospital, especially since the road between the camp and health centers is poor and rugged and it is more than five kilometers away.

Pregnant women face health risks in the camps. Credit: Sonia Al Ali/IPS

“I have many fears, as there are no comfortable places to sit or sleep inside the tent, and I cannot get physical rest during pregnancy. As a pregnant woman, I do not have a private space or clean toilets,” Al-Aboud told IPS.

The health risks faced by pregnant women increase due to the distance of health centers and hospitals from the camps, exposing them to the risk of miscarriage and even death during childbirth, along with the possibility of premature births.

The Syria Response Coordinators team, which specializes in gathering information and statistics in the areas of northwestern Syria, reports that more than 87 percent of the camps suffer from a lack of medical points and mobile clinics, and there are difficulties in transporting patients to nearby hospitals, knowing that the financial condition of most of the displaced is very poor and they are unable to secure the necessary treatment for any medical condition without exception.

Sara Al-Hassan, a 31-year-old displaced woman in a makeshift camp north of Syria near the Turkish border and a mother of three, lost her baby during childbirth.

“I started labor after midnight, and due to the distance of the hospitals from the camp and the lack of transportation, I relied on a nurse who lived nearby.”

She says that her delivery was difficult, and her baby was in critical condition and urgently needed an incubator. While being transported to a hospital, the baby passed away.

Al-Hassan confirms that she no longer wants to have children and relies on contraception to avoid repeating the experience of pregnancy and childbirth within the camps. She added that her life in the tent is harsh, as she lacks clean drinking water, bathing water, and food. She wouldn’t be able to provide for the needs of newborn babies as there is a significant shortage of personal hygiene items.

“Stress, anxiety, and overthinking dominate my life, and I feel helpless towards my three children who are living in difficult conditions, but despite that, I try my best to take care of their cleanliness and provide for their needs,” Al-Hassan says.

Dr. Ola Al-Qudour, a specialist in obstetrics and gynecology from Idlib city in northwestern Syria, talks about the suffering of pregnant women in northern Syria’s camps.

“Thousands of Syrian pregnant women live in camps in harsh conditions, as most of them cannot provide the necessities of food and medicine. Malnutrition leads to health problems that affect both the pregnant woman and the fetus and exposes the mother to a decrease in milk after childbirth, making her unable to breastfeed her child.”

Al-Qudour points out that the lack of hospitals within the camps increases the suffering of pregnant women, forcing most cases to move outside, confirming that displaced women live in tents made of cloth, and those who give birth in the hospital often return to the tent after only a few hours due to hospital congestion, knowing that the first 24 hours after childbirth are the most critical in terms of complications, so it is important to keep the mother in the hospital for as long as possible.

She confirms that low levels of hygiene make pregnant women more susceptible to influenza due to a decrease in their immunity, and that pregnant women who don’t get enough sleep can also expose them to early labor as well as affect the growth of the child after birth. She also indicates that non-sterile home births increase the risk of infection in newborns and mothers.

The doctor emphasizes the need to provide healthcare services for pregnant women and newborns in the camps, including regular medical check-ups and early diagnosis of any health problems, and providing the necessary care and nutrition for mothers during pregnancy, childbirth, and afterwards.

With the continuation of the war and displacement, more than two million people still reside in camps in northwestern Syria, including 604,000 women.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says as many as “660 camps (44 percent of over 1,500 camps) across Idleb and northern Aleppo do not have water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) support, affecting over 907,000 people. Half of them are children.”

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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IPS UN Bureau, IPS UN Bureau Report, Syria

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By CIVICUS
Aug 22 2024 (IPS)

 
CIVICUS speaks with Chris Garrard, co-founder and co-director of Culture Unstained, about the campaign to end fossil fuel sponsorship of cultural institutions, which oil companies use to try to present a positive public image.

The campaign has achieved some notable successes, with the Royal Shakespeare Company and Tate group of art galleries ending BP sponsorship deals and the Edinburgh Science Festival rejecting fossil fuel funding. Recently, the Science Museum in London ended its sponsorship arrangement with the Norwegian state-owned oil giant Equinor. It’s now under pressure to reconsider its relationships with Adani and BP.

Chris Garrard

How significant is the London Science Museum’s decision to end its sponsorship by Equinor?

The museum’s decision to end its eight-year sponsorship deal with Equinor is a major victory for the campaign against oil sponsorship. The museum finally cut ties with the oil company because it had failed to align its business plans with the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C.

The museum’s decision also highlights a significant shift in its policy because its director, Ian Blatchford, had strongly defended taking funding from fossil fuel companies in the past, stating in a Financial Times interview that he would still seek such sponsorship ‘even if the museum were lavishly publicly funded’. The decision to cut ties with Equinor contradicts his stance and hopefully represents a step towards greater ethical responsibility, in line with the museum’s scientific mission.

Alongside our allies, Culture Unstained played a key role in this campaign win. I was involved in protesting against Equinor’s sponsorship when it was first announced and ‘Wonderlab: the Equinor Gallery’ first opened to the public, so it was incredibly exciting to finally see this shift happen. Crucially, the campaign involved interventions by various groups over several years, including scientists, youth climate activists and young people from Norway.

Over time, pressure has grown on the museum to adopt new ethical sponsorship criteria that now require sponsors to have aligned their business plans with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C pathway, as assessed by the Transition Pathway Initiative. Its recent assessment clearly showed that Equinor didn’t meet this standard, which ultimately led to the ending of its relationship with the museum.

Why do oil companies sponsor cultural bodies?

Oil companies such as BP, Equinor and Shell sponsor arts and cultural institutions for two main reasons. Firstly, sponsorship deals help them to maintain what’s known as a ‘social licence to operate’. This is essentially a form of consent from wider society which relies upon a belief that they are responsible corporate citizens, and that what they are doing is ethically acceptable. By attaching their logos and brands to cultural institutions, they associate themselves with the progressive values of the arts, so when people think of BP, for example, they don’t associate it with climate impacts, polluting oil spills or toxic gas flaring in places like Iraq, but rather with culture, philanthropy and positive social contributions. It’s a form of cheap advertising and a way to clean up a toxic image.

This practice has been particularly widespread in the UK. BP, for example, had sponsored BP Exhibitions at the British Museum, the BP Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery and BP Big Screens at the Royal Opera House, all of which helped to normalise its tarnished brand. Our research has revealed how sponsorship deals are strategically planned to project a misleading image of these companies as philanthropists and responsible corporate citizens rather than the major polluters they are.

Relationships with cultural institutions also give fossil fuel companies a strategic platform for lobbying. For instance, our research found that BP sponsored a Day of the Dead event at the British Museum just before the Mexican government auctioned off new drilling licences in the Gulf of Mexico – several of which were awarded to BP. So while the public enjoyed the cultural event downstairs in the British Museum’s Great Court, BP executives were meeting with Mexican government officials upstairs, using the event as the backdrop for their corporate agenda.

Now, in response to the growing opposition to oil sponsorship of the arts, fossil fuel companies are increasingly shifting their focus to sport and music sponsorships, and often using their subsidiaries or ‘green energy’ brands for these partnerships. This combination of greenwashing and artwashing is a new strategy of fossil fuel companies, and we’re determined to oppose it.

What have been the most notable successes and challenges of your campaign so far?

Our campaign has had some notable successes, particularly in recent years. Since 2016, around 18 major UK cultural organisations ended their sponsorship deals with fossil fuel companies such as BP and Shell. They included the National Portrait Gallery, the Royal Opera House, the Royal Shakespeare Company and Tate ending long-running sponsorship deals with BP and, on London’s South Bank, three major institutions – the British Film Institute, the National Theatre and the Southbank Centre – ending their partnerships with Shell, which has its headquarters next door.

This trend has also gained traction internationally, with groups such as Fossil Free Culture NL in Amsterdam successfully pushing fossil fuel companies out of cultural institutions such as the Van Gogh Museum.

However, despite these successes, the Science Museum has explicitly avoided stating that Equinor’s dire record on climate change was the reason for ending its sponsorship deal and, even now, continues to defend its deals with Adani and BP, even though neither company is aligned with the Paris Agreement goals. Adani in particular is the world’s largest private coal producer, and the Science Museum has cynically sought to deflect criticism by weakly claiming it is only being sponsored by Adani’s renewable energy subsidiary, even though there are clear links between Adani Green Energy and the company’s coal mining business. This is a clear example of greenwashing and the Science Museum is actively helping promote it. Nevertheless, we see this victory with Equinor as a first step, and we’ll continue to push for Adani and BP to be removed from the museum as well.

Meanwhile, the British Museum took a huge backward step last year when it signed a new 10-year sponsorship deal with BP, despite numerous large-scale protests and growing opposition for over a decade. One of the biggest challenges, particularly with institutions such as the British Museum, is their lack of transparency and accountability and, in some cases, their closeness to the government. Although the museum is supposed to be independent, it will often be used for cultural diplomacy. Its notable lack of transparency isn’t limited to decisions around oil sponsorship, but also extends to issues such as the return of stolen artefacts and failure to address its origins in colonialism.

While many museums and galleries have shifted away from fossil fuels and other unethical sponsors, some institutions will, when challenged, defend the records of their corporate sponsors. For example, even when presented with clear evidence, the British Museum has continued its partnership with BP while falsely claiming that BP is helping to lead the transition away from fossil fuels. Often, staff and workers at these institutions support or are sympathetic to our campaign, so the real obstacle to change is the concentration of decision-making power in a few people who aren’t properly accountable.

A different but important challenge is to ensure our campaigning in the UK and the global north is connected and accountable to those directly affected by the fossil fuel companies we are campaigning against. Whether it’s communities in Egypt, the US Gulf Coast or West Papua suffering from pollution and environmental degradation, or those already feeling the effects of climate change, we seek to build relationships of solidarity with them and find ways to offer them a platform.

What space is there for climate activism in the UK?

The space for climate activism in the UK is certainly under threat and needs defending. Recently introduced laws have restricted protests and free speech, and we’ve seen climate activists given lengthy and draconian sentences that discourage others from getting involved, speaking out and taking action. This is deeply worrying and many are calling on the new government to review and repeal these laws. What’s disturbing as well is that we’ve also seen attempts to stifle discussion of issues such as the genocide in Palestine, notably when Adani’s partnership with the Israeli arms company Elbit has been highlighted during protests at the Science Museum.

On the positive side, there are many in the climate justice movement who are constantly finding creative and imaginative ways to protest, in cultural spaces and on the streets. More importantly, there’s also a growing awareness of the need to adopt an intersectional approach emphasising not just climate action, but climate justice. For instance, a group called Energy Embargo for Palestine is currently campaigning against BP’s sponsorship of the British Museum, but linking different struggles and highlighting how fossil fuel extraction is connected to the repression of Palestinian people. It is essential to support and amplify such efforts, as our activism must constantly evolve and adapt to address complex and overlapping concerns. As the activist and poet Audre Lord put it, ‘There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives’.

Civic space in the UK is rated ‘obstructed’ by the CIVICUS Monitor.

Get in touch with Culture Unstained through its website, and follow @Cult_Unstained and @TheGarrard on Twitter.

 

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Credit: UN Photo/Paulo Filgueiras
 
Speaking on International Youth Day 2024 last week, the President of the General Assembly Dennis Francis said the historic Security Council resolution 2250 – adopted unanimously in 2015 – recognizes the pivotal role young people play in efforts to maintain international peace and security. Notably, the resolution urges Member States to consider ways to give the youth a greater voice in decision-making – both at the local, national, regional and international levels.
 
International Youth Day 2024, commemorated on August 12, highlighted a decade of progress on the Youth, Peace and Security agenda under the theme "Empowering Young Persons for Peace and Security." The world’s youth population is estimated at over 1.2 billion.

By Bisma Qamar
NEW YORK, Aug 22 2024 (IPS)

Imagine a world where every young person has the tools they need to succeed, regardless of their age, area of residence, ethnicity, college name, or the title on their resume. It’s a world where dreams are limitless, and potential knows no bounds.

Individuals often find themselves trying to fit into a puzzle piece where do not belong as the mere definition of success has been set on a few parameters one may feel obliged to achieve such as go to that high ranked school, get the right internship, make it to those networking events and land a perfect job – but what happens when one wishes to take a detour in their own path?

Self-awareness leads to Self-efficacy

Great emphasis has been given onto the crucial aspect of more inclusivity for youth as they are the future leaders for tomorrow, but why not equip them to become the leaders of today?

By understanding our self —our thoughts, feelings, strengths, weaknesses, values, and motivations—we build the foundation for believing in our ability to achieve our goals. Opportunities are everywhere, but the question lies how often do we know which and when to grasp?

On average, it has been seen individuals in the first 5-7 years post-graduation are seen to pivot in their careers most. In order to help young individuals achieve their true aspirations, instilling courage, building resilience, and developing self-awareness through effective career mapping tools, genuine mentoring, and making resources and platforms more accessible to them can have a great impact in shaping their journeys.

When youth are equipped with this knowledge, they can make informed decisions about their future, choosing paths that lead to genuine fulfillment rather than marking another tick on a pre-defined list of what they are told to follow by others, and that is where true empowerment lies.

Crossroads to Success

It becomes over whelming to stay focused and reflect on what is it that you truly want in a world full of endless opportunities, waking up to dynamic changes evolving them. The art of staying focused, specific and in alignment to one’s aspirations can lead to more effective career paths, in which youth would be able to emerge as true change makers in their respective areas.

This disconnect between one’s goals and the pathway chosen can lead to frustration, burnout, and a sense of unfulfilled potential resulting in a greater percentage of youth detouring from where their true potential really lies and giving up earlier than expected.

By allowing open dialogue, effective mentoring, offering diverse exposure and encouraging self-reflection in terms of one’s passion can greatly impact and empower a young individual to rise above and become the true authentic version of themselves.

Re-defining the norms:

As the secretary general stated earlier on the occasion of international youth day how crucial it is to make youth more included in all areas of decision making and how upskilling them with the relevant tools and knowledge is the way towards achieving creating an impact. Over the last decade, the word empowerment has seen to grow in importance and emphasis. It is now time to redefine what we mean by empowering others and are we actually putting it into action or have left it as another tick on the check list on the road of inclusivity.

Embrace the Detour

Taking that one step forward has always been the most hardest, as it carries the weight of expectations, fear of failure, fear of missing out and the constant chants of what will people think? In the midst of stepping towards that one forward and remaining in status quo is what truly shapes the future ahead.

As John Green stated “It is so hard to leave until you leave and then it is the easiest thing in the world”. Normalizing detours and motivating youth to challenge the status quo is what truly empowers them, rather than merely giving them the ability to make decisions and choose but with only the same colored balls in the box to choose from.

As we look towards building a more inclusive, innovative, peaceful and hopeful society ahead of us, we must acknowledge the fact that youth are no longer waiting to get a seat at the table, rather they are crafting their own tables to bring genuine change which would not be limited towards a few, but towards all and empowering youth for youth.

Bisma Qamar is a youth activist in the field of learning and development. As a specialist in communication & branding, she works on bridging the gap between talent and opportunities by upskilling individuals on personal and professional development across corporate organizations and academic institutions.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Warm up at the Government Girls Degree College, Jacobabad. Most girls feel awkward and shy when they first wear track pants and T-shirt but do realize they cannot run swiftly in their traditional outfits they are used to wearing. Credit: Erum Baloch/IPS

By Zofeen Ebrahim
KARACHI, Pakistan, Aug 21 2024 (IPS)

Goalkeeper Rehana Jamali, 17, is jubilant. Her team came in second in the All Sindh Women Hockey Tournament, held last month.

“We were the youngest of the seven teams,” she told IPS over the phone from Jacobabad, in Pakistan’s Sindh province. The city hit headlines two years ago after being termed the hottest city on earth when its temperatures rose to 50 degrees Celsius. This year, the mercury shot up to 52 degrees Celsius there. “We were training for the tournament from May to June, when the heat was at its worst,” said Jamali.

“Obviously, this affected our game,” she admitted.

“You cannot imagine the obstacles these girls have to overcome,” pointed out Erum Baloch, 32, a schoolteacher and a former hockey player, who runs the only women’s sports academy in Jacobabad, the Stars Women Sports Academy, of which Jamali is a member.

In many parts of Pakistan, especially in small towns like Jacobabad, women are supposed to maintain a certain degree of invisibility and not bring too much attention to themselves. Exercising, stretching or even doing yoga postures while wearing T-shirts and track pants in a public place where men can watch, is awkward for many women in Pakistan, as these can reveal a woman’s body shape.

To encourage more women to pursue sports and play their best, the government must provide monetary support for their transport, nutrition and health needs. Credit: Erum Baloch/IPS

 

The Star Women’s Sports Academy team from Jacobabad stood second at the Asifa Bhutto Zardari Women’s Hockey Tournament held in Sukkur in July 2024. Credit: Erum Baloch/IPS

A 2022 study, found that “almost 90 percent” of Pakistani women and girls do not participate in sports or physical activities because of “religious and cultural limitations, a lack of permission from parents, and a lack of sports facilities and equipment.”

“Even when facilities are present in Pakistan, they are often outdated, open-air, and/or mixed gender, with female students often feeling embarrassed to participate in sports alongside, or be visible to, men. Hence, such women decide not to use these facilities,” the study pointed out.

Baloch left sports because Jacobabad could not provide women like her with “proper grounds, equipment or coaches.”

These are the very reasons why she wanted to open an academy just for women. It is completely free of charge, as “most girls come from extremely modest backgrounds and cannot even afford to pay for transport, a healthy meal or even bottled water,” she said.

“Erum pays for my daily commute to and from the sports ground,” said Jamali. In fact, Baloch spends between 25,000 and 30,000 rupees (USD 90 and USD 108) each month from her own pocket to pay for the transport, bottled water during training and sachets of oral rehydration salts for some 30 to 40 girls, aged between 9 and 18.

Haseena Liaqat Ali, 19, was the most promising athlete at Baloch’s academy but six months ago she missed the trials for selection in the Pakistan army’s team after she got infected with Hepatitis A.

“With rising gas and electricity prices, they cannot even afford to boil water at home,” said the coach, who thinks unclean water is a big reason for the people contracting the disease.

“I still feel very weak,” said Ali. Having left her treatment midway as her father could not afford the medicines, she has had a relapse.

“Life is unjust for the poor,” said Baloch, adding that “Sports stars often come from small towns like ours.”

Many promising athletes, like 19-year-old Haseena Liaquat Ali, cannot even afford medicines to complete treatment of their illnesses. Credit: Erum Baloch/IPS

 

With hours of power outages and little respite from heat, many athletes complain they never get enough rest. Credit: Erum Baloch/IPS

But it is not just the cultural and economic barriers that are keeping Pakistani women out of the sporting arena; they must fight another barrier—climate change-induced rising temperatures.

“We get tired quickly,” said Jamali.

Haseena Soomro, 19, another athlete at the same academy, added: “The heat is unbearable, and we are unable to run fast.”

The girls play on astroturf, which absorbs more heat from the sun than grass and has no natural way of cooling. But Baloch said it was better than playing on loose earth, which they did in the past. “The sand would go in our eyes and because of the high temperatures, the soil would get too hot during the day.” Further, she said there was always the danger of snakes lurking under the earth.

To beat the heat, Baloch rescheduled the practice to begin late in the evening—from 6 to 9 pm, for which she had to go to each family personally to allow their girls to come for the training. Even at that time, she said, “The heat continues to be unforgiving.”

“Jacobabad refuses to cool down in the night and there is no wind,” pointed out Aqsa Shabbir, 17, another hockey player. And although she has an air conditioner in her home, she said it was nothing more than a “showpiece,” as they are without electricity for most of the night. “We never get a fitful night’s sleep,” she said.

Erum Baloch (middle, holding the runner-up award) said sports healed her when she was going through depression after she lost her only brother in a suicide bombing in 2015. Credit: Erum Baloch/IPS

Baloch said the city was witnessing unprecedented power outages and together with the high temperatures, it has meant the residents never get any respite to cool down. John Jacob, the British brigadier general, who the city is named after, described the wind as “a blast from the furnace” even at night.

Ali’s home was without electricity for 15 days as their area transformer burst. “My father bought a solar panel on loan which generated enough electricity to light a bulb and a fan, but the strong winds ruined the glass on it and it does not work anymore,” she said.

The late evening training has also come with its own set of social problems.

Jannat Bibi, Jamali’s mother, who had given permission, grudgingly said it was getting tedious making excuses to the neighbors and relatives for her daughter’s absence from home or her coming home after dark.

“Girls cannot venture out alone after dark,” she said, adding: “This sport cannot continue for much longer,” she said, worried that if word gets out, it may be difficult to find a “good” marriage proposal for her daughter later.

“My father’s angry mood affects my performance, as I’m always tense about getting late,” said Jamali. “I wish my parents would be proud of my achievements, but all they are concerned about is what others are thinking,” she added irritably.

Graphic credit: Cecilia Russell/IPS

 

Graphic credit: Cecilia Russell/IPS

 

Dur Bibi Brohi, a former hockey player, got married at 19 and never played after that.

“That was the most beautiful time of my life,” reminisced the 23-year-old mother of two, thankful that her parents allowed her to travel out of the city and even out of the country for a few matches.

“The few years that I played sports changed me from a shy and meek person to a more confident me; I wish more parents could be like mine and not let societal pressures dictate them,” she added.

This is endorsed by Baloch.

Dribbling drills at the Government Girls Degree College, Jacobabad. Girls must not venture out alone after dark, said the mother of an athlete. She said if word gets out, it may be difficult to find a “good” marriage proposal for her daughter. Credit: Erum Baloch/IPS

 

Rehana Jamali, her team’s goalkeeper, cannot help but think of the acrimony at home she faces for returning home late in the evening after her training sessions; she says it affects her performance. Credit: Erum Baloch/IPS

“Women get strong physically and mentally through sports,” she said, giving her own example. She said it “healed” her when she was in depression after she lost her only brother in a suicide bombing in 2015.

“I was 25 and he was 23, and he was my best buddy.”

She had already lost her father when she was four. And being in the sports arena helps her even now as a health carer for her mother, who is a cancer patient.

Another challenge is their attire.

“Initially, I felt shy playing in a T-shirt and track pants and kept pulling the shirt down as it showed off my thighs,” said Jamali.

“Most girls find this dress code awkward, and it affects their concentration,” said Baloch.

But Jamali realized she could not run as swiftly in the loose, long shirt with heavy embroidery on the front, baggy pants and chadar [big scarf] that she wears at home.

“I have accepted the uniform,” she said, but makes sure she wears an abaya (a loose gown) over it when leaving her home to reach the sports ground. “Seeing me in western attire on the street would create quite a scandal in the neighbourhood!” she said.

A way out of all these barriers, said Baloch, would be a small ‘5-A side’ air-conditioned facility. “It will be the biggest support for women athletes in Jacobabad in the summer, which is long and unbearable here,” she said.

In addition, Baloch also believed that if the government is serious about encouraging women to enter sports and play their best, they need continuous support in the form of a stipend to be able to manage their transport, nutrition and health needs.

“I sometimes manage to get uniforms and shoes sponsored but this slapdash approach needs to stop,” said Baloch.

IPS UN Bureau Report

This feature piece is published with the support of Open Society Foundations.

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Excerpt:

Sportswomen in Pakistan face numerous obstacles—they lack proper grounds, equipment and coaches. Now, as the country faces record temperature highs, they face intense heat, escalated by their modest uniforms.

Tara Phillips in Paris. Credit: AM/SWAN.

By SWAN
PARIS, Aug 21 2024 (IPS)

For the centenary of James Baldwin’s birth, an international array of literature fans are coming together in Paris at a festival that will honour the life and work of the iconic American author and civil rights activist.

The James Baldwin Centennial Festival, scheduled for Sept. 9 to 13, aims to be a “celebration” that will take place at multiple venues in the French capital, according to Tara Phillips, executive director of La Maison Baldwin, the organizers.

The non-profit group (founded in 2016 in Saint Paul de Vence, where Baldwin spent the last 17 years of his life) essentially wishes to preserve and promote the writer’s legacy by “nurturing creativity, fostering intellectual exchange, and championing diverse voices through conferences and residencies,” according to its stated objectives.

In the eight years since it was formed, however, La Maison Baldwin hasn’t always had smooth sailing, as some of its activities ran counter to the vision of Baldwin’s family on how to honour his uncompromising work and long-lasting influence. But now, with new direction, the organization has the family’s support, including for the festival, Phillips says.

Baldwin – the author of stirring books such as The Fire Next Time, Go Tell It on the Mountain and Giovanni’s Room – remains one of the most revered (and quoted) writers today, decades after his death in 1987. Born on Aug. 2, 1924, he would have turned 100 this year, and the festival might have been held in his birth month were it not for the recent Paris Olympic Games.

According to Phillips, the event will comprise panel discussions, writing workshops, an art exhibition, student participation and an open-mic segment, among the various features.

In the following edited interview, conducted in person in Paris, Phillips discusses the overall goals and the far-reaching power of Baldwin’s works and words.

SWAN: Let’s start with the centenary and why this festival, why it’s taking place in France.

Tara Phillips: La Maison Baldwin was founded in the south of France, and it was intended to provide both writers’ residencies and writers’ conferences. Then the founder moved to Paris in 2022 and left the organization. So, the centennial seems like the perfect opportunity to reclaim the organization and reintroduce it on new footing.

And so that’s why we thought it was important to do a centennial event, and we also wanted to be aligned with the family who had already been thinking about the centennial in early 2023. We were trying to build a relationship with them, and it just made sense that we were all thinking about this as a way to collectively honour his legacy.

(Note: Baldwin’s family held a centennial celebration at the Lincoln Center in New York on Aug. 7, at which Phillips spoke.)

SWAN: How will the family be involved in the Paris festival?

TP: Well, on the first day, there’s a welcoming reception, and I will invite Trevor Baldwin, James Baldwin’s nephew, to say a few words. But then on the following day, we’ll have the very first panel, called “La Maison Baldwin”, and it’s about the idea of home, both literally and also as in the Black literary tradition. Trevor will participate on that panel as somebody who knew his Uncle Jimmy, and can give some insight into the idea of home for James Baldwin. He was a Harlem man, but he lived all over the world, and his idea of home is pretty complex. And what I’m discovering as I get to know more and more members of the family is that a lot of them have this wanderlust and live in different parts of the world. So, that will be a way to engage a familial voice on that issue, particularly for Black people.

SWAN: Is the festival open to the general public?

TP: There’s a festival fee, but anybody can attend. James Baldwin’s followers and admirers are so diverse: you have the Black community, the literary community, the activist community, the LGBTQ+ community, you have students, academics, artists. The idea was to create an experience that would appeal to all those types of people, but always with the idea of centering James Baldwin.

SWAN: What are some of the other aspects of the event?

TP: We’ll have a welcome reception, and that’s going to be sponsored by the US Embassy. It will be just a moment to come together and celebrate the fact that we’re in Paris and to kick things off. Then we will start the next day with a keynote speaker (author Robert Jones, Jr.) and multiple panel discussions where we’ll be thinking about Baldwin and reflecting on the theme of the festival: Baldwin and Black Legacy, Truth, Liberation, Activism.

SWAN: How did the theme come about?

TP: It came about as the centennial committee brainstormed words that came to mind when we thought about Baldwin and his work and his impact. You know, he spoke truth, also in his writing. And for many people, it liberated them. He gave us the language to liberate us from conceptions of ourselves, or our perceptions of the world, and perceptions of our humanity. And that liberation motivates activism for many of us. That’s how we came to that theme.

SWAN: And continuing with the various elements of the festival, there will be an art exhibition?

TP: Yes, we’ll have an exhibition that will be running during the week. It’s called Frontline Prophet. Those works are by Sabrina Nelson, curated by Ashara Ekundayo and Omo Misha. It’s this brilliant collection of art sketches that Sabrina initially did in 2016 at the James Baldwin conference (held at the American University of Paris), and it’s returning, coming full circle.

SWAN: The festival will also have writing workshops (for an additional fee). Please tell us about those.

TP: We will have a fiction track and a creative nonfiction track. These are separate as not all festival participants will be joining.

But if you’re a writer and you want to have a curated experience with some successful writers, we have Deesha Philyaw (author of The Secret Lives of Church Ladies) doing the fiction workshop, and Brian Broome (author of the memoir Punch Me Up to the Gods) is doing the creative nonfiction. And that will be happening for folks who want to have that experience.

SWAN: In addition, there’s a big move to engage students, youth…

TP: Yes, there will be a student activism workshop. We want to engage young people with Baldwin’s work and tap into their own sense of activism. You know, these are such interesting times to be young, right? There have always been things happening in history, in our world, but because of social media, because we have access to see everything all the time, I think young people are engaged in a a very different way than they probably would have been without these mediums. And they’ve been the ones to kind of reinvigorate Baldwin’s language and works in a lot of ways.

So, we wanted to give them a space where they could explore the idea of activism through leadership, through creativity and through community. For those three days, they will have their own space together to look at some of Baldwin’s works, to engage with each other and talk with each other. We’re partnering with the Collectif Baldwin (a local organization) on that. I actually think this is the most important part of the festival.

SWAN: Where will the students be coming from?

TP: We basically would like to see students from everywhere who have the time or interest to attend. But we also think it’s very important that there’s a presence of French students as well because what I’m discovering, particularly as a I make more connections here in Paris, is that there is so much to be learned from Baldwin in the context of France and their relations around racism and cultural identity. So, to be able to engage French students in this conversation would be to discuss their own activism. After the workshop, they will also do a presentation – on what they learned and on how they can take Baldwin into the future.

SWAN: Let’s talk about your background coming into this. What is your personal relationship with Baldwin’s work?

TP: It’s interesting because I don’t remember the first time I ever really read James Baldwin. I know I don’t remember reading him when I was in high school – I remember reading Richard Wright and Lorraine Hansberry. But I was in high school in the Eighties before there really was an infusion of black literature, so it was hard to come by.

Then, I ended up reading The Evidence of Things Not Seen, which was interesting to read because it wasn’t the ones he’s known for. It was about the Atlanta Child Murders, which were happening around the same time that I was a kid. There’s something about being immersed in that specific topic and getting it from his perspective that was really interesting for me.

Then he would pop up in my psyche over the years, and now he kind of haunts me because I’m constantly doing this work. And the connection for me, with respect to taking on this work, is that I have moved to Paris as a Black American (in 2018), and I started writing then, and I could just really connect to his sense of freedom coming here. I mean, being in the United States as a Black American and then also as the mother of a Black son, there’s just a weight that you carry, and people who don’t have our experience, they don’t understand what it’s like, and they don’t understand how persistent it is: how you can try to live a life of joy, and of peace, and of intellectual curiosity and all of these things as a Black American, but there’s always a moment when you’re kind of smacked back to the reality of, like, our positioning in society and our history. His words became so important to me, especially after George Floyd’s murder. Baldwin just understood. He had the language.

Another connection for me, and I’ve written about this, is that my father’s name is James and my father was born in Harlem and grew up there, like Baldwin. Turns out that they both went to the same high school but 20 years apart. I think about my dad’s connection to Harlem, his Harlem pride, and how he left because things got so bad in the Sixties and Seventies. He moved my whole family out because he wanted something better for us. And in some ways, I feel that that was James Baldwin’s understanding: another black Jimmy from Harlem saying: “I’ve got to get out of here if I’m going to be true to my own humanity and live the life that I need to live.”

SWAN: In light of all this, what are your hopes for the festival overall?

TP: My hopes for the festival are that it’s really seen and viewed as a celebration of James Baldwin. That’s why I’ve been really keen on calling it a “festival” and not a “conference” because a conference tends to suggest an academic event, with people sitting and providing an analysis of his work, and what I’m hoping is: let’s just celebrate Uncle Jimmy and what he has given us.

Let it just be a party of writers and artists and creatives and scholars, just experiencing one another and Paris, and why this place was important for him and his own experience and development as a human. And let’s just celebrate young people, and their potential and their possibilities, which I think Baldwin really cared about. He had a word for everybody, you know. And it’s funny because Duke University Press has donated 300 copies of Little Man, Little Man, which Baldwin wrote for his nephew, and I love that this is a children’s book… this is what it’s really about – passing on the word for another generation. – AM / SWAN

Training being provided to local farmers for water harvesting and the reuse of waste water for the local farming community.

By Umar Manzoor Shah
SRINAGAR, India, Aug 21 2024 (IPS)

Brij Mohan, a 37-year-old farmer from Deoria, a modest village in India’s northern state of Uttar Pradesh, has a story of resilience and transformation. Mohan, the lone breadwinner for his family, has two children, the eldest just 10 years old.

A year ago, Mohan grew cabbage on his 3-acre farm, but severe water scarcity limited him to cultivating the crop just once a year under difficult conditions. With minimal irrigation facilities, Mohan’s farm yielded no more than Rs 40,000 annually (about USD 600).

“I had no shortage of land, quality seeds, or fertilizers. But the lack of water was a major obstacle to my livelihood. The late arrival of monsoons and limited water from government-sponsored irrigation schemes nearly pushed me to abandon farming. I was pushing my family towards starvation,” Mohan told IPS News.

Many members of the farming community are in Mohan’s situation, struggling with water scarcity that leaves their lives and fields high and dry.

Manga Ram, who lives just a mile from Mohan, has a similar story. He cultivates brinjal on his 4-acre land but faces meager water supplies that render his otherwise cultivable land barren mid-season.

“I can’t blame the government for everything. I know there’s a water shortage throughout the region. Farmers are craving water everywhere. But the losses were unbearable,” Ram told IPS.

He added that last year he expected a harvest worth over Rs 90,000 (USD 1,200) but barely made half that amount.

“The saplings didn’t get enough water, turning into dry twigs and leaving my hopes of a profitable harvest in ruins,” Ram recalls.

Brij Mohan with a bundle of brinjals. Experts have encouraged water harvesting and the reuse of waste water for the local farming community.

The End of Imagination

According to government estimates, 72 of 75 districts (96 percent) in Uttar Pradesh, including Rampur, recorded below-normal rainfall this year. Data from India’s Meteorological Department shows that in 59 districts, rainfall was “very low,” with a significant deficiency of less than 60% of the recommended precipitation.

“Even major districts like Meerut and Allahabad received insufficient water for farming. How could we expect this remote area to get government help? Farming was becoming increasingly difficult, as was sustaining our families and providing a good life for our kids,” says farmer Suneel Singh.

Another farmer, Ram Dayal, describes the dire situation: “I have a 2-acre plot of land where I grow tomatoes. There wasn’t enough rain, and the government’s efforts to provide irrigation facilities were minimal. Our resources were too poor to rely on. We were praying for God’s help, or it was the end of imagination for us,” Dayal told IPS News.

Last year, a team of non-governmental agencies visited the area to understand the farmers’ issues. They learned about the severe water shortage that was turning fertile fields barren. The local village heads and NGOs brought in scientific experts who proposed water harvesting and wastewater reuse for the farming community.

During surface irrigation, excess water draining from the fields, known as irrigation tailwater, is primarily considered agricultural wastewater. A certain amount of tailwater drainage is necessary to ensure proper water penetration and irrigation efficiency.

The experts recommended building artificial ponds to collect water cheaply, such as by digging trenches lined with polythene sheets. Water could be stored for 4–5 days, enabling farmers to grow crops on small plots.

Following the guidance, farmers like Suneel, Ram Dayal, and Mohan dug 3-foot-deep pits with 8×6 foot dimensions and carved channels to divert wastewater into the pits. This method allowed them to collect and use wastewater for irrigation, watering their crops twice daily and protecting them from the scorching heat.

“I can now cultivate at least three crops a year. I grow cabbage, cauliflower, and brinjal, which was previously impossible,” says Mohan.

He is hopeful that his profits will double in the future, allowing him to provide a comfortable life for his family. “I want my children to get an education but continue farming. Earlier, I was worried about their future. Now I am not,” Mohan said.

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A UN team inspects an unexploded 1,000-pound bomb lying on a main road in Khan Younis. Credit: OCHA/Themba Linden

By Norman Solomon
SAN FRANCISCO, USA, Aug 21 2024 (IPS)

An observation from George Orwell — “those who control the present, control the past and those who control the past control the future” — is acutely relevant to how President Biden talked about Gaza during his speech at the Democratic convention Monday night.

His words fit into a messaging template now in its eleventh month, depicting the U.S. government as tirelessly seeking peace, while supplying the weapons and bombs that have enabled Israel’s continual slaughter of civilians.

“We’ll keep working, to bring hostages home, and end the war in Gaza, and bring peace and security to the Middle East,” Biden told the cheering delegates. “As you know, I wrote a peace treaty for Gaza. A few days ago, I put forward a proposal that brought us closer to doing that than we’ve done since October 7th.”

It was a journey into an alternative universe of political guile from a president who just six days earlier had approved sending $20 billion worth of more weapons to Israel. Yet the Biden delegates in the convention hall responded with a crescendo of roaring admiration.

Applause swelled as Biden continued: “We’re working around-the-clock, my secretary of state, to prevent a wider war and reunite hostages with their families, and surge humanitarian health and food assistance into Gaza now, to end the civilian suffering of the Palestinian people and finally, finally, finally deliver a ceasefire and end this war.”

In Chicago’s United Center, the president basked in adulation while claiming to be a peacemaker despite a record of literally making possible the methodical massacres of tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians.

Orwell would have understood. A political reflex has been in motion from top U.S. leaders, claiming to be peace seekers while aiding and abetting the slaughter. Normalizing deception about the past sets a pattern for perpetrating such deception in the future.

And so, working inside the paradigm that Orwell described, Biden exerts control over the present, strives to control narratives about the past, and seeks to make it all seem normal, prefiguring the future.

The eagerness of delegates to cheer for Biden’s mendaciously absurd narrative about his administration’s policies toward Gaza was in a broader context — the convention’s lovefest for the lame-duck president.

Hours before the convention opened, Peter Beinart released a short video essay anticipating the fervent adulation. “I just don’t think when you’re analyzing a presidency or a person, you sequester what’s happened in Gaza,” he said.

“I mean, if you’re a liberal-minded person, you believe that genocide is just about the worst thing that a country can do, and it’s just about the worst thing that your country can do if your country is arming a genocide.”

Beinart continued: “And it’s really not that controversial anymore that this qualifies as a genocide. I read the academic writing on this. I don’t see any genuine scholars of human rights international law who are saying it’s not indeed there. . . . If you’re gonna say something about Joe Biden, the president, Joe Biden, the man, you have to factor in what Joe Biden, the president, Joe Biden, the man, has done, vis-a-vis Gaza.

It’s central to his legacy. It’s central to his character. And if you don’t, then you’re saying that Palestinian lives just don’t matter, or at least they don’t matter this particular day, and I think that’s inhumane. I don’t think we can ever say that some group of people’s lives simply don’t matter because it’s inconvenient for us to talk about them at a particular moment.”

Underscoring the grotesque moral obtuseness from the convention stage was the joyful display of generations as the president praised and embraced his offspring. Joe Biden walked off stage holding the hand of his cute little grandson, a precious child no more precious than any one of the many thousands of children the president has helped Israel to kill.

Norman Solomon is the national director of RootsAction.org and executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy. He is the author of many books including War Made Easy. His latest book, War Made Invisible: How America Hides the Human Toll of Its Military Machine, was published in 2023 by The New Press.

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Indigenous people gathered in Brasilia during the Free Land Camp, which is held every April in the capital, demonstrate against the time frame law, with the National Congress building in the background. Credit: Gustavo Bezerra / IndiBSB

By Mario Osava
RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug 20 2024 (IPS)

A never-ending battle threatens the indigenous rights that seemed clear and secure in Brazil, until the extreme right emerged in 2018 with a force challenging the civilisational advances set out in the Constitution.

After three decades of progress in the demarcation of their territories and other victories, Brazil’s indigenous peoples have suffered setbacks since the administration of former president Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2022). Now that the government is friendly to their demands, they face an insidious enemy: the time frame.

“I see no prospects for a favourable solution,” admits Mauricio Terena, a lawyer and coordinator of the legal department of the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (Apib), formed by the country’s seven main indigenous organisations.“The rights of the indigenous minority are the negotiable part within a larger negotiation to calm the alleged democratic crisis. But granting a snack to mitigate the crisis feeds the monster that the STF wants to devour”: Juliana Batista

“We are worried, our expectations are not good”, agreed Juliana Batista, a lawyer at the Instituto Socioambiental, an indigenous and environmental non-governmental organisation.

Both are referring to the conciliation process convened by the president of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), Gilmar Mendes, in search of an agreement on the indigenous lands, between the indigenous peoples themselves and the legislators who passed a law in the National Congress imposing a time frame.

This time frame, a rule limiting indigenous peoples’ rights only to the lands they had occupied up to 5 October 1988, the day the Constitution was enacted, is the weapon of a far-right offensive that has sown uncertainty and setbacks among indigenous peoples.

On 21 September 2023, the STF deemed this framework unconstitutional, after years in which this notion, embraced by some judges, prevented several demarcations. The Constitution assures indigenous people “original rights over the lands they have traditionally occupied”, which is the opposite of a date.

But Congress rebelled against this ruling and six days later passed a law setting the time frame and amendments that weaken indigenous autonomy and the protection of their territories.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva vetoed most of the measures, including the time frame. But three months later Congress overrode the veto, in an open challenge to the president, the STF and the Constitution.

The makeshift camp where indigenous Guarani-Kaiwoá people live in Douradina, a municipality in the central-western state of Mato Grosso do Sul, awaiting the final demarcation of their territory. In July and early August they were attacked by landowners’ gunmen, who wounded 10 people. Credit: Bruno Peres / Agência Brasil

The risks for indigenous peoples

“Conciliation has no sense on a thesis that the Supreme Court has already deemed unconstitutional. It looks like a move of self-preservation by the Supreme Court in its disputes with Congress,” Terena told IPS, referring to the worsening conflicts between the two branches of government that have been roiling Brazilian politics for the past five years.

The STF’s battles, previously more frequent with the executive branch due to Bolsonaro’s abuses of power and lies, including in relation to the Covid-19 pandemic, are now common with the legislative branch, where the extreme right has grown stronger, despite Bolsonaro being defeated in his 2022 bid for re-election.

Judge Mendes is reportedly trying to flexibilise the dispute, mainly with the “ruralistas”, the agribusiness caucus, the largest in Congress and upset by the STF ruling, which considers it hostile to rural property and a factor of legal uncertainty for the powerful rural sector.

To this end, it has set up a Conciliation Commission, a series of STF hearings when a matter under its consideration is particularly controversial and could become conflictive. In this case, it is made up of 24 members, mostly legislators and government representatives.

Apib has only six members and feels it has been left with a dramatic choice.

Terena belongs to this indigenous group that feels at a disadvantage and has threatened to withdraw from the negotiations at the first hearing, on 5 August, given the adverse rules for indigenous peoples dictated by Mendes, as rapporteur of the time frame processes in the STF.

The judge decided after that hearing to consult the indigenous communities before deciding. The second hearing will be on 28 August.

Indigenous people protest in front of the Supreme Federal Court in Brasilia on 3 March 2024 against the law that reinstated a time frame for the demarcation of indigenous peoples’ lands, which was deemed unconstitutional by the same court but remains in force, fuelling conflict. Credit: Rafa Neddermeyer / Agência Brasil

Contradictions weaken the Supreme Court’s role

Among the proposed rules, one states that if a party walks out from the negotiations these will not be interrupted. Another says that resolutions may be adopted by a majority vote. No conciliation is possible without one of the interested parties, nor is it imposed by a vote, Terena argued in his interview with IPS by telephone from Brasilia.

The decision must be delayed because there are many leaders to be heard and “many risks in withdrawing from or remaining in the commission,” said the member of the Terena people, one of the most numerous in Brazil, who live in the central-western state of Mato Grosso do Sul.

“I think the risks are greater in being present, because it would mean accepting these rules and legitimising a meaningless conciliation process,” the lawyer said.

Moreover, the indigenous people, the most affected party in this issue, are a minority in a commission that can vote on resolutions, Batista added.

The damage to indigenous rights is prolonged and accumulating.

The STF took two years to conclude the trial on the time frame and did not suspend the law’s validity, even though its main precept is unconstitutional according to the country’s highest court, the ISA lawyer pointed out.

“This contradiction weakens the authority of the STF. Mendes adopted a position that was more political than legal, so as not to confront the economic interests of a strong sector”, that of agribusiness, she also said by telephone from Brasilia.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva received in Brasilia on 10 August leaders of the Guaraní-Kaiwoá people, who live in territories that are too small or are fighting for the demarcation of their lands, sometimes under armed attack by large landowners. Credit: Ricardo Stuckert / PR

To the detriment of the minority

Batista warned that “the rights of the indigenous minority are the negotiable part, in a larger negotiation to calm the alleged democratic crisis. But granting a snack to mitigate the crisis feeds the monster that the STF wants to devour.”

Terena stressed that since it seems unfeasible to defend the constitutionality of the time frame, “the object of the negotiation” by the ruralists is the compensation to landowners for the land in their possession that they may lose when indigenous rights are restored, and the economic exploitation, be it mining, agricultural or other, of the demarcated territory.

So far, those occupying land recognised as indigenous are only entitled to compensation for the improvements and works they have contributed to the territory, where economic activities are restricted and subject to indigenous acceptance.

Anti-indigenous forces may also benefit by putting obstacles to the demarcation of reserves, to delay the process. Compensation for those with legitimate land titles, a measure already approved by the STF, could make many demarcations unfeasible for a government with severe fiscal constraints, Batista said.

“What happens to indigenous people who do not get the land they need and are entitled to? Forced assimilation by the surrounding society, but also many deaths, including in conflicts over land, suicides of those who are not assimilated,” he warned.

The intended conciliation should prioritise obtaining “land to compensate and resettle occupants of territories under demarcation”, and for the growing indigenous population, said Marcio Santilli, a founding partner of ISA, in an article published by the organisation.

Genocide

The indigenous population, estimated at three to eight million when the Portuguese arrived in Brazil in 1500, fell to 294,131 in the official 1991 census, which for the first time counted those who declared themselves indigenous. Previously they were considered to be mestizos.

Historical genocide flared up during the military dictatorship (1964-1985). But it was precisely during this period that resistance manifested itself in the reaffirmation of indigenous identity and the struggle for rights, recognised in the 1988 Constitution, at least in relation to their land.

Three decades of democracy and constitutional rights prompted a renaissance of indigenous peoples that was reflected in the 2022 census: a total of 1,693,535 declared themselves indigenous, 5.7 times the 1991 population.

The Constitution encouraged the demarcation of 451 indigenous territories, 84.6% of Brazil’s total, in the three decades following the military dictatorship, according to data from ISA, which accumulates an extensive database on indigenous peoples.

But that progress was interrupted during the Bolsonaro government, a representative of the same forces that backed the military. The current administration has resumed demarcations and other indigenist policies, but with the limitations imposed by the power of the far right in Congress and in agricultural and religious sectors.

President Lula promised to ratify the 14 indigenous lands that were already demarcated and ready for final approval at the start of his government in January 2023, but four have yet to be ratified. Brazil has 533 of these territories already formalised, while another 263 are in various stages of demarcation.

Kenya has activated all 26 public health emergency operations centers countrywide and prepared laboratories for mpox testing to manage and control an mpox outbreak. Credit: Joyce Chimbi/IPS

By Joyce Chimbi
NAIROBI, Aug 20 2024 (IPS)

There is a deadly outbreak of a new and graver variant of mpox in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and at least one case has been confirmed in nearly 12 African countries, including those like Kenya, Burundi, Uganda, and Rwanda that were previously unaffected. Suspected mpox cases across these countries have surpassed 17,000, a significant increase from 7,146 cases in 2022 and 14,957 cases in 2023.

Many of these cases are in the DRC, where, for more than a decade, mpox cases have steadily increased as the disease remained neglected as a rare infection confined to far-flung remote rural areas in tropical Africa. But a recent move by the World Health Organization (WHO) strongly suggests that this is no longer the case, as a deadly mpox variant has recently emerged with alarming potential to spread very fast and far.

According to WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus, the emergence of “a new clade of mpox, its rapid spread in the eastern DRC, and the reporting of cases in several neighboring countries are very worrying. On top of outbreaks of other mpox clades in the DRC and other countries in Africa, it’s clear that a coordinated international response is needed to stop these outbreaks and save lives.”

Dr. Onyango Ouma, a Kenyan-based medical researcher, told IPS there are two endemic types of mpox virus: clade I, which causes more severe illness and deaths. Some clade I outbreaks have killed up to 10 percent of the infected and are highly endemic in Central Africa, and clade II, which caused the 2022 global Mpox outbreak, is more endemic in West Africa.

More than 99.9 percent of those with clade II survive the disease. The new variant has been classified as clade Ib and can spread through sexual contact. Recently, on August 15, global health officials confirmed the presence of clade Ib infection in Sweden, signalling that the viral infection had taken on an international dimension.

It is this new and highly contagious clade Ib mpox, more grave than the deadly and endemic clade I, that has spread to other African countries that were previously untouched by the viral infection. Kenya is on high alert and has activated all 26 public health emergency operations centers countrywide, prepared laboratories for mpox testing, and deployed 120 trained personnel to manage any potential outbreak.

More than 250,000 people have already been tested thus far since Kenya intensified mpox screening at the beginning of the month. Two Kenyans, in two different parts of the country are currently undergoing testing for presenting with a skin condition akin to the mpox rash.

Although there is only one confirmed case of clade Ib in Kenya thus far, experts such as Ouma say there are likely to be more cases, especially due to Kenya’s position as a hub for travel within the East African community. The mpox case was of a driver traveling from Uganda to the Kenyan coastal city of Mombasa.

Kenya has 35 points of entry and exit or borders with five countries, including Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan and the Indian Ocean international waters. To avert a public health disaster, Kenya is set to receive what has been labelled an Mpox war kitty assembled by donors to the tune of USD 16 million (Kes 2 billion).

Discovered in captive monkeys in 1958, the first case of monkeypox—renamed mpox by WHO in 2022—was identified in 1970 in DRC and in 2022, mpox spread around the world for the first time. Scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say the virus that causes mpox is of the same family as the one that causes smallpox but is not related to chickenpox. As a zoonotic disease, it can spread between animals and people.

Ouma says while mpox is endemic in forested areas in East, Central and West Africa, it is the ongoing unprecedented spread and reach of the deadly clade Ib variant that has heightened concerns and elevated mpox as a global health concern worthy of attention from the global community of scientists and public health actors.

Stressing that “not even the more than 517 people who died from mpox, primarily in the DRC this year, raised the disease profile. African researchers rung the bell way before the 2022-2023 mpox outbreak, calling for increased investments from the global public health community to help increase diagnosis, prevention, management and control of the disease without much success.”

To put it into perspective, Ouma says the WHO declaration that mpox is now a public health emergency of international concern is raising the profile of the disease to the “highest alert level regarding matters that involve a public health risk to other countries, inviting an internationally coordinated response.”

WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, said, “Significant efforts are already underway in close collaboration with communities and governments, with our country teams working on the frontlines to help reinforce measures to curb mpox. With the growing spread of the virus, we’re scaling up further through coordinated international action to support countries bring the outbreaks to an end.”

Committee Chair Professor Dimie Ogoina said, “The current upsurge of mpox in parts of Africa, along with the spread of a new sexually transmissible strain of the monkeypox virus, is an emergency, not only for Africa, but for the entire globe. Mpox, originating in Africa, was neglected there, and later caused a global outbreak in 2022. It is time to act decisively to prevent history from repeating itself.”

Ouma says that while this is a step in the right direction, it is further proof that serious health inequalities and inequities prevail in the prevention and response to disease outbreaks. Since mpox was confined to the African continent and in remote rural areas of the DRC, communities have long been left to grapple with the infectious disease without the much-needed investments in diagnostic, therapeutic and infection prevention.

Stressing that there is a pressing issue around “under-testing and under-reporting as we lack the tools to tackle the disease. Clade I and II are endemic in Africa, but now that the deadly clade Ib strain can be sexually transmitted, suggesting that it could spread all over the world, we have a flurry of activities to combat the infectious disease as others outside the continent are at risk. This response has taken too long and it seems lessons from COVID-19 have unfortunately faded with time.”

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Credit: WHO/Lindsay Mackenzie

By Oritro Karim
NEW YORK, Aug 20 2024 (IPS)

On August 15th, the Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General, Farhan Haq, stated at a press briefing at the United Nations Headquarters that the Mpox epidemic continues to surge in the Democratic Republic of Congo and spreads throughout Africa. The alarming frequency of these cases constitutes a global health concern. Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, is an epidemic that has grown exponentially in severity over the past two years. Originating in Central Africa in 1970, rates of infection have risen significantly since late 2023, with a new variant of the infection, known as clade 1 Mpox, infecting over 17,000 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo. These cases have generated increasing alarm, so much so that the World Health Organization has declared Mpox to be a worldwide public health emergency. Shortly after this declaration, the first case of clade 1 Mpox was reported in Sweden which greatly elevated global concern of a worldwide epidemic.

Mpox, once thought to be a primary concern for solely the Democratic Republic of Congo, has begun to spread to neighboring countries and has been rising in rates of death due to infection. The director-general for the Worldwide Health Organization, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, states, “ The emergence of a new clade of Mpox, its rapid spread in eastern DRC, and the reporting of cases in several neighboring countries are very worrying. On top of outbreaks of other Mpox clades in DRC and other countries in Africa, it’s clear that a coordinated international response is needed to stop these outbreaks and save lives”. It is imperative for the world to understand the graveness of the Mpox epidemic and funnel resources into stopping rates of infection as well as providing widespread access to treatment.

Although most fatalities have remained in the Democratic Republic of Congo, reports of infection have increased dramatically in Burundi, Nigeria, Central African Republic, and the Republic of Congo. There have even been reports of mpox spreading over Asian borders in small quantities, into Taiwan, Pakistan, and the Philippines. It is interesting to note that the World Health Organization had organized an effort in combating the 2022-2023 Mpox outbreak for a different clade, and when that effort had concluded, a different clade had arisen and began to infect people all throughout Africa.

It is apparent from this prior development that a long-term effort is needed to combat Mpox as it is a disease that is resilient to change and will continually evolve. Dr. Tedros states that “stopping these outbreaks will require a tailored and comprehensive response, with communities at the center, as always”. Therefore, it is necessary to adjust for these changes accordingly and continue to treat Mpox with the seriousness it deserves.

Recently, the director-general has authorized for an emergency use vaccine to be distributed in lower income countries. This is a crucial first step as Mpox cases are most prevalent in underdeveloped or developing African countries. Furthermore, it is important to target the countries of highest concern first in order to stop the spread to other parts of the world.

Currently the World Health Organization has set up specific efforts in order to combat Mpox. One such example is that WHO has released 1.4 million dollars from their emergency contingency fund to fight this epidemic, expecting to release more in the coming weeks. Additionally, WHO is working with vaccine manufacturers around the world in order to find the most effective and accessible treatments. Furthermore, there has been a focus put into surveillance of the disease and exactly how many are infected. This will be particularly crucial in the process of fighting Mpox as right now, the number of infected people are approximations as many cases have not been reported. Although the current efforts by WHO are a step in the right direction, there is much more action needed to eradicate the Mpox epidemic. It is important that donors contribute to this effort as WHO estimates that about 15 million dollars will be needed for their multi step plan.

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Could the Arab Spring scenario from Egypt repeat in Bangladesh as well?. This is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License. Give attribution to: Rayhan9d

By Randa El Ozeir
TORONTO and DHAKA , Aug 20 2024 (IPS)

“I hope the outcome [of the recent revolution in Bangladesh] would be different. I hope the end result will not be the same”, says Shireen Huq, women’s rights and human rights activist and Founder of Naripokkho organization, to IPS about the many similarities with the Arab Spring.

The recent revolution in Bangladesh that led to dismantling the autocratic ruling of Sheikh Hasina, many hundreds of young lives, including at least 32 children, were lost at the hands of the police and the auxiliary forces. According to a recent report conducted by the United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commission, “There are strong indications, warranting further independent investigation, that the security forces used unnecessary and disproportionate force in their response to the situation.”

The Islamists (Muslim Brotherhood Party) came to power through parliament elections in the Muslim-majority Egypt in 2011 on the heels of the Arab Spring and got an elected president in 2012. The military came back staging a coup and re-seized power in the country in 2013 and put the current president as head of state. Could this scenario repeat in Bangladesh as well?

I spoke with Huq who believes that there is a real issue of religiosity among young people in Bangladesh. However, this would not necessarily lead to supporting fundamentalist forces. “We saw that the fundamentalist forces were active in the protest. It is uncertain at this time to what extent they will be able to navigate the situation and get some advantage out of it. Hopefully, the interim government will be able to maintain their hold on the situation and keep it in the right direction.”

Disappointment with leaving women out of the interim government

However, Huq is disappointed that women have not been represented in the interim government, although some discussions were held initially.

“The garment industry has been led by a majority of the female workforce. During this uprising and these protests, we saw hundreds and thousands of women on the streets. This has been also unprecedented as women will outnumber not only in numbers but also in energy, in force. Two young men have been taken [in the government] from the movement, so this is a little bit worrying. But I am not worried on the whole about women’s rights being further eroded. If anything, I am hopeful that women’s rights will be further advanced”, stated Shireen Huq.

In 2018, Huq and her organization, which consists mainly of feminists, many in their middle ages, developed a women’s manifesto that they are currently sending to all members of the interim government to set the expected priorities for women. “We have to wait and see. We have to give young women space to organize themselves the way they want. They will sort out how they want to build their own space, their own structures and their own organizations.”

Hundreds of thousands of female Bangladeshis took to the street during the recent uprising that dismantled the autocracy in the country. This is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License. Give attribution to: Rayhan9d

In her article titled “Living on Revolution Time”, Anne Alexander, Founder of MENA Solidarity Network, wrote that rulers “will always seek to tip the scales back, to restore their capacity to rule by any means they can. In a very real sense, therefore, “revolution time” is always borrowed time.”

The overthrown Awami league is a big political party in Bangladesh and has plenty of supporters including among the grassroots. They made a failed attempt for a comeback on the 15th of August, the date when the independence leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was assassinated in 1975.

First Reforms then Democracy

What the world saw in Bangladesh embodies the analysis of Martha C. Nussbaum in her book titled Anger and Forgiveness, “Awakening people to the injustice of society’s treatment of them is a necessary first step toward social progress… Sometimes the legal structure is itself unjust and corrupt. What people need to do is not just to secure justice for this or that particular wrong, but, ultimately, to change the legal order.” (p. 211, 212)

Social justice and reforms appear to occupy a primordial place on the youth agenda in Bangladesh, while democracy takes a back seat, for the time being. “Democracy is definitely one of the major goals, but it is not only democracy which is popularly understood as elections,” clarifies Huq. “What is on the agenda right now is ‘reforms’. The slogan from the streets is also ‘Reform of the State’ in every sector. The success of the interim government, to some extent, is to deliver on those reforms. Democracy is equality and justice in the real sense of the term. Social justice and democracy will go hand in hand.”

Student demonstrators held their ground rejecting calls for swift elections and voiced the planning of their own political party. No doubt there is a generational gap when it comes to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman who was considered as the Father of the Nation. Youth don’t have any memory of previous times. “Hasina has used her father in every possible way,” says Huq. “I think it is my generation who is lamenting the inability of young people to make that separation, so they attacked his statues and his portraits which wasn’t probably necessary. There is a lot of pent up anger, not only about the autocracy of his daughter, but also about the misdeeds during her time.”

We are living in an era of acceleration around the world with the prevalence of technology and the pace of life. New generations seem to have lower inertia compared to previous generations and we are witnessing many youth revolutions. Huq thinks revolutions can be infectious. “I am not saying what is happening in Pakistan is because of Bangladesh, but it is interesting that it is happening in South Asia, and maybe we’ll see something happening in India as well, [it is] much-needed in India.”

Despite the great momentum of the revolution’s energy, Huq worries about India’s intervention and interference. “I think some warnings have been issued about that. If India really wants for Bangladesh to prosper and to do well, then the best thing it can do is to keep its hands off.”

Randa El Ozeir, is a Canadian-Lebanese journalist who writes on health issues, women’s rights and social justice.

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Mauritania launches its first inclusive digital ID system. Credit: UNDP Mauritania

By El Hassen Teguedi, Benjamin Bertelsen and Jonas Loetscher
NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania / UNITED NATIONS, Aug 20 2024 (IPS)

Governments are increasingly adopting the digital public infrastructure (DPI) approach to deliver public services. An essential component of this is digital identity. Digital identities are often designed to provide a seamless experience for users which ought to be secure, user-friendly, and preserve privacy.

Like Mauritania, this is particularly important for countries on their digital transformation journey, where digital legal identity* can be harnessed to catalyze development opportunities. Whilst the opportunities inherent with digital transformation are clear, everything from design to implementation needs to be inclusive to avoid exacerbating existing inequalities.

In Mauritania, forty-four percent of the population live in rural areas where physical infrastructure, connectivity and public services are limited. Given the rural-urban disparities, it is imperative to be inclusive by design when introducing new digital interventions.

UNDP is working with the Government of Mauritania to shape an inclusive and rights-based digital transformation. Whilst Mauritania has had its digital identity system, the government thought it was critical to further assess safeguards and privacy, accessibility for people living in low connectivity areas, as well as the usability of digital identity to authenticate services for the private sector, civil society, and government services.

UNDP is working with the Ministry of Digital Transformation, Innovation and Public Sector Modernization (MTNIMA) in Mauritania to advance the country’s digital identity infrastructure, where the focus has been on developing and piloting an open-source, mobile-based digital identity solution called e-ID Mauritania.

Mauritania’s digital identity application in pilot mode. Credit: UNDP Mauritania

Here are four takeaways from the pilot:

1. Establish a steering body for strategic decision-making

In Mauritania like many other countries, identity management is a sovereign function, linked to issues of security, governance, and protection of people’s rights. Mauritania’s National Agency for People Registry and Secure Documents, under the supervision of the Ministry of Home Affairs, is responsible for issuing identity cards, passports, and residence permits. This agency developed and manages the national biometric system.

Considering the strategic nature of a digital identity project, its intersectoral nature, and related sensitivities, it is important to establish a strategic steering body (for instance at the level of the Prime Minister) that has effective involvement in decision-making, in Mauritania’s case the Ministry of Home Affairs. This body can provide strategic guidance for decision-making, for example regarding the mechanism and governance structure of the e-ID system.

2. Support robust governance

Robust governance of digital legal ID is a must for effective design and implementation. Ideally this is based on agile methodologies and the active participation of various stakeholders, which is necessary for ensuring the independence of the identity provider, as well as establishing safeguards for quality supervision, personal data protection, amongst others.

As the Mauritania’s pilot experience made clear, outlining the roles and responsibilities of all those involved goes a long way to promoting greater transparency and collaboration. This also helps with identifying additional expertise and perspectives. UNDP’s legal digital ID model governance framework provides useful guide rails for navigating a rights-based, multi-stakeholder, governance setup. Similarly, this blueprint is designed to aid the establishment and governance of digital legal ID systems globally.

3. Prioritize stakeholders

The project team thought it paramount to identify and validate the interests of key stakeholders. This included examining various options for a national digital identity system, whilst collecting inputs on their potential strengths and weaknesses. With inclusivity prioritized, the team aimed to develop a solution that would enable the use of multiple digital identities on a single mobile phone, in addition to an identity verification process that works without cellular connectivity.

Designing with the end users in mind helps to ensure that diverse needs and preferences are considered. In this respect, thoughtful steps were taken in Mauritania towards ensuring that the mobile-based solution would serve everyone, regardless of their technological access or level of connectivity. By using design thinking, governments can ensure that several verification options are built in.

4. Explore the benefits of open-source components

The pilot resulted in a highly functional and secure solution that uses some open-source and digital public goods. To navigate existing and future concerns, it is critical to explore different open-source business models and their implications; develop an open-source strategy and institutional setup within the government; manage license compliance for open-source projects to ensure effective governance and continuity.

As the experience in Mauritania highlighted, local governance of any solution built on open-source components necessitates considerable capacity building among national stakeholders. The open-source components used in e-ID Mauritania (accessible on MTNIMA’s GitHub) proved valuable in avoiding licensing fees and made it possible to combine various parts for the solution.

Moving ahead

Ensuring rights-based and inclusive governance of digital legal identity systems is crucial for their alignment with the public good. In essence, the regulations and standards set the ‘rules of the road’. These rules can guide decision-makers on the most suitable technologies for public service delivery, instill confidence in the private sector to invest and innovate, and foster end users’ trust.

UNDP will continue to collaborate with MTNIMA for the next phase of the project, including mobilizing financial resources, developing the system, and facilitating steps to adopt the necessary legislation for its implementation. Follow Mauritania’s digital transformation journey here for the latest updates.

*Legal identity is defined by the UN Legal Identity Task Force as the basic characteristics of an individual’s identity. e.g. name, sex, place and date of birth conferred through registration and the issuance of a certificate by an authorized civil registration authority following the occurrence of birth. In the absence of birth registration, legal identity may be conferred by a legally-recognized identification authority.

The digital legal ID which is referred to in the blog is a physical or digital credential, as well as the enabling process that supports ensuring that the credential is recognized and trusted. Digital legal ID can be ‘foundational’, with multiple applications – such as a birth certificate, passport or national identity card or intended for more ‘functional’ application such as accessing more narrowly defined services or entitlements. A digital identity system is thus the combination of technologies, systems and institutions that enable these processes.

Eight hundred and fifty million people worldwide do not have the means to prove who they are. People with no legal identity are often pushed to the margins of society, unable to secure decent work, acquire a driver’s license, apply for benefits or “exist” in society. They are often exposed to extreme vulnerabilities and have limited access to public goods and services as well as private services.

The United Nations Legal Identity Agenda Task Force, co-chaired by UNDP, UNDESA and UNICEF, is working with Member States to ensure that more than 300 million people acquire a legal identity by 2025. Join us!

The importance of legal identity is an integral part of Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). UNDP actively works with open-source software to accelerate inclusive digital transformation in countries and to achieve the SDGs. SDG Target 16.9, which aims to “provide legal identity for all, including birth registration,” underscores the widespread significance of civil registration in societies globally.

UNDP co-leads the Digital Public Goods Alliance (DPGA) and is the official knowledge partner for India’s G20 leadership on DPI. UNDP does extensive work with both DPGs and DPI through our government counterparts and global partners. visit https://www.undp.org/digital and https://www.undp.org/governance/legal-identity.

El Hassen Teguedi is Head of Monitoring and Evaluation and Programme Management Support Unit, UNDP Mauritania; Benjamin Bertelsen is Digital Public Goods Product Specialist, UNDP’s Chief Digital Office; Jonas Loetscher is Digital Transformation Consultant, UNDP.

The authors would like to thank Soraya Habott, Project Lead, Ministry of Digital Transformation, Innovation and Public Sector Modernization, Mauritania for her contribution to this piece.

Source: UNDP

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