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Karlis Noel has invented the Eastern Caribbean's first solar-powered, mobile desalination plant.

By Alison Kentish
CASTRIES , Mar 11 2019 (IPS)

Karlis Noel spends his days in his lab in the small, picturesque community of Laborie in St. Lucia. The former fisherman’s story might sound like an overnight success, but his present accolades in the field of engineering are the result of years of hard work and an unceasing drive to make life easier for communities in the throes of a water crises.

Noel was not able to complete primary school, but he never allowed that to interfere with his thirst for knowledge. The self-taught inventor, with a knack for engineering, is receiving acclaim for building the Eastern Caribbean’s first solar-powered, mobile desalination plant. With a grant from the Global Environment Facility Small Grants Program (GEF-SGP) to the Laborie Fishers and Consumers Cooperative Project, Noel was able to build the facility, which can produce 1,000 gallons of water daily.

The facility is a marvel to behold. It is located near the ocean, opens up ‘transformers-style’ to get the desalination process going andif there is a storm, it can be folded up, taken away and stored in a safe place until the all-clear is given.

In 2018, Noel built a second generation desalination facility for the Government of Nauru in the Pacific, a country beset with problems sourcing potable water. His determination to help solve the water crises was recently recognised by the Government of St. Lucia. Noel received the Saint Lucia Les Pitons Medal (Gold) for having performed long and meritorious service in the field of entrepreneurship and community development.

IPS spoke to Noel from his lab about his plans for the future, the destination for his next solar-powered mobile desalination unit and why he always has Dominica in mind when hammering away on his units. Excerpts of the interview follow:

Inter Press Service (IPS): Your solar-powered, mobile desalination unit is creating waves and has made it across the world to help the country of Nauru deal with its water crisis. Did you ever think that your invention would one day help nations?

Karlis Noel (KN): I knew it was going to make waves, but what surprised me was the short space of time it took to gain such wide appeal, after the very first video of the facility hit social media. It’s such a good feeling to help a country that needs potable water. I didn’t do it with money in mind, I wanted to help, to make a difference. Just knowing that I can assist in this way is an accomplishment for me.

IPS: Walk me through the process. How exactly does the system work? What sets it apart from other desalination facilities?

KN: Desalination in itself is not new. Reverse osmosis is not new. It is mature technology. What makes this system different is that it is fully mobile and solar powered and there is no brine discharged into the sea. There is a waste management system.

The other thing is that the latest system I developed works on a very broad spectrum. So it can purify anything from fresh water to highly saline water, making it possible to use it by the sea or the river or any source of contaminated water. That’s what makes it unique.

IPS: Tell me about the original problem that your community of Laborie faced, which gave rise to this invention?

KN: Strangely, during droughts we have no water, but one would think that when it rains we actually have a lot of water, but this is not the case. When it rains, the water company has to shut down the system due to debris etc, so we have a situation where when there’s drought we are without and when it rains we are also without water.

IPS: Can this facility help other communities facing water crises?

KN: Definitely, but there is also an issue that I have noted from my research work with farmers. The sea water levels are rising and this means that salt water is entering our rivers at a faster rate. The farmers in some communities (for example Roseau in St. Lucia) are faced with a serious problem as they can no longer irrigate their crops with water from the river. Farmers in the community of Black Bay (south of St. Lucia) are facing a similar problem. We are now getting salt water, two miles into the river. So this presents another aspect of the water scarcity issue, with salt water taking over our rivers. Eventually these communities will need a machine like this to ensure there is fresh water to irrigate fields.

IPS: How do you see it helping post disaster in our region?

KN: This is the bigger goal of this project. What I’m trying to do right now is shrink the facility. If I can make it both smaller and more efficient, for example being able to get 10,000 or 20,000 gallons of fresh water a day from a much smaller unit, this would be ideal.

It means it can be easily deployed post-disaster. This is important to me because we are going to get more severe storms. It is will be necessary to have smaller, more affordable systems with higher output.

My dream is to design a unit that can fit in the back of a car, easily put on board a helicopter, for easy transportation to any community or country that needs it.

For some reason, when I’m designing, I have Dominica in mind. I know what that country went through following the devastation of Hurricane Maria and I want to ensure that I can do my part to help any sister island in their time of need.

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The post Q&A: Inventor from a Small Fishing Village in Saint Lucia Provides Hope for Water Woes appeared first on Inter Press Service.

By Jan Lundius
STOCKHOLM / ROME, Mar 11 2019 (IPS)

After his first meeting with Kim Jong-un Donald Trump declared: “And then we fell in love, okay? No, really – he wrote me beautiful letters, and they’re great letters.” Maybe it was a joke, maybe not. At least Trump indicated that he and Kim Jong-un were friends. In his book De Amicitia, written 44 BCE, Marcus Tullius Cicero wrote “A friend is, as it were, a second self.” Are Trump and Kim Jong-un really friends? At least they seem to have many personal traits in common.

Contrary to Kim Jong-un, Donald J Trump does not appear as particularly mysterious. He is apparently a full-fledged narcissist. The mystery consists of the fact that he has been elected president of the United States and after two years remains in power. Maybe Trump´s allure originates from the fact that his persona mirrors his tough upbringing and privileged class?

Trump grew up in the shadow of a dominant, callous father and took over his economic empire. May that be one reason to why Trump is able to sympathize with Kim Jong-un, who was born privileged, endowed with inadequate empathy and raised in the shadow of a dictatorial father? Nevertheless, Kim Jong-un comes from a completely different environment than Trump, raised as he was within the innermost circle of a totalitarian regime, which twenty years ago observed how a tenth of its oppressed subjects succumbed to a famine, allowed to continue almost unabated while their tightly controlled state machinery spent millions on the well-being of the Kim family and a money devouring nuclear program. This while people who expressed any kind of complaint, or even had tried to get hold of some food for their families, were interned, starved to death and executed. This piece of history, as well as the current existence of deplorable concentration camps, were not mentioned by the propaganda that Trump supporters unfurled in anticipation of his meeting with the Rocket Man.

Trump´s world, like Kim Jong-un´s, consists of a grotesque lie. It is fake, but hardly fake news, we all know that it is all a smoke screen, an illusion constituted by boastfulness and show business. Kim Jong-un´s world is likewise a bizarre sham, where an unpleasant reality is hidden behind imaginative Potemkin façades.

One conspicuous aspect of the North Korean personality cult is the “cultural” interests of the ruling Kim family, which manifests itself primarily through extensive film productions, operas, circus performances and the meticulously choreographed mass gymnastics of the Arirang Festivals. Just like Trump, Kim Jong-un appears to be fascinated by the military parades, mass meetings and beauty contests he grew up with.

It is a mystery that a man like the dictatorial and murderous Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong-un´s grandfather and founder of North Korea´s ruling dynasty, is said to be the author of the play/novel/opera/movie The Flower Girl, which tells a story of how a beautiful girl is plagued by being born poor and oppressed. How could Kim Il Sung and his successors then behave even worse than the feudal lords he had condemned so passionately? Like the Korean landlords´ rule the Kim dynasty´s power is supported by foreign super powers ̶ China and the Soviet Union (and later Russia) and like the former Korean kings the Kim family lives in luxury, while their underlings subsist in fear and oppression.

Whether The Flower Girl really was written by Kim Il Sung remains an open question. Maybe he was just as much the author of this popular tale as Donald Trump was of The Art of the Deal ̶ i.e. not at all. Nevertheless, The Flower Girl has just like Trump´s The Art of the Deal, which constantly is referred to by his supporters and opponents, become something of a trademark for the Kim dynasty, for example The Flower Girl featured on North Korean banknotes (1 won), while the US president on several occasions has stated that The Art of the Deal is his favourite book, “after the Bible” he likes to add.

After he had cleansed his Worker´s Party from opponents, Kim Il Sung turned his attention to his countrymen. Each citizen was subjected to rigorous background checks and classified in accordance with his/her ancestry and family ̶ parents, grandparents, even first and second cousins, their occupations and beliefs. Had any of them collaborated with the Japanese, South Koreans, or Americans? Were they “pure” Koreans born in the country, or was Japanese or Chinese blood running through their veins? With all likelihood this paranoia subsists under Kim Jong-un and is supported by his propaganda machinery, just as Trump promotes xenophobia and racism to strengthen his own power.

Kim Jong-un´s father, Kim Jong Il, was a movie enthusiast, with a collection of more than 20,000 DVDs, among them his favourites ̶ James Bond movies, Friday the 13th, Rambo, Godzilla and action movies from Hong Kong. The latter is a taste he shared with both his son and Donald Trump. USA’s own Great Leader does not get tired of watching his favourite movie Bloodsport, in which Jean-Claude van Damme with great variety kills his opponents during martial art contests staged within underground fighting dens. Like his son, Kim Jong Il was also a great basketball fan and like him he organized a pop group consisting solely of female artists, but unlike Kim Jong-un, he enjoyed their appearance and music only in closed company.

The contemporary North Korean popular music success Moranbong Band, is organized by Kim Jong-un and consists of his personal selection of 20 young women from all over North Korea. With their miniskirts and colourful outlook, Moranbong Band has become a trendsetter in North Korea, where women increasingly are abandoning their drab grey or brown uniforms in synthetic materials, for increasingly colourful outfits. Like Trump, Kim Jong-un likes to surround himself with beautiful, young women, especially those who enthusiastically expose their devotion to him.

Apart from attractive young women, Kim Jong-un is also fascinated by impressive, lavishly looking building projects. Pyongyang increasingly assumes the appearance of an oversized Hollywood film set, like something made for a Disneyland-inspired mastodont movie, a kind of glamour version of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis. Visitors marvel at the city’s vast squares and largely empty boulevards, its pastel-coloured skyscrapers dominated by the gargantuan Ryonyong. This huge, unfinished building was designed by the end of the 1980s and intended to be the world’s largest hotel. An oversized 300 metres high Trump Tower like edifice with 3000 rooms. At the top there would be luxury restaurants and a casino housed within a rotating tower. The building is now a huge shell, covered with glass windows. Very few know what is inside, probably it is empty.

Like Kim Jong-un, Trump is a child of his times and environment. He lives in his own secluded dream world of luxury mansions and golf courses, fascinated by a make-believe existence of glamorous shows, shallow movies and tributes provided by the fake cosiness of his favourite TV-show Fox and Friends and stirred up mass meetings. He does not read any books, receive most of his stimuli in the form of pictures, mainly television. Like Kim Jong-un Trump surrounds himself with syncopates and thrives on fear of foreign invaders. His written means of expression essentially consists of Twitter and the signing of Executive Orders. It would not be surprising if Kim Jong-un is found to be living in a similar sphere of mental seclusion and that he actually has found a friend, i.e. “a second self”, in an equally narcissistic Donald J Trump.

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

The post Birds of a Feather: Kim Jong-un and Donald J Trump appeared first on Inter Press Service.

UN Security Council in session.

By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 11 2019 (IPS)

The Middle East, one of the world’s most politically-volatile and war-ravaged regions, has doubled its arms imports during the past five years, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

The sharp increase in arms purchases has been triggered – directly or indirectly—by several conflicts and civil wars in the region, primarily the devastating four-year-old military conflict in Yemen which has resulted in “the world’s worst humanitarian crisis” with more than 5,000 civilians either killed or wounded in 2018.

The latest figures on military sales released by SIPRI March 11 also identifies the world’s five largest arms exporters in 2014–18, namely, the United States, Russia, France, Germany and China. (with the exception of Germany, all four are permanent members of the UN Security Council, along with UK, the sixth largest arms exporter).

Together, they accounted for a hefty 75 per cent of the total volume of arms exports in 2014–18.

The Security Council, the most powerful UN body dealing largely with conflict-resolution, relentlessly preaches the message of peace to the world at large– while all five of its permanent members (P-5s) are peddling arms and sustaining conflicts – in Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and fuelling the longstanding Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The warring parties in all of these conflicts are using weapons either from the US, France, UK, China or Russia—or are receiving military intelligence and air support from the five big powers.

One Asian diplomat put it this way: “They are retailing peace while wholesaling arms”.

SIPRI said arms imports by states in the Middle East increased by 87 per cent between 2009–13 and 2014–18 and accounted for 35 per cent of global arms imports in 2014–18.

Saudi Arabia became the world’s largest arms importer in 2014–18, with an increase of 192 per cent compared with 2009–13.

Arms imports by Egypt, the third largest arms importer in 2014–18, tripled (206 per cent) between 2009–13 and 2014–18 while arms imports by Israel (354 per cent), Qatar (225 per cent) and Iraq (139 per cent) also rose between 2009–13 and 2014–18, according to SIPRI.

However, Syria’s arms imports fell by 87 per cent, despite an ongoing eight-year-old civil war in that country which is militarily supported by Russia and China.

Dr. Natalie J. Goldring, a Senior Fellow and Adjunct Full Professor with the Security Studies Program in the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, told IPS that SIPRI has once again documented the continuing contribution of the major suppliers to a world awash in weaponry, with the United States remaining the primary culprit.

“Because the supply of major conventional weapons is so concentrated, control measures involving the top six suppliers could have a significant effect on the international market”.

Unfortunately, these countries have allowed profits to dominate principles, said Dr Goldring, who is also a Visiting Professor of the Practice in the Duke University Washington DC program.

She said the consequences of the excessive and destabilizing accumulations of weapons are particularly devastating in the Middle East.

“Each year, the US Department of State documents extensive Saudi human rights abuses. Yet the Trump Administration enables these same abuses with its arms transfers. The Trump Administration has also failed to hold Saudi Arabia responsible for the brutal murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.”

She also pointed out that the Trump Administration continues to focus on increasing profits from arms sales, rather than on the human consequences of these sales.

However, there are still reasons for hope.

For example, Members of Congress are moving to restrict US military activities related to the war in Yemen, and to hold Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman responsible for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, said Dr Goldring, who also represents the Acronym Institute at the United Nations on conventional weapons and arms trade issues.

Asked about the rise in arms sales to the Middle East, in the context of conflicts in Yemen, Syria and Libya, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters last week: “None of these conflicts need more arms. They need more political commitment to achieving peace for the people”.

Asked about transparency in arms sales, Pieter Wezeman, Senior Researcher at SIPRI’s Arms and Military Expenditure Programme, told IPS
transparency differs among the top-5 arms exporters, USA, Russia, France Germany and China (and the UK as 6th)

All five (plus UK) usually report their exports of major arms to the UN Register of Conventional Arms (UNROCA).

France, Germany and the UK also report exports of small arms to the UNROCA, and they report similar data to the Arms Trade Treaty secretariat (the other three are not members to the ATT).

But reporting to the UNROCA is not always complete or accurate, and many states do not submit information.

He pointed out that Germany, the UK and France publish annual arms export reports and submit data to the annual EU arms export report.
There is a large amount of data in there, which gives a good overview of the arms exports of these countries, even do they are not always easy to read, said Wezeman.

He said the US has several administrative procedures for arms exports.

Exports in which the US government plays a leading role, either because it involves military aid or selling surplus DoD (Department of Defence) equipment or because it involves what is called Foreign Military Sales (FMS) in which the DoD helps allied states with administering and negotiating arms procurement in the US, such arms exports are generally rather transparent.

The government will release formal announcements when a country officially starts negotiating for a major arms deal and also when the actual contract is signed.

However, when a country buys weapons directly from a US company, with the government only providing the export permit, information will be more scarce.

Wezeman said Russia and China do not publish national arms export reports.

Asked whether there are any restrictions on the use of these weapons by the buyers– for example using them against civilians — or any restrictions on the transfer of these weapons to third parties without the permission of the exporting country, Wezeman said there can be restrictions on end-use.

For example, when Germany supplied armoured vehicles as military aid to Turkey it has at times included a clause that these were not to be used in the East of Turkey, in the war with Kurdish groups.

Last week, it was reported that the US appears to have included a clause that Pakistan not to use its American-made F-16 fighter planes over Kashmir, though exactly what the clause says is not known.

A clause that the weapons are not to be used against civilians is not likely to be included, as using arms deliberately against civilians is already prohibited by international law.

Wezeman said it is common to include clauses that the buyer of arms be not allowed to transfer them to anyone else without the explicit permission from the exporting state.

The writer can be contacted at thalifdeen@ips.org

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Professor Pius Adesanmi was on board the Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET302 that crashed on Sunday with no survivors.

By Sam Olukoya
LAGOS, Nigeria, Mar 11 2019 (IPS)

Nigeria is mourning along with the rest of the world after the downing of Ethiopian Airlines Flight, which claimed all of the 157 lives onboard. The fatalities included people from 35 countries, 19 United Nations officials and two Nigerians, one of whom was regarded as Africa’s leading academic and labelled a genius by many. 

Professor Pius Adesanmi and Abiodun Bashua, a retired career Ambassador, who was on contract with the United Nations Economic Commission of Africa (UNECA), are being mourned.

Adesanmi, at the time of his death, was a professor at the Institute of African Studies in Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada. He was on his way to a meeting of the African Union’s Economic, Social and Cultural Council in Nairobi.

The award-winning writer held dual Nigerian and Canadian citizenship and made his mark in both countries and beyond. This has been manifested in some of the tributes that have been paid to him.

“The contributions of Pius Adesanmi to Carleton are immeasurable,” Pauline Rankin, dean of the University’s Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, said in a statement.

“He worked tirelessly to build the Institute of African Studies, to share his boundless passion for African literature and to connect with and support students,” Ranking said, adding that: “He was a scholar and teacher of the highest calibre who leaves a deep imprint on Carleton.”

In Nigeria, tributes are pouring in for Adesanmi, acknowledging him for being a remarkable writer, literary critic, satirist, and columnist.

Bayo Oluwasanmi, a newspaper columnist described Adesanmi as “a flaming writer with a fiery message of rebuke for the oppressive and wicked governments in Nigeria.”

Oluwasanmi further described Adesanmi as a “watchman with bravura and strong moral fibre committed to a strong sense of right and wrong,” adding that he “writes with the supple grace of a swan and the boldness of a beaver.”

On Adesanmi’s Facebook page one user, Yemi Adeeko, said: “Tribute to a genius Nigerian I never met.”

Another user commented on the photo that Adesanmi posted just before boarding Ethiopian airlines flight along with this comment: “If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me – Psalm 139:9-10”

Atiba Oluwatosin said in response: “These last words depict your conscious awareness that your destination is a cross over to see your creator face to face. RIP Prof. Of Academics.”

Adesanmi’s genius and great mind was indeed manifest in his regular newspaper columns and in his works.

These include his book “Naija No Dey Carry Last.” The book which is a collection of satirical essays, portray the decay in the Nigerian system, including the persistent lack of a government in the country.

The book shows Adesanmi’s ability to present serious issues in a light-hearted manner that leaves his readers laughing while at the same time feeling sober.

The late academic was born in Isanlu, in Kogi State, Central Nigeria.

He studied for his Masters Degree in Nigeria before going to the University of British Columbia where he bagged a PhD in French Studies in 2002. He joined Carleton University in 2006.

Many who know him are not likely to forget in a hurry a man described as the first leading African academic to use social media as a classroom to test out his ideas and engage with Nigeria.

The post Nigeria Mourns the Loss of Leading African Academic Who Was in Ethiopian Airlines Crash appeared first on Inter Press Service.

"Humanitarian aid now. We need it," read a banner during a massive demonstration in Caracas on Feb. 12, demanding that international aid blocked at the border of neighboring countries be allowed into the country. The demonstrations were held in 50 towns and cities around the country, in support of Juan Guaidó as acting president and demanding that President Nicolás Maduro step down. Credit: Humberto Márquez/IPS

By Tharanga Yakupitiyage
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 9 2019 (IPS)

The international community must extend protections for Venezuelans in light of a growing humanitarian crisis with no end in sight.

Human Rights Watch has urged governments in the Americas to provide temporary protection to the millions of Venezuelans fleeing a severe humanitarian crisis.

“The humanitarian crisis in Venezuela is a classic case of the need for blanket temporary protection,” said Human Rights Watch’s refugee rights director Bill Frelick.

“This is not the time to be deporting Venezuelans,” he added.

According to the United Nations, more than three million people have fled Venezuela in recent years, representing 10 percent of the population.

The exodus is largely due to the severe shortages of medicine and food, leaving millions of Venezuelans in distressing and worsening living conditions.

According to the Pharmaceutical Federation of Venezuela, the country is experiencing an 85 percent shortage of medicine.

The ongoing economic crisis has also impacted access.

In 2018, inflation in the South American nation was at a staggering 1,698,488 percent. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates that the rate will reach 10,000,000 percent in 2019.

As the official minimum wage in Venezuela is 6 dollars per month, many are unable to afford basic goods.

“During Nicolas Maduro’s presidency, the government has failed to address the crisis while making heavy-handed efforts to deny and conceal its severity,” Human Rights Watch said.

Among those efforts is Maduro’s government imposed aid blockade. The government even ordered to close its borders with Brazil, noting that Venezuelans are “not beggars” and do not need aid.

As a result of the escalating situation, the number of asylum applications by Venezuelans has increased significantly.

According to the U.N. Refugee Agency (UNHCR), over 414,000 asylum claims were made by Venezuelans around the world, nearly 60 percent of them during 2018 alone.

Between July and September 2018, Venezuelans were the leading nationality seeking asylum in the United States as they represented 30 of all asylum applications in the three month period.

However, despite the crippling humanitarian situation, the United States continues to deport people back to South American nation.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement reportedly deported 336 people to Venezuela in 2018, a 35 percent increase from the previous year. Meanwhile, the U.S. has not resettled a single Venezuelan refugee.

Human Rights Watch urged the U.S. to provide Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to Venezuelans due to the deteriorating conditions in their home country.

TPS allows foreign-born individuals to remain in the U.S. until conditions, caused by natural disasters or war, improve back home. Approximately 300,000 people have received those protections.

Though the current administration has made several attempts to end TPS, a buck has blocked the most recent efforts and extended TPS for people from Sudan, Nicaragua, Haiti, and El Salvador.

“Some Venezuelans will qualify for asylum based on a well-founded fear of being persecuted if returned,” Frelick said.

“Temporary Protected Status is the best available way to offer protection for people who do not qualify as refugees or are not seeking asylum but who nevertheless should not be sent back to their country because of generally unsafe conditions there,” he added.

A group of 24 senators including Chuck Schumer and Marco Rubio also asked President Donald Trump to designate Venezuela for TPS.

“Venezuela clearly meets the standard for TPS as it is obviously too dangerous for Venezuelan nationals to return…granting TPS to Venezuela is a concrete measure your Administration can immediately take to alleviate the suffering of innocent Venezuelan civilians and to demonstrate our nation’s commitment to supporting a safe democratic transition in Venezuela so that individuals can safely return home soon,” they wrote in a letter.

Human Rights Watch also urged Venezuela’s neighbours to grant region-wide temporary protection, providing Venezuelans legal status for a fixed period.

Colombia is among those who have opened their doors, now hosting over 1 million Venezuelan refugees and migrants, the highest proportion in the region.

The Colombian government has developed programmes to support fleeing migrants, such as a border mobility card which allows people to move between the two countries as well as a special work permit which provides Venezuelans temporary residence and work for two years.

The response has been starkly different in Brazil where tensions have escalated, leading to riots against refugee camps. In one case, riots forced over 1,000 Venezuelans to flee back over the border.

In 2015, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro called refugees “scum of the earth.”

Though the country is continuing to accept arrivals at the border, it is uncertain for how much longer.

UNHCR stressed the urgency of international support, appealing for 738 million dollars to support 2.2 million Venezuelans and 500,000 people in host communities across 16 countries.

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By Geneva Centre
GENEVA, Mar 8 2019 (IPS-Partners)

The Geneva Centre for Human Rights Advancement and Global Dialogue has partnered with the UNOG Library in the organization of the upcoming Library event entitled Leadership in Modern Multilateralism.

This debate will discuss the topic of multilateralism as the most logical approach to the challenges the world is facing in our time of fast-paced globalisation. Despite mounting nationalism and criticism, there is no valid alternative to international cooperation.

This debate will explore the principles and ideas underpinning multilateralism against a complex background of climate change, the rise of technology and the future of the global economy. Furthermore, the panel will underscore the role of eminent personalities who shaped international affairs and the changes in the nature of leadership in the 21st century, with the rise of modern multilateralism.

Opening Remarks
Michael Møller
Director-General, United Nations Office at Geneva

Introductory Remarks
Idriss Jazairy
Former Ambassador & Permanent Representative of Algeria to the UN Office at Geneva; Executive Director of the Geneva Centre for Human Rights Advancement and Global Dialogue

A Panel discussion with

• Roberto Savio
Editor; Journalist; President Emeritus of Inter Press Service (IPS) and Chairman of IPS Board of Trustees

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

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

Moderator
Corinne Momal-Vanian
Director, Division of Conference Management, United Nations Office at Geneva

Q & A Session

Book signing by Roberto Savio

Free copies of the following books will be available at the event:

“Remembering Boutros Boutros-Ghali: A Visionary Internationalist and Global Leader: Tributes and Reminiscences”

“Legacy for the Future and Future Generation: Remembering Maurice F. Strong: Tributes and Reminiscences”

All attendees who do not hold a UN badge are kindly requested to register on the link below:

REGISTER

The post The Geneva Centre is co-organizing with the UNOG Library a discussion on Leadership in Modern Multilateralism appeared first on Inter Press Service.

By Geneva Centre
GENEVA, Mar 8 2019 (IPS-Partners)

On the occasion of the observance of the 2019 International Women’s Day, the Geneva Centre for Human Rights Advancement and Global Dialogue reiterated the urgent need to intensify efforts towards achieving gender equality in all spheres of society, eliminating all forms of violence against women and girls, and promoting women’s political and economic empowerment.

The theme of this year’s International Women’s Day is Think Equal, Build Smart, Innovate for Change1 , aligned with the 63rd Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), bound to start next week in New York and dedicated this year to access to social protection systems and public services, and sustainable infrastructure for gender equality.

These themes highlight the importance of changing mind-sets and attitudes, and put innovation, by women and girls and for women and girls, at the heart of efforts towards reaching gender equality. According to Ambassador Jazairy, Executive Director of the Geneva Centre, “This year’s focus of International Women’s Day enhances the importance of using new technologies to empower women worldwide, to increase their access to the labour market and to high education, but also promotes respect and recognition of women as an incredible well of innovation themselves, in science, education, politics and all fields of societies.”

In this regard, the Executive Director of the Geneva Centre reiterated the importance of recognizing the capacities and the potential of women worldwide, particularly in the labor market, and the important positive impact that achieving gender equality could have on the world economy. In her latest book Fifty Million Rising, Saadia Zahidi, a Member of the Executive Committee at the World Economic Forum (WEF), described how, in the last 10 years alone, nearly 50 million Muslim women entered the workforce gaining greater autonomy. Furthermore, Zahidi calculated that if female labor participation rose to Western levels, the GDP of many Middle East regions would spike dramatically. 2

Nevertheless, the numbers showed by WEF in their latest Global Gender Gap Report show that progress is very slow: a 32 % average gender gap remains to be closed worldwide, affecting countries irrespective of their culture, religion or location. Moreover, despite important efforts towards empowering women, the Arab region continues to rank poorly on the overall Global Gender Index with an overall gender gap of almost 40%. Ambassador Jazairy deplored the important gender wage gap that remained pervasive worldwide. The EU recently released a Eurostat study which shows gaps of up to 24 % in some of its Member States, and concluded that the average in the EU is of 11,5%.

He reiterated that these findings are showcasing the persistence of important invisible barriers, particularly in the labor market worldwide that prevent women from breaking the famous glass ceiling completely. As noted by LinkedIn co-founder Allen Blue during a debate entitled “A quantum leap for gender equality: for a better future of work for all”, organized by the International Labor Organization on 8 March 2019, in the private sector and public sector alike, networking is crucial for advancing and obtaining managerial positions. Nevertheless, as these networks remain for the most part male-dominated, women are at a disadvantage, which is just one explanation to having merely 34% women managers worldwide.

Ambassador Jazairy underlined the importance of men leaders acknowledging issues of unconscious bias and subtle discrimination occurring in the workforce, and taking a strong stand to condemn any form of discrimination, by championing equal treatment of women and men, by mentoring women and by ensuring equal opportunities for advancement.

Furthermore, the Director of the Geneva Centre underscored the importance of changing mind-sets in order to fully achieve gender equality. Whilst numerous countries around the world have adopted exemplary legal frameworks for equality and women’s rights, concrete results show a level of progress that is, according to a report released by UN Women3 , unacceptably low measured against the objective of SDG 5 on gender equality. Ambassador Jazairy emphasized that without grappling with the gender roles and stereotypical norms that still dictate the world of work today worldwide, no real progress will be achieved, despite the adoption of legislation and policies towards equality. Laws are only successful if they bring real change in the life of people, and it is necessary to shift hearts and minds in order to increase their efficiency.”

Finally, as the UN and other international organizations are celebrating this year 100 years of multilateralism in Geneva, Ambassador Jazairy remarked today, 19 years after the adoption of the famous UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security, the participation of women in peace and multilateralism remains too low and the goal of equality in this field is still remote. From the UN Charter to the First UN Conference on Women held in Mexico in 1975, to the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action adopted in 1995, as well as the UN Security Council Resolutions adopted to promote the women, peace and security agenda, a long road has been travelled and there has been progress in this regard rhetorically, if not always in a commensurate manner, in practice.

However, Ambassador Jazairy remarked, gender equality is not a nicety or a favor made to women, it is a smart move for everyone, including in multilateralism. In times of conflict, women play a crucial role in sustaining livelihoods and ensuring the cohesiveness of communities. When they are given a seat at the table, they increase the legitimacy of peace processes. Furthermore, a recent report on nuclear security negotiations showed that women’s presence in decision-making had improved the process, by adding more emphasis on collaboration and on increased innovation.4

Ambassador Jazairy thus reiterated the importance of increasing women’s participation in peace processes, peacekeeping operations, negotiations and all multilateral processes.

The Geneva Centre marked International Women’s Day by organizing a debate and book presentation as a side-event to the 40th Session of the UN Human Rights Council, entitled Muslim women between stereotypes and reality: an objective narrative. The two publications launched on this occasion, entitled Women’s Rights in the Arab Region: Between Myth and Reality and Veiling /Unveiling: The Headscarf in Christianity, Judaism and Islam are available for ordering.

1 http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2018/10/announcer-iwd-2019-theme
2 Synopsis by the Financial Times published in 2018.
3 Turning Promises Into Action: Gender Equality In The 2030 Agenda For Sustainable Development, UN Women, 2018: http://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2018/2/gender-equality-in-the-2030-agenda-for-sustainable-development-2018#view
4 The “Consensual Straitjacket”: Four Decades of Women in Nuclear Security, Heather Hurlburt, Elizabeth Weingarten, Alexandra Stark, & Elena Souris, 2019: https://d1y8sb8igg2f8e.cloudfront.net/documents/The_Consensual_Straitjacket_Four_Decades_of_Women_in_Nuclear_Security_2019-03-_yEtsRar.pdf

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By Solitaire Townsend
LONDON, Mar 8 2019 (IPS)

When I was a little girl, I wanted to be a hero. While my friends dressed up as princesses, I wore a home-made Joan of Arc costume. Where others read romance novels, I read about fighting dragons. I didn’t want to be a princess, I wanted to save them.

Then I grew up.

As we get older, most of us exchange our dreams of heroism for the realities of our daily responsibility. We don’t slay dragons or save the world, but we do feed our kids and try to be decent people.

And we look to our leaders, in our governments, business and civil society, to do the dragon slaying for us. Our institutions hold the power and the responsibility to protect us from threats, to lead the way and make the hard decisions.

But somewhere inside us, the urge to be a hero remains – and the time has come to let our inner hero out. Because true global sustainability demands that individuals – and not just institutions – take action. And that’s why I’m so proud the new Good Life Goals exist.

These new goals were inspired when the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) underscored the need for people power in its latest report, by recommending actions for people, not just policy makers, for the first time.

So, every one of us now has a role in defeating the climate threat, from changing how we eat and travel to how we heat our homes. And people power can go even further. We have a role to play across the entire sustainability agenda.

This conviction is why I have dedicated my professional life to translating the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) into a set of actions for everyone. Because heroism is a renewable resource.

When the SDG’s were launched, the United Nations made it clear that “For the goals to be reached, everyone needs to do their part: governments, the private sector, civil society and people like you.”

Our Good Life Goals were developed and designed to make the ‘people like you’ part comprehensible and even exciting. They bridge the gap between the high-level targets of the Sustainable Development Goals and the sustainable lifestyle movement that calls for action by citizens in the everyday choices they make.

By providing personally-relevant links between SDG and the actions individuals can take in their daily lives towards these goals, the Good Life Goals send a message that everyone can play an important role in the future.

Individually and collectively we have the right, responsibility, and the opportunity to change the world for the better.

The Good Life Goals will help us learn more about sustainability and the most urgent issues that we face, demand action from leaders, stand up for the vulnerable or exploited, and teach our children about the SDG’s.

Some of the specific actions under the Good Life Goals are deliberately targeted to ‘over-consumers’: those who live far beyond a one-planet lifestyle and have a greater responsibility (especially on environmental impact).

Whilst most of the actions are designed for everyone and include how we treat each other and the world around us. One of the most popular has been to ‘teach kids kindness.”

Smart choices are at the core of creating a world that works for everyone. From smart choices made by individuals in their daily lives to the choices made by multination companies and governments: the way we produce and consume directly correlated to the resources we use or the trash we produce.

On March 11-15, government leaders, CEO’s of major companies, innovators and activists will gather in Nairobi to debate, challenge and help activate those choices at the Fourth UN Environment Assembly.

For those who can’t be there, please join in online. Using the #SolveDifferent hashtag we can use our ‘people power’ to make the difference between good intentions and real action.

The Good Life Goals are already being used to harness people power and bring about change in a lot of small ways. Businesses are adopting them in staff communication and marketing, storytellers and media organisations are embedding the actions in TV and film, educators and students are using them to connect the complex world of policymaking to everyday life.

How can you use them too? Because to change everything, we are going to need everyone.

The post Will ‘People Power’, or Powerful People, Change the World? appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Solitaire Townsend is a sustainability expert and co-founder of the change agency Futerra

The post Will ‘People Power’, or Powerful People, Change the World? appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Graphic: CPJ

By Sarah Guinee
Mar 8 2019 (IPS-Partners)

On International Women’s Day, CPJ has highlighted the cases of female journalists jailed around the world in retaliation for their work. At least 33 of the 251 journalists in jail at the time of CPJ’s prison census are women. At least one of those–Turkish reporter and artist Zehra Dogan–was released in February after serving a sentence on anti-state charges. The four female journalists jailed in Saudi Arabia were detained over their criticism of the kingdom’s ban on women driving.

Explore their cases and view CPJ’s infographic here.

The post On International Women’s Day, CPJ highlights jailed female journalists appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Sarah Guinee, is CPJ Patti Birch Fellow for Gender and Media Freedom

The post On International Women’s Day, CPJ highlights jailed female journalists appeared first on Inter Press Service.

An aerial view of a mangrove forest along the Guyana coast. Approximately 90 per cent of Guyana’s population lives on a narrow coastline strip a half to one metre below sea level. Courtesy: Ministry of the Presidency/OCC/Kojo McPherson

By Desmond Brown
GEORGETOWN, Mar 8 2019 (IPS)

For several decades, Guyana has been using mangroves to protect its coasts against natural hazards, and the country believes its mangrove forests should be included in programmes like the REDD+ of United Nations, in order to access financing to continue their restoration and maintenance, as they complement miles of seawalls that help to prevent flooding.

In recent years, the seawall barriers, which have existed since the Dutch occupation of Guyana, have been breeched by severe storms. This resulted in significant flooding, a danger which scientists predict could become more frequent with climate change.

The seawalls must also be maintained, and this is at an enormous cost for Guyana which has been spending an average of 14 million dollars a year to maintain and strengthen the defences.

Joseph Harmon, Minister of State in the Ministry of the President of Guyana, said given the importance of mangroves, they should factor more in discussions about financing to help countries build resilience to natural hazards and climate related risks.

“While we look at climate change, while we look at sustainable livelihoods, we have a forest that is so inaccessible, but the areas that are accessible are also threatened,” Harmon told IPS.

“The fact that we’re on a low coastal plain, the issues of environment and environmental funding must cater for mangroves as well.”

Approximately 90 percent of Guyana’s population lives on a narrow coastline strip a half to one metre below sea level, and Harmon said almost 80 percent of the country’s productive means are on the coast as well.

“We’ve actually started, several years ago, with the establishment of mangroves as a form of defence from rising sea levels,” he said.

“We would want to posit that in the way in which forest coverage calculations are done, that mangrove protection, which protects the persons on the coast, that must also be a feature of your forest coverage because it does the same thing as the forest in the hinterland.”

According to the Nature Conservancy and Wetlands International, mangroves don’t always provide a stand-alone solution, and may need to be combined with other risk reduction measures to achieve high levels of protection.

As is the case with Guyana, appropriately integrated mangroves can contribute to risk reduction in almost every coastal setting, ranging from rural to urban and from natural to heavily degraded landscapes.

The benefits offered by mangrove forests include timber and fuel production, productive fishing grounds, carbon storage, enhances tourism and recreation as well as water purification.

Janelle Christian, the Head of the Office of Climate Change in Guyana, said the mangrove forests provide livelihood opportunities for residents of many coastal communities.

“There are a lot of coastal community women’s groups involved in beekeeping and honey production,” Christian told IPS.

“Along where many of the mangrove forests are located you also have fishing communities. So, for us, it is important both as a form of natural protection and also because of the livelihood opportunities tied to that.”

Mangrove trees grow along the bank of the Demerara River which rises in the central rainforests and flows to the north for 346 kilometres until it reaches the Atlantic Ocean. Credit: Desmond Brown/IPS

In 1990, the total area of mangrove forest in Guyana was estimated at 91,000 hectares, according to a country report to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity. By 2009, this figure stood at 22,632 hectares, notes the same report.

But the country has been on an intensive campaign to protect and restore its coastal mangroves. Christian said in 2010, Guyana started a mangrove restoration project funded by a partnership between the Government of Guyana and the European Union.

The project’s overall objective was to respond to climate change and to mitigate its effects through the protection, rehabilitation and wise use of mangrove ecosystems through processes that maintain their function, values and biodiversity, while meeting the socio-economic development and environmental protection needs in estuarine and coastal areas.

More than 141 hectares of mangrove forest has been restored along Guyana’s coastline since rehabilitation efforts began. The country has about 80,000 hectares in place and continues to accelerate the growth of mangroves, many of which were lost 30 years ago.

“Going along the coast you will see mangrove regrowth in several areas where they were diminished,” Christian said, pointing to the success of the project.

“It’s an important natural mechanism against floods. It also helps in terms of land reclamation because over time the roots of the mangrove allow for sedimentation and so there’s a build-up of land.”

The restoration project also provides employment for residents.

At the various restoration sites, local women – often single mothers – were paid 50 cents for each 14-inch mangrove seedling they grow. It also provided temporary employment opportunities for seedling planters and site monitors.

“So, there are livelihood opportunities that are tied to mangrove-type forests,” Christian said.

Other traditional applications include using the bark of red mangrove trees for tanning leather. It sells for approximately 100 dollars per pound. The leaves of black mangrove trees are used by locals in cooking.

Related Articles

• Mangroves Could Be Saviour of Guyana’s Shrinking Coastline
• Mangroves Help Guyana Defend Against Changing Climate

The post Environmental Funding For Guyana Must Cater for Mangroves Too appeared first on Inter Press Service.

By Karessa Ramos
MADRID, Mar 8 2019 (IPS)

Imagine a world where women fully participate in society, and enjoy equal access to resources and opportunities. Most probably, the 2030 Agenda would be nearing its fulfillment and we would be closer to achieving the better planet we wish to build.

Unfortunately, that scenario remains a vision. In Latin America, considered the most unequal region in the planet, half of the women’s population still don’t have a bank account.

This exclusion from the formal financial system forces them to rely on cash which is risky and unsafe and can make them easy targets for abusive loan sharks.

Moreover, financial exclusion deprives them of the chance to tap into financial resources and seize opportunities to improve their standard of living, thus making them and their children more susceptible to falling into poverty.

This is why financial inclusion is recognized within the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda, as a tool to reduce poverty.

Technology becomes a fundamental ally to facilitate access to financial resources and bridge gender gaps. Digitalization, albeit the challenges, opens doors to design and distribute more adequate products and services that truly cater to the needs of the more vulnerable and excluded segments of the population.

Aware of this reality, at BBVA Microfinance Foundation, we work to bring the digital transformation into the microfinance sector. By leveraging innovation, we strengthen our personal relationships with the 2 million plus entrepreneurs we serve in Latin America, 57%, women. 84% of them live under vulnerable conditions, 40% possess primary education at best, 45% are single heads of households with dependants and nearly 30% live in remote, rural areas with less access to basic services such as health or communication(*).

Take the case of Sandra Mendoza, her household’s breadwinner. This Colombian farmer and cattle breeder used our microcredits to adapt her livelihood to climate change and thrive in a traditionally-male sector.

She has made her immediate surroundings healthier and more environmental friendly by using organic fertilizer in her plantation and renewable energy in her home.

Also thanks to technology, she enjoys more freedom: digital innovation has made it easier for her to access her bank account through her mobile phone, without having to travel to the nearest branch office.

With more time and money in her hands, she was able to enroll in a health and well-being course. She also found time to vie for a candidacy in the local Coffee Growers’ Committee, where she succeeded in becoming the first woman to preside at regional level. She even managed to create a local Association for Female Coffee Growers!

In Peru, Rut Pelaiza is a living proof on how empowering rural women through financial education can help them reach their potential and guarantee that the next generation would not suffer the same vulnerability as they had. As one of our loan officers, she is a daily witness that these women are active participants in construing sustainable development for their communities.

Rut herself used to be one of the vulnerable women she now mentors. Her husband used to belittle her, leading her to believe she was worthless. He ended up abandoning her and their children, literally leaving them with no roof over their heads.

But she possesses the desire to progress, fueled by her own strength as a woman and mother. She once dreamed of owning her own house and today, in part thanks to her work as a loan officer, she was able to do so.

Her story of triumph over life’s adversities earned her a recognition from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) last 2017. She received an Honorable Mention in the regional contest, “Stories of Rural Women in Latin America and the Caribbean”.

Her case was selected among 244 testimonies from 18 countries, standing out her tenacity with which she improved her life, her family’s, as well as helping so many low-income people living in difficult situations.

Whether as a loan officer who supports entrepreneurship, or as an enterprising individual, these women prove that hardships can be withstood, barriers can be toppled; they have the power to bring prosperity to their families and communities and they deserve opportunities that most of us take for granted.

Both will take part in an event hosted by the Foundation, UN Women, SEGIB, Colombia and Peru at this year’s CSW63 at the United Nations. On March 13th, these forerunners of change will share their viewpoints on financial inclusion and innovation.

Committed to help achieve the 2030 Agenda, the BBVA Microfinance Foundation takes the challenge of increasing the depth and breadth of financial inclusion through technology.

We believe this venture will simultaneously reduce gender gaps and promote inclusive growth. In such a world, we don’t question how financial inclusion could achieve gender equality. Rather, we ask in what way can innovation and financial inclusion be harnessed to accelerate gender equality?.

(*) Female clients who received at least one loan during 2018

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Excerpt:

Karessa Ramos is Social Media Data Analyst for BBVA Microfinance Foundation

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Picture courtesy of Linzi Lewis

By Mariam Mayet, Stephen Greenberg and Linzi Lewis of the African Centre for Biodiversity
JOHANNESBURG, Mar 8 2019 (IPS)

Africa is facing dire times. Climate change is having major impacts on the region and on agriculture in particular, with smallholder farmers, and especially women, facing drought, general lack of water, shifting seasons, and floods in some areas.

Small holder women farmers are at the cold face of agricultural biodiversity erosion, deforestation, declining soil health and fertility, land and water grabs by the powerful, and loss of land access, marginalisation and loss of indigenous knowledge, and generalised lack of essential services and support.

At the same time, economies are weakening and remain heavily dependent on foreign aid, with extractivist interventions from outside. There is a strong authoritarian orientation in governments in the region, with secrecy and lack of transparency and accountability, weak and fragmented civil society organisation, and top-down development interventions.

There has been corporate capture of key state institutions, decision making processes and functions, with privatisation of decision making and exclusion of the populace, and the occupation and appropriation of seed and food systems for multinational corporate profit.

Farmers, especially women, and civil society are doing important work on agroecology and sustainable agriculture on the ground, but are often unable to break out of their localised practices. These need to urgently connect with others on the continent into a bigger and more coherent movement for change, especially radical feminist movements on the continent.

At present, corporate power is almost unchecked in agricultural input supply. The dominant narrative of agribusinesses being indispensable for feeding the world holds great sway on the continent, and where corporations have captured policy making processes from continental to national levels.

Although most seed on the continent is sourced from farmers’ own saving, sharing and local markets, this system is not recognised in policies and laws in most countries.

Farmer seed practices are marginalised and generally denigrated as poor quality and backward. The predominant thrust of agricultural and seed policy and programming on the continent is to seek to replace farmer systems with top-down interventions based on the use of privately-owned technologies, as well as large-scale commercial markets that can only ever integrate a relatively small top layer of producers if not displace them outright.

This thrust is driven by multinational corporate interests with support from key continental, regional and national state institutions and agencies. This is either from a large-scale commercial industrialisation thrust pushed by a powerful global agribusiness coalition, or through a Green Revolution smallholder strategy to integrate a layer of smallholder farmers into corporate value chains for the export of bulk commodity crops such as maize and soya.

Women play an essential role in the selection, saving, and sharing of seeds, as part of a broader network within farmer managed seed systems, shaping the agricultural diversity that meets needs of local populations.  This applies to both staple crops, as well as other food crops. In many ways, this pool of genetic resources, which women continue to develop and maintain, is the backbone of human society.

The restrictions placed over reproductive materials, i.e. seed (including all cultivation materials), and the centralised decision-making around reproduction towards uniformity, homogeneity, ownership, creates greater inequality, amplified vulnerability and a reliance on external inputs, which places the future of food production at greater risk.

Increasing restrictions on use, lack of support for these activities and even their criminalisation makes production conditions more challenging for all smallholder farmers, but particularly women as the majority. In the prevailing division of labour, women are generally responsible for food acquisition and diets.

 

Picture courtesy of Linzi Lewis.

 

Restrictions on seed use, what may and may not be produced and how, translate into limits on food diversity at household level, which is a key element of nutrition.

Since the majority of seed cultivated on the continent is saved on farms, exchanged and locally traded by farmers, this provides a solid base for alternative seed sovereignty systems to thrive outside the credit and corporate market. For small holder farmers in Africa, the importance of farmer seed systems as central to conserving biodiversity, ensuring nutrition diversity and supporting livelihoods has been highlighted in a huge body of work over the past 30 or 40 years.

However, these systems can benefit from external support. A key priority for smallholder farmers in Africa is resilience in the face of harsh weather events. This requires seed variety adaptation and greater agricultural diversity. Women are the primary custodians of our seed diversity, the custodians of reproduction, of life. This highlights the struggles of farmers’ right, of reproductive rights, to self-determination, and to maintain life-supporting systems. As we honour women on this day, we honour our heritage and our future.

An ecological food systems transition coalition, based on agroecology and food sovereignty, has found some traction in Africa and globally, but remains relatively weak, fragmented and under-resourced.

Farmers, especially women, and civil society are doing important work on agroecology and sustainable agriculture on the ground, but are often unable to break out of their localised practices. These need to urgently connect with others on the continent into a bigger and more coherent movement for change, especially radical feminist movements on the continent.  Together, we can fight back and contest the hegemony of large-scale commercial farming and corporate agri-business. We must, together, rebuild and strengthen local food and seed systems for all Africans.

 

The African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) is a strongly women-led non profit organisation based in South Africa with staff in Tanzania. It carries out research and analysis, learning and exchange, capacity and movement building, and advocacy to widen awareness, catalyse collective action and influence decision making on issues of biosafety, genetic modification (GM) and new technologies, seed laws, farmer seed systems, agricultural biodiversity, agroecology, corporate expansion in African agriculture, and food sovereignty in Africa.

 

The post Urgent Call for African Food Sovereignty Movements to Connect with Radical Feminist Movements on the Continent appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

This opinion piece is part of IPS coverage of International Women's Day on Mar. 8

The post Urgent Call for African Food Sovereignty Movements to Connect with Radical Feminist Movements on the Continent appeared first on Inter Press Service.

In India, less than 10 percent of women and girls have access to sanitary products. Many are forced to seek alternatives, from old rags to newspapers. Credit: Stella Paul/IPS

By Tharanga Yakupitiyage
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 8 2019 (IPS)

It is time to rise up and fight a long neglected taboo: menstruation.

Marking International Women’s Day, United Nations human rights experts called on the international community to break taboos around menstruation, noting its impacts on women and girls’ human rights.

“Persistent harmful socio-cultural norms, stigma, misconceptions and taboos around menstruation, continue to lead to exclusion and discrimination of women and girls,” the experts from various mandates from cultural rights to violence against women said in a joint statement.

Among the experts is the Chair of the Working Group on discrimination against women in law and in practice Ivana Radačić who told IPS of the need to challenge the taboo.

“Even in the human rights community, it is either thought of as not so important or people did not understand how much discrimination exists still,” she said.

“We really feel that it is time to challenge the taboos and shame and to address the human rights issues that arise in respect to discrimination and stigma,” Radačić added.

Period-Shaming

Around the world, millions of women still lack access basic sanitary products to manage menstrual bleeding.

In India, less than 10 percent of women have access to sanitary products. Many are forced to seek alternatives, from old rags to newspapers.

The use of unsanitary materials often have health implications, including reproductive tract infections and cervical cancer.

The lack of adequate gender-sensitive facilities is another challenge, preventing women and girls from maintaining menstrual hygiene in a private, safe, and dignified manner.

According to the World Bank, at least 500 million women and girls lack such facilities, which severely impact girls’ attendance and participation in school.

In Nepal, 30 percent of girls report missing school during their periods.

This all stems from the idea that menstruation is “impure” and even often treated as an illness, resulting in the exclusion of women and girls in societies around the world.

“When combined with the stigma and shame that women and girls are made to feel during that time, it is truly disempowering,” the joint statement said.

When on their periods, many women and girls are not allowed to touch water or food and are restricted from entering religious or culture sites.

Chhaupadi, a practice still common in Nepal, restrict women and girls from entering her home, touching her parents, or going to school or temple. Instead, they are banished to a hut outside the main house for the duration of their period.

The U.N. has found reports of pneumonia, attacks from wild animals, and rape when women and girls are banished to a shed.

However, if a woman doesn’t follow the rules, she is told that she will bring destruction and misfortune to their family.

Though the Indian Supreme Court lifted the ban on women and girls of menstruating age from entering Sabarimala temple in Kerala, the move has sparked protests and violence by opponents, many of whom blocked women from entering the temple. 

“This idea of women being contaminated and impure—that then has an effect on how they feel and see themselves and how they see their own womanhood,” Radačić said.

Changing the Cycle

Many have already been working to shine a spotlight on the issue, including Plan International UK which has launched a period emoji, represented by a red droplet, as a way to overcome the silence around the natural monthly reality for billions of women worldwide. 

A new documentary, ‘Period. End of Sentence.’ which revealed the stigma of menstruation in rural communities in India, even won an Oscar.

Radačić noted that the documentary was “timely” and a good way to raise awareness to people in Western countries who may be unaware of the inaccessibility of hygienic and sanitary pads for many girls and women.

The documentary, directed by Rayka Zehtabchi, follows the installation and impacts of a low-cost sanitary napkin machine made by notorious “Pad Man” Arunachalam Muruganantham.

“The daughter never talks to the mother, the wife never talks to the husband, friends don’t talk to each other. Menstruation is the biggest taboo in my country,” he says in the documentary.

Inspired after seeing his wife use a rag for her menstrual bleedings, Muruganantham now provides pad machines to communities across the South Asian nation and trains women on how to use them, allowing them to establish their own business and sell affordable pads.

“The strong creation created by god in the world is not the lion, not the elephant, not the tiger—the girl,” Muruganantham said.

In the documentary, a group of women branded their sanitary products “Fly,” and with good reason.

“We have installed this machine for women. So now we want women to rise and fly,” one woman said.

Radačić also pointed to situations of conflict and crises, leaving many displaced and refugee women without access to sanitary products or even basic, private facilities.   

Organisations such as WoMena and CARE have started to address this gap, implementing a pilot project in the Rhino refugee camp in Northern Uganda which provided menstrual cups and reusable pads.

One girl who received a menstrual cup, which are reusable for up to 10 years, told CARE that she now feels more comfortable and has confidence as she plays sports and attends class during her period. 

In fact, a study from University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) found that providing free sanitary products and lessons about poverty increased girls’ attendance at school by 17 percent.

“There is more and more grassroots actions in certain communities and there is a celebration of the menstrual cycle, of the cyclical nature of a woman. I think it is a great time to really push this issue forward,” Radačić told IPS.

However, it is not enough to just provide sanitary pads, she noted.

Radačić highlighted the need for countries to abolish laws where women are excluded or restricted on the basis of menstruation, ensure access to hygienic products and gender-sensitive facilities, and teach comprehensive sexuality education to help break the taboo around periods.

“Much more has to be done to address the menstrual health needs of women and girls and to acknowledge that the failure to address them has a detrimental impact on all areas of women’s lives,” Radačić and others said.

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• Education Key to Gender Equality in Asia & the Pacific

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By Geneva Centre
GENEVA, Mar 7 2019 (IPS-Partners)

No country in the world has a perfect record on women’s rights and gender equality and there is a felt need for cooperation and joint endeavours in order to reach the common goal of empowering women and putting an end to gender inequality. Muslim women must be given the right to freely choose what to wear and what not to wear, and fully included in society, be it through insertion on the labour market or simply through the practice of sports.

These were the main conclusions of a debate and book presentation organized by the Geneva Centre for Human Rights Advancement and Global Dialogue on the eve of International Women’s Day. The debate, entitled Muslim women between stereotypes and reality: an objective narrative, was held on 7 March 2019, as a side-event to the 40th Session of the UN Human Rights Council.

The panel discussion was an occasion for the Geneva Centre to present its latest publications on the topic of gender and women’s rights, entitled Women’s Rights in the Arab Region: Between Myth and Reality and Veiling /Unveiling: The Headscarf in Christianity, Judaism and Islam.

The panellists focused in their presentation on the persisting gender inequalities that hinder the full enjoyment of women’s rights worldwide, on the hostility to the headscarf as a politically correct expression of xenophobia on the Western political scene; as well as on the worrying rise of the latter. They also referred to the adoption of discriminatory legislation aimed at marginalizing Muslims, particularly women who choose to wear the headscarf.

The members of the panel included HE Ms Nassima Baghli, Ambassador and Permanent Observer of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva; Dr. Elisa Banfi, Research assistant at the Institute of Citizenship Studies (InCite) at the Department of Political Science, University of Geneva; and Dr. Amir Dziri, Director of the Swiss Centre for Islam and Society at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland.

Ambassador Idriss Jazairy, Executive Director of the Geneva Centre, delivered opening remarks and moderated the panel debate.

In his remarks, Ambassador Jazairy deplored the new heights reached in the political manipulation surrounding the headscarf across Europe and other Western countries. He referred to the new law on secularity voted in February 2019, in the canton of Geneva, and to similar legislation adopted in Europe. Moreover, Ambassador Jazairy recalled the recent controversy concerning a hijab for women runners launched by a French sports brand, when high officials condemned the sports headgear as contradictory to the values respected in their country.

In this regard, the Executive Director of the Geneva Centre underscored that human rights are universal. The universality of these values had to be equally applied not only to Muslim and Islamic societies, but also to European and Western countries. It was therefore unfortunate to invoke national or local values in an attempt to prevent women from enjoying the “freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest their religion or belief”, as stipulated din Article 18 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights.

Furthermore, quoting the Global Gender Gap Report of the World Economic Forum, Ambassador Jazairy underscored that gender inequality persisted in societies around the world, irrespective of culture, religion or geographical location. In this regard, joint endeavours should seek to close the gender gap worldwide, instead of playing the “naming and shaming” game in an attempt to relegate all issues of gender inequality to one culture, religion or region of the world.

Her Excellency Ms Nassima Baghli commended the Geneva Centre for its efforts towards providing a better understanding of the complex realities of today’s world, far from misconceptions, stereotypes and shortcuts. Her Excellency remarked that women’s rights in the Arab region had recorded a notable progress over recent years, but the road towards equality and full enjoyment of human rights was still long.

Ambassador Baghli noted that Muslim women were more prone to discrimination and negative perceptions in the framework of Western societies. She reiterated that they are often perceived as in need of salvation, victimized and weak, and lacking free will. Furthermore, Ambassador Baghli remarked that these forms of discrimination were exacerbated in the case of veiled Muslim women. According to her, the negative stereotypes conveyed by the media contributed to this discriminatory environment.

Ambassador Baghli noted that Muslim women living in non-Muslim countries would not be deterred in their resolve to control of their destiny. She added that at the OIC level, a Plan of Action for the Advancement of Women was adopted in 2016, to encourage Member States to take measures for the full enjoyment of women’s rights. In this regard, Ambassador Baghli concluded with an encouragement for the courageous Muslim women on the ground, who through education and participation in the labour market were determined to be fully involved in societies and to deconstruct all stereotypes and prejudice.

Dr. Elisa Banfi delivered a compelling presentation based on a study and an article that she co-authored entitled “Institutionalizing Islamophobia in Switzerland: the burqa and minaret bans”. Her presentation focused on the racialization of Muslims by gendered Islamophobia in Switzerland.

Dr. Banfi noted that institutional Islamophobic discourses and policies in Switzerland had led to an “otherization” of Muslim women in the public perception. She emphasized the fact that Switzerland had a record of late adoption of policies and international instruments that sought to achieve equality and to empower women, such as the national right to vote (adopted only in 1971), or the UN CEDAW Convention (signed only in 1997).

In this regard, Dr. Banfi underscored that the leading party that had opposed the advancement of Swiss women had become the most influent promoter of the ban on minarets and. She noted that as a result in the political discourse, Muslim women became represented as women in danger in their States, isolated from their communities and threatened by them, whilst Swiss institutions were represented in the dialectical relation as protectors of these women. Dr. Banfi concluded that this discourse built on stereotypes of Muslim women sought the construction of an internal enemy, as well as the creation of internal and external frontiers of nationhood, further marginalizing Muslim communities and institutionalizing discrimination.

Dr. Amir Dziri remarked in his presentation that Muslim women are depicted, in common Western opinion, as an instrument of culture conflict between the “Enlightened” West and traditional Islam. He deplored the fact that Muslim women were for the most part perceived as threat or as in need of salvation, and their autonomy remained unrecognized.

Furthermore, Dr Dziri underscored that Muslim women had become the centre of ideological combats in Western societies as a form of political aberration, seeking to obscure political responsibility on other major issues and to channel public attention to such matters that in reality were not urgent or problematic. The Director of the Swiss Centre for Islam and Society further noted that one of the most challenging issues faced by pluralistic societies in Europe nowadays was precisely the acceptance of visible diversity.

Finally, Dr Dziri described a recent phenomenon described as “integration-paradox”, remarking that the better migrants were integrated in societies, the more resistance they would face. In this regard, Muslim women in European societies benefited from high education and showcased excellent professional skills, which paradoxically lead to them being perceived as a threat, fuelling hostile attitudes towards them.

During the Q&A session, former Ambassador George Papadatos requested the panel to discuss the attitude of right wing movements in Europe towards women, and Muslim women in particular. He further pondered on what European country would be more likely to employ a Muslim woman wearing headscarf. Dr Banfi responded that numerous right wing movements were positioned overtly against the freedom of Muslim women, as they exclude them from the national identities of European states. She remarked that there are far-right movements in the Netherlands for example, which were not per se against women rights in general, but which use the defence of women’s rights to discriminate Muslim women, in a concept known in academic circles as “femo-nationalism”

Ambassador Jazairy remarked that in England, customs officers wearing a headscarf or policemen with turbans are a non-event. He reiterated that the position of the Geneva Centre is that all women should have the liberty of choosing what they wear and that their decisions should not be imposed by the State, either to force them to wear a headscarf or to forbid them from wearing it.

Replying to the question of an Independent Consultant present in the audience, Ambassador Baghli deplored the fact that the headscarf was manipulated in Europe as a political matter, by populist and intolerant groupings.

Another question from the floor referred to the concrete measures that should be taken to build more tolerance and to tackle everyday discrimination acts against Muslim women. Dr Dziri replied that the question was difficult to answer, as in societies very diverse, like in Germany and Switzerland, the idea of the normalisation of visible religious diversity was still a challenge.

Finally, a representative of the Right to Livelihood Award, Ms Ruth Manorma, underscored the important discrimination against Muslim women occurring in India.

The panel concluded by observing that globalization implies diversity and consequently necessitates its acceptance. Europe has in the past accepted migrants and its residents have themselves migrated. Today, the large-scale migration from the Middle East in particular has taken Europe by surprise, triggering defensive attitudes and nationalistic policies aimed at setting up barricades. It is to be hoped that this is a transitional phase. There is indeed need to promote globalization, but with a human face and accept and embrace diversity which is its consequence.

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By Geneva Centre
GENEVA, Mar 7 2019 (IPS-Partners)

On 7 March, the Geneva Centre’s Executive Director Ambassador Idriss Jazairy was invited by the Permanent Delegation of the African Union to an official meeting of all African Group Ambassadors in Geneva to present the rationale and purpose of the Geneva Centre’s forthcoming conference on “Celebration of diversity: beyond tolerance the path towards empathy.”

The latter will be held on 21 March 2019 – on the margins of the 40th regular session of the Human Rights Council, from 13:00 – 14:30 in room XXIII at the United Nations Office in Geneva. The conference will be organized by the Geneva Centre and the Permanent Mission of the United Arab Emirates to UN Geneva.

Ambassador Jazairy informed the African Group Ambassadors that the purpose of the conference will be to give new impetus to ongoing efforts to counter the rise of extremism and xenophobia in all its forms and to promote the harmonious and equitable integration of diversity in the context of equal citizenship rights.

This was recently and strongly reiterated – the Geneva Centre’s Executive Director said – in the Outcome Declaration “Moving Towards Greater Spiritual Convergence Worldwide In Support of Equal Citizenship Rights” adopted by the World Conference on “Religions, Creeds and Value-Systems: Joining Forces to Enhance Equal Citizenship Rights” held on 25 June 2018 at Palais des Nations by the Geneva Centre under the Patronage of HRH Prince El Hassan bin Talal of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

In relation to the historic visit to the UAE, by His Holiness Pope Francis and the Great Imam of Al-Azhar His Eminence Sheikh Ahmad Al-Tayyib, a Joint Document entitled “Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together,” was adopted on 4 February 2019 by these Eminent Dignitaries reiterating the importance of harnessing the collective energy of religions and faiths to uphold equal citizenship rights and promote tolerant and inclusive societies.

In this connection, Ambassador Jazairy said that the conference will take stock of the convergence and complementarity of these two pronouncements that offer an inspiring ideal of world citizenship fostering unity in diversity and building bridges of respect for our common humanity.

In recognition of the inspiring role of African countries in building bridges of respect for our common humanity and to promote models of equal citizenship in the aftermath of the era of colonialism and Apartheid, Ambassador Jazairy invited all African Permanent Missions in Geneva to be present at the 21 March conference.

Ambassadors of the African Group expressed their strong commitment to support the work of the Geneva Centre and the endeavours of its Executive Director to promote a value-driven human rights system and to promote mutual understanding and cooperative relations between people.

The meeting was chaired by the Permanent Representative of the Central African Republic, HE Léopold Ismael Samba, and held in the presence of the Permanent Observer of the African Union HE Ajay Kumar Bramdeo.

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Eluminada Roca (70) Janeline Garcia (32) and her son (9 months) — the youngest and the oldest members of San Isidro village women's association — are engaged in restoring Leyte Sab-a Basin peatland. Stella Paul/IPS

By Stella Paul
LEYTE ISLAND, Philippines , Mar 7 2019 (IPS)

Eluminada Roca has lived all her life next to the  Leyte Sab-a Basin peatlands. The grandmother from of San Isidro village in Philippines’ Leyte island grew up looking at the green hills that feed water to the peatland, she harvested tikog—a peatland grass to weave mats—and ate the delicious fish that was once in abundant in the waters.

But today, the land is losing its water, the grass is disappearing and the fish stock has drastically decreased.

The community is mainly subsistence food growers and dependent on the catching and selling of fish both for consumption and sale.

So, at the age of 70, Roca has joined hands with women of her village to restore the peatland to its previous health.

In the 1970s, the government of Philippines encouraged its people to clear the peatland forests and start farming.

In Leyte Sab-a Basin, it resulted in destroying some hills to build roads and canals. However after decades, the canals are draining the peatland water, making them go dry. Fortunately, there is now a new effort to undo the damage.

In a hot, March afternoon, Roca sits with the members of San Isidro Village Women’s Association, discussing why they must restore the peatland.

“We need to make the peatland whole again, so we can resume our life as it used to be,” Roca is heard saying.

Everyone nods in agreement, including Janeline Garica who, at 32, is the youngest woman in the group.

 

Eluminada Roca – the oldest member in San Isidro village women’s association who is engaged in restoring Leyte Sab-a Basin peatland. Credit: Stella Paul/IPS

Peatland – crucial to combat climate change

Peatlands are wetland ecosystems where the soil is composed of 65 percent or more organic matter derived from dead and decaying plant materials submerged under high water saturation.

They preserve global biodiversity, provide safe drinking water, minimise flood risk and help address climate change. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) peatlands store as much as 30 percent of the global carbon.

But, damaged peatlands are also a major source of greenhouse gas emissions. So, when drained and damaged, they worsen climate change, emitting two gigatons of carbon dioxide (CO2) every year, which accounts for almost six percent of all global greenhouse gas emissions.

Peatland restoration can therefore bring significant emissions reductions. Countries have been urged to include peatland restoration in their commitments to global international agreements, including the Paris Agreement on climate change.

Leyte Sab-e peatland in Leyte island, Visayas province, Philippines. Credit: Stella Paul/IPS

Peatland in Philippines

According to the data published by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the total area of identified peatlands in the Philippines is 20,000 hectares, including Leyte Sab-a Basin peatland. Spread over four villages, including San Isidro, this is one of the two major peatlands in the country. 

In 2013, when Philippines was hit by the devastating typhoon Hayan (locally known as Yolanda), everything in Leyte and its capital city Tacloban was razed to the ground. According an Oxfam report, the natural disaster had “brought out the greater vulnerabilities of women, children, persons with disabilities, elderly people and the LGBT individuals in already poor communities.”

As they struggled to get their lives back in track, the locals who live near the peatland areas began to notice the changes around them. They started identifying them one by one. The trees, including Lanipao (Terminalia copelandii), and syzygium flowering plants, were destroyed; and the bats, the birds and Tarsier—an endangered species of monkey—that inhabited the peatlands were almost gone. 

The loss of the wildlife concerned the local communities, with many feeling that the peatland was becoming unhabitable. 

In 2017, WEAVER—a women’s-led NGO in Tacloban started a project to restore 1180 hectares of Leyte Sab-a Basin peatland by roping in local women. Today, with support from the local government, the Visayas State University and International Institute for Rural Reconstruction, an international NGO. 

“It is a project where the local women will be the main actors. The different partners will contribute by doing research on what alternative crops can the locals grow, what alternative livelihood they can have because they cannot just be taken out of the place. We will help them organise, give them training and help them have an income through peatland restoration,” Paulina Lawsin Nayra, founder of WEAVER, tells IPS.

According to Nayra, training of the women will begin after April which will include deepening their knowledge of peatland, its link to climate change, its vulnerability to fire and the various ways to restore it.

The training will include collecting seeds and planting the trees that only grow on peatland, vigilance against fire as peatland are very vulnerable to forest fire and keeping nurseries.

Janeline Garcia, 32 , with her 9 month old son in San Isidro village near Leyte Sab-a Basin peatland. To secure her son’s future she wants to restore the peatland. Credit: Stella Paul/IPS

While are yet to be formally trained in the restoration work, the women of San Isidro already are looking at the future.

“If we plant enough trees, birds will be back and we can start a bird sanctuary which can be a tourist attraction,” Maria Cabella, 52, who heads the village women’s group, tells IPS.

“We can also starts a ropeway cable car for the tourists to enjoy the view of the peatland below,” Estilita Cabella, 42, tells IPS. “We can restart making tikog mats,” reminds Roca.

But for Janelina Garcia—the young mother—the future health of the peatlands is related closely to the future of 9-month-old son.

“Once we restore the peatland, my husband can catch enough fish  to support our child,” she tells IPS with a smile.

Related Articles

• Protecting Women’s Space in Politics
• Decent Work Still a Distant Dream for Many Latin American Women
• INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY – Think Equal, Build Smart, Innovate for Change

The post Island Women Take the Lead in Peatland Restoration appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

This feature part of IPS coverage of International Women's Day on Mar. 8

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Activists take part in a march on the eve of the commemoration of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, in Santiago. Credit: Crisis Group

By Isabelle Arradon
BRUSSELS, Mar 7 2019 (IPS)

Women human rights defenders around the globe are facing heightened threats of violence and repression. Sometimes they are targeted for being activists, and sometimes just for being women. World leaders should do much more to secure space for women’s safe participation in public life.

In early January 2019, unknown gunmen shot dead Maritza Isabel Quiroz Leiva, a 60-year-old Colombian land rights activist on a small farm near the Caribbean city of Santa Marta. Her killing was a stark reminder that speaking out on social and political issues in Colombia – whether land disputes, women’s rights, or the political violence that endures despite the 2016 peace agreement between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrilla movement – is dangerous business. For Maritza’s death is not an isolated incident: in the last three years, guerrillas (FARC remnants and others), criminals and mystery assailants have killed more than 300 activists (both men and women) like her.

Nor is Colombia the only country in its neighbourhood where violence against all human rights defenders is putting prominent women activists at risk of physical attack and other abuse. In 2018, our global conflict tracker CrisisWatch recorded several such murders elsewhere in Latin America – including that of Guatemalan indigenous activist Juana Raymundo in July and that of Colombian women’s rights activist Maria Caicedo Muñoz in October.

Isabelle Arradon, Director of Research & Special Adviser on Gender, Crisis Group. Credit: Crisis Group

Women who are in the public eye as they challenge established norms and take on powerful interests, from governments to insurgencies to criminal gangs, are prominent targets; and women leaders representing neglected constituencies – such as the poor, ethnic and sexual minorities, displaced persons or migrants – are also preyed upon. The murder in March of Brazilian Marielle Franco, a Rio de Janeiro city council member, is a case in point. In addition to being a campaigner against corruption and police brutality, Franco was a powerful advocate for black women, the LGBT community and youth. The investigation has moved slowly.

From a global perspective, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders Michel Forst highlighted in a 2019 report that in the current political climate – where there has been both a backlash against human rights around the world and a rise in misogynistic rhetoric among political leaders – human rights defenders who are women “have been facing increased repression and violence across the globe”. The report suggests that these women are sometimes targeted for the causes they promote, and sometimes simply because they are women who are publicly asserting themselves.

Moreover, in addition to the risk of attack that all activists face, women activists are vulnerable to gender-specific abuse – which can include stigmatisation, public shaming (as a perceived way to damage their “honour”), threats of sexual violence, online harassment and killings. In April 2018, individuals seeking to undermine and intimidate Indian investigative journalist Rana Ayyub threatened her with sexual violence on social media and used a fake pornographic video to tarnish her reputation. In June, unknown individuals ransacked the home of journalist and activist Marvi Sirmed, who has done much to highlight the central role of women’s rights and the rule of law in Pakistan’s political transition. In July, an unknown man attacked with sulfuric acid anti-corruption campaigner Kateryna Handzyuk in Kherson, Ukraine; with burns over more than 30 per cent of her body, she died from her wounds in November. And in September, masked attackers opened fire on Soad al-Ali, a leading human rights activist and mother of four in her mid-forties, in broad daylight in the southern Iraqi city of Basra. During roughly the same period, three other influential Iraqi women, including social media leader Tara Fares, were killed, or found dead in suspicious circumstances, at other locations.

Despite women’s longstanding role in informal dispute resolution, their near absence from peace talks and similar international security processes and mechanisms, as in Yemen or Afghanistan, requires particular attention.

One concern about the threat of violence or attack on women activists is that it not only affects their safety, but could chill their participation in public life, where women are already under-represented. Globally, only a quarter of parliamentarians are women, and nearly all heads of state or government leaders are men. This is not to say that addressing risks of political violence will by itself increase women’s representation in politics, as there are many possible reasons for the low numbers on women’s political participation worldwide. Nor does progress in this regard necessarily correlate with lesser danger to women. (Latin America, which has some of the highest rates of violence against human rights defenders in the world, boasts a vibrant women’s rights movement, and several of its parliaments have relatively high levels of female representation.) But making it safer for women to participate in public life can only help. States and their leaders should use the tools at their disposal – from good laws to strong enforcement to hold those responsible for abuse to account, to ensuring that security forces are attuned to the protection needs of women – to combat violence against women activists.

Protecting women’s space in politics is especially important in the conflict resolution area. Despite women’s longstanding role in informal dispute resolution, their near absence from peace talks and similar international security processes and mechanisms, as in Yemen or Afghanistan, requires particular attention. Sidelining conflict-affected women – or women representing those with perceived low status in society due to their socio-economic status, age, education, ethnicity or religion – is no way to build inclusive and lasting frameworks for peace.

As we celebrate International Women’s Day on 8 March, world leaders should speak out more forcefully about the critical importance of women’s participation in political life. They should take more measures to prevent and condemn verbal and physical attacks on women human rights defenders or political leaders and their families. They should also carve out greater and safer space for civil society, including women’s groups, to enable them to have a say in government policies affecting their lives.

The implications of violence against women activists and politicians are broad, not just for families, but also for the well-being of societies at large. Failure to protect women like Maritza Isabel Quiroz Leiva and Marielle Franco sends a terrible signal to women and girls wanting to raise their voice in the public square. Chilling their participation in public life would be a tragedy not just for the women whose potential is being squandered but for the communities in which they live.

This opinion piece was originally published by Crisis Group

The post Protecting Women’s Space in Politics appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

This opinion piece is part of IPS coverage of International Women's Day on Mar. 8

The post Protecting Women’s Space in Politics appeared first on Inter Press Service.

A child inspected in Fukushima prefecture, Japan

By Akio Matsumura
NEW YORK, Mar 7 2019 (IPS)

On March 11, we commemorate the 8th anniversary of the Fukushima nuclear disaster. To an outside observer, this anniversary passes as a technical progress report, a look at new robot, or a short story on how lives there are slowly returning to normal.

Yet in Japan, the government has not figured out how to touch or test the irradiated cores in the three crippled reactors, which continue to contaminate water around the site of the melt down. The government does not know where it will put that radioactive material once it can find a way to move it.

Meanwhile, the government and site operator are running out of room to store the contaminated water, which is filling up more and more tanks. The cleanup is estimated to take forty years and the cost is estimated at $195 billion.

The latest publicly released findings of radiation levels are from 2017, when Tokyo Electric Power Company had to use a remote-controlled robot to detect the levels in Reactor 2, since no human can approach the crippled reactor.

The rates read 530 sieverts per hour, the highest since the March 2011 meltdown. We have no reason to believe that they have fallen since then. Remote-control robots are being used in the other reactors as well, indicating that radiation levels are similarly high there.

Akio Matsumura

Even using the robot, work can only be carried out for very short times, since the robots can only stand 1000 sieverts of exposure – less than two hours in this case.

This is an extremely high amount of radiation. After TEPCO published the rate, the Asahi Shimbun reported that “an official of the National Institute of Radiological Sciences said medical professionals have never considered dealing with this level of radiation in their work.”

The Japan Times quoted Dr. Fumiya Tanabe, an expert on nuclear safety, who said that the “findings show that both the preparation for and the actual decommissioning process at the plant will likely prove much more difficult than expected.”

Fukushima’s Children Need International Attention

There have been many victims of this disaster. Thousands of people have been displaced from their homes. Local fishermen are worried that the government will proceed with its plan to dump the storage tanks of contaminated water into the ocean.

Others worry that the flow of the radioactive wind and contaminated water are reaching North America and will continue to do so for the next forty years.

Above all of these important issues, it is the children of Fukushima who most need our attention. They are at risk of higher rates of cancer because of their exposure to the contamination from the initial explosion. In Chernobyl, the only comparable case we have, more than 6,000 cases of thyroid cancer were found in children according to the UN through 2005.

There is evidence that thyroid cancer rates are higher among Fukushima’s children than the national population, but it is a latent disease: it is still too early to tell what the full impact will be. But it is clear the case needs action.

Scientists will always offer different opinions, swayed first by uncertainty, but also, sadly, by politics, money, and ambition.

Some will claim that the evidence has been exaggerated, underestimated, or that perhaps we’re at too early a stage to be certain. Or that we need more time to clarify the results. I have seen many instances of these arguments at the United Nations and international science conferences. Why do we wait and make another mistake?

Helen Caldicott, a medical doctor and founding president of Physicians for Social Responsibility, part of a larger umbrella group that was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985, wrote: “The truth is that most politicians, businessmen, engineers and nuclear physicists have no innate understanding of radiobiology and the way radiation induces cancer, congenital malformations and genetic diseases which are passed generation to generation. Nor do they recognize that children are 20 times more radiosensitive than adults, girls twice as vulnerable as little boys and fetuses much more so.”

UNICEF Can Lead

We face many complex challenges of climate change, poverty alleviation, and national security. The health and welfare of children must always be our top priority. They are our future; our deepest purpose is to care and provide for them. By deciding not to fully investigate the effects of Fukushima, we fail them.

We all agree with that personally, but which institution is best positioned to carry out the mission? To me, UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund, is the only answer. Indeed, putting children above national security is at UNICEF’s core.

Maurice Pate, an American humanitarian and businessman who joined UNICEF at its inception in 1947, agreed to serve as the Executive Director upon the condition that UNICEF serves the children of “ex-enemy countries, regardless of race or politics.” In 1965, at the end of Pate’s term, the organization won the Nobel Peace Prize.

To this day, its mission includes a commitment to “ensuring special protection for the most disadvantaged children – victims of war, disasters, extreme poverty, all forms of violence and exploitation and those with disabilities.” The children of Fukushima deserve the protection of UNICEF.

*Akio Matsumura is also the Secretary General of the Global Forum Moscow Conference hosted by President Gorbachev at the Kremlin in 1990 as well as of the Parliamentary Earth Summit Conference hosted by Brazil National Assembly in Rio de Janeiro in 1992

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Excerpt:

Akio Matsumura* is Founder of the Global Forum of Spiritual and Parliamentary Leaders on Human Survival.

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Tanzanian ICT entrepreneur, Rose Funja, shows off one of the drones she uses as a key tool in her data mapping business. Credit: Busani Bafana/IPS

By Ibrahim Thiaw
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 7 2019 (IPS)

Science and technology offer exciting pathways for rural women to tackle the challenges they face daily. Innovative solutions for rural women can, for example, reduce their workload, raise food production and increase their participation in the paid labour market. But even the very best innovative, gender-appropriate technology makes no sense without access to other critical resources, especially secure land rights, which women in rural areas need to flourish.

Land degradation and drought affect, at least, 169 countries. The poorest rural communities experience the severest impacts. For instance, women in areas affected by desertification, easily spend four times longer each day collecting water, fuelwood and fodder. Moreover, these impacts have very different effects on men and women. In the parts of Eritrea impacted most by desertification, for example, the working hours for women exceed those of men by up to 30 hours per week.

Clearly, poor rural women would benefit the most from new ways of working on the land. Therefore, technology and innovation must benefit women and men equally for it to work well for society. Even more so at a time when technology is becoming critical to manage the growing threats of desertification, land degradation and drought. In Turkey, for instance, farmers can get information on when to plant in real time, using an application installed on a mobile phone.1

However, in most part of the world, the adoption rates of technology are especially low among rural women, possibly because very often technologies are not developed with rural women land users in mind.2 For example, a wheelbarrow can reduce the time spent on water transport by 60 percent. But its weight and bulk makes it physically difficult for most African women to use.3

The demand for technology design that meets rural women’s specific needs is great. But developing appropriate technology is not enough, if the pre-requisites for technology uptake, in particular access to land, credit and education, are not in place.4 Today, a web of laws and customs in half the countries on the planet5 undermine women’s ability to own, manage, and inherit the land they farm.

In nearly many developing countries, laws do not guarantee the same inheritance rights for women and men.6 In many more countries, with gender equitable laws, local customs and practices that leave widows landless are tolerated. For instance, a 2011 study carried out in Zambia shows that when a male head of household dies, the widow only gets, on average, one-third of the area she farmed before. The impact of such changes on the world’s roughly 258 million widows and the 584 million children who depend on them is significant.8 It leaves us all worse off.

Globally, women own less land and have less secure rights over land than men.9 Secure access to land increases women’s economic security, but it has far greater benefits for society more generally. Women who own or inherit land also control the decisions that impact their land, such as the uptake of new technology.

A study in Rwanda shows that recipients of land certificates are twice as likely to increase their investment in soil conservation relative to others. And, if women got formal land rights, they were more likely to engage in soil conservation.10 Initiatives that benefit rural women do not stop at the household or local levels. At scale, such investments have a huge global impact.

If women all over the world had the same access as men to resources for agricultural production, they could increase yields on their farms by 20 to 30 percent. This could raise the total agricultural output in developing countries substantially at national scales, and reduce the number of undernourished people in the world by 12 to 17 percent.11

If we want to tackle the underlying causes of gender inequality, to build smart and innovate for change, then technology is good. Innovative, gender appropriate technology is better. But these will have little impact if the pre-requisites for its uptake by women, in particular access to land, credit and education, are non-existent.
—–

1 Reuters, 2015, article by Manipadma Jena. Turkey’s plan to help farmers adapt to climate change? Ask a tablet. https://www.reuters.com/article/turkey-climatechange-technology/turkeys-plan-to-help-farmers-adapt-to-climate-change-ask-a-tablet-idUSL8N12P08R20151026
2 Theis, Sophie et al. (2018): What happens after technology adoption? Gendered aspects of small-scale irrigation technologies in Ethiopia, Ghana and Tanzania. Agricultural and Human Values, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10460-018-9862-8
3 Ashby, Jacqueline et al ( n.d.) Investing in Women as Drivers of Agricultural Growth, p.3, http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTARD/Resources/webexecutivesummaryARD_GiA_InvstInWomen_8Pg_web.pdf
4 FAO/IFPRI (2014): Gender specific approaches, rural institutions, and technological innovations, p. 13 et seq, p. 41.
5 Huyer, Sophia, 2016: Closing the Gender Gap in Agriculture, Gender, Technology and Development 20(2) 105–116, p. 108.
6 Huyer, Sophia, 2016: Closing the Gender Gap in Agriculture, Gender, Technology and Development 20(2) 105–116, p. 108.
7 Chapoto, Antony et al. (2011): Widows’ Land Security in the Era of HIV/AIDS: Panel Survey Evidence from Zambia,” Economic Development and Cultural Change 59, no. 3 511-547, https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdfplus/10.1086/658346
8 Coughenour Betancourt Amy (2018): The Green Revolution reboot: Women’s land rights, https://www.devex.com/news/opinion-the-green-revolution-reboot-women-s-land-rights-93003
9 UN WOMEN, Facts & Figures, http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/in-focus/commission-on-the-status-of-women-2012/facts-and-figures.
10 Ali, D.A. et al (2011): Environmental and Gender Impacts of Land Tenure Regularization in Africa: Pilot Evidence from Rwanda. 28 pp. Sanjak, Jolyne (2018): Women’s Land Rights Can Help Grow Food Security, https://www.landesa.org/womens-land-rights-can-help-grow-food-security-blog/.
11 FAO (2011): Closing the gender gap in agriculture, http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/52011/icode/.

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Excerpt:

Ibrahim Thiaw is Under-Secretary General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.

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Urmila Bhoola, UN Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery

By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 7 2019 (IPS)

The United Nations, which diligently monitors human rights violations worldwide, believes that centuries-old slavery still exists worldwide.

The UN mandate on “contemporary forms of slavery” includes, but is not limited to, issues such as: traditional slavery, forced labour, debt bondage, serfdom, children working in slavery or slavery-like conditions, domestic servitude, sexual slavery, and servile forms of marriage, according to Urmila Bhoola of South Africa, the UN Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery.

In an interview with IPS, Bhoola pointed out that slavery was the first human rights issue to arouse wide international concern.
But it still continues today—“and slavery-like practices also remain a grave and persistent problem”.

She said “traditional forms of slavery have been criminalized and abolished in most countries, but contemporary forms of slavery are still prevalent in all regions of the world”.

Still, many UN member states who are suspected of such human rights violations refuse to permit international experts—designated as UN Special Rapporteurs — to either investigate allegations or even formally visit these countries, according to published reports.

Asked about these constraints, Bhoola said she he has so far visited Niger, Belgium, Nigeria, El Salvador, Mauritania, Paraguay and, lastly Italy, in October 2018.

Her mandate includes the implementation of Article 4 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which states that ‘No one shall be held in slavery or servitude: slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms”.

She said “country visits’ are only conducted upon invitation from governments”.

“I have issued requests for country-visits to many countries but due to the mandate’s name and focus, member states are often reluctant to invite the mandate on contemporary forms of slavery, to conduct a visit,” said Bhoola, who was appointed Special Rapporteur by the UN Human Rights Council back in May 2014.

In this sense, she pointed out, member states may not openly refuse a visit but may not reply to country-visit requests.

“This is, in my view, a pity, as my aim is to engage constructively with governments, and to support them in their efforts to end contemporary forms of slavery”.

In fact, some of the countries that are afraid of being named and shamed, perhaps because they are listed as countries where slavery is prevalent in global reports, “have many good laws and practices that others can learn from.”

The findings obtained through the country visits are contained in the country visit reports, which are publicly available.

Excerpts from the interview

IPS: The ILO says over 40 million people – 71 percent of them women and girls – are subject to various forms of modern slavery, including human trafficking, child soldiers, forced and early child marriages, domestic servitude and migrant labour. Can these malpractices be criminalized by national legislation or by an international treaty? How feasible are these measures?

BHOOLA: Several international treaties prohibit slavery and related practices, such as the 1926 Slavery Convention and its Protocol; the 1956 Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery; the ILO Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29); the ILO Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105); the ILO Protection of Wages Convention, 1949 (No.95); the ILO Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189); the ILO Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138); the ILO Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182); the Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others (1949). A complete list can be found here.

International treaties can make an important difference in a country, as States need to periodically report on progress achieved in implementing the treaties’ provisions once they have ratified a treaty or convention. If a State does not have the means to effectively fulfil its obligations under a treaty or convention, it should seek international assistance.

However, slavery is considered to be a customary norm of international law that requires elimination by States irrespective of whether they have ratified the 1926 Slavery and 1956 Supplementary Conventions. All States are therefore required to prohibit slavery and its different forms, such as slavery like practices or servitudes, in domestic legislation.

In order to eradicate slavery effectively at the national level, States must also invest in sustainable development and in the protection and promotion of all human rights.

Many States have committed to achieving target 8.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) because ending slavery and creating decent work for all requires a multifaceted approach.

This requires them to develop comprehensive national responses to contemporary forms of slavery, which should combine the effective rule of law, robust institutional and policy frameworks, ending discrimination and inequality, including gender inequality, protection of labour rights, oversight of the business sector and ensuring full and equitable access to justice where rights have been violated.

Ending contemporary forms of slavery is therefore an integral part of the broader struggle to combat poverty, underdevelopment and gender inequality and achieve human rights-based development and justice for all.

IPS: As a UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, how far does your mandate extend? Can you name and shame countries? Or is that an action that can be taken only by the Human Rights Council?

BHOOLA: Special Rapporteurs are appointed by the Human Rights Council and they either have a thematic or a country-specific mandate. As Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, I am mandated to address country-specific concerns either publicly or privately. All Special Rapporteurs are mandated to address confidential communications to States and/or to issue public statements and public thematic reports which are presented on an annual basis.

Also, I issue a public report on every country visit containing the findings of the mission as well as recommendations to the State visited and to other stakeholders. I report to both the Human Rights Council and the General Assembly and when these reports are presented governments engage with one another, including the government that has been the subject of a visit, and it is this constructive dialogue that is far more useful in my view in addressing gaps in compliance.

IPS: How many businesses comply with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights? Since most forms of slavery occur in the private sector, how effective are these voluntary– not mandatory– guidelines in preventing modern forms of slavery in the work place?

BHOOLA: The Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights were developed to clarify the different roles and responsibilities that States and companies have to address business impact on human rights

The Guiding Principles do not constitute an international instrument that can be ratified by States, nor do they create new legal obligations. Instead, they clarify and elaborate on the implications of relevant provisions of existing international human rights standards, some of which are legally binding on States, and provide guidance on how to put them into operation.

National legislation will often exist or may be required to ensure that these obligations are effectively implemented and enforced. This, in turn, means that elements of the Guiding Principles may be reflected in domestic law regulating business activities.

Even though the Guiding Principles are not legally binding, protecting human rights against business-related abuse is expected of all States, and in most cases is a legal obligation through their ratification of legally binding international human rights treaties containing provisions to this effect.

The State duty to protect in the Guiding Principles is derived from these obligations. In many States it is reflected—fully or partly—in domestic law or regulations on companies. Companies are bound by such domestic law. The corporate responsibility to respect human rights exists above and beyond the need to comply with national laws and regulations protecting human rights. It applies equally where relevant domestic law is weak, absent or not enforced1.

The Guiding Principles also validate the duty of States to protect against and redress business-related human rights harms. In the context of contemporary forms of slavery, this duty to protect could translate into a smart mix of measures to ensure that businesses engage in their responsibility to respect human rights, including through undertaking human rights due diligence throughout their supply chains and remediating the adverse impact of their operations on human rights.

At the very minimum, States should ensure that businesses realize the implications of purchasing products or services that have in any way been linked to forced labour or other contemporary forms of slavery.

To date, States have adopted diverse approaches to addressing this issue, which include ensuring criminal, civil and tort liability for business related human rights violations, setting up mechanisms to regulate such compliance in trade and consumer protection and addressing it in government procurement.

Disclosure and transparency can also feature as legal obligations rather than being limited to voluntary corporate social responsibility initiatives2 .

Although it is not possible to measure compliance by all companies, there are some key initiatives that should be cited, such as the Corporate Human Rights Benchmark (CHRB), which aims to identify which companies perform best on human rights issues. More information on this initiative and its more recent results can be found here.

Another important initiative with a focus on slaver is KnowTheChain, which identifies and shares leading practices, enabling companies to improve their standards and procedures. This initiative also aims to help companies protect the wellbeing of workers by incentivizing companies and identifying gaps in each sector evaluated. KnowTheChain published its first set of benchmarks in 2016, and the second set, covering more than 120 companies, in 2018. For more information, visit their website.

IPS: With the spread of technology worldwide, more and more women and girls are lured into human trafficking through technology, including Facebook. Does the UN have the means to fight this? Or is there a remedy at all?

BHOOLA: The UN has various anti-trafficking conventions and mechanisms to address human trafficking. There is also a mandate on trafficking in persons, especially women and girls, which focuses on these issues specifically. In order to avoid overlaps between our mandates, my mandate focuses on one of the outcomes of human trafficking, which is labour exploitation specifically.

IPS: The UK has a “call to action to end forced labour, modern slavery and human trafficking”. How effective is this? And are there any other countries with such action or legislation?

BHOOLA: The Call to Action to End Forced Labour, Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking was launched on the 19th September 2017 during the 72nd Meeting of the UN General Assembly, and it has been endorsed by the 84 Member States and Observer States.3

The Call to Action outlines practical actions that countries can take to achieve Target 8.7 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, including to ratify and ensure the effective implementation of relevant international conventions, protocols, and frameworks; to strengthen law enforcement and criminal justice responses in order to rapidly enhance capacity to identify, investigate, and disrupt criminal activity; to put victims first; and to eradicate forced labour, modern slavery, human trafficking, and the worst forms of child labour from [their] economies […] by developing regulatory or policy frameworks, as appropriate, and working with business to eliminate such practices from global supply chains4 .

Information regarding government’s action following the endorsement of the Call to Action can be found here. Despite the positive progress, more needs to be done.

We cannot treat these issues of forced labour, contemporary forms of slavery and human trafficking in isolation, as these are complex crimes, and we need to reach out across borders and across mandates. The Call to Action provides the framework for countries to join up to share best practice and work together, and highlights the need for private and wider public sector engagement to deliver real change.

The United Nations University, in partnership with Alliance 8.7, have developed a knowledge Platform with funding from the UK Government which will accelerate the scientific study of “what works” and host an online data base with information on country action to support research and best practice: www.delta87.org/call-to-action

Australia has followed by passing its Modern Slavery Act in December 2018. The law requires businesses above a certain turnover threshold to take steps to identify slavery in their operations and supply chains, and report on the actions they have taken to address those risks.

1 OHCHR ‘Frequently asked questions about the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights’ https://www.ohchr.org/documents/publications/faq_principlesbussinesshr.pdf
2 A/HRC/30/35, https://undocs.org/en/A/HRC/30/35
3 A Call to Action to End Forced Labour, Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/759332/End-Forced-Labour-Modern-Slavery1.pdf
4 https://delta87.org/call-to-action/

The writer can be contacted at thalifdeen@ips.org

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