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Taylor Swift weilt mit ihrer «Eras-Tour» in London. Und bei dieser Gelegenheit holt sie einen speziellen Gast auf die Bühne: Den Superstar Ed Sheeran. Die beiden performen ihren Song «Everything has changed», den sie gemeinsam geschrieben haben.

Ein Forschungsteam will nachweisen können, was wirklich zum Ende der Dinosaurier führte.

Stefan Raab plant nach seinem Box-Comeback eine neue TV-Show – offenbar um seinem «TV Total»-Nachfolger Sebastian Pufpaff den Kampf anzusagen.

Although women interact with the environment and its natural resources more closely than men, they remain underrepresented in climate-related decision-making. Credit: Joyce Chimbi/IPS

By Joyce Chimbi
NAIROBI, Aug 16 2024 (IPS)

After years of reporting on the frontlines of climate change, I have witnessed the devastating impact extreme weather events have on women and girls. In Kenya’s pastoralist communities in far-flung areas of Northern Kenya, West Pokot, Samburu and Narok counties, droughts mean a resurgence in harmful cultural practices such as outlawed female genital mutilation (FGM), beading and child marriages.

When I visited Samburu County in 2019, beading was in the past. A young girl will be given a specific type of necklace to wear to signal that a Moran or male youth has booked her for marriage. In turn, the Moran is allowed to exploit her sexually for favors extended to her family in the form of gifts such as a goat, milk and meat.

During the recent severe drought of 2022–2023, such harmful practices made a comeback. Child marriages are used as a coping mechanism to recover lost livestock or, in the case of beading, to put food on the table. A pregnancy during the beading process is brutally terminated. It is taboo to have a child outside of wedlock.

Even when deadly floods rocked the country earlier in the year, women and children were crying out for help. In my experience reporting about climatic disasters, UN estimates ring true. Women and girls are 14 times more likely to die when disaster strikes and nearly 80 percent of all displaced people are women and girls.

Their vulnerability and exposure to natural disasters come from pre-existing social and economic inequalities. Growing up, every last Sunday of the month, my mother, aunts and grandmother would attend or host a merry-go-round. Women formed groups and, once or twice a month, they would visit each other in turn and bring household items bought from a set monthly or bimonthly contribution.

My earliest memories are of household items such as kitchen appliances, beddings and food items. Later on, they phased out these items for cash to be spent on the most pressing needs in various households, including school fees.

From the merry-go-round, the revolutionary table banking movement was born—a group funding strategy where all contributions are placed on the table once or twice a month, and shared out among members in the form of low-interest short- and long-term loans.

It took many years for me to understand why women went to such lengths to raise money. They had been locked out of formal financial institutions due to historical and structural gender inequalities. Even today, women still account for the majority of the unbanked in Kenya.

Women could only open a bank account if accompanied by a male chaperone, and I saw, growing up that women could only access land through male relatives. Only 1 percent of Kenya’s land title deeds are in the hands of women today.

When a climatic disaster strikes, women have nowhere to go. They sit out dangerous climatic events, hoping that it is only a passing cloud. But for women, such as Benna Buluma, alias Mama Victor, a well-known human rights defender who perished in the April 2024 floods while in her house in Mathare informal settlements, and millions of others, its a disaster that can destroy lives and livelihoods.

Jane Anyango Adika of serikali saidia (government help!) fame became the face of the enduring cry for gender-sensitive responses in times of floods through repeated media coverage in a region ravaged by perennial floods. By the time Anyango came into the limelight, she had been battling floods for two decades. As recently as 2022, she was still crying out to the government for help.

Now we are becoming increasingly aware that extreme weather patterns such as heatwaves and floods create favorable conditions for vector-borne diseases such as Zika virus, malaria and dengue fever, which cause miscarriages, premature birth, and anaemia among pregnant women.

I am yet to hear of arguments disputing that climate disasters affect women and girls more than men and boys, the lack of women in decision making is simply a manifestation of widespread gender discrimination that takes on different shapes and forms in everyday life. In our patriarchal societies, where women are to be seen and not heard, it is playing out in the very serious and consequential climate arena.

As a result, men still fill 67 percent of climate-related decision-making roles and women’s representation in national and global climate negotiating bodies remains below 30 percent. The 2022 SDG Gender Index, published by Equal Measures 2030, a leading global partnership on accountability for gender equality and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), exposes alarmingly insufficient progress on gender equality at the global level between 2015 and 2020.

In fact, of the 17 SDGs, Goal 13 on climate action was one of the three lowest-scoring goals and even high-performing countries on the index had weaknesses on gender equality under SDG 13. It is highly concerning that even though men own land and control natural resources, in two-thirds of all the States in the world, women are the pillars of agriculture and land management.

My hope that the world is slowly recognizing that there is no escaping the climatic onslaught when half of the world’s population—women—are left behind critical decision-making structures related to climate has recently been ignited by the Conference of Parties (COP) climate and gender equality agenda.

Since COP25, experts have told world leaders that gender equality and climate change are not only two of the most pressing global challenges, but that they are inextricably interlinked. At COP 25, Parties adopted the five-year enhanced Lima work programme on gender and its gender action plan (GAP). Followed by an intermediate review of the implementation of the gender action plan and amendments to the GAP adopted in COP27.

At COP28, a new UN Women report stated that by 2050, climate change may push up to 158 million more women and girls into poverty and cause 232 million to face food insecurity. During the conference, Parties agreed that the final review of the implementation of the enhanced Lima work programme and its GAP would commence in June 2024, identifying challenges, gaps and priorities.

In my opinion, the road to COP29 should be littered with gender and climate blueprints from countries that are already making headway. Zimbabwe is now establishing a renewable energy fund to create entrepreneurship opportunities for women. Bhutan in South Asia has trained gender focal points in various ministries and women’s organizations to better coordinate and implement gender equality and climate change initiatives.

This will in turn ensure that there is gender equality and equity at all levels of climate-related decision-making, and representation at all levels of climate negotiating bodies around the world will not deliver an effective and sustainable climate agenda if half the world’s population remains on the margins.

Note: This opinion piece is published with the support of Open Society Foundations.

IPS UN Bureau Report

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Excerpt:

When a climatic disaster strikes, women have nowhere to go. They sit out dangerous climatic events, hoping that it is only a passing cloud. How is it, asks senior IPS correspondent Joyce Chimbi, that the road to COP29 is not littered with meaningful and powerful gender and climate blueprints from countries that are already making headway?

Tropensturm «Ampil» fegt mit Böen von über 200 km/h an Japans Pazifikküste entlang und sorgt für Starkregen, Stromausfälle und gestrichene Flüge. Besonders betroffen ist die Präfektur Chiba.

Harmadfokú meteorológiai figyelmeztetést adott ki a Szlovák Hidrometeorológiai Intézet (SHMÚ) pénteken (8. 16.) délutánra (13:00-19:00) az ország számos járására (délen Komáromtól Losoncig) a várható hőség (+38°C) miatt. A többi nyugati járásban és a déli járásokban (Poltártól Szobráncig) másodfokú hőségriasztás lesz érvényben (+35/+37°C). Az ország többi vidékén (6 északi járást kivéve) elsőfokú lesz a hőségriasztás (+33/+34°C).

En avril dernier, le Parlement bulgare a décidé d'interdire dans les médias la publicité pour les jeux de hasard. Les effets ont été immédiats, frappant directement au portefeuille les grands groupes médiatiques. Les jeux d'argent sont en effet un marché lucratif en Bulgarie. Ils ont connu un nouvel essor après la chute de l'empire de l'oligarque Vassil Bojkov.

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Lugano sichert sich gegen Partizan das erste Saisonziel. Gegen die Serben ist aber ein hartes Stück Arbeit notwendig. Dank Steffen und Mahmoud feiern die Tessiner ein Remis, das sich wie ein Sieg anfühlt.

À cinq semaines du scrutin du 22 septembre, la population helvétique serait en faveur des deux objets, selon un premier sondage SSR publié ce vendredi.

Thailand hat eine neue Regierungschefin: Die Milliardärserbin Paetongtarn Shinawatra wurde mit deutlicher Mehrheit vom Parlament gewählt. Sie ist die jüngste Ministerpräsidentin in der Geschichte des Landes und tritt in die Fussstapfen ihres Vaters.

Factory workers package products in Accra, Ghana. Credit: Nyani Quarmyne (Panos)/IFC

By Abebe Adugna
WASHINGTON DC, Aug 16 2024 (IPS)

Every year in Western and Central Africa, 6 million young people enter the labor force, while only about half a million new jobs are created. This enormous jobs deficit means that most entrants into the workforce work in the informal sector, with insecure income, low quality employment, and very little hope of escaping poverty.

The repercussions of this unemployment epidemic are profound: a breakdown in the social contract, social and political unrest, wasted human potential and increased poverty.

What is holding back Western and Central Africa from the kind of dynamic job creation seen in other developing regions?

Highly commodity-dependent economies that rely on export revenue but do not create jobs. Low levels of trade due to high trade barriers. Onerous presence of state-owned enterprises that crowd out the private sector. And declining foreign investment, which prevents the countries in the region from reaping the benefits of technology transfer, access to global markets, and job creation.

The Catalyst: Private Sector Development

Addressing the unemployment challenge is no easy task. But developing and nurturing a vibrant private sector has to be at the core. The private sector is an engine of economic growth, innovation, and job creation. And the tax revenues generated from thriving businesses enable governments to invest in essential public services such as healthcare, education, and infrastructure, further improving the overall quality of life for citizens.

Yet the private sector has been repressed in many countries in Western and Central Africa and its role in generating jobs is falling woefully short.

So, what can be done?

To unleash the private sector’s power to invest, generate jobs, catalyze a green transition and drive economic transformation, this is what needs to change:

• Improving the business enabling environment to enable private investment and promote market competition. For example, the World Bank is supporting countries such as Ghana, Liberia, Togo, Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, and Sierra Leone to simplify and shorten the process of starting and closing a business, reform laws and regulations related to foreign direct investment (FDI), speed up the resolution of commercial disputes, and bring security and clarity to land and property titles. And the bedrock of many of these reforms is the digitization of government-to-business services.

• Enabling market access, investment and trade: More predictable trade and investment policies aligned with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) would improve the conditions for domestic production of higher valued goods, economic diversification and regional integration. The pact connects 1.3 billion people across 55 countries with a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of $3.4 trillion. Yet the potential is not being realized due to a lack of progress in the implementation of the AfCFTA in West and Central Africa as yet.

For example, countries of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC) have very low levels of intra-regional trade, with widespread global and sectoral trade barriers that elevate costs and diminish export potential. Governments could and should adopt policies that facilitate market entry, increase competition, and at tract private investors, and avoid excessive state involvement in productive sectors.

All of these actions will help enable and mobilize private capital, expand market networks, reduce trade transaction costs and uncertainty, strengthen compliance, and enable digital trade. The World Bank supports implementation of the AfCFTA through Trade Facilitation West Africa (TFWA), which is a $25 million technical assistance program over 6 years. This includes support for 6 trade corridors between sea ports and landlocked countries in the region, covering 9 countries.

• Improving sector and firm performance

Building a stronger private sector requires policy actions at the sector and firm levels to improve competitiveness and performance. Firm-level interventions should include incubator/accelerator programs, expanding access to finance for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and start-ups, and supporting technology adoption.

In the Republic of Congo, under our Support to Enterprise Development and Competitiveness Project, this set of firm level interventions has led to nearly all SMEs who received support to become formal, registered businesses. And our Senegal Jobs and Economic Transformation has already created or protected more than 21,000 jobs and provided support to over 4,000 firms, of which more than half are women-owned businesses.

Sectoral-level interventions hold even more promise in economies with high potential sectors such as in manufacturing (automotives, textiles and garments), tourism, wood, and construction.

• Climate smart is business smart: Countries in Western and Central Africa have an abundance of natural assets that could help create jobs, increase exports and build climate resilience for local and global communities. Wood, eco-tourism, fisheries, critical minerals are all examples where job creation and the preservation of natural assets can be reinforcing.

In Sierra Leone, the Economic Diversification Project is not only creating local, formal sector jobs through tourism sites, but incentivizing local communities to protect beaches from erosion, slow down deforestation, and protect chimpanzees from poaching. Although this agenda goes beyond job creation, it is also about businesses themselves being the solution to climate resilience.

New decarbonization technologies for manufacturing, sustainable sourcing of local materials, renewable energy for production is critical and they require financing. That is why in Burkina Faso and Ghana, we are piloting a ‘green window’ in an existing credit guarantee program to increase commercial credit for green investments. This is also helping raise awareness among SMEs about green solutions to strengthen resilience and adapt production to a changing climate.

Governments in Western and Central Africa can no longer rely on a narrow band of extractives and exports to keep their economies strong. To create the jobs needed, the private sector must be allowed to flourish, creating a virtuous cycle of job creation, competition, productivity, and exports. There simply is no other option.

Abebe Adugna, the Regional Director for Prosperity in the Western and Central Africa region at the IMF, was the former Practice Manager for the Macroeconomics, Trade, and Investment global practice in Africa, specifically in the East Africa region.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Swissmedic autorise la nouvelle formulation du laboratoire bâlois Roche de Tecentriq, qui était jusqu’ici administrable par voie intraveineuse.

Dual Russian-American citizen Ksenia Karelina was sentenced to 12 years in prison on Thursday (15 August) after a Russian court found her guilty of treason for donating money to a charity supporting Ukraine.

Dual Russian-American citizen Ksenia Karelina was sentenced to 12 years in prison on Thursday (15 August) after a Russian court found her guilty of treason for donating money to a charity supporting Ukraine.

Martina Šimkovičová (SNS-jelölt) kulturális miniszter csütörtökön (8. 15.) hat tagot nevezett ki a Művészeti Alap (Fond na podporu umenia/FPU) tanácsába – tájékoztatta a TASR-t Petra Bačinská, a kulturális minisztérium kommunikációs osztályának vezetője.

Najat Jumaan, Dean of the Faculty of Commerce and Economics, Dean of the Faculty of Finance and Management at Ar-Rasheed Smart University and Board of Director Member at Jumaan Trading and Investment Co.

By Randa El Ozeir
TORONTO, Aug 16 2024 (IPS)

Once upon a time, the Sheba (Seba’a) Kingdom (today’s Yemen) had a prominent queen. Women, in the presence of men, were held in a higher position, literally.

Things afterward have upended to the disadvantage of female Yemenis living under a strong-hold tribal and patriarchal system. 

Amid an eight year long war between the the government and Houthi rebels brought a humanitarian crisis considered to be one of the worst in the world, there is a small good news story. While the armed conflict has kept Yemeni men busy at the front(s), some Yemeni women have stumbled upon a societal and economic breather, stemming from a national need to generate an income for themselves and their families to stay afloat.

Women began venturing in small, low-risk businesses.

Dhekra Ahmed Algabri, executive director at Al-Amal foundation, praises the rise of women in many trades and commercial sectors, although they are “linked to conservative patterns established by society, such as sewing, hairdressing and styling, cooking, handicraft making, incense and perfume production and women’s clothing.”

Absence of an Integrated, Empowering System

Najat Jumaan, Dean of the Faculty of Commerce and Economics, Dean of the Faculty of Finance and Management at Ar-Rasheed Smart University and Board of Director Member at Jumaan Trading and Investment Co., believes that Yemeni women run projects here and there, “but they are not subject to an integrated system to empower and encourage them from a young age to be an active element in the economic and productive process.”

Nevertheless, some Yemeni women broke free from cultural limitations and into traditionally male-dominated fields, such as programming and engineering. Algabri explains that “during the ongoing conflict, women turned to e-commerce, e-marketing and professional services of consulting and training.”

Dhekra Ahmed Algabri, executive director at Al-Amal Foundation.

The bright side businesswomen saw in the dark situation of Yemen was their existence in a closed market they knew inside-out.

“I can move in it and find solutions to several of its problems, and when you achieve things in a more natural and organic way, you attract public recognition and reap supplemental exposure,” says Eman Al-Maktari, co-founder and CEO of MOSNAD Talents Marketplace.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for Gender Equality in Yemen underlines the need for “women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life.”

However, there is a  lack of official and reliable numbers about the actual extent of women’s contribution in the economy. According to Jumaan, “women’s participation is very limited and they are poorer compared to men in Yemen.”

Her statement is confirmed by World Bank statistics which putes women’s participation in the labor force at 5.1 percent compared to 60.4 percent for men in 2023. The same study noted there were no official statistics for shares in businesses. Only 5.4 percent of women had bank accounts compared with 18.4 percent of men.

Obstacles and Social Media Blessing

Long-standing obstacles are deep rooted in the society’s culture and perpetuate across generations, such as male-female segregation and restricted movement for women (the imposed “mahram”). Individual exceptions might overcome some of the barriers as in the case of Al-Maktari, whose family is more open, but the majority face “a glass ceiling that prevents them from ascending, growing, continuing, and achieving profits,” says Jumaan.

To make matters worse, war related obstacles appeared. The airport of Sana’a was closed for a long time and hindered participating in meetings and conferences. Additionally, Al-Maktari finds that her Yemeni nationality prevented her “entering other countries to participate in opportunities available to other women around the world, which results in an unfair advantage. The undertakings I made would have had a two- to three-time greater return if I were in another country.”

The alternative rescue came from social media that opened vistas for Yemeni businesswomen to promote and show case their work. Nonetheless, it didn’t solve the problem of regional inaccessibility and foreign investors’ reluctance to join the fragile and volatile Yemeni market and expand there.

Eman Al-Maktari, Co-Founder and CEO of MOSNAD Talents Marketplace.

Incentives But Unclear Future

Civil society and donor organizations, the banking sector and the government are investing in “many incentives, initiatives and forms of support for businesswomen through training programs, workshops, financing, loans, professional networks and consultations,” highlights Algabri.

The General Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry in Yemen also plays an important role, albeit not prominent in light of the crisis, to support the economic and commercial sector in the country.

Al-Maktari benefitted from mentorship and training programs to understand business and start one of her own.

“I received support from an Indian mentor in the field of IT, and it helped me greatly when I was emerging as a digital expert and found a platform to build projects and a name”.

Yet she describes the current situation in Yemen as “foggy,” with an unclear future for businesswomen in a country weighed down with multi-layered obstacles in women’s paths.

“Even economists are not capable of answering the question about our future. We cannot plan annually or quarterly and have very short-term business plans.”

Despite all challenges, hope is growing for Yemeni women. “If conditions and components of success are met, many of which are related to women and the belief in and perfection of their abilities, they can reach their economic power when given the opportunity to educate, learn, qualify, and gain experiences and talents,” says Jumaan.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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34 Elfmeter hat es gebraucht, bis feststand, ob Ajax Amsterdam oder Panathinaikos Athen in die Playoffs der Europa League einzieht. Der glückliche Sieger ist am Ende der holländische Rekordmeister.

Russia and Ukraine should negotiate an end to their conflict to avoid the war spilling over into Belarus, President Alexander Lukashenko, a key ally of Vladimir Putin, said in an interview with Russian state television.

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