Africa

With fewer than 100 days to go to COP29, the highest decision-making body on climate issues under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), is getting shorter and the need for creative and innovative solutions to protect lives and livelihoods is extremely urgent. The State of the Climate in Africa 2023 report shows […]

By CIVICUS
Sep 5 2024 (IPS)

 
CIVICUS discusses the recent wave of protests against gender-based violence (GBV) in India with Dr Kavitha Ravi, a member of the Indian Medical Association (IMA).

Protests erupted across India after a 31-year-old female medical trainee was raped and murdered in a Kolkata hospital on 9 August. The IMA called a strike, with protests held in major cities including Kolkata and Mumbai. While the official strike has ended, many doctors, particularly junior doctors, remain on strike and protests continue to demand justice, accountability and safer working conditions for women.

Kavitha Ravi

What triggered the recent protests against GBV in India?

Protests erupted after the tragic rape and murder of a young female doctor at the R G Kar Medical College in Kolkata on 9 August. This horrific incident shocked the nation and sparked widespread outrage. In response, a coalition of doctors, medical associations such as the IMA and various resident and faculty associations joined together in a nationwide strike to demand justice for the victim and better safety measures for health workers, particularly women who face significant risks in the workplace.

Protesters are calling for major reforms, including the adoption of a Hospital Protection Act, which would designate hospitals as safe zones and introduce measures to create a safer environment for health workers. Their demands are part of a larger movement to comprehensively address GBV, prevent similar tragedies in the future and create a safer and more supportive working environment for everyone in the health sector.

What steps have been taken so far to ensure justice and the safety of female health workers?

The judicial system has acted swiftly by transferring the case to a higher authority to ensure a thorough investigation after concerns were raised about the police’s initial inquiry, which was not accepted by the students or the victim’s family. They were sceptical, believing the police might be favouring the college authorities and supporting the accused.

This decision aims to ensure a detailed investigation so justice can be done. The Supreme Court of India is also overseeing the case to monitor its progress, address any issues that may arise and ensure all necessary steps are taken to uphold justice.

In parallel, several initiatives are underway to improve the safety of female health workers. The Ministry of Health has proposed establishing a committee to review and improve safety protocols in health facilities. There are also plans to increase security in hospitals and establish a new national taskforce dedicated to improving safety through better infrastructure, advanced technology and additional security measures. However, despite these efforts, more needs to be done to combat GBV and ensure that these measures effectively protect female health workers.

How have the authorities responded to the protests?

The authorities have taken a mixed approach to the nationwide strike, combining concessions with new measures to address immediate concerns. The Health Ministry has drawn up a detailed plan to increase security in central government hospitals. This includes installing high-resolution CCTV cameras, monitoring access points with identification badges, deploying trained security personnel for constant patrolling and securing duty rooms for female staff. Hospitals are also encouraged to develop and regularly update emergency response plans and conduct mock drills.

In response to these measures, the IMA suspended its strike. However, other doctors’ associations have continued to protest for more substantial reforms. Many people remain dissatisfied, particularly after recent incidents of police violence. While the Supreme Court’s intervention may have temporarily eased the tensions, protesters remain concerned about the new measures’ effectiveness and full implementation.

Why is GBV so prevalent in India, and what’s being done about it?

Deep-rooted cultural, social, economic and legal factors account for the high prevalence of GBV in India. This is a patriarchal country where traditional gender roles and the subjugation of women are deeply entrenched. Women tend to be economically dependent on men, which traps them in abusive relationships that make it difficult for them to seek help or escape. Intergenerational cycles of violence perpetuate the problem, as children who witness or experience abuse may come to see such behaviour as normal.

Low literacy rates, particularly in rural areas, further limit women’s understanding of their rights and the available support. When they do seek justice, the system often fails to protect the victims or hold perpetrators accountable. Systemic failures in law enforcement and justice help perpetuate GBV.

Many initiatives and campaigns have helped highlight and address this issue. But it has not been easy. A lack of consistent political will and weak implementation of policies have hindered substantial change. Feminist and social justice movements often face resistance from conservative parts of society, making it difficult to change these deeply entrenched cultural norms.

To combat GBV effectively, we need a comprehensive approach that includes better education, legal reform, economic empowerment and cultural change. Civil society organisations are at the forefront of this fight, actively advocating for stronger laws, better enforcement and increased public awareness. Continued and robust efforts are essential to address this widespread problem and ensure meaningful change.

Civic space in India is rated ‘repressed’ by the CIVICUS Monitor.

Get in touch with the Indian Medical Association through its website or Facebook page, and follow @IMAIndiaOrg on Twitter.

 

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A nuclear test is carried out on an island in French Polynesia in 1971. In 2009 the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 29 August the International Day Against Nuclear Tests. Credit: CTBTO

By Dennis Francis
UNITED NATIONS, Sep 5 2024 (IPS)

Today, the General Assembly convenes – for the fifteenth consecutive occasion – to observe the International Day Against Nuclear Tests, which is commemorated annually on 29 August.

On this day, 33 years ago, the Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site in Kazakhstan – where the former Soviet Union conducted 456 nuclear tests – was permanently closed, marking a pivotal moment in the global effort to end unrestrained nuclear testing.

We observe this Day in honor and in remembrance of the victims, and in support of all the survivors – mindful of our collective responsibility to ensure that our moral compass stays attuned to the enduring impact of nuclear testing on people’s lives, livelihoods, health, and the environment.

Importantly, it is a day to reaffirm our commitment to ending nuclear testing – once and for all.

Despite the progress made to date – and the universal understanding of the existential dangers posed by nuclear weapons – the threat they pose still looms unacceptably large, exacerbated by a world once again torn apart by conflict and strife.

Geopolitical tensions are at their highest in decades – from Europe to the Middle East, from Africa to Asia. As a result, the global nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime faces significant setbacks.

In recent years, we have witnessed the return of dangerous, irresponsible, and reckless rhetoric – suggesting that the real risk of resort to nuclear arms may, once again, not be a far-fetched reality; be it intentionally or by accident.

We have also heard talk of maintaining the readiness of nuclear testing sites – with the possibility of resuming nuclear tests if deemed necessary.

We have even seen a nuclear-armed State revoke its ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. I am deeply concerned by these developments – as it seems that we have not yet learned from the painful lessons of the past.

I am deeply troubled by the message these actions send to all other nations – perhaps even emboldening some to reconsider their arms control commitments, thus further endangering global peace and security.

It is our collective responsibility to ensure that we do not turn back the clock and allow the same mistakes to occur once more – with even graver consequences. With even graver consequences.

The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) remains our best safety net to ensure that nuclear testing stays where it belongs – in the past. Since its adoption in 1996, the CTBT has garnered near-universal international support.

It is encouraging that, to date, 187 Member States have signed the treaty, and 178 have ratified it. I commend Papua New Guinea as the most recent Member State to ratify the treaty in 2023. The treaty’s benefits to international peace and security are evident in the numbers.

Before 1996, over two thousand nuclear weapons tests were conducted; and since then, there have been fewer than a dozen.

However – in the face of heightened geopolitical tensions – we cannot take anything for granted.

I take this opportunity to urge all Member States that have not yet signed or ratified the treaty to do so without delay – particularly the Annex 2 States, whose ratifications are essential for the treaty’s entry into force.

As I conclude, it is worth emphasizing that history reminds us of the horrors of war and the tragic misuse of human ingenuity to create even more lethal weapons.

And nuclear arms stand as the ultimate manifestation of this dark legacy.

Complacency in the face of these threats risk nothing less than the end of civilization as we know it. Now – more than ever – we must reaffirm our commitment to upholding and enforcing the norm against nuclear testing.

Any threats, preparations, or declarations of readiness to resume testing demand our united and unequivocal condemnation. And should any such tests occur, they must be met with swift and decisive collective action.

The time to end nuclear tests – once and for all – is now, not tomorrow, but NOW.

This article is based on remarks by the President of the General Assembly, Dennis Francis, at the High-level plenary meeting of the General Assembly to commemorate and promote the International Day against Nuclear Tests.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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The 33-year-old Ugandan had been doused in petrol and set on fire by a former boyfriend.

Eswatini officials dismiss allegations the marriage is a political arrangement.

By Anis Chowdhury, Khalilur Rahman and Ziauddin Hyder
SYDNEY, NEW YORK, WASHINGTON DC, Sep 4 2024 (IPS)

The White Paper on the state of Bangladesh’s economy will include a review of “smuggled money”, according to the head of the committee, Debapriya Bhattacharya, entrusted to prepare the White Paper.

Anis Chowdhury

We strongly endorse this initiative given the huge scale of stolen assets, but it must not end with a review. It should be accompanied and followed up by vigorous actions to bring back the assets stolen during the fifteen years of despotic rule of the deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Previously Bhattacharya referred to the issue of bringing back siphoned money as “a complex issue”; but this should not dampen the resolve to strongly pursue this important matter. It will likely take many years of sustained efforts to repatriate a significant portion of such assets and the current interim government led by Professor Muhammad Yunus should put in place an action plan supported by necessary mechanisms, including international cooperation arrangements, which would be continuously pursued over the coming years. Strong and sustained political will be critical to the success of these efforts.

Bangladesh can learn from other countries in in its pursuit of recovering stolen assets.

Success cases: A positive trend
It is encouraging that despite complexities and difficulties, there have been cases of significant success based on international cooperation. Over US$10 billion of stolen assets have been returned between 1997 and 2023. Since its inception in 2007, the UN-World Bank joint “Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative” (STaR), helped recover close to US$2 billion stolen assets.

Khalilur Rahman

There has been a significant increase in the value of corruption-related assets recovered since 2019, driven partly by large asset returns to Malaysia related to the 1MDB scandal. Increasingly countries are signing agreements and publishing information on corruption-related asset returns. Examples include:

• In January 2024, a court in the US ruled that stolIn 2020, the US and Jersey returned US$311 million to Nigeria, traced back to former president Sani Abacha
• By 2004 the Philippines was able to repatriate US$683 million of Ferdinand Marcos money held in Swiss Bank accounts;
• Between August 2001 and 2004, Peru recovered nearly over US$180 million stolen by Vladimiro Montesinos from several jurisdictions such as Switzerland, Cayman Islands and the US;
• Between 2005 and 2006, Nigeria recovered US$505 million of the Sani Abacha money frozen and forfeited by Swiss authorities;
• en assets worth £6.9m should be returned to Nigeria;
• In 2022, the US transferred over US$20.6 million to Nigeria, traceable to the kleptocracy of former Nigerian Dictator General Sani Abacha and his co-conspirators;
• In 2021, the UK returned £4.2 million to Nigeria related to former Governor of Delta State James Ibori and his associates;
• In 2021, the UK returned around £450,000 to Moldova, forfeited from the son of Moldova’s former prime minister, Vladimir Filat;
• In 2006, British authorities returned US$1.9 million to Nigeria illicitly gained by Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, governor of the oil-rich Bayelsa state in Nigeria.
• In 2007, the US and Switzerland repatriated US$84 million to Kazakhstan

As of year-end 2020, the Philippine government recovered P174.2 billion in Marcos ill-gotten wealth and as of 2021, 35 years since the people power revolution, the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) that Cory Aquino established, has been running after P125.9 billion more in ill-gotten wealth from the Marcos family.

Ziauddin Hyder

It took more than three decades for the Philippines to recover a significant amount of its assets stolen by Marcos and his family. Nevertheless, the Philippines case demonstrates the political will to persist and doggedness in pursuit of ill-gotten money. The PCGG is housed proudly in a building recovered from the Marcos family. In 2023, it received government budget of ₱166.47 million (US$2.95 million). Its staff have traced money through jurisdictions all over the world and fought their way through hundreds of court cases.

Nigeria and Peru have taken an average of five years to achieve successes. This reflects improvements in the processes and increased international efforts as well as cooperation in recent years.

Haiti cannot be Bangladesh’s role model
The main challenge is the weakening of political will to continue pursuing illicit assets as it happened in post-Jean Claude Duvalier Haiti. The Duvalier case has been a slow and laborious process taking decades to unfold.

Haiti’s lack of political will was highlighted in 1989 by an attorney working on Duvalier’s case on behalf of the Haitian government. According to The New York Times, despite sending twenty-five requests for assistance to Haitian officials regarding cases in New York, by September 1988, Haiti’s government had “inexplicably stopped cooperating—and, not so incidentally, stopped paying its legal bills.”

Renewed asset recovery efforts in the US by the Haitian government of President Aristide yielded only minimal results, with the most well-known being the recovery of US$350,000 from Duvalier’s wife’s account at the Bank of New York.

Some believe that, had Haiti not dropped the original Duvalier asset recovery, the Haitian government could have recovered between US$25 and US$75 million by 1990. However, the resulting debacle left Duvalier free and the majority of his assets untouched. Meanwhile, Haiti had to face a US$1.2 million legal bill and with justice denied.

Why Bangladesh must persist
Notwithstanding complexities, in recent years there have been significant successes due to enhanced law enforcement tools and improved international cooperation from well-meaning countries and financial centres. These help the fight against corruption and impunity.

Recovering stolen assets should not be focused simply on money. It must also be seen as a tool of deterrence as well as fighting the impunity. Stolen asset recovery serves three distinct purposes: (i) recovering monies to fund governments programmes, especially helping the victims of the fallen regime;(ii) providing a semblance of justice for victims of a political culture of impunity; and (iii) deterring officials and politically connected elites from engaging in corruption.

Therefore, the efforts to bring back lost assets should not be regarded as a stand-alone undertaking; but should become an integral part of the agenda of reforming the state so that incentives and opportunities of siphoning off scarce resources are effectively removed.

Anis Chowdhury, Emeritus Professor, Western Sydney University (Australia) & former Director of UN-ESCAP’s Macroeconomic Policy & Development Division.

Khalilur Rahman, former head of economic, social and development affairs at the Executive Office of the UN Secretary-General; former head of UNCTAD’s Technology Division and Trade Analysis Branch and its New York Office.

Ziauddin Hyder, Former Director Research BRAC and Adjunct Professor, University of the Philippines at Los Banos

IPS UN Bureau

 

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• The Demise of Democracy and Human Rights Violations in Bangladesh: International Financial Institutions’ Culpability
• Dealing with Bangladesh’s Odious Debt
• Recovering Bangladesh’s Stolen Wealth

A year on from the first event in Ghana, organisers have signed an agreement to help find a host city for the next edition.

A year on from the first event in Ghana, organisers have signed an agreement to help find a host city for the next edition.

The Nigerian is heading to Turkish club Galatasaray on loan, but why was it so hard for the African Player of the Year to find a move after falling out with Napoli?

The Nigerian is heading to Turkish club Galatasaray on loan, but why was it so hard for the African Player of the Year to find a move after falling out with Napoli?

Mossoró prison, in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, in Brazil, is one of the five maximum security prisons in that country. Credit: Mjsp

By Humberto Márquez
CARACAS, Sep 4 2024 (IPS)

Invoking the fight against terrorists and sending those who can be charged with this crime to new maximum security prisons are increasingly emerging in the toolbox of Latin American leaders who want to show an iron fist against criminals and opponents.

Renata Segura, head of the regional programme of the Brussels-based think-tank International Crisis Group, wrote on her X-media account that “the fascination of Latin American presidents with maximum security prisons is spreading like wildfire.”

This attraction is present among presidents of opposing political persuasions, although most of them are united by the neo-populism of their policies and actions.

Venezuela is the most recent case, where president Nicolás Maduro, whose re-election in the 28 July elections sparked an outbreak of street protests, ordered two prisons to be set up as maximum security jails to hold some 2,000 protesters arrested and accused of terrorism.“The fascination of Latin American presidents with maximum security prisons is spreading like wildfire”: Renata Segura.

Argentine president Javier Milei accused opponents who recently demonstrated against him in Buenos Aires of the same offence, while Ecuador’s Daniel Noboa ordered the construction of a maximum security prison and a prison ship for criminals accused of terrorism.

The top regional reference is president Nayib Bukele of El Salvador, who under a state of emergency that has lasted more than two years has detained 80,000 people, mostly accused of terrorism as members of large criminal gangs or maras.

The Bukele government built a mega-prison, the Terrorism Containment Center (Cecot), with capacity for 40,000 inmates who are subjected to trial and detention conditions that violate human rights, according to international humanitarian organisations that observe the process.

Segura told IPS from New York that “the recent announcements of the construction of maximum security prisons are most likely inspired by the measures taken by president Bukele, who has been quite successful in reducing insecurity.”

She acknowledged that the Salvadoran ruler “has high levels of popularity, despite massive human rights violations in that country.”

Indeed, “he ended up putting two percent of El Salvador’s adult population behind bars, mostly without due process, and with serious human rights violations,” said Carolina Jiménez Sandoval, president of the non-governmental Washington Office on Latin America (Wola).

Under this state of emergency, “at least 261 people have already been killed, and we must remember that every person in state custody is the responsibility of the state,” Sandoval told IPS from Washington.

Construction work is underway at the dilapidated Tocuyito prison in north-central Venezuela, which is being quickly converted into a high-security prison for hundreds of detainees in protests against the proclaimed re-election of president Nicolás Maduro. Credit: RrSs

New fad, old recipe

On 21 June, Noboa started building a maximum-security prison on a 16-hectare site in the province of Santa Elena, on the Pacific coast of Ecuador, a country of 18 million people with 36 prisons. It is expected to cost US$52 million and will hold up to 800 inmates.

“Today we are marking one of the most important milestones in our fight against terrorism and the mafias that have hijacked our country’s momentum for decades,” said the president, who will seek re-election next year.

In Venezuela, while hundreds of young protesters against Maduro’s proclamation as winner were imprisoned in late July, the president ordered two prisons in the centre of the country, Tocorón and Tocuyito, to be remodelled as “maximum security prisons” to hold the new captives.

Not to be outdone, Milei announced he will sell prisons on valuable land in urban centres in Argentina, and use the money to build maximum security prisons far from the cities. In June he sent his Security minister, Patricia Bullrich, to learn about the Salvadoran experience.

“This is the way. Tough on criminals,” the minister said after the visit.

Ecuadorian president Daniel Noboa (in black) looks at a model of the new maximum security prison being built on his country’s Pacific coast. He presents it as part of the fight against criminal gangs he describes as terrorists. Credit: Presidencia de Ecuador

Maximum security prisons have always existed in the region, such as the Mexican Federal Rehabilitation Centre El Altiplano, in the central state of Mexico, where a group of former drug cartel leaders and serial killers are held.

Colombia has its most secure prisons in Combita (centre) and Valledupar (north), as well as maximum security wings in Bogota’s La Picota prison, where it has held guerrillas, convicted or accused terrorists, and drug cartel leaders for years.

Brazil, with 8.5 million square kilometres and 205 million people, has five maximum security prisons, in four of its 26 states and in the Federal District. Two prisoners escaped from Mossoro prison in the northeast last February, its first jailbreak since 2006.

Tragically famous are the prisons of Lurigancho, in Lima, and El Fronton Island, in the Pacific off the capital, for the massacre of hundreds of prisoners belonging to leftist guerrilla group Shining Path, following a riot in June 1986, in the context of the anti-terrorist struggle in Peru.

Argentina’s Security Minister Patricia Bullrich visited the Terrorism Confinement Center in El Salvador, which she considers a model to follow. Credit: Presidencia de El Salvador

These maximum security prisons were shut down after the massacre, but Peru maintains the Challapalca prison, in a desolate spot in the south of the country at 4,600 metres above sea level, the highest in the world, where it holds dozens of prisoners considered highly dangerous.

Commenting on the case of El Salvador, Jiménez Sandoval observed, “does it have lower homicide levels? True. Do people feel safer? True.”

“It is also true that these punitive models based on mass arrests and human rights violations tend to have immediate effects, but it is very difficult in the medium and long term for them to continue to be useful”, she said.

“You can’t put everyone behind bars”, but also “because many of the factors that influence and cause the inclusion of young people in violence remain, such as poverty, exclusion, lack of educational and employment opportunities and life plans”, Jiménez said.

“We are not terrorists,” reads a sign held by a protester in Caracas against the proclaimed re-election of president Nicolás Maduro. Nearly 2,000 people have been arrested in the protests and the Attorney General’s Office has announced terrorism charges against hundreds of them. Credit: Provea

Cultivating fear

Now, the option of maximum security prisons goes beyond the fight against terrorism and reaches political activism, threatening opponents or demonstrators who could be accused of this crime, and also as a show of strength and determination to hold on to power.

“When rulers in countries that also face high rates of insecurity due to organised crime, gangs or other phenomena announce these measures, they are undoubtedly making gestures that indicate that they too are adopting a tough-on-crime strategy,” Segura said.

In Venezuela, “where repression of the opposition has grown after the elections, I think there is another goal: sending a message to those who are considering joining the protests that they will be arrested and imprisoned as if they were high risk criminals,” she added.

The Venezuelan government “is making a very intense effort to mainstream that anyone who protests or dissents from the officially announced election results is a terrorist,” lawyer Gonzalo Himiob, vice-president of Foro Penal, an organisation advocating human rights, and in particular of prisoners, for 15 years, told IPS.

“There is a deliberate trivialisation of terrorism by those in power, and a technical incorrectness, because arrested demonstrators do not fit the internationally accepted definitions of terrorist agents, links or acts,” Himiob said.

Many of those arrested were just bystanders not even demonstrating, and among the 1,500 arrested in the weeks following the 28 July election there are at least 114 teenagers, which delegitimises the terrorism charges, he adds.

There were “doubly serious events”, such as the announcement by the Prosecutor’s Office that those arrested would be categorised as terrorists, “a prefabricated catalogue that inverts the law, which states that first the facts are individualised and then the people, and not the other way around,” continued Himiob.

In short, “they are acting with what is known as criminal law of the enemy, using it not to do justice but to capitalise on power,” he said.

And, thus, to rule with the impulse of the springs of fear.

Measles vaccinations alone prevented 57 million deaths since the year 2000. But this success does not just depend on developing effective vaccines; they need to be accessible to everyone. Credit: Shutterstock.

By Daniela Ramirez Schrempp
Sep 4 2024 (IPS)

Measles infections are surging right now, with epidemiologists reporting that the number of large or disruptive outbreaks has tripled over the past three years. It is one of the most infectious diseases that we know. The virus spreads through respiratory droplets; when an infected person coughs or sneezes, it can linger in the air for up to two hours and infect 10 others who are not immune.

Most of the estimated 136,000 people who died from measles infections in 2022 were children under the age of five. Every single death is a tragedy, but it hurts even more when those deaths could have been prevented with a safe and effective vaccine.

As a pediatrician, I am proud to be involved with vaccines because of their public health impact. Vaccination has accounted for 40% of the observed decline in global infant mortality; it is one of the most remarkable achievements in modern medicine.

Globally, just under three-quarters of all children under the age of two received both doses of a measles vaccine when at least 95% is needed to prevent outbreaks. Even worse, an estimated 14.5 million children haven’t received any doses of any vaccines

Measles vaccinations alone prevented 57 million deaths since the year 2000. But this success does not just depend on developing effective vaccines; they need to be accessible to everyone.

Having grown up in Colombia, at a time and place where vaccines were not as prevalent or accessible, and having attended medical school there, I unfortunately saw children sick and dying from diseases that vaccines could prevent. I even had some of these diseases in childhood. And so, every time my kids get vaccinated, I celebrate (although they don’t).

Not all parents have this background though, and I understand how decisions that impact the health of your child can be intimidating without it.

My work in vaccine safety also provides an understanding of the research behind these shots. Every vaccine goes through rigorous testing in clinical trials, continuous monitoring for adverse effects, and adherence to strict regulatory standards. There is also strict safety surveillance and data monitoring conducted not only by drug developers but also by national health authorities in each country.

For vaccines, we closely monitor for safety and reactogenicity — the property of a vaccine to produce common, short-term side effects that are typically mild, self-limited, and usually indicate an immune response, such as pain at the injection site, fever, or fatigue.

We ask participants in clinical trials to report daily if they experienced any of these symptoms, how long they lasted, and how severe they were. This information helps inform future vaccine recipients about what they can expect. If the reactogenicity is too high and unacceptable, it may be a reason to discontinue the clinical trial and reassess what needs to be changed to continue the development of that vaccine.

In terms of safety, all adverse events that happen to any participant during a trial are carefully evaluated and analyzed to identify which of these events could be associated with the vaccine. We ask participants to report all signs and symptoms they may have experienced during the trial, whether they think they are related to the vaccine or not.

Usually, a trial includes participants who receive the actual vaccine and others who receive a placebo. That means that the study is “blinded” and neither the participants nor the trial staff and researchers know who is receiving the vaccine or the placebo until the data is evaluated. This helps us better determine if adverse events are related to the vaccine.

Globally, just under three-quarters of all children under the age of two received both doses of a measles vaccine when at least 95% is needed to prevent outbreaks. Even worse, an estimated 14.5 million children haven’t received any doses of any vaccines.

There are many unfortunate reasons why, including impoverished communities not having access to adequate healthcare and displaced populations driven from their homes. It isn’t only caused by people who are skeptical of the value of vaccines; however, these individuals had the choice to protect their children and their communities and they chose not to.

The stakes are clear, and it is not just about measles. Wild polio virus infections have decreased 99% since 1988, from 350,000 cases to 6 in 2021.

The disease still lingers though, as vaccination rates, at an average of 83%, are good but not great with too many geographic disparities for a disease that is exceptionally contagious and can cause irreversible paralysis.

Pertussis, or whooping cough, is another contagious infection with a significant mortality rate among infants, yet it is not being tracked as diligently. The last year WHO has complete data is 2018, when more than 151,000 infections were catalogued. In 2023 an estimated 84% of infants around the world received the recommended three doses of the diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP3) vaccine, but low-income countries trailed wealthier countries in immunizing their children.

If you take care of a child’s health and wellbeing, you’re taking care of the future of an entire community. And if that child is able to grow and learn without the threat of disease, the future of both the child and the community improves considerably. This is our goal.

Every parent’s decision to vaccinate their child plays a role, along with every program and initiative that makes the decision accessible and effective. Achieving herd immunity is paramount, where diseases cannot take hold in a community because most everyone has been immunized. Only high vaccination rates make this future possible.

 

Daniela Ramirez Schrempp, MD, is the Pharmacovigilance Medical Leader at the Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute.

 

Daniel Mthimkhulu claimed to have engineering degrees - but had only finished high school.

Nigerian Mariam Eniola Bolaji is the first African to win a medal in badminton at the Paralympics.

Nigerian Mariam Eniola Bolaji is the first African to win a medal in badminton at the Paralympics.

Many people are left stranded as drivers queue for fuel and commuters wait at bus stations.

A Peruvian farming family shares a moment of leisure during their agricultural work. Credit: FAO

By Mario Lubetkin
Sep 4 2024 (IPS)

The latest publication of the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2024 (SOFI) report launched last July in the framework of the G20 meeting in Rio de Janeiro provides a detailed overview of progress and setbacks in the fight against hunger.

At the global level, although we have made some progress, significant inequalities persist: while Africa remains the most affected region, Latin America shows positive signs of recovery, reflecting the impact of concerted efforts to improve food security.

Despite the region's progress, the Caribbean and Central American subregions continue to experience challenges related to increasing hunger. We cannot afford to go backward. It is essential that we deepen our analysis of the visions and strategies that have shown positive results to continue this path

The road has not been easy. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, our region was one of the most affected by hunger, reaching its highest point in 2021 at 6.9 percent of the population, while 40.6 percent faced moderate or severe food insecurity. For several years, e observed how progress made in the early 2000s rapidly receded.

However, the last two years have seen a decline in hunger levels, with a rate of 6.2% of the population, representing a decrease of 4.3 million people, mainly driven by South America.

Investments in social protection programs in several countries in the region have been instrumental in driving this recovery. Social systems have enabled quick response and more effective allocation of available financial resources to the most vulnerable populations.

Despite the region’s progress, the Caribbean and Central American subregions continue to experience challenges related to increasing hunger. We cannot afford to go backward. It is essential that we deepen our analysis of the visions and strategies that have shown positive results to continue this path.

Six months after the FAO Regional Conference in Georgetown, Guyana, we are committed to providing tangible responses to the priorities established for countries to transform agrifood systems and achieve Better Production, Better Nutrition, Better Environment, and Better Life.

At FAO, we have initiated a process of high-level reflection with governments to share experiences of public policies aimed at guaranteeing food and nutritional security.

Like the rest of the world, our region must be prepared to face growing risks such as climate change, conflicts, economic crises, and other challenges.

Latin America and the Caribbean has shown that, with the right policies, we can move forward and offer concrete and sustainable responses. Only with a firm commitment can we put an end to hunger and malnutrition, leaving no one behind.

Excerpt:

Mario Lubetkin is FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Latin America and the Caribbean 

The Security Council meets at the United Nations Headquarters to discuss the escalating hostilities in Libya and the United Nations Support Mission in Libya. Credits: UN Photo/Manuel Elías

By Oritro Karim
UNITED NATIONS, Sep 4 2024 (IPS)

The situation in Libya continues to grow more dire every year since the emergence of the al-Kaniyat militant group. From 2013 to 2022, al-Kaniyat had been responsible for a multitude of human rights violations, including mass killings, kidnappings, forced displacements, torture, and sexual violence. The lack of accountability for these injustices has spurred renewed conflict, which threatens to destabilize Libya years later.

In 2011, al-Kaniyat seized control of Tarhuna, a Libyan village that fosters approximately 150,000 people. Originally, al-Kaniyat had served as a local organized militia that sided with the Government of National Accord (GNA), an interim government that oversaw Libyan affairs after 2015. However, al-Kaniyat would eventually side with the Libyan National Army (LNA).

A report by the Libyan American Alliance (LAA) details the transgressions committed by the al-Kaniyat militia during the 2019-2020 Tripoli conflict.

“By October (of 2020), more than 20 mass graves had been exhumed in Tarhuna, accounting for over 200 bodies. Many disappearances and executions were not well-recorded by relatives of the victims though, due to the fear ingrained in the Tarhuna population by the militias, therefore, it is impossible to know the true quantity of victims”, stated Kamal Abubaker, Head of Libya’s General Authority for Searching and Identifying Missing Persons (GASIMP).

The Human Rights Watch (HRW) estimates that at least 338 people were abducted or reported missing during the militia’s five year siege. Additionally, LAA states that there is evidence of civilians being buried alive, electrocuted, and subjected to intense beatings.

Years later, GASIMP continued to find the remains of hundreds of victims, disposed of in mass graves. Numerous bombs and landmines were also recorded in the Tarhuna-Tripoli region.

Abubaker stated that there were at least 17 other mass graves in the area, containing women and children as well. It is estimated that there could be over 100 more that have yet to be discovered. In addition, over 350 families have reported missing relatives.

Civilians that defied al-Kaniyat authorities were imprisoned in one of four detention camps. Living conditions in these facilities were dire and prisoners were routinely subjected to physical and psychological torture.

The HRW detailed these conditions in a 2022 report. Detainees were contained in small, box-like cells that were approximately 1.2 meters high and 1.2 meters wide. Detainees were often suspended and whipped with plastic hoses on the soles of their feet, a practice known as falaka.

The perpetrators of these cases are still in the lengthy process of being identified and held accountable. This is primarily due to Libya’s compromised criminal justice system.

“Libya’s criminal justice system remained weak with serious due process concerns. Judges, prosecutors, and lawyers remained at risk of harassment and attack by armed groups. Military courts continued to try civilians”, states the HRW.

Additionally, during al-Kaniyat’s occupancy in Tarhuna, they controlled the local police and militia, causing significant obstructions of justice. Furthermore, the Kaniyat militia controlled key passages to Tripoli, effectively isolating Tarhuna from accessing crucial resources and aid personnel.

Mohamed Al-Kosher, the mayor of Tarhuna, stated, “Unfortunately, successive governments in Libya did not interfere in the crimes of this militia. If they wanted to, they could have taken out the Kaniyat. But every government turned a blind eye toward the crimes, and in return, the Kaniyat did what the government asked it to do”.

As a result, future perpetrators of human rights violations believe they are afforded impunity and the cycle continues.The lack of due process for the perpetrators of these violations has led to the emergence of an increasingly unstable social climate in Tarhuna.

An August 2024 report by The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) states, “The lack of truth and justice, including accountability for the countless crimes committed, has in some instances led to renewed violence and repeated violations fomenting further grievances in Tarhuna and surrounding area”.

Stephanie Koury, the acting Head of the UN Support Mission in Libya, adds that “leaving the root causes and drivers of conflict unaddressed will only serve to keep fueling toxic cycles of violence and revenge between communities”. Therefore, it is crucial to expedite punitive processes for al-Kaniyat perpetrators to ensure the stability of Libya.

Currently, there are judicial processes in progress to identify and prosecute those involved in human rights violations in Tarhuna. According to OHCHR, in November 2022, numerous applications for arrest warrants were submitted.

Libyan Attorney-General, al-Siddiq al-Sur stated that judicial investigators had opened 280 criminal cases against al-Kaniyat members. However, only 10 of these cases had been referred to court, with no date given as to when these trials will take place.

OHCHR adds that the United Nations (UN) has urged Libyan authorities to allow for “effective reparations” for victims, including “legal aid and mental health support and guarantees of non-repetition, designed in consultation with those directly affected”.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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People in Gaza are living in increasingly unsanitary conditions, amid the looming threat of deadly diseases. Credit: UNRWA
 
"Apartheid Israel is targeting Gaza and the West Bank simultaneously, as part of an overall process of elimination, replacement, and territorial expansion," said United Nations special rapporteur Francesca Albanese.

By Jake Johnson
NEW YORK, Sep 4 2024 (IPS)

An independent United Nations expert has warned that “Israel’s genocidal violence risks leaking out of Gaza and into the occupied Palestinian territory as a whole” as Western governments, corporations, and other institutions keep up their support for the Israeli military, which stands accused of grave war crimes in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.

Francesca Albanese, the U.N. special rapporteur on the human rights situation in the illegally occupied Palestinian territories, said in a statement September 2 that “there is mounting evidence that no Palestinian is safe under Israel’s unfettered control.”

“The writing is on the wall, and we cannot continue to ignore it,” said Albanese, who released a detailed report in May concluding that there are “reasonable grounds to believe” Israel is guilty of genocide in Gaza.

Albanese’s new statement came as the Israeli military’s largest assault on the West Bank in decades continued into its second week. At least 29 Palestinians have been killed during the series of military raids, according to Al Jazeera, including at least five children.

“Apartheid Israel is targeting Gaza and the West Bank simultaneously, as part of an overall process of elimination, replacement, and territorial expansion,” Albanese said.

“The longstanding impunity granted to Israel is enabling the de-Palestinization of the occupied territory, leaving Palestinians at the mercy of the forces pursuing their elimination as a national group.”

“The international community, made of both states and non-state actors, including companies and financial institutions, must do everything it can to immediately end the risk of genocide against the Palestinian people under Israel’s occupation, ensure accountability, and ultimately end Israel’s colonization of Palestinian territory,” Albanese added.

Defense for Children International–Palestine noted that “dozens of Israeli military vehicles” have “stormed” the West Bank city of Jenin over the past week as “Israeli forces deployed across the targeted refugee camps, seizing Palestinian homes to use as military bases and stationing snipers on the roofs of buildings, subjecting their residents to field investigations.”

“The military bulldozers began destroying the civil infrastructure in Jenin city and camp, which led to the destruction of the main water networks and power outage in several neighborhoods in Jenin and surrounding villages,” the group said. “Israeli forces besieged several hospitals in Jenin and impeded the movement of ambulances and paramedics.”

Israeli soldiers and settlers have killed more than 620 people in the occupied West Bank since October 7, on top of the roughly 40,800 killed by the Israeli military in Gaza.

Unlawful Israeli land seizures have also surged in the West Bank as settlers and soldiers wipe out entire Palestinian communities. The BBC reported that, according to its own analysis, there are “currently at least 196 across the West Bank, and 29 were set up last year—more than in any previous year.”

Israel’s multi-day attack on the West Bank that began last week has intensified fears that unless there’s a permanent cease-fire, the assault on Gaza could expand to the rest of the occupied Palestinian territories and throughout the Middle East.

David Hearst, co-founder and editor-in-chief of Middle East Eye, wrote that “even with the obvious reluctance of Hezbollah and Iran to get involved, all the ingredients are there for. a much larger conflagration.”

“An Israel in the grip of an ultra-nationalist, religious, settler insurgency; a U.S. president who allows his signature policy to be flouted by his chief ally, even at the risk of losing a crucial election; resistance that will not surrender; Palestinians in Gaza who will not flee; Palestinians in the West Bank who are now stepping up to the front line; Jordan, the second country to recognize Israel, feeling under existential threat,” Hearst wrote on September 2

For U.S. President Joe Biden or Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, he added, “the message is so clear, it is flashing in neon lights: The regional costs of not standing up to Netanyahu could rapidly outweigh the domestic benefits of being dragged along by him.”

James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute, similarly argued that “the U.S. must reverse course—and do so dramatically.”

“A long-overdue cut-off of U.S. arms to Israel and recognition of the Palestinian right to self-determination would provide exactly the shock to the system that is needed,” Zogby wrote. “It would force an internal debate in Israel, empowering those who want peace. It might also serve to send a message to the Palestinian people that their plight and rights are understood.”

These actions, especially if followed up with determination and concrete steps, won’t end the conflict tomorrow,” Zogby continued, “but they would surely put the region on a more productive path towards peace than the one it is on now.”

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

Source: Common Dreams

IPS UN Bureau

 

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An amendment to Bulgaria’s education law, passed last month, bans the "propaganda, promotion, or incitement in any way, directly or indirectly, in the education system of ideas and views related to non-traditional sexual orientation and/or gender identity other than the biological one."

By Ed Holt
BRATISLAVA, Sep 4 2024 (IPS)

A law banning the portrayal of LGBT+ identities in Bulgarian educational institutions is just the latest piece of repressive legislation in a wider assault on minorities and marginalized communities across parts of Europe and Central Asia, rights groups have warned.

The law, passed in a fast-track procedure last month, is similar to legislation passed or proposed in many countries across the region in recent years that restricts LGBT+ rights. 

And while the Bulgarian law is expected to have a harmful impact on children and adolescents in the country, it is also likely to be followed by legislation aimed at repressing other groups in society, following a pattern implemented by autocratic rulers across the region, activists say.

“Often anti-LGBT laws go hand in hand with other [repressive] legislation. One will come soon after the other. What this is all about is for certain political parties to concentrate and gain ultimate power for themselves. LGBT+ people and other marginalized groups are just scapegoats,” Belinda Dear, Senior Advocacy Officer at LGBT+ organisation ILGA Europe, told IPS.

An amendment to Bulgaria’s education law, passed on August 7, 2024 with a huge majority in parliament, bans the “propaganda, promotion, or incitement in any way, directly or indirectly, in the education system of ideas and views related to non-traditional sexual orientation and/or gender identity other than the biological one”.

Kostadin Kostadinov, chairman of the far-right Vazrazhdane (Revival) party that introduced the legislation, said that “LGBT propaganda is anti-human and won’t be accepted in Bulgaria.”

Critics say the law will have a terrible impact on LGBT+ children in a country where LGBT+ people already face struggles for their rights. In its most recent Rainbow Map, which analyses the state of LGBTQ+ rights and freedoms across the continent, ILGA Europe ranked Bulgaria 38 out of 48 countries.

“The teachers we have spoken to are really afraid of what is going to happen now. We are expecting to see a sharp increase in attacks and abuse of schoolchildren over gender and sexual orientation,” Denitsa Lyubenova, Legal Program & Projects Director at Deystvie, one of Bulgaria’s largest LGBT+ organizations, told IPS.

“The law has just been passed so we cannot be sure of its specific impacts just yet, but what we know from elsewhere is that laws like this in schools will impact children and adolescents, it will increase bullying and legitimize discrimination by other students, and even teachers,” added Dear.

Like other rights campaigners, Lyubenova pointed out the similarities between the Bulgarian law and similar legislation passed in other countries in Europe and Central Asia in recent years.

So-called ‘anti-LGBT+ propaganda’ laws were passed in Hungary in 2021 and Kyrgyzstan last year. These were in turn inspired by Russian legislation passed almost a decade earlier, which has since been expanded to the entire LGBT+ community and followed by laws essentially banning any positive expression of LGBT+ people.

Reports from rights groups have shown the harmful consequences of such legislation.

But while these laws have been roundly condemned by local and international rights bodies, political parties in some countries continue to attempt to push them through.

On the same day the Bulgarian law was passed, the far-right Slovak National Party (SNS) said it was planning to put forward a bill restricting discussion and teaching of LGBT+ themes in schools at the next parliamentary session in September.

Meanwhile, in June, the ruling Georgian Dream party in Georgia proposed legislation which would, among others, outlaw any LGBT+ gatherings, ban same-sex marriages, gender transition and the adoption of children by same-sex couples.

It will also prohibit LGBT+ ‘propaganda’ in schools and broadcasters and advertisers will have to remove any content featuring same-sex relationships before broadcast, regardless of the age of the intended audience.

In both countries, the proposed legislation comes soon after the implementation of so-called ‘foreign agent laws’ which put restrictions and onerous obligations on certain NGOs which receive foreign funding. Critics say such laws can have a devastating effect on civil society, pointing to a similar law introduced in Russia in 2012 as part of a Kremlin crackdown on civil society. The legislation, which led to affected NGOs being forced to declare themselves as ‘foreign agents’ has resulted in many civil society organisations in fields from human rights to healthcare being effectively shuttered.

Campaigners say it is no coincidence that anti-LGBT+ legislation and ‘foreign agent’ laws are being introduced closely together.

“[The anti-LGBT+ legislation] is likely to be the first in a series of laws that will discriminate against not just LGBT+ people, but other marginalized groups, which are seen as a ‘problem’ by far right organizations in Bulgaria,” said Lyubenova.

“This anti-LGBT+ law came from the Revival party, which has previously put forward bills for a ‘foreign agent law’ in Bulgaria. We are expecting a bill for foreign agent legislation to be introduced to Bulgaria’s parliament soon,” she added.

In Georgia, where legislation restricting LGBT+ rights will be debated in a final reading this month in parliament, civil society activists say the government is using one law to fuel support for the other.

“Both laws are part of the same, great evil [the government is pushing],” Paata Sabelashvili, a board member with the Equality Movement NGO in Georgia, told IPS.

Dear said the passing of ‘foreign agent’ laws was part of a template used by autocratic regimes to hold onto power “by dismantling civil society, which keeps a watch on politicians”.

The other parts of the template, she said, were to also “dismantle the independence of the judiciary, and the media”. Russia, Hungary, Georgia and Slovakia regularly score poorly in international press freedom indexes, and concerns have been raised about threats to media independence in Kyrgyzstan. Meanwhile, Russia is widely seen as no longer having an independent judiciary and concerns have been raised about government influence in the judicial systems in Slovakia, Georgia and Hungary.

Governments that have introduced these laws have said they are essential to preserve their countries’ traditional values and to limit foreign regimes—usually specifically western—influencing internal politics and destabilizing the country. These claims have been repeatedly rejected by the civil society and minority groups the laws are aimed at.

Some rights campaigners see the introduction of these laws as part of a coordinated international effort to not just spread specific ideologies but also entrench autocratic regimes.

While ostensibly the introduction of such legislation are the acts of independent sovereign regimes, campaigners say the politicians behind these laws are not necessarily acting entirely on their own initiative.

Activists in Slovakia and Georgia who have spoken to IPS highlight the strongly pro-Russian sentiments expressed by governing parties in their countries, while Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban has been heavily criticized even among European Union officials for his closeness to the Kremlin and criticism of help for Ukraine since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbour. Meanwhile, Russia—as it does with many other central Asian countries—and Kyrgyzstan have historic ties dating back to the Soviet Union.

“These parties [behind these laws] have links to Russia. [Pushing through this kind of legislation] is strategically coordinated; it’s very well-planned,” said Dear.

“I believe this is all part of a wider trend linked to far right governments and/or parties,” Tamar Jakeli, LGBT+ activist and Director of Tbilisi Pride in Tbilisi, Georgia, told IPS.

Forbidden Colours, a Brussels-based LGBT+ advocacy group, linked the Bulgarian law directly to the Kremlin’s repression of rights in Russia.

“It is deeply troubling to see Bulgaria adopting tactics from Russia’s anti-human rights playbook,” the group said in a statement.

Meanwhile, international and Bulgarian rights groups have called on the EU to act to force the Bulgarian government to repeal the anti-LGBT+ law, while Bulgarian civil society organisations are getting ready to fight its implementation. There have been street protests against it in the capital, Sofia, and Lyubenova said her organisation was also preparing legal challenges to the law.

“What these far-right groups are doing with this law is they are testing our ability to stand up to hateful actions. We have to challenge it,” said Lyubenova.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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