Africa

Immigration reforms have made it easier for the French government to forcibly remove foreign residents.

The African Unions Migration Policy Framework for Africa (2018-2030) provides guidelines to manage migration and reap the benefits of well managed migration which contribute to global prosperity and progress. Credit: UNHCR

By Ignatius Banda
BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe, Feb 23 2024 (IPS)

Amid an escalation of global conflict and climate change-induced displacements, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) is escalating its donor campaign.

For the first time since the organization’s formation in 1951, the IOM says it is “proactively approaching all partners to fund this vital appeal,” at a time when the number of migrants making perilous intercontinental journeys has increased.

“Irregular and forced migration have reached unprecedented levels and the challenges we face are increasingly complex,” said IOM Director General Amy Pope at the launch of the Global Appeal in Geneva in January.

It added to its appeal this week, asking for USD 112 million to provide urgent humanitarian and development assistance to over 1.4 million migrants and host communities in the Horn of Africa, Yemen, and Southern Africa. Routes from the Horn of Africa to Yemen and the Gulf States, and the Southern route from the Horn of Africa through Kenya and Tanzania to Southern Africa, are among the most dangerous, complex, and under-reported migratory routes in the world. In 2023, nearly 400,000 movements were recorded across the Eastern route, while an additional 80,000 movements were recorded on the Southern route, particularly to South Africa, the statement read.

“The evidence is overwhelming that migration, when well managed, is a major contributor to global prosperity and progress. We are at a critical moment in time, and we have designed this appeal  to help deliver on that promise. We can and must do better,”  Pope said at the launch.

The IOM has broken down the appeal as follows:

• USD 3.4 billion for work on saving lives and protecting people on the move.
• USD 2.7 billion for work on solutions to displacement, including reducing the risks and impacts of climate change.
• USD 1.6 billion for work on facilitating regular pathways for migration.
• USD 163 million for work on transforming IOM to deliver services in a better, more effective way.

“Full funding would allow IOM to serve almost 140 million people, including internally displaced people and the local communities that host them. Crucially, it would also allow for an expansion of the IOM’s development work, which helps prevent further displacement,” the IOM said in a media briefing.

However, experts and researchers say the global migration that has peaked in recent years has deeper, more complex roots that will require more than just responding to after the fact.

“What we’re seeing is a willingness from officials and citizens to thoroughly dehumanise migrants,” said Loren Landau, professor and chair at the University of Witwatersrand African Centre for Migration and Society.

“Not only can they be left to suffer, but they should be made to suffer. Only by doing this can ‘we’ send a message that others are unwelcome. The policies of the EU, Australia, and even South Africa are all designed to broadcast this sentiment,” Landau told IPS.

The IOM estimates that there are more than 140 million displaced people, and it’s global appeal for donor support will “save lives and protect people on the move, drive solutions to displacement, and facilitate safe pathways for regular migration.”

Thousands continue to make efforts to illegally enter Europe and the USA with assistance from traffickers,.

According to the IOM’s Missing Migrants Project, 60,000 people have died or disappeared on perilous journeys to seek economic opportunities over the last nine years.

Migration has in recent years become a political hot button, with right-wing political parties in Europe accused of whipping up public sentiment against migrants.

However, Landau says global inequality has worsened the displacement of millions of people.

“Migration has long been a crisis, although it has often been framed differently. There have always been displaced people. There has long been violence and corruption on the border. However, it has now moved from the edge of public debate to the centre,” Loren said.

“Global inequality, labour demand, conflict, and environmental factors are encouraging people to move, but movement is natural,” he told IPS.

Claims that migrants steal jobs from locals and force governments to divert social spending to accommodate migrants have fueled anti-immigrant sentiment.

Researchers, however, have always questioned those claims as the IOM ups its efforts to assist migrants in their new domiciles.

“Migrants are generally not why fewer people have secure employment, social protection, or feel their cultures and values are under threat.  But in light of those anxieties, migrants have become the fetish on which politicians and the public fixate,” Landau added.

In its appeal for donor funding, the IOM says well-managed migration “has the potential to advance development outcomes, contribute to climate change adaptation, and promote a safer and more peaceful, sustainable, prosperous, and equitable future.”

“The consequences of underfunded, piecemeal assistance come at a greater cost, not just in terms of money but in greater danger to migrants through irregular migration, trafficking, and smuggling,” said Pope.

“Getting the job done requires greater investment from governments, the private sector, individual donors, and other partners,” said Pope.

The African Union, which has seen the bulk of global migration, says the continent has witnessed changing patterns of migration, “a phenomenon that has become both dynamic and extremely complex.”

As part of efforts to address this and in what is expected to aid the work being done by the IOM, the AU set up the Migration Policy Framework for Africa (2018–2030).

The Framework provides “guidelines to manage migration in a coherent manner and therefore reap the benefits of migration.”

Those benefits are captured in IOM findings that “281 million international migrants generate 9.4% of global GDP.”

Despite the dangers that have come to define migrant experiences, especially on the high seas, the factors that drive millions to leave their homelands remain unresolved.

“There are immediate practical concerns about ensuring people can migrate safely,” said Landau.

“Beyond this, there is a broader need to recalibrate how we speak about these issues. Migration is not going anywhere so there’s a need to shift the framing from one of crisis to one of ‘the new normal’, Landau told IPS.
IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Opening of the World Social Forum 2024 in Kathmandu

By Isabel Ortiz
KATHMANDU, Nepal, Feb 23 2024 (IPS)

This week the 2024 annual meeting of the World Social Forum (WSF) was held in Nepal. There were fifty thousand participants from over 90 countries, exchanging strategies to address the multiple global crises, from climate catastrophes to unfettered capitalism, inequality, social injustice, wars and conflict.

The WSF was created in 2001 as a counterbalance to the elitism of the World Economic Forum (WEF). The WEF, founded and chaired by a private financial sector foundation, fosters the influence of the corporate world among governments in the luxury ski resort of Davos (Switzerland).

Isabel Ortiz

By contrast, the WSF was created as an arena for alternative thinking, where the grassroots and social avant-garde could gain a voice, challenging the neoliberal idea that “there is no alternative” (TINA); instead affirming that “another world is possible” built upon peace, human rights, real democracy, equity, and justice.

While Davos is the meeting for the 1%, the wealthiest people in the planet, Kathmandu is the meeting for the rest of us. The UN Secretary-General extended his best wishes for WSF 2024 for “restoring hope and finding innovative solutions for people and the planet.”

Indeed, the WSF 2024 was hotbed of ideas, alternative experiences and strategies. There is no concluding summary or annual declaration because the WSF organizers seek to maintain a plurality and diversity of messages. The following points reflect my personal overview of the key topics discussed:

• Denouncing the genocide in Gaza, a demand for an immediate ceasefire and the establishment of a free state of Palestine.

• Refuse militarization and wars: Cut military spending and power, promote peace and democracy. Defense spending is increasing while austerity policies cut social spending, this trend must be reversed.

• Organize against the rise of the far right: Radical right governments around the world have eroded democracy, human rights and civil society. Reports were made of censorship, repression, abuses of justice, unjustified raids and unfair imprisonment of progressive citizens, by the governments of Modi in India, Duterte in Philippines, Orban in Hungary, Duda in Poland, Al-Sisi in Egypt, Trump in the US, Bolsonaro in Brazil, among others There were also many reports of abusive litigation by corporations and politicians against journalists, activist researchers and CSOs, that are silencing critical voices.

• Fight inequality to counter the excessive concentration of power and wealth in the hands of a small elite. Inequality is the result of deliberate political and economic choices, and it can be reversed to build a just, equal and sustainable world.

• End Austerity, illegitimate debt and neoliberal economic policies that have failed citizens resoundingly. These outdated policies, imposed by international financial institutions (IFIs) like the IMF and the World Bank through the Ministries of Finance and G20, mostly benefit corporations and investors in the US and in a few Northen countries, result in real and lasting harm to the lives of ordinary people. There are alternative economic policies, such as the adequate taxation of wealthy millionaires and corporations, that can finance prosperity for people and planet.

• Redress violations of human rights for women, Dalits (the ‘untouchables’) and lower castes, LGBT, persons with disabilities and different ethnicities; demanding enactment and implementation of inclusive policies and strategies to eliminate class, caste, gender and race-based disparities.

• The 2024 Feminist Forum focused on addressing systemic barriers that impede women’s rights, from patriarchy to macroeconomic policies, through transformative feminist action that leads to change.

• Ensure public services, universal social security or social protection, and labor rights for all, including informal workers and migrants, instead of the current austerity driven trend to privatize or corporatize public services, to reduce welfare benefits and to deregulate the labor market.

• Peasant protests and movements: La Via Campesina is the largest movement today with two hundred million peasant members fighting for food security, against agribusiness and GMOs. It is very active, has alliances with unions, indigenous peoples’ movements and it is a good model for other movements.

• Climate Justice: A number of sessions discussed climate catastrophes, the IFIs support for fossil fuels, just transitions, habitat, and sustainable development.

The lack of will of the world’s political and economic elites to resolve today’s multiple crisis fuels discontent among citizens and disillusionment with conventional parties. People everywhere are losing faith in governments, institutions, and economic and political systems. Governments and world leaders would do well to listen and to act upon the ideas coming from the World Social Forum.

Isabel Ortiz, Director of the think-tank Global Social Justice, was Director of the International Labor Organization and UNICEF, and a senior official at the United Nations and the Asian Development Bank.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Credit: UNICEF/Abdulazeem Mohamed
 
War in Sudan is putting the future of its 24 million youngest citizens at risk, the Representative of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned. January 2024
 
Meanwhile geopolitical and geoeconomic fragmentation threaten the development and survival of children across the globe. But a more hopeful path exists.

By Jasmina Byrne
UNITED NATIONS, Feb 23 2024 (IPS)

At the start of 2024, we stand at a critical juncture: Geopolitical tensions are escalating, economic integration is unravelling, and multilateral cooperation is faltering. This global fragmentation threatens to undermine decades of progress made for children worldwide.

The choices we make today – whether to continue on this path or whether we should bolster global cooperation – will have a profound impact on generations to come.

Children are always the most vulnerable in times of crisis – a reality highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic, when school closures, economic hardship and disrupted health services jeopardized children’s rights and wellbeing.

Almost four years since that pandemic was declared, our new report, Prospects for Children in 2024: Cooperation in a Fragmented World, paints a concerning picture for children’s future development and welfare.

Tensions among major powers are rising and the threat of new conflicts emerging is high. Beyond the immediate physical dangers, children can experience lasting psychological trauma and violations of their basic rights.

If military spending continues increasing at the expense of investments in healthcare, education and social protections, children’s development will be further compromised.

Meanwhile, economic fragmentation is widening disparities between countries. Restrictive trade policies and supply chain disruptions are leading to rising energy and food prices, reducing access to essential goods and negatively impacting child nutrition and household incomes.

Competition for critical minerals essential for the green economy is increasing the risks of trade fragmentation while threatening the pace of the green energy transition. At the same time, the drive to expand mining for minerals puts mining communities and children at risk of exploitative practices.

Despite continued global economic growth, the lukewarm and uneven recovery is diminishing prospects for reducing child poverty. From now until 2030, 15 million more children a year will be living in poverty than would have otherwise, due to the unequal post-COVID recovery.

This gloomy picture is compounded by the weakening of multilateral institutions, which is further undermining the potential for progress for children. Why?

Because a fragmented multilateral system that is hamstrung by competing interests will struggle to deliver on conflict prevention, climate change, effective digital governance, debt relief and enforcing child rights standards, fuelling dissatisfaction in the Global South with rising inequalities.

Children in the poorest nations also face continued barriers to financing for basic services. Crippling debt, high remittance fees and lack of voice in global economic governance restrict investments in healthcare, education and social protections – investments vital to children’s survival and development.

But amid all these concerning trends, we see still signs of hope. Alternative alliances are emerging in the developing world to advance cooperation, bringing novel policy solutions, more nimble policymaking and effective results.

Despite expressing discontent with current democratic political structures, young people remain optimistic that opportunities exist to reform and resolve deficiencies in the political system, whether at the national or international level. They are engaging as change-makers, breathing new life into civic participation and democratic renewal.

In addition, technological innovations are unlocking new opportunities to empower children and enhance their rights. Green transition, if carried out in a just and sustainable way – one that prioritizes young people’s needs, skills and access to jobs in emerging sectors (such as the digital and green economy) – can benefit younger generations.

Reforms and modernization of global governance and financing arrangements could still deliver greater justice for developing countries. This more hopeful path will not unfold on its own. It requires global leaders to make an active choice – to double down on solidarity, inclusion and cooperation despite tensions and instability.

Prioritizing children and their rights must be at the centre of this choice.

Jasmina Byrne is Chief, Foresight & Policy, UNICEF Innocenti – Global Office of Research and Foresight.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Russia's embassy reportedly warned of possible unrest in Guinea, angering its military rulers.

Credit: iStockphoto/Anil Shakya

By Sanjay Srivastava
BANGKOK, Thailand, Feb 22 2024 (IPS)

2023 was the warmest year on record. The latest Copernicus Climate Change Service highlights that February 2023 to January 2024 was the first time that we experienced 12 consecutive months of temperatures 1.5-degree hotter than the pre-industrial era.

2015 to 2023 were the warmest on record in the sequence. The El Niño event of 2023 is likely to be further aggravated in 2024. El Niño typically contributes to a steep rise in global temperatures, fueling more heat on land, atmosphere and ocean, leading to an amplification of complex disaster risks.

Manifestation of 1.5-degree warming into complex climate-related disasters

The 1.5-degree warming has led to widespread heatwaves, droughts, floods, stronger cyclones and a plethora of slow-onset disasters including glacier melting, coral breaching, land degradation, and water scarcity. While temperatures may fall somewhat at the end of El Niño, the climate emergency is becoming critical.

Record-breaking heatwaves: 2023 persevered through record-breaking heat waves that affected many Asian countries. A related study by the World Weather Attribution has found that the heat wave was made at least 30 times more likely in India and Bangladesh due to climate change.

Supercharged tropical cyclones: Excessive heat in the oceans and atmosphere has been supercharging cyclones. The recent years have seen rapid intensification, curvature changes, and complex tracks of tropical cyclones both in North Indian and Southwest Pacific Ocean basins. The major cyclones of 2023, such as cyclones Mocha, Biparjoy, Typhoon Doksuri and tropical storm Jasper exemplify these trends.

Cities at risk: Coastal cities are increasingly exposed to intensifying climate hazards. Cyclone Michaung flooded India’s megacity Chennai two days before the landfall. Typhoon Doksuri, supercharged by the warmer July Pacific Ocean, made landfall in Jinjiang, China, and caused Beijing’s worst flooding in over 50 years.

Monsoonal flooding: The 2023 southwest monsoon period witnessed elevated flooding and landslides/mudslides throughout South-East Asia and South and South-West Asia. The monsoon more often deviates from its normal onset and spreads across the season due to complex interactions with the atmosphere, regional oceans and seas, and landmasses.

Economic cost of warming

In Asia and the Pacific, there were 145 reported natural hazard events in 2023 which caused over 54 thousand deaths, affected over 47 million people and caused an economic damage exceeding 45 billion dollars.

At 1.5-degree warming, ESCAP projected potential losses from disasters to be $953 billion, or 3 per cent of the regional GDP. This rises to nearly $1 trillion, or 3.1 per cent of the regional GDP under a 2-degree warming scenario. Moreover, the population at risk rises from 85 to 87 per cent when warming increases from 1.5- to 2.0- degrees (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Population at risk and average annual loss due to climate hazards @ 1.5-to-2.0-degree warming

ESCAP analysis observes an increasing trend of heatwaves and cyclones under both climate scenarios. In terms of absolute value, East and North-East Asia will experience the highest economic losses, whereas as a share of GDP, the Pacific small island developing States will face the most substantial losses, accounting for around 8 per cent of their GDP. This is more than double the percentage of average annual loss in the rest of Asia and the Pacific.

Key opportunities for actions

Despite the warming, 2023 fostered important milestones that are likely to help build collective resilience:

1. Political declaration on the midterm review of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030: The declaration was an effort to integrate risk reduction into decision-making, investment and behavior guided by an “all-of society” and “all-of-State institutions” approach.
2. The G20 New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration: Inauguration of G20 Working Group on Disaster Risk Reduction highlights accelerating progress on Early Warning and Early Action, disaster and climate resilience of infrastructure systems, and mutual learning of recovery.
3. The Loss and Damage Fund: Set up at COP28 with contributions totaling $700 million to enable grants-based support, the fund aims to balance fiscal burden and climate vulnerability.
4. The Santigo Network for loss and damage: Operationalized at COP 28, the network supports developing countries in averting, minimizing, and addressing loss and damage from climate change.
5. The UN Early Warnings for All Executive Action Plan 2023-2027: EW4All is a key adaptation pathway in our rapidly warming planet. The benefit of early warnings for all triples in vulnerable contexts.
6. Accelerating climate action in Asia-Pacific: to develop regional early warning systems backed by a regional strategy to support EW4All, build national capacities and replenishing the ESCAP Multi-Doner Trust Fund for Tsunami, Disaster and Climate Preparedness

In this regard, ESCAP’s regional strategy on empowering transboundary solutions to transboundary hazard through systematically building resilience through subregional intergovernmental institutions would be pivotal. While the warmest year reminds us that the region’s risk is outpacing resilience, the window of opportunities in 2024 offers a promise of a resilient future.

Sanjay Srivastava, Chief of Disaster Risk Reduction, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Orchestre Jigeen Ñi want to inspire a new generation of musicians in their country, one song at a time.

Orchestre Jigeen Ñi want to inspire a new generation of musicians in their country, one song at a time.

South Africans and Ethiopians are among those who will no longer have to pay a $30 fee to enter.

Credit: Rebecca Conway/Getty Images

By Andrew Firmin
LONDON, Feb 22 2024 (IPS)

Pakistan’s 8 February election has resulted in an uneasy compromise that few wanted or expected. There’s little indication the outcome is going to reverse recent regression in civic freedoms.

Army calls the shots

Around 128 million people can vote in Pakistan, but it’s the army, the sixth-biggest in the world, that’s always had the upper hand. In recent decades, it’s preferred to exert its power by strongly influencing the civilian government rather than outright military rule. Prime ministers have allied with the military to win power and been forced out when disagreements set in. No prime minister has ever served a full term.

In April 2022, Prime Minister Imran Khan was ousted through a parliamentary vote of no-confidence. But it was common knowledge this was the military’s will. Khan, having cosied up to the generals to come to power in 2018, had publicly and vocally fallen out with them over economic and foreign policy. He had to go.

Khan’s fall from grace was swift. He survived an assassination attempt in November 2022. In December 2023, he was barred from running in the election. Just ahead of voting he was found guilty in three separate trials, with the longest sentence being 14 years. Bushara Bibi, Khan’s wife, was jailed too.

The army turned to a former foe, Nawaz Sharif, three times previously prime minister. After he last fell out of favour in 2017, he was forced out and found guilty of corruption. Yet for this election he’d evidently patched things up enough to become the army’s favoured anti-Khan candidate.

A catalogue of restrictions

But voters didn’t go along with the army’s choice. Candidates running as independents but affiliated with Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party won the most seats, albeit short of an outright majority. Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) came second, with the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), its partner in the 2022 coalition of convenience that replaced Khan, third.

This was a shock result, given the obstacles placed in the PTI’s way. The government postponed the election from November to February so, it said, it could hold a census. The suspicion was that the move was to allow more time to prosecute Khan and lean on his party’s politicians to swap allegiances.

Sure enough, some PTI representatives were banned from standing and others faced harassment and violence seeking to persuade them to distance themselves from Khan. In the biggest blow, PTI candidates were banned from using Khan’s cricket bat symbol on ballot papers. Symbols are crucial for mobilising party support, since over 40 per cent of people are unable to read. PTI candidates were forced to run as independents.

There was never any prospect of equal space for campaigning. Last year, the media regulator applied a de facto ban on mentioning Khan’s name on TV. In August 2023, it directed TV channels not to give airtime to 11 people, among them Khan and journalists considered sympathetic towards him. As the election neared, the military interfered in the media on a daily basis, telling them which stories to run.

Given these constraints, and the near impossibility of holding physical rallies, PTI used online opportunities. Khan kept up a virtual presence through AI-generated videos. WhatsApp was used to inform PTI supporters which independent candidates to vote for.

But constraints came here too. When the PTI organised an online rally in December, authorities blocked access to major social media platforms and slowed the internet down. On election day, they imposed a full internet and mobile data shutdown for the first time in Pakistan’s electoral history. The authorities claimed they’d done so on security grounds – the Islamic State terrorist group carried out two deadly bombings the day before – but it made independent oversight of voting and counting much harder. Further restrictions on Twitter followed after the results were out.

⚠️ Confirmed: Live metrics show a nation-scale disruption to social media platforms across #Pakistan, including X/Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube; the incident comes as persecuted former PM Imran Khan's party, PTI, launches its election fundraising telethon pic.twitter.com/QIBGcxGty3

— NetBlocks (@netblocks) January 7, 2024

This pressure on the PTI and its supporters came on top of the ongoing repression of civic freedoms by successive governments. Pakistani authorities have continued to criminalise, threaten and harass human rights activists, restrict online freedoms, intimidate journalists, censor media and violently repress peaceful protests, particularly by women’s rights activists and people from the Baloch and Pashtun ethnic groups.

Uncertainty ahead

Despite the highly unlevel playing field, results show that many took the opportunity the election offered to communicate discontent with military influence, a political establishment dominated by two families and the dire economic conditions. A youthful population has found something appealing in Khan’s fiery populist rhetoric.

But what’s resulted is something few voters likely wanted. The PML-N and PPP quickly announced a resumption of their coalition. The PML-N’s Shehbaz Sharif, Nawaz Sharif’s brother, is set to return as prime minister. It would appear to be a coalition united by little more than a determination to keep the PTI out of power, suggesting a weak and fractious government will result.

Strong opposition can be expected. PTI supporters aren’t accepting this quietly. The party claims rigged votes denied it more seats. Thousands have protested and numerous legal cases have been filed. Their claims were given credence when an official in Rawalpindi stepped forward to say he’d been involved in election rigging. One politician from a minor party also announced he was renouncing his seat because the vote had been rigged to exclude the PTI-backed candidate.

Khan is no democratic hero. When he was in power and enjoyed the military’s favour, he used the same tools of repression now being applied to him and his party. Civic space conditions worsened under Khan and there’s been no let-up since.

The bigger problem is a system where the military calls the shots, sets the parameters that elected governments must stay within and actively works to suppress dissent. With many young voters angry and wanting change, problems can only be building up for the future. It’s vital that civic space be opened up so people have peaceful means to express dissent, seek change and hold power to account.

Andrew Firmin is CIVICUS Editor-in-Chief, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report.

 

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Student protest in Bogotà, Colombia. Credit: Sebastian Barros/Forus

By Bibbi Abruzzini and Clarisse Sih, Forus
NEW YORK, Feb 22 2024 (IPS)

A coalition of over 350 civil society organisations part of the #UNmute initiative, shared concerns over the current engagement mechanisms for civil society at the UN – particularly in light of the upcoming Summit of the Future.

At the heart of global policy-making, civil society organisations have long been seen as those bearing the torch of grassroots advocacy and bringing forward the messages of communities worldwide. Civil society has changed the world we live in, fighting against discrimination, securing voting rights for women, raising awareness about environmental issues, being at the forefront of humanitarian aid, and advocating for equity and acceptance. Civil society’s impact is undeniable, yet increasingly questioned with negative narratives, risks to their safety, and limited access to decision- making spaces. To silence or exclude this voice is to silence the collective needs and aspirations of millions of people around the world.

At the national level, attacks on civic space and democratic freedoms have escalated. New legislation limits civil society’s ability to engage in online and offline advocacy. International collaboration between civil society networks, social movements and activists is increasingly criticized, penalized, and criminalized. This is unfortunately replicated at the global level.

As we approach the Summit of the Future – set to to redirect our course towards a more effective and equitable future, there is a worrying drift from collaboration to restriction in the relationship between the UN, Member States in their national and local contexts, and civil society. For several years, civil society voices have found themselves on the periphery, with challenges ranging from limited access at key UN sessions such as the General Assembly’s High Level Week, to restrictive participation in other key UN forums such as the High Level Political Forum, the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), the Conference of the Parties (COP) and the Internet Governance Forum. In fact, the current system, contrasts with earlier UN processes and falls short of the UN’s stated commitment and previous good practices to inclusivity as written in the U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres in Our Common Agenda.

“For civil society activists and human rights defenders facing repression at national level the space at the UN is very important. The UN opened up since the 1990s. For example, it was possible to contribute to the 2030 Agenda development in national consultations, regional meetings and as part of the Open Working Group in New York. We were never excluded a decade ago. Therefore, we are disappointed that this is happening now. It will weaken the Summit of the Future,” says Ingo Ritz, Director of the Global Call to Action against Poverty.

Despite efforts to promote inclusivity and engagement on paper, in practice civil society organizations frequently face a lack of access to information and resources, limited opportunities to participate in decision-making processes, as well as exclusion from key meetings and events, increasing repraisals, discrimination, harassment, and insufficient avenues for input in policy discussions. The clock is ticking, and the integration of civil society into the heart of the UN is not only beneficial, it is essential.

Jyotsna Mohan Singh, representing the Asia Development Alliance, points out that “Over the years, we have seen the UN open its doors to civil society, but lately those doors seem to be closing slightly. Stronger collaboration is not only desirable, it is necessary. Engaging with the UN should not be a labyrinth where only a few know the way. We need transparent and inclusive processes that do not marginalise any civil society organisation on the basis of size or origin. Civil society sees the UN as a beacon of hope, a platform for global cooperation, where the voices of the marginalised and the aspirations of humanity are heard, leading to a world of equality, sustainability and true peace.”

Over 350 civil society organizations part of the #UNmute initiative have come together to issue a united call for inclusivity and participation in the preparatory process of the forthcoming Summit of the Future. The collective, which spans a broad spectrum of global civil society including Civicus, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Forus, the United Nations Foundation, the Coalition for the UN We Need, World Vision International, Greenpeace, Global Focus, among many others, has addressed a statement putting pressure on key figures at the United Nations.

“From the streets to the UN halls, we witness the alarming and continuous shrinking space for civil society and rights defenders. With the aim of restoring trust and preparing the UN for the future, the voice of civil society must be key for the Summit of the Future. This requires Member States to support and promote the unique role of civil society, especially the historically marginalized and underrepresented communities and informal activist and social movements, from New York to Nairobi. The UN is for the ‘we’, it is for the people, and it is based on their trust that the success of the Summit of the Future should be held against,” says Global Focus‘ Director, Mette Müller Kristensen.

What needs to change

The role of civil society cannot just be recognized, it needs to be actively strenghtened and placed at the core of global governance, where it belongs. We need to build, rather than erode, trust. The success of the Summit of the Future should be measured on how it delivers for people – inclusively and meaningfully. We call for immediate action, including the establishment of inclusive platforms for engagement, designated seats for Major Groups and other Stakeholders (MGoS) and civil society representatives in all phases of the Summit of the Future, and a comprehensive review of civil society’s engagement in UN processes. These measures aim to democratize representation, ensuring that all voices and perspectives are equally represented in international dialogues, which unfortunately is not the case as of today.

As Mavalow Christelle Kalhoule, civil society leader and Chair of Forus and SPONG, the Burkina Faso NGO network, puts it, “In a world increasingly driven by technology, many of our colleagues from under-represented regions find themselves mute, not for lack of passion or knowledge, but because of the digital divide and lack of resources and access. To truly champion global voices, we need to bridge this gap and ensure that civil society has the tools and support it needs to engage meaningfully in political processes and amplify the voices of the myriad communities and NGOs it represents. Civil society participation must be simplified and facilitated; it is also about real political will. Genuine progress within the framework of the United Nations depends on the real inclusion of civil society. Every decision taken without their engagement risks missing the heartbeat of the communities we serve. The purpose of the UNmute initiative is not to raise a few voices, but to ensure that the chorus of civil society is heard loud and clear at every meeting of the United Nations.”

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Fish vanished from the sea near Tsunza, a village on Kenya’s coast, after several oil spills between 2003 and 2006. The impact of this and the vanishing mangroves badly affected the livelihoods of women. Now they are the champions of the restoration of one of the global warming mitigation superheroes—mangroves.

Smallholder farmers pose for a photo outside a community seed bank after undergoing training at the Seed Savers Network headquarters in Gilgil, Kenya. Credit: Jackson Okata/IPS

By Jackson Ambole
NAIROBI, Feb 22 2024 (IPS)

A group of 15 smallholder farmers in Kenya petitioned the country’s High Court, seeking to compel the government to review sections of a law that bans the sharing and exchange of uncertified and unregistered seeds.

Rural smallholder farmers in Kenya rely on informal farmer-managed systems to acquire seeds through seed saving and sharing but the Seeds and Plant Varieties Act is limiting them.

Kenya’s government enacted the law in 2012 with the aim of developing, promoting, and regulating a modern and competitive seed industry, but farmers are pushing for its review.

The informal farmer-managed seed system allows farmers to store a portion of their seeds after harvesting, which guarantees them seeds for the next planting season.

In the legal battle, filed in September 2022, smallholder farmers want the court to compel the government to review the law, which punishes offenders with a prison sentence of up to a maximum of 2 years, a fine of up to KES 1,000,000 or both.

Richard Opete, who led the farmers in filing the petition, argues that the current seed policy “has robbed farmers of the right to use their indigenous seeds freely’’.

“The law gives multinational seed companies power to control our biological resources and this has led to decreased food production by smallholder farmers’’ says Opete.

Further, Opete explains that seed sharing among Kenyan communities has always been a cheaper option for farmers who cannot afford expensive certified seed and fertiliser.

“With seed sharing, every farmer has something to plant and in turn something to harvest and this safeguards communities from food insecurity shocks’’

“A farmer who does not have money might not access certified seeds but they can freely get indigenous ones from a neighbour who has a surplus,’’ says Opete.

Seed Sovereignty 

Elizabeth Atieno, a food campaigner at Greenpeace Africa says “the current seed law favours  big multinationals by giving them room to exploit local resources and that the law sold Kenya’s food system to the highest bidder’’.

Atieno adds that the current seed regulations have forced Kenya’s smallholder farmers into “overdependence on seed companies for seed supply. The effect is a disrupted and unstable food system because the certified seeds come at a cost and at times the supply fails to meet the demand.”

Greenpeace Africa hopes the court case will pave way for the integration of the farmer seed management system into the law to enable smallholder farmers to share and exchange indigenous seeds freely

Veronica Kiboino, a farmer from Baringo County, west of the capital Nairobi, observes that she cannot afford to purchase certified seeds for every planting season.  “Seed sharing is our culture and way of life. The tradition of seed sharing does not require money and this means that I can still plant and harvest food even when money is not available,” says Kiboino.

For farmers like Francis Gika, the traditional ways of preserving and multiplying indigenous seeds are something that “the government should help improve rather than criminalise them.’’

“The seed law is selective, oppressive, and anti-smallholder farmers. A poor rural farmer cannot afford the Kshs. 200,000 (about USD 1,302) to register and get certification for a seed variety as the law demands,” he says.

Gika warns that the punitive law has a direct effect on the economic wellbeing of smallholder farmers because “without seeds, they cannot produce enough food to sell and make money.”

Francis Ngiri, a farmer, wants the seed law to document all Kenyan indigenous seed varieties “to protect their sovereignty and history.”

“What the Seed Act should be focusing on is protecting the sovereignty of indigenous Kenyan seeds from exploitation by multinational seed breeders who are out to make profits.”

Damaris Kiloko Mutiso, a farmer from Machakos County east of Nairobi, says, “Seed sharing is an old-age tradition passed on from our forefathers. Unlike certified seeds, the use of indigenous seeds is cost effective as it does not require the use of chemical-based inputs.”

Protecting Indigenous Seeds from Extinction

Seed Savers Network Kenya is a grass-roots network working with smallholder farmers to establish community seed banks across Kenya. The organisation has been helping farmers trace and preserve indigenous seeds at risk of extinction through the promotion of seed sharing.

The network has so far established 51 community seed banks, serving over 60, 000 smallholder farmers countrywide.

Dominic Kimani, Advocacy Officer at Seed Savers Network, argues that smallholder farmers have “for long been custodians of indigenous seeds and should therefore be supported by the government by enacting laws that protect them.”

“Criminalising informal seed exchange and sharing has a direct effect on farmers’ livelihoods. It encourages biopiracy and reduces plant genetic diversity, which greatly affects the resilience of smallholder farmers and their families,’’ notes Kimani.

Limiting the rights of farmers to share, exchange, and sell seeds in the informal seed sector, according to Kimani, “reduces diverse seed access and  aggravates food and nutritional insecurity in the country.”

Kimani adds that forcing farmers to rely on hybrid seeds poses a big threat to food biodiversity and traditional food cultures.

Biodiversity Conservation

Ben Wanyoro, an agronomist, says indigenous seeds are naturally adapted through the influence of local environmental factors in their growing environments.

“Indigenous seeds and foods are resilient to threats arising from pests, disease, and human interventions and are heterogeneous and polymorphic,” added Wanyoro.

Wanyoro argues that “promoting and supporting indigenous seed sharing assures sustainability not only of the food system but also of natural resources.”

The Biodiversity and Biosafety Association of Kenya National Coordinator Anne Maina says a review of the law will ease restrictions hindering the circulation of indigenous varieties, which are rich in nutritious value compared to exotic imports.

“The Seed and Plant Varieties Act prohibits the selling of uncertified seeds, thereby technically locking out the indigenous varieties from the market,” says Maina.

Maina notes that a repeal of the restrictive act will allow small-scale farmers to freely share homegrown seeds, which will help preserve the country’s endangered biodiversity.

“Indigenous seed varieties have unique traits that are well-suited to local climatic conditions, making them resilient to pests and diseases, which can lead to a loss of biodiversity,’’ she says.

Dr. Felista Makini, the Deputy Director at the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO), agrees that indigenous seeds and traditional African crops have high resilience to climate change and drought.

KALRO operates the Genetic Resources Research Institute (GeRRI), which seeks to safeguard traditional seeds and prevent the loss of genetic resources. The gene bank has over 50,000 plant varieties.

Stakeholder Push

Rosina Mbenya from Participatory Ecological Land Use Management (PELUM) says the move by farmers to file the petition was critical to ensuring that indigenous seed varieties are protected.

‘Special attention must be accorded to the farmer-managed seed system because they have the capacity and knowledge to nurture indigenous seeds and any prohibitive laws should be scrapped to allow continuity,’’ Mbenya said.

In October 2022, Kenya’s government approved the use of genetically modified organism (GMO) seeds, citing “the need to address the effects of drought and improve food security through the adoption of crops resistant to pests and disease,”  a move that was criticised by organic farmers in the country.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Kenya’s agriculture sector contributes 33 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) and another 27 percent of GDP indirectly through linkages with other sectors. Agriculture employs more than 40 percent of Kenya’s total population and 70 percent of Kenya’s rural people.

The case is ongoing.
IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Kelvin Kiptum is to be buried in his village in Kenya where his family remember what made him special.

South Kivu province, Beves, Bukavu. Centre for former child soldiers. Credit: LEMBRYK, Wojtek ICRC

By Ezequiel Heffes
NEW YORK, Feb 21 2024 (IPS)

All around the globe, the most vulnerable among us are suffering the gravest consequences of war. Children bear the brunt of the horrors inflicted by States and armed groups worldwide, with recent examples found in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, Myanmar, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Syria, and Afghanistan.

In a context in which multilateralism is facing this “perfect storm” of crises, with increasing risks to global security, the international community and its institutions must rise with a unified voice to demand protection, justice, and accountability for those lives that are shattered by the atrocities of war.

Every child deserves the right to grow up in an environment free from fear and violence. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights explicitly recognizes that children are entitled to special care and assistance.

Numerous international laws include similar obligations. Yet, 468 million children (1 in 6) worldwide live in areas affected by armed conflict, where these rights are stripped away.

This leaves consequences, both physical and mental ones, that can last for a lifetime. Children have become victims of unspeakable acts in armed conflict, including their recruitment and use as fighters and guards.

They have also been subjected to sexual violence, abduction, killing and maiming. Schools and hospitals are destroyed in front of their eyes, thus preventing them from basic services.

Accountability must be one of the cornerstones of our response to grave violations against children. Responsible States and non-State armed groups must be clearly identified in the forthcoming “list of shame” of the UN Secretary-General’s Annual Report on Children and Armed Conflict

Humanitarian relief is also denied on arbitrary grounds. In 2022 alone, almost 24,000 grave violations of children’s rights in war were documented by the United Nations. This number, which is indicative in nature, is only expected to have increased in 2023. These violations not only rob children of their childhood but also undermine the very fabric of humanity.

This is not simply a humanitarian crisis, or a legal one; it is a moral imperative. We must do more. Having examined grave violations against children for years, Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict would like to emphasize three much-needed avenues.

Accountability must be one of the cornerstones of our response to grave violations against children. Responsible States and non-State armed groups must be clearly identified in the forthcoming “list of shame” of the UN Secretary-General’s Annual Report on Children and Armed Conflict.

Given that the listing mechanism has improved the situation of children in various conflict settings, it is imperative that consistent evidence-based decisions are taken.

Protecting children from being harmed in war should not be subject to political considerations. Individual perpetrators responsible for these grave violations must also be held accountable for their actions. Mechanisms and institutions, including those at the local level, must be supported to hold them accountable and deliver justice for the victims.

All parties involved in armed conflict must prioritize the best interest of the child in their actions and decisions. Whether it is in ceasefire negotiations or military operations, such as those taking place in populated areas, the well-being of children must be at the forefront of considerations.

Parties must take proactive measures to prevent harm to children. This requires adherence to international law, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law, and incorporating child protection concerns into military planning and operations.

States participating in multilateral discussions must also prioritize the best interest of the child and emphasize the importance of protecting children in Resolutions, statements and other relevant documents and discussions.

Finally, child protection programs in conflict-affected areas must be bolstered, ensuring that children have access to essential services, such as education, healthcare, psychosocial support, and safe spaces.

There are many organizations around the world doing vital work and providing some of these services. They should be supported and their access to those in need must be granted.

Their programs not only provide immediate relief to children caught in the crossfire but also lay the foundation for their long-term recovery and reintegration into society. Investing in child protection is both a moral imperative and a strategic decision to build a sustainable peace.

We must be part of a world where children are born free from violence and fear. That demands a more active engagement to protect them and support the institutions and organizations working towards that goal. We have a collective responsibility to ensure that children are shielded from the horrors of war and be given the opportunity to thrive in a safe and nurturing environment. History is watching.

Dr. Ezequiel Heffes is the Director of Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict

ICS Conservation Team protecting Alphonse Island's fragile nearshore ecosystems by retrieving a drifted FAD. Credit: Pep Nogues

By James A Michel
VICTORIA, Republic of Seychelles, Feb 21 2024 (IPS)

For most of history, only those who made their living from the sea chose to live on the coast. Fear of being battered by storms, not to mention vulnerability to attacks from foreign navies, kept most people inland. Gradually that changed and, along with fisherfolk and their families, the idea of a coastal location became something of a cult. High property prices still reflect its popularity. But is it any longer so desirable?

One reason to question the trend is rising sea levels. Scientists may argue about precise measurements but the rise is unmistakable. The warming of the ocean and melting ice are causing it. And by the end of this century it will be in feet rather than centimetres. Individual houses, the lower reaches of cities and even large swathes of continental nations will be under water. Bangladesh has for long been in the danger zone but so, too, are island communities, especially in the Pacific. Some of these islands have already been lost to the sea.

A second reason why a coastal location is no longer so attractive is marine pollution. Waste materials in the sea and around the coast are ubiquitous. Some are deliberately dumped by municipal bodies without adequate disposal units. In other cases waste is swept ashore, often emanating far away. Even in some of the remote islands of Seychelles, volunteers on beach-cleaning operations collect, literally, tons of rubbish from what should be a pristine shoreline.

What should we be doing to reverse trends and save coastal communities? Answers are not so difficult to find. The best way to slow down the rise of sea levels is to reduce global temperatures. But progress in achieving this is disappointing. In turn, marine pollution can be drastically reduced if poorer nations have the capacity to properly treat waste materials. Easy enough in theory but it calls for a massive transfer of resources from North to South. And there are precious few signs of that.

Discarded fishing nets: Brikole is a business startup in Seychelles which recycles the high volume of redundant fishing nets in the surrounding seas. Credit: Ardfern/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

There are more attainable ways to mitigate the situation but by definition, these generally offer little more than sticking plaster for deep wounds. Building new houses on stilts, raising sea walls, clearing rubbish from beaches on a regular basis, and more effective codes for the fishing industry and other shipping to minimise waste in the sea.

A bigger question is to ask who will take action on much-needed global solutions?

– Each year, thousands of delegates attend the latest climate change extravaganza. The next one will be COP 29, in Azerbaijan. But what is really achieved at these events? Fine words are spoken, with a majority in agreement, but if just China and India opt out there is little that will work.

– Also at a global level, the United Nations encourages its members to meet sustainability targets. To loud acclaim, 2015 saw the launch of 17 Sustainability Development Goals, to be achieved by 2030 at the latest. We’re past the halfway mark now and all seventeen of these flagships are trailing, Goal number 14, ‘Life Below Sea’, is all about the ocean and no one could fault the analysis and selection of targets. The problem remains one of how any of this will be implemented.

– Individual nations are little better. Their leaders make fine speeches, travel around the world, and then promptly go quiet when they have to find the necessary resources to make the changes.

Experience shows that some of the most promising initiatives are not to found in the great debating chambers but closer to the ground. Smaller organisations cannot solve all of the world’s problems but they can make a difference at a local level. NGOs, for instance, have the advantage of being nimble and strongly focused on specific issues. Restoring a mangrove forest, protecting the habitat of marine mammals in a particular location, or reviving a coastal coconut industry can all bring tangible benefits.

Coconut plantation revival: Kentaste is a local company reviving the coconut industry along Kenya’s beaches. Credit: Picture courtesy of Joanne Muchai

Even without the formal status of an NGO, schools and local communities are active in beach-cleaning projects, providing visitors with information and renewing worn-out fencing. These might too easily be dismissed as superficial but, without such interventions, the coastal environment would be all the poorer.

A third source of innovation is to be found in business startups. Entrepreneurs, invariably young, are prepared to invest their own savings in ideas that might one day evolve into profitable businesses but which, in any case, yield outcomes for the common good. Recycling waste products is one example that can be seen in different countries.

Coastal communities need all the help they can get. If national and international bodies are slow to respond, we can’t afford to wait. There are many individuals and groups ready to make a much-needed start. From small beginnings, who knows what will result? They need all the help we can give. The time for waiting is over.

James A Michel is Former President Republic of Seychelles (2004-2016) and Executive Chairman James Michel Foundation.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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A Buddha statue keeps watch over the village of Kampong Khleang. Credit: Kris Janssens/IPS

By Kris Janssens
KAMPONG KHLEANG, Cambodia, Feb 21 2024 (IPS)

Living in a floating village means embracing the rhythm of the ever-changing water. As I stroll through Kampong Khleang, flanked by wooden stilt houses lining sandy streets, I witness daily life unfolding.  Alongside staircases, people prepare meals or run their little shops.

But actually, I’m walking at the bottom of a lake. In about six months from now, this will all disappear below the water surface. Residents will have to move to the highest floor of their houses and they will suddenly need a boat to go out.

Kampong Khleang is located on the shores of Lake Tonle Sap, in northwestern Cambodia, roughly 50 kilometers from Siem Reap and the renowned Angkor Wat temple. Owing to a unique tidal current, the village gets flooded once a year.

 

As the level of the Mekong river starts to rise in rainy season, the tributary called Tonle Sap is being pushed inland by the force of the water.

 

Lifeline

As the Mekong River’s level starts to rise during the rainy season, its tributary, Tonle Sap, is pushed inland by the force of the water. Following a meticulous scenario by Mother Nature, the lake at the end of the Tonle Sap overflows its banks and becomes five times as large, up to 250 km long and 100 km wide. From November onwards, the water recedes again.

This system is the lifeblood of this area and it creates a unique biodiversity. More than 1.2 million people in the region make their living from fishing.

But according to the Cambodian fisheries administration, fish stocks have declined by twenty percent in recent years. One of the causes is climate change. For several years now, the monsoon is less powerful and starts later than usual.

Eighty-three-year-old Laa recalls how her house was almost completely submerged during the summer. “As a child I had to go to bed by boat!” she shouts, giggling with joy at the memory. “But that’s all over now.”

 

Borei (24) would prefer to start his own business on land. Credit: Kris Janssens/IPS

 

Shallow Waters

It is five o’clock in the morning, one hour before sunrise. I go out to fish with 24-year-old fisherman Borei. With a headlamp guiding our way, he skilfully steers his outboard motor canoe through small bushes, sticking out of the water.

“More than an hour!” he shouts over the noise of the spinning propeller. He has to go further and further away from the village to find fish-rich areas.

We reach a cluster of trees, their roots more than a meter below the water surface. Borei paddles through this flooded forest and jumps into the water to check his traps.

 

From Father to Son

The catch is meager. A turtle can be sold, a little snake is thrown back into the water. Toads are clumsily trying to crawl out of the bucket. But Borei is mainly concerned with the fish: trei roah, a perch-like species, goes 2.5 dollars per kilogram.

Even for a dry season, the water level is exceptionally low, causing bigger fish to disappear. We return to the open water and enjoy the rising sun and a gentle breeze over the lake.

“We are fishermen from father to son, it’s our destiny,” Borei says shyly. He would prefer a more profitable job. “La-urng kook,” he says. The expression for “on land”, away from the water. Maintenance of mopeds, for example, or repairing mobile phones. But he has no investment money to start his own business.

 

Kampong Khleang: everything you see at street level disappears under water. Credit: Kris Janssens/IPS

 

“Not sufficient!”

Back in the village, the same story is repeated over and over again. There are fewer fish and everyone should learn to live within their means.

Two older ladies in a coffee shop, Laom and Juon, are discussing the situation as a local Statler and Waldorf duo. “At kroup”, they keep saying. “We don’t have enough.” Being 68 and 71 years old, they’re not so much worried about themselves, but more about the next generation.

Pooit (36) is cleaning the catch of the day. With strong strokes of a cleaver, she separates heads from slippery bodies. I’ve never understood why Cambodians prefer sitting on the ground for these kinds of jobs.

Biologists have been warning about the disastrous consequences of these dams, of which there are now eleven on the river. The hydroelectric power stations retain sediment, a sand layer containing micro-organisms that serve as food for larger animals

In a shrill voice she shouts orders to four children, crouched in a improvised circle, who help with the chore. Countless eyes of decapitated fish stare at me. The rhythmic tapping on the chopping blocks and the wriggling of struggling fish gives me a ghostly feeling. The sickening fish smell, which constantly blows through the village, combined with the stray pieces of trash, create a rough atmosphere.

“We work every day from early in the morning,” says Pooit, “we never have a day off.” But the result is very disappointing. “We only eat twice a day, mornings and evenings,” she says.

These fish are too small to be sold individually or per kilo. They are used to make the typical fermented fish paste called ‘prohok’. Once invented as a storage technique and now called ‘the cheese of Cambodia’ because of its penetrating smell.

 

Dams on the Mekong

Daney (34) remembers seeing big fish in the water next to the village. “They’ve all gone,” she says, “since the dams were built on the Mekong”.

Biologists have been warning about the disastrous consequences of these dams, of which there are now eleven on the river. The hydroelectric power stations retain sediment, a sand layer containing micro-organisms that serve as food for larger animals.

The dams also hold back water, which explains the lower flow rate. And larger fish, migrating to mate, cannot pass. This happens upstream on the Mekong, in Laos and northern Cambodia, more than three hundred kilometers to the east. But Mekong and Tonle Sap are two communicating vessels, and the negative effect can be felt as far away as Kampong Khleang.

 

No Future As Fishermen

Choon Phop (65) witnessed it all. He stopped working as a fisherman in 2016 and is now a bicycle repairer. “Many species have disappeared,” he says. “Illegal fishing techniques have destroyed the business, although there are now stricter laws.”

He refers, among other things, to electrofishing, a prohibited technique of using electric shocks in the water to affect the instinct and thus the movement of fish.

I sense more optimism from Takhoa, a 62-year-old retired fisherman, who has given his stilt house in Kampong Khleang to his son’s family. Now he lives in a small boat, surviving on vegetables and fish. In the reddish morning light he looks quite happy with his simple life.

Takhoa shares his insight like a teacher who talks to his student. According to him, the catch is poor because the low shrubs, a natural habitat for fish, are being cut on a large scale. Rice fields and other plantations are taking their place. “There are strict laws,” says Takhoa while he puffs on his cigarette, “but the police takes bribes to turn a blind eye.”

 

The Old Wise Man

A little later, mourning funeral prayers echo in the square in front of the pagoda. Large megaphones add a strange metal distortion to the dark sound. When the ceremony is over, I talk to the oldest monk Som Hoa (66), known by his epithet ‘grandfather’. I want to know how he sees the future of the village.

We sit on a bench in front of the meter-high golden Buddha statue. Som Hoa speaks slowly in a low, croaking voice.

“The problem is man-made,” he says. He cites illegal techniques and overfishing as the biggest causes. “They have to wake up and follow the rules. And then eventually everything will be fine.” He concludes with an old Cambodian saying: as long as there is water, there are fish.

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are using digital tools and technologies for real and positive impact on their countries and communities. Credit: Ministry of Digital Transformation, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago

By Marcos Neto and Robert Opp
UNITED NATIONS, Feb 21 2024 (IPS)

Small Island Developing States, or SIDS, have long been pioneers in international development, often compelled by the challenges they face. Positioned on the frontlines of climate change, they lead efforts in mitigation, adaptation, and advocacy, and despite their geographical dispersion, they are innovating approaches to resilience and sustainability.

SIDS are leveraging digital tools and technologies for real and positive impact on their countries and communities. They are leaders in internet gender parity, whilst a number perform strongly on global indices of cybersecurity. They are increasingly becoming Small Island Digital States.

This shift is reshaping the way people in SIDS live and work, facilitating connectivity, shaping new industries and opportunities, and ensuring that public services can reach even the most remote areas.

From the SIDS Global Data Hub in Antigua and Barbuda to the national digital strategies in the Cook Islands and Niue, to the Digital Pathway of Samoa, and substantial innovation efforts in countries such as Trinidad and Tobago, the Maldives, and São Tomé and Príncipe, digital is positively changing lives and livelihoods.

Advocating for transformation

A whole-of-society approach to digital transformation is needed to benefit all facets of SIDS’ societies and economies. This involves placing people at the core of digital endeavours, shaping regulations to address digital harms, and fostering digital skills across society – particularly in relation to shaping future-looking skills and career foundations and pathways.

This also includes developing and retaining talent within the public sector. The collaborative efforts of government, private sector, and civil society are essential for a strategic and inclusive approach to deliver the potential of digital. A major upcoming report from UNDP – Small Island Digital States – identifies how SIDS can drive a whole-of-society approach founded on UNDP’s framework.

Through exploring the digital journeys of SIDS in this forthcoming report, it is clear that SIDS are increasingly recognizing the unique roles and strengths of each sector and ensuring that the benefits of digital reach all members of society. This includes the digital inclusion of remote and marginalized populations.

The involvement of young people, often hard to reach through traditional means, is paramount. They will be the digital leaders, innovators, and customers of the future. Recognizing this, a separate study of young people’s hopes, concerns, and aspirations will also be published soon by UNDP – leveraging a unique survey of 5,000 young people in SIDS, conducted via WhatsApp, Telegram, and Facebook Messenger.

Shaping Small Island Digital States

UNDP supports numerous SIDS on their digital transformation journeys, for example conducting comprehensive Digital Readiness Assessments in over 15 SIDS – and having positioned digital transformation as a key pillar of the UNDP ‘Rising Up for SIDS’ framework.

Our work in SIDS has reaffirmed the importance of understanding how to apply digital in the most useful way. This means we need to recognize that digital transformation is often rooted in analogue and offline foundations. Individual knowledge and skills to use technology safely and meaningfully are important.

Behavioural change is vital for sustainable digital adoption, requiring shifts in internal cultures and processes, including in leveraging approaches such as open source. Financing for digital entrepreneurs in SIDS can also not be overlooked, with local financing institutions often more familiar with tourism or real estate, and less clear about the potential of digital enterprises and entrepreneurs. And planning for the long term is imperative as the return on investment in digital is often not immediate.

SIDS governments and other innovators are building the political capital, buy-in, and momentum to deliver transformational change. Our Digital Readiness Assessments highlighted that nearly 60 percent of SIDS’ populations are keen to see even bolder digital efforts from their governments.

Charting the course

UNDP’s extensive digital work across SIDS, and the findings of these two reports, highlight that despite discussions often framing SIDS in terms of vulnerability and isolation, the digital realm is proving that SIDS are not just surviving; they are thriving.

Through leadership, adaptability, and the emergence of local digital ecosystems, they are demonstrating the transformative power of digital technologies. SIDS are actively engaging in public-private partnerships, leveraging civil society, and collaborating beyond their borders to advance digital objectives collectively.

Global collaboration across the SIDS community is already driving digital best practice. Many are sharing their digital knowledge, expertise, and learning – accelerating the digital journeys of fellow countries.

This collaboration is reshaping the SIDS discourse, showcasing that these countries are actively leading in digital expertise and exploration. SIDS are agile and moving quickly. As islands, they are exciting global beacons of digital innovation and demonstration. And they are swiftly evolving into Small Island Digital States.

Marcos Neto is UN Assistant Secretary-General and Director of UNDP’s Bureau for Policy and Programme Support; Robert Opp is Chief Digital Officer, UNDP.

Source: UN Development Programme

In April this year, the UNDP Global Centre for Technology, Innovation, and Sustainable Development will be launching two key reports as inputs into the discussions around the 4th International SIDS Conference. These reports will provide deeper findings and insights into how SIDS are becoming Small Island Digital States and into youth perspectives on digital technologies.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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The stench from a vessel loaded with cattle which engulfed Cape Town has drawn attention to a wider issue.