Africa

Ivory Coast produce another amazing Africa Cup of Nations escape act as Oumar Diakite's 122nd-minute winner sends the 10-man hosts into the semi-finals.

Recent India Ocean hijackings are fuelling concerns that an old problem could be making a comeback.

BBC Africa's Dorcas Wangira recounts her experience of the fiery blast in Kenya's capital.

Ademola Lookman scores the only goal as Nigeria beat Angola to reach the semi-finals of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.

As the fighting escalates the World Food Programme is unable to reach many of those in need.

This is the first time African music will have its own category at the prestigious Grammy awards.

Sa’ada, Yemen. Aftermath of a Saudi airstrikes. Credit: Ghaith Abdul-Ahad

By Melek Zahine
KABUL, Afghanistan, Feb 2 2024 (IPS)

Two months ago, an opinion piece I wrote, “The Cries of Gaza Reach Afghanistan,” was published with the hope of reminding American and other Western leaders of how quickly wars ON terror descend into wars OF terror because of their disproportionate impact on civilians and the unpredictability once unleashed.

The United States and its Western alliance of ‘forever wars’ since 9/11 were all entered under the pretext of defeating terrorism. Instead, they strengthened the political and military standing of those they aimed to destroy while simultaneously causing unimaginable suffering for millions of civilians, including their own citizens.

According to Brown University’s Cost of War Project and various other independent research groups, a catastrophic 4.5 million direct and indirect deaths are attributed to Western efforts to “defeat terrorism” since 9/11.

If Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Syria, and Libya have taught us anything, it should be this. Today, the Taliban once again rules Afghanistan, and Iraq, after years of sectarian violence resulting from the U.S. invasion has moved closer to the political influence of Iran. In Syria, Bashar al-Assad’s autocratic rule remains firmly in place. The U.S./European NATO-led air war to rid Libya of Muammar Qaddafi and usher in democracy in 2011 was so naively executed that no consideration was paid to how such a reckless, violent endeavor would ultimately trigger a civil war, terrorism, and mass migration. In Yemen, U.S. support for Saudi Arabia’s war against Houthi rebels has led to the deaths of more than 200,000 Yemenis and strengthened the Houthis to the point where, for the “first time in history, a naval blockade is being successfully enacted” by a non-state actor with “no navy and cheap, low-grade technology.”

The same hubris that has blinded the West’s addiction to answering terrorism with war since 9/11 is the same hubris and hypocrisy that fuels its unconditional support for Israel’s war against Hamas today. To be clear, the attacks of Hamas on October 7, like the attacks of Al Qaeda on 9/11, deserve the harshest global condemnation and a proportional, strategic response that respects international law. It does not justify the unconditional support and shielding of Israel’s punitive war on Gaza’s unarmed civilian population, its civilian infrastructure, and its cultural and religious heritage while further risking the lives of the remaining Israeli hostages held by Hamas. Moreover, this war serves no military objective for Israel and offers no strategic benefit for those aiding and abetting Israel’s war from Washington, London, and various EU capitals.

In seeking to wipe out Hamas, all that Israel and its supporters led by the United States are doing is wiping out Gaza. In 100 days, Israel has succeeded in decimating 4 percent of Gaza’s population. Ninety thousand men, women, and children in the Gaza Strip have been killed, seriously injured, or disappeared. 75% of those killed are women and children (Source: Euro-Med Monitor), not Hamas fighters.

If Gaza was called an open-air prison before this war, now it’s an open-air graveyard. A closer look at the 4 percent shows an even bigger tragedy unfolding by the minute. Unchallenged by those who are supplying it with arms and political cover, Israel is targetting Palestinian healthcare workers, humanitarian relief specialists, journalists, artists, poets, civil society activists, and educators, along with their families. As if the killing of Gaza’s children and its brightest wasn’t enough, Israel, through the collaboration of its Western allies, is also obliterating Gaza’s residential and public service infrastructure.

According to a Wall Street Journal satellite imagery survey, “Israel has bombarded and destroyed 70 percent of homes in Gaza.” According to the W.H.O., “none of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are functioning,” and universities, including its primary medical teaching college, have been blown up by the I.D.F. Even places of worship, mosques, and churches, historically places of refuge during times of war, haven’t been spared the wrath of the Israeli-Western assault on Gaza.

Investigations conducted by The Washington Post and Truthout state, “Israel has deployed over 22,000 U.S. produced bombs on Gaza including 2,000-pound ‘bunker bombs’ which experts warn are not meant for densely populated areas as well as white phosphorus produced by munitions manufacturer, the Pine Bluff Arsenal, in the U.S. state of Arkansas (source: Arkansas Times) and supplied to Israel by the U.S. government over the years. Despite massive protests in major U.S. cities calling for a cease-fire, President Biden has bypassed Congress on two occasions to get even more weapons to Israel. The U.K. and Europe, for their part, have also continued to supply key weapons to Israel since the start of the war (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute) despite loud calls from their citizens for an immediate cease-fire.

When asked about these atrocities, the only reply from Israeli, American, British, and European officials is, “Do you condemn Hamas?” The answer should always be yes, but Hamas’s crimes against Israeli citizens on October 7 are not a license for Israel and the West to kill, maim, and displace the entire unarmed civilian population of Gaza. Furthermore, Israel’s reasoning that Hamas is using the civilians of Gaza as human shields and, therefore, justified in deploying any form of military action it deems necessary is not war but a crime against humanity. It’s also a disingenuous argument meant to create a fog of war repeated with criminal negligence by countless U.S., U.K., and European leaders and government officials.

It’s hard to imagine today, but the suffering being inflicted upon two million Palestinians and the remaining 132 Israeli hostages in Gaza, fatefully connected by history, geography, and the tragic events of October 7, will eventually come to an end. Perhaps the historic ruling by the International Criminal Court of Justice (I.C.J.) will prevail, but this could take months. In the meantime, the atrocities being committed on Gazans will intensify, and the plight of the Israeli hostages will enter an even darker, more desperate stage.

The recent ruling of the world’s highest court, while legally binding, doesn’t have the power of enforcement. Furthermore, the court’s order to Israel to “take measures which prevent further harm on Palestinians” without actually ordering a cease-fire fails to take into consideration the entrenched and sick appetite for war that exists between the world’s political elites who are not providing their unconditional support for Israel’s war on the civilian population of Gaza, but participating and profiting from it.

According to EuroMed Monitoring, “Since the I.C.J.’s ruling, Israel has maintained its rate of killing in Gaza” with either no or muted reactions from Western leaders. The fury but also the inertia of powerful states, regardless of political governance and persuasion, is virtually impossible to stop once their war machines are set in motion. It’s no different for Israel.

It took the United States twenty years to end its war in Afghanistan and almost ten years in Iraq. It still maintains counter-terrorism operations with Saudi Arabia in Yemen despite the deadly impact on Yemeni civilians. Europe continues its unwavering support for continued war in Ukraine for no reason other than political arrogance. Russia, for its part, despite its upper hand in Ukraine, continues to fight with devastating consequences for both Russians and Ukrainians. So, why should Netanyahu and his war cabinet be counted on to rein in their war in Gaza? Like their militarily powerful peers, Israel’s warmongering has no bounds.

The entire population of Northern Gaza is now internally displaced, forced by Israel to move south towards Rafah on the Egyptian border. Despite the I.C.J.’s ruling, Israel has intensified its ground operation towards Rafah, where hundreds of thousands from the North of Gaza are already taking refuge on the outskirts of the city, living for weeks in a harsh desert landscape. If Israel continues its violent push into Rafah as it has warned Egypt it plans to do, the entire population of Gaza will be trapped in a tiny corner of the desert with no protection and no safe passage out.

Those who survive the daily air strikes are now dying of hunger, disease, and injuries left untreated because of the destruction of Gaza’s health care system. Two million people are now also forced to endure the extreme traumas of trying to survive without any viable shelter, food, clean water and sanitation, electricity, and safe passage while surrounded by constant air and ground bombardment, snipers, drone attacks, the cold and rain of winter and perhaps worse of all the inaction of world leaders who have it in their power to end Israel’s genocidal campaign in Gaza and, now it’s frightening assault on the civilian population of the West Bank, where Hamas isn’t even in power.

Only the United States, specifically President Biden, is uniquely positioned to pressure Israel to respect each of the I.C.J’s rulings. Perhaps, given its reliance on war as an answer to every foreign policy challenge since 9/11, the United States has forgotten it also has something called soft power- something it has sorely neglected the past twenty years.

The easiest way for President Biden to prove that he and the United States are still committed to international law is by announcing his personal support for an immediate cease-fire and showing proof that he’s pressuring Israel to do the same. He will also need to push for a robust and independent humanitarian assistance effort without any interference from Israel at either border crossing into Gaza.

Of course, all of this assumes that President Biden is willing to stop listening to the impenetrable wall of aides and advisors he’s created around himself and start seeing with his own eyes the scale of the suffering and the dire risks of a wider, regional war that is already endangering American lives.

According to a confidential source with extensive U.S. foreign policy experience, the deadly attack on U.S. troops on the border between Jordan and Syria this past week “exhibits how even the projection of U.S. military power serves to fuel conflict rather than mitigate it.” For totally preventable reasons, now the families of these American soldiers can join all the Palestinian and Israeli lives torn apart by the sheer insanity of this preventable war and unfolding humanitarian disaster.

Above all, President Biden needs to start hearing the calls of his fellow citizens, including the many thousands of Jewish Americans, who are demanding that their taxes and their nation not be used to wage yet another senseless war in their names. A failure to do so will have unimaginable consequences not just for Israelis and Palestinians but for the world.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Gunmen stormed the palace of traditional ruler Segun Aremu amid concern about a wave of abductions.

An increase in prize money has contributed to the success of lower-ranked teams at Afcon 2023, claims the head of African football.

A lorry carrying gas exploded, "igniting a huge ball of fire", with houses and apartments reported hit.

Each diesel or petrol vehicle will incur up to $24 a year under a new law meant to curb emissions.

A huge gas blast in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, has killed at least three people and injured nearly 300.

She pleaded guilty to tampering with the cash while dancing at a friend's wedding, authorities say.

Displaced families living in an UNRWA school-turned shelter in Deir al-Balah, Middle Areas, The Gaza Strip, January 2024. Credit: Mohamed Hinnawi/UNRWA

By Naureen Hossain
UNITED NATIONS, Feb 2 2024 (IPS)

South Africa’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Mathu Joyini, said the country would take further legal action should Israel ignore the provisional measures set out by the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

She was speaking at the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People this week. The meeting saw the adoption of its agenda for 2024, for which the Committee will engage with member states and regional groups to support the realization of the rights and dignities of the Palestinian people. This has become all the more relevant in the face of the current humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.

The ICJ ruled that Israel should take all measures within its power to prevent a genocide in the Gaza Strip. It stopped short of ordering a ceasefire. According to the Hamas Health Ministry, 7,000 people have been killed and 66,000 wounded in Gaza since Israel started it’s military offensive in reaction to the October 7, 2023, attack.

The Permanent Representative of Senegal, Cheikh Niang, who was re-elected to his position as Committee Chair, lamented that the current war between Israel and Hamas spoke to a “collective failure” to realize the rights of the Palestinian people and expressed hope that the Security Council “will hear the many voices” that are calling for a ceasefire.

“It is time to begin to heal the wounds that have been reopened in so many places,” he said as he advocated for a two-state solution, wherein Israel and Palestine would co-exist in peace and security within recognized borders based on the pre-1967 border lines.

Secretary-General António Guterres convened the meeting and delivered the opening statement, beginning with reiterating his condemnation of Hamas and other extremist groups and calling for the safe release of the Israeli hostages while also condemning the ensuing violence that has afflicted the people of Gaza.

“There is no justification for the intentional killing, injuring, torture, or kidnapping of civilians, using sexual violence against them, or launching rockets towards civilian targets,” he said. “At the same time, nothing can justify the collective punishment of the people in Gaza.”

He reiterated his call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, warning that the “humanitarian system in Gaza [was] collapsing. The current hostilities have lasted over 120 days, and the casualties and devastation on the Gaza Strip and West Bank stand as a “scar on our shared humanity and conscience.”

Guterres also noted that the recent hostilities in the Red Sea, Iraq, and Syria signal the impact the ongoing violence has on the region and that this could trigger “broader escalation, risking regional stability.”

Gréta Gunnarsdóttir, Director of the UNRWA Representative Office in New York, appealed to the Committee and to donor states that had made the decision to suspend their funding of UNRWA.

“Every day, our staff is making a direct impact on the ground for the people of Palestine,” she said.

She added that other humanitarian organizations, including its UN partners, depend on UNRWA to deliver humanitarian aid. As the largest humanitarian agency in the region, it has been made particularly vulnerable. UNRWA facilities, notably schools, shelters, and health care centers, have not been spared from bombardments. Disease outbreaks and the risk of famine in the region are as likely to be the cause of deaths for civilians as gunfire and bombardments.

Gunnarsdottir warned that if UNRWA were to collapse, then all humanitarian operations in Palestine would collapse.

Recently, the agency has faced allegations that some of its staff were actively involved in Hamas attacks on October 7. As a result, at least 17 major donor countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, and the European Union, have suspended donations.

The dossier Israeli intelligence shared with the United States, which details the allegations, had not been presented to UNRWA, according to Gunnarsdottir.

She told the Committee that UNRWA’s Commissioner General has terminated the contracts of eight out of the twelve staff members accused; two were confirmed dead, one has not been identified, and one does not match with the staff lists.

Joyini accused Israel of continuing “to behave in a manner that is contrary to the court order” and said that if Israel did not comply with the court’s order, then South Africa would be willing to take legal measures to enforce that ruling.

Joyini asked the Committee to extend public support to South Africa’s case to strengthen it further in the ICJ through Article 63 of the ICJ’s Statute of the Court of Justice, which would allow member states to request permission from the court to intervene if the state holds an interest that may be affected by the decision of the court case.

Riyad H. Mansour, Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine, noted that Israeli leaders and the military should “face justice… and accountability in every place possible, including the international legal system.” When speaking of the situation in Gaza, he remarked that the crimes were “beyond description,” adding that it was the international community’s “collective duty” to prevent any further trauma.

Mansour called for Palestine to become a full-fledged member of the United Nations, aligning with the demand for a two-state solution that the Committee and the Secretary-General have made. He proposed that an international peace conference should be convened, which would put the status of Palestine at the forefront. A draft resolution will be brought forward to the General Assembly with support from Nigeria.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Female farmers harvesting in a plantation in Sri Lanka. Credit: UNDP, Sri Lanka

By Marta Perez Cuso and Yihan Zhao
BANGKOK, Thailand, Feb 2 2024 (IPS)

Selyn, a women-led handloom business, offers flexible employment and valuable income opportunities to about 1,000 women artisans and persons from marginalized groups in rural Sri Lanka. Selyn develops and exports high-value craft products in global markets.

The bigger revenue margins of quality products translate into better incomes for women artisans. Thanks to its pioneering use of blockchain in the supply chain – consumers can track how their purchases translate into earnings for women in the informal economy.

The Small Organic Farmers Association (SOFA) of Sri Lanka, produces and exports organic food while creating a sustainable and equitable environment for smallholder farmers. It facilitates fair trade certification for smallholders and links more than 3,600 organic farmers to export markets.

WindForce, the largest renewable energy developer in Sri Lanka, owns, develops and operates renewable energy power plants that provide clean energy access to businesses, communities and industries. WindForce allocates a portion of the profits into community development projects to support the welfare of local communities including livelihood support, education and childhood development, environmental conservation and health care.

These are a few examples of inclusive and sustainable businesses that go beyond the usual “profit-first” market approach to provide affordable goods, services and livelihoods to low-income people and to support environmental sustainability in Sri Lanka.

With ambitious reforms taking centre-stage towards rebuilding Sri Lanka into a resilient and sustainable economy, the Government of Sri Lanka is exploring opportunities to harness the potential of the private sector in fostering inclusive and sustainable growth.

On 31 January, a groundbreaking Strategy to Promote Inclusive and Sustainable Businesses to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals was officially launched by the Government of Sri Lanka. Designed by the Sustainable Development Council of Sri Lanka in collaboration with the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and United Nations Sri Lanka, this strategic roadmap envisions a strong and dynamic ecosystem where inclusive and sustainable businesses like Selyn, SOFA and WindForce can not only emerge but thrive.

Inclusive and sustainable businesses are purpose-driven enterprises that deliberately seek positive change in communities and the environment. These impact businesses can play a crucial role to achieve national social development and environment sustainability goals. Inclusive and sustainable businesses use market-based approaches to achieve positive social and environmental impacts, while ensuring their own commercial sustainability.

The Strategy seeks to put in place regulations that encourage and recognise inclusive and sustainable businesses, provide training and services that help businesses pivot towards more inclusive and sustainable practices, and improve access to finance for businesses.

It builds on and brings together for the first time the collaborative and cross-sectoral efforts of government agencies, private sector organizations and development partners, to shape an inclusive, sustainable and resilient economy.

Actions will cover five core areas:

1) Setting the direction for Sri Lanka to become an inclusive and sustainable export and investment hub;
2) Raising awareness on the economic and social value that impact businesses bring and recognizing local success stories, through award and formal accreditation;
3) Building the capacities of businesses and governments to develop and to promote inclusive and sustainable businesses;
4) Supporting impact measuring and reporting; and
5) Enhancing access to finance for impact businesses.

Sri Lanka’s commitment to this Strategy is a testament to its aspiration for a sustainable and inclusive future where businesses are not just economic entities but forces for positive change.

Marta Perez Cuso is Economic Affairs Officer, UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP); Yihan Zhao is Associate Economic Affairs Officer, ESCAP.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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UN General Assembly meets on the question of equitable representation-- and increase in membership of the Security Council. November 2023. Credit: UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Feb 2 2024 (IPS)

The myriads of proposals for the reform of the much-maligned Security Council have been kicked around the United Nations for more than two decades—with no significant progress.

Speaking at the General Assembly’s (GA) annual debate, GA President Dennis Francis told delegates last November that without structural reform, the Council’s performance and legitimacy will inevitably continue to suffer.

“Violence and war continue to spread in regions across the world, while the United Nations seems paralyzed due largely to the divisions in the Security Council,” he said.

With the world changing quickly, the Council is “dangerously falling short” of its mandate as the primary custodian for the maintenance of international peace and security, he said.

Meanwhile, a proposed new model for reforms, initiated by the Group of Four (G4: Brazil, Germany, India, and Japan), has been doing the rounds.

Not surprisingly, all four countries have been longstanding contenders for permanent seats (P5s) which have remained the privilege of five countries since the creation of the world body 79 years ago: the US, UK, France, China and the Russian Federation (replacing the USSR of a bygone era).

The G4 is calling for a total of 11 permanent members (P11): China, France, The Russian Federation, UK and the US, plus six others.

In the event of possible expansion, and upon the adoption of a comprehensive framework resolution on Security Council reform, interested Member States prepared to assume the functions and responsibilities of permanent members of the Security Council would submit their candidatures in writing to the President of the General Assembly.

The General Assembly will then proceed, as soon as possible, at a date to be determined by the President, to the election of six new permanent members, by a vote of two thirds of the members of the General Assembly. through a secret ballot. The rules of procedure of the General Assembly will be applied to the election of the new permanent members.

The criteria of Article 23 (1) should also apply to the election of the new permanent members: “due regard shall be paid, in the first instance to their contributions to the maintenance of international peace and security and to the other purposes of the Organization, and also to equitable geographical distribution”.

The non-permanent members with a two-year term, currently at 10, will be increased to a total of 14/15 seats – The election process for non-permanent members will follow current practices.

According to the G4 proposal, the six new permanent members of the Security Council shall be elected according to the following pattern: (i) Two from African Member States: (ii) Two from Asia-Pacific Member States, (iii) One from Latin American and Caribbean Member States; (iv) One from Western European and Other Member States.

The four/five new non-permanent members of the Security Council shall be elected according to the following pattern; (i) One/Two from African Member States: (ii) One from Asia-Pacific Member States: (iii) One from Eastern European Member States; (iv) One from Latin American and Caribbean Member States.

Member States should give due consideration during the nomination and election of non-permanent members to adequate and continuing representation of small and medium size Member States, including Small Island Developing States (SIDS).

Andreas Bummel, Executive Director, Democracy Without Borders, told IPS any reconfiguration of the Security Council would have to be adopted in line with Article 108 of the Charter, which means it requires the support of two thirds of UN members and the P5.

“Given the fact that Security Council reform has been discussed for decades, I think it is legitimate to pursue such a vote instead of consensus. Whether it is politically wise is a different question.”

In essence, he said, the G4 are not willing to compromise. “If they can mobilize a two thirds majority and the P5, fine. But if not, it’s finally game over for them. I can’t see how a broad agreement is possible without introducing new concepts that go beyond today’s permanent and non-permanent seats.”

Re-electable seats rotating among the membership of certain regions is a good approach, in my mind. New permanent seats vested with a veto will make the Security Council even more unworkable.

This option should be off the table. Delaying a decision for fifteen years does not solve this, he declared.

On the question of the veto, the G4 says Member States should be invited to continue discussions on the use of the veto in certain circumstances.

The new permanent members, would as a principle, have the same responsibilities and obligations as current permanent members.

However, the new permanent members shall not exercise the veto-right until a decision on the matter has been taken during a review, to be held fifteen years after the coming into force of the reform.

Amendments to the charter shall reflect the fact that the extension of the right of veto to the new permanent members will be decided upon in the framework of a review.

The enlarged Security Council would be encouraged to, inter alia, hold regular consultations with the President of the General Assembly; submit an analytical and comprehensive evaluation of the Council’s work in the annual report to the General Assembly; submit more frequently special reports to the General Assembly in accordance with Articles 15 (1) and 24 (3) of the Charter, improve participation of the Chair of the Peacebuilding Commission and the chairs of the country-specific configurations of the Commission in relevant debates and, in an appropriate format, in informal discussions

Asked for her comments, Barbara Adams, Senior Policy Analyst, Global Policy Forum, told IPS: Surely, now 11 (not 5) veto-wielding powers, will not correct the inability of P5 or P11 to put their chartered responsibility for international peace and security above their national security interests.

She pointed out that the G4 proposal for a 15-year pause on use of the veto acknowledges the tension between expanding the number of permanent members and the veto.

Re the proposal for seats for developing countries, and countries from other regions, they should not need to be justified by the concept of regional representation, she argued.

“The privilege of permanency in the Security Council extends beyond the use of veto. The “chill factor” of this privilege reaches into many parts of the UN system in ways formal and informal such as preferential treatment for senior UN positions,” Adams declared.

Joseph Chamie, a consulting international demographer and a former director of the UN Population Division, told IPS reform of the United Nations Security Council is not a new proposal; it’s been around for decades.

Despite committees, discussions and calls by many Member States for reform of the Council, he pointed out, little progress has been achieved towards equitable representation, inclusiveness and legitimacy.

“Increasing numbers of both governments and people consider the Council to be ineffectual and unjust and require reform, including expanding membership and restricting vetoes”.

While enormous changes have occurred in the world over the past eight decades, he said, the Council continues to have the same five permanent members.

When established, the five permanent members accounted for about 35 percent of the world’s population. Today, they represent 25 percent and by mid-century they are expected to represent 20 percent of the world’s population, said Chamie, author of numerous publications on population and related issues.

In brief, the desire for reform of the Security Council is both understandable and reasonable and despite the geo-political challenges, reform should be undertaken without further delays, he declared.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Myriam Miller and Freddy Vargas stand next to one of the three greenhouses on their farm, where tomatoes are growing, anticipating an optimal harvest this year. The couple uses no chemical fertilizers to ensure the healthy development of thousands of plants on their farm in Mostazal, a municipality in central Chile. CREDIT: Orlando Milesi / IPS

By Orlando Milesi
MOSTAZAL, Chile , Feb 2 2024 (IPS)

The installation of photovoltaic panels to use solar energy to irrigate small farms is expanding quickly in Chile because it lowers costs and optimizes the use of scarce water resources.

This long, narrow South American country that stretches from the northern Atacama Desert to the southern Patagonia region and from the Andes Mountains to the Pacific Ocean is extremely rich in renewable energies, especially solar and wind power."Solar panels have made an immensely important contribution to our energy expenditure. Without them we would consume a lot of electricity." -- Myriam Miller

Last year, 36.6 percent of Chile’s electricity mix was made up of Non-Conventional Renewable Energies (NCREs), whose generation in May 2023 totaled 2392 gigawatt hours (GWh), including 1190 GWh of solar power.

This boom in the development of alternative energies has been mainly led by large companies that have installed solar panels throughout the country, including the desert. The phenomenon has also reached small farmers throughout this South American country who use solar energy.

In family farming, solar energy converted into electricity is installed with the help of resources from the government’s Agricultural Development Institute (Indap), which promotes sustainable production of healthy food among small farmers, incorporating new irrigation techniques.

In 2020 alone, the last year for which the institute provides data, Indap promoted 206 new irrigation projects that incorporated NCREs with an investment of more than 2.1 million dollars.

That year, of the projects financed and implemented, 182 formed part of the Intra-predial Irrigation Program, 17 of the Minor Works Irrigation Program and seven of the Associative Irrigation Program. The investment includes solar panels for irrigation systems.

Within this framework, 2025 photovoltaic panels with an installed capacity of 668 kilowatts were installed, producing 1002 megawatt hours and preventing the emission of 234 tons of carbon dioxide.

The six solar panels installed on the small farm of Myriam Miller and Freddy Vargas, in the municipality of Mostazal, south of Santiago, Chile, allow them to pump water to their three greenhouses with thousands of tomato plants and to their vegetable garden. They also drastically reduced their electric energy expenditure. CREDIT: Orlando Milesi / IPS

An experience in Mostazal

“Solar panels have made an immensely important contribution to our energy expenditure. Without them we would consume a lot of electricity,” 50-year-old farmer Myriam Miller told IPS at her farm in the municipality of Mostazal, 66 km south of Santiago, where some 54,000 people live in different communities.

Miller has half a hectare of land, with a small portion set aside for three greenhouses with nearly 1,500 tomato plants. Other tomato plants grow in rows outdoors, including heirloom varieties whose seeds she works to preserve, such as oxheart and pink tomatoes.

Indap provided 7780 dollars in financing to install the solar panels on her land. Meanwhile, she and her husband, Freddy Vargas, 51, who run their farm together, contributed 10 percent of the total cost.

In 2023, Miller and Vargas built a third greenhouse to increase their production, which they sell on their own land.

“We’re producing around 8,000 kilos of tomatoes per season. This year we will exceed that goal. We’re happy because we’re moving ahead little by little and improving our production year,” Miller said as she picked tomatoes.

On the land next to the tomato plants, the couple grows vegetables, mainly lettuce, some 7,000 heads a year. They also have fruit trees.

Vargas told IPS that they needed electricity to irrigate the greenhouses because “it’s not easy to do it by hand.”

Freddy Vargas turns the soil on his farm in the municipality of Mostazal, south of Santiago, Chile. Lettuce is his star vegetable, with thousands of heads sold on the farm. The farmer plans to buy a mini-tractor to alleviate the work of plowing the land. CREDIT: Orlando Milesi / IPS

The farm has two wells that hold about 30,000 liters of water that arrives once a week from a dam located two kilometers away. This is the water they use to power the pumps to irrigate the greenhouses.

“We have water rights and Indap provided us with solar panels and tools to automate irrigation. They gave us four panels and we made an additional investment, with our own funds, and installed six,” Vargas explained.

The couple consumes between 250 and 300 kilowatts per month and the surplus energy they generate is injected into the household grid.

“We don’t have storage batteries, which are more expensive. Every month the electric company sends us a bill detailing the total we have injected into the grid and what we have consumed. They calculate it and we pay the difference,” Vargas said.

The average savings in the cost of consumption is 80 percent.

“I haven’t paid anything in the (southern hemisphere) summer for years. In the winter I spend 30,000 to 40,000 pesos (between 33 and 44 dollars) but I only pay between 5,000 and 10,000 pesos a month (5.5 to 11 dollars) thanks to the energy I generate,” the farmer said.

Above and beyond the savings, Miller stressed the “personal growth and social contribution we make with our products that go to households that need healthier food. We feel good about contributing to the environment.”

“We have a network, still small, of agroecological producers. There is a lack of information among the public about what people eat,” she added.

Their tomatoes are highly prized. “People come to buy them because of their flavor and because they are very juicy. Once people taste them, they come back and recommend them by word of mouth,” Miller said.

She is optimistic and believes that in the municipalities of Mostazal and nearby Codegua, young people are more and more interested in contributing to the planet, producing their own food and selling the surplus.

“We just need a little support and more interest in youth projects in agriculture to raise awareness that just as we take care of the land, it also gives to us,” she said.

Valentina Martínez stands on her father’s small plot of land in the municipality of María Pinto, north of Santiago, Chile. The fruit trees provide the shade needed to keep the planted vegetables from being scorched by the strong southern hemisphere summer sun in central Chile. CREDIT: Orlando Milesi / IPS

A pesticide-free new generation

Valentina Martínez, 32, is an environmental engineer. Together with her father, Simón, 75, they work as small farmers in the municipality of María Pinto, 60 kilometers north of Santiago. She has a 0.45 hectare plot and her father has a 0.35 hectare plot.

Both have just obtained funding from the Transition to Sustainable Agriculture (TAS) project, which operates within Indap, and they are excited about production without chemical fertilizers and are trying to meet the goal of securing another larger loan that would enable them to build a greenhouse and expand fruit and vegetable production on the two farms.

“It’s a two-year program. In the first year you apply and they give you an incentive of 450,000 pesos (500 dollars) focused on buying technology. I’ve invested in plants, fruit trees, worms, and containers for making preserves,” Valentina told IPS.

In the second year, depending on the results of the first year, they will apply for a fund of 3900 dollars for each plot, to invest in their production.

“This year my father and I will apply for solar panels to improve irrigation,” said Valentina, who is currently dedicated to producing seedlings.

“My father liked the idea of producing without agrochemicals to combat pests,” she said about Simón, who has a fruit tree orchard and also grows vegetables.

In María Pinto there are 380 small farmers on the census, but the real number is estimated at about 500. Another 300 are medium-sized farmers.

Simón Martínez, 75, proudly shows some of the citrus fruits harvested on his farm where he practices agroecology and does not use agrochemicals. He and his daughter Valentina won a contest to continue improving the sustainability of their farming practices on their adjoining plots, located outside the Chilean town of María Pinto. CREDIT: Orlando Milesi / IPS

The rest of the area is monopolized by large agricultural companies dedicated to monocultures for export. Most of them have citrus, avocado, cherry and peach trees, as well as some walnut trees, and they all make intensive use of chemical fertilizers.

Chile exports mainly copper, followed by iron. But it also stands out for its sales of fish, cellulose pulp and fruit. In 2023, it exported 2.3 million tons of fruit, produced by large farms and bringing in 5.04 billion dollars. Agriculture represents 4.3 percent of the country’s GDP.

Family farming consists of some 260,000 small farms, which account for 98 percent of the country’s farms, according to the government’s Office of Agrarian Studies and Policies (Odepa).

Family farms produce 40 percent of annual crops and 22 percent of total agricultural production, which is key to feeding the country’s 19.7 million people.

Valentina is excited about TAS and the meetings she has had with other young farmers.

“It’s fun. We’re all on the same page and interested in what each other is doing. We start in December and January and it lasts all year. The young people are learning about sustainable agriculture and that there are more projects to apply for,” she explained.

She said that 15 young people in María Pinto have projects with pistachio trees, fruit trees, greenhouse gardens, outdoor gardens, animal husbandry and orchards. They are all different and receive group and individual training.

The training is provided by Indap and the Local Development Program (Prodesal), its regional representatives and the Foundation for the Promotion and Development of Women (Prodemu).

“The idea is that more people can learn about and realize the benefits of sustainable agriculture for their own health and for their land, which in a few years will be impossible due to the spraying of monocultures,” Valentina said.

It targets large entrepreneurs who produce avocado and broccoli in up to four harvests a year, both water-intensive crops, even on high hillsides.

“We need to come together, do things properly and recruit more people to create a legal group to reach other places and be able to organize projects. When you exist as an organization, you can also reach other places and say I am no longer one person, we are 15, we are 20, 100 and we need this,” she said.

A selection of the best photos from the African continent and beyond.

Interview with Hirotsugu Terasaki, DG of Peace and Global Issues of SGI by Victor Gaetan at UN. Credit: Katsuhiro Asagiri, President of INPS Japan.
 
“Jesus and Buddha were peacemakers and promoters of non-violence,”
Pope Francis, May 28, 2022

By Victor Gaetan
Nagasaki (Agenzia Fides) - , Feb 1 2024 (IPS-Partners)

At the United Nations headquarters in New York City, on the third floor, a solemn statue of St. Agnes, holding her namesake lamb, stands as a disturbing reminder of nuclear destruction.

The saint, known for resisting multiple attempts to kill her, survived an atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki by the United States on August 9, 1945. The bomb exploded 500 meters from Urakami Cathedral, Asia’s largest Catholic church at the time. The bomb incinerated 60-80,000 people, of whom no more than 150 were soldiers. St. Agnes was found face down in the cathedral’s rubble.

Declassified Pentagon documents solve the puzzle of why Nagasaki was targeted despite not being included in the initial list of targets: at the last-minute, the city was added in handwriting, by an unknown hand, to obliterate the most historic Catholic community in Japan as retribution Retribution for the Vatican’s 1942 establishment of diplomatic relations with Japan. The US couldn’t forgive the Vatican for establishing diplomatic relation with its enemy, Tokyo).

Hibakusha Voices

In front of the UN’s St. Agnes statue, I met anti-nuclear campaigner, Hirotsugu Terasaki, director general of the lay Buddhist movement, Soka Gakkai International (SGI), representing some 12 million people worldwide. Founded in 1930, Soka Gakkai is Japan’s largest organized religious group.

SGI is dedicated to the teachings of Nichiren, a 13th century Japanese Buddhist priest. Soka University in Tokyo and Aliso Viejo, California are also associated with the faith tradition. A regular collaborator with the Holy See, SGI was a participating partner at the Vatican’s 2017 conference “Prospects for a World Free of Nuclear Weapons and for Integral Disarmament.” Pope Francis sent public condolences when SG’s highly influential third president, Daisaku Ikeda, died last November at age 95.

Hiromasa Ikeda, vice president of SGI meeting with Pope Francis during the Vatican conference “Prospects for a World Free of Nuclear Weapons and for Integral Disarmament.” Credit: Centro Televisivo Vaticano

Terasaki was at the UN to attend the second Meeting of State Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), an ambitious disarmament treaty—the first prohibiting countries from possessing nuclear arms—signed by 93 countries, most recently Sri Lanka. It went into effect January 22, 2021.

Terasaki explained that SGI’s disarmament commitment stretches back over half a century and is directly connected with his country’s tragic experience of nuclear holocaust. The Soka Gakkai youth division in Japan started a campaign in 1972 aimed at “protecting the fundamental human right to survival” by gathering and documenting the wartime testimonials of Japanese nuclear survivors known as hibakusha (bomb-affected-people). Over the next 12 years, students collected thousands of testimonies, which eventually filled 80 volumes.

“My personal involvement brought me face-to-face with the harrowing accounts of hibakusha,” Terasaki recalled. “There were some who initially agreed to being interviewed, but once it began, they were voiceless, choked by the weight of their anguish and pain. Yet, there were those who bravely shared their persistent suffering and trauma. I was in a state of utter shock witnessing their visceral outpourings of pain. It shook the depth of my soul. These testimonials seared in my consciousness the inhumanity of nuclear devastation.”

Of 650,000 hibakusha recognized by the Japanese government, over 113,000 are alive. To this day, they influence the contemporary disarmament movement by inspiring its leaders: “These individuals form the foundation of building peace,” summarized Terasaki.

Partnering with ICAN

A fortuitous partnership helped amplify SGI’s anti-nuclear commitment in 2007. The International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (which won a Nobel Peace Prize for creating public awareness of the catastrophe of nuclear weapons in 1985) initiated the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) and asked SGI to sign on as an early collaborator to help gain global approval of the TPNW. Both were especially committed to mobilizing youth.

Terasaki remembered, “To realize our vision of a nuclear-free world, we felt compelled to forge a vast global network committed to educating people about the devastating realities of nuclear weapons. Our efforts began by organizing study groups for diplomats around the world, heightening awareness of the aftermath of nuclear exposure”—again, putting the humanitarian impact at the center of the discussion. Regional anti-nuke conferences, from Central Asia to the Caribbean, and directly lobbying foreign ministries were two other tactics.

In the span of merely a decade, the TPNW was adopted by the United Nations in July 2017. The Holy See was one of the first signatories. “This was indeed a miraculous achievement,” confirmed Terasaki, who credits many other organizations with contributing to the success, including Pax, the Dutch Catholic peace group, and the World Council of Churches.

No surprise, TPNW has not been signed by the nine countries with nuclear capability: Russia (5,889 warheads); US (5,224 warheads); China (410); France (290); United Kingdom (225); Pakistan (170); India (164); Israel (90); and North Korea (30). Nor have five states hosting nuclear weapons for the US signed: Italy (35); Turkey (20); Belgium (15); Germany (15); or Netherlands (15) according to ICAN.

Most inhumane weapons

The main message of TPNW campaigners is that nuclear weapons are the most inhumane weapons ever created. They violate international law, cause severe environmental damage, undermine global security, and divert budgets from addressing human needs. Nuclear weapons must be eliminated, not just controlled.

Yet, a cover story in the magazine Scientific American last December warned about the U.S. government’s plans to upgrade its nuclear capacity with an additional $1,5 trillion to modernize its nuclear arsenal. Presently, there are approximately 12,500 nuclear warheads worldwide, with the United States and Russia holding nearly 90% of the stockpile.

Explained Terasaki, “The current plan to expand nuclear capabilities stems from an unwavering belief in the utility of nuclear deterrence. Yet, we must question whether this policy is a sound political strategy or is it a myth created to perpetuate nuclear armament.”

He continued, “Advancing the current nuclear expansion will not yield peace and security based on global nuclear balance but will precipitate global destruction or Armageddon.”

Moral discourse

I asked Terasaki, how he describes the unique role being played by faith-based organizations such as SGI, in the new, emerging disarmament movement, as typified by the TPNW? He explained that while TPNW’s next steps are largely diplomatic and state-centric, faith-based organizations must continue highlighting the negative impact of nuclear arms from a spiritual and humanitarian perspective.

“As the world grapples with escalating challenges, the influence of moral discourse becomes ever more pertinent,” he said. This is a position strongly maintained by the Holy See.

At the same time, Soka Gakkai’s affiliation with the Komeito party (NKP), founded by Daisaku Ikeda in 1964 gives it unique influence on perceptions of governing elite; it’s not “just” a Buddhist lay entity. In the 1960s, Ikeda advocated for the reopening of China-Japan relations. He visited China ten times between 1974 and 1997, meeting with leaders Zhou Enlai and Deng Xiaoping. In the 1970s, Ikeda traveled to the Soviet Union and met with Premier Aleksey Kosygin, passing conciliatory messages between Beijing and Moscow, at the height of China-USSR tensions. NKP has been the Liberal Democratic Party (LPD) junior partner since 1999.

Ikeda’s vision converged with Pope Francis: The Japanese leader observed, “In the end, peace will not be realized by politicians signing treaties. Human solidarity is built by opening our hearts to each other. This is the power of dialogue.”

Kazakhstan and Bahrain

Teresaki described two inspiring images of collaboration witnessed in his travels to promote peace, denuclearization, and cross-cultural dialogue: In 2022 he attended both the Seventh Congress of Leaders of the World and Traditional Religions in Kazakhstan as a Buddhist representative, and, a month later, he was in Bahrain for the forum “East and West for Human Coexistence.”

The events put him in close proximity to Pope Francis, whose encyclicals “resonate deeply with me,” said Terasaki.

“I was particularly moved seeing the reconciliatory atmosphere between Catholic and Sunni Islamic leaders sitting in the same room,” observed the Japanese leader. “These forums offered a promising platform for religious leaders from across the globe to engage in candid and meaningful discourse, sharing insights and wisdom on the pressing global issues facing humanity.”

According to Terasaki, a fundamental Buddhist tenet informing SGI anti-nuclear advocacy is that individual and society’s security are one and interdependent. The Mahayana tradition followed by SGI emphasizes how an individual, through discipline and deepening practice, works change within that impacts the external world.

“SGI is committed to safeguarding dignity of life, happiness of all individuals, and the collective security of the world. Reliance on nuclear arms fundamentally contradicts these aims, as they jeopardize the very security we seek,” he summarized.

As Pope Francis declared at Nagasaki in 2019, “Peace and international stability are incompatible with attempts to build upon the fear of mutual destruction or the threat of total annihilation. They can be achieved only on the basis of a global ethic of solidarity and cooperation.”
(Agenzia Fides, 17/1/2024)

Victor Gaetan is a senior correspondent for the National Catholic Register, focusing on international issues. He also writes for Foreign Affairs magazine and contributed to Catholic News Service. He is the author of the book God’s Diplomats: Pope Francis, Vatican Diplomacy, and America’s Armageddon (Rowman & Littlefield, 2021) published in paperback in July 2023. VictorGaetan.org

Original article: https://www.fides.org/en/news/74617-ASIA_JAPAN_Nuclear_Disarmament_A_Natural_Buddhist_Catholic_Alliance_Explains_Japanese_Leader

 

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Five-month old cassava plants growing in the greenhouse of Wageningen University, the Netherlands. Credit: Rene Geurts/ENSA

By Rene Geurts
WAGENINGEN, Netherlands, Feb 1 2024 (IPS)

The 500 per cent increase in global agricultural productivity over the past 60 years has largely been made possible by the scientific advances of the “Green Revolution” – from the ability to breed higher yielding varieties to improvements in farm inputs, especially fertiliser.

But this has come with both environmental trade-offs and widening inequality. Half the world is now fed thanks to synthetic nitrogen fertiliser, but its use generates an estimated 10.6 per cent of agricultural emissions, including up to 70 per cent of nitrous oxide emissions, one of the less prevalent greenhouse gases that is nevertheless almost 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide.

To address this, scientists are embarking on a new frontier of the Green Revolution, built on fresh understanding about soil microbes and crop biology. This offers the potential for a “genetic revolution” that enables agricultural production without the need for as much costly chemical fertiliser use.

The genetic revolution is partly born of a need to address the fact that the gains of the Green Revolution in the 1960s were not evenly spread. Smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa continue to have limited access to the latest varieties of planting material and fertiliser, while contending with some of the most degraded soil in the world.

Rene Geurts of Wageningen University visiting a smallholder farmer’s cassava field near Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire in October 2022. Credit: Christian Rogers/ENSA

Meanwhile in Africa, key staple crops such as cassava have not yet fully benefited from the progress in modern breeding technologies.

Recent advances in scientific knowledge about how crops interact with soil bacteria and fungi to obtain nutrients therefore offer the opportunity to optimise plant biology to reduce the need for fertiliser, helping to solve both agriculture’s environmental challenges and the inequality that has held back food security in Africa.

It also happens that cassava, Africa’s most important crop after maize, is the perfect starting point for a next chapter of agricultural science and innovation.

In the evolution of crop species, cassava narrowly missed the opportunity to develop the same natural ability as legumes to interact with soil bacteria to convert nitrogen from the air. Legumes engage with rhizobia in soil to naturally fix nitrogen, meaning beans, peas and lentils do not need synthetic nitrogen fertiliser to grow.

While cassava did not evolve with this trait, the root crop does make good use of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, a soil fungus, to source mineral nutrients such as phosphate. The biological system that allows cassava to interact with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi was the evolutionary ancestor of nitrogen fixation.

This makes cassava something of a stepping stone between legumes, which do not need nitrogen fertiliser, and other crops, which currently rely on artificial sources of nutrients.

Scientists including those of us at the Enabling Nutrient Symbioses in Agriculture (ENSA) project are investigating the possibility of using cassava’s existing mechanism for engaging with fungi to also interact with bacteria to fix nitrogen.

Transgenic cassava plantlets possessing legume genes, which may enable the plants to recognize nitrogen-fixing rhizobium bacteria. Credit: Rene Geurts/ENSA

This research is at a very early stage but increasing the ability of more crops to source nutrients organically without the need for fertiliser would in theory have multiple benefits.

Such a development would help improve the uptake of crop nutrients, which would translate into increased growth and higher yields. This is particularly valuable for African farmers, who have seen cassava yields remain stagnant since the 1960s.

Pursuing the development of nitrogen-fixing cassava could also lead to reductions in the need for fertiliser, which would help bring down agricultural emissions while unlocking productivity gains in regions otherwise limited by access to fertiliser. This would mean smallholder farmers in Africa could benefit from yield increases similar to those achieved elsewhere in the Green Revolution.

Finally, if scientists can introduce the trait to fix nitrogen to cassava, it opens the possibility of translating it to other, related crop species.

Researchers are at the start of their exploration of this new frontier but the potential of a “genetic revolution” is ultimately for a “doubly green revolution” that accelerates agricultural intensification without the need for chemical fertiliser.

Not only would this help to feed a growing population more sustainably, but it would also level the playing field for those who have been historically left behind by agricultural innovation.

Rene Geurts, Associate Professor, Wageningen University, and principal investigator at the Enabling Nutrient Symbioses in Agriculture (ENSA) project

IPS UN Bureau

 

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