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By CIVICUS
Jun 25 2024 (IPS)

 

CIVICUS discusses the results and implications of recent elections to the European Parliament with Philipp Jäger, Policy Fellow at the Jacques Delors Centre, an independent, non-partisan think tank focused on European policy processes and outcomes.

Philipp Jäger

The recent European elections saw significant advances by far-right parties in some but all European Union (EU) countries. They made gains in countries including Austria, Germany and France, where an early parliamentary election has been called as a consequence. In other countries, however, far-right parties stood still or lost support, while green and left-wing parties made gains. Overall, the EU’s mainstream conservative bloc held its leading position, but the results raise questions about the direction of EU policy on issues such as climate and migration.

For more civil society interviews and analysis, please visit CIVICUS Lens.

 
What are the key takeaways from the recent European Parliamentary elections?

As predicted by the polls, there was a shift to the right, with around a quarter of the seats going to the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) and Identity and Democracy (ID) groups. Most of the parties in these two groups, including Italy’s post-fascist Brothers of Italy, France’s National Rally (RN) and Alternative for Germany (AfD) – which was expelled from ID just before the election – are far-right populist parties.

However, the right’s gains did not amount to a landslide victory and the political centre managed to keep a majority. The conservative European People’s Party (EPP) won the most votes, improving on its performance in the last election. The vote for the Socialists and Democrats (S&D) remained stable, while the Liberals (Renew) and the Greens lost a significant number of seats.

In the outgoing parliament, the EPP, Renew and S&D formed an informal coalition and legislation was usually passed with their support. This time they still have a majority, albeit a slimmer one, with around 403 seats out of 720. Together with the Greens, the political centre still has a comfortable majority to pass laws. A centrist coalition is emerging as the most likely way forward, which would imply a degree of continuity.

However, the EPP has indicated that it is open to working informally with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy on specific issues to secure a centre-right majority. There’s virtually no possibility of a centre-left majority. As all plausible majorities involve it, the EPP is in a strong position. Whether legislation moves to the right will therefore depend largely on how much the EPP moves in that direction.

The election results are also crucial in determining the next president of the European Commission, as the European Parliament must confirm the nomination made by the European Council. Current president Ursula von der Leyen will most likely be elected for another term, supported by the votes of the EPP, S&D, Renew and possibly the Greens.

What explains the uneven performance of the far right?

Right-wing parties made significant gains in France and Germany, the two largest EU member states, which together elect a quarter of all European parliamentarians. In France, Marine Le Pen’s RN party won 30 seats, twice as many as President Emmanuel Macron’s Renaissance party. In Germany, the AfD secured 15 seats, more than any of the three parties currently in government.

The Greens suffered significant losses in France and Germany, accounting for 14 of the 19 seats lost by the group. In Austria, the right-wing Freedom Party of Austria, part of the ID group, emerged as the largest party.

In Denmark, Finland and Sweden, however, far-right parties won fewer votes than expected, while green and left-wing parties made gains. Meanwhile in Poland, the ruling coalition achieved a solid result, successfully fending off a challenge from the right-wing Law and Justice party.

This highlights the fact that the EU elections are not one election, but 27 different national-level elections. As a result, voting in EU elections is often more about national issues than EU policy. Generalising about the EU does not do justice to the diversity of its member states, where local factors often play a role.

Nevertheless, it appears that a significant proportion of EU voters are concerned about their livelihoods. They are not necessarily already negatively affected, but they may fear for the future. One reason may be that they are exposed to events over which they have little control, such as Russia’s war in Ukraine, climate change, immigration and inflation – the elements that provide fertile ground for extreme parties to grow.

What are the potential implications for national governments that suffered the biggest losses?

The results of these elections may have strong implications for national governments. In France, Macron dissolved the National Assembly and called early parliamentary elections. This is a very risky decision, as it may hand the far right a decisive win. If his party fares badly, Macron risks becoming a lame duck president, unable to push through domestic legislation.

In Germany, the conservative Christian Democratic Union and the Christian Social Union of Bavaria, currently in opposition, scored strong results, while the three governing parties jointly won only around 36 per cent. Combined with the strong performance of AfD, the results are seen as a damning indictment of the government. The results in eastern Germany, where AfD won more votes than any other party, are a harbinger of state elections later this year.

In Hungary, a challenge to incumbent Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has emerged. His right-wing populist party, Fidesz, scored its lowest ever EU election result.

These national-level political developments have implications for EU policymaking, given the role of the Council in the legislative process. With less political support at home, the French and German governments are less likely to push the EU agenda in the Council, as they have routinely done in the past.

What’s the likelihood of the EU Green Deal being rolled back?

It will require a major transformation of our economies, supported consistently over the next two decades, to achieve climate targets and successfully implement the EU Green Deal. Additional public funding will be essential to drive the costly process of decarbonising industry. Recent election results suggest we may lack the ambition and political will to do this. If the rightward shift continues and limits further climate action, the EU risks missing its overarching climate targets.

However, a rollback of existing environmental policies is unlikely over the next five years. While some targeted adjustments may be made to reduce administrative burdens, core climate legislation such as the Emissions Trading System is unlikely to be dismantled. Still, there is a risk that the level of ambition could be compromised under the guise of cutting red tape.

On climate, as on other key issues such as immigration, top-level personnel will play a key role. For example, Spain’s deputy minister Teresa Ribera, a vocal advocate of climate action, is a candidate for the role of climate commissioner. A leader of her stature would be well placed to defend the Green Deal in difficult circumstances. In the coming weeks, as von der Leyen seeks the Council’s nomination, political negotiations will intensify as parties vie to place their candidates in key positions.

How do you see the future of the EU?

The future of the EU as we know cannot be taken for granted. While the European Parliament’s overall shift to the right suggests a changing political landscape, the centre right is likely to retain control over most legislation. However, we may see more cooperation between the centre right and the far right on specific issues such as migration.

The situation is somewhat different in the European Council, where decisions require unanimity or qualified majority voting. Although the election hasn’t changed its composition, it has weakened the governments of France and Germany and strengthened Italy. This is highly relevant because small groups of governments, or individual governments, can block legislation or use their votes to extract concessions. EU-sceptical states or destructive forces such as Hungary’s government have often used their veto power.

The rise of Eurosceptic, right-wing governments in key EU states such as Italy, Slovakia, the Netherlands and possibly Austria, which holds elections soon, could further fuel anti-EU sentiment. If the number of hard-right, anti-EU governments increases, they will quickly gain more influence in the Council. While this scenario may not lead to the dissolution of the EU, it could result in an EU where consensus and common action become increasingly difficult.

Get in touch with the Jacques Delors Centre through its website or Instagram page, and follow @DelorsBerlin and @ph_jaeg on Twitter.

 

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Kenyan tennis player Angella Okutoyi has launched an appeal to organisers in a bid to feature at the Paris Olympic Games.

South Africa recall two-time World Cup-winning captain Siya Kolisi for next month's Test series against Ireland.

Women from Odisha’s indigenous communities joke and laugh as they sell and barter vegetable, greens, herbs and tubers they grow on the hill slopes of their villages. Credit: Manipadma Jena/IPS

By Manipadma Jena
SHILLONG & BHUBANESWAR, India, Jun 25 2024 (IPS)

As the school lunch bell goes off, 40 eager little bodies—41 if you count the school dog—burst out onto the veranda. Awaiting them are a stack of steel platters, into which will be ladled a nutritious and delicious lunch, all of it indigenous cuisine.

Earlier in this Lower Primary school in Meghalaya’s East Khasi Hills, in India’s north-east, the government-funded school meals aimed at reducing child malnutrition served only rice, potato and yellow lentils. In a Himalayan foothill region rich in biodiversity, with food systems based on locally grown and foraged edibles, the indigenous communities’ healthy food is again being recognized and entering school meals.

Indigenous food systems, adapted over years to food crises including droughts, extreme cold and snow, persevered even in the face of decades of onslaught from commercialized government-backed monostaples—rice and wheat. These indigenous biodiversity warriors held on to their food systems through their unique and extremely localized culinary skills.

Tribal women sell their completely naturally grown grains, lentils and beans in a weekly town market in Koraput, Odisha’s tribal heartland in the Eastern Ghats. Food grown by indigenous people have the lowest carbon footprint. Credit: Manipadma Jena/IPS

 

Many of the tribal food and forest products have medicinal values and tribal women were wise in this knowledge. Today, many of these are being packaged into ‘nutraceuticals’ combining nutrients and pharmaceuticals as preventives for general and lifestyle health issues. Just one example of many is Moringa leaves (Moringa oleifera), now packaged and sold in powder and tablet form. It contains minerals, Vitamin A, B6 and plenty of iron, which is why pregnant women have been asked for years to include Moringa in their diet.

The biggest recognition of their five decades-long endeavor since India’s Green Revolution comes with the United Nations declaring 2023 as the International Year of Millets following a proposal by India, supported by over 70 countries, to raise awareness about millets’ multiple benefits, from nutrition and health to environmental sustainability.

For perspective, starting in the 1960s, the Green Revolution transformed food systems, greatly expanding monocropping and the overall production of wheat and rice in Asia and elsewhere, replacing millets and other crops in many areas.

Now, the Indian government for its part, has included millets in the public food assistance scheme for the economically weaker sections, which reaches millions of poorer families. Given India’s growing lifestyle diseases and that it’s now known as the diabetes capital of the world, some of the upper classes in India are rapidly transitioning towards millets and other foods with medicinal properties. 

Further, Geographical Indication (GI) tags—an official recognition of a unique product of food, art or craft originating in a specific location—are being awarded in larger numbers by the government. Several food preparations and grains that women of tribal communities have been preserving over generations are being awarded this certification, bringing sustainability and continuity to the GI products by opening up markets and offering trade-related protection under intellectual property rights.

The latest in the list in January 2024 is eastern state Odisha’s chutney made from red weaver ants, a semi-solid paste known in the region for its medicinal and nutritional properties, harvested sustainably and eaten by certain tribal communities.

Preserved by Women Over Centuries, Now Promoted by Government and Non-Profits

“There has been a distinct trend of the government’s attitude becoming more positive towards promoting indigenous foods in the last two to three years,” Bhogtoram Mawroh, a key research official of the Meghalaya-based non-profit North East Society for Agroecology Support (NESFAS), told Inter Press Service.

“Indigenous edibles, local and in-season, are being revived in school meals that had gone out of the children’s platter at home in the last few years. They include nutritious and medicinal cultivated and foraged greens and herbs like Jatira (water celery), Jamyrdoh (fish mint), Jali (wild leafy vegetable), Khliang syiar (herb Centella asiatica), Shriewkai, Jalynniar and Ja Miaw (wild leafy vegetables),” Mawroh elaborates. “The best development is that mothers too are cooking them at home now,” he added.

School students in Meghalaya’s East Khasi Hills enjoy the school meal, which now contains healthier and tastier preparations from a local basket of grown and foraged ethnic ingredients. Credit: Manipadma Jena/NESFAS

NESFAS, which is piloting the indigenous school meal in 11 schools with 414 students from seven villages, aims to increase the coverage to 500 schools. While government school meal funding is utilized, Rome-based The Indigenous Partnership for Agrobiodiversity and Food Sovereignty (TIP) is a major partner.

“Though still being consumed, this vegetable usage has gone down in recent years, especially among the younger generations.  Innovation, in preparation to attract youth back to their ancient foods, is a major component of the revival,” said Mawroh.

Here too, it’s women’s knowledge systems that spearhead innovation. While school cooks are being trained, it’s the Biodiversity Management Committees that play a pivotal role. One of the few matrilineal societies that persists, the women elders in the Khasi community that mainly form these communities are repositories of traditional knowledge on hyper-local biodiversity. They have been gathering food from forests for generations and have knowledge of location, seasonality and properties. They advise what can be included in school lunch menus in each season.

Recognizing this, the biodiversity agency of the state government, along with local and international non-profits, has lately formed 71 Biodiversity Management Committees in rural Meghalaya to formally document in ‘People’s Biodiversity Registers’ all the knowledge of local biodiversity, especially focusing on species that are close to extinction.

Indigenous Food Entrepreneurs: Cafes Run by Women

Yet today, some indigenous women are boldly investing in their food systems at a higher level. They have become indigenous food entrepreneurs, opening exclusively tribal cafés serving centuries-old authentic cuisines, with some experimental recipes aimed at attracting popular taste.

Pioneering ethnic food entrepreneurship in India, Aruna Tirkey has proved indigenous food can be popular and cannot be sidelined as it has been in the last decades. Courtesy: Aruna Tirkey

Aruna Tirkey is one of them. Troubled by ethnic food being sidelined, and with it her community’s identity, customs and culture, she decided eight years ago to revive those, whatever the challenges or financial costs.

From the Oraon tribe in India’s Jharkhand State, Tirkey, a development professional in her 40s, told IPS she started out with just 500 rupees (USD 6), selling millet-based stuffed dumplings on a mobile trolley.

Soon after, Tirkey decided to set up her restaurant in Jharkhand’s capital city, Ranchi, serving exclusively Oraon food preparations. Named ‘Ajam Emba’ translating to ‘great taste’ in Oraon’s spoken dialect, she took the bold step with deep faith and hope that it would resonate with food connoisseurs.

It did. From an income of a few thousand rupees, earnings are currently touching 50 lakh rupees (about USD 59,932) a year.

“Over the last two to three years, Ajam Emba’s sales have shot up because, post-Covid, more people are now conscious about healthy food choices,” Tirkey told IPS. “Our food catering business for marriages, personal and office parties aside from restaurant sales is booming.”

Currently operating from a rented place, Tirkey has poured in all her savings into building her own establishment, supplemented by bank loans. “Once the building is complete with authentic Oraon décor, my earnings will grow four times more. Such is the demand now for the novelty that tribal cuisine offers,” Tirkey said.

“I am the head chef and will keep on experimenting and researching new recipes and best mix of ingredient.”

It is for this reason that her clientele includes a large number of Oraon people themselves who have moved away from home for jobs. In Ajam Emba, they come to rediscover their childhood tastes. Foreign tourists, too, come to get a slice of a unique cuisine known for its minimal carbon footprint.

Tirkey trains and provides employment to her community women as cooks, helpers and waiters. Hundreds of farmers and foragers have benefited from providing ingredient to Ajam Emba’s kitchen.

Dial Muktieh poses proudly beside her Mother Earth Café, which is now a commercial success and preserves Meghalaya’s biodiversity while contributing to her village’s economy. Courtesy: NESFAS

Dial Muktieh, 44, is busy slicing fresh bamboo shoots to be sautéed with smoked beef and served alongside wild edibles’ green salad of jamyrdoh, leaves of garlic chive, perilla, lemon, salt and tomato, with roselle juice to wash it all down. In her Mei-Ramew Café or Mother Earth Café, in Khweng village in the hills of Meghalaya’s Ri-Bhoi district, it’s the youth mostly who come asking for this piping hot dish, which is giving a good run for money to modern junk foods. Also popular are indigenous preparations of dry fish chutney, fried small local fish, fried silk worms and tapioca cake.

Along with Muktieh, who learned traditional cooking and ingredients from her grandmother, Plantina Kharmujai’s and one more Mother Earth Café are centres of hyperlocal ethnic food revival in Meghalaya.

Popular and with more cafés in the pipeline, they are “more entrenched into the local economy, with profitability rising” within four to five years of establishment.

Revitalization and promotion of ethnic cuisines can contribute to healthier, more sustainable and more equitable food systems, well aligned with the objectives of sustainable food systems at the United Nations, say several studies from the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD). Ethnic cuisines are also closely linked to sustainable management of agrobiodiversity and agroecosystems. Awareness can help transform the way the world produces, consumes, and thinks about food.

Checkmate: The Vagaries of Climate Change 

Across the Himalayas, as weather patterns become unpredictable, farmers are finding their regenerated traditional crops, food preservation systems and wild edibles to be more resistant to the vagaries of nature.

“Food from forests—many regenerative tuber foods, mushrooms, and greens—are fortunately still available here and have not gone extinct as several species already have in high-altitude regions,” Amba Jamir told IPS from Nagaland, another north-eastern Himalayan foot-hill state. “Now communities plan to take stronger conservation measures and popularize food choices that are sustainable for the planet,” added Jamir, an environment policy and development advisor specializing in upland resource management in the eastern Himalayas.

Food diversity, where it still thrives, means that varied ecosystems—both natural and farmed food sources—are still managed and maintained.

The women elders of Odisha’s Dongria Kondh community embark on a journey to distant hill villages of their clan to collect drought-resistant millet seeds that are on the verge of perishing. Credit: Manipadma Jena/IPS

There is no better instance of this than the practices of the ancient Dongria Kondh tribal community high in India’s Eastern Ghats range of mountains.

In the hill hamlets of Rayagada district in eastern India’s Odisha state, community women elders claim that even ten years ago, their staple crop, millet, had 10 existing varieties, down from 45 varieties that were locally farmed almost 70 to 80 years ago.

In a particularly severe drought year, when they found they were left with just two available varieties, they began their endeavor to revive the lost heirloom strains.

The women, traditionally responsible for keeping the community’s seeds safe, have gotten into urgent mission mode, traveling arduously by foot to remote forest villages after gaining prior information that one or two farmers are still preserving a millet variety the others have abandoned. Millets have very high seed viability, because of which they can be stored for five to six years in case of drought, said agrobiodiversity experts.

Lost for nearly five decades, they rescued the Kodo millet, which is high in fiber and energy content and ideal for diabetics; two varieties of sorghum; and a Foxtail millet. And they are keeping up the search for their lost heirloom seeds.

“In a world where food security is increasingly uncertain in some parts of the world, these foods (millets) could be a game changer,” says Bill Gates in his blog GateNotes. “Could a grain older than the wheel be the future of food?”

Asia is home to 55 percent of the people in the world affected by hunger. More than 400 million people face continuing threats to food security, according to a recent 2024 study by  International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), one of the 15 research centres of the World Bank and the Government-funded Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).

Millets’ share in cropped area. Credit: FAOSTAT

According to the IFPRI study, Asia has the potential to significantly expand production of millets and thus help to sustainably meet growing food demand in the region and globally. As of 2022 (the latest figure available), Asian millet production was approximately 15.6 million metric tons (MT), compared to 699 million MT for rice and 343 million MT for wheat. In major producers China, India and Nepal, area harvested and production for millet is much lower than that for rice and wheat. Thus, there is clearly room to grow.”

IPS UN Bureau Report

This feature is published with the support of Open Society Foundations.

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Excerpt:

A group of devoted indigenous biodiversity warriors is now reviving indigenous food systems that withstood numerous devastating crises like droughts, extreme cold and snow.

Alice Wairimu Nderitu, United Nations Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide (UNOSAPG), speaks at the high level segment of the 10th Annual Symposium on the Role of Religion and Faith-based Organizations in International Affairs, accompanied by the moderators of the session, Rudelmar Bueno de Faria, ACT Alliance general secretary, and Simona Cruciani, Senior Political Affairs Officer, UN Office of the UNOSAPG.
 
The symposium, organized by the World Council of Churches (WCC) and a coalition of faith-based and UN partners, featured UN officials, representatives of international faith-based organizations, and other experts. 25 January 2024. Credit: Marcelo Schneider/WCC

By Azza Karam
NEW YORK, Jun 25 2024 (IPS)

In Part 1, I outlined how our shared existence is challenged not only by simultaneous crisis, but also by the notions – and realities – of perceived ‘holy wars’. I point out that ‘holy wars’ are not only perceptions within, or of, monotheistic faith traditions, but actually enacted by members of diverse belief systems.

I note how these ‘holy war’ dynamics are part of the vicious cycle of polarisation and sorrowful lack of social cohesion in most societies, while also coexisting with an increasing realisation amongst several decision-making entities (governmental, non-governmental and intergovernmental) of how important religions have been, and continue to be.

Religious institutions, religious leaders and religious (or faith based) organisations, are indeed the original social service providers, community mediators, social norm upholders and changemakers, and actually, historically, also the original human rights’ defenders.

I emphasize how the toxic mix with narrow political interests (might that be tautological?) means that in the minds of some who hold decision making positions, and/or have access to arms, and/or control laws and their implementation, and/or impact on beliefs, behaviours and attitudes through unparalleled pulpits (or all of the above), ‘holy war’, is justified.

In the age of ‘holy wars’, we are called upon to understand that part of our social disconnect resulting in the polarisation and significant weaking of our civil societies, may well be furthered by the manner in the current interest in and on religion.

Elsewhere I have argued that appreciating the ‘good’ powers of religious institutions and leaders, and the remarkable reach of religious social services and positive changemakers, is necessary, but by no means enough.

In fact, seeking to emphasize, support and identify the religious as the panacea, is harmful – in the same ways that marginalising the religious as evil, anti-human rights, unhealthy, misogynist, unnecessary, parochial, etc. has been, and remains, harmful, to the very same fabric of the civil societies we all uphold.

It is not all about good religion or bad religion. Rather, it could be about how to generate, nurture, protect, and yes, honour, civil societies.

Neither our governments (including even the elected ones), nor our religious institutions (including those which have survived centuries) nor our corporations (including those with the highest ranking of CSR and ESG) can, alone, change the dramatic junction of our collective human and planetary realities.

The late Wangari Mathai, a Kenyan woman environmental activist who won the Nobel Peace prize in 2004, demonstrated remarkable foresight when she highlighted the interconnectedness of our challenges, thus: “[I]n a few decades, the relationship between the environment, resources and conflict may seem almost as obvious as the connection we see today between human rights, democracy and peace.”

We need to begin to investigate what it will take to identify, understand, and activate, a poetics of solidarity. The Oxford Reference explains that “poetics are the general principles of poetry or of literature in general, or the theoretical study of these principles. As a body of theory, poetics is concerned with the distinctive features of poetry (or literature as a whole), with its languages, forms, genres, and modes of composition.”

If we use the term ‘poetics’ to refer to solidarity, not merely as an aspect of literature and/or theory, but as lived realities, what are the “languages, forms, genres and modes of existence” that this would entail? In the following paragraphs, I do not propose definitive answers. I merely share some thoughts to engender and provoke each of us, to reflect – and to engage.

A poetics of solidarity needs to have as a premise of its existence, an understanding that working ‘alone’ to solve the problems which impact all – whether as a lone multifaceted institution, the United Nations, corporation(s), religion/religious or multi-religious entity, secular NGO or umbrellas of NGOs, judicial actor(s) or bodies, cultural agents or entities, financial or military behemoths, etc., is clearly not enough.

We have landed here in these very challenging spaces and times, even as so many have laboured for so long in almost all domains of human existence, and even after many movements of solidarity succeeded in overcoming and righting and fighting the good fight. Yet, here we are.

A poetics of solidarity needs to hold accountable all our ways of thinking and doing, so far. I am not implying, by any means, that we have all failed. Rather, we all stand on the shoulders of many who have given their lives to make this a better world for all. We must acknowledge that loud and clear and take responsibility for what many are doing, and have done, that contributes to our shared existence.

This alone would be unlike many leaders who take office and make a point of undermining, or worst still, undoing, all that was done before them or by their predecessors. Or those who hold offices and invest so much in decrying, complaining, unravelling, and withering critiques of those trying to work alongside. Or those who claim to be part of a team, but cannot and will not support one another when things get tough.

A poetics of solidary demands that we put our money, and other resources, including activating our so-called values – where our mouths are. It is not good enough to speak about human rights, and/or the glory of our respective faiths and/or “interfaith peacemaking”, or even building edifices to such ‘co-existence’, when we do not contribute to the efforts of those who fight for these rights.

It is hard to justify killing, maiming, criminalising, imprisoning and in other ways, silencing, those who ask for their rights, and struggle for the rights of others. It is also hard to justify those who pretend to fight for the rights of others, when the going is good, and are silent or notably absent, when the going is tough.

What if, rather than undermine, constantly critique, systematically oppose, complain, or even just remaining silent (and hide behind claims that the particular issue at hand is not their business or endeavour), when we see our fellow humans give – what if we praise, give thanks, reach out to share a kind word, and better still, ask how we can help…? What if we give of the ‘little’ we have? Don’t all our faiths say that? You think this sounds too simple?

Did Einstein not say at some point something like the only difference between stupidity and genius, is that genius has its limits, and that everything should be made as simple as possible – but not simpler? Kindness, praise, and giving of what we value, to those we would normally not (want to) see or deign to appreciate, giving to those who speak and work and live differently – but aim for the collective good, is not simple. It is genius. Working together with those who may bear a different institutional flag, rather than seeking to create or consolidate your own, is also genius.

A poetics of solidarity may require us to acknowledge that solidarity is fundamentally about how we relate to one another, with kindness, empathy and willingness to serve – in words and deeds. But it is also to humbly realise that even as some of us try our best to relate and to “support”, “empower”, “engender”, or “enable”, we may well end up hurting one another, and/or even damage parts of our environment that some of us, including future generations, will need, to just survive.

When it comes to the poetics of solidarity in the age of ‘holy wars’, we cannot afford to now see anything ‘religious’ as a saviour, or the only source of our interrelated salvation. Nor can we afford to ignore the religious realms altogether, thinking we know our welfare best, or keep the religious at bay. Instead, we need to take responsibility for the fact that our faiths – including our faith in human rights – demand us to be accountable for ourselves, one another, and our planet.

What we need is a poetics of solidarity which does no harm – but this may well mean sacrificing something dear to us. We have lived – and still do – in an age where we think it is possible to have it all. Perhaps we may just have to come to terms with the fact that we each, and all, need to let go of something valuable to us – and to give, in service, instead.

All our institutions, groups, communities and our individual selves, bear a responsibility. Our long-established religious institutions, faith-based and interfaith initiatives in their mushrooming multitudes, need to be held accountable to what we give of our most valuable, to those who are not religious, those who come from different religions or religious organisations, and especially, to those who uphold all human rights for all peoples at all times.

Secular rights’ bearers and duty holders too, need to take responsibility for how we marginalise even as we ‘advocate’, how we maim as we seek to ‘protect’, and how we silence as we vocalise the ‘like-minded’. We speak of alliances and partnerships, but we walk, and work, in silos, seeking our own profit(s).

A poetics of solidarity may well be about cultivating and deliberately working alongside those we dislike, and giving the best of what we have, and of whom we are.

Professor Azza Karam is President and CEO of Lead Integrity; an affiliate with the Ansari Institute of Religion and Global Affairs at Notre Dame University; and a member of the UN Secretary General’s High Level Advisory Board on Effective Multilateralism.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Tidal waves on Namkhana Island flood a house Storms, heavy rainfall, and flood wreak havoc in this region of West Bengal. Credit: Supratim Bhattacharjee/Climate Visuals

By Alison Kentish
ANTIGUA & BARBUDA, Jun 25 2024 (IPS)

Germany’s State Secretary and Special Envoy on International Climate Action, Jennifer Morgan, has emphasized the need for urgent climate action and called on G20 nations to do more to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

The G20 comprises 19 developed and developing nations, the European Union and, since 2023, the African Union. It represents the world’s biggest economies, totaling 85 percent of the global GDP.

In an interview with IPS on the sidelines of the Fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS4), the former Greenpeace International Co-Director highlighted the crucial role of the G20 in combating climate change.

“Germany and, of course, the European Union are ready to continue to take the lead on phasing out fossil fuels and building on renewable energy, but we need the G20 to step it up,” she told IPS.

“At the end of the day, there will be things that we can adapt to. By the year 2030, we have to halve global emissions and for that, we are working hard within the G20 to get all these countries, including ours, to move forward very deliberately.”

Morgan spoke of the resilience-focused narrative of small island developing states, a theme woven throughout SIDS4.

Germany’s State Secretary and Special Envoy on International Climate Action, Jennifer Morgan. Credit: X

“How can countries be resilient to the extreme weather that’s coming, the hurricanes that are coming? How can we build up, for example, water systems? This is a key focus that Germany is working on and I heard a lot about it here, so that they’re resilient to saltwater coming into a system so that they’re resilient when a storm hits. That’s one area where we can move forward,” Morgan said.

Morgan has been vocal about the need for energy transition and for ramped-up investments in clean energy in developing economies. Last week, she highlighted the fact that while investment in clean energy will double that of fossil fuels in 2024, “investment must accelerate further, especially in emerging and developing economies, where two-thirds of the global population sees only 15 percent of this investment.”

“The gap needs to be closed,” she shared on the social media platform X.

Speaking to IPS, the climate envoy said the issue of finance will also factor greatly in how small island states adapt to a changing climate. She said SIDS leaders are unanimous in their calls for greater access to finance and the reform of the international financial system.

“Germany is working globally on a range of those issues to create a fit-for purpose finance system that also works for small island developing states,” she said.

“We are working hard to get the strategies of the Green Climate Fund for example, to have special windows for SIDS and also support for putting forward proposals that are much more accelerated and having 50% of finance globally go for adaptation and resilience, which is a big priority for SIDS. We are also helping to increase the funds coming to SIDS. SIDS receive funds. I can say from a German perspective that we’re active and also from the Green Climate Fund, but we need to continue to make it more efficient and faster and also make sure that it gets to people on the ground because people on the ground, who are living in their villages in their towns, know what’s best to be able to be more resilient to the impacts of climate change.”

Morgan describes Germany’s work with SIDS on cultural heritage digitization as both ‘heartbreaking and absolutely essential.’

“For countries that are very low lying, facing sea level rise and storms, people have to leave their villages and their cultural heritage is connected to those places. We’ve been working with Tuvalu and other countries to document, through artificial intelligence and digitization, the things that are most essential for them, ensuring that they are protected and not lost,” she said.

Morgan’s messages mirrored those of United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne. The UN Chief called on developed economies to fulfill their pledge to double adaptation financing by 2025, while Browne called on the global north to honor its USD 100 billion climate finance pledge and operationalize the loss and damage fund.

“Small island developing states have every right and reason to insist that developed economies fulfill their pledge to double adaptation financing by 2025 and we must hold them to this commitment as a bare minimum,” Guterres told the conference. Browne added that “these are important investments in humanity, justice and the equitable future of humanity.”

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Credit: Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)

By Azza Karam
NEW YORK, Jun 24 2024 (IPS)

“Holy War” is how the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church referred to the Russian war on the Ukraine, and indeed, on “the West”1 . “Holy War”, aka “jihad” is a foundational principle of “the Base” or “al-Qaeda”, which has grown into a non-state hydra with too many names and atrocities to list here (but if you are curious, one of the hydra faces is ISIS).

In a recent opinion piece published in Foreign Policy, columnist Caroline de Gruyter noted that “Israel and Palestine Are Now in a Religious War”, in her attempt to argue why the Middle East conflict has been getting increasingly brutal, and increasingly hard to solve.

The intersection between holiness and war is even more nuanced in Zvi Bar’el’s Opinion piece in Haaretz, when he notes that “the war in Gaza is no longer about revenge for the murder of 1,200 Israelis or the hostages.

If they all die, along with hundreds of more soldiers, the price would still be justified for the Jewish Jihad waging a war for Gaza’s resettlement” [emphasis added]. Hamas’ own name –the acronym for Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiya (Islamic Resistance Movement) – needs no elaboration. Neither does Lebanon’s Hizbullah (Party of God).

In India, a report by the Indian Citizens and Lawyers Initiative (in April of 2023), entitled “Routes of Wrath: Weaponising Religious Processions”, notes

Indian history is rife with instances of religious processions that led to communal strife, riots, inexcusable violence, arson, destruction of property and the tragic deaths of innocent residents of the riot-hit areas. There have been horrific riots and bloodletting caused by other factors too, most prominently the anti-Sikh pogrom of 1984 and the Gujarat pogrom of 2002, but no cause of interfaith riots has been as recurrent and widespread as the religious procession. This is as true of pre-Independence India as during the 75 years since we became a free nation…Post-Independence, we have faced numerous communal riots in diverse parts of India, under different political regimes, and the vast majority of these have been caused by the deliberate choice of communally-sensitive routes by processionists, and the pusillanimity of the Police in dealing with such demands, or even their collusion and connivance in licencing such routes.2

Already back in August of 1988, in an article entitled “Holy War Against India”, explicitly speaks of “Sikh terrorism” in the Punjab, noting that it “took about a thousand lives in 1987 and more than a thousand in the first five months of 1988.

If it continues at the present rate, Sikh terrorism in the Punjab will have cost more lives in two years than the IRA campaign in Northern Ireland has cost in twenty.” 3 Speaking of Northern Ireland, the marching season remains a flashpoint among Catholics and Protestants.

Politicised religion, or religionised politics – whence religious discourse is part of political verbiage, tactics, expedient alliances, sometimes informing foreign policy priorities, occasionally used to justify conflict – are not new phenomena. In fact, they may well be one of the oldest features of politics, governance – and warmaking.

The Crusades against Muslim expansion in the 11th century were recognized as a “holy war” or a bellum sacrum, by later writers in the 17th century. The early modern wars against the Ottoman Empire were seen as a seamless continuation of this conflict by contemporaries. Religion and politics are the oldest bedfellows known to humankind.

What is relatively new, is that after the 100-year war in Europe, and the subsequent moves towards secularisation or the so-called ‘separation of Church and State’ (again, really only in parts of Europe), provided a false sense of the dominance of secular governance in modern times.

Yet, even in the citadels of secular Western Europe, a relationship binding Church and State always existed, for the religious institutions and their affiliated social structures, remain critical social service providers – and humanitarian actors – till today. A reality now understood to be relevant in all parts of our world.

Nevertheless, what we are seeing today is a resurgence of religious politics, and the politics of religion, in almost all corners of the world. Before the Russian Orthodox Church proclaimed its “holy war” narrative, the reference to religion and politics almost always focused on Muslim-majority contexts, specifically on Iran, Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan.

Other realities would often go unnoticed, or somehow deemed as ‘odd’ or one-time phenomena – for instance the fact that the 2016 US elections delivered a Trump administration with full and public backing by a significant part of the Evangelical movement (many of whom are backing a potential comeback of him now); or the fact that related Evangelical counterparts backed Bolsenaro’s rise to power in Brazil; or the fact that religious arguments against abortion remain a key US electoral feature for decades; or the fact that a number of right-leaning anti-immigrant political discourses and blatant white supremacist politics have religious backing in parts of Europe and Latin America.

Was it perhaps that since these took place in ‘white’ and Christian-majority polities, somehow set these aside from being factored as part of the global resurgence of religious politics?

Whatever the case may be, it is time to smell that particularly strong brew of coffee, now. And as we do so, we are also obliged to note that it is no coincidence that this ‘brew’ is taking place at a time of remarkable social and political polarisation in many societies.

Indeed. we speak of multiple and simultaneous crisis (e.g. climate change, catastrophic governance, wars, famines, rampant inequalities, soaring human displacement, nuclear fears, systemic racism, rising multiple violence, drug wars, proliferation of arms and weapons, misogyny, etc.) and we also acknowledge the wilting multilateral influence to confront these. But as we acknowledge these, we must also recognise that social cohesion is a lasting and tragic victim.

Some governmental, non-governmental and intergovernmental entities have turned to religion(s) as a possible panacea. Religious leaders are being convened in multiple capitals (at significant cost) in almost all corners of the world.

Regularly touting the peacefulness and the unparalleled supremacy of their respective moral standpoints. Religious NGOs are being sought out, supported and partnered with more regularly to help address multiple crisis – especially humanitarian, educational, public health, sanitation, and child-focused efforts.

Interfaith initiatives are competing among each other, and with other secular ones, for grants from governments and philanthropists in the United States, Europe, Africa, many parts of Asia (with the notable exception of China), and the Middle East. Engaging, or partnering with religious entities is the new normal.

But just as the largely secular efforts we lived through (and some of us served for decades) in the 1960s to the 1990s, did not realise a brave new world, religious ones, on their own, cannot do so either. Especially not with the kind of historical baggage and contemporary narratives of holy war, we are living with now.

It is time we re-consider, re-engage and re-envision a poetics of solidarity rooted an abiding adherence to (and re-education about) all human rights for all peoples at all times. What would that entail?

1 https://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/issues/88aug/obrien.htm
2 Connor O’Brian, https://www.livelaw.in/pdf_upload/routes-of-wrath-report-2023-2-465217.pdf
3 Connor O’Brian, https://www.livelaw.in/pdf_upload/routes-of-wrath-report-2023-2-465217.pdf

Part 2 follows.

Dr. Azza Karam is President and CEO of Lead Integrity; a Professor and Affiliate with the Ansari Institute of Religion and Global Affairs at Notre Dame University; and a member of the UN Secretary General’s High Level Advisory Board on Effective Multilateralism.

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Empty large calibre bullet casings on the floor of a heavy machine gun position of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) at Kismayo International Airport in southern Somalia. Credit: UN Photo/Ramadaan Mohamed

By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Jun 24 2024 (IPS)

Perhaps two of the biggest misnomers in military jargon are “small arms” and “light weapons” which are the primary weapons of death and destruction in ongoing civil wars and military conflicts, mostly in Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

In a statement last week, at the opening session of the Fourth Review Conference of the Programme of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW), UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was dead on target when he said there is nothing “small” or “ight” about the damage these weapons cause.

“Small arms and light weapons play a major role in these conflicts. Small arms are the leading cause of violent deaths globally, and are the weapon of choice in nearly half of all global homicides,” Guterres said.

The UN Programme of Action (UNPoA) on small arms and light weapons has an ambitious goal – to “prevent, combat, and eradicate the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons in all its aspects.” But it’s a tough assignment in a political world dominated by the gun lobby and the military-industrial complex.

During the weeklong meeting, scheduled to conclude June 28, diplomats from around the world will review its implementation — against the backdrop of a political agreement that originated back in 2001. Members of civil society are also on hand to present their analyses and lobby and inform governments.

Speaking on behalf of Guterres, UN Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu told delegates global military expenditures are on the rise.

And countries, regions and communities across the globe are suffering. New and protracted conflicts are placing millions of people in the line of fire.

“They aggravate crime, displacement and terrorism. From conflict zones to homes, they are used to threaten and perpetrate sexual and gender-based violence”.

According to the UN, “light weapons,” are primarily, weapons designed for use by two or three persons serving as a crew, although some may be carried and used by a single person.

They include, heavy machine guns, handheld under-barrel and mounted grenade launchers, portable anti-aircraft guns, portable anti-tank guns, recoilless rifles, portable launchers of antitank missile and rocket systems, portable launchers of anti-aircraft missile systems, and mortars of a calibre of less than 100 millimetres.

The current civil wars, where the choice of weapons is largely small arms and light weapons, are primarily in Afghanistan, Myanmar, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Libya, Mali, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan and Yemen—besides the two ongoing major wars in Ukraine and Gaza.

But in these two devastating conflicts, the Russians and Israelis are using more sophisticated weapons, including fighter aircraft, combat helicopters, drones, air-to-surface missiles, armoured personnel carriers and battle tanks, among others.

Dr. Natalie J. Goldring, who represents the Acronym Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy in her work at the United Nations on conventional weapons and arms trade issues, told IPS there are many obstacles to the full implementation of the UNPoA, both during the Review Conference and beyond. Two sets of these obstacles seem particularly noticeable at this year’s Review Conference.

The first set of obstacles is external.

In the end, the UNPoA is a political document, designed to be implemented primarily at the national level. States must have the political will to carry out the commitments in the UNPoA and the outcome documents of the various biennial meetings of states and review conferences, she said.

Smaller, less well-resourced States may also need financial assistance to be able to implement some portions of the UNPoA.

As a result, some smaller States are unwilling to accept programs and policies they fear will cost them money to implement, even with the potential availability of international assistance, Dr Goldring pointed out.

“The political challenge is complicated by the major roles played by the arms industry. Weapons manufacturers have financial incentives to sell as many weapons as they can. And States that supply weapons can be dependent on the power of those manufacturers. Some of these manufacturers are so intent on protecting their profits that they even attend, speak, and lobby at these conferences”.

The second key obstacle, she said, is internal.

“The Programme of Action process generally runs on a practice of “consensus”. In theory, that sounds laudable – why wouldn’t we want the process to be dominated by reaching consensus? But in this process, consensus is effectively defined as unanimity. That means that a single negative voice can block change – or progress”.

Because of the consensus process, she argued, these conferences and meetings often face an uncomfortable choice between two main options. One possibility is a strong outcome document, reached through votes, but lacking consensus. Another possibility is a weaker outcome document, reached through consensus.

“If it seems as though consensus is not going to be possible, then the supporters of the UNPoA could – and arguably should – construct an ambitious outcome document that would better fulfill the promise of the UNPoA and would require votes on some of the most controversial paragraphs. Arguably, the worst outcome would be for the proponents of a robust UNPoA to accept a lot of compromises on the text and still not reach consensus,” declared Dr Goldring

Guterres said small arms and light weapons aggravate crime, displacement and terrorism. From conflict zones to homes, they are used to threaten and perpetrate sexual and gender-based violence.

They block vital humanitarian aid from reaching the most vulnerable. They put the lives of United Nations peacekeeping forces and civilian personnel at risk.

And the situation is growing worse, as new developments in the manufacturing, technology and design of small arms — such as 3D printing — make their illegal production and trafficking easier than ever before, warned Guterres.

Rebecca Peters, Director, International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA), said in an oped piece in the UN Chronicle, that a thousand people die each day from gunshot wounds, and three times as many are left with severe injuries. If the death, injury and disability resulting from small arms were categorized as a disease, it would qualify as an epidemic.

Yet the media and popular perception tend to suggest that gun violence is simply an unavoidable consequence of human cruelty or deprivation, rather than a public health problem which can be prevented or at least reduced, she said.

“The circumstances of gun violence vary so enormously, it would be simplistic to suggest a single solution. A comprehensive approach, reflecting the multi-faceted nature of the problem, is needed to bring down the grim toll of global death and injury.”

Nonetheless, the high school massacres in the US, the armed gangs in Brazil or the systematic sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo all share a common denominator: the availability of guns (or small arms, as they are known in UN circles).

She said practical steps toward reducing the availability and misuse of small arms can be classified under four headings:

1. Reducing the existing stockpile
2. Reducing the supply of new weapons
3. Closing the gates between the legal and illegal markets
4. Reducing the motivation for acquiring guns (demand)

Elaborating further, Dr Goldring said the issue of whether or how to include ammunition in the UNPoA is a key example of the difficulty of reaching consensus. This has been the case since the initial negotiation of the UNPoA, when the United States and a few others States showed their willingness to block consensus over this issue. That fight continues at this meeting.

The President of the Review Conference, she said, is a remarkably able diplomat from Costa Rica, Permanent Representative Maritza Chan Valverde. If anyone can thread the needle on having a strong outcome document and reaching consensus at the same time, it’s likely to be Ambassador Chan. But it’s a herculean task.

“I greatly admire her skill and dedication, but I think that the chasm between the supporters of the UNPoA and the obstructionists may simply be too large.”

In discussing the outcome document of the September 2024 Summit of the Future, Ambassador Chan said, “The Pact for the Future cannot remain anchored in the language of the past. Consensus must be forged, not found. Ambition must prevail in the text, and the progress of the many cannot be hindered by the reservations of the few.”

That quote, Dr Goldring said, seems to suggest that she would be willing to have votes in order to avoid having the document be undermined by the obstructionists. But only time will tell.

In the early- to the mid-90s, the international trade in small arms and light weapons was a specialist topic within an extremely small community internationally, and was not on the international policy agenda in a significant way.

Because of the work of analysts and advocates to bring attention to this issue, subsequently accompanied by the work of dedicated diplomats at the UN and elsewhere, it is now an established part of international work to reduce the human costs of armed violence.

“Unfortunately, quantitative measures of the UNPoA’s effectiveness are difficult – if not impossible — to develop. Instead, we often measure outputs and activities, rather than outcomes. We simply don’t know the counterfactual – what the situation would have been without the UNPoA,” she declared.

Thalif Deen is a former Director, Foreign Military Markets at Defense Marketing Services; Senior Defense Analyst at Forecast International; and Military Editor Middle East/Africa at Jane’s Information Group.

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Conservationists have found a way to restore a reef off one of Zanzibar's islands.

A German girl organises a big contribution to a South African charity tackling period-poverty issues.

World champions South Africa ease to a five-try victory against a spirited Wales side at Twickenham.

The 2025 Africa Cup of Nations will be held in December 2025 and January 2026, but the 2024 Women's Africa Cup of Nations will be in 2025.

Michael Usi replaces his mentor Saulos Chilima, who died in a plane crash earlier this month.

© UNICEF/Tess Ingram Parts of the city of Khan Younis are now almost unrecognizable after more than eight months of intense bombardment, UN officers report. Credit: UNICEF/Tess Ingram

By Norman Solomon
SAN FRANCISCO, Jun 21 2024 (IPS)

“When someone shows you who they are,” Maya Angelou said, “believe them the first time.” That should apply to foreign-policy elites who show you who they are, time after time.

Officials running the Pentagon and State Department have been in overdrive for more than 250 days in support of Israel’s ongoing slaughter of Palestinian civilians in Gaza. Supposedly dedicated to defense and diplomacy, those officials have worked to implement and disguise Washington’s war policies, which have taken more lives than any other government in this century.

Among the weapons of war, cluster munitions are especially horrific. That’s why 67 Democrats and an equal number of Republicans in the House of Representatives voted last week to prevent the U.S. government from continuing to send those weapons to armies overseas.

But more than twice as many House members voted the other way. They defeated a Pentagon funding amendment that would have prohibited the transfer of cluster munitions to other countries. The lawmakers ensured that the U.S. can keep supplying those weapons to the military forces of Ukraine and Israel.

As of now, 124 nations have signed onto a treaty banning cluster munitions, which often wreck the bodies of civilians. The “bomblets” from cluster munitions “are particularly attractive to children because they resemble a bell with a loop of ribbon at the end,” the Just Security organization explains.

But no member of Congress need worry that one of their own children might pick up such a bomblet someday, perhaps mistaking it for a toy, only to be instantly killed or maimed with shrapnel.

The Biden administration correctly responded to indications (later proven accurate) that Russia was using cluster munitions in Ukraine. On Feb. 28, 2022, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki told journalists that if the reports of Russian use of those weapons turned out to be true, “it would potentially be a war crime.”

Back then, the front page of the New York Times described “internationally banned cluster munitions” as “a variety of weapons — rockets, bombs, missiles and artillery projectiles — that disperse lethal bomblets in midair over a wide area, hitting military targets and civilians alike.”

Days later, the Times reported that NATO officials “accused Russia of using cluster bombs in its invasion,” and the newspaper added that “anti-personnel cluster bombs . . . kill so indiscriminately they are banned under international law.”

But when the Ukrainian military forces ran low on ammunition last year, the U.S. administration decided to start shipping cluster munitions to them.

“All countries should condemn the use of these weapons under any circumstances,” Human Rights Watch has declared.

BBC correspondent John Simpson summed up a quarter-century ago: “Used against human beings, cluster bombs are some of the most savage weapons of modern warfare.”

As the Congressional Research Service (CRS) reported this spring, cluster munitions “disperse large numbers of submunitions imprecisely over an extended area.” They “frequently fail to detonate and are difficult to detect,” and “can remain explosive hazards for decades.”

The CRS report added: “Civilian casualties are primarily caused by munitions being fired into areas where soldiers and civilians are intermixed, inaccurate cluster munitions landing in populated areas, or civilians traversing areas where cluster munitions have been employed but failed to explode.”

The horrible immediate effects are just the beginning. “It’s been over five decades since the U.S. dropped cluster bombs on Laos, the most bombed country in the world per capita,” Human Rights Watch points out.

“The contamination from cluster munitions remnants and other unexploded ordnance is so vast that fewer than 10 percent of affected areas have been cleared. An estimated 80 million submunitions still pose a danger, especially to curious children.”

The members of Congress who just greenlighted more cluster munitions are dodging grisly realities. The basic approach is to proceed as though such human realities don’t matter if an ally is using those weapons (or if the United States uses them, as happened in Southeast Asia, Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq and Yemen).

Overall, with carnage persisting in Gaza, it’s easy enough to say that Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has shown us who he is. But so has Presidente Biden, and so have the most powerful Republicans and Democrats in Congress.

While the U.S. has been supplying a large majority of the weapons and ammunition imported by Israel, a similar approach from official Washington (with ineffectual grumbling) has enabled Israel to lethally constrict food going into Gaza.

During his State of the Union address in early March, Biden announced plans for the U.S. to build a port on the Gaza coast to bring in food and other vital aid. But his speech didn’t mention the Pentagon’s expectation that such a seaport could take 60 days to become operational.

At the time, a Common Dreams headline summed up the hollowness of the gambit: “Biden Aid Port Plan Rebuked as ‘Pathetic’ PR Effort as Israel Starves Gazans.” Even at full tilt, the envisioned port would not come anywhere near compensating for Israel’s methodical blockage of aid trucks — by far the best way to get food to 2.2 million people facing starvation.

“We are talking about a population that is starving now,” said Ziad Issa, the head of humanitarian policy for ActionAid. “We have already seen children dying of hunger.”

An official at Save the Children offered a reality check: “Children in Gaza cannot wait to eat. They are already dying from malnutrition, and saving their lives is a matter of hours or days — not weeks.”

The Nation described “the tragic absurdity of Biden’s Gaza policies: the U.S. government is making elaborate plans to ameliorate a humanitarian catastrophe that would not exist without its own bombs.”

And this week — more than three months after the ballyhooed drumroll about plans for a port on the Gaza coast — news broke that the whole thing is a colossal failure even on its own terms.

“The $230 million temporary pier that the U.S. military built on short notice to rush humanitarian aid to Gaza has largely failed in its mission, aid organizations say, and will probably end operations weeks earlier than originally expected,” the New York Times reported on June 18. “In the month since it was attached to the shoreline, the pier has been in service only about 10 days. The rest of the time, it was being repaired after rough seas broke it apart, detached to avoid further damage or paused because of security concerns.”

As Israel’s crucial military patron, the U.S. government could insist on an end to the continual massacre of civilians in Gaza and demand a complete halt to interference with aid deliveries. Instead, Israel continues to inflict “unconscionable death and suffering” while mass starvation is closing in.

Maya Angelou’s advice certainly applies. When the president and a big congressional majority show that they are willing accomplices to mass murder, believe them.

It’s fitting that Angelou, a renowned poet and writer, gave her voice to words from Rachel Corrie, who was crushed to death one day in 2003 while standing in front of an Israeli army bulldozer as it moved to demolish a Palestinian family’s home in Gaza.

A few years after Corrie died, Angelou recorded a video while reading from an email that the young activist sent: “We are all born and someday we’ll all die. Most likely to some degree alone. What if our aloneness isn’t a tragedy? What if our aloneness is what allows us to speak the truth without being afraid? What if our aloneness is what allows us to adventure — to experience the world as a dynamic presence — as a changeable, interactive thing?”

Norman Solomon is the national director of RootsAction.org and executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy. He is the author of many books including War Made Easy. His latest book, ‘War Made Invisible: How America Hides the Human Toll of Its Military Machine‘, was published in 2023 by The New Press.

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Jane Salanda holding some sorghum, the only crop that survived the drought.

By Simplex Chithyola Banda
LILONGWE, Malawi, Jun 21 2024 (IPS)

After El Niño-induced floods and devastating drought, roughly two in five people in Malawi – a country of some 20 million people – are now facing the looming prospect of acute hunger by the end of the year.

At particular risk is the progress Malawi has made to improve maternal and infant nutrition, especially during the critical window of a child’s first 1,000 days.

Yet, facing similar challenges in the past, I have seen with my own eyes how international development aid can uplift and build the resilience of even the most vulnerable communities.

Concessional finance from the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA), for instance, has previously helped millions of Malawians access food, improve nutrition, and rebuild agricultural livelihoods in the aftermath of shocks. With its focus on addressing the most urgent long- and short-term challenges, the IDA is one of the greatest allies of low-income, climate-vulnerable countries.

However, conditions not of our own making are exacerbating the hunger challenges in Malawi and across the African continent, while simultaneously holding back governments from responding effectively.

Malawi’s external debt servicing alone, for example, will take up an estimated US$ 147 million this year, just over five percent of total government spending. This is money that would better serve the country in the long run as investments into building the resilience of smallholder farmers to safeguard food and income security against rising climate shocks.

In light of these compounding challenges, we urgently need donor governments to double their contributions to the IDA in its upcoming replenishment, without which countries like Malawi will simply lack the resources to break the cycle of crises.

Food systems in the countries receiving support from the IDA, where infrastructure and national resilience is already precarious, have been more acutely affected by recent shocks than elsewhere.

We already know that one in three IDA nations are now poorer than before the Covid-19 pandemic, while the cost of recent climate disasters has doubled over the past decade, and will continue to rise. These shocks are devastating setbacks to attempts to develop long-term resilience and foster agricultural development for food and nutrition security and rural livelihoods.

Yet, just as these countries are facing arguably greater challenges than ever before, the amount of funding provided via the IDA has stalled – and in some cases, begun to decline.

For almost a decade, contributions to the IDA have flatlined, which means financial support from the wealthiest countries in real terms has fallen as many countries have cut aid budgets.

And the results of this downturn in funding are now playing out on the ground. Over the past two replenishment cycles, for example, the number of food insecure people in IDA countries has doubled – a clear sign that donor countries must rapidly reverse course to save lives and economies worldwide.

In the face of mounting challenges, the IDA can still be a driver for positive change in many of the world’s most vulnerable contexts, but only with the enhanced support of the foremost donor countries.

Momentum for tackling the hunger crisis – which ultimately spans borders, cultures, and economies – is already growing, with the formation of a Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty ahead of the G20 meetings in Brazil this year.

Donor governments must now make up ground, rising to the scale and urgency of the food security challenge ahead of us by doubling their funding for one of the most potent solutions against hunger and poverty.

The IDA is one of the most proven and effective aid providers the world possesses today and will be vital in delivering the vision of a hunger- and poverty-free world.

With greater funding, the IDA can support the long-term investments needed to strengthen national food systems, while also breaking the cycle of crises that currently hold back the most vulnerable nations.

At the same time, adequately replenishing the IDA will be critical in achieving both the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the World Bank’s own mission to end poverty – both of which rely on sustainable agricultural development that allows for healthy people and planet.

Therefore, as the IDA meets in Nepal, Malawi and other IDA countries urgently need donor governments to step up both financially and strategically, directing more funding towards nutrition and food security.

The return on this investment is a world with less hunger, poverty and inequality, the toll of which is ultimately borne by all of us.

Hon. Simplex Chithyola Banda is Minister of Finance & Economic Affairs, Malawi

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Results of the General Assembly's vote on the resolution on the status of the Observer State of Palestine. Credit: UN Photo/Manuel Elías

By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Jun 21 2024 (IPS)

The United States—which has continued to use its veto power to block Palestine from UN membership —may be out-maneuvered by a growing new campaign by some UN member states planning to establish full political and diplomatic relations with Palestine outside the confines of the United Nations.

The latest recognitions of the Palestinian territory as a sovereign State are by Norway, Ireland, Spain and Slovenia, which comes after the General Assembly overwhelmingly voted — with 143 votes in favour to nine votes against- – to back Palestine’s bid to become a full-fledged member of the United Nations on last month.

But, as expected, the resolution before the Security Council was vetoed by the United States last month—and will continue to be vetoed.

Mercifully, the US does not have a veto power to prevent countries from recognizing Palestine as a sovereign nation state — even though it could threaten to cut off economic and military aid, particularly to developing nations.

“In the midst of a war, with tens of thousands killed and injured, we must keep alive the only alternative that offers a political solution for Israelis and Palestinians alike: Two states, living side by side, in peace and security,” Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said.

How many of the remaining 24 European Union (EU) member states will follow Ireland, Spain and Slovenia in establishing diplomatic relations with Palestine?

The 24 include: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia and Sweden.

Stephen Zunes, Professor of Politics and chair of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of San Francisco, told IPS this underscores how, despite the Biden administration’s claims that it supports a two-state solution, it has worked hard to prevent the United Nations from recognizing Palestine.

In addition to vetoing the recent UN Security Council resolution admitted Palestine as a member and voting against the General Assembly resolution to upgrade its status, the United States was one of only two countries in the 47-member UN Human Rights Council to vote against a resolution in early April which “reaffirmed its support for the solution of two States, Palestine and Israel, living side by side in peace and security.”

“It has been U.S. policy since 1990 to withdraw funding from any United Nations agency which grants Palestine full member status and the recently passed 2024 Appropriations bill promises to cut all U.S. funding for the Palestinian Authority if “the Palestinians obtain the same standing as member states or full membership as a state in the United Nations or any specialized agency thereof outside an agreement negotiated between Israel and the Palestinians,” he pointed out

The Biden administration and Congress have long taken the position that Palestinian statehood is only acceptable on terms voluntarily agreed to by Israel in bilateral negotiations.

“However, given how there have been no such negotiations since 2015 and the Israeli government categorically rules out allowing any kind of Palestinian state, this appears to simply be a way of continuing to deny Palestine’s right to self-determination”, declared Zunes.

Among the G20, nine countries Argentina, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Turkey have recognized Palestine as a sovereign state.

China, one of the five permanent members of the Security Council has recognized the State of Palestine since 1988 and has declared that it supports Palestine’s bid for full UN membership.

Meanwhile, in a statement released June 3, a group of UN human rights experts say, “the State of Palestine was recognized by the vast majority of Member States of the United Nations”.

All States must follow the example of the 143 UN Member States, and recognise the State of Palestine, and use all political and diplomatic resources at their disposal to bring about an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the UN experts said.

“This recognition is an important acknowledgement of the rights of the Palestinian people and their struggles and suffering towards freedom and independence,” the experts said.

They insisted that Palestine must be able to enjoy full self-determination, including the ability to exist, determine their destiny and develop freely as a people with safety and security.
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“This is a pre-condition for lasting peace in Palestine and the entire Middle East – beginning with the immediate declaration of a ceasefire in Gaza and no further military incursions into Rafah,” the experts said.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka, a former chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), was one of the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with Palestine going back to the 1970s.

Dr Palitha Kohona, former Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the UN, and until recently Ambassador to China, told IPS Sri Lanka has consistently backed the two-state solution to the situation involving Israel and Palestine and to bring peace to the Middle East.

Despite the elimination of the anti-Israeli leaders of Iraq (Saddam Hussein) and Libya (Muammar Gaddafi), the violent changes resulting from the Arab Spring, and the diplomatic efforts at reconciliation between Arab countries and Israel, the situation in the occupied territories remains as dire as ever, he said.

“Consistent with our position”, he pointed out, “Sri Lanka was one of the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with Palestine with a Palestinian ambassador based in Colombo since 1975 whose costs are met by the Government of Sri Lanka”.

Sri Lanka maintains a diplomatic presence in Ramallah with a fully- fledged ambassador, and is also the chair of the “UN Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories”,

“During my period as Permanent Representative, we came under intense pressure from Israel to quit as chair of this Committee. Sri Lanka has consistently supported the call for Palestinian statehood at the United Nations,” declared Dr Kohona.

Ian Williams, President of the Foreign Press Association, told IPS the Coalition of the Appalled that supports Palestinian membership is more compelling than the US’s Coalition of “the willing” that the US dragooned to support its war in Iraq.

A vote on “recognizing” Palestine is as superfluous as a vote on accepting the gravity – it exists! It should be superfluous to counter the arguments of Israel and its supporters but en passant Israel itself has not had accepted boundaries since its admission.

Micronesia, the Marshalls and Palau, consistent supporters of Israel and the US have no real sovereignty over their foreign policy, while the US and UK fought hard to maintain “Kampuchean” membership of the UN when Pol Pot controlled a tent in Thailand across the border, said Williams, a former president of the UN Correspondents Association (UNCA) and author of “The UN For Beginners”.

“And many of the Governments who took part in the wartime negotiations on the UN Charter were in exile from their occupied territory. This is not about legal recognition, it is about Palestine, as the ghost of the Naqba, sitting at the table shaking its hoary locks at the Zionist murderers and their accomplices”.

Maybe other members should resolve to refuse recognition to the Israeli holders of positions that swell Gilad Erdan’s head – like the various vice presidencies and committees or assumed membership of the West European Group that Erdan is so proud of. Time to tweak the desert vulture’s feathers, declared Williams.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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