Africa

Nigeria beat France 1-0 in their opening group match at the Fifa Under-20 Women's World Cup in Costa Rica, but Ghana lost 3-0 to the USA.

Los Angeles Lakers player Wenyen Gabriel wants to use basketball to unite people in his native South Sudan after its bitter experience of conflict.

Three inspiring #Youth4EiE Advocates – Nataly Rivas, Angela Abizera, and Jean-Paul Saif. Nataly, Angela, and Jean-Paul are three Global Youth for Education in Emergencies panel members. Credit: ECW

By External Source
Ecuador, Malawi, Lebanon, Aug 12 2022 (IPS)

On this International Youth Day, ECW interviewed three inspiring #Youth4EiE Advocates – Nataly Rivas, Angela Abizera, and Jean-Paul Saif. Nataly, Angela, and Jean-Paul are three Global Youth for Education in Emergencies panel members.

The (#Youth4EiE) panel brings together youth leaders from across eight countries to work together to put education in emergencies and protracted crises on top of the agenda for world leaders. The #Youth4EiE initiative is made possible through ECW’s partnership with Plan International UK and is supported by the People’s Postcode Lottery.

The #Youth4EiE panel is composed of 16 members representing Ecuador, Indonesia, Lebanon, Malawi, Mali, Zimbabwe, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Each member is a positive force for change in their own communities. They combine their skills, networks, and expertise to help raise awareness of the challenges which crisis-affected girls and boys face in accessing education in emergencies and protracted crises while advocating for increased funding from donors in support of ECW’s #222MillionDreams campaign.

Nataly Rivas. Credit: ECW

Nataly Rivas, 21, Ecuador

Nataly Rivas is a Sociology and International Relations student from Pichincha, Ecuador. She is an active leader and National Communications Coordinator in the “Por Ser Niña” movement, an Ecuador U-reporter, and a Global #Youth4EiE Panel Member – where she represents Ecuador. Since she was eleven, Nataly has participated in Plan International Ecuador projects, which have shown her the situations of inequality in her country and provoked in her a desire to fight to change that reality. She is passionate about girls’ rights and currently helps manage the “Por Ser Niña” movement’s social media – a civil society group of girls, boys, and young people in Ecuador whose objective is gender equality.

ECW: What does education mean to you? And how can we help realize #222MillionDreams for the 222 Million crisis-impacted children and adolescents who urgently need education support?

Nataly: I always say that education is a tool that can save lives, especially for girls and women. It can help prevent gender-based violence as it offers us better opportunities for the future. In a nutshell, education makes it possible to move closer to gender equality. However, in emergency situations, education is not prioritized – even financial resources are subtracted, causing millions of children to see their education and dreams interrupted or ended. We must urgently continue to fight for education so that educational institutions become safe environments with quality education available to everyone, especially in emergency situations. ECW works to meet the educational needs of 222 million children affected by crises and is rallying donor support through the #222MillionDreams campaign. This is why I call on all social sectors to mobilize more resources to support ECW, education inclusion and prevent more dreams from being left unfulfilled. Let us remember that, with education, we all win, and therefore, we must fight for it, make our demands and invest in it so that it is guaranteed for all.

ECW: In Ecuador, ECW, UN agencies, and civil society partners in coordination with the Ministry of Education have built an amazing campaign, La Educación es el Camino (Education is the Way), to make education a priority for everyone, especially children fleeing the crisis in Venezuela. How can we build a better world where refugee children are able to access safe and protective learning environments? And why is it important for the people of Ecuador?

Nataly: To build a better world for refugee children, essential rights such as the right to a dignified life, a nutritious diet, equality, and access to quality education must be guaranteed. Through education, other rights can be forged, so it is essential that education inclusion is guaranteed in schools where refugee children can feel safe and have better opportunities to develop. These spaces must be free of violence and xenophobia. And we can achieve this through fostering a culture of good treatment of others in the family, educational, and community environments. It is also important that assistance and aid programs are generated for families because one of the main barriers for girls and boys to have a quality life, and access to education is economic scarcity. The whole of society can and must contribute to the construction of a better world – not only for refugees but for everyone. Caring about and fighting collectively for sustainable solutions benefits us all and prevents further deepening levels of inequality in our country.

ECW: How can we activate science, technology, engineering, and math studies for girls and boys in crises to activate social entrepreneurship and provide a pathway out of poverty?

Nataly: Governments need to invest in scholarships for girls and boys to study and finance their projects and ideas. We need an education where students are the leaders of innovation and motivation. For these reasons, society should encourage children to study scientific careers, and adults must ensure more and better opportunities for the new generations and put aside adult centrism. Additionally, work must be done to eliminate the global digital divide and eradicate prejudices and stereotypes that disproportionately punish girls and women.

Angela Abizera. Credit: ECW

Angela Abizera, 23, Malawi

Angela Abizera is a girls’ rights and education activist from Malawi. She is a mentor in the Child Parliament, a poet, and a Global #Youth4EiE Panel Member – representing Malawi. Angela is originally from Rwanda but was raised in the Dzaleka Refugee Camp in Malawi. She has lived there for over 16 years and managed to complete her education at the camp. Since completing her schooling, she has been engaged in community work because she believes in giving back. Through these service efforts across different platforms, she has been able to advocate on various issues concerning the rights of children and young people, particularly girls.

ECW: According to new global estimates, 222 million crisis-affected children and adolescents are in need of education support, up from 75 million in 2016. How can we help these 222 million children realize their dreams of an education?

Angela: Education is a basic need and right of every child in the world. There is an urgent need to allocate more funds for education in emergencies and protracted crises (EiEPC). During crises, education is not prioritized – though it is often affected and disrupted. ECW’s #222MillionDreams campaign is a call to action: we must all do our part, including donors, to help these crisis-affected children and youth continue their education. As a young leader, I call on world leaders to urgently consider EiEPC and support ECW’s global campaign to help realize the dreams of millions of vulnerable girls and boys! We must work to establish coordination structures in education to immediately address challenges faced during and after emergencies, ensuring that learning does not stop. Additionally, we should ensure that safe, protective spaces are inclusive and provide support to all – especially those most vulnerable and affected, such as children living with disabilities, teen mothers who fail to go back to school due to stigma, and other minority groups. There is also a need to review laws that affect refugee children who, at times, face restrictions in their countries of asylum that can shatter their hopes of continuing their education. Such policies must be revised, and the needs of young refugees must be prioritized in EiEPC budgeting.

ECW: In Malawi and across Africa, the climate crisis has had severe impacts on education, public health, nutrition, protection and beyond. How can we connect education action with climate action to build a better world?

Angela: We cannot deny the fact that climate change is continuously affecting the world and disrupting education systems. Recently, Malawi was affected by Cyclone Ana which damaged a lot of infrastructure – causing people to flee their homes and shelter in classrooms, temporarily disrupting classes. Climate change should be integrated into the school syllabus because we need young people to be aware of the climate and environment around them. This would help sensitize and teach preparatory skills that they can use during emergencies. Learning about climate change and how to combat it empowers young people to make informed decisions and take action. Additionally, introducing disaster risk reduction clubs in schools can help build the capacity of innovative/creative youth, encouraging them to explore new skills to help spread this crucial information beyond the school to help foster more responsible communities. Lastly, governments should consider building resilient structures that can withstand any calamities.

ECW: You are a poet. Have you written anything about the power of an education? Could you share it with us?

 

LISTEN by Angela Abizera

(excerpts from her poem below)

Listen!

Don’t just listen but act!

As we speak we lose what we lose, but we spread the fact

Do what you intend to do but make sure you keep me intact,

with education

Listen,

With education

I am not just a girl child

I am a woman with a voice

A voice that speaks, a need that seeks

I am the world’s empowerment,

The world’s champion of change!

Listen,

I don’t want

These pauses in between

The disruptions over and over

I want my education not to cease

Transforming the world to goodness

We are the equality of highest quality

We are exclusively inclusive

We are Education!

 

Jean-Paul Saif. Credit: ECW

Jean-Paul Saif, 23, Lebanon

Jean-Paul Saif is an electronics student, entrepreneur, and Global #Youth4EiE Panel Member, representing Lebanon. Jean-Paul was born and currently lives in Zahle, Lebanon, where he has set up a plastic recycling factory. He is a leader in the Scouts movement, where he supports young people to share his love of hiking and camping. He is also a stand-up comedian and theater actor.

ECW: What does education mean to you? And how can we help realize #222MillionDreams for the millions of crisis-impacted children and adolescents who need educational support?

Jean-Paul: Education means everything to me because education is the start of everything. Your journey of learning begins at school, goes through university, and also continues outside of these places – at work, with family, and within your daily life. Education is important because it empowers you and it sets you up for success in life. Without a proper education, you cannot get a proper job or adequate salary. We can help achieve the aim of ECW’s #222MillionDreams campaign by raising awareness and lobbying on the importance of donor funding for education in emergencies and protracted crises with governments and global leaders. We must advocate for governments to prioritize education planning and funding in their aid programs. In crisis-affected countries, we should build schools in remote, hard-to-access areas where they’re currently unavailable. I also believe in continuing our push for peace and to end wars and attacks on schools that happen during conflict. Finally, in countries that are more prone to natural disasters such as earthquakes, we should support the creation of stronger infrastructure.

ECW: Lebanon has faced several shocks over the past decade, including the refugee influx from Syria, the 2020 Beirut port blast, the economic crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic. How can education help us build back better?

Jean-Paul: I believe the most impactful starting point is to adapt and include civic education and active citizenship courses in schools that are free from religious and political affiliation – and support students to learn about active citizenship and not blindly follow leaders from a young age. Additionally, orienting students to the right professions early on, including ones that will be needed in the future, to create a new wave of graduates equipped with the skills necessary for the next generation would help support building back better in Lebanon. Finally, opening and expanding educational opportunities, such as trainings in social media, would also support entrepreneurship and job creation in the country.

ECW: How can we activate science, technology, engineering, and math studies for girls and boys in crisis-impacted contexts like Lebanon, Syria, and beyond to activate social entrepreneurship and provide a pathway out of poverty?

Jean-Paul: Teaching kids about the newest technology can help them improve their knowledge about what the world is going through as almost everything is becoming digital. Children will have access to the largest field of opportunities to choose from and to learn by using the internet. For example, there are various websites that teach about coding and creating different kinds of artificial intelligence. Through these websites and online resources, children can start by learning things like building small devices and, in the long term, develop skills to help companies with larger projects.
IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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By Yasmine Sherif and H.D. Wright
NEW YORK, Aug 12 2022 (IPS)

Today marks International Youth Day, a global celebration of the transformative power of young people. Introduced by the United Nations General Assembly in 1999, the event was inaugurated not only to observe the power of the youth voice, but to serve as a promise from those in power to activate the power of youth across the development sector.

Yasmine Sherif

Since then, the United Nations appointed a Youth Envoy, dedicated to the diffusion of the day’s promise, and many aid organizations have followed suit by including the voices of young people in social media campaigns, high-level events, and stakeholder forums.

In 2021, Education Cannot Wait (ECW), the United Nations global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises, took a further, concrete step to democratically include youth in its governance structure and decision-making processes. Scores of youth-led NGOs applied to join a newly created youth constituency, and after only a few weeks, the sub-group had become one of the largest, most active, and most diverse constituencies within the fund.

On the Executive Committee and High-Level Steering Group of ECW, young people were represented for the first time alongside government ministers, heads of UN agencies and civil society organizations, and private sector leaders — a refreshing example of intergenerational collaboration at the highest levels of humanitarian aid.

Another significant step in the race for youth inclusion occurred when ECW partnered with Plan International to support a group of youth activists through the ‘Youth for Education in Emergencies Project,’ a campaign by youth panelists aiming to demonstrate the value of youth participation.

As ECW builds momentum towards its High-Level Financing Conference in February 2023 with the #222MillionDreams Campaign, we call on strategic partners to include the youth voice as we come together to mobilize funding resources for the 222 Million crisis-impacted children and adolescents worldwide that require urgent educational support.

Fortunately, there is no shortage of exceptional young people ready to lead the charge. The Global Student Forum, for example, has brought together more than one hundred national student unions, composed of millions of youth activists, and successfully lobbied governments around the world with its democratic force.

H.D. Wright

The success of Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi’s 100 Million Campaign, a global, youth-led effort to end child exploitation, further illustrates the immense value of grassroots organizing. And at a local level, youth-led NGOs have brought change to their communities in ways equally substantial.

Aid organizations and professionals have changed the lives of countless young people around the world. By including them, aid organizations can tap into their extraordinary resilience and strength, and actually learn from them. Using their reach on social media, young people excel at spreading awareness and engagement around the world. Just as unknown singers become famous because of the young people who promote them, previously unknown issues have reached national prominence overnight and created substantive change.

With regard to fundraising, each young person is surrounded by a community, offering a network ready to lend a hand. In terms of policy, young people affected by crises can identify their needs with an ease unmatched by any humanitarian policy professional, for they are experts in their own lives, challenges and opportunities. Young people are intelligent and capable of shaping their own futures. They have an idealism and a courage that the world so desperately needs today. Their unflinching optimism, powerful energy, and uncompromising commitment to change will ensure that those futures are not only safe, but better than the present they inherited.

ECW can attest to the enlightening and inspiring vitality of young people. Since its creation, the youth constituency has worked energetically on behalf of this breakthrough global fund, providing valuable input and guidance on multi-year programs and first emergency responses in Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Haiti, Iraq and Mali. When schools shut down due to the pandemic, the youth constituency persisted, working together to inform aid programmes dispersed across crisis-affected countries.

The youth constituency even responded in real time to developing crises, including the earthquake in Haiti, the deteriorating crisis in Afghanistan, and most recently, the war in Ukraine. Their contributions played a role in meaningful projects: since its inception in 2016, ECW’s programs have reached over 5 million children and adolescents, providing them with quality support, including educational materials, school meals, mental health programs, and other basic necessities.

On this day, it is important to observe the power of young people, and the impactful work that aid organizations have conducted across the sector. Yet celebration and transformation must go hand in hand, ensuring that next year, when International Youth Day returns, we are one step closer to fulfilling its original promise to unleash the power of the youth.

Yasmine Sherif is the Director of Education Cannot Wait. H.D. Wright is Youth Representative at Education Cannot Wait

IPS UN Bureau

 

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A market in Baghdad, Iraq. Credit: UNAMI/Sarmad Al-Safy
 
In a statement issued last month, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed to all relevant actors “to take immediate steps to de-escalate the situation, avoid any further violence, and ensure the protection of peaceful protesters and State institutions”. For the second time in a week, protesters stormed the parliament in Baghdad, breaching the high-security Green Zone and injuring more than 120 people, news media reported. --July 2022

By Sarah Hepp
AMMAN, Jordan, Aug 12 2022 (IPS)

The storming of the Iraqi parliament by supporters of Al-Sadr was motivated by years of political impasse — threatening Iraq’s democracy and peace

Iraq’s stricken democracy is being stress-tested once again and the Iraqi population is paying the price. In the past weeks, supporters of Shi’ite leader Muqtada Al-Sadr have stormed the Iraqi parliament and staged a sit-in twice.

Their protest thwarted the scheduled election of Mohammad Shia Al-Sudani as prime minister. Al-Sudani was nominated by the Shi-ite Coordination Framework, which brings together various groups and militias, with the exception of Al-Sadr’s party.

A political impasse has gripped Iraq since the election in October 2021, as fragmented, mainly Shi’ite forces have vied for influence. The party of Shi’ite cleric Al-Sadr emerged as the winner, with 73 out of the 329 seats, while two established Iran-backed Shia coalitions – the Fatah Alliance and the Al-Nasr Alliance – suffered major losses.

After the election, Al-Sadr wanted to form a majority government in the shape of a triple alliance comprising his movement, the Sunni Taqaddum Coalition and the Kurdish KDP. The Shi’ite Coordination Framework, however, demanded the continuation of a unity government, which is common in Iraq, of which it would form part.

After they had failed to form a government, the Sadr party MPs resigned. This left the ball in the Coordination Framework’s court. However, Sadr’s withdrawal from parliament is regarded as a strategic ploy in an effort to earn credibility as an alleged outsider against a corrupt political elite, enabling it to mobilise popular protests.

Against this background the biggest demonstrations since the mass protests of October 2019, as well as the parliamentary sit-in are scarcely surprising.

Sarah Hepp

No way around Al-Sadr

The current demonstrations are not personally linked to Al-Sudani. The Sadrists portray Al-Sudani as a puppet of Nouri Al-Maliki, leader of the State of Law Coalition and former prime minister from 2006 to 2014, although Iraq experts cast doubt on this.

In any case, Al-Sudani, minister for human rights under Nouri Al-Maliki, would not be a bad choice in comparison with other potential candidates. In the wake of recent events, however, Al-Sudani doesn’t have much chance of assuming the premiership.

There appears to be no route around populist king-maker Al-Sadr. On the one hand, he denounces corruption, mismanagement, and Iran’s sway over Iraq, but he’s hardly Mr Clean himself. His impulsiveness drastically limits Iraq’s options for peaceful and democratic solutions.

This threatens to set in motion a spiral of escalation that has so far not cost any lives, but has already injured over 100 people on the side of the protesters and the security forces.

Potential scenarios range from new elections to the resumption of civil war. Two factors make the civil war scenario unlikely, however, at least for now. First, confronting one another here are groups of Iraqi Shia – Al-Sadr and the Shi’ite Coordination Framework – that, although at odds over Iran’s influence and the form of government, share religious views and are celebrating the holy month of Muḥarram.

This is the first month of the Islamic calendar, in which Shi’ites mourn the family tragedy of Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī. Going to war is forbidden during this period. Secondly, the actors in this power struggle are well aware that a civil war could diminish their share of power and curtail their ability to distribute largesse.

People’s trust in democracy is shaken

The main victims of this political blockade are democracy and the Iraqi people. In any case, the record low turnout of 43.5 per cent undermined parliamentary legitimacy. Even more so with the Sadrist MPs’ withdrawal from parliament, which now represents only a minority of the population.

Popular trust in democracy was already badly shaken. From October to December 2019 the most violent mass protests since 2003 convulsed broad swathes of the country. Young Iraqis expressed their dismay at rampant corruption, paltry government services, high unemployment and the political system.

The protests were violently suppressed by Iraqi security forces, leaving hundreds of protesters dead or injured. The core demands of the Tishreen (October) movement were fundamental reform of the political system (such as abolition of the so-called Muhasasa system, involving ethnic-religious quotas), and a new, non-corrupt government. Both demands remain largely unsatisfied. The Tishreen movement would thus have every reason to take to the streets again.

The movement is more fragmented than ever, however. Radical and religious forces have infiltrated the movement and have tried to impose their aims on it. Some have been co-opted by the government, while others have attached themselves to parties emerging from the protests. We can thus assume that the movement today has less mobilisation potential than hitherto.

The longer the political blockade continues the more what remains of popular trust in democracy will diminish. That reduces the chances of resolving the political crisis peacefully. We have seen over the years that the political elite is unable to manage a transformation of the existing system.

More political participation among Iraqi citizens, such as in free and equal elections and pressure from the street could bring about the change long wished for. But to that end corrupt elites will have to cease clinging to power and pave the way for a democracy that is not just on paper, but is also lived.

Sarah Hepp heads the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung’s Iraq office, as well as the Climate and Energy Project for the MENA region from Amman in Jordan. Previously she worked at the FES‘s EU office in Brussels and at the FES‘s Baden-Württemberg office.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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A Liberian execution squad fires a volley of shots, killing cabinet ministers of Liberia. April 1980. Credit: Website Rare Historical Photos

By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Aug 12 2022 (IPS)

When world political leaders, mostly presidents and prime ministers, are ousted from power following military coups or street demonstrations, they flee to “safe havens” to avoid being jailed, executed by firing squads or hanged in public.

Perhaps one of the secure “safe havens”—and a popular “political retirement home”– is Saudi Arabia, a traditionally authoritarian regime, which has provided sanctuary for leaders from Uganda, Tunisia, Pakistan, Yemen and Qatar.

A cartoon in a British newspaper summed it up when it jokingly depicted the “ARRIVALS” terminal in a Saudi airport with a fast-checkout line for visitors– supermarket-style—with a sign that read: “FOR OUSTED WORLD LEADERS ONLY”

Stephen Zunes, professor of politics and coordinator of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of San Francisco, told IPS “It is not surprising that one of the most authoritarian countries in the world would provide a refuge for other authoritarian leaders.”

And, given that the Saudis have such strong backing from the United States, they have even less to worry about— in terms of pressure for extradition (of asylum seekers), he declared.

In recent memory, some of the political leaders who sought asylum in Saudi Arabia include Idi Amin of Uganda (2003), Zine El Abdine Ben Ali of Tunisia (2019), Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi of Yemen (2015), Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan (2007) and Khalifa bin Hamad Al-Thani, the Emir of Qatar (2004).

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who was ousted from power by an angry mob last month, and whose government—and extended family—were accused of large-scale corruption and maladministration, is probably a potential candidate for Saudi asylum, after his stops in the Maldives, Singapore and Thailand. As he travels round Asia, Rajapaksa has been contemptuously dubbed as a former president in search of a country.

But still there were ousted leaders from Iran, Afghanistan and Liberia who were either jailed, hanged or executed.

Singling out the political exiles in Saudi Arabia, the Middle East Eye, a London-based online news outlet, quoted Andrew Hammond, historian at Oxford University and author of a book on Saudi Arabia, as saying: “On the one hand, that means there can be no political parties, protests, petitions and other modern phenomena related to representative electoral politics.

“But on the other, it means the country can be open and welcoming to people of many stripes and origins, as long as they steer clear of politics or act within lines approved by the government.”

As William Dobson, a politics and foreign affairs editor for Slate, points out in his book “The Dictator’s Learning Curve”: “What dictators and authoritarians fear most is their own people”

Erica Frantz, Assistant Professor in the Political Science Department at Michigan State University, writes in her book titled “Authoritarianism” that “around 40% of the world’s people live under some form of authoritarian rule, and authoritarian regimes govern about a third of the world’s countries.”

In the 1960s, Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh, who was ousted from office following a coup engineered by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and British intelligence, was sentenced to death and confined to a military prison for three years

According to the Brits and the Americans, he made the supreme mistake of nationalizing huge British oil holdings in Iran. Mossadegh died in March 1967 when he was under house arrest, and he was succeeded by one of America’s staunchest allies: the Shah of Iran.

Meanwhile, the saga of ousted political leaders continued.

When the Taliban captured power back in 1996, one of its first political acts was to hang the Afghan President Mohammed Najibullah in Ariana Square in Kabul.

On August 15 last year, the Taliban, assumed power once again, this time ousting the US-backed government of Ashraf Ghani, a former World Bank official, armed with a doctorate in anthropology from one of the most prestigious Ivy League educational institutions in the US: Columbia University.

In a Facebook posting, Ghani said he fled to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) seeking safe haven because he “was going to be hanged” by the Taliban.

If that did happen, the Taliban would have earned the dubious distinction of being the only government in the world to hang two presidents. But mercifully, it did not.

Ghani, however, denied that he had bolted from the presidential palace lugging several suitcases with millions of dollars pilfered from the country’s treasury.

In another high-profile case, the government of President Ferdinand Marcos Sr of the Philippines, was toppled by a popular uprising in 1986. Described as a lawyer, dictator, kleptocrat and a strong American ally, Marcos died in exile in Honolulu, Hawaii, in September 1989, after seeking asylum in the US.

But Liberian political leaders, however, were not that lucky.

On April 12, 1980, Samuel Doe led a military coup, killing President William R. Tolbert, Jr., in the Executive Mansion in Liberia, a West African country founded by then-emancipated African-American slaves, with its capital named after the fifth US President James Monroe.

The entire Cabinet, was publicly paraded in the nude, lined up on a beach in the capital of Monrovia – and shot to death.

According to an April 1980 BBC report, “13 leading officials of the ousted government in Liberia were publicly executed on the orders of the new military regime.”

The dead men included several former cabinet ministers and the elder brother of William Tolbert, the assassinated president of the west African state. They were tied to stakes on a beach next to the army barracks in the capital, Monrovia, and shot, said BBC.

“Journalists who had been taken to the barracks to watch the executions said they were cruel and messy.”

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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A selection of the best photos from across Africa and beyond this week.

Some online users in Kenya have been sharing misleading claims about the results and the voting process.

The Dutch football community was shocked when DR Congo winger Jody Lukoki died in May, but more twists soon followed.

Reports suggest a number of police officers and protesters have been killed.

Morocco part company with national team coach Vahid Halilhodzic just three months before the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

The electoral commission tells people not to panic as media houses broadcast different tallies.

What the Russian-Ukrainian conflict has once again laid bare is just how fragile globalised food systems are. Credit: Busani Bafana/IPS

By Baher Kamal
MADRID, Aug 11 2022 (IPS)

The benchmark for world food commodity prices declined “significantly” in July, with major cereal and vegetable oil prices recording double-digit percentage declines.

The data, released by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on 5 August, adds the FAO Food Price Index averaged 140.9 points in July, down 8.6% from June, “marking the fourth consecutive monthly decline since hitting all-time highs earlier in the year.”

This means that the global skyrocketing food prices have been steadily falling earlier than the 22 July Turkey-brokered agreement between Russia and Ukraine that allows both countries’ cereal exports.

Nevertheless, the business influence on politicians and the media, as well as on world organisations, including the United Nations, have untiringly continued blaming the war in Ukraine for the unprecedented high records of food prices, and also for heavily exacerbating the starvation of billions of people worldwide.

International institutions, governments and corporate actors are using the current crisis, as they have used every crisis: to further consolidate this failed model. False solutions and the redundant calls for failed approaches abound in headlines and international responses

How come that food prices have declined all of a sudden over four consecutive months? The Ukraine war began around five month ago. So?

 

The “miracle” explained

Perhaps one of the most accurate studies explaining the real reasons behind the starvation of one billion people, can be found in the ‘must read’ document elaborated by the international movement created 30 years ago in India by one of the world’s most outstanding scientists and activists, Prof. Vandana Shiva.

The very title of the study: Sowing Hunger, Reaping Profits – A Food Crisis by Design should be enough to understand the deeply rooted causes of what the UN World Food Programme (WFP)’s Red Alert: A Global Food Crisis Like No Other.

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, headlines have been dominated by the warnings of risk in global food supply shortages and rising global food prices, all due to the conflict, says the Navdanya International report.

“But, according to many international groups, there is currently no risk of global food supply shortages.” So why are so many countries now facing an increased risk of food insecurity, and in worst cases famine?

What is crucially being overlooked by most diagnosis of the current food crisis is how the problem does not lie in a lack of supply, or lack of market integration, but instead in “how the food system is structured around power.”

The Navdanya International explains how, in fact, the world had already been facing a food and malnutrition crisis long before the current conflict.

 

The corporate power

“From the colonial era, which saw the beginning of extraction and exploitation of small farmers, to the advent of the Green Revolution, and the concretizing of the globalised free trade regime, we have seen the deliberate destruction of small farmers and food sovereignty in favour of corporate power.”

Therefore, it is no coincidence that today we are witnessing the third major food crisis in the last 15 years, the study remarks.

 

Hunger by design?

What the Russian-Ukrainian conflict has once again laid bare is just how fragile globalised food systems are. The current globalised, industrial agri-food system is a food system that creates hunger by design, Prof. Vandana Shiva’s world movement further goes on.

“Worst of all, international institutions, governments and corporate actors are using the current crisis, as they have used every crisis: to further consolidate this failed model. False solutions and the redundant calls for failed approaches abound in headlines and international responses.”

Now more than ever will a food systems transformation toward Food Sovereignty, based on agroecology and increasing biodiversity, help act as a lasting solution to hunger, urges Vandana Shiva’s movement.

 

Under the influence of market lords

In spite of the obvious credibility of all the above, and of the several accurate analyses of numerous world’s experts, politicians, the mainstream media, and the international bodies, continue to attribute all the world’s long-decades standing crises to the current proxy war.

For example, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) released on 7 July 2022 a report whose title directly refers to the war in Ukraine: Global cost-of-living crisis catalysed by war in Ukraine sending tens of millions into poverty.

Fortunately, the report also lists some of the real major causes of the world’s growing hunger of which nearly one billion humans have so far fallen victims.

 

Is it all about the war, really?

“Soaring inflation rates have seen an increase in the number of poor people in developing countries by 71 million in the three months since March 2022,” says the report, which was released just 13 days after the entry of Russian troops into Ukraine territory.

Question: Were those 13 days of Ukraine’ proxy war enough to so spectacularly increase the number of world’s hungry people?

UNDP also explains that as interest rates rise in response to soaring inflation, there is a risk of triggering further recession-induced poverty that will exacerbate the crisis even more, accelerating and deepening poverty worldwide.

Question: Were the five-month blocked –and now released– Ukraine’s cereal exports really behind the starvation of the world’s billions of poor?

 

The wider picture

Ukraine is not the world’s single grain producer. Nor is it the Planet’s largest grain exporter. In fact, Ukraine represents 10% of the global supply, as IPS reported in its recent article: The World Was Already Broken. Shall Ukrainian Cereals Fix It Up?

The same applies to Russia, which will also resume its cereal exports in virtue of the 22 July agreement between Moscow and Kieve. With around 118 million tons a year, Russia ranks fourth in the world’s list of the world’s top producers.

The largest one, China, with over 620 million tons, generates more than four-fold the total Russian production. The United States, with 476 million tons, is the world’s second largest cereal producer, nearly three-fold what Russia produces.

Then you have the European Union, with 275 million tons. France alone produces some 63 million tons. And Canada produces more than 58 million tons. Other major cereals producers are India, Brazil, Argentina, and Australia.

 

Starvation at a breathtaking speed

“Unprecedented price surges mean that for many people across the world, the food that they could afford yesterday is no longer attainable today,” says UNDP Administrator, Achim Steiner.

“This cost-of-living crisis is tipping millions of people into poverty and even starvation at breathtaking speed and with that, the threat of increased social unrest grows by the day.”

 

The same story… again?

In its August 2022 Global impact of war in Ukraine: Energy crisis Briefing, the United Nations tells that more people are now forecast to be pushed into food insecurity and extreme poverty by the end of 2022.

“The most recent operational programming update from the WFP estimates that in 2022, 345 million people will be acutely food insecure or at a high risk of food insecurity in 82 countries with a WFP operational presence, implying an increase of 47 million acutely hungry people… due to the ripple effects of the war in Ukraine in all its dimensions.”

Question: Hadn’t the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported on 6 January 2022 that “For 2021 as a whole, averaging across the entire year, the FAO Food Price Index averaged 125.7 points, as much as 28.1 percent above the previous year”?

Hadn’t the FAO Senior Economist Abdolreza Abbassian said that “While normally high prices are expected to give way to increased production, the high cost of inputs, ongoing global pandemic and ever more uncertain climatic conditions leave little room for optimism about a return to more stable market conditions even in 2022”?

Wasn’t that 49 days before the Ukraine war started?

Nigeria topped Africa's medal table at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, and the event retains its significance across the continent.

Failed crop in Southwestern Uganda. While there is a lot of focus on Karamoja, most parts of Uganda have been affected by erratic rains leading to crop failure. Credit Wambi Michael/IPS

By Wambi Michael
Kampala, Aug 11 2022 (IPS)

Hundreds of people have died of famine in Uganda’s Karamoja region, and local leaders say that some people are now eating grass to survive.

The Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWSNET) estimated that about 518,000 people from Karamoja’s poorest families face critical food insecurity resulting from two seasons of crop failure.

Of the 518,000 people with high levels of food insecurity, 428,000 are experiencing phase three (crisis levels of food insecurity), and 90,000 are at phase four (emergency levels of food insecurity).

For the first time in three years, all the nine districts of Karamoja: Kaabong, Moroto, Kotido, Napak, Nabilatuk, Amudat, Karenga, Abim and Nakapiripit are at crisis level or worse according to IPC classification.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) uses a scale of one to five to measure food insecurity. The situation in Karamoja has reached a crisis level close to catastrophe level.

Nakut Faith Loru, a Member of Parliament for Kabong district, told IPS that the number of those dying from starvation was rising despite efforts by the government to deliver some food relief.

“The hunger situation in Kaabong district is getting worse, especially for the elderly people. They are dying in large numbers due to starvation, with those on the verge of dying avoiding sleep because they fear dying while asleep,” she said

By the end of July, all the districts were facing acute malnutrition at critical levels.

Four-year-old Aleper is among the children under treatment for malnutrition at Kabong general hospital. He is emaciated, a living symbol of the horrors of starvation again killing people daily in remote northeastern Uganda. Aleper’s every rib is visible, his stomach is descended, and tinny folds of skin cover where his buttocks should be.

High food prices have left many families unable to afford nutritious foods – forcing them to find other ways to cope.

“The situation in Karamoja is an example of how a perfect storm of climate change, conflict, rising food costs, the impact of Covid-19 and limited resources is increasing the number of hungry people,” said Abdirahman Meygag, WFP Uganda Representative.

Shocking images of the Karamojong children and the elderly starving to death have exposed how ill-prepared the government has been in response to a situation that some experts say was very predictable.

The Speaker of Uganda’s Parliament, Anita Among, is one of those that have expressed concern about the deplorable situation in the Karamoja region.

“We have seen so many starving people, malnourished children. The government needs to come out clearly on how to address this issue. In the short, medium, and long term,” said Anita Among

The opposition leader in Parliament, Mathias Mpuuga agreed that providing relief aid was not sustainable. “We have a general drought and widespread crop failure in the country. Many people are already reaching out for food,” said Mpuuga.

Farmers from regions other than Karamoja have complained of poor or no harvests. Kaleb Ejioninga from the West Nile region along the border between Uganda and DRC is among those whose crops have withered before harvest.

“We planted maize and sorghum. They all wilted. The government should come to our rescue. If possible, they should find us quick-maturing seed varieties. Because even when the rain comes, if we plant the same seed, they may not grow,” Ejioninga appealed.

Another farmer, Joseph Indiya, told IPS that many farmers were surprised by the rate of crop failure.

“Actually, the soil here is very fertile. We have rivers around. Production has been so high, but this has surprised us this time. There used to be some rain in June and then rain throughout July. But now, there is not even a single drop of rain,” said Indiya.

The irony is that while most of Karamoja and other part is dry, catastrophic flooding in the Eastern Region’s Mbale district killed 29 people and left hundreds homeless after heavy rain, which caused rivers to overflow.

Uganda’s Minister for Agriculture, Frank Tumwebaze, said the situation in Karamoja and elsewhere in Uganda is not different from that in the Horn of Africa where countries like Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan, and Sudan are faced with food insecurity due to failed rains across four rain seasons.

“The problem is known. Climate change is real. We are going to work with the ministry of finance to see how to make irrigation equipment more accessible. Farming must continue while aware that we cannot continue depending on chances of nature,” Tumwebaze told journalists in Kampala.

UNICEF Representative to Uganda, Munir Safieldin, agrees that the crisis in Karamoja is not different from the situation in the Horn of Africa. He believes the situation could have been averted.

“We must not wait for thousands of children to die. We have said ‘never again’ too many times. We need long-term and predictable funding to help these children and their families,” said Munir Safieldin.

Amidst the crisis of crop failure in Karamoja and other parts of Uganda, there is debate on whether it is caused by climate change or variability. A number of experts believe the situation was highly predicted. They argue farmers have not been helped to adapt or cope with resultant changes.

One of such scientists is Ugandan plant biologist Dr Ambrose Agona, the Director General of the National Agricultural Organisation (NARO).

“I would like to say that Uganda doesn’t suffer much from climate change but suffers from climate variability,” explained Agona.

“Studies conducted recently demonstrated that the total amount of rainfall meant for this country has not changed in terms of volumes. It is not true that we have not had rain during the two failed seasons,” said Agona, whose body is charged with guiding and coordinating all agricultural research in Uganda.

He told IPS that farmers in most parts of Uganda have long thought that the first rain season begins typically around March, and then it continues to June, so they don’t take advantage of the rain that sometimes sets in as early as January.

Agona told IPS that farmers that have taken advantage of the onset of the rain actually harvest, especially when they plant drought-resistant and early-maturing crop varieties.

In June, the FAO office in Uganda released the IPC classification for Karamoja, warning of the crisis.

“The IPC results we have released today are not so different from what we have seen in the last few years. We need to shift our focus from responding to this food insecurity crisis every year after it has already happened,” said Antonio Querido, FAO representative to Uganda.

How does a farmer cope with climate variability?

Veterinarian and researcher Dr William Olaho-Mukani told IPS that the problem in Karamoja and Uganda generally had been the failure to deploy technologies to help farmers farm when there is no rain.

“This is where the problem is. Don’t firefight. Give farmers technologies for water harvesting, quick maturing, and drought-resistant crops,” said Olaho-Mukani.

“Karamoja has a lot of water when it rains. The challenge has been technology transfer. There is a lot of research by NARO, but transferring technology to the farmer has been a problem. We must ensure that they are available at affordable prices.”

In June 2021, Uganda adopted a Technology Action Plan for climate change adaptation. It noted: “The increase in temperature due to climate change will potentially change rainfall seasonality. The erratic and unpredictable weather patterns are likely to disrupt farm calendars with high-level of field-based post-harvest losses.”

The plan, developed with assistance from UN Environment and Global Environment Facility (GEF), suggests surface runoff water harvesting for communities living in uni-model rainfall belts in northern and eastern Uganda and crop breeding technology to have improved seed varieties supplied to 200,000 smallholder farmers.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov arrives in Naypyitaw on Aug. 3. Credit: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation MFA

By Jan Servaes
BRUSSELS, Aug 11 2022 (IPS)

On August 3rd residents of the Myanmar capital Naypyitaw were suddenly awakened by the sound of military helicopters in the air. The helicopters hovered over the city all day. The way to the regime’s foreign ministry was also blocked for hours.

Although they did not know the reason, it suggested that someone important was coming to Naypyitaw. They had no idea who the visiting dignitary was because all communications were also disrupted. But Russian media reported that their country’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, was on his way to Naypyitaw.

Lavrov’s visit comes as the junta has sparked renewed international outrage with the recent executions of four opponents, including a former lawmaker and a prominent human rights activist, in the country’s first use of the death penalty in decades. Lavrov previously visited Naypyitaw in 2013.

Prime Minister Min Aung Hlaing has been to Russia several times since 2013, most recently in July. However, he has not yet met the country’s president, Vladimir Putin.

The international response to Myanmar’s coup d’état and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has led to a toxic convergence between the two “pariah” nations, Sebastian Strangio concludes in The Diplomat on August 5th.

“A true and loyal friend”

The regime’s foreign minister, Wunna Maung Lwin, devised a working lunch for the Russian launch at the Aureum Palace Hotel, owned by U Teza, the chairman of Htoo Group of Companies, one of the main brokers of arms transactions between the military of Myanmar and Russia.

After the meeting, the regime said “to support both sides in the multilateral arena on mutual trust and understanding.” Wunna Maung Lwin expressed “deep appreciation to the Russian Federation, a true friend of Myanmar, for its consistent support to Myanmar, both bilaterally and multilaterally.”

Afterwards, Lavrov met the regime leader Min Aunging in the presidential residence, which has been renamed the “Office of State Administration Council (SAC)” since last year’s coup. Min Aung Hlaing stated that Russia and Myanmar had established diplomatic relations in 1948 and plan to celebrate their Diamond Jubilee next year.

Lavrov commended Myanmar as a “friendly and long-term partner”, adding that the two countries “have a very solid foundation for building cooperation in a wide range of areas”. Lavrov said the Russian government was in “solidarity in dealing with the situation in the country”. He also wished the State Administrative Committee (SAC) success in the elections it plans to organize in August 2023 in order to officially legitimize the takeover.

Calling Russia a “true and loyal friend” is not wrong. In fact, Russia (along with China) has been loyal in supporting the regime in the UN Security Council. As permanent members of the council, these two key nations have used their veto-right to avoid targeting the Myanmar regime.

However, in his comments, Lavrov, made no mention of the junta’s daily air raids on civilians. After all, these advanced fighter jets and helicopters are Russian-made.

Reporting on the meeting between Lavrov and Min Aung Hlaing, the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar wrote of the two nations’ ambitions to become “permanent friendly countries and permanent allies” who will help each other to “manage their internal affairs without outside interference.”

It may sound cynical, “as Myanmar is looking more like Syria or South Sudan every day”, the meeting between Lavrov and Min Aung Hlaing was more like a handshake of “partners in crime.”

Lavrov left for Cambodia on Wednesday afternoon to attend the meeting of foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Myanmar’s foreign minister has been banned for failing to implement the April 2021 5-point-consensus plan.

ASEAN Special Envoy Prak Sokhonn, who has made two trips to Myanmar since the coup, tempered expectations for major near-term progress: “I don’t think even Superman can solve the Myanmar problem.”

Russia is the main arms supplier to the junta

To this day, Russia is the major arms supplier to Myanmar’s military. Russia has been accused by human rights groups of selling to the regime many of the weapons it has used to attack civilians since last year’s coup. Moscow has supplied fighter jets, helicopters and air defense systems to Myanmar and it is no secret that regime leaders prefer military equipment from Russia to China.

Moscow has so far seen Naypyitaw primarily as a military and technical partner, with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu leading efforts to position Russia as the main supplier of advanced weapons to Myanmar. Russia has also provided postgraduate education to at least 7,000 Myanmar officers since 2001.

In addition to military ties, Shoigu also sees benefits in securing a highly committed partner where South and Southeast Asia meet, in addition to Russia’s long-standing partnerships with India and Vietnam. Until recently, the two countries’ economic and non-military trade relations have remained modest, but appear to be deepening.

Moscow now also wants to expand diplomatic, economic, trade and security ties with Myanmar. When Russia invaded Ukraine, the junta was one of the first to support the Kremlin. The junta’s spokesman said Russia was still a powerful nation that plays a role in preserving the balance of power for world peace.

In recent months, the two countries have established direct banking and financing channels to support increased bilateral trade, including Myanmar’s purchase of Russian energy products.

Indeed, in the wake of the coup, major oil and gas multinationals – including Total, Chevron, Petronas, Woodside and Eneos – have announced their withdrawal from Myanmar, and the regime is eager to find replacements to develop and exploit new and existing gas fields.

Russia’s Rosneft, which has been conducting limited onshore oil and gas exploration in Myanmar for a decade, said in April 2021 it planned to drill test wells.

A hug or stranglehold?

As an International Crisis Group (ICG) briefing published on Aug. 4 noted, the Myanmar coup and the war between Russia and Ukraine have pushed the two sides into a strong mutual embrace.

Russia has relentlessly supported the junta since it took power; it was one of the few countries to send representatives to the March 2021 Armed Forces Day parade — which coincided with a violent crackdown on anti-coup protesters — and has continued its arms deliveries to Myanmar.

At the same time, the SAC has expressed strong support for Russia since the invasion of Ukraine. Even though Myanmar’s ambassador to the United Nations, who has pledged his support to the democratic resistance, has voted in favor of resolutions condemning Moscow’s aggression.

The day after the invasion, a junta spokesman said the invasion was “justified for the permanence of their country’s sovereignty”. As late as July, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing went to Moscow, where he spoke with Russian officials about deeper defense cooperation and possible cooperation on energy projects.

“Faced with tougher international sanctions and diplomatic isolation, the two countries are actively exploring ways to strengthen their security and economic ties,” the ICG briefing said. This toxic convergence is inevitable: increasingly isolated from the West, Myanmar’s military regime in Moscow has sought advanced weapon systems and technical training for military officers that may soon be hard-pressed to obtain elsewhere. curb heavy dependence on ‘neighbouring country’ China, which has also chosen to recognize the SAC government.

For Russia, closer relations with Myanmar offer an opportunity to ramp up arms sales, while undermining Western efforts to form a global coalition to counter Russian adventurism in Ukraine. Given their mutually besieged state, the ICG notes, Myanmar and Russia are “likely to ignore the potential long-term downsides of their growing relationship in favor of short-term benefits.”

No way back?

The regime in Myanmar is isolated and faces sanctions and convictions at home and abroad. It has also struggled in the past year to crush the armed resistance. Since the invasion of Ukraine, Moscow has also been confronted with Western sanctions and has been conducting a long and costly military campaign there. As both countries become more heavily sanctioned and diplomatically isolated, the importance of their relations with each other has grown.

Min Aung Hlaing has clearly chosen to wreak utter destruction. He has sent government leaders to prisons, including deposed state adviser Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. Last month, he ordered the execution of prominent activists, including a lawmaker. There seems to be no turning back for the regime.

Jan Servaes was UNESCO-Chair in Communication for Sustainable Social Change at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He taught ‘international communication’ in Australia, Belgium, China, Hong Kong, the US, Netherlands and Thailand, in addition to short-term projects at about 120 universities in 55 countries. He is editor of the 2020 Handbook on Communication for Development and Social Change
https://link.springer.com/referencework/10.1007/978-981-10-7035-8

IPS UN Bureau

 

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