Africa

Ernesto "Che" Guevara, Minister of Industries of Cuba, addresses the General Assembly on Dec. 11, 1964. Credit: UN Photo/TC

By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Sep 5 2023 (IPS)

When 150+ world leaders, including Presidents and Prime Ministers, arrive in New York to address the high-level segment of the General Assembly beginning September 19, the UN neighborhood will be turned into a veritable war zone.

The streets will be littered with scores of police officers, US secret service personnel, UN security officers, bomb-sniffing dogs, road closures– and a stand-by ambulance in the UN campus ready to cope with any medical emergencies.

The US Secret Service also has an official chaplain ready to perform last rites in case of any political assassinations in the UN premises.

The only things missing are overhead surveillance drones since a sign in the UN premises, perhaps half-jokingly, reads: NO DRONE ZONE

Meanwhile, hundreds of UN staffers and journalists are double and triple-checked for their photo IDs, at least every 200 or 300 yards outside the UN building, reminiscent of security at the Pentagon and the CIA headquarters (where your visitor ID is geared to automatically change colour if you overstay your visit).

A flak jacket from conflict-ridden Middle East is also ideally suited for the war zone outside the UN when world leaders are in town.

Responding to questions on security, Paulina Kubiak, Spokesperson for the outgoing President of the General Assembly, said: … there are always restrictions during UNGA.

“As of right now, there are no COVID-related restrictions. So, no masks and no vaccinations are required,” she added.

Still, in 1964, with relatively less security, the UN building came under attack – perhaps for the first time in the history of the world body—from a mis-guided rocket launcher.

When the politically-charismatic Ernesto Che Guevara, once second-in-command to Cuban leader Fidel Castro, was at the United Nations to address the General Assembly sessions back in 1964, the U.N. headquarters came under fire – literally.

The speech by the Argentine-born Marxist revolutionary was momentarily drowned by the sound of an explosion.

The anti-Castro forces in the United States, backed by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), had mounted an insidious campaign to stop Che Guevara from speaking.

A 3.5-inch bazooka was fired at the 39-storeyed Secretariat building by the East River while a boisterous anti-Castro, anti-Che Guevara demonstration was taking place outside the UN building.

According to Wikipedia, the bazooka is the common name for a man-portable recoilless anti-tank rocket launcher, widely deployed by the US army, especially during World War II.

The hidden hand was visible -– only the finger prints were missing — in the first terrorist attack on the UN building.

But the rocket launcher – which was apparently not as sophisticated as today’s shoulder-fired missiles and rocket-propelled grenades – missed its target, rattled windows, and fell into the river about 200 yards from the building.

The African-American civil rights activist, the late Martin Luther King Jr. once said the US is home to “guided missiles and misguided men”.

One newspaper report described the attack as “one of the wildest episodes since the United Nations moved into its East River headquarters in 1952.”

As longtime U.N. staffers would recall, the failed 1964 bombing of the U.N. building took place when Che Guevara launched a blistering attack on U.S. foreign policy and denounced a proposed de-nuclearization pact for the Western hemisphere.

After his Assembly speech, Che Guevara was asked about the attack aimed at him. “The explosion has given the whole thing more flavor,” he joked, as he chomped on his Cuban cigar, during a press conference.

When he was told by a reporter that the New York City police had nabbed a woman, described as an anti-Castro Cuban exile, who had pulled out a hunting knife and jumped over the UN wall, intending to kill him, Che Guevara said: “It is better to be killed by a woman with a knife than by a man with a gun.”

A partial view of the exterior of the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad that was destroyed by a truck bomb on 19 August 2003. Credit: UN Photo/Timothy Sopp

Asked if there were any other attacks on the UN, Samir Sanbar, a former assistant secretary-general and head of the Department of Public Information, told IPS the only other attack he could remember was the bombing in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad in 2003.

He said two of his closest colleagues Sergio Viera de Mello and Nadia Younes died in that attack.

“Both did not wish to go but were pushed by someone who wanted them away,” said Sanbar, who served under five different secretaries-general.

On 19 August 2003, a suicide bomber drove a truck full of explosives to the United Nations headquarters in the Iraqi capital, and blew it up, killing 22 people – among them Vieira de Mello, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the head of the UN mission in Iraq.

The attack on the Canal Hotel building also wounded more than 150; most of them aid workers who had come to Iraq to help reconstruct the country following the overthrow of President Saddam Hussein.

The bombing was one of the most lethal in UN history, and marked a turning point in how the UN and aid groups operate in the field.

On August 18, the UN commemorated its annual World Humanitarian Day which was inaugurated to mark the Baghdad bombing 20 years ago.

Meanwhile, the attacks on UN peacekeeping forces have continued with 32 United Nations peacekeeping personnel — 28 military and four police, including one woman police officer — killed in deliberate attacks in 2022.

By nationality, the peacekeepers who died in 2022 were from Bangladesh (3), Chad (4), Egypt (7), Guinea (1), India (2), Ireland (1), Jordan (1), Morocco (1), Nepal (1), Nigeria (2), Pakistan (7), Russian Federation (1) and Serbia (1).

This brings the death toll to at least 494 United Nations and associated personnel who were killed in deliberate attacks in the past 12 years from improvised explosive devices (IEDs), rocket-propelled grenades, artillery fire, mortar rounds, landmines, armed and successive ambushes, convoy attacks, suicide attacks and targeted assassinations.

Over the last 78 years, the United Nations and its specialised agencies, were awarded the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize 12 times. One agency, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) received the prize in 1954 and 1981.

In 2001, the United Nations and then Secretary-General Kofi Annan of Ghana were awarded the prize “for their work for a better organized and more peaceful world”.

But the UN did pay a heavy price in human lives for those highly-deserving awards.

This article includes excerpts from a book on the United Nations titled “No Comment – and Don’t Quote Me on That” available on Amazon. The link to Amazon via the author’s website follows: https://www.rodericgrigson.com/no-comment-by-thalif-deen/

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People with albinism are tackling prejudice, while the diaspora is helping to makes their lives easier.

Wild boar female (Susscrofa) walking on mud beside a river with her piglets. The wild boar is an invasive Alien Species in countries such as South Africa, Vanuatu, and Uruguay. Credit: Budimir Jevtic/Shutterstock

By Busani Bafana
BULAWAYO AND BONN, Sep 4 2023 (IPS)

Mango farmer Eufria Nyadome used to earn USD 60 from selling a 20-litre bucket of fresh mangoes and now can barely make USD 20 even though her mango trees are giving a good yield. She is throwing away buckets of rotten mangoes.

Nyadome, from Mhondiwa Village in Ward 9 Murehwa District of Zimbabwe, has lost her income to an invasive Oriental fruit fly all the way from Asia. The fruit fly is classified as an invasive alien species, flagged by scientists as one of the leading causes of biodiversity loss around the world.  Invasive alien species could be plants, animals or microorganisms that are introduced intentionally or unintentionally into areas where they are not native.

The Oriental fruit fly is one of the 3,500 harmful invasive alien species that a new report by the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) finds are seriously threatening nature, nature’s contributions to people and good quality of life.

Assessment Report on Invasive Alien Species and their Control.

According to the Assessment Report on Invasive Alien Species and their Control launched by IPBES this week, more than 37,000 alien species have been introduced by many human activities to regions and biomes around the world. The report finds that the global economic cost of invasive alien species exceeded USD 423 billion annually in 2019, with costs having at least quadrupled every decade since 1970.

From the European shore crab (Carcinus maenas), Lantana (Lantana camera), the Fall Army Worm, (Spodoptera frugiperda), Nile Perch (Lates niloticus) to the water hyacinth (Pontederia crassipes), alien species invasive species have changed and destroyed global biodiversity and ecosystems, causing harm to global economies, human health and wellbeing as well as impacting on food and nutrition security.

Scientists say the conservative estimate of global economic costs is now rising at unprecedented rates.

“Invasive alien species are a major threat to biodiversity and can cause irreversible damage to nature, including local and global species extinctions, and also threaten human wellbeing,” said Helen Roy, co-chair of the assessment report.

In 2019, the IPBES Global Assessment Report found that invasive alien species are one of the five most important direct drivers of biodiversity loss – alongside changes in land- and sea use, direct exploitation of species, climate change and pollution.

Aliens Are Coming

The report warned of increasing invasive alien species worldwide on the back of a growing global economy, intensified and expanded land- and sea-use change combined with demographic changes.

Even without the introduction of new alien species, already established alien species will continue to expand their ranges and spread to new countries and regions, the report said, noting that climate change will make the situation even worse.

“What we demonstrated in this assessment is that the number of alien species is increasing by a huge margin where 200 invasive alien species a year get into an ecosystem; if nothing is done, these numbers are going to increase dramatically and impact food security and human health,” Sebataolo Rahlao, a Coordinating Lead Author of the report, told IPS in an interview.

Boat crossing a river with water hyacinth (Pontederia crassipes). This is an Invasive Alien Species in countries such as Egypt, Kenya, South Korea, and Mexico. Credit: CANVA

“We are also saying there are interactions with global changes, including climate change and pollution, which all increase the likelihood of invasive alien species increasing in particular areas. For example, climate change has provided opportunities for invasive alien species to thrive like the river red gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehnh) trees in South Africa have increased because their suitable habitat has increased due to climate change.”

While the IPBES experts confirm that there are insufficient measures to tackle these challenges of invasive alien species, with only 17 per cent of countries with national laws or regulations specifically addressing invasive alien species, effective management and more integrated approaches were available solutions.

An invasive Oriental fruit fly on an unripe mango. Credit: Busani Bafana/IPS

“The good news is that, for almost every context and situation, there are management tools, governance options and targeted actions that really work,” co-chair of the Assessment chair Anibal Pauchard said, noting that prevention was the best and most cost-effective option in addition to eradication, containment, and control of invasive alien species.

Commenting on the report, Inger Andersen, Executive Director United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), said humanity has been moving species around the world for centuries, but when imported species run rampant and unbalance local ecosystems, indigenous biodiversity suffers.

“As a result, invasive species have become one of the five horsemen of the biodiversity apocalypse that is riding down harder and faster upon the world,” Andersen said in a statement, adding, “While the other four horsemen – changing land- and sea use, over-exploitation, climate change and pollution – are relatively well understood, knowledge gaps remain around invasive species.

Impacts on society of alien species. Credit: IPBES

Fighting the Aliens

In Zimbabwe, farmers have taken the fight to the alien invasive species.

“We learnt about the fruit fly that was attacking our mangoes, and we were trained on how to control it from ruining our fruit,” said Nyadome, who is one of 1200 smallholder farmers in the Murehwa District who was trained in Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices four years ago. IPM involves the use of various pest management practices which are friendly to humans, animals, and the environment.

Local people in Chile fight forest fires where a mix of invasive alien species, including shrubs and trees, increase fire intensity and extent. Credit: Guillermo Roberto Salgado Sanchez

The International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE), based in Nairobi, Kenya, together with various donor agencies and partners, developed an IPM package to manage the invasive fruit fly, which has been promoted under the Alien Invasive Fruit Fly project, a multi-stakeholder initiative under The Cultivate Africa’s Future Fund (CultiAF) by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR).

ICIPE developed bio-based holistic solutions to address the fly problem in East and Southern Africa, such as the male-annihilation technique, which involves mass trapping the male fruit flies using attractants combined with insecticide and the use of “bait stations” — small plastic containers that hold food bait for fruit flies which has an insecticide that kills the flies.

“There is a 100 per cent loss in fruit yields when the fruit fly is not controlled, but we have seen that for those farmers who consistently used the IPM package, the fruit fly damage has been reduced, and farmers in most cases have had mango fruit yields of up to 70 per cent,”  said Shepard Ndlela, an Entomologist with ICIPE and Project manager of the Invasive Fruit Fly project.

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• IPBES’ Third Season of Hit Podcast ‘Nature Insights – Speed Dating with the Future’ Takes Listeners Inside Humanity’s Relationship With Nature

By Bibbi Abruzzini
CARTAGENA, Colombia, Sep 4 2023 (IPS)

In the midst of a complex web of crises, spanning climate change, biodiversity depletion, constraints on civic space and mounting debt burdens, civil society organizations and human rights defenders from over 50 countries have united their voices to call for immediate and impactful action from Public Development Banks (PDBs).

The global coalition’s message is clear: when it comes to financing for development, principles of rights, justice, sustainability, transparency, accountability and dignity for all cannot remain mere slogans. They must form the core of all projects undertaken by all Public Development Banks.

The Finance in Common Summit has become a pivotal platform for Public Development Banks from around the world. The fact that this year’s summit is taking place in Cartagena, Colombia, the deadliest country in the world in 2022 for human rights, envrionmental and indigenous activists, development banks must acknowledge and integrate the protection of human rights into their projects.

“Development banks are advocating to play an even bigger role in the global economy. But are they truly fit for this purpose? Unfortunately, the stories of communities around the world show us that development banks are failing to address the root causes of the very problems they claim to solve. We need to hold them accountable for this,” says Ivahanna Larrosa, Regional Coordinator for Latin America at the Coalition for Human Rights in Development.

“When PDB projects cause harm to people and the environment, PDBs must remedy these harms. All PDBs should implement an effective accountability mechanism to address concerns with projects and should commit to preventing and fully remediating any harm to communities,” adds Stephanie Amoako, Senior Policy Associate at Accountability Counsel.

The ongoing crises demand a transformation in the quality of financing and a power shift to include the voices of communities. The existing financial architecture not only impedes governments’ ability to safeguard both their citizens and the environment but also contributes to the escalating issue of chronic indebtedness. Policy-based lending and conditionalities enforced by International Financial Institutions have steered countries toward privatization of essential services, reduced social spending and preferential treatment for the private sector. This burdens the population with higher taxes, inflation, and weakened social safety nets.

“The same multinational companies that have polluted and violated human rights in Latin America are now obtaining financing from development banks for energy transition projects. Another example is the development of the green hydrogen industry in Chile, which carries a very high environmental and social risk,” says Maia Seeger, director of the Chilean civil society organization Sustentarse.

Addressing these issues requires a comprehensive and sustainable transformation of the financial architecture as well as holistic reforms and synergies with civil society and communities. Environmental and neo-colonial debts need to be a thing of the past and equitable reforms the thing of the present.

Global civil society, in response to these challenges, demands bold and decisive actions in a collective declaration signed by over 100 organisations. The demands are the result of a 4-year process in which a coalition of civil society organisations has come together to call on all PDBs at the Finance in Common Summit to embrace tangible actions that genuinely prioritize and protect people.

Just last month we have seen that change is possible when communities are involved, as the people of Ecuador voted to ban oil drilling in one of the most biodiverse places on the planet, the Yasuní National Park in the Amazon rainforest.

“The global financial system needs not just a rethink but a surgical operation, and that requires bold action. Governments and institutions such as the Public Development Banks must cancel the debt of the countries that require it and put in place concrete and immediate measures to put an end to public financing of fossil fuels, to have financing based on subsidies so as not to fall into the debt trap once again. It is time for the rich countries, the biggest polluters and creditors, to offer real solutions to the multiple crises we are currently experiencing,” says Gaïa Febvre, International Policy Coordinator at Réseau Action climat France.

“Public and Multilateral Development Banks must divest from funding false climate solutions and projects that harm forests, biodiversity and communities. Instead, they should redirect finance to support gender just, rights based and ecosystems approaches that contribute to transformative changes leading to real solutions that address climate change, loss of biodiversity and create sustainable livelihoods for Indigenous Peoples, women in all their diversities and local communities. Public funds must support community governed agroecological practices, small scale farming and traditional animal rearing practices instead of large scale agri-business which perpetuates highly polluting and emitting industrial agriculture and unsustainable livestock production, the root cause for deforestation and food insecurity,” adds Souparna Lahiri, Senior Climate and Biodiversity Policy Advisor at the Global Forest Coalition (GFC).

The call to action emphasizes that achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), effective climate action aligned with the Paris Agreement and successful implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework require Public Development Banks to pivot from a top-down profit-driven approach to one that prioritizes community-led involvement and human rights-based approaches.

“It is important that civil society participation be strengthened at the Finance in Common Summit (FICS). In previous years, civil society has been sidelined. Clearly, there is still some room for improvement for civil society participation to become truly meaningful. The lack of civil society representative on the opening panel this year is just one example of that. PDBs should promote and support an enabling environment for civil society and systematically incorporate civic space, human rights and gender analysis. This year, we are working towards ensuring that civil society voices, including those from communities are heard at the FICS. In collaboration with the FICS Secretariat, Forus seeks to establish a formal mechanism between civil society and PDBs and to ensure that civil society is recognised as an official engagement group,” says Marianne Buenaventura Goldman, Project Coordinator, Finance for Development at the global civil society network Forus.

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Fifteen countries have now qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations, but a handful of places can still be claimed.

By External Source
Sep 4 2023 (IPS-Partners)

 
Youth offer a powerful voice in ECW’s global movement to ensure crisis-impacted children worldwide are offered the safety, hope and opportunity of a quality education. As a global multilateral fund, ECW offers a rare opportunity for youth to participate in its governance structure. In this sweeping two-part interview, ECW connects with Mutesi Hadijah and Hector Ulloa who were recently elected to represent the youth constituency on ECW’s High-Level Steering Group and Executive Committee, respectively.

Meet Mutesi Hadijah

Mutesi Hadijah fights for students, youth, women and refugees in Uganda. Currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Communication at Makerere University, Hadijah uses media advocacy to uplift and empower girls facing child marriage, promote refugee rights, and mobilise solidarity for impacted communities. Through bold appearances on TV, Hadijah has contributed to highlighting the challenges faced by refugees in Uganda, using news media as a tool to advocate for their education and integration. Despite facing strong resistance to her continued advocacy for girls’ education, Hadijah continues to fight for girls’ and women’s rights through the Gender Advocacy Working Group at the All-Africa Students Union (AASU). As the current Vice President of the Uganda National Students Association (UNSA), she also mobilises public support for pressing issues, such as showing solidarity with students affected by tragedies.

Hadijah now represents global students and youth as part of the Education Cannot Wait High-Level Steering Group. Guided by values of empowerment and social justice, she believes that equitable access to free, public quality education will empower individuals to break the cycle of poverty, overcome systemic barriers, and pave the way for a more inclusive and prosperous society for all.

ECW: Congratulations! Why did you want to be a youth representative within ECW’s Governance structure, and what do you hope to achieve in your new role on ECW’s High-Level Steering Group (HLSG)?

Hadijah: As a youth and student representative within and outside of ECW’s governance structure, my primary motivation stems from a deep belief in the transformative power of education. I’ve witnessed firsthand the challenges young people face, especially in regions grappling with emergencies, insurgencies and refugee resettlements.

As the Global Student Forum’s representative to the ECW High-Level Steering Group, my goal is to advocate for access to free quality education that transcends crises and empowers young people to overcome adversity. By amplifying youth voices, advocating for inclusivity, promoting innovation and influencing policy, I hope to contribute to ECW’s mission of ensuring that education truly will not have to wait for those who need it the most.

In particular, I hope to ensure that the perspectives of young people affected by emergencies and conflicts are heard and integrated into decision-making at both global platforms like ECW and national governments. This advocacy is critical for pushing policies that prioritise education in crises and lead to increased funding, improved strategies and long-term commitments.

As a student and youth representative, I believe it’s important to stay connected with the student and youth community and to ensure that their voices are heard.

ECW: What does education mean to you personally, as a girl growing up in Uganda, one of the world’s top refugee-hosting countries, which is also impacted by climate crisis? How can we realise the #222MilionDreams of the more than 222 million children and adolescents impacted by armed conflicts, forced displacement, climate-induced disasters and protracted crises who urgently need education support?

Hadijah: I realised early in life what role education could play in changing my story. I wanted to be different, I wanted to be in a position where I could help bring change. And I knew the only way was through education. In Uganda, a country hosting a significant refugee population and grappling with climate-induced challenges, education becomes even more vital. For refugees and those affected by crises, education is not just about textbooks; it’s about ensuring children and youth can dream about anything they want to be and supporting them with needed skills to rebuild their lives.

To realise the objectives of the #222MillionDreams campaign, we must champion a global solidarity fund to support education initiatives in vulnerable areas. We must advocate for policies that prioritise education in emergencies, pushing governments and international institutions to commit resources. I strongly believe technology can help us reach the unreached and close the gaps hindering access to quality education. We saw how technology was used during the onslaught of COVID-19. In the same vein, we can leverage its power to serve marginalised communities, particularly during crises. Refugees can be supported to help themselves and their communities if they are taught practical skills through technical and vocational education and training.

ECW: What can you tell us about ECW’s youth constituency and the network of civil society organisations that you represent? How will you help ensure that the voices of crisis-affected children and youth from the Global South are represented around education and SDG4?

Hadijah: The ECW student- and youth-led subgroup is one of four independent groups within the civil society constituency of ECW’s governance structure. Since forming in 2020, we have already grown to 130+ youth- and student-led member organisations in over 40 countries, including global student unions like ours to national networks of youth activists and refugee-led groups operating in settlements across the world. We organise ourselves democratically, collaborating as a global team to input the youth and student perspective in ECW decision-making, nationally champion the importance of education during crises, and many of us also deliver education in emergencies projects at the grassroots level.

The youth constituency is the first time a global fund has created a formal role for young people from crisis-affected contexts to directly shape policies and solutions based on their experiences and insights. With the majority of our members from the Global South, especially Africa, my main aim is to ensure underrepresented voices, like mine, have meaningful ways to be heard at the highest level of decision-making. We hold regular calls ahead of ECW ExCom and HLSG meetings, share accessible consultation forms on key topics and communicate via WhatsApp for urgent responses.

Q: Our readers often say, “readers are leaders.” Which books have most influenced you, and why would you recommend them to others?

Hadijah: Here are my top three books that have greatly influenced my life. My first would be The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. I learned the value of resilience and an understanding that in life’s journey, the challenges we face should not be seen as a setback but rather as part of the process of getting to one’s destination. The second is The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg. Through this book, I have learned strategies to take advantage of the power of habits for my personal development. And lastly, my best of the best is The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. One of the habits that resonated deeply with me is “Sharpen the Saw,” which emphasises the importance of continuous self-improvement. I wholeheartedly recommend these books as they’ve been instrumental in shaping my perspectives and offer valuable insights for anyone seeking personal and professional growth.

Meet Hector Ulloa

Hector Ulloa is originally from Honduras and has a background in student leadership and human rights. His activism in the education field led him to become the first foreign president of the Norwegian Students’ and Academics’ International Assistance Fund (SAIH), a Steering Committee Member at the Global Student Forum (GSF), and the Youth Representative of ECW’s Executive Committee.

Ulloa studied law, was deputy leader of the National Law Students’ Association and spokesman for the Honduran student movement. In Norway, he completed a master’s degree in Public Administration at the University of Bergen through the Students at Risk Scholarship – a human rights protection mechanism for persecuted student activists. Currently, he works as Policy Advisor at Skatteforsk – Centre for Tax Research and serves as board member of Debt Justice Norway (SLUG).

ECW: Congratulations! Why did you want to be a youth representative within ECW’s governance structure, and what do you hope to achieve in your new role on ECW’s Executive Committee?

Ulloa: Through my time as a youth activist and student representative I have experienced firsthand the challenges of meaningful youth involvement in decision making. Having received the trust to represent the youth and student-led sub-group means a lot to me because it gives me the opportunity to further consolidate the good representation practices that these youth-led organizations stand for and also keep on showing the added value of involving youth at the highest levels of governance.
Additionally, through the Global Student Forum and the Norwegian Students’ and Academics’ International Assistance Fund, I also got the opportunity to work more closely on topics related to refugee education, financing of education, and education in crisis and conflicts. So my hope is to keep on learning through this experience while amplifying the voices of all the young people I am now working with.

ECW: What does education mean to you personally, in light of your own journey from growing up in Honduras to moving to Norway to pursue your university studies? How can we help realize #222MillionDreams for the more than 222 million children and adolescents impacted by armed conflicts, forced displacement, climate-induced disasters and protracted crises, who urgently need education support?

Ulloa: As the son of two teachers, from an early age I came to understand how powerful education is. For me, education is the best tool we have to change our societies and achieve a more equal and fair world. The biggest change required to realize the dream of the millions of children and adolescents impacted by emergencies and protracted crises is to keep on pushing governments to recognize education as a long-term investment and not as a disposable expenditure.

Increased domestic resource mobilization is needed if we are serious about reaching all these children. ECW is making a huge contribution in those places where the most acute and timely financing is needed but we must also remind education advocates and politicians that, in the long run, structural changes to how we finance education are required. This means that everyone in society needs to contribute their fair share in order to strengthen public education systems and make them equitable and resilient.

ECW: How can youth inspire stronger political commitment and financial contributions to ECW and to the education in emergencies and protracted crises (#EiEPC) sector from government donors, private sector, foundations and high-net-worth individuals?

Ulloa: Youth needs to keep on mobilizing at the national, regional and global level by organizing themselves and participating even more in public discussions. The advocacy power and innovativeness of young people shouldn’t be underestimated.
In the spaces where youth is already included, representativeness is important to make sure that those further away from the decision-making spaces are also heard through the voices and actions of those they trust. And in the places where youth is not included yet, young people should not be shy with their demands, demand a stake in decision making and ensure that no decisions are being made about them, without them.

ECW: Our readers know that “readers are leaders.” What are books that have most influenced you, and why would you recommend them to others?

Ulloa: As someone that has worked with activism for many years, motivating people and facilitating impactful advocacy has been one of the most important tasks in my day-to-day life. There are two books that I have found insightful, the first one is Creativity Inc. by Amy Wallace and Edwin Catmull – a good book to learn more about inspiring others, taking risks and pushing your limits. The second one is New Power by Henry Timms and Jeremy Heimans, a book that gives very useful insights into how organizations and people have different ways of exerting power in order to bring about change. The book challenges the reader to be versatile and understand, and master, both the old and new ways of power.

 

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General Brice Nguema, who toppled long-time leader Ali Bongo, officially becomes Gabon's interim leader.

Officials say the group ignored alerts after straying from Moroccan waters, but a survivor disputes this.

A view of an artificial installed at Mon Choisy Beach to combat soil erosion and create resilience. The installation will break up the waves before they reach the shore and will also act as a habitat for fish. Credit: Reuben Pillay/Climate Visuals Countdown

By Ameenah Gurib-Fakim
PORT LOUIS, Sep 4 2023 (IPS)

The Africa Climate Summit 2023 is expected to start with renewed hope. In its 60+ years of post-independence history, Africa has contributed around 3% of Green House Emissions, accounts for approximately 2.6% of global trade, and less than 3% of the world’s GDP in 2021.

Home to 1.4 billion people with a median age of 16, the continent continues to suffer from stalling multilateral trade negotiations, and the ‘death of the Doha round’ has given rise to unprecedented forms of protectionism, unilateralism, a lack of political leadership to embrace and nurture multilateralism. Unfair competition, unilateral partitioning of Africa into Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs), and skewed intellectual property rights have resulted in an international trade system that disproportionately favours wealthy economies.

Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, President of the Republic of Mauritius (2015-2018)

The emerging trade-climate change measures will only further restrict Africa’s participation in global trade markets. So, to tackle the looming climate crisis, the question is as follows: Should Africa still depend on the ‘generosity’ of the global north? Their inability to meet the $100 billion pledge reveals their moral reluctance to acknowledge developed countries’ contribution to climate change.

Yet to transition to a greener future, Africa must access affordable public and private funding, coupled with debt relief. These shifts are central to building capacity for sustained transformative growth and resilience in the face of climate challenges.

Developed countries have resisted fundamental reforms to support the developing world with the climate emergency. Innovative global development finance ecosystems are needed to unlock equitable international financing flows while preserving the fiscal sovereignty of developing countries to pursue development pathways unique to their circumstances and realities.

Africa’s position is constrained by a lack of affordable, reliable, and sufficient finance, juxtaposed with a debt crisis compounded by climate challenges. Rather than allocating increased funds to adaptation efforts, the majority of it gets directed towards mitigation which benefits financiers and lenders and thus depriving countries of a voice.

Africa’s economy is vulnerable, especially post-pandemic. The external debt has exceeded $1 trillion in 2021. It detracts from African governments’ ability to sustain meaningful socio-economic gains. Those with a pessimistic view of Africa tend to label the debt issue as an African problem disconnected from the exploitative policies of developed nations, but the true concern lies with the developed nations. They possess significant privileges to issue global reserve currencies leading to highly imbal­anced distribution of international liquidity, as well as exorbitant interest rates and capital outflows driven by the monetary policies of affluent economies.

So, whenever faced with liquidity constraints, Africa has no choice but to turn to the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) to boost foreign exchange reserves. In the international arena, climate financing is becoming more commercial than concessional.

The USA is hindering the recapitalisation of the World Bank for geopolitical considerations with the unfortunate outcome of deepening structural gaps and costly financing for Africa. Thus, Africa is compelled to seek loans from commercial entities with the high cost of borrowing impeding investments.

The issuance and recycling of SDRs issued by the IMF as a means for enhancing available climate finance is drawing global attention. IMF’s re-channelling of idle SDR should be used to help developing countries with much-needed finance.

The Bridgetown Initiative encapsulates many such proposals, including the restoration of debt sus­tainability; long-term debt restructuring with low interest rates; increase in official sector-development lending; mobilise more in green private sector investment; reform the trade system to support global green and just transformations.

African countries are paying an unnecessary premium on their cost of capital and not attracting sufficient foreign direct investment (FDI), especially in innovative areas and for global public goods. Africa’s fiscal and tax architecture suffers from vulnerabilities, while the global tax system is still built on historic power asymmetries.

Developed countries largely devised international rules that resonate with their own economic interests. Furthermore, the application of Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) strategies, the digital economy, and climate-related measures, such as the European Union’s (EU) Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), undermine multilateral approaches and affect the fiscal sovereignty of African economies.

Voluntary carbon markets, including the Africa Carbon Markets Initiative, Sovereign wealth funds could unlock much-needed finance for undervalued assets and services. Africa’s own development banks, the partnership and investment proposed by the BRICS/New Development Bank, and the private sector are also essential sources of long-term financing, and tapping into them could enable Africa’s self-directed growth.

There is a globally recognised need to shift, unlock, scale, and mobilise new forms of ‘fit for purpose’ finance to deliver on climate agreements and sus­tainable development goals. The priority of priorities for African countries is affordable, predictable, accessible finance at scale.

Finally, in building a financial infrastructure that is relevant for all, African countries should not be passive receptors of international reforms and debates.

They must have the authority to lead in the direction they choose; they must have that voice and, more importantly, the collective interests at local, regional as well as at the international level.

It is only then that Africa will be compensated for the harm that it did not commit!

Note: Ameenah Gurib-Fakim is the former President of the Republic of Mauritius (2015-2018)

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Excerpt:

Ameenah Gurib-Fakim argues that Innovative global development finance ecosystems are needed to unlock equitable international financing flows while preserving the fiscal sovereignty of developing countries to pursue development pathways unique to their circumstances and realities.
 

The General Assembly: where the debates take place. Credit: OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY

By Prisca Chaoui
UNITED NATIONS, Sep 4 2023 (IPS)

The 78th UN General Assembly (UNGA) session begins September 5. Below is an interview with the outgoing President of the 77th session, Csaba Kőrösi of Hungary.

Q: During a General Assembly session, there are many things an external observer doesn’t know about. What can you share about your behind-the-scenes experiences?

A: The General Assembly session starts with a “big bang” with the opening of the General Debate when Heads of State and Government meet at the Headquarters in New York for a marathon of meetings and discussions.

I think it might be surprising to learn that Member States are constantly in discussions and in negotiations. From the outside, it might seem that the General Assembly meets every few days for debates or to adopt a draft resolution, but in fact, ambassadors and diplomats are in meetings at the UN most days, formal and informal ones. There is always a buzz in the hallways, and many deals are decided outside the formal negotiations over coffee in the Delegates’ Lounge or the Vienna Café.

This session of the General Assembly has 181 agenda items. This means that the calendar is quite full. In addition, Member States take part in additional 16 so-called mandated processes during the session. What that “UN term” refers to is that there are 16 negotiations on important conferences or political declarations that UN Members discuss in parallel to the regular issues.

For example, this year, the first mandated process that was completed was about identifying the theme for the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and the High-level Political Forum (HLPF) for its session in 2024, and the set of Sustainable Development Goals to be reviewed at the HLPF in 2024.

Csaba Kőrösi, outgoing President of the General Assembly. Credit: OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY

The most recent process that was completed for the 77th session was the Intergovernmental Negotiations on Security Council Reform, where Member States agreed that the process would continue during the 78th session.

That process was led by Mr. Tareq M. A. M. Albanai, the Permanent Representative of the State of Kuwait, and Mr. Alexander Marschik, the Permanent Representative of Austria, who managed to get some agreements from Member States on the way forward to make the process more transparent and hopefully reach a substantive agreement in the future.

But to get to such an agreement, it takes a lot of negotiations with Member States, civil society organizations, the private sector, academia, and others, so that these processes are completed only after very extensive and thorough discussions.

In addition, I convened informal meetings on Friday mornings, where a small group of ambassadors would come together off the record and discuss tricky topics such as how to improve human rights situations on the ground.

So far, it might seem that all that occurs is talking, but there is so much more to work in the General Assembly. Talking is important, especially if those conversations are aimed at finding solutions that are based on solidarity, sustainability and science – my motto for the 77th session. Solutions that have a tangible impact for the people outside of the UN – for the 8 billion people whom we represent in here.

Q: The General Assembly is seen as the legislative arm of the UN with no execution authority. How do you think it could be made stronger?

A: The General Assembly is unique in that it is the chief deliberative, policy-making and representative organ of the United Nations. It is comprised of all 193 Member States and each Member State has an equal vote.

General Assembly resolutions represent the point of view of the majority of Member States, from which the General Assembly has mandated peacekeeping operations, fact-finding missions and humanitarian assistance in the past.

Under the “Uniting for Peace” resolution of 1950, the General Assembly may consider any matter related to peace and security, when the Security Council has failed to act owing to the veto of a permanent member – with some exceptions, of course.

But we see how this works in the case of the ongoing war in Ukraine. Since March 2022, the General Assembly has adopted six resolutions related to the war with a great majority; the Security Council none. This shows that the international community has a strong opinion about what should be done – and that is to put
an end to the violence in line with the UN Charter and international law.

We should aim to make the General Assembly relevant and stronger for 2023 and the future. How do we do this? Well, one of the 16 processes that we spoke about at the beginning is about the revitalization of the work of the General Assembly. The process is now completed for the session, successfully led by Mr. Mitch Fifield, the outgoing Permanent Representative of Australia, and Ms. Egriselda Aracely González López, the Permanent Representative of El Salvador.

The outcome is a draft resolution that – I hope – will be approved soon. The recommendations are wide reaching, ranging from working methods of the General Assembly, to the need to support gender representation.

Q: Why do you think the High-level segment of the General Assembly session is so important?

A: There are two things that stand out to me from my own experience as President of the General Assembly during the High-level segment in September 2023:

One is the eagerness with which world leaders resumed their in-person interaction at the Headquarters following years of the pandemic. They were enthusiastic to be back at UNGA in person, to speak at the General Assembly, to meet face to face. That enthusiasm underscores the importance of the United Nations as a platform for international diplomacy and multilateralism.

The UN is the most important international body with convening power to bring people together. Especially during a time of multiple crises, this institution is seen as more important than ever.

The second observation that I made was that while the United Nations is seen as more important than ever – it is also seen as needing reform. During global crises discussions, the need to revitalize the United Nations was the most prominent theme from the more than 190 formal speeches in the debate. In today’s world, any organization must adapt to changing conditions to stay relevant – the United Nations is no different.

I would imagine that this coming High-level segment of the General Assembly will be no different. I expect it will be well attended and there will be a large number of bilateral meetings, as world leaders seek to speak
with one another and discuss solutions.

The theme for the 78th high-level debate and the session was just announced by my successor, Ambassador Dennis Francis of Trinidad and Tobago as: “Rebuilding trust and reigniting global solidarity: Accelerating action on the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals towards peace, prosperity, progress and sustainability for all.”

This year is especially relevant because the SDG Summit will be held during the High-level Week on 18 and 19 September. This might be our last opportunity to get the Sustainable Development Goals back on track. I hope that actions presented at the summit help to lead us into a sustainable transformation.

Q: What is the relationship between the General Assembly and the Security Council, and how can it be strengthened?

A: The General Assembly and the Security Council are two parts of one whole – which is the United Nations. The General Assembly and the Security Council are complementary bodies meant to work together, and that is how I have tried to steer this 77th session of the GA.

You may also remember that the General Assembly now meets every time that there is a veto in the Security Council. This has strengthened the role of the Assembly on peace and security matter substantively.

As I’ve already mentioned, the IGN process on Security Council reform has concluded this session and will be picked up during the 78th session. There has been measurable progress, when you look at increased transparency, inclusivity and institutional memory. That’s thanks to the co-chairs – Ambassadors Albanai and Marschik. These changes are steps in the right direction. If Member States continue in this direction, then there will be reform.

Prisca Chaoui is Editor-in-chief of UN Today

Source: UN TODAY, the official magazine of international civil servants, Geneva

The link to the website: https://untoday.org/

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Rural women in El Salvador participate in a literacy class in the Santa Rosa canton of the municipality of Sensuntepeque, in the northern department of Cabañas. Education authorities in this Central American country have done very little to continue with programs that teach adults to read and write, especially in rural areas. CREDIT: Edgardo Ayala / IPS

By Edgardo Ayala
SENSUNTEPEQUE, El Salvador , Sep 4 2023 (IPS)

El Salvador’s efforts to improve the educational level in the country seem to be falling short, with rundown schools, especially in rural areas, and little progress in overcoming illiteracy.

In almost a decade, this Central American country of 6.7 million inhabitants has moved just two percentage points in its fight against illiteracy, going from 11.8 percent in 2013 to 9.7 percent in 2021, the last year with available official data.

Illiteracy is higher in rural areas: 15.2 percent. And among people over 60 years of age the rate is 45.7 percent"Sometimes I would go to the offices in the town of Ilobasco, and I felt bad when I saw signs with messages written on them and I couldn't understand the words." -- Carmen Molina

Literacy efforts in the freezer

Even more worrisome is the suspension in the last three years of the government’s adult literacy program in rural areas, people involved in this effort told IPS.

“It is worrying, the literacy program ceased to exist,” Verónica Majano, executive director of the non-governmental Association of Popular Education (CIAZO), told IPS.

Her organization has been working on literacy programs since 1989, during the country’s 1980-1992 civil war.

And now CIAZO is perhaps the only organization that still runs adult literacy programs in rural areas of the country.

Other institutions that carried out similar projects have given up because they say the education authorities have abandoned the national effort.

“It is not only stagnation, it is a setback; the COVID-19 pandemic affected initial, basic, middle and higher education, but right or wrong it has continued. But in literacy nothing is happening,” Majano stressed.

The cancellation or suspension of the government’s Literacy Program has become evident, she said, since Nayib Bukele became president in June 2019.

She added that the effort to teach reading and writing to those who did not have the opportunity to go to school, or who had to drop out for one reason or another, had previously continued regardless of which government was in power, left or right.

She was referring to the administrations of the right-wing Nationalist Republican Alliance, which governed for four terms between 1989 and 2009, and those of the leftist Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front, which was in power for two terms between 2009 and 2019.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has pointed out that acquiring and improving literacy skills throughout life is an intrinsic part of the right to education and brings enormous empowerment and many benefits.

“Literacy drives sustainable development, enables greater participation in the labor market, improves child and family health and nutrition, reduces poverty and expands life opportunities,” the UN agency states.

According to UNESCO, a country can be declared free of illiteracy if less than 3.9 percent of the total population over 15 years of age is illiterate.

It has also stated that illiteracy is another form of modern slavery.

However, it notes that despite the progress made worldwide, 763 million adults still do not know how to read and write.

 

The hands of an elderly woman fill in a primer with which she is learning to read and write. Most of the women who participate in the literacy circle in Santa Rosa canton, in northern El Salvador, are over 60 years old. But that has not discouraged them from continuing to learn, despite the fact that some have vision problems and getting their eyes examined and buying glasses involves a cost that many cannot afford. CREDIT: Edgardo Ayala / IPS

 

Academic Óscar Picardo told IPS that part of the problem in El Salvador is that, historically, the arrival of each new government has meant a change of strategy and vision on how to promote education in general and literacy programs in particular.

This has generated discontinuity with some of the achievements or progress made by the previous authorities, he said.

“The country and the Ministry of Education have had a recurring problem that is still present, which is the absence of state policies,” said Picardo, director of the Institute of Science, Technology and Innovation, of the private Francisco Gavidia University.

He added; “The education system works with government policies, and every five years the whole system is rebooted, the minister changes and plans change, priorities change, but the major problems remain intact.”

The expert pointed out that if progress is to be made in education, and in particular in reducing illiteracy, the problem of school dropouts, caused by poverty and the insecurity generated by gangs, must be tackled.

According to official figures, 1.3 million people aged four to 29 (47.4 percent) reported not attending school in 2022.

The poverty rate stands at 26.6 percent of the population, but in the countryside the figure rises to 29.6 percent.

Picardo stressed that the so-called “war against gangs” waged since the end of March 2021 by the Bukele administration, which has succeeded in largely dismantling the operations of these criminal groups, is likely to lower the dropout rates and this is already reflected in the figures for the next school year.

“Of course, if the dropout rates decrease due to improved security that would be very positive; hopefully we will see statistics in that regard,” Picardo said.

The “mano dura” or iron fist strategy against the gangs, known here as “maras”, although it has largely dismantled the criminal activity of these groups, has also generated a dynamic of human rights violations and abuses by police and military authority that have been denounced by local and international human rights organizations.

With an average schooling of only 7.2 grades, it will be difficult for the Salvadoran populace to pull out of poverty and for the country to find foreign investment that offers better paying jobs, said the expert.

In El Salvador there are three grades of initial education, up to seven years of age on average. These are followed by nine grades of basic education, up to the age of 15, and three more of middle school, up to the age of 18. Schooling is considered compulsory until the completion of basic education.

Most other Central American countries face a similar problem to El Salvador, Picardo added, although Costa Rica has always shown better development in the educational and social areas, in general, and is the only country in the sub-region declared free of illiteracy.

The Salvadoran government has made a commitment to reducing the technological gap, with the distribution of thousands of laptops to elementary and high school students, which is an important achievement.

But the Bukele administration has also been criticized for the low level of investment in improving the conditions of most of the more than 5,000 schools in the country, especially in rural areas, and in remedying the deficiencies in teaching.

Blanca Velazco, a schoolteacher, shared with IPS the difficulties she faces every day in teaching essential knowledge to her kindergarten and first grade students, who share the same classroom at the Santa Rosa canton school in the municipality of Sensuntepeque, in the northern Salvadoran department of Cabañas.

“My first graders should be reading better by now, but I’ve had a hard time teaching them, because they are together with the kindergarteners, and that shouldn’t be the case,” said Velazco, 47.

She added that at 10:30 AM the kindergarteners leave and she only has 45 minutes to teach the first graders Language Arts and Math.

“”Forty-five minutes are not enough,” she stressed. In the afternoon, she also teaches fourth grade.

 

Livestock and small-scale and subsistence agriculture are the main economic activities in the canton of Santa Rosa, in the jurisdiction of Sensuntepeque, in northern El Salvador. CREDIT: Edgardo Ayala / IPS

 

Winning the battle against illiteracy

In this canton, where some 50 families live, the Association of Popular Education, CIAZO, is organizing five literacy circles aimed at adults, mostly women, who want to win the fight against illiteracy.

Official figures reveal that of those who cannot read or write in El Salvador, 14.4 percent are women and 7.7 percent are men.

One of the literacy circles is made up of a dozen peasant women over the age of 60. Half of them were present when IPS visited the area on Aug. 28, and several of them are visually impaired due to their age, but they are not giving up.

“Sometimes I would go to the offices in the town of Ilobasco, and I felt bad when I saw signs with messages written on them and I couldn’t understand the words,” said Carmen Molina, 66, as she worked on a primer, writing words and solving simple addition and subtraction equations.

She said that as a child she attended school but only got as far as the second grade, and what little she learned was forgotten over the years.

“I didn’t want to go anymore,” she explained, because she had to take breakfast to her father and siblings to the milpa – the traditional agricultural system that intermingles corn with beans and vegetables. “And then coming all the way back to school was very hard,” she said.

She got up the courage to go to the literacy circle because some of her younger children would ask her what to write on their assignments.

“Some have a harder time learning than others, but in general they have advanced quite a bit, little by little,” said Flor Echeverría, 30, who has been teaching in the circle since the beginning of 2023.

Echeverría commented that she herself only studied up to the eighth grade and did not want to finish ninth grade, the last grade offered at the school she attended.

“At that time the facilities to go to school didn’t exist, everything was even more complicated,” she said.

“It’s nice to dedicate time to share knowledge with people who did not learn to read or write,” she said.

Although some men participate in the literary circle, such as Julio, Carmen’s son, the vast majority are women who have come to understand that learning to read and write is in itself an act of rebellion and also of liberation.

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