Africa

Mavic Cabrera-Balleza, CEO of the Global Network of Women Peacebuilders, speaking at the 19th Anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 in New York, NY. Credit: Katrina Leclerc/GNWP

By Maria Victoria (Mavic) Cabrera Balleza
NEW YORK, Mar 5 2021 (IPS)

This year’s International Women’s Day theme is “Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world.” The theme celebrates the tremendous efforts by women and girls around the world in shaping a more equal future, including an equitable recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

From our work at the Global Network of Women Peacebuilders, we know that local women peacebuilders are the first responders in this pandemic. They distribute food packs, face masks, hygiene and sexual health products to internally displaced people, refugees, indigenous communities and other groups that often lack access to aid provided by governments and international organizations.

They work with mental health experts to provide online counseling to women who are victims of, or at risk of gender-based violence. They disseminate factual information on how to prevent the spread of the virus. They speak on local radio to counter fake news about the pandemic.

Local women peacebuilders were out on the frontlines at the outset of the pandemic, even as governments did not yet know what to do, or were paralyzed by their own politicking and heavy bureaucracy.

Today, almost a year after COVID-19 was officially declared a pandemic, they remain on the frontlines: advocating for strengthening of health care systems, dismantling institutional inequalities, addressing the long-term impacts of the crisis on livelihoods and peace in their countries and communities, and promoting sustainable recovery.

The success of women-led governments such as Finland, Germany, New Zealand, and Taiwan in managing the pandemic presents yet additional evidence that women’s leadership makes a positive difference.

Despite this, the norm remains that women are not the leaders and decision-makers. Only 24.7 per cent of the world’s health ministers are women even though they make up 70 per cent of health care workers. At the sub-national and local levels, women are often excluded in COVID-19 Task Forces.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (SG) has stated “the #COVID19 response has highlighted the power of women’s leadership. Yet women remain marginalized from many decision-making spaces. We need to act now to ensure women have an equal voice in our response to the pandemic and other crises facing our world.”

Members of GNWP’s Young Women+ Leaders for Peace – Philippines distributing COVID-19 relief packages to local community members in Marawi, Philippines. Credit: YWL-Phillippines/GNWP

Signs of hope in the Security Council, but much remains to be done

As civil society, we join the SG in demanding Member States to institute measures to support women’s leadership!

There are some hopeful developments and opportunities that could be seized. The election of Ireland, Mexico and Norway as non-permanent members of the Security Council can provide a much-needed boost to the calls for women’s leadership.

All of these countries have demonstrated global leadership on women’s rights and gender equality as well as the women, peace and security agenda. Mexico takes pride in its adoption of a feminist foreign policy.

It co-chairs the Informal Expert Group on Women, Peace and Security with Ireland, and is a co-host of the Generation Equality Forum, a civil society–centered global convening for gender equality wherein one of the outcomes is the Action Coalition on Feminist movements and leadership. France, a permanent member of the Security Council, is the other co-host of the Generation Equality Forum, and one of four countries that have adopted feminist foreign or international development policies.

The other two are Canada and Sweden. It should however be noted that there does remain a disconnect between these countries’ aspirations and leadership on the global arena and the actual state of women’s rights.

The confirmation of Linda Thomas-Greenfield as the new US Ambassador to the UN is another key development. With the US having elected the first woman Vice President and other female leaders appointed to key positions in the Biden administration, women’s influence in US Foreign Policy looks to be changing for the better.

It is also important to mention that there are now five women Permanent Representatives to the Security Council namely, Ireland (Geraldine Byrne Nason), Norway (Mona Juul), St. Vincent and the Grenadines (Inga Rhonda King), United Kingdom (Barbara Woodward) and Thomas-Greenfield. Probably the biggest number of women taking up seats in the Security Council in the recent years—if not ever.

A few questions beg to be asked. How can these handful of countries influence the rest of the world and make women’s leadership a priority? How can the UN be the model of women’s leadership when, 76 years since its founding, there has still never been a woman Secretary-General?

Local Women and Youth Peacebuilders Demand to Participate in the Afghan Peace Process. Credit: GNWP

Security Council members need to unite behind the call for a woman SG and remove the gap between what is stipulated in the Women and Peace and Security resolutions and leadership in the UN.

All Member States should seriously pay attention to the letter sent by Ambassador Mary Elizabeth Flores Flake of Honduras on 03 February 2021 urging her fellow diplomats “to look genuinely at your commitments to the United Nations and present women candidates…”

It is also high time to demonstrate that the most important action that male leaders can take to support women’s leadership is to step back, and share power. This will require men to sacrifice their personal ambitions and set their egos aside for the bigger goal of achieving gender equality and a better world for all.

Electing a woman SG is much more than a symbolic gesture. It is about the UN leading by example which is crucial to its credibility. It is also about fulfilling the promise to nominate candidates for appointment to senior posts in the UN made by 189 Member States during the UN Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995 in Beijing.

Civil society groups such as Equality Now have been advocating for a woman SG. While the next opportunity to elect a woman to the highest position in the UN is still five years away, our advocacy should NOT stop.

Our advocacy should start from the capitals of the 193 Member States and continue through the Permanent Missions in New York. Women’s rights organizations from around the world should demand their governments to nominate and elect a woman as the next SG. And who are the “right” women for this role?

I think we can agree on this set of qualifications: feminist values, strong connectedness with and appreciation of civil society, excellent leadership track record, managerial abilities, extensive experience in international relations, and outstanding diplomatic skills.

From the looks of it, Antonio Guterres is already a shoo-in for a second term. China and the United Kingdom, two permanent members of the Security Council have already expressed their support to the incumbent SG.

For now, and throughout his second term, women’s rights activists need to have discussions with SG Guterres to seek his assurance that he will do everything in his power to pave the way for a woman SG, and integrate feminist values in the work of the UN.

As the UN calls on Member States to ensure women’s leadership at all levels, it needs to practice what it preaches. Echoing SG Guterres, “the #COVID19 response has highlighted the power of women’s leadership.” The world needs women at the decision-making table in order to build back better and equal.

The author is Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Global Network of Women Peacebuilders. She also serves as a consultant to UN Women.

 

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The post International Women’s Day, 2021
Fight Against Pandemic Requires Women at the Highest Leadership in Governments & in the UN appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

The following opinion piece is part of series to mark the upcoming International Women’s Day, March 8.

The post International Women’s Day, 2021
Fight Against Pandemic Requires Women at the Highest Leadership in Governments & in the UN appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Protest for women's rights in Kathmandu, Nepal. Credit: Sanjog Manandhar

By Bibbi Abruzzini, Pénélope Hubert and Yohan Cambet
PARIS, Mar 5 2021 (IPS)

Today, despite centuries of activism and mobilisations, women and non-binary people continue to remain disadvantaged in almost every sphere – from “public life” to the “shadow pandemic” of gender-based violence.

In light of COVID-19, some struggles have been considered in theory, but most continue to be ignored in practice. How can we dismantle the “gender lies” perpetuating in the 21st century? How do we start taking into account the diverse experiences of women, without excluding black and indigenous voices on the basis of power and privilege?

Afghanistan, Nepal, Bolivia, Mexico and Uganda: five activists tell us how they transform the ways their communities think and act around gender.

Afghanistan: rap music to save child brides

Sonita Alizadeh, is a survivor of two attempts at forced marriage, and now a rapper and activist fighting for the liberation of women against forced marriage. Born in Herat, Afghanistan, under the Taliban regime, she grew up in Iran, as a refugee with her family. At 10 years old, she narrowly escaped a forced marriage. Her family again tried to sell her when she was sixteen, she escaped. Afghanistan has the 20th highest number of women married before the age of 18 in the world, with 28% of Afghan girls married off as minors, according to Girls Not Brides.

“My mother was a child bride, and she did not meet her husband until their wedding day. By marrying me off at a young age, she was simply repeating the cycle. This tradition makes me want to raise awareness of this harmful issue with the help of millions of others around the world through my music,” says Sonita in an interview with Forus.

Witnessing her friends swiftly disappearing as they were forced to marry, Sonita wrote the song “Daughters for Sale”, which kick-started her work as a human rights activists and rapper.

“Music touches people in a way words cannot – it is deeper and more emotional. People listen to music and young people pay attention to the lyrics. Music can be a powerful way to hear important messages. That is why I always rap about things that need to change in the world, or ideas that young people need to hear, to dream big.”

Today, Sonita uses her tracks and success to give young girls self-confidence. She sings to tell: “Hold this hope in your heads and your hearts. Hold this hope for the future. Never give up.”

Nepal: Fighting “period poverty”.

As 2020 drew to a close, protesters across South Asia took to the streets and to social media, calling on their governments to end the perpetuating cycle of widespread sexual violence against women and children.

In Nepal, hundreds of activists returned to the streets after a 17-year-old girl was raped and strangled to death. Some protesters wore black over their eyes to symbolize public authorities closing their eyes to sexual violence. Activists say that although the country’s constitution guarantees equal rights to women, there is a clear disjunction between theory and practice.

“How do we make sure that there is no gap between law and social progress?” asks Jesselina Rana, a human rights lawyer, co-founder with engineer Shubhangi Rana of Pad2Go, a social enterprise focusing on menstrual health and the taboos surrounding it.

It is estimated that around 83 percent of menstruating individuals face some form of restriction or exclusion during their menstrual cycle in Nepal.

“From a very young age, menstruating individuals are made to believe that their menstrual cycle makes them impure, and it can only be talked about behind closed doors,” Jesselina explains.

With Pad2Go, Jesselina distributed over 80 sanitary napkin vending machines across Nepal. She collaborates with pad manufacturers, to provide pads at less than market rate in order to ensure affordability. She also organises discussions with both men and women to normalise conversations around menstruations.

“Nepal being a patriarchal society, men engagement is crucial to overcome social issues faced by women. Socially we need to get men into those spaces of conversation, at a young age, to make sure that everyone is part of the discussion to end the toxic cycle of gender discrimination.”

Protest in Mexico. Credit: Melanie Isahmar Torres Melo

Bolivia, Mexico: “Ni Una Menos”

Cradled in the “machismo culture”, Bolivia has one of the highest domestic violence rates against women in South America. The annual average of 110 femicides in the past 7 years persists, despite a 2013 law establishing measures to prevent and prosecute gender-based violence.

During the Covid-19 crisis, the economic consequences of the pandemic disproportionately affected Bolivian women. Government restrictions reduced access to food, aid programs did not adequately address the needs of communities, increasing their vulnerability and insecurity.

During the lockdown the slogan “Stay at Home” was widely promoted across Bolivia, yet for many women and girls victims of violence, that actually meant a very dangerous “Cállate en casa” (shut up at home), explains Iris Baptista from Red Unitas, a platform funded in 1976 that reunites 22 NGOs in Bolivia.

“Red Unitas created the campaign “SIN VIOLENCIA ES MEJOR” (Better Without Violence), to raise awareness of the fact that women are doing most of the work during the pandemic, to fulfil their role as mothers, wives and workers, yet they continue to face violence at home,” Iris explains.

But, violence against women and femicides are not just common in Bolivia—they are prevalent throughout the region. Global data is difficult to gather due to differences in reporting standards, however, the 2016 report, “A Gendered Analysis of Violent Deaths” founds that fourteen of the twenty-five countries with the highest femicide rates are Latin American.

Defined as “a pandemic within the pandemic”, gender-based violence has spiked since COVID-19 broke out. Writer Lynn Marie Stephen believes that laws and initiatives to protect women, “fail to indict the broader systems that perpetuate these problems, like social, racial, and economic inequalities, family relationships and social mores”.

“It’s not that there was less violence against women in the past, it’s just that it wasn’t made as visible as it is today,” says Melanie Isahmar Torres Melo, a photojournalist covering women issues in Puebla, Mexico.

Every day, 10 women are killed in Mexico. The number of femicides has increased by 137% in the past five years and reached its highest monthly rates in 2020. Despite this number, only 5% of all crimes committed in Mexico are punished. This dichotomy between numbers is often the result of a “single crime” vision, rather than a sociological phenomenon, linked to the idea of patriarchy and sexism.

“Most perpetuators are never caught; this has triggered ‘social anger’ around the issue of feminicides in Mexico. There is no respect for victims, they are blamed for being killed. New movements are rising led by different collectives and civil society organisations. People are taking to the streets and shouting “Ni Una Menos” no woman should be killed,” says Mela.

Uganda – creating an enabling environment for civil society

“I was arrested and shamed for leaked nudes”, model and activist Judith Heard explains. When nude pictures of her were published without her consent in 2018, she was widely criticized and was arrested under the Anti-Pornography Act. Her situation is far from unique, a survey conducted in 2016 found that 50% of Ugandan women aged between 15 and 49 has experienced violence by an intimate partner. As a result, in February 2019, Heard launched Day One Global, an advocacy organisation that seeks to curb sexual harassment and rape.

From Marion Kirabo who led a women’s protest against rising tuition fees, to Rosebell Kagumire, editor of the African Feminism digital platform opening “discussion and dialogue on feminist issues throughout the continent”, activists and “gender advocates” in Uganda, are creating innovative forms of “transnational feminism” both online and offline.

Yet, a recent report by Forus International, shows that only 1% of gender equality funding is going to women’s organizations worldwide, and that promoters of gender equality need increased protection. Even more worryingly, attacks on women organisations and civil society more generally, have been reinforced by the current COVID-19 crisis.

Overall, organizations that engage in monitoring the state’s conduct and advocate for human rights, anti-corruption, accountability, and democratic governance are experiencing growing obstacles. One of the most recent examples is the Uganda Communications Commission Guidelines for everyone posting content online, including bloggers and online news platforms, which aims to control people’s freedom of speech.

“While the Ugandan government welcomes the social services many civil society organizations provide, at the same time it feels threatened by the possibility of political mobilization and empowerment of the population that come with self-organized practices; needless to say, such threats to the government’s grip on power yield conflicts between the state and civil society actors,” according to the Uganda National NGO Forum, an umbrella organization with more than 650 member NGOs across the country.

#MarchWithUs

Despite the considerable progress, more than half of the world’s girls and women—as many as 2.1 billion people—live in countries that are not on track to reach key gender equality-related targets by 2030.

However, a new survey from Focus 2030 and Women Deliver, covering 17 countries on six continents—reveals that citizens are eager for sustained and strengthened political and financial investments to accelerate progress towards gender equality. In particular, the global public supports the need for women to play a role in all aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic response, with 82% of survey respondents on average saying they believe women should be involved in the response at all levels.

To build a recovery plan and a roadmap for the future, a gender lens must be applied. With the digital campaign #MarchWithUs, Forus is taking a full month to reflect on the voices of women and non-binary activists who are on the frontline of social change. It is time to act to turn “gender lies” into gender promises.

The authors are members of Forus Communication team.

 

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The post International Women’s Day, 2021
#MarchWithUs: 5 Activists on Dismantling “Gender Lies” appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

The following opinion piece is part of series to mark the upcoming International Women’s Day, March 8.

The post International Women’s Day, 2021
#MarchWithUs: 5 Activists on Dismantling “Gender Lies” appeared first on Inter Press Service.

The following opinion piece is part of series to mark the upcoming International Women’s Day, March 8.

By Heike Kuhn
BONN, Mar 5 2021 (IPS)

Every year on March 8, the International Women’s Day is commemorated. What do women think about this famous anniversary, first honored 1911 in European countries? As I cannot speak for other women, I share with you my personal reflections on this special day, bringing in a developmental perspective.

Dr. Heike Kuhn

Working in development, I have always been astonished that half of the world’s population, girls and women, are being described as a vulnerable group. Just imagine: out of about 7.8 billion people living around the globe, 3.9 billion are female. In many countries, women are guaranteed equal rights for decades by law, but the reality is different – why is that?

Women face many obstacles in their cycle of life, starting when a baby is born; in some remote areas girls do not get a birth certificate, a document anchoring fundamental rights. Coming to education, a girl is often confronted with a situation that an investment in her education seems less interesting to their parents than investing in the education of her brothers, because she will marry, look after the household and care for children or the elders of the family. Unfortunately, this kind of attitude is still prevailing in many places worldwide.

If girls are attending school in a so-called underdeveloped country, they could be confronted with missing sanitary equipment, which is of utmost importance for them, once they start menstruating and needing a safe and hygienic place. Under COVID-19, the situation has worsened, as schools were closed and remote learning is not possible without the devices or even electricity. Many girls are expected not to return to their books, becoming child laborers or brides or giving birth to several children at an early age.

But even once education is completed with a diploma or even a Ph.D., their chances on the labor market are less favorable than the men’s chances. Even when discrimination is legally forbidden, young women face job interviews in their twenties or early thirties and have to learn that employers are reluctant to hire them because they could get pregnant soon, preferring a male candidate.

However, if a young woman got the job by showing her talents, when she chooses parenthood and needs to work part-time due to the care required for her child, her career opportunities may end quite soon without flexibility.

As a childless woman she may still face the same situation where her male colleagues get promoted and earn much higher wages than she does. For years, she had seen that those men at the top preferred to remain within their traditional networks when it came to meetings, festivities, leisure time – a glass ceiling so hard to overcome if you cannot enter the places men attend.

And where are we now, 2021 AD – what did the world achieve to this date with this attitude still dominating our societies? My personal opinion: first of all we did miss so many talents by not unleashing the potential of girls and women. Terrifyingly, that we have been doing this for centuries!

But there is hope: 40 years after declaring March 8 as International Women’s Day in 1975, the UN adopted the Resolution on “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” in 2015.

Nowadays, a stand-alone goal calls all of us to “achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls” (SDG 5), asking i.a. for ending all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere, eliminate harmful practices such as child marriage and FGM, recognize and value unpaid care and domestic work and ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life by 2030.

Evidence is calling for a different attitude: The social, economic, political and cultural achievements of women are recognized in many fields, so the struggle for equality should come to an end and women’s human rights – the same as men’s by the way – are to be respected everywhere.

On economics, there is strong evidence that societies boost when barriers to women’s economic activities are lifted.

Regarding peace negotiations, we have evidence that peace will last longer if women are among those negotiating the content of the peace talks.

Just reflect on climate change: it was Greta Thunberg, a young Swedish girl, asking the right questions and confronting leaders with scientific data, summoning them to walk the talk.

Finally, in the ongoing COVID-19 crisis we have seen testimonies of the huge share in combatting the pandemics – women working as medical doctors, nurses, teachers, looking after children and elders at home or just finding the vaccine as Professor Özlem Türeci from Biontech here in Germany did.

In conclusion: We can do better ! Together all of us, everywhere, could come to more inclusive decisions, striving for global gender equality. Girls and women must participate when decisions are being made. Recovering from COVID-19 more equally therefore it is a great chance. It is up to us letting this promise in humanity start !

The author is Head of Division 413, Education, BMZ, Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, Federal Republic of Germany

 

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The post International Women’s Day, 2021
Celebrating International Women’s Day on March 8, 2021 AD – What are We Waiting For? appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

The following opinion piece is part of series to mark the upcoming International Women’s Day, March 8.

The post International Women’s Day, 2021
Celebrating International Women’s Day on March 8, 2021 AD – What are We Waiting For? appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Mary Robinson

By Mary Robinson
DUBLIN, Mar 5 2021 (IPS)

International Women’s Day is always an occasion to celebrate strong women and an important day in the global calendar to highlight the gender injustices still lingering in every part of the world.

In 2021, our celebrations will be bittersweet as we reflect on the sacrifices and hardships women have endured amid the pandemic, but I hope it will also spur us forward to ensure women and girls shape a more equal future as the world recovers from COVID-19.

The past 12 months have seen new barriers emerge to gender equality linked to the pandemic, in addition to the pre-existing social and systemic discrimination. Across the world, women are facing increased domestic violence, unpaid care duties, unemployment and poverty.

Women stand at the frontlines of the COVID-19 crisis and the jobs which have been revealed to be essential during the pandemic — from health and social care to low-paid services — are predominantly held by women.

While most of the world has implemented considerable restrictions of movement and emergency powers affecting daily life, authoritarian regimes in particular have exploited the public health crisis as an excuse to continue and even step up patterns of political repression and oppression, with women in the firing line.

One such country is Zimbabwe, where emergency powers prompted by the pandemic have been used to oppress legitimate political gatherings and protests. In 2019, I visited Zimbabwe with my fellow Elder Graça Machel, where we met with extraordinary women from all parts of society who described their pains and struggles, but also their hope of a better society. On this International Women’s Day, I reaffirm my solidarity with their struggle for rights and justice and applaud their determination to build a better future for their children.

Across the world, I have been inspired by young women activists and leaders describing themselves as “intersectional environmentalists”, who work across traditional silos to advance women’s rights and climate justice. I share their view that these goals cannot be separated from wider struggles to end other forms of discrimination, exclusion and injustice including racism, sectarianism and prejudice based on sexuality and gender.

The pandemic has indeed shone an unflattering light on global inequalities and exposed the intersectionality between gender, poverty and age.

I often think back to the impassioned speech in 2019 by the American climate activist Jamie Margolin. Jamie was only 17 years old when she testified at Capitol Hill about the climate crisis and climate injustices. She made headlines by interrupting when she felt her voice was not being listened to with the urgency and seriousness that the situation demanded. Her anger was justified, and sits in the context of decades if not centuries of women’s frustrations at being told to stay quiet when men are speaking.

Women’s voices must be heard in the debates on the global recovery from COVID-19. When women and youth come together, they can renew a country. It is absolutely crucial that they are present in a meaningful way and given a seat at the table at the COP26 climate summit later this year.

It is our responsibility as global leaders to include the crucial voices of women, youth and marginalised groups and countries. If the pandemic has taught us anything, it is that we are inextricably interconnected.

We have seen how countries led by women have often fared better in the pandemic and demonstrated their skills and ability to effectively guide their countries in times of crisis. Yet, women are (elected) heads of state and government in only 20 countries worldwide.

We must follow the example of Finland’s Sanna Marin, New Zealand’s Jacinda Arden and Germany’s Angela Markel and demonstrate impactful feminist leadership, starting at COP26 and across the next decade in order to fully achieve the promise of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

I am also delighted that the World Trade Organization has just elected Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as its new Director-General – the first woman, and the first African, to lead the WTO in its history. I know she will be a powerful voice for equality, justice and inclusion in the critical debates ahead.

Despite the myriad of intertangled injustices that have been building up for centuries, I see many reasons to stay hopeful.

Gender inequality is not an issue that sits on its own and International Women’s Day inspires me to fight for a post-pandemic world free from all injustices, instead of going back to our old ways before COVID-19 struck.

While many of us still cannot see our children and grandchildren amid the virus, I urge you to envision and act powerfully for a safe future for them as well as for those yet to come.

I know that I stand alongside legions of women fighting for justice, be it physically or virtually, and that we all stand alert and ready to build a safe, just future for us all.

Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland, Chair, The Elders

 

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The post International Women’s Day, 2021
Women’s Leadership Must Drive the Global Recovery from COVID-19 appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

The following opinion piece is part of series to mark the upcoming International Women’s Day, March 8.

The post International Women’s Day, 2021
Women’s Leadership Must Drive the Global Recovery from COVID-19 appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Souadou Niang used to clean hotel rooms but she rose through the ranks and now owns her own hotel in Senegal.

Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO

By Audrey Azoulay and Katrín Jakobsdóttir
PARIS and REYKJAVIK, Mar 5 2021 (IPS)

International Women’s Day pays tribute to the achievements of women worldwide and reminds us what still needs to be done for full gender equality. In 2021, we are taking stock of the many ways in which COVID-19 has disproportionately affected women and girls around the world.

The pandemic has created a new landscape. Although women have played a key role in responding to the crisis, gender inequalities have widened across the board. In education, 767 million women and girls were impacted by school closures. Eleven million may never return to class, joining the 132 million already out of school before the crisis struck. From the economic perspective, the recession is pushing 47 million more women and girls into poverty, destroying their economic independence and making them more vulnerable to gender-based discrimination and violence.

As we look at this landscape, we have to ask ourselves: if gender equality is our goal, what kind of leadership will the world need moving forward?

It is not enough to just count the number of women in the highest positions of power. No single person at the top of the pyramid can repair the damage being done to the progress that has been made in gender equality since the world adopted the Beijing Declaration on women’s rights 25 years ago.

What we need are leaders for gender equality – and we need them everywhere in our societal structures. Leaders of all ages, all gender identities and from all backgrounds. These leaders are not just agents of change, but designers of change. They lead through their example and engagement. They expose injustices and unequal opportunities. They know that gender inequalities stem from discrimination and exclusion and that it is only by lifting these barriers that real change can happen. This is feminist leadership.

Katrín Jakobsdóttir, Prime Minister of Iceland

Feminist leaders tackle power structures. They name and deconstruct all forms of exclusion and marginalization. They empathize with the vulnerable and voiceless, and champion their causes. They open new doors and take risks, courageously blowing the whistle on hidden injustice, and unmasking structural barriers perpetuating inequalities. They are all around us. Be it the activist defending an indigenous community, the schoolgirl mobilizing her generation to save the climate, or the poet raising her voice to promote social justice.

Feminist leaders have the courage to create, report, educate, experiment. Think about Azata Soro, actress, film director and producer who broke her silence on sexual harassment and violence in the African film industry. Think about Maria Ressa, risking jail for her brave investigative journalism. Think about Yande Banda, a tireless advocate for girls’ education in Zambia and beyond. Think about Katalin Karikó, who overcame the many challenges faced by women in science and was instrumental in developing the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine. As stories like these become known, they challenge people’s intimate convictions of what is achievable and by whom. These women are, in all their diversity, feminist leaders.

However, feminist leadership is not the prerogative of women alone. Gender equality isn’t just a women’s fight, it’s a fight for social justice. Men also need to be involved in the construction of a fairer society. Many of them are showing the way. The Congolese gynecologist, Dr Denis Mukwege, won a Nobel Peace Prize for his advocacy to stop rape from being used as a ‘strategy of war’. And there are many others like him, all over the world.

On this International Women’s Day, we stand committed to building future generations of feminist leaders through education. We support women who dare to create and do what is necessary to prevent them from censorship and attacks. We call on the international community to ensure the safety of women journalists who address gender inequalities through their reporting. We also stand side by side with men who dare to care and reject toxic masculinities and behaviours and open up spaces for women to influence decision-making or participate in scientific discovery and innovation.

Let us support these feminist leaders, from all walks of life. Let us take action so that women can affirm their leadership and be powerful role models for generations to come. Because gender equality not only serves to advance the cause of women – a fairer society benefits us all.

Audrey Azoulay is Director-General of UNESCO and Katrín Jakobsdóttir is Prime Minister of Iceland.

 

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The post International Women’s Day, 2021
The World Not Only Needs Women Leaders – It Needs Feminist Leaders appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

The following opinion piece is part of series to mark the upcoming International Women’s Day, March 8.

The post International Women’s Day, 2021
The World Not Only Needs Women Leaders – It Needs Feminist Leaders appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Tea pickers allege they have suffered severe health problems due to conditions on farms run by James Finlay Kenya Ltd.

The post Hundreds of Wells Alleviate Water Shortages in Venezuelan Capital appeared first on Inter Press Service.

A girl who was kidnapped alongside 278 students speaks to the BBC about her ordeal.

An unknown number remain at large after escaping a breeding farm in Western Cape province.

Temba Bavuma becomes the first black African to permanently captain a South Africa side after being appointed their limited-overs skipper.

The Food Waste Index Report 2021 by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) said most of the global waste comes from households. Credit: Catherine Wilson/IPS

By Samira Sadeque
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 4 2021 (IPS)

Twenty percent of all food bought by households, retailers, restaurants and other food services in 54 countries around the world was thrown away in 2019 — contributing to some 931 million tonnes of food waste and feeding climate change.

This is according to the Food Waste Index Report 2021 which was launched today, Mar. 7, by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in collaboration with UK charity WRAP, which works in the areas of food waste prevention, plastics, sustainable textiles and clothing, resource efficiency and recycling. Research was conducted across 54 countries and the methodology for measuring food waste included citing research done on the ground in each country.

According to the report, most of the global waste comes from households — which throw away about 11 percent of the food available for consumption. Some of the most notable waste occurs in South Africa, Kenya and China.

The data for Kenya was more consistent than other countries between the two years the research was chosen from: 2010 and 2019. It found that higher-income households wasted significantly more food than middle and lower-income households.

In 2010, for every 78 kgs per capita that was wasted in Kenya’s low-income households, high-income households wasted 151 kgs per capita. In 2019, the low-income group wasted 40 kgs per capita whereas the high-income group wasted 125 kgs per capita. It shows that while low-income households recorded an almost 50 percent drop in food waste between 2010 and 2019, high-income households recorded a mere 17 percent drop.

South Africa appears to have the most comprehensive data over a period of six years, though it shows varying numbers. A 2016 report shows nationwide waste of 134 kgs per capita, whereas a 2017 report documenting only three regions shows 18 kgs per capita.

“South Africa has substantial domestic income inequality, which may contribute to varied results based on the socioeconomic profile of participants included or excluded in each study,” reads a part of the report. “The experience here encourages caution against putting too much weight on a single data point, as other countries may experience such variation with more studies conducted.

In China, a 2020 study showed throughout urban China there was a waste of 150 kgs per capita. At the same time, a 2015 study shows nationwide waste was at 23 kgs per capita.

The report points out a major limitation in the research methodology: the lack of accurate data points. While this is not the case only for China, the discrepancy between these two numbers: 23 kgs to 150 kgs is “striking,” the report notes.

The major limitation with data was acknowledged in the report, and authors reiterated the importance of having access to more data points in order to make a comprehensive conclusion in the future.

The report states that data on food waste from households, food service and retail sectors is much less available in low-income and, in some cases, lower middle-income countries. For these cases, the data was generated by garnering estimates from nearby countries where the data was available.

Dr. Richard Swannell, director of WRAP, told IPS this discrepancy exists because of resources and prioritising — or a lack thereof.

“Robust measurements of food waste require research funding, which may be more forthcoming in developed countries,” he said. “In countries where waste collection systems are less formalised, and more waste is treated at home, by informal recycling systems etc. there may be additional barriers to accurate measurement.”

The other concern is on what governments prioritise.

“It has often been assumed that in developing countries, food resources are being lost during the first half of the supply chain — such as at the farm level, processing and transportation,” Swannell said.

He added that this aspect could fall under the category of food losses as part of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Target 12.3, which calls for halving food waste at retail and consumer levels as a means to achieve the SDGs. Thus, research may be prioritised in these areas, said Swannell.

“What the Food Waste Index shows is that the amount of household food waste per capita is broadly similar across high-income and middle-income countries,” he added. “In nearly every country that has measured household food waste, it was substantial, regardless of the income level of that country. This suggests that consumer food waste has been previously underestimated, and as a result potentially under-prioritised.”

Meanwhile, he expressed concern that while there was a drop in food waste during the pandemic in the UK, food waste figures could increase again.  

“Being confined to our homes has resulted in an increase in behaviours such as batch cooking and meal planning, which help tackle food waste,” he told IPS, citing WRAP’s research on the UK’s eating patterns during the lockdown. “As a result people are saying they waste a lot less food during lockdown.”

There are also concerns about the impact of food waste on climate change.

Reduction of food waste directly serves the interest of climate protection, said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP.

“Reducing food waste would cut greenhouse gas emissions, slow the destruction of nature through land conversion and pollution, enhance the availability of food and thus reduce hunger and save money at a time of global recession,” she said.

Swannell said few people were aware of this link.

“Public awareness of the impact food waste has on climate change is less common than other environmental factors,” he told IPS.

He cited WRAP research, specifically on the UK population, that showed while 81 percent of the population are concerned about the climate crisis, only a third of the people are aware of a clear link between climate change and food waste.

 

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The post How Households Increased Food Waste is Feeding Climate Change appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Parents of girls released by kidnappers had thrown stones at officials during the reunion ceremony.

RKC Waalwijk's Said Bakari says "it's magical" that the Comoros are on the verge of qualifying for a first ever Africa Cup of Nations finals.

Nteranya Sanginga in the field. Credit: IITA

By Nteranya Sanginga
IBADAN, Nigeria, Mar 4 2021 (IPS)

Africa’s population will double by 2050 if growth rates continue their trajectory, but the creation of jobs is not keeping pace, with up to five times more young people seeking employment each year as there are new posts to fill. And, on top of this, the COVID pandemic is plunging Africa into its first recession in 25 years.

But once again agriculture is demonstrating its crucial importance in times of crisis. A recent World Bank survey of five African countries showed that more people are turning to agriculture because of the economic impacts of the pandemic: “There is evidence that the agriculture sector is serving as a buffer for low-income households in the region, similar to the role it played during the 2008 global economic crisis.”

In Ethiopia for example, 41% of households that received income from agriculture in the last 12 months reported a loss of income. But 85% of households experienced income loss from non-farm family business and 63% reported a decrease in remittances.

With a larger population relying on agriculture both for food security and as a source of livelihood, women and youth will play a particularly critical role in the development of farming in sub-Saharan Africa where 40% to 60% of all employed women work in agriculture.

With shifting demographics, it is important that we examine the role women and youth play in ensuring food security in sub-Saharan Africa and understand how these dynamics are changing and pinpoint the old and new challenges faced by women.

A recent study supported by the non-profit International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) found that among final year university students in north-west Nigeria, young women are just as likely to express the intention to engage in agriculture after graduation as men. The World Bank estimates, however, that currently women account for about 37% of agricultural output in Nigeria. Increased investments in boosting the position of women in agriculture could significantly benefit productivity.

CGIAR, a global partnership embracing numerous organizations engaged in food systems transformation, arguesthat attention should not rest on inflated estimates of how much food women ‘produce’, but rather on “recognition that removing barriers that limit women’s potential could have the double benefit of raising incomes of women farmers and making more food available for all”.

The barriers to a higher agricultural output cannot be attributed to a single cause. Terri Raney, editor of FAO’s The State of Food and Agriculture report, writes: “Women farmers typically achieve lower yields than men, not because they are less skilled, but because they operate smaller farms and use fewer inputs like fertilizers, improved seeds and tools.”

A 2018 World Bank report detailed gender gaps in property ownership in sub-Saharan Africa. One of its key points wasthat women are less likely to own land or housing than men.

More barriers are being raised to women’s involvement in agriculture however as, under pressure from global food security issues, governments in sub-Saharan Africa are leasing large tracts of land to foreign countries and companies. OXFAM, in a report on land-grabbing, stresses that this often comes to the detriment of rural women: “As soon as a natural resource gains commercial value on the international commodity market, control and decisions over that resource pass swiftly from rural women into the hands of men.”

While accepting that sub-Saharan Africa needs investments in agriculture, attention must be paid to how rural workers, especially women, may not benefit from these deals.

IITA has launched 80 research fellowships for young African scholars, with a specific emphasis on young female professionals and students, through a project funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).Enhancing Capacity to Apply Research Evidence (CARE) is aimed at the development of effective agribusiness policies that engender success for young people in sub-Saharan Africa.

IFAD is increasingly focusing its resources on young people as a priority, as successful rural transformation hinges on their inclusion in the process.

IITA’s youth programs such as the IITA Youth Agripreneurs(IYA), Empowering Novel Agri-Business-Led Employment (ENABLE Youth),Young Africa Works, and Start Them Early Program (STEP) are focused on encouraging the participation and engagement of young school children and youth in agribusiness. Investing in the future of Africa’s younger generation emphasizes the importance of raising the ambition of primary and secondary school students to guarantee a food- and nutrition-secure continent. This would also be important in developing young female leaders in agriculture and how their acquired leadership skills will enable them to help lead the COVID-19 response and recovery efforts.

IITA and partner organizations such as the African Development Bank, Mastercard Foundation, IFAD, and Oyo State Government, believe that poverty, hunger, and malnutrition in Africa cannot be addressed without putting into consideration the constraints faced by women and youngfarmers who in most communities provide most of the agricultural labor on the family farm and process food for markets as well as family consumption. Those constraints are a focal part of the research supported by IITA through its CARE project.

In Cameroon, Djomo Choumbou Raoul Fani examined thecontributions and competitiveness of young female farmers, and his recommendations include changes to land tenure systems, price controls and credit systems.

Oluwaseun Oginni’s research found that 43% of young people migrating to urban areas from the countryside in Nigeria are female, with their main reasons cited as the search for “a better future, educational opportunities and marriage”.

Cynthia Mkong analyzed the motivations of students choosing agriculture as their university major in Cameroon where female unemployment is double that of men. Mkong recommends focusing on policies that improve the education of girls and increase the household income at all levels. These changes are likely to reverse declining youth interest in agriculture.

IITA’s CARE project is enabling women to bring different experiences, perspectives and skills to the table that can contribute to decisions, policies and laws that work better for all. Their lead role is now ever more critical in COVID-19 response and recovery efforts.

As we mark International Women’s Day on March 8, IITA is committed to fostering a greater involvement of women so that IITA can play a more significant role in research and in the world. Women are the leaders and builders we need.

The author is Director General, IITA

 

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The post International Women’s Day, 2021
Removing Barriers to Women’s Leading Role in African Agriculture appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

The following opinion piece is part of series to mark the upcoming International Women’s Day March 8.

The post International Women’s Day, 2021
Removing Barriers to Women’s Leading Role in African Agriculture appeared first on Inter Press Service.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres gets vaccinated against COVID-19 at Adlai Stevenson High School in the Bronx, New York last week. Credit: UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

By Ian Richards
GENEVA, Mar 4 2021 (IPS)

The United Nations is using the digital government technology behind vaccine passports to help developing countries provide essential services to their vulnerable populations.

After a year of Zoom meetings and with vaccinations slowly rolling out, international travel is making a come-back.

The demand is there, even as the virus lingers. Many, especially from developing countries, need to get to work and send remittances home, families need to catch up, countries are getting ready to welcome back tourists and business deals need to be struck.

For this reason, governments are taking a close look at the digital vaccine passport, the post-pandemic equivalent of the yellow fever certificate that could offer the possibility of side-stepping costly PCR tests and quarantine requirements.

The World Health Organization has cautioned against moving too quickly, noting “there are still critical unknowns regarding the efficacy of vaccination in reducing transmission”. Dividing society between haves and have-nots also raises ethical concerns and fears of digital creep.

Despite this, the US, EU, UK and Israel, among others, have announced plans to study the feasibility of vaccine passports that could be carried on a smartphone, while the International Air Transport Association, the World Economic Forum and IBM have versions that are ready to roll out.

The idea behind making vaccine passports digital is both to prevent fraud, given reports of fake PCR tests, and connect to existing online booking, check-in and immigration systems.

On getting vaccinated you upload a digital vaccination certificate to your phone. At check-in or immigration, you scan a QR code, then scan your face to authorise, and the phone shares your vaccination status and linked passport details using an encrypted system that also verifies the validity of the certificate against a register on what is called the blockchain.

However, all other personal information, including for facial recognition, stays on your phone. This is different to mobile boarding passes, which are not secure, nor intended to be, and from which anyone who catches a glimpse of the bar code can extract information.

The technology is not new. The UN’s trade agency, UNCTAD, is using a similar digital identity system to help the Iraqi government handle business licenses, Estonia operates it in many public agencies, and the UN’s pension fund has it to ensure that its retirees are still alive and can continue to be paid.

However, while Covid has helped change many habits, digital documents, even with more basic technology, remain an exception in developing countries, although, as we have seen, the benefits are significant.

Ian Richards

For example, when Benin moved its business registration online as the pandemic hit in 2020, using UNCTAD’s eregistrations smartphone platform, creation of small businesses, resulting in digital certificates of incorporation, increased 43 percent on the year before. A third of new entrepreneurs were women with half under thirty.

In Lesotho, the One-Stop Business Facilitation Centre went online and noted a sharp reduction in missing fee payments. Civil servants also spent less time carrying files between ministries and more time advising the public.

In Beijing, couples now use self-service kiosks to get married in five minutes (although divorces still need to be done the old-fashioned way).

And El Salvador used an online system to administer Covid relief money. Over half of applicants were women. Indeed, online services help overcome cultural norms, security considerations and family commitments that would otherwise discourage women from going to the capital city, where government offices are most often located, to spend days in long queues.

Online government services that deliver digital documents also provide an opportunity to simplify unnecessarily complicated procedures. As a result, Benin is now the fastest place in the world to start a business.

The use of digital documents can also allow licenses and permits to be delivered automatically, without human intervention, such as in British Columbia.

The evidence shows that digital public services are popular. Yet broader adoption remains stymied by a reluctance in many public administrations to move away from paper, fearful of whether technologies can be trusted or unsure of how to implement them.

Here’s where the digital vaccine passport comes in.

As vaccinations roll out, but with immigration authorities talking of making the document mandatory, travellers will want their vaccination to be recognized digitally; their governments will likely accede.

Once governments cross this line, it isn’t hard to see the use of digital government documents, and the simplification that comes with them, becoming matter-of-fact across developing country public administrations– whether for creating companies, paying taxes, buying land or accessing social security.

And with major players having been involved in the development of the vaccine passport, there will be plenty of computer code, lying around in places like Github, to borrow from.

The biggest beneficiaries, as demonstrated in the few countries that have moved online, are those traditionally left behind: women, young people and those living far from their capital city.

They are the ones who stand to gain even more as vaccine passports help make digital government more commonplace and acceptable across the developing world.

The author is an economist at the UN working on digital government applications.

 

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The following opinion piece is part of series to mark the upcoming International Women’s Day March 8.

By Kathleen Sherwin
NEW YORK, Mar 4 2021 (IPS)

In 2020, progress on gender equality stalled or regressed in many countries in large part because of the far-reaching impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a recent analysis, by 2021, around 435 million girls and women will be living on less than $1.90 a day, including 47 million pushed into poverty as a result of the pandemic. Global lockdowns contributed to a surge of gender-based violence worldwide, and estimates show that sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), the bedrock of gender equality, have been severely disrupted, resulting in an additional 49 million women at risk of experiencing an unmet need for modern contraception. Our most pressing global issues have seldom been so daunting, and fault lines in existing social, political, and economic systems have never been so deep.

Kathleen Sherwin

Fortunately, the evidence-based solutions we need to lay the groundwork for a future that delivers for all, including for girls, women, and underrepresented populations1 , are in plain sight. As a global community, by using gender equality as our shared North Star, we can set in motion actions that help us not only recover, but come out on the other side of our most pressing global challenges stronger. Achieving gender equality, with a focus on girls’ and women’s health and rights, must be central to the actions we take in response to COVID-19, and other deeply entrenched barriers to progress, such as climate change.

On this International Women’s Day, we’re calling on governments, the private sector, and civil society leaders to firmly position gender equality as our collective roadmap for coordinated action on COVID-19 and sustainable development. As essential first steps, together, we must prioritize collecting and using disaggregated data, securing the full and effective participation of girls and women in all aspects of decision-making, and investing more in gender equality. Sustainable progress toward a world that works for everyone depends on it.

Decision-makers must collect and use disaggregated data to set equitable action in motion.

Girls and women are too often invisible to decision-makers because data and knowledge about them is either incomplete or missing. To create policies that advance gender equality by addressing the disproportionate impacts of global challenges on girls, women, and underrepresented populations, we first need to invest in disaggregated data to get a full, intersectional picture of the uneven impacts of global issues.

In August 2020, in partnership with Focus 2030, we set out to do just that, conducting a first-of-its-kind multi-national survey — in 17 countries, representing half of the world’s population — to better understand the impacts of COVID-19 on girls and women, and global public opinion and expectations for policymaking on gender equality. We learned that girls and women are shouldering the worst of the pandemic’s impact: across 13 of 17 countries surveyed, women report experiencing greater emotional stress and mental health challenges than men, and taking on an even greater share of household tasks.

Girls and women must be fully and effectively engaged in charting our shared path forward.

Building a sustainable future for all requires the full participation — and potential — of girls and women in all aspects of our international and domestic response to global issues, and the realization of that potential depends on their health and rights. In fact, we now know that 82% of citizens globally believe women must be involved in all aspects of COVID-19 global health response and recovery efforts.

Crucially, we must engage today’s youth, who will ultimately bear the consequences of our action — or inaction — and who have the highest expectations for more government funding for gender equality. 75% of female respondents aged 18-24 expect their government to spend more on gender equality, and over 94% of young men and women are ready to take personal action to make sure that they do.

Gender equality is what citizens want, and it’s what the world needs to build a healthier future for all.

The resounding call for action on gender equality, matched by robust funding and accountability mechanisms, holds across countries surveyed for men and women, young and old alike. Over 80% of citizens globally want their government to invest more to promote gender equality, and are ready to act — from the way they vote, to the products they buy — to make sure that this happens. The resounding majority of citizens also believe that increasing access to SRHR is a top priority for immediate government action.

As governments, the private sector, and civil society leaders come together on International Women’s Day, and during upcoming global fora including the 65th session of the Commission on the Status of Women and the Generation Equality Forum to discuss how to transform words into action that improves the health of all people and the planet, ensuring that gender equality is our shared roadmap for responding to global challenges is crucial to sustainable progress now and in years to come. It’s what citizens want, and it’s what the world needs to build a healthier, more gender-equal future.

1 People of underrepresented sexual orientation, gender identity, and/or expressions, and sex characteristics (SOGIESC), and those who experience multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination and oppression.

The author is Interim President & CEO, Women Deliver

 

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The post International Women’s Day, 2021
Gender Equality is The Roadmap We Need to Overcome Our Most Pressing Global Challenges appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

The following opinion piece is part of series to mark the upcoming International Women’s Day March 8.

The post International Women’s Day, 2021
Gender Equality is The Roadmap We Need to Overcome Our Most Pressing Global Challenges appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Fishermen on Lake Victoria in Kenya have begun using some of Africa’s first electric fishing boats.

Credit: Unsplash /Melanie Wasser.

By Kate Chappell
KINGSTON, Jamaica, Mar 3 2021 (IPS)

Marcela Loaiza was just 21 years old when a man approached her at her workplace in Pereira City, Colombia with promises of fame and money. The well-dressed, mysterious Colombian said he could give her an opportunity for a better life. Loaiza was also working at a supermarket to support herself and her three-and-a-half-year-old daughter.

“He said he want to help me to become an international dancer, that he would take me to another country to sing,” Loaiza told IPS News from her Las Vegas home.

At first, she declined, but the economy worsened and she lost her job at the supermarket. Her daughter was also hospitalized with asthma. She was desperate, so she accepted the offer. The man immediately paid the medical bills, got her a passport and bought her a plane ticket.

“I was happy for the opportunity, and I created my own fantasy that I’m going to be famous and rich and provide money for my family, but I was also sad cause I have to leave my family,” she said.

Loaiza took the long journey to Tokyo, Japan, and upon arrival, a pleasant Colombian woman welcomed her. But her passport was taken and Loaiza noticed the way the woman looked her up and down, appraising her from head to toe. She was taken somewhere to sleep, and the next day, the nightmare began.

“She just completely turned into a monster.” Loaiza was forced to dye her hair, wear contacts, and was told she would be a prostitute. If she wanted to leave, she would have to pay them $50,000. “I start to cry, I was losing my mind.” Loaiza told the woman she would call the police, and the woman responded with a threat to daughter’s life. Loaiza later found out that she had been watched- they knew everything about her life- her family members, where they lived, and everyone’s routines.

For the next 18 months, Loaiza worked as a prostitute with 30 other women. She doesn’t share details of the horrors she experienced, only saying it was sexual exploitation. She had paid off her “debt” to what she calls the mafia, but was still afraid to leave. Finally, hope emerged when a customer reached out. He told her she needed to escape, and bought her a wig, a map to the Colombian embassy and gave her some cash. Loaiza made her way to the Embassy, where officials housed her for a week, helping her to prepare to leave Japan.

Back in Colombia, Loaiza filed a report with the police, but it was futile.

Authorities didn’t believe that Loaiza didn’t know beforehand that she would become a prostitute.

Six months later, she went to the police station to check on her case. “I still felt scared. They told me they never had that case. These people are more powerful than anyone,” she said, referring to the mafia she believes is behind what happened to her.

Loaiza knows now she was a victim of human trafficking, but at the time, she had no concept of what it was.

Indeed, it is a nebulous concept that shifts rapidly to stay ahead of authorities and adapt to demand. The United Nations describes it as “the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs.”

It also includes sex work, sex labouring, pornography, entertainment (exotic dancing, etc.), domestic labour, agricultural/construction/ mining labour, factory labour, food service industry, begging, as well as commercial fishing.

Ana Margarita Gonzalez, senior attorney with Women’s Link, a non-profit organization that works to advance human rights for women and girls, says there are several reasons trafficking has not been eradicated. “It is a complex crime,” she says, explaining that there are failures at the public policy level. “One problem is that usually victims of human trafficking are not identified as such.” A lack of training amongst officials, as well as a lack of focus on trafficking as a crime itself are also problematic.

It is estimated by the United Nations that there are about 50,000 people who have been trafficked, but these are only people who have been in contact with authorities, so the number is likely much higher. The International Labour Organization reports that at any given time in 2016, there were 40.3 million people in modern slavery, a term used interchangeably with human trafficking. Of that, 25 million were in forced labour (with 4.8 million of those in sexually exploitative situations), and 15 million in forced marriages.

In the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region, exact figures are not know, but it remains an ideal location for traffickers, according to an academic paper by Dr. Mauricia John. The reasons include vast, varied, porous and coastal borders; the prevalence of tourism and migration, which makes monitoring movement difficult; and high rates of crime and violence combined with sparse resources. The most vulnerable citizens include those in poverty, unemployed, members of an indigenous group, illiteracy, drug and alcohol abuse, homelessness, a history of physical or sexual abuse and gang membership, as well as LGBTQIA people, according to a 2016 U.S. government report.

In Trinidad and Tobago, Adrian Alexander runs the Caribbean Umbrella Body for Restorative Behaviour (CURB), a non-profit group that fights human trafficking, among other activities. He says that a report showed there were 16 victims identified between 2016 and 2018, but in actuality, there are probably 100 additional victims for every one identified. He says the problem is pervasive for several reasons: “Vulnerabilities still exist. The demand is there, and the impunity with which traffickers can operate is still there. It is high-profit and low risk and the people will engage in the activity, basic humanity is lacking in a lot of the individuals who are doing this work,” Alexander says.

The United States’ State Department ranks countries on three tiers according to compliance to human trafficking prevention methods. In the LAC, Cuba is the only country ranked at Tier 3, which means it is the least compliant. At least a dozen other countries are ranked at Tier 2 as of 2020, while a handful remain on a watch list. Only Argentina, Chile, the Bahamas and Colombia are ranked Tier 1 countries in terms of compliance. In terms of improving compliance, the situation has been improving, but it is still such an area of concern that CARICOM has prioritized its inclusion to be discussed at a special summit on security.

“Another issue of great concern to our community is the deepening sense of insecurity triggered by the scourge of illicit trafficking in goods and persons in our region. Such threats to law enforcement and security, specifically the illicit trafficking in persons, have been particularly disconcerting as the community continues its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic,” CARICOM chair and Trinidad and Tobago president Dr. Keith Rowley said in a local media report.

In the LAC, trafficking involves several flows, including illegal migration into the region by people in transit to other areas; those seeking a better life to North America and Europe and “intraregional migration” from poor to rich countries in the Caribbean, according to Dr. John’s paper.

Dr. Ninna Sorensen, a professor with the Danish Institute for International Studies, researches migration. Her most recent work has focused on the Dominican Republic, where trafficking manifests most popularly in sex work. She says trafficking is a result of stricter border control measures that force people to seek other, unofficial means of migration. “Very few people who were subject to trafficking in the region that I’ve met have been persons who were aware of the risks they took of traveling the way they did if they were trafficked for sex work,” she says.

In her experience, the women are often aware they are being trafficked for sex work, but are seeking opportunity. They are also not a part of a vast criminal network, rather a community or family based network, Dr. Sorensen says.

Experts say there are several measures that need to be taken to curb human trafficking, including stronger legislation, education campaigns, tackling corruption and poverty reduction.

Loaiza, the human trafficking survivor, says while she has created a safe and fulfilling life now, she is not the same person as she was prior to her experience. “It is like having a tattoo on the soul. I have been married 15 years and have three beautiful daughters, a job, my own business, but it’s always something there in any circumstance that reminds me. Some smell, some food, something is always coming out in any moment in any circumstance.”

Loaiza is now a business-owner, motivational speaker, has written two books, and has a non-profit organization that assists human trafficking survivors. She urges governments to strengthen policies, implement public education campaigns and provide more resources for victims. Families should also talk openly about trafficking, she says, especially with the prevalence of social media.

This is part of a series of features from across the globe on human trafficking. IPS coverage is supported by the Airways Aviation Group.

The Global Sustainability Network ( GSN ) is pursuing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal number 8 with a special emphasis on Goal 8.7 which ‘takes immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery and human trafficking and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour, including recruitment and use of child soldiers, and by 2025 end child labour in all its forms’.

The origins of the GSN come from the endeavours of the Joint Declaration of Religious Leaders signed on 2 December 2014. Religious leaders of various faiths, gathered to work together “to defend the dignity and freedom of the human being against the extreme forms of the globalisation of indifference, such us exploitation, forced labour, prostitution, human trafficking” and so forth.

 

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