Africa

Tanzanian ICT entrepreneur, Rose Funja, shows off one of the drones she uses as a key tool in her data mapping business. Credit: Busani Bafana/IPS

By Ibrahim Thiaw
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 7 2019 (IPS)

Science and technology offer exciting pathways for rural women to tackle the challenges they face daily. Innovative solutions for rural women can, for example, reduce their workload, raise food production and increase their participation in the paid labour market. But even the very best innovative, gender-appropriate technology makes no sense without access to other critical resources, especially secure land rights, which women in rural areas need to flourish.

Land degradation and drought affect, at least, 169 countries. The poorest rural communities experience the severest impacts. For instance, women in areas affected by desertification, easily spend four times longer each day collecting water, fuelwood and fodder. Moreover, these impacts have very different effects on men and women. In the parts of Eritrea impacted most by desertification, for example, the working hours for women exceed those of men by up to 30 hours per week.

Clearly, poor rural women would benefit the most from new ways of working on the land. Therefore, technology and innovation must benefit women and men equally for it to work well for society. Even more so at a time when technology is becoming critical to manage the growing threats of desertification, land degradation and drought. In Turkey, for instance, farmers can get information on when to plant in real time, using an application installed on a mobile phone.1

However, in most part of the world, the adoption rates of technology are especially low among rural women, possibly because very often technologies are not developed with rural women land users in mind.2 For example, a wheelbarrow can reduce the time spent on water transport by 60 percent. But its weight and bulk makes it physically difficult for most African women to use.3

The demand for technology design that meets rural women’s specific needs is great. But developing appropriate technology is not enough, if the pre-requisites for technology uptake, in particular access to land, credit and education, are not in place.4 Today, a web of laws and customs in half the countries on the planet5 undermine women’s ability to own, manage, and inherit the land they farm.

In nearly many developing countries, laws do not guarantee the same inheritance rights for women and men.6 In many more countries, with gender equitable laws, local customs and practices that leave widows landless are tolerated. For instance, a 2011 study carried out in Zambia shows that when a male head of household dies, the widow only gets, on average, one-third of the area she farmed before. The impact of such changes on the world’s roughly 258 million widows and the 584 million children who depend on them is significant.8 It leaves us all worse off.

Globally, women own less land and have less secure rights over land than men.9 Secure access to land increases women’s economic security, but it has far greater benefits for society more generally. Women who own or inherit land also control the decisions that impact their land, such as the uptake of new technology.

A study in Rwanda shows that recipients of land certificates are twice as likely to increase their investment in soil conservation relative to others. And, if women got formal land rights, they were more likely to engage in soil conservation.10 Initiatives that benefit rural women do not stop at the household or local levels. At scale, such investments have a huge global impact.

If women all over the world had the same access as men to resources for agricultural production, they could increase yields on their farms by 20 to 30 percent. This could raise the total agricultural output in developing countries substantially at national scales, and reduce the number of undernourished people in the world by 12 to 17 percent.11

If we want to tackle the underlying causes of gender inequality, to build smart and innovate for change, then technology is good. Innovative, gender appropriate technology is better. But these will have little impact if the pre-requisites for its uptake by women, in particular access to land, credit and education, are non-existent.
—–

1 Reuters, 2015, article by Manipadma Jena. Turkey’s plan to help farmers adapt to climate change? Ask a tablet. https://www.reuters.com/article/turkey-climatechange-technology/turkeys-plan-to-help-farmers-adapt-to-climate-change-ask-a-tablet-idUSL8N12P08R20151026
2 Theis, Sophie et al. (2018): What happens after technology adoption? Gendered aspects of small-scale irrigation technologies in Ethiopia, Ghana and Tanzania. Agricultural and Human Values, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10460-018-9862-8
3 Ashby, Jacqueline et al ( n.d.) Investing in Women as Drivers of Agricultural Growth, p.3, http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTARD/Resources/webexecutivesummaryARD_GiA_InvstInWomen_8Pg_web.pdf
4 FAO/IFPRI (2014): Gender specific approaches, rural institutions, and technological innovations, p. 13 et seq, p. 41.
5 Huyer, Sophia, 2016: Closing the Gender Gap in Agriculture, Gender, Technology and Development 20(2) 105–116, p. 108.
6 Huyer, Sophia, 2016: Closing the Gender Gap in Agriculture, Gender, Technology and Development 20(2) 105–116, p. 108.
7 Chapoto, Antony et al. (2011): Widows’ Land Security in the Era of HIV/AIDS: Panel Survey Evidence from Zambia,” Economic Development and Cultural Change 59, no. 3 511-547, https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdfplus/10.1086/658346
8 Coughenour Betancourt Amy (2018): The Green Revolution reboot: Women’s land rights, https://www.devex.com/news/opinion-the-green-revolution-reboot-women-s-land-rights-93003
9 UN WOMEN, Facts & Figures, http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/in-focus/commission-on-the-status-of-women-2012/facts-and-figures.
10 Ali, D.A. et al (2011): Environmental and Gender Impacts of Land Tenure Regularization in Africa: Pilot Evidence from Rwanda. 28 pp. Sanjak, Jolyne (2018): Women’s Land Rights Can Help Grow Food Security, https://www.landesa.org/womens-land-rights-can-help-grow-food-security-blog/.
11 FAO (2011): Closing the gender gap in agriculture, http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/52011/icode/.

The post Smart Tech Will Only Work for Women When the Fundamentals for Its Uptake Are in Place appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Ibrahim Thiaw is Under-Secretary General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.

The post Smart Tech Will Only Work for Women When the Fundamentals for Its Uptake Are in Place appeared first on Inter Press Service.

He accused the 14-year-old boy of stealing a female teacher's handbag before beating him to death.

Urmila Bhoola, UN Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery

By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 7 2019 (IPS)

The United Nations, which diligently monitors human rights violations worldwide, believes that centuries-old slavery still exists worldwide.

The UN mandate on “contemporary forms of slavery” includes, but is not limited to, issues such as: traditional slavery, forced labour, debt bondage, serfdom, children working in slavery or slavery-like conditions, domestic servitude, sexual slavery, and servile forms of marriage, according to Urmila Bhoola of South Africa, the UN Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery.

In an interview with IPS, Bhoola pointed out that slavery was the first human rights issue to arouse wide international concern.
But it still continues today—“and slavery-like practices also remain a grave and persistent problem”.

She said “traditional forms of slavery have been criminalized and abolished in most countries, but contemporary forms of slavery are still prevalent in all regions of the world”.

Still, many UN member states who are suspected of such human rights violations refuse to permit international experts—designated as UN Special Rapporteurs — to either investigate allegations or even formally visit these countries, according to published reports.

Asked about these constraints, Bhoola said she he has so far visited Niger, Belgium, Nigeria, El Salvador, Mauritania, Paraguay and, lastly Italy, in October 2018.

Her mandate includes the implementation of Article 4 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which states that ‘No one shall be held in slavery or servitude: slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms”.

She said “country visits’ are only conducted upon invitation from governments”.

“I have issued requests for country-visits to many countries but due to the mandate’s name and focus, member states are often reluctant to invite the mandate on contemporary forms of slavery, to conduct a visit,” said Bhoola, who was appointed Special Rapporteur by the UN Human Rights Council back in May 2014.

In this sense, she pointed out, member states may not openly refuse a visit but may not reply to country-visit requests.

“This is, in my view, a pity, as my aim is to engage constructively with governments, and to support them in their efforts to end contemporary forms of slavery”.

In fact, some of the countries that are afraid of being named and shamed, perhaps because they are listed as countries where slavery is prevalent in global reports, “have many good laws and practices that others can learn from.”

The findings obtained through the country visits are contained in the country visit reports, which are publicly available.

Excerpts from the interview

IPS: The ILO says over 40 million people – 71 percent of them women and girls – are subject to various forms of modern slavery, including human trafficking, child soldiers, forced and early child marriages, domestic servitude and migrant labour. Can these malpractices be criminalized by national legislation or by an international treaty? How feasible are these measures?

BHOOLA: Several international treaties prohibit slavery and related practices, such as the 1926 Slavery Convention and its Protocol; the 1956 Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery; the ILO Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29); the ILO Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105); the ILO Protection of Wages Convention, 1949 (No.95); the ILO Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189); the ILO Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138); the ILO Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182); the Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others (1949). A complete list can be found here.

International treaties can make an important difference in a country, as States need to periodically report on progress achieved in implementing the treaties’ provisions once they have ratified a treaty or convention. If a State does not have the means to effectively fulfil its obligations under a treaty or convention, it should seek international assistance.

However, slavery is considered to be a customary norm of international law that requires elimination by States irrespective of whether they have ratified the 1926 Slavery and 1956 Supplementary Conventions. All States are therefore required to prohibit slavery and its different forms, such as slavery like practices or servitudes, in domestic legislation.

In order to eradicate slavery effectively at the national level, States must also invest in sustainable development and in the protection and promotion of all human rights.

Many States have committed to achieving target 8.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) because ending slavery and creating decent work for all requires a multifaceted approach.

This requires them to develop comprehensive national responses to contemporary forms of slavery, which should combine the effective rule of law, robust institutional and policy frameworks, ending discrimination and inequality, including gender inequality, protection of labour rights, oversight of the business sector and ensuring full and equitable access to justice where rights have been violated.

Ending contemporary forms of slavery is therefore an integral part of the broader struggle to combat poverty, underdevelopment and gender inequality and achieve human rights-based development and justice for all.

IPS: As a UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, how far does your mandate extend? Can you name and shame countries? Or is that an action that can be taken only by the Human Rights Council?

BHOOLA: Special Rapporteurs are appointed by the Human Rights Council and they either have a thematic or a country-specific mandate. As Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, I am mandated to address country-specific concerns either publicly or privately. All Special Rapporteurs are mandated to address confidential communications to States and/or to issue public statements and public thematic reports which are presented on an annual basis.

Also, I issue a public report on every country visit containing the findings of the mission as well as recommendations to the State visited and to other stakeholders. I report to both the Human Rights Council and the General Assembly and when these reports are presented governments engage with one another, including the government that has been the subject of a visit, and it is this constructive dialogue that is far more useful in my view in addressing gaps in compliance.

IPS: How many businesses comply with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights? Since most forms of slavery occur in the private sector, how effective are these voluntary– not mandatory– guidelines in preventing modern forms of slavery in the work place?

BHOOLA: The Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights were developed to clarify the different roles and responsibilities that States and companies have to address business impact on human rights

The Guiding Principles do not constitute an international instrument that can be ratified by States, nor do they create new legal obligations. Instead, they clarify and elaborate on the implications of relevant provisions of existing international human rights standards, some of which are legally binding on States, and provide guidance on how to put them into operation.

National legislation will often exist or may be required to ensure that these obligations are effectively implemented and enforced. This, in turn, means that elements of the Guiding Principles may be reflected in domestic law regulating business activities.

Even though the Guiding Principles are not legally binding, protecting human rights against business-related abuse is expected of all States, and in most cases is a legal obligation through their ratification of legally binding international human rights treaties containing provisions to this effect.

The State duty to protect in the Guiding Principles is derived from these obligations. In many States it is reflected—fully or partly—in domestic law or regulations on companies. Companies are bound by such domestic law. The corporate responsibility to respect human rights exists above and beyond the need to comply with national laws and regulations protecting human rights. It applies equally where relevant domestic law is weak, absent or not enforced1.

The Guiding Principles also validate the duty of States to protect against and redress business-related human rights harms. In the context of contemporary forms of slavery, this duty to protect could translate into a smart mix of measures to ensure that businesses engage in their responsibility to respect human rights, including through undertaking human rights due diligence throughout their supply chains and remediating the adverse impact of their operations on human rights.

At the very minimum, States should ensure that businesses realize the implications of purchasing products or services that have in any way been linked to forced labour or other contemporary forms of slavery.

To date, States have adopted diverse approaches to addressing this issue, which include ensuring criminal, civil and tort liability for business related human rights violations, setting up mechanisms to regulate such compliance in trade and consumer protection and addressing it in government procurement.

Disclosure and transparency can also feature as legal obligations rather than being limited to voluntary corporate social responsibility initiatives2 .

Although it is not possible to measure compliance by all companies, there are some key initiatives that should be cited, such as the Corporate Human Rights Benchmark (CHRB), which aims to identify which companies perform best on human rights issues. More information on this initiative and its more recent results can be found here.

Another important initiative with a focus on slaver is KnowTheChain, which identifies and shares leading practices, enabling companies to improve their standards and procedures. This initiative also aims to help companies protect the wellbeing of workers by incentivizing companies and identifying gaps in each sector evaluated. KnowTheChain published its first set of benchmarks in 2016, and the second set, covering more than 120 companies, in 2018. For more information, visit their website.

IPS: With the spread of technology worldwide, more and more women and girls are lured into human trafficking through technology, including Facebook. Does the UN have the means to fight this? Or is there a remedy at all?

BHOOLA: The UN has various anti-trafficking conventions and mechanisms to address human trafficking. There is also a mandate on trafficking in persons, especially women and girls, which focuses on these issues specifically. In order to avoid overlaps between our mandates, my mandate focuses on one of the outcomes of human trafficking, which is labour exploitation specifically.

IPS: The UK has a “call to action to end forced labour, modern slavery and human trafficking”. How effective is this? And are there any other countries with such action or legislation?

BHOOLA: The Call to Action to End Forced Labour, Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking was launched on the 19th September 2017 during the 72nd Meeting of the UN General Assembly, and it has been endorsed by the 84 Member States and Observer States.3

The Call to Action outlines practical actions that countries can take to achieve Target 8.7 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, including to ratify and ensure the effective implementation of relevant international conventions, protocols, and frameworks; to strengthen law enforcement and criminal justice responses in order to rapidly enhance capacity to identify, investigate, and disrupt criminal activity; to put victims first; and to eradicate forced labour, modern slavery, human trafficking, and the worst forms of child labour from [their] economies […] by developing regulatory or policy frameworks, as appropriate, and working with business to eliminate such practices from global supply chains4 .

Information regarding government’s action following the endorsement of the Call to Action can be found here. Despite the positive progress, more needs to be done.

We cannot treat these issues of forced labour, contemporary forms of slavery and human trafficking in isolation, as these are complex crimes, and we need to reach out across borders and across mandates. The Call to Action provides the framework for countries to join up to share best practice and work together, and highlights the need for private and wider public sector engagement to deliver real change.

The United Nations University, in partnership with Alliance 8.7, have developed a knowledge Platform with funding from the UK Government which will accelerate the scientific study of “what works” and host an online data base with information on country action to support research and best practice: www.delta87.org/call-to-action

Australia has followed by passing its Modern Slavery Act in December 2018. The law requires businesses above a certain turnover threshold to take steps to identify slavery in their operations and supply chains, and report on the actions they have taken to address those risks.

1 OHCHR ‘Frequently asked questions about the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights’ https://www.ohchr.org/documents/publications/faq_principlesbussinesshr.pdf
2 A/HRC/30/35, https://undocs.org/en/A/HRC/30/35
3 A Call to Action to End Forced Labour, Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/759332/End-Forced-Labour-Modern-Slavery1.pdf
4 https://delta87.org/call-to-action/

The writer can be contacted at thalifdeen@ips.org

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The post Was Slavery the World’s First Human Rights Violation? appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Women sell batons de manioc at a bus station in Yaoundé. Credit: Sarah Rayzl Lansky

By Sarah Rayzl Lansky
Medford, USA, Mar 7 2019 (IPS)

On March 8, women all over Cameroon will don custom-made dresses sewn of pagne, specially printed for International Women’s Day. They will parade through cities and towns, joining women around the world in celebration of the day.

International Women’s Day, which the United Nations officially recognized in 1977, seeks to promote women, women’s rights, and women’s inclusion. The 2019 theme is “A Balanced World is a Better World.” The International Women’s Day website urges participants to “Raise awareness against bias. Take action for equality.”

But this mission cannot be fulfilled if only some women in Cameroon are able to march. Cameroon’s English-speaking areas – home to about 20% of the population – are currently embroiled in a violent crisis. International Crisis Group recently ranked it #8 as part of their “10 Conflicts to Watch in 2019.” Many believe Cameroon is on the brink of civil war.

The women called on Cameroon’s President Biya, currently serving his 7th term, to address the Anglophone crisis. The government’s response? More than 100 women were arrested

Officially bilingual, Cameroon has long prioritized French speakers. In October 2016 teachers and lawyers in the Anglophone Northwest region protested the discrimination. The Francophone central government responded with violence, injuring and jailing protestors.

The crisis has only worsened. Following the arrests of the Anglophone movement’s leaders in early 2017, the power vacuum was filled by more radical actors. Calling themselves the Interim Government of the Republic of Ambazonia, they are now demanding the Northwest and Southwest regions secede. The separatist group’s rebel forces are known generally as Amba Boys and have attacked both government troops and civilians. Believing schools to be tools of the French central government, the separatists have called for a school boycott. This has only served to hurt teachers and children; 80% of kids in the regions have been out of school for more than two years and dozens of schools have been attacked.

As is typical in humanitarian crises, women and children have been disproportionately affected. The United Nation’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported at the end of 2018 that 4 million people had been affected. An estimated 437,500 people have been displaced by the crisis – an 82% increase from the past year. Many of the displaced are hiding in the bush, following attacks on their villages and indiscriminate killings. Aid agencies struggle to access these populations. OCHA reports that the gender-based violence response in the crisis has been weak.

 

A market in Bamenda, the capital of the NW and the location of the initial protests. Credit: Sarah Rayzl Lansky.

 

Media reporting on the crisis has tended to portray women as victims, or to exclude them all together. Of some 1,964 English articles written on the crisis from October 1, 2016 to today, only 309 (16%) mention women, whereas 1,204 (61%) discuss men. These patterns are all too common in conflict. But experts agree that in order to achieve a sustainable peace, women must be included. Women’s exclusion from the media can have a lasting effect; the Humanitarian Advisory Group writes that media “influences how women perceive themselves and their leadership aspirations.”

But their near invisibility in the media has not stopped the leadership aspirations of a growing group of female leaders. The South West/North West Women’s Task Force is working towards peace and demanding the inclusion of women. The Belinda Babila Foundation has focused on Cameroonian women taking refuge in Nigeria. Stand Up for Cameroon and Mothers of the Nation aim to unite all Cameroonian women in peaceful resistance. A local civil society organization, Pathways for Women’s Empowerment and Development recently tweeted, “The women of the North and South West regions of Cameroon are caught in between a crisis [about which] we were never consulted before it commencement [sic]. We bear the brunt though and call on the men to end hostilities.”

But speaking up in Cameroon is not easy. As part of the Women’s Day activities in 2018, Kah Walla, leader of the Cameroon People’s Party and a former presidential candidate, organized a protest march. The women called on Cameroon’s President Biya, currently serving his 7th term, to address the Anglophone crisis. The government’s response? More than 100 women were arrested. Kah Walla maintains some were tortured psychologically while held in detention.

Alleged human rights abuses have been committed by both the Anglophone separatists and the Cameroonian government forces. This violence must end.

This year, as Cameroonian women celebrate International Women’s Day, wearing matching cloth printed and sold by the central government, they should not only be calling for women’s promotion and equal treatment. Women across the country need to “raise awareness,” per the International Women’s Day Campaign, and stand together to demand dialogue and a resolution to the crisis.

 

Sarah Rayzl Lansky is a Master’s candidate at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy where she is specializing in human security and humanitarian studies. Sarah Rayzl has lived, worked, and studied in Cameroon.

The post International Women’s Day in Cameroon: A Day for All Women? appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

This opinion piece is part of IPS coverage of International Women's Day on Mar. 8

The post International Women’s Day in Cameroon: A Day for All Women? appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Indigenous women sell handicrafts at a street market in the tourist city of Antigua, Guatemala. Due to the continuing lack of decent employment for women in the region, many of them become street vendors, swelling the ranks of the informal economy. Credit: Mariela Jara/IPS

By Mariela Jara
LIMA, Mar 7 2019 (IPS)

Women in Latin America earn one-fifth less than men for every hour worked, on average – one of the statistics that reflect the continuing inequality in the world of work that makes it unlikely for the region to meet the goal of equal pay by 2030.

Hugo Ñopo, a Peruvian economist with the International Labor Organisation (ILO), told IPS that the gender disparity in employment in the region is also seen in the lower level of participation by women in the workforce, higher unemployment rates and fewer hours of work per week.

“These are inequalities that are accumulating in such a way that when you look at the total labour income generated by society, two-thirds of the total are generated by men and only one-third by women,” he said at the headquarters of the organisation’s regional office in Lima."A large part of the labour gap is the result of variables that have to do with conditions such as discrimination, stereotypes, unconscious biases or the time that women and men devote to domestic tasks, which in the end turns out to be a limiting factor for job performance." -- Hugo Ñopo

The “Global Wage Report 2018/19: What lies behind gender pay gaps”, published by the ILO in late 2018, underscores that the gender pay gap is not only explained by variables such as education and experience, but also by cultural factors.

“A large part of the labour gap is the result of variables that have to do with conditions such as discrimination, stereotypes, unconscious biases or the time that women and men devote to domestic tasks, which in the end turns out to be a limiting factor for job performance,” explained Ñopo.

Clara Rivas, 46, is an accountant from Peru. She worked in the civil service until 2017, but difficulties in reconciling her work and family responsibilities forced her to resign.

“The boss in my section frequently assigned me to trips to the provinces,” she told IPS. “I told him I could travel once a month because I had two young daughters, but he said he would not let me off easy just because I was a woman. I asked him to rotate the transfers with my workmates, but he always assigned them to me.”

Eva Machado, spokesperson in Peru for the global grassroots movement International Women’s Strike (IWS), said that Latin American societies take advantage of the female workforce in unequal conditions, while failing to recognise the contribution they make to the economy through domestic tasks in their homes, their care work and community involvement.

“As a formal sector worker with labour benefits, you could say I’m in a privileged position, even though what I have are simply my rights, which unfortunately isn’t the case of the majority of women in Peru,” Machado, who represents a movement that emerged in late 2016, told IPS.

On average, at least 60 percent of employed women in Latin America work in the informal economy, according to data from U.N. Women – a proportion that rises to 70 percent in Peru, according to Machado.

Blanca Garcia, 50, sweeps the terrace of a middle-class home in Lima. She works as a housekeeper in several homes in Peru’s capital. Her main motivation is to ensure her 14-year-old daughter a good education, to make it possible for her to have a future job with full rights and opportunities. Credit: Mariela Jara/IPS

In addition, women workers in the region are also in charge of household tasks, which are largely their responsibility, as well as care work, and contributions to their communities or organisations in which they participate, to improve conditions for their family and community, amounting to a triple work load on their shoulders.

“We work more and earn less, so on this Mar. 8, International Women’s Day, we will continue to shout our slogan: ‘If our lives don’t matter to you, produce without us,” Machado said.

The IWS has issued a global call for women to stop working on Friday Mar. 8 for at least an hour to make the impact of their productive and unpaid domestic work felt in countries in both the industrial North and the developing South.

Laws improve but pay remains unequal

Latin American governments committed themselves to meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of Agenda 2030. But in SDG8, on decent work, target 5 includes achieving equal pay for work of equal value, for men and women, by 2030 – still a distant goal for this region.

In this region of 646 million people, the ILO estimates that 117 million women are part of the economically active population. But they face a labour market with problems that cannot be solved only by laws aimed at equal employment.

The report “Women, Business and the Law 2019: A Decade of Reform”, published on Feb. 27 by the World Bank, highlights the importance of the changes in the world of labour that have taken place in 187 countries over the past decade to address gender discrimination.

An index established in the periodic report based on eight indicators – including wages, pensions, access to employment, resource management, and maternity – shows how Latin American countries have improved, going from an average of 75.4 to 79.09 out of a maximum of 100 in terms of reforms to promote gender parity in the workplace, with 39 legal modifications in this regard.

Measures against harassment at work, access to employment on equal terms, the prohibition of dismissal of pregnant workers or the extension of maternity leave mark the improvements, according to the study, but the problem is that the legislation is not properly enforced.

One key aspect has to do with women’s childbearing years.

Hugo Ñopo, a regional economist of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) for Latin America and the Caribbean, at the regional headquarters in Lima, where he analysed the reasons underlying the persistent labour inequality in the region and pointed out that overcoming the problem requires not only public policies, but also cultural changes. Credit: ILO

Ñopo, the ILO’s regional economist, points out that while job interviews are not allowed to include questions on pregnancy or maternity, they are still being asked.

“This goes beyond the legal realm,” he said. “It is a problem that lies at the root, because society puts the cost of motherhood, of our reproductive social function, on women, when given its importance it should be distributed in a more equitable way between men and women.”

So what should be done?

“Part of the task falls to governments in terms of public policies and legislation. But another important part lies in the households, in the equitable distribution of the tasks among the people who live under the same roof,” he said.

This, he stressed, is because “another part of the problem is cultural, and that can be modified, if you take an optimistic view; it just doesn’t happen overnight, it takes a while, but that’s where public policies come in, to sow the seeds of change.”

In sexist societies such as those of Latin America, the old-fashioned idea that household responsibilities are the exclusive realm of women – or domestic workers often hired in exploitative conditions – remains strong.

Blanca García, who migrated from a rural Andean area, is an example of this. She works as a maid in several different homes in Lima, with workdays that often exceed the eight-hour legal limit, in order to support her two children as the family’s only breadwinner.

“Sometimes you get lucky and find an employer who pays you fair wages and respects the eight-hour workday. But generally I start at seven in the morning and finish at seven at night. It’s hard, but I haven’t found any other way to make a living,” said the 50-year-old woman, who earns an average of 20 dollars a day.

On the unfair labour outlook for women in the region, Ñopo stresses that “existing inequalities are too wide for them to be ‘justifiable’. We need a more equitable world so that everyone, women and men, can develop to their full potential,” he concluded.

The post Decent Work Still a Distant Dream for Many Latin American Women appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

This article is part of IPS coverage of International Women's Day on Mar. 8.

The post Decent Work Still a Distant Dream for Many Latin American Women appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Ethiopia Airlines is operating an all-women flight crew to Oslo to mark International Women's Day.

The UK is one of the main export destinations for Kenyan cut flowers.

Violent attacks are making treating the worst Ebola outbreak in the history of the DR of Congo even harder.

Meet the seven-year-old Nigerian girl who wants to be become a boxing world champion.

Credit: Raising Voices.

By Maureen Kangere
KAMPALA, Mar 6 2019 (IPS)

Bakera excelled in school. As a girl who grew up in a rural, poor community, she had, against all odds, realized her education goals and was elated to go to the capital city, Kampala where she would now work.

She had studied Statistics – a field where women were few. She knew many girls and women over the years who either didn’t have a chance at education or who dropped out. Bakera saw the common threads of women’s experience that limited them. In her small hilly village, she had seen many Aunties, physically abused by their husbands and resolved to get educated as she believed this was her way out.

At her first job, Bakera was excited to work for a Company where she would be their first female Statistician hire. Excited about this experience, Bakera worked with passion. At her company, she saw first-hand the sexual harassment that her female colleagues were experiencing. She realized that what she had experienced while at the university was happening at work now,.

In her Kampala neighborhood, Bakera regularly heard women scream for help; one morning the noise was so loud it startled Bakera out of her sleep. It was her next-door neighbor who was being beaten by her husband calling for “help”. Bakera couldn’t sit by, she went to their door, knocked loudly. Her neighbor was badly beaten and needed medical care. She took her to the hospital for medical attention where they spent the day nursing her to health.

Bakera had to explain her absence to her employer – but didn’t feel she could be honest without putting her job on the line. It was a turning point for Bakera – she felt that the violence was too much.  She thought about how so many women’s lives were interrupted by violence. She reflected on what it meant for women who were in intimate partner relationships and the constant fear they lived in — without control over their own bodies, sexuality or even to be able to feel safe at home – a most basic right every person should have.

When women as a group are at risk for violence because they are women, this means it is not just a result of an individual woman’s behavior or choices – it means that the violence is systemic. This means that the systems – social, legal, economic, educational – ignore, allow and perpetuate the inequality that allows violence against women to happen.
Bakera’s experience is one we can all identify with and relate to. When someone asks: Why should we care about equality? Why should we care about violence against women?

We must care because violence against women and girls is a profound symbol of gender inequality and social injustice. It hurts women and girls’ bodies, minds and hearts, prevents participation, hinders social and economic development and costs families, communities and nations. No one should have to live in fear.

While more women enter the workforce, let us think about whether they can enjoy their most basic human right of safety in both private and public spaces.

When women as a group are at risk for violence because they are women, this means it is not just a result of an individual woman’s behavior or choices – it means that the violence is systemic. This means that the systems – social, legal, economic, educational – ignore, allow and perpetuate the inequality that allows violence against women to happen.

These systems are upheld by norms – or our individual and collective beliefs and actions. Inequality and violence against women is the norm – but just like Bakera, we need to ask: is this normal?

Addressing negative norms through approaches like SASA! means helping communities identify and question unspoken barriers to women’s empowerment. Rather than focus on negative norms, we can encourage communities to explore how positive power can benefit both women and men in intimate partner relationships and enhance wellbeing.

#Metoo and #AidToo campaigns and other programmes are further breaking the silence, revealing that regardless of their location and achievements, women are still at risk.

According to World Health Organisation, 1 in 3 women is likely to experience physical or sexual violence, making this a public health issue that requires many voices and actions to create change so every girl and women live free of violence.

As the world reflects on gender equality this International Women’s Day, guided by the theme, “Think Equal, Build Smart, Innovate for Change” how can we challenge ourselves – as individuals and collectively – to question the norms and systems that keep women down. What do we need to question within ourselves? Within our workplaces? Within our communities? How can you speak out and start to create an environment that supports non-violence and equality?

How can we get more creative and innovate to advance gender equality? How about we each take more action to increase men’s accountability to women’s basic human rights? How can we commit, this Women’s Day to stop tolerating any form of violence.

Article by GBV Prevention Network coordinated by  Raising Voices

The post The Future Women Want: Free of Violence appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

This opinion piece is part of IPS coverage of International Women's Day on Mar. 8

The post The Future Women Want: Free of Violence appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Madagascar's Football Federation extends the contract of national team coach Nicolas Dupuis until the end of this year's Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt.

Veteran striker Emmanuel Adebayor is included in the Togo squad for their crucial 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in Benin on 22 March.

Outgoing Zambia coach Sven Vandenbroeck says he will reflect positively on his time with the team, despite spending less than a year in the role.

Two white farmers accused a black teenager of stealing sunflowers worth $5 and threw him from a van.

A strike causes major disruption to flights, including at Nairobi's busy international hub.

Credit: UNDP Nepal

By Aaron Glantz
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 6 2019 (IPS)

Cultural and creative industries, which include arts and crafts, advertising, design, entertainment, architecture, books, media and software, have become a vital force in accelerating human development.

They empower people to take ownership of their own development and stimulate the innovation that can drive inclusive sustainable growth.

If well-nurtured, the creative economy can be a source of structural economic transformation, socio-economic progress, job creation and innovation while contributing to social inclusion and sustainable human development.

It is thus not by chance that the 2004 UNDP Human Development Report made a case for respecting diversity and building more inclusive societies through policies that recognize cultural differences and multicultural perspectives.

Cultural and creative industries (CCI) are generally inclusive. People from all social classes from the indigenous to the elite participate in this economy as producers and consumers. Work in the sector tends to favour youth and women compared with other sectors.

For example, a 2015 UNESCO publication highlighted that CCI sectors in Europe typically employed more youth than any other sector. The study also highlighted that though women account for only 47% of the active population, they accounted for more than 50% of people employed in the United Kingdom’s music industry in 2014.

A recent UNDP/HDRO paper also shows how women play a dominant role in making creative products in the developing world. In countries such as Rwanda and Uganda, for example, women sustain the practice of making baskets, mats and other craftwork.

In Turkey and South Asia, women have been playing a major role in making carpets and other ancient crafts for millennia. Another UN report pointed out how creative industries offer eco-friendly solutions to sustainable development challenges, giving examples such as eco-friendly fashion, including jewelry, handicrafts and interior design products as well as protecting biodiversity by marketing natural health and cosmetic products that work in harmony with nature.

Though these examples show the cultural and creative sectors help achieve inclusive development, the intensification of the creative economy is also exacerbating existing income inequalities and marginalisation of certain population groups.

For example, Richard Florida in his new book, The New Urban Crisis: How Cities Are Increasing Inequality, Deepening Segregation, and Failing the Middle Class – and What We Can Do About It highlights how the cities that have the most innovative and creative economies are often associated with the worst social and economic inequality.

The book shows a strong correlation between the presence of the creative class in metropolitan areas and income inequality. This is because the creative industry generally employs skilled workers which led to a rise in the relative wages of more educated workers.

Yet, the creative industries have become an increasingly important contributor to GDP growth. Data show, over the past 15 years, that the creative economy is not only one of the most rapidly growing sectors of the world economy, but also transformative in generating income, jobs and exports.

According to UNESCO estimates, in 2013 CCI generated $2.3 trillion (3 percent of world GDP) and 29.5 million jobs (1 percent of the world’s active population). An Oxford Economics study estimated that CCI account for over 10 percent of GDP in Brazil and the United States.

Global trade in creative goods and services is also increasing rapidly. Globalization and new technologies have accelerated cultural interactions among countries and the export of creative goods has been growing at about 12 percent per annum in the developing world in the last 15 years or so.

However, these gains are not equality distributed across the globe. Asia and the Pacific, Europe and North America are seeing rapid and unprecedented growth in the creative economy.

These regions account for 93% of the global CCI revenue and 85% of jobs. By contrast Africa, the Middle-East, and Latin America and the Caribbean have not yet capitalised on their potential.

For these regions, the CCI represent untapped economic potential, and a chance to contribute to the innovation economy and other sectors through supply chain effects.

This is an opportunity for policies that accelerate and sustain a dynamic creative economy that contributes to human development progress. Growing a dynamic creative economy depends in part on how proactive countries are in grasping opportunities and tackling challenges across many areas—including technology, education, labour markets, macroeconomic policies, gender issues, urbanization, migration, and more.

Cultural and creative activities are usually diverse and multifaceted. And while no “one-size-fits-all” solution will work in this sector, we advocate some policy options as follows.

First, in line with the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), countries need to integrate the opportunities and challenges related to CCI into their national development plans, strategies and budgets.

Second, greater effort needs to be devoted to protecting intellectual property rights. Failing to properly reward creators is holding back growth. Legal frameworks that protect the rights of creators and secure fair remuneration for them is key.

Third, culture often transcends borders. And so improved international, regional and South-South cooperation is important.

Fourth nurturing talent is vital for CCI. The cross-fertilization of ideas, leveraging new technologies and learning from mistakes are important for any economic sector, but these play a fundamental role in the cultural and creative sectors.

Governments and higher education institutions have an important role in attracting, developing and retaining talent.

Fifth, a sound understanding of the challenges and opportunities is vital for planning and policy making. Collecting and analysing CCI data should be a priority to support better policies.

The UN has made a concerted effort to promote the cultural and creative economy in the last decade, through a series of joint UNESCO, UN Convention on Trade and Development and UNDP knowledge products and meetings.

The United Nations will continue to provide a platform for governments, business and others to consider long-term goals and partnerships in an area that can make an important contribution towards achieving sustainable development for all.

The post How Cultural & Creative Industries Can Power Human Development in 21st Century appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Thangavel Palanivel is Deputy Director of the Human Development Report Office, UNDP

The post How Cultural & Creative Industries Can Power Human Development in 21st Century appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Arul Louis, a New York-based journalist who covers the United Nations, is a non-resident senior fellow of the Society for Policy Studies.

By Arul Louis
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 6 2019 (IPS)

A reexamination of the role of the United Nations and a tallying of its successes and failure get underway as it prepares for the 75th anniversary next year in the world of the 21st century while its core entity, the Security Council, is trapped in the time warp of 1945, its founding year.

Being both a critique and analysis of the Council’s role as well as a work of encyclopedic proportions about its history, the political philosophies girding it and its evolution, former Indian diplomat Dilip Sinha’s book is a valuable resource for these debates that are gaining urgency from the milestone anniversary.

The title may give the impression that it is about the legitimacy of the Council’s power, but it actually questions the Council’s legitimacy in the exercise of power as seen from the perspective of a diplomat with an insider’s view of its working, both when its members gather in its chamber around the circular desk under the painting of Phoenix rising, and when the real business takes place in negotiations far from public view.

Sinha handled United Nations affairs for India from New Delhi as a special secretary during its 2011-12 tenure on the Council and he has also served as New Delhi’s Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva.

The main mission of the UN is maintaining international peace and security and UN Charter assigns that role to the Council, but in public perceptions its failures reflect on the entire UN.

While most of the other parts of the UN and other international organisations have been “developing processes of inclusive decision-making and modified their mandates,” he writes, “the Security Council remains mired in its archaic politics of power.”

When the UN Charter was adopted with 51 members in a world emerging from the trauma of World War II, its victors assumed the veto-wielding permanent seats on the Council as spoils of war and the veto powers of the five permanent members – the P-5 made up of Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States – is at the core of the Council’s functioning — and its consequent dysfunction.

In his critique of the veto powers, Sinha says that it either reduces the Council to “a dictatorship of the hegemons” or it functions as a “safety valve,” but concedes that “it is at best an unpleasant necessity.”

While the veto powers have made it impossible to take decisive action to end the multi-dimensional civil war in Syria or Yemen – as it has failed numerous times in its history – where vital interests of the P-5 clash, the Council is expanding its reach beyond the Charter-mandated primary role of maintaining international peace and security in a mission creep that now includes, among other things, human rights, women’s empowerment, climate change and terrorism, Sinha points out.

But beyond the dysfunction, “the permanent membership of the five violates a basic principle of democracy,” he says.

The non-representation of the developing counties, which make up more that two-thirds of the UN membership (unless one adds the economic superpower China to their number) in the ranks of the permanent members is at the heart of the imbalance in the power equations.

Meanwhile, the 28-member Group of Western European and Other States has two permanent members, Britain and France, (or three, if the group’s observer, the United States, is included). But Latin American, African and the Middle Eastern nations have none.

While there is near consensus that African countries – the largest group in the UN with 54 members or 28% of the 193 membership, and from the continent home to most peace operations mandated by the Security Council – deserve representation, the demands of other countries – notably Brazil, Germany, India and Japan that make up the Group of 4 or G-4 – are more controversial.

While these glaring inequalities may cry out for reform that changes the composition of the permanent membership, Sinha is not optimistic it can happen.

For the US and the European Union, “UN reform means giving more powers to the organisation to regulate the internal affairs of member states” on issues like human rights and good governance, he writes.

And on the other side, among the developing countries and others, there are differing interests and clashing opinions, as he points out.

As an illustration of the difficulties before G-4 and others in finding their way to a permanent membership, Sinha writes, “The permanent seat aspirants face the impossible challenge of satisfying the larger membership of the General Assembly without displeasing the permanent five.”

Sinha instead introduces the idea of weighted voting as a starting point for the reforms. The concepts of the equality of member states in the General Assembly and their inequality in the Council “are outdated,” he points out because “all countries are not equal” given the disparities in population and economic and military powers, among other things.

The P-5’s permanent veto power, moreover, “violates the principles of constitutionalism” and “has crippled it.”

As a remedy, he suggests, “Weighted voting can partially address the concerns of the permanent five and introducing the requirement of a super-majority for resolutions under Chapter VII (for taking military action) will allay the concerns of others.”

“A moderate increase in the size of the Council will improve regional representation,” he adds.

(Arul Louis can be contacted at arullouis@spsindia.in and followed on Twitter at @arulouis)

*Legitimacy of Power: The Permanence of Five in the Security Council;
Author: Dilip Sinha; Publishers: Vij Books India Pvt Ltd, New Delhi, and Indian Council of World Affairs, New Delhi; Price: On Amazon: Hardcover $65; Paperback $39.95; Rs.940

The post Veteran Diplomat Challenges Security Council’s Imbalance of Power, Offers Solutions for Reforms appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Arul Louis, a New York-based journalist who covers the United Nations, is a non-resident senior fellow of the Society for Policy Studies.

The post Veteran Diplomat Challenges Security Council’s Imbalance of Power, Offers Solutions for Reforms appeared first on Inter Press Service.

By IPS World Desk
ROME, Mar 6 2019 (IPS)

In an increasingly connected world, innovation and technology should provide unprecedented opportunity. But the truth is alarming, as trends indicate a growing divide.

Every year, an estimated 15 million girls under the age of 18 are married worldwide, with little or no say in the matter.

Every year, at least 1000 honor killings occur in India and Pakistan each.

 

 

To this day, the barbarism of female genital mutilation affects more than 200 million girls and women in over 30 countries.

According to the UN Foundation, 62 million girls around the world are simply denied an education.

And a 2016 study by the UNDP found that approximately 95 Billion Dollars are lost in sub-Saharan Africa each year because women have lower participation in the paid labour force.

International Women’s Day is a time to reflect on progress made by women and to celebrate acts of courage and determination by ordinary women who have played an extraordinary role in the history of their countries and communities.

The 2019 theme Think equal, build smart, innovate for change focuses on innovative ways in which we can advance gender equality and the empowerment of women, particularly in the areas of social protection systems, access to public services and sustainable infrastructure.

On 8 March, join us as we celebrate a future in which innovation and technology creates opportunities for women and girls to play an active role in building an inclusive world.

The post INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY – Think Equal, Build Smart, Innovate for Change appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Champions League-winner John Mikel Obi says helping Middlesbrough to the Premier League would be one of his finest moments in football.

Even the Afar can be shy: Here a young Afar woman consents to be photographed, though only after covering part of her face. Afar women often have intricate frizzed and braided hairstyles, and wear bright coloured bead necklaces, heavy earrings and brass anklets. Many Afar women cover their heads in public. This helps ward off the relentless sun. At the same time, the vast majority of Afar are Muslim. Despite Afar’s ancient trade links with the Christian highlands to the west, Islam was widely practiced in the region as early as the 13th century. Credit: James Jeffrey/IPS

By James Jeffrey
ADDIS ABABA, Mar 6 2019 (IPS)

Once made infamous through explorers’ tales of old, Ethiopia’s remote northeast Afar region both conforms to and contradicts stereotypes.

Tough neighbourhood: Ethiopia’s remote northeast Afar region contains the Danakil Depression—the hottest place on earth where temperatures in the naked plains frequently soar above 50 degrees centigrade, exacerbated by the fierce blowing of the Gara, which translates as Fire Wind. Such inhospitable conditions haven’t stopped the Afar, who regard themselves as the oldest of Ethiopia’s ethnic groups having occupied their arid homeland for at least 2,000 years. Credit: James Jeffrey/IPS

 

Armed but amiable—fortunately: Here a young Afar man unsheathes the sword he carries attached to his waist. Historically, the Afar menfolk gained a reputation for ferocity and intolerance of outsiders, including the habit of cutting off the testicles of any foreigner found in their territory. The reality now is far removed from the stereotypes of travellers’ tales—the majority of Afar that the author met proved friendly, as well as patient about his photographic requests. Credit: James Jeffrey/IPS

Less on the move nowadays: A kite bird of prey rests on a rooftop in the town of Asaita overlooking the Awash River, beside which can be seen distinctive dome-shaped Afar homes. Traditionally the Afar are nomadic pastoralists, living in light, flimsy houses which they transport from one location to the next on camel back. Recent decades have seen a trend towards an increased dependence on agriculture in the fertile and well-watered areas around the likes of Asaita. Credit: James Jeffrey/IPS

Pastoralist past not forgotten: Here a woman weaves palm frond into the matting used to cover traditional Afar homes. Afar women are typically responsible for constructing a family’s nomadic home from the ground up when a family moves to another location. Despite a visitor encountering friendliness, you still sense a robust mentality among the Afar, shaped by that tough nomadic pastoralist past, and which still continues, evidenced by the camels continuing to plod across the desert, and the clusters of domed houses dotting the parched plains. Credit: James Jeffrey/IPS

What’s that shimmering in the heat haze?: In the plains surrounding Asaita an enormous sugar factory towers over surrounding Afar homes, evidence that there appears to no longer be any part of Ethiopia immune to the country’s ambitions to develop. In recent years the government has made a concerted effort to establish sugar factories to meet growing local demand, create jobs and boost economic growth. This has included locating factories in remote areas instead of being concentrated in one region. Credit: James Jeffrey/IPS

Even the Afar can be shy: Here a young Afar woman consents to be photographed, though only after covering part of her face. Afar women often have intricate frizzed and braided hairstyles, and wear bright coloured bead necklaces, heavy earrings and brass anklets. Many Afar women cover their heads in public. This helps ward off the relentless sun. At the same time, the vast majority of Afar are Muslim. Despite Afar’s ancient trade links with the Christian highlands to the west, Islam was widely practiced in the region as early as the 13th century. Credit: James Jeffrey/IPS

Renowned for distinctive hairstyles: It’s not just Afar women who embrace eye-catching hairstyles. Afar men often wear their hair in thick Afro style or equally distinctive long curls, and dress in a light cotton toga. While these two men aren’t armed, Afar men rarely venture far without a sword or dagger, and these days the traditional knife can be supplemented or replaced by an AK-47 slung casually over the shoulder. Such weapons are still frequently put to fatal use in disputes between local clans. Credit: James Jeffrey/IPS

Trading salt and more: The main thoroughfare through the city of Logiya sees a constant stream of trucks on the way to and from ports across the nearby border in Djibouti. At the same time more modern goods are being taken into Ethiopia to sustain the growing needs of its developing population, the Afar continue to load up camels with bars of salt, cut out of the desiccated ground, to transport to the region of Tigray along the ancient caravan routes. Until modern times, the Afar region effectively served as Ethiopia’s Mint, producing the amoles—salt bars—that served as the main currency in the highlands. Credit: James Jeffrey/IPS

Beguiling mix: At Asaita the Awash River cuts a green swathe through the desert, evoking images of Egyptian pastures watered by the Nile. As the sun begins to set over Asaita, the muezzin can be heard calling the faithful to prayer, while electric lights start appearing in the sugar factory in the distance. It’s a striking impression of old and new, tradition and modernisation co-existing together. “Things are simpler here,” Yohannes, a young man in Logiya, says about the local way of life. Credit: James Jeffrey/IPS

Still embracing the low-tech way of life:
Despite Ethiopia undergoing great changes as it rapidly develops, the nomadic lifestyle lives on in Afar away from its urban centres. Afar men can be seen driving their precious camel herds alongside roads, or as small specks in the distance stretching out across the sands before finally disappearing in the hot horizon. Traveling around Ethiopia and the likes of the Afar can leave a visitor pondering what countries in the Global South might teach more developed countries rushing headlong into a high-tech-focused future about better balancing tradition and modernisation. Credit: James Jeffrey/IPS

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