Africa

The cause of the fire at Hillside Endarasha Primary in Nyeri county is being investigated, police tell local media.

Paran Women Group's executive director, Naiyan Kiplagat, is working in the forest. The group are passionate guardians of the environment and promoters of gender equality. Credit: Joyce Chimbi/IPS

By Joyce Chimbi
GREAT RIFT VALLEY, Kenya, Sep 6 2024 (IPS)

The Great Rift Valley is part of an intra-continental ridge system that runs through Kenya from north to south. A breathtaking, diverse mix of natural beauty that includes dramatic escarpments, highland mountains, cliffs and gorges, lakes and savannas. It is also home to one of Africa’s greatest wildlife reserves—the Maasai Mara National Reserve.

It is the 400,000 hectares of the Mau Forest Complex that give life to this wondrous natural phenomenon. Located about 170 kilometres north-west of Nairobi, this is the largest indigenous montane forest in East Africa. It is also the largest of the country’s five watersheds and a catchment area for 12 rivers that flow into five major lakes.

More than 10 million people depend on its rivers. Its magnificent portfolio of rare plants and animal species is unfortunately a magnet for illegal activities. Forest monitoring groups say a staggering 25 percent of the forest was lost between 1984 and 2020 and that overall, Mau Forest lost 19 percent of its tree cover—around 533 square kilometres—between 2001 and 2022.

“Paran Women Group is committed to restoring the Mau Forest. To stop the pace and severity of its destruction and degradation, we approached the government through the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) and were allowed access to 200 acres of the Maasai Mau Forest block, which is one of the 22 blocks that make the entire Mau Forest Complex. There are 280 water catchments inside the complex,” Naiyan Kiplagat, the executive director of the Paran Women Group told IPS.

“In January this year, we began our restoration efforts and have already covered 100 acres. At the moment, we have prepared 70,000 seedlings and intend to collect another 30,000 from women groups to reach our target of 100,000 tree seedlings, which will be planted once the rainy season begins to cover the remaining 100 acres.”

In Maa, a language spoken by the Maasai community, Paran means ‘come together to assist each other’. Paran Women Group is an organization comprised of women from the Maasai and Ogiek communities who are indigenous, minority ethnic groups.

Forest rangers working for the Kenya Forest Service are responsible for protecting Kenya’s forests. Paran Women Group are in a partnership with KFS to restore Maasai Mau Forest block. Credit: Joyce Chimbi/IPS

 

There are 280 water catchments inside the expansive Mau Forest Complex. These feed 12 rivers, which in turn feed five major lakes. Credit: Joyce Chimbi/IPS

The organization comprises 64 women groups and 3,718 members. United against dual marginalization and patriarchy, the group started small, in 2005 and continues to grow and expand their base and conservation activities.

Carrying the wisdom of their ancestors, they rely on indigenous knowledge and innovation in their conservation, afforestation, reforestation and all other land restoration efforts while promoting gender equality. Paran Women Resource centre is located in Eor Ewuaso, a remote rural village in the Ololunga location of Narok South sub-county, Narok County, in the Rift Valley.

The women hold a title deed to the expansive piece of land. A notable achievement in a minority community where women have little autonomy and land is owned and controlled by men. They have another seven satellite resource centres within the expansive counties geared towards giving women access to productive resources.

These centres are a hub of knowledge and activities to promote conservation and livelihood activities such as sustainable agriculture, beekeeping, beadwork and briquettes for energy-saving cooking to release pressure from the embattled Mau Forest. More than 617 households are already using efficient, energy-saving stoves.

“We are conservationists with a passion for gender equality. Gender-based violence is prevalent in indigenous communities, such as the outlawed Female Genital Mutilation and forced marriages. The most recent incidence was of a nine-year-old girl. We are marginalized as a community in general and worse, our culture has few rights for women and girls. We help children stay in school by paying school fees from our income-generating activities,” she says.

Patrick Lemanyan, a resident of Ololunga, says Paran women “rear and sell chicken and foods such as pumpkin, vegetables and sorghum. They also sell beadwork. Maasai beadwork is unique, beautiful and very marketable. In Nairobi, there is even the popular Maasai market for such beadwork and other Maasai items, such as sandals. The women here face no resistance from the community. We have suffered for many years from failed rainfall and we know that saving the forest is also about saving us as a community.”

Paran Women Resource Centre is located in Eor Ewuaso, a remote rural village in the Ololunga location of Narok South sub-county, Narok County, in Rift Valley. Credit: Joyce Chimbi/IPS

 

Some of the jewelry that the women at the Paran Women Group make. Credit: Joyce Chimbi/IPS

Naiyan says indigenous communities depend on natural resources such as forests, rivers and their biodiversity for their survival. The ongoing climate and biodiversity crises affect them the most as a community. Women have no assets and are therefore worse off.

“The Maasai’s are pastoralists. During prolonged dry seasons, a man will take all the livestock with him and move from place to place for even three years, leaving behind his wives and children. The family is left behind with nothing because women own nothing,” she says.

Naiyan, an Ogiek married to a Maasai, says the Ogiek have not faired any better. As hunters and gathers in an ecosystem that has been destroyed by human activity and climate change, they too are in a life-and-death situation and, are learning to pursue livelihood options outside of their indigenous lifestyle by keeping poultry for sale and farming. Men do not keep or concern themselves with poultry as it is considered beneath them. They keep large livestock such as cows and goats.

 

Originally pastoralists and hunters and gatherers, the Maasai and Ogiek have turned to sustainable agriculture as a climate adaptation mechanism. Credit: Joyce Chimbi/IPS

 

These are manyattas, Maasai traditional homes. Women from the Maasai and Ogiek communities have joined forces to save their native lands. Credit: Joyce Chimbi/IPS

 

“The role of indigenous groups and more so women, in environmental protection cannot be overemphasized. More so as women are able to combine conservation efforts with income-generating activities. They educate and support each other, and their children grow to school, breaking the debilitating cycle of poverty associated with minority groups due to historical injustices and inequalities,” says Vesca Ikenya, an educator in Gender and Natural Resources.

Stressing that “indigenous people and local communities bring on board indigenous knowledge and leadership that only they possess as custodians of their own lands and waters and have had intimate interactions with their ecosystems since time immemorial. Each generation preserves and passes on this knowledge to the next. When indigenous and local communities take lead in conservation efforts, they never get it wrong. They understand which species grew where and when.”

The Paran Women Group tree nursery is home to 27 indigenous species, including croton macrostacyus, syzygium cuminii, prunus African and Olea Africans. Of the 150,000 tree seedlings already planted this year, 112,500 have survived and are thriving.

According to 2021 International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs and International Labour Organization joint report, indigenous peoples were responsible for protecting an estimated 22 percent of the planet’s surface and 80 percent of biodiversity.

The Paran Women Group has not gone unnoticed and has won a series of international awards. In 2018, they received an award on rural survival from the World Women Foundation Summit; in 2020, they received the International Leadership Award from the International Indigenous Women’s Forum; last year, during the COP28 in the UAE, they received the Gender Justice Climate Solutions and are preparing to receive yet another international award in October 2024.

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

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Excerpt:

Between 2001 and 2022, the Mau Forest's deforestation resulted in the loss of about 533 square kilometers of tree cover. Now, a group of women, under the aegis of the Paran Women Group, are preparing to plant 100,000 saplings this rainy season in an effort to restore the forest.

Kmoin Walhang proudly sits next to her collection of certificates and citations that she has received after participating in several marathons. Credit: Courtesy Kmoin Walhang

By Diwash Gahatraj
SHNGIMALWLEIN, India, Sep 6 2024 (IPS)

Kmoin Wahlang, a 76-year-old woman, starts her running training every morning at 4 a.m. Dressed in track pants, a jacket, and running shoes, she sets out to navigate the hilly terrain of the small village of Shngimawlein in the southwest Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya, a state in northeastern India.

Even before dawn, despite the lingering darkness, Wahlang begins her run on the muddy ground of her village. As the early morning light casts a warm glow over the rolling green hills of the district, her pace exudes control and confidence, the result of several years of dedication to running.

“I love running; it’s very liberating,” she tells IPS.

Walhang belongs to the indigenous Khasi tribe of the region and says, “I run for two hours each morning until 6 a.m. and do another two-hour session in the evening as part of my preparation for an upcoming running event in Australia.”

The septuagenarian, who is a mother of 12, grandmother of 54, and great-grandmother of six, will represent India at the Pan Pacific Masters Games in November. This 10-day event held in the Australian city of Gold Coast features competitions in over 40 sports.

Participants compete in their respective age groups without needing to meet qualifying standards or times. The Indian super granny will participate in multiple long-distance running events, including the 800 meters, 1,500 meters, 3,000 meters, and 10 kilometers races. Kmoin Walhang is likely India’s oldest woman long-distance runner.

Kmoin Walhang before her marathon run. Courtesy of Run Meghalaya

Dreams Flourish Late

As a young girl, she played football as a goalkeeper. “Sports were something I always loved—but due to poor family conditions and a lack of opportunities, I never had the chance to pursue them at the right age,” she says. Walhang began running at seventy, an age when most people avoid extreme physical activity.

Married in 1968 at the age of 20, she put her family first, pushing her dream of being an athlete to the background.

“It was my fifth son, Trolin, who is also a marathon runner, who inspired me to start running,” Walhang says.

As she aged, she started suffering from gastric and breathing problems. However, through running and training, she healed her ailments.

“Running did for me what no doctor could. It fixed me,” Walhang reveals.

When she’s not running marathons, the septuagenarian cares for her paralyzed husband, who has been bedridden for the last few years after a stroke. She supports her family by farming, cultivating paddy and seasonal vegetables on her small farmlands scattered across the hilly terrain near her home.

Walhang has participated in over 40 marathons across the country, including both state-level and national-level events. However, when she first started running, people in her community laughed at her. “People in my village thought I had gone mad to run at my age,” she says with a chuckle.

Habari Warjri, co-founder of Run Meghalaya, an organization that promotes running among people from all walks of life and helps runners secure government and other sponsorships, says, “We noticed Walhang running when they organized the Mawkyrwat Ultra Marathon in her village of Shngimawlein from 2017 to 2019.”

Running Without Borders 

Habari and her husband Gerald, both avid runners, have assisted several long-distance runners from the district who come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds in participating in national marathons outside their state.

“Kong Kmoin was one such runner whom we helped secure government support for, enabling her to compete in various marathons across the country,” says Habari. In Khasi, “Kong” means sister and is used to address women.

“She is able to go to Australia because she participated in the Nationals for Masters athletes held in Hyderabad,” Habari adds.

Run Meghalaya did help Walhang to participate in the Hyderabad event by providing her with government sponsorship.

Mawkyrwat, located in the South West Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya, is characterized by hilly terrain, steep slopes, and deep valleys. It enjoys a cool, temperate climate with lush greenery.

In fact, Meghalaya—literally translated as “abode of clouds”—provides an ideal environment for long-distance runners due to its favorable temperatures, says Biningstar Lyngkhoi, the district-level athletic coach who has been training Walhang for the past three years. Despite its scenic beauty, the district relies on the state capital, Shillong, for essential training resources and facilities, situated 75 kilometers away.

“I take Kong Kmoin to Shillong twice a week so she can practice on running tracks,” informs Coach Lyngkhoi.  The state’s sports department has sponsored Walhang to and fro tickets to Australia, he adds.

Lyngkhoi says that Mawkyrwat, the district headquarters town, has a vibrant running culture where people love to run.

“There are close to 100 runners who compete professionally and participate in regional and national marathons. About half of them are over the age of 40, but Kong Kmoin is special,” he says. “At 76, she still has the ability to sustain physical effort over long periods, which is crucial for a marathoner. She also possesses the mental toughness to stay focused while running long distances.”

Lyngkhoi, who represented India as a marathon runner in the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, believes that Walhang’s journey as a marathon runner embodies the spirit of passion, inspiring not only her community in southwest Khasi Hills but also people across India and beyond. Despite the challenges of age and limited resources, she motivates athletes of all ages.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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By CIVICUS
Sep 5 2024 (IPS)

 
CIVICUS discusses the recent wave of protests against gender-based violence (GBV) in India with Dr Kavitha Ravi, a member of the Indian Medical Association (IMA).

Protests erupted across India after a 31-year-old female medical trainee was raped and murdered in a Kolkata hospital on 9 August. The IMA called a strike, with protests held in major cities including Kolkata and Mumbai. While the official strike has ended, many doctors, particularly junior doctors, remain on strike and protests continue to demand justice, accountability and safer working conditions for women.

Kavitha Ravi

What triggered the recent protests against GBV in India?

Protests erupted after the tragic rape and murder of a young female doctor at the R G Kar Medical College in Kolkata on 9 August. This horrific incident shocked the nation and sparked widespread outrage. In response, a coalition of doctors, medical associations such as the IMA and various resident and faculty associations joined together in a nationwide strike to demand justice for the victim and better safety measures for health workers, particularly women who face significant risks in the workplace.

Protesters are calling for major reforms, including the adoption of a Hospital Protection Act, which would designate hospitals as safe zones and introduce measures to create a safer environment for health workers. Their demands are part of a larger movement to comprehensively address GBV, prevent similar tragedies in the future and create a safer and more supportive working environment for everyone in the health sector.

What steps have been taken so far to ensure justice and the safety of female health workers?

The judicial system has acted swiftly by transferring the case to a higher authority to ensure a thorough investigation after concerns were raised about the police’s initial inquiry, which was not accepted by the students or the victim’s family. They were sceptical, believing the police might be favouring the college authorities and supporting the accused.

This decision aims to ensure a detailed investigation so justice can be done. The Supreme Court of India is also overseeing the case to monitor its progress, address any issues that may arise and ensure all necessary steps are taken to uphold justice.

In parallel, several initiatives are underway to improve the safety of female health workers. The Ministry of Health has proposed establishing a committee to review and improve safety protocols in health facilities. There are also plans to increase security in hospitals and establish a new national taskforce dedicated to improving safety through better infrastructure, advanced technology and additional security measures. However, despite these efforts, more needs to be done to combat GBV and ensure that these measures effectively protect female health workers.

How have the authorities responded to the protests?

The authorities have taken a mixed approach to the nationwide strike, combining concessions with new measures to address immediate concerns. The Health Ministry has drawn up a detailed plan to increase security in central government hospitals. This includes installing high-resolution CCTV cameras, monitoring access points with identification badges, deploying trained security personnel for constant patrolling and securing duty rooms for female staff. Hospitals are also encouraged to develop and regularly update emergency response plans and conduct mock drills.

In response to these measures, the IMA suspended its strike. However, other doctors’ associations have continued to protest for more substantial reforms. Many people remain dissatisfied, particularly after recent incidents of police violence. While the Supreme Court’s intervention may have temporarily eased the tensions, protesters remain concerned about the new measures’ effectiveness and full implementation.

Why is GBV so prevalent in India, and what’s being done about it?

Deep-rooted cultural, social, economic and legal factors account for the high prevalence of GBV in India. This is a patriarchal country where traditional gender roles and the subjugation of women are deeply entrenched. Women tend to be economically dependent on men, which traps them in abusive relationships that make it difficult for them to seek help or escape. Intergenerational cycles of violence perpetuate the problem, as children who witness or experience abuse may come to see such behaviour as normal.

Low literacy rates, particularly in rural areas, further limit women’s understanding of their rights and the available support. When they do seek justice, the system often fails to protect the victims or hold perpetrators accountable. Systemic failures in law enforcement and justice help perpetuate GBV.

Many initiatives and campaigns have helped highlight and address this issue. But it has not been easy. A lack of consistent political will and weak implementation of policies have hindered substantial change. Feminist and social justice movements often face resistance from conservative parts of society, making it difficult to change these deeply entrenched cultural norms.

To combat GBV effectively, we need a comprehensive approach that includes better education, legal reform, economic empowerment and cultural change. Civil society organisations are at the forefront of this fight, actively advocating for stronger laws, better enforcement and increased public awareness. Continued and robust efforts are essential to address this widespread problem and ensure meaningful change.

Civic space in India is rated ‘repressed’ by the CIVICUS Monitor.

Get in touch with the Indian Medical Association through its website or Facebook page, and follow @IMAIndiaOrg on Twitter.

 

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A nuclear test is carried out on an island in French Polynesia in 1971. In 2009 the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 29 August the International Day Against Nuclear Tests. Credit: CTBTO

By Dennis Francis
UNITED NATIONS, Sep 5 2024 (IPS)

Today, the General Assembly convenes – for the fifteenth consecutive occasion – to observe the International Day Against Nuclear Tests, which is commemorated annually on 29 August.

On this day, 33 years ago, the Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site in Kazakhstan – where the former Soviet Union conducted 456 nuclear tests – was permanently closed, marking a pivotal moment in the global effort to end unrestrained nuclear testing.

We observe this Day in honor and in remembrance of the victims, and in support of all the survivors – mindful of our collective responsibility to ensure that our moral compass stays attuned to the enduring impact of nuclear testing on people’s lives, livelihoods, health, and the environment.

Importantly, it is a day to reaffirm our commitment to ending nuclear testing – once and for all.

Despite the progress made to date – and the universal understanding of the existential dangers posed by nuclear weapons – the threat they pose still looms unacceptably large, exacerbated by a world once again torn apart by conflict and strife.

Geopolitical tensions are at their highest in decades – from Europe to the Middle East, from Africa to Asia. As a result, the global nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime faces significant setbacks.

In recent years, we have witnessed the return of dangerous, irresponsible, and reckless rhetoric – suggesting that the real risk of resort to nuclear arms may, once again, not be a far-fetched reality; be it intentionally or by accident.

We have also heard talk of maintaining the readiness of nuclear testing sites – with the possibility of resuming nuclear tests if deemed necessary.

We have even seen a nuclear-armed State revoke its ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. I am deeply concerned by these developments – as it seems that we have not yet learned from the painful lessons of the past.

I am deeply troubled by the message these actions send to all other nations – perhaps even emboldening some to reconsider their arms control commitments, thus further endangering global peace and security.

It is our collective responsibility to ensure that we do not turn back the clock and allow the same mistakes to occur once more – with even graver consequences. With even graver consequences.

The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) remains our best safety net to ensure that nuclear testing stays where it belongs – in the past. Since its adoption in 1996, the CTBT has garnered near-universal international support.

It is encouraging that, to date, 187 Member States have signed the treaty, and 178 have ratified it. I commend Papua New Guinea as the most recent Member State to ratify the treaty in 2023. The treaty’s benefits to international peace and security are evident in the numbers.

Before 1996, over two thousand nuclear weapons tests were conducted; and since then, there have been fewer than a dozen.

However – in the face of heightened geopolitical tensions – we cannot take anything for granted.

I take this opportunity to urge all Member States that have not yet signed or ratified the treaty to do so without delay – particularly the Annex 2 States, whose ratifications are essential for the treaty’s entry into force.

As I conclude, it is worth emphasizing that history reminds us of the horrors of war and the tragic misuse of human ingenuity to create even more lethal weapons.

And nuclear arms stand as the ultimate manifestation of this dark legacy.

Complacency in the face of these threats risk nothing less than the end of civilization as we know it. Now – more than ever – we must reaffirm our commitment to upholding and enforcing the norm against nuclear testing.

Any threats, preparations, or declarations of readiness to resume testing demand our united and unequivocal condemnation. And should any such tests occur, they must be met with swift and decisive collective action.

The time to end nuclear tests – once and for all – is now, not tomorrow, but NOW.

This article is based on remarks by the President of the General Assembly, Dennis Francis, at the High-level plenary meeting of the General Assembly to commemorate and promote the International Day against Nuclear Tests.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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The 33-year-old Ugandan had been doused in petrol and set on fire by a former boyfriend.

Eswatini officials dismiss allegations the marriage is a political arrangement.

By Anis Chowdhury, Khalilur Rahman and Ziauddin Hyder
SYDNEY, NEW YORK, WASHINGTON DC, Sep 4 2024 (IPS)

The White Paper on the state of Bangladesh’s economy will include a review of “smuggled money”, according to the head of the committee, Debapriya Bhattacharya, entrusted to prepare the White Paper.

Anis Chowdhury

We strongly endorse this initiative given the huge scale of stolen assets, but it must not end with a review. It should be accompanied and followed up by vigorous actions to bring back the assets stolen during the fifteen years of despotic rule of the deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Previously Bhattacharya referred to the issue of bringing back siphoned money as “a complex issue”; but this should not dampen the resolve to strongly pursue this important matter. It will likely take many years of sustained efforts to repatriate a significant portion of such assets and the current interim government led by Professor Muhammad Yunus should put in place an action plan supported by necessary mechanisms, including international cooperation arrangements, which would be continuously pursued over the coming years. Strong and sustained political will be critical to the success of these efforts.

Bangladesh can learn from other countries in in its pursuit of recovering stolen assets.

Success cases: A positive trend
It is encouraging that despite complexities and difficulties, there have been cases of significant success based on international cooperation. Over US$10 billion of stolen assets have been returned between 1997 and 2023. Since its inception in 2007, the UN-World Bank joint “Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative” (STaR), helped recover close to US$2 billion stolen assets.

Khalilur Rahman

There has been a significant increase in the value of corruption-related assets recovered since 2019, driven partly by large asset returns to Malaysia related to the 1MDB scandal. Increasingly countries are signing agreements and publishing information on corruption-related asset returns. Examples include:

• In January 2024, a court in the US ruled that stolIn 2020, the US and Jersey returned US$311 million to Nigeria, traced back to former president Sani Abacha
• By 2004 the Philippines was able to repatriate US$683 million of Ferdinand Marcos money held in Swiss Bank accounts;
• Between August 2001 and 2004, Peru recovered nearly over US$180 million stolen by Vladimiro Montesinos from several jurisdictions such as Switzerland, Cayman Islands and the US;
• Between 2005 and 2006, Nigeria recovered US$505 million of the Sani Abacha money frozen and forfeited by Swiss authorities;
• en assets worth £6.9m should be returned to Nigeria;
• In 2022, the US transferred over US$20.6 million to Nigeria, traceable to the kleptocracy of former Nigerian Dictator General Sani Abacha and his co-conspirators;
• In 2021, the UK returned £4.2 million to Nigeria related to former Governor of Delta State James Ibori and his associates;
• In 2021, the UK returned around £450,000 to Moldova, forfeited from the son of Moldova’s former prime minister, Vladimir Filat;
• In 2006, British authorities returned US$1.9 million to Nigeria illicitly gained by Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, governor of the oil-rich Bayelsa state in Nigeria.
• In 2007, the US and Switzerland repatriated US$84 million to Kazakhstan

As of year-end 2020, the Philippine government recovered P174.2 billion in Marcos ill-gotten wealth and as of 2021, 35 years since the people power revolution, the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) that Cory Aquino established, has been running after P125.9 billion more in ill-gotten wealth from the Marcos family.

Ziauddin Hyder

It took more than three decades for the Philippines to recover a significant amount of its assets stolen by Marcos and his family. Nevertheless, the Philippines case demonstrates the political will to persist and doggedness in pursuit of ill-gotten money. The PCGG is housed proudly in a building recovered from the Marcos family. In 2023, it received government budget of ₱166.47 million (US$2.95 million). Its staff have traced money through jurisdictions all over the world and fought their way through hundreds of court cases.

Nigeria and Peru have taken an average of five years to achieve successes. This reflects improvements in the processes and increased international efforts as well as cooperation in recent years.

Haiti cannot be Bangladesh’s role model
The main challenge is the weakening of political will to continue pursuing illicit assets as it happened in post-Jean Claude Duvalier Haiti. The Duvalier case has been a slow and laborious process taking decades to unfold.

Haiti’s lack of political will was highlighted in 1989 by an attorney working on Duvalier’s case on behalf of the Haitian government. According to The New York Times, despite sending twenty-five requests for assistance to Haitian officials regarding cases in New York, by September 1988, Haiti’s government had “inexplicably stopped cooperating—and, not so incidentally, stopped paying its legal bills.”

Renewed asset recovery efforts in the US by the Haitian government of President Aristide yielded only minimal results, with the most well-known being the recovery of US$350,000 from Duvalier’s wife’s account at the Bank of New York.

Some believe that, had Haiti not dropped the original Duvalier asset recovery, the Haitian government could have recovered between US$25 and US$75 million by 1990. However, the resulting debacle left Duvalier free and the majority of his assets untouched. Meanwhile, Haiti had to face a US$1.2 million legal bill and with justice denied.

Why Bangladesh must persist
Notwithstanding complexities, in recent years there have been significant successes due to enhanced law enforcement tools and improved international cooperation from well-meaning countries and financial centres. These help the fight against corruption and impunity.

Recovering stolen assets should not be focused simply on money. It must also be seen as a tool of deterrence as well as fighting the impunity. Stolen asset recovery serves three distinct purposes: (i) recovering monies to fund governments programmes, especially helping the victims of the fallen regime;(ii) providing a semblance of justice for victims of a political culture of impunity; and (iii) deterring officials and politically connected elites from engaging in corruption.

Therefore, the efforts to bring back lost assets should not be regarded as a stand-alone undertaking; but should become an integral part of the agenda of reforming the state so that incentives and opportunities of siphoning off scarce resources are effectively removed.

Anis Chowdhury, Emeritus Professor, Western Sydney University (Australia) & former Director of UN-ESCAP’s Macroeconomic Policy & Development Division.

Khalilur Rahman, former head of economic, social and development affairs at the Executive Office of the UN Secretary-General; former head of UNCTAD’s Technology Division and Trade Analysis Branch and its New York Office.

Ziauddin Hyder, Former Director Research BRAC and Adjunct Professor, University of the Philippines at Los Banos

IPS UN Bureau

 

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