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Phlida Kharshala of Meghalaya's Khasi indigenous community and her 8-year-old grandson sell mushrooms in Shillong city, India. Credit: Manipadma Jena/IPS

By Manipadma Jena
SHILLONG, India, Oct 29 2019 (IPS)

The sun has barely risen when Phlida Kharshala shakes her 8-year-old grandson awake. He hoists an empty cone-shaped bamboo basket on his back, sets the woven strap flat across his forehead and off they go into the wilderness.

By the time they reach the V-crossing at Mawpat Circle, mothers are walking children to school, while others are on their morning walk. They are all Kharshala’s prospective customers.  She quickly lays and smoothens a tattered sackcloth on the asphalt and out come mushrooms from the cone basket. Raw sienna, purple-grey, snow white, dried white, funnel shaped – jostling in tiny heaps.

“Come post-monsoon it’s mushroom time,” the 60-year old grandmother of six tells IPS in this street corner of Shillong city — perched 1,525 metres above sea level in the Indian Himalaya’s north-east Meghalaya State.

“In my childhood women and girls would sally out in large groups singing loudly in the dawn to forage for mushrooms and many other wild greens, berries and roots, and the forests gave us plentifully,” the Khasi indigenous community matriarch explains.

Khasi women see the climate crisis as already upon us and are determined to not only bring back their traditional cuisine but also the wild edibles that made their sustainable food system so nutritious, chemical-free and virtually free of cost.

India’s northeastern region is one of the richest in biodiversity with vegetation ranging from a tropical rain forest in the foothills to Alpine meadows and cold deserts.

A little Khasi tribal boy peeks from behind a large variety of pickled chilly pepper, chopped bamboo-shoots, wild fruits and berries being sold along Assam to Meghalaya highway, northeastern India, as his mother attends to buyers. Credit: Manipadma Jena/IPS

“Older Khasi women’s knowledge about local agro-ecology is phenomenal,” says Bhogtoram Mawroh, senior researcher and knowledge manager at North East Slow Food and Agrobiodiversity Society (NESFAS), a Shillong–based organisation that runs multi-pronged programmes to enhance sustainability of local agro-biodiversity and supports family farmers, with the ultimate goal of achieving food sovereignty.

“Traditional ecological knowledge is equally important to modern science,” Mawroh tells IPS.  “Indigenous food systems are a good way to deal with the climate crisis because there is diversity of land and diversity of food crops not only the ones we grow but those that are in the wild, they have survived for hundreds of years and are more resilient to climate stress than the farmed crops,” he adds.

While generally dryland crops, krai  — or millets in the local Khasi language — are the heritage food of the indigenous people. It flourishes in Meghalaya’s heavy monsoons. Forty years back, each household in the Nongtraw village in East Khasi Hills district used to get an yield of around 500 kilograms annually, assuring food as well as nutritional security.

“Indigenous women too have been growing local crops, collecting and using variety of food and medicinal plants from forests. They are the seed keeper, the knowledge repositories of agro-ecology, best equipped to manage food security in tiles of climate change,” Mawroh says. Several of the wild foods have been successfully domesticated by women family farmers, he adds.

In Shkenpyrsit village in the West Jantia Hills district, recently Phron Kassar a 52-year-old woman farmer and a traditional healer concocted a strong pesticide from a plant the local community has been using for generations as a toothache cure. It has local anaesthetic properties, so Kassar deduced pests would not be particularly drawn to it if applied on plants. Now she trains others to make the concoction.

In other seasons Kharshala sells wild, hand-picked leafy greens; Jatira (Oenathe linearis) and Centella (Centilla Asiatica) which she sells tied in handful bundles with forest vines side by side with homestead-grown spinach (Spinacia Oleraca).

“These make my grandchildren strong and able to climb hills without tiring, but the youngsters are keener on non-traditional spicy, fried food they see on television and in markets today,” the Khasi grandmother says regretfully.

Jatira is rich in Calcium (24 milligram per 100 gram), Potassium (85mg) and Sodium (3mg) the latter two help prevent hypertension and arteriosclerosis and helping normal functioning of cardiac muscles and blood coagulation. Likewise Centella leaves that grandmother Kharshala sells, contains 15 mg of iron per 100 grams while the more widely used spinach contains just 3mg.

To bring back the traditional indigenous cuisine into favour with the youth, NASFES has begun monthly Mei Ramew or the Mother Earth local-food farmers market where women growers sell local fruits, vegetables, wild edible plants and other food while dishing out delicious recipes like blood rice – a cereal dish with chicken or pig blood or local strawberry dessert.

Also springing up are Mei Ramew Cafés  in villages set up by indigenous women who still cook traditionally. NESFAS is working with six Mother Earth cafes and their partners are working with three more. The society is also working with other shops that do not necessarily sell indigenous food — ones that mostly sell rice, meat, tea and usual packaged snacks — to upgrade their offerings.

“These are our efforts to advocate for our ancient chemical-free, healthy, local food,” Mawroh says.

“If we don’t have forests around our villages, our diets and our food won’t be there,” environmentalists in Meghalaya say.

In Khweng, a village in Meghalaya’s Ri-Bhoi district a boiling smoked beef aroma wafts in the air. Plantina Mujai (35) has already cooked the Jadoh Lungseij – Bamboo-shoot rice, a traditional late-monsoon staple that is harvested when bamboo shoots are abundantly sprouting in forest and farm hedges, that will be served with the beef. 

Hungry farm workers wait impatiently as Mujai adds pumpkin and wild Taro leaves, string beans to the now tender beef quickly stir-fried on high flames with sliced onion, ginger paste and a dash of black pepper.

At Dial Nuktieh’s Mother Earth Café in the same village rural customers ask for dry fermented fish boiled with luscious Roselle leaves plucked fresh from the wild, and garnished with black sesame powder.

Mother Earth Cafés — also known as Kong shops — are fast coming up in rural Meghalaya. Set up and run by indigenous women to popularise traditional cooking with traditional local ingredients, they are growing in popularity.

Kharshala cooks up a mouthwatering dish she loved as a child in order to entice her grandchildren to eat the greens, which the NESFAS survey found is sorely lacking even in adult diets in Meghalaya.

Adding onion, ginger and garlic paste and a dash of red chilly to hot oil, she fries them to a golden brown. Next some preserved smoked beef goes in while she finely chops healthy handfuls of jatira and jalei leaves stirring till the greens merge with the beef and the kids do not notice or object to it.

The Indian government’s 2019 Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment for the Indian Himalayan identifies three major drivers of vulnerability to climate change in Meghalaya. With 80 percent of livelihoods depending on agriculture, yield variability is a major risk especially because half the population lives below the poverty line.

Degradation and fragmentation of forests adds to their vulnerability as forest food constitutes a large supplement both in terms of income and nutrition.

“Discouraging shifting cultivation locally called ‘jhum’, the government is pushing indigenous people towards cash crops like areca nut and broom grass, hitting food security,” Mawroh says.

Researchers have now established that the food system contributes substantially to climate change.

Apart from deforestation, the biggest causes of agricultural greenhouse gas emissions globally are the use of fertilisers and rearing livestock, in the form of methane and nitrous oxide. Food miles in terms of transportation, refrigeration and packaging adds to the environmental impact from what we choose to put on our plate, according to Slow Food, a Piedmont-based global, grassroots organisation, that works to prevent the disappearance of local food cultures and traditions, combat people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from and how food choices affect the world around us.

The key to the solution say experts involves spreading the concept of zero food miles, where farmers and food producers sell their food to local consumers, tap into local biodiversity and grow chemical-free. All of which the indigenous women of Meghalaya are fighting to put in place within their families and community and beat climate change.

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The post Mother Earth’s Café Dares Climate Crises in India appeared first on Inter Press Service.

US lawmakers tell the planemaker they fear it put profit over safety when getting the 737 Max approved.

Inaugural Meeting of the Global Investors for Sustainable Development Alliance, 16 October 2019. Credit: UN Photo/Mark Garten|

By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 29 2019 (IPS)

A Republican US Senator of a bygone era was once quoted as saying “a billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you’re talking about real money.”

And, not surprisingly, at the UN, when it comes to the implementation of its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the financial targets keep moving – from millions into billions, and eventually from billions into trillions of dollars.

At a ministerial meeting in September, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres thanked member states for their pledges and commitments at three high-level summit meetings: on Climate Action, on SDGs and on Financing for Development (FfD).

“But to make serious progress,” he told the ministers, “we need to fill the financing gap for SDGs—some $1.5 trillion dollars per annum.”

According to the 2014 World Investment Report by the Geneva-based UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the financing gap to achieve the SDGs in developing countries is even higher — and estimated to be around $2.5 – $3.0 trillion per year.

The SDGs include the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger, universal health care, quality education, clean water and sanitation and a green economy, among others– to be achieved worldwide by a 2030 deadline.

At the same time, Guterres has said there is a need to replenish the Green Climate Fund (GCF) to meet the commitment to mobilize $100 billion per year for climate action, including mitigation and adaptation in developing countries, by next year.

But at the GCF Pledging Conference in Paris October 24-25, 27 rich nations pledged only $9.8 billion to the Fund.

And one of the world’s richest nations – the United States—made no pledges, and is unlikely to do so, since it is planning to withdraw from the 2015 Paris Climate Change agreement.

But with deliveries falling short of pledges, off and on, Guterres is looking for concrete commitments.

In his annual report for 2019, the secretary-general was unequivocally clear that “at the current pace, we will not reach our targets” –unless there is much greater urgency and ambition, including enhanced international cooperation, private-public partnerships, adequate financing and innovative solutions.

With a huge shortfall in funding, he has now turned to the world’s business and private sector for investments.

On October 16, Guterres launched the Global Investors for Sustainable Development (GISD) Alliance, described as “a UN’s first-of-its-kind grouping comprising 30 high-powered business leaders from all over the world.”

https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2019/10/gisd-alliance/

In an interview with IPS, Navid Hanif, Director, Financing for Sustainable Development Office at the UN’s Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), said these are men and women who have responded to the Secretary-General’s challenge to find ways to rapidly and significantly increase the private sector’s contribution to addressing sustainable development, including achieving the SDGs.

Essentially, he pointed out, the Alliance will help provide leadership in mobilizing resources from the private sector for sustainable development.

Asked why an alliance was needed, he said: “ I can do no better to explain it than the GISD Alliance Members themselves, who issued a Joint Statement at the official launch at the UN. ”

They said that investment in SDGs “is not happening at the required scale or speed. While investment into sustainable development has become increasingly important, there is more work to be done to bring this long-term and inclusive approach into the mainstream.”

They went further, adding: “Businesses need to develop local solutions and projects; investors need to step up their support with financing; and policy makers need to set an enabling framework,” said Hanif.
These are powerful statements by the world’s top investors and banks. By articulating so clearly what this challenge has been, they have also set out to answer the questions of how can this status quo change, and how can it be done as soon as possible?

Excerpts from the interview:

IPS: With the Secretary-General frequently appealing to the private sector to play a constructive role in helping implement the SDGs, what’s the track record of big corporations and international banks. Have they substantially contributed towards achieving any of the UN’s goals?

NH: Many – for example Citigroup, Standard Chartered Bank, Enel, and ICBC – are involved in major sustainable infrastructure projects, including in developing countries. In fact, most of the CEOs in the Alliance are engaged in other UN initiatives, and they are coming together under the GISD umbrella to go above and beyond.

But the Alliance has also been formed in acknowledgment of the fact that without a scaling up of finance and investment from the private sector, including big banks, pension funds, and other investors, the Global Goals will not be achieved, because what is available from public sources will not be enough.

IPS: Last month a coalition of civil society organizations (CSOs) said the UN provided an exposed stage at the summits for millionaires and numerous representatives of transnational corporations. but the last few decades have shown that the market-based solutions these corporate actors have propagated have not solved the global crises, but rather aggravated them. Is this a realistic assessment?.

NH: The UN of course is very inclusive, precisely because this is how it is constituted. The annual General Debate brings together the highest level of representation from each country – Heads of State, Heads of Government. One of the strengths of the UN is its unparalleled convening power to assemble people at the top of the various sectors in the world, from top economists to billionaires, and putting them in the same room to try to address issues of global concern.

I think I would be more optimistic than to say this has been a failure. Far from it. What we are seeing increasingly is an acknowledgement by the business community that the success of their business is inextricably linked to sustainable development, and to considerations of economic and social good.

For example, there was a recent statement by the Business Round Table that companies should deliver value to all stakeholders – including employees and customers – and not just shareholders. They know it is now critical that companies follow up on this promise and deliver concrete actions.

But we have acknowledged that the pace and scale of change are not commensurate with the level required to achieve the SDGs. That is why we are using all possible avenues to accelerate action.

IPS: How are they planning to get this done?

NH: As a first step, the Alliance has agreed on six broad commitments expressed in the Joint Statement. Taken together, these commitments relate to a) finding solutions to scale up long-term finance and investment for sustainable development; b) channeling this to countries and sectors where they are most needed; and c) enhancing the sustainable development impact of these investments.

A concrete action of this newly formed Alliance will be to focus on the investment opportunities in the developing world. As you know, the SDGs apply to every country, but undoubtedly it is the poorest and most vulnerable people and communities which are most in need of the kind of investment the Alliance is attempting to scale up.

Those are the countries in which the 2030 Agenda is most off track, due to conflicts, the climate crisis, gender-based violence, and persistent inequalities. We know what to scale up.

Every day at the UN we hear new stories about sustainable solutions working on the ground. The Alliance is committed to making sure that these solutions go to where they are most needed.

One challenge they will face within their own respective business sectors, is that of short-termism: that is, the tendency, based on current trends, corporate incentive structures, and shareholder expectations, to expect big returns on a quarter by quarter basis, rather than looking down the road to years.

Most of the investments needed for fulfilling SDG targets – such as in infrastructure, including roads, water, sanitation, health and education – require a much more long-term perspective. But they have recognized the need to move from a perspective of just shareholders, to stakeholders.

They said: “We, as GISD Alliance, pledge to scale-up and speed-up our efforts to align business with the SDGs. We recognize that achieving this ambitious plan for the future is not for one stakeholder, but for all stakeholders.”

IPS: How realistic is it to believe that businesses and private entities will contribute to the SDG financing gap? Is the SG expecting significant amounts of altruistic investments? Will the ROI be worth it to the private sector? Over how long?

NH: This is not altruism at all. Good business practice is not at all incompatible with interest in saving the planet, climate action, the environment, and the economic, social, and governance factors that support a well-functioning global economy.

These 30 business leaders recognize that the continued success of their businesses and corporations is inextricably linked to a sustainable future for the world. For example, businesses must have an educated workforce, so investment in schools and public education is necessary.

Workers, clients & customers must be healthy, so investment in clean water and adequate sanitation is both necessary and makes good business sense. This is increasingly being talked about in the business world – for example, by the Business Round Table.

They recognize that we are an interconnected and interdependent world, and their continued success depends on lifting others from poverty, ill-health, lack of education, and in saving the world from the brink of climate disaster.

One thing we can be sure of is that failing to meet the targets of the SDGs will cost everybody on the planet, rich or poor. As usual, unfortunately, the poorest will suffer most, but no one will be exempt in the long run.

Already we see this in coastal communities, for example, which are on the frontline of the climate crisis. Poor people have their homes destroyed by the latest Category 5 hurricane, and so do rich people.

The members of the Alliance recognize this and are committed to putting considerable muscle, and especially their collective convening power, behind ensuring that their colleagues in business around the world will both recognize and act on this reality. They will help to create an environment that rewards long-term investment.

IPS: What do you see as long-term benefits, in addition to the scale up of resources going to the 2030 Agenda?

NH: I think the biggest benefit will be the creation of an enabling environment for long-term investment in sustainable development. These would involve policies and regulations and also the development of long-term benchmarks and metrics and an appropriate financial infrastructure that promotes long-termism.

We would also have readily available data about what instruments work best, and investors would be able to see who and what to trust to ensure their money is targeting sustainable development, with the best chance of return on investment.

IPS: Isn’t that a tall order?

NH: No doubt—but not impossible. These are successful men and women in their own right who are committing themselves to action, not talk, and we and they are confident this venture will succeed.

The same concerns that we in the UN have about people and planet, so well-articulated in the SDGs and the 2030 Agenda, are shared by these global investors, and are now driving them to seize both the challenge and the opportunities involved in helping to create a world that works for all of us, including the most vulnerable. That is very good news.

The post UN Turns to Global Investors for Billions Needed for its 2030 Development Agenda appeared first on Inter Press Service.

By Jomo Kwame Sundaram and Anis Chowdhury
KUALA LUMPUR and SYDNEY, Oct 29 2019 (IPS)

Industrial policy refers to the promotion of new investments and technology by governments to encourage the growth and development of specific economic sectors. However, scepticism persists about the feasibility and desirability of using industrial policy, especially of the ability to ‘pick winners’, often accused of leading to ‘propping-up failing industries’.

Jomo Kwame Sundaram

The debate over industrial policy has arguably been among the most ideological and contentious in the history of economics. Sometimes, the same evidence is cited in support of opposing industry policy positions.

However, differences in opinion on the desirability of industrial policy are not simply ideological. They are also due to genuine differences in theoretical and related perspectives as well as perceptions and interpretations of particularly influential experiences.

For many, industrial policy only refers to promoting manufacturing activity because of its special features, advantages and benefits – especially in terms of its potential employment, productivity and linkages — compared to agriculture and services.

Others insist that industrial policy should be ‘general’ (or ‘functional’ or ‘horizontal’), rather than ‘selective’ (‘sectoral’ or ‘vertical). They argue that the state should concentrate on providing education, infrastructure and other public goods, not only because of their ostensibly general benefits, but also because they are likely to be under-provided by the market.

Historically, and even now, industrial policy has been used by developed countries. For instance, the US and even Britain have historically had much higher degrees of protectionism compared to developing countries in recent decades, even before trade liberalization.

Now, although industrial policy is back on the agenda of developed countries, by restricting trade policy interventions, preferential finance and technology transfer agreements, developed countries are, in effect, ‘taking away the ladder’ for others, both developing countries and ‘transition economies’, seeking to accelerate economic transformation and growth.

Renewed interest
Industrial policy was dismissed as heretical, ‘ideological’ and passé, with the ascendance of neo-liberalism promoted by policy conditionalities for emergency credit support from the Bretton Woods institutions (BWIs) – the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.

Anis Chowdhury

Their so-called ‘Washington Consensus’ cast industrial policy in a bad light; instead, they insisted on market-oriented policies, ostensibly based on international specialization determined by comparative advantage. Nevertheless, debates continue over notions of comparative advantage, however unconventional, e.g., ‘dynamic’ comparative advantage.

Recent renewed interest (see OECD) in industrial policy is partly due to growing incontrovertible evidence that both developed and developing economies thus accelerated economic progress. Also, failed industrial development in much of the developing world and deindustrialization in Africa, after more than three decades of neo-liberal policies, have prompted such reconsideration.

There is now grudging recognition, particularly after the spectacular progress of several fast growing East Asian economies, including China, that industrial policy — both investment and technology measures — has been crucial to their development successes.

Plurilateral organizations of developed economies, such as the OECD, which previously argued against industrial policy, now concede the role and potential of industrial policy for sustainable development, seeking to influence the debate for their own ends.

Even the World Bank has begun to operationalize ‘building competitive industries’, i.e., industrial policy by another name. However, its emphasis tends to be on ‘horizontal’ or ‘general’ industrial policy, eschewing more pragmatic and feasible selective promotion.

Implementation key
While some economic activities may help achieve particular policy goals, they may not contribute to others — e.g., investments which can generate mass employment, may not offer much scope for technological learning — thus underscoring the importance of sequencing.

Undoubtedly, some developing countries have been more successful than others in using industrial policy, e.g., due to different circumstances, pragmatic sequencing, better discipline or even good luck. Success has been achieved, often despite unfavourable conditions, usually when policies have been creatively and pragmatically implemented.

But how should industrial policy be implemented? While industrial policy should be realistic, this does not mean avoiding all risk, as some risk taking is typically associated with entrepreneurship and innovation. Careful comparative evaluation of available options often yields useful lessons.

There is no general industrial policy formula or approach for all time and in all circumstances. Rather, it needs to be elaborated and implemented with full consideration of existing challenges, conditions and constraints, and adapted appropriately to changing circumstances.

Some opponents insist that even if industrial policy may once have been important for development, there is no longer the needed policy space, especially with the ‘one size fits all’ ‘single commitment’ of the World Trade Organization (WTO) since 1994. Many note how other aspects of globalization, including financialization, constrain national governments.

Undoubtedly, a large number of bilateral, regional and other plurilateral treaties have been concluded among countries, shaping, but also undermining general trade liberalization. While WTO rules and other free trade agreements (FTAs) limit the role of trade and other related policies in the industrial policy arsenal, they still allow legal use of many industrial policy measures; also, even previously agreed tariffs can be renegotiated.

Although unaffordable to poorer developing countries, subsidies are not prohibited by WTO rules. Bilateral and plurilateral trade agreements as well as bilateral investment treaties (BITs) can also be revoked or renegotiated. Such agreements and other dimensions of globalization are not irreversible as Trump, Brexit and other recent developments remind us.

Policy space
Clearly, recent changes in the global environment have not made industrial policy impossible although policy space, or the scope for alternative intervention options, may have been diminished. So, what can developing countries do?

Those who try to elaborate industrial policy in relation to globalization argue that developing country governments should develop their economies by inducing relocation of appropriate segments of ‘global value chains’ (GVCs) in their economies.

This typically involves attracting relevant foreign direct investment (FDI) for capital, technology, management, expertise and market access. But FDI is a double-edged sword, also undermining economies and development prospects of developing countries.

Sustainable progress requires appropriate and pragmatic industrial policy, which should not be dogmatic, or determined inflexibly by some supposed theory. Instead, options appropriate to circumstances, addressing real constraints and prospects, should be critically considered.

Productive capacity and capability building is critical and needs to be facilitated and coordinated by responsible governments. To be effective, industrial policy design and implementation need to consider both government capabilities and political will.

As no ‘one size fits all’, governments of developing countries should pragmatically and flexibly use appropriate industrial policy to accelerate sustainable development instead of the conventional wisdom associated with the neoliberal Washington Consensus in recent decades.

The post Industrial Policy Still Relevant appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Credit: SEWA BHATTARAI

By Sewa Bhattarai
Oct 29 2019 (IPS)

Children sit in a circle experimenting with different colours on palettes at a shelter in Godavari one morning this week. Some design flowers in bright colours, others draw homes nestled below mountains. Many of the children are survivors of rape or domestic violence, from rural parts of Nepal. The one thing they have in common is mental trauma.

For Colombian painter Dairo Vargas (pictured with students of Kitini College) who is coaching these and other Nepali children, the situation is very familiar to that of his own country. Vargas himself suffered depression as a teenager, and believes art can be a great healer in a country wracked by war.

“Traumatised people often cannot express their suffering to other people, and art is a space where they can free themselves. Completing a piece of art also helps the brain make connections, and gives a sense of achievement and confidence.”

“When I was depressed, I could not focus on anything. But when I start painting, I am able to concentrate on what I am creating. That gives me a sense of calm, and slowly helped me overcome depression,” says Vargas, who now helps others like him around the world.

Nepal and Colombia share the common burden of war trauma — people in both countries today struggle with the violence of their past, and seek closure. Nepal signed a peace accord with the Maoists in 2006, and Colombia made peace with the FARC rebel group 10 years later, ending a conflict that killed over 220,000 people and displaced 7 million.

While many victims and their families have received compensation for physical wounds or loss in Nepal, mental trauma has been largely ignored. Likewise, various studies indicate that up to 40% of the population in Colombia suffer from mental illness at some point, and lifetime prevalence may be up to 20%. There too, the Ministry of Health has recognised that the issue is under-reported and inadequately addressed.

Vargas works with former FARC guerrillas and others in Colombia who suffer post-traumatic stress, but finds it hard.

“Of course the guerrillas have many mental health issues, but they are not happy to do anything about it at the moment. Also, they have made so many enemies in society that reintegrating them is very difficult,” he says.

Vargas is attempting to bring his own experience in Colombia to fill this gap in Nepal. His mission is to spread awareness about mental illness, and make painting more accessible to traumatised people through his movement #TheArtListens. He is using the technique with children at a shelter for rescued children in Godavari, where they paint, sketch and draw.

 

Credit: SEWA BHATTARAI

 

As in Colombia, mental health is still a stigma in Nepal, especially for families of the disappeared, children who witnessed violence and victims of war rape.

These survivors rarely seek help, even though a 2012 study showed 80% of conflict-affected people suffer anxiety and depression, 50% have PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), and former child soldiers are far more likely (45-50%) to suffer from these symptoms than children never conscripted (20-37%). Social reintegration continues to be a challenge, and many former combatants and relatives suffer stigma.

Suraj Koirala of TPO (Transcultural Psychosocial Organisation) has surveyed and counselled many conflict-affected Nepalis, and says the most common problems are depression, anxiety and PTSD.

“Children and women have suffered the most, and it is prolonged for victims of sexual abuse and family members of the disappeared,” says Koirala.

One of them is Bhagiram Chaudhary of the Conflict Victims’ Common Platform, whose brother and sister-in-law were disappeared during the conflict but who has never sought counselling or therapy.

“If I see anyone who looks like my brother, I still take a second look, wondering if it is him,” he says. “We are unable to perform his last rites, because we don’t know if he is still out there. Not having closure means that we are still undecided about how to take our life forward.”

Gita Rasaili of the Conflict Victims’ National Network was 13 when she saw soldiers taking away her sister. Her family later found the decomposed remains of her body. After that, Rasaili’s mother used to faint often and was unable to perform household chores. After years of therapy, she did get better.

 

Credit: SEWA BHATTARAI

 

“There are many war victims like me who suffer from mental health crises, but we do not recognise it and never seek help,” says Rasaili. “If you go to a mental hospital people think you are mad. A lot more needs to be done for the nation to heal.”

Like Rasaili, other war survivors suffer from symptoms like lack of sleep and concentration, inability to focus, disruptive memories and depression. The bigger concern is that these problems could transcend generations.

“If parents are unable to deal with trauma and express their mental state in unhealthy ways, their children could be impacted as well,” says Koirala of TPO. “Social reintegration is already difficult for combatants, and this could create another generation of outcasts.”

As in Colombia, some victims of the conflict and the 2015 earthquake in Nepal have found ways to express themselves through art. Rasaili keeps a journal, saying it helps her find relief from stress, and she knows others who paint and sketch. But they all found these outlets through personal effort — there is no systematic approach to artistic therapy in Nepal.

Says Vargas: “Traumatised people often cannot express their suffering to other people, and art is a space where they can free themselves. Completing a piece of art also helps the brain make connections, and gives a sense of achievement and confidence.”

 

This story was originally published by The Nepali Times

 

The post Nepal and Colombia Struggle With Mental Health Burden of Conflict appeared first on Inter Press Service.

South Africa coach Molefi Ntseki says squad consistency is important as he names the 25 players for November's Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.

"Our wells and springs are drying up, and as a consequence of this depletion, our groundwater quality is also deteriorating" Credit: Manipadma Jena/IPS

By Rachita Vora and Smarinita Shetty
MUMBAI, India, Oct 29 2019 (IPS)

A majority of India’s water problems are those relating to groundwater—water that is found beneath the earth’s surface. This is because we are the largest user of groundwater in the world, and therefore highly dependent on it.

At just over 260 cubic km per year, our country uses 25 percent of all groundwater extracted globally, ahead of USA and China. And because 70 percent of the water supply in agriculture today is groundwater, it will remain the lifeline of India’s water supplies for years to come.

Despite this, we have an extremely poor understanding of groundwater, which impacts both policy and practice. In our conversation with Himanshu Kulkarni and Uma Aslekar of Advanced Centre for Water Resources and Development (ACWADAM), they walk us through some of the reasons why this is the case.

 

Why is it that we neither understand nor prioritise groundwater in our policies?

This is largely because of two reasons: Groundwater is invisible—it is literally not visible to the eye because it is well below the ground. What is out of sight, is usually out of mind! Groundwater is also a highly complex subject that is governed by many ‘conditionalities’. It is this ignorance, by both users and people in governance, that has contributed to the situation we find ourselves in today.

Moreover, groundwater education still focuses largely on ‘exploring’ new sources of groundwater that will lead to the ‘development’ of groundwater resources. The subject of groundwater in aquifers is often considered quite complex as compared to providing groundwater supplies from wells, even if these wells continue to become deeper and deeper as groundwater levels decline. In the gap between supply on one side, and demand on the other, we are losing out on components of groundwater management from many systems of education delivery.

We need a demystified but correct understanding of aquifers (underground rocks that are sources of groundwater), their properties and how they are used, so that we can make the critical mass of users and decision makers understand them and act on them appropriately.

 

 

We neither understand nor prioritise the groundwater issue because what is out of sight, is usually also out of mind. | Illustration – Priya Dali

 

What will that take?

We at ACWADAM conduct training programmes for various organisations and government agencies. If one is explaining the concept of aquifers, for instance, the semantics, pedagogy, and the delivery of training on the whole will need to be different for different stakeholders.

If one has to explain aquifers to a groundwater agency, hydrogeologists, or people with a technical background, one will need to use a different language than that when one is speaking to communities and end users.

Similarly, the lexicon on groundwater will need to be completely different if one is talking to decision makers and technocrats, who have no technical knowledge on the subject. The ability to clearly articulate and communicate the groundwater problem and the possible solutions, is therefore, the key to implementing processes of groundwater management.

 

If you were to state, simply, the primary issues when it comes to groundwater in India, what would they be?

There are basically three issues. The first is depletion. Our wells and springs are drying up, and as a consequence of this depletion, our groundwater quality is also deteriorating.

When there is less water in an aquifer, the concentration of ions increases. When aquifers get recharged sufficiently, contaminants are diluted. Whether it is groundwater use in agriculture or in domestic supply, serious issues of contamination like fluoride and arsenic, which are no longer isolated cases and are found across large regions of the country, must be addressed. This contamination is the second problem, and it is very often related to the first problem of depletion.

We need a demystified but correct understanding of aquifers (underground rocks that are sources of groundwater), their properties and how they are used, so that we can make the critical mass of users and decision makers understand them and act on them appropriately

The third, which is not readily perceived as a problem, is that of the increasing disconnect between groundwater and ecosystems, particularly due to the environmental impact of depletion and contamination. As a consequence of large-scale groundwater usage for human needs, the value of the service that aquifers provided to the environment—say to river flows—has significantly reduced. How does one then make the connection between the environment and groundwater, especially when that connection has been altered and severed?

Therefore, we need an integrated approach. Even if in one area, depletion seems to be the biggest problem, we need an approach that addresses contamination, and recognises the ecosystem role of groundwater in resolving the problem of depletion. Doing one and not the other will not help resolve any one problem in its entirety.

 

How then, do we solve the problem in its entirety, at scale?

Broad brush approaches implemented at scale will not work. Let us consider an example: you have a new idea to solve a groundwater problem, and it has five critical elements. The district you are working in has 20 talukas. You cannot implement all five components of your idea in those 20 talukas. So, what will you do? You will likely take the easiest option and leave the rest. This doesn’t work out since the complex natures of aquifers and human behaviours cannot be solved with a broad brush of a simple, big ticket solution. You need an appropriate (scientifically validated) and acceptable (communities must be able to agree and co-operate in implementation) solution to make impact.

Alternatively, you might choose to implement all five ideas in one village of each taluka, where they are possible to implement. But then scaling-out such solutions becomes challenging. There are thus no big-ticket solutions in groundwater. All the same, it is necessary to work at the micro level even though it is challenging to engage with policy makers who would rather have groundwater solutions that run across large swathes of the landscape; many of them would prefer solutions at scale that create a buzz in the short-term rather than an impact in the longer-term.

 

Given these inherent challenges, what is it that India needs to do?

If we are to address our water problems, there are a few things that the country needs:

 

Aggregate micro-level solutions to construct a larger picture that can inform policy

Groundwater in India is rather disaggregated in terms of its occurrence, usage, and problems. Hence, we need disaggregated approaches leading to customised solutions that are appropriate to locations and situations of groundwater problems. Further, it is important to pull together these smaller solution pieces to construct a larger picture. This is the reason why we need practitioners who have worked on the ground and attempted to solve the problems, to be actively involved in policy framing; else, things will not change and the divide between policies, and practices on groundwater management will only continue to widen further.

 

Stronger public institutions dedicated to groundwater management

Additionally, we have an institutional vacuum when it comes to dealing with groundwater. Let us consider an example from Maharashtra. More than 80 percent of Maharashtra’s rural drinking water supply comes from groundwater wells. Protecting and sustaining this source is a function of how groundwater is used in agriculture so that drinking water supply in the villages of the state remains secure.

The Ground Water Survey and Development Agency (GSDA) falls under the ambit of the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation. It has little to do with water used for agriculture—which accounts for less than 5 percent of water used in rural Maharashtra—and hence cannot influence policy or usage with respect to that. Organisations like GSDA must be strengthened and encouraged to engage in partnership models of working with grassroots organisations that are working on community-level water management.

This is just one example of how a lack of institutional thinking impacts solutions. Many states don’t even have a GSDA equivalent. Strengthening agencies dealing with groundwater becomes quite important in this regard.

 

To demystify the science and involve people in solution-making

Some important questions we need to consider include: How does one get people to participate and cooperate in efforts dealing with groundwater management? How do communities convert competition and conflict to participation and cooperation? Our experience at ACWADAM is that when you undertake an effort in demystifying science, and involve communities and committed people in the development of that science, you can achieve improved decision making at any level. And once you achieve this, your outcomes automatically change even though they are often not ideal. However, even such imperfect outcomes significantly enhance water security in regions that depend on groundwater.

 

More attention and investment in promoting partnerships and collaborations

There is a grave need for infusing interdisciplinary science in the processes of groundwater management and governance. Only if and when such science is made to bear upon achieving decentralised water governance, will we be able to solve many problems on groundwater. It is important, therefore, to realise that no single agency holds the key to problem identification and resolution in the sector of groundwater. Hence, catalysing collaborations that integrate the many disciplines required to develop sustainable groundwater management solutions, is needed; such partnerships must form the backbone of public efforts to protect, restore, and manage groundwater resources.

 

 

Rachita Vora is Co-founder and Director at IDR. Before this, she led the Dasra Girl Alliance, a Rs. 250 crore multi-stakeholder platform that sought to improve maternal and child health outcomes, and empower adolescent girls in India. She has over a decade of experience, having led teams in the areas of financial inclusion, public health and CSR. She has also led functions across strategy, business development, communications and partnerships, and her writing has been featured in the Guardian, Stanford Social Innovation Review, Next Billion and Alliance Magazine. Rachita has an MBA from Judge Business School at Cambridge University and a BA in History from Yale University.

 

Smarinita Shetty is Co-founder and CEO at IDR. She has more than 20 years of experience leading functions across strategy, operations, sales and business development, largely in startup environments within corporates and social enterprises. Prior to IDR, Smarinita worked at Dasra, Monitor Inclusive Markets (now FSG), JP Morgan and The Economic Times. She also co-founded Netscribes–India’s first knowledge process outsourcing firm. Her work and opinion have been featured in The Economist, Times of India, Mint and The Economic Times. Smarinita has a BE in Computer Engineering and an MBA in Finance, both from Mumbai University.

 

This story was originally published by India Development Review (IDR)

The post India has a Groundwater Problem appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Defending Algerian champions USM Alger are facing an uncertain future with the club's owner in jail facing fraud and money laundering charges.

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Veteran coach worried the timing of the new Club World Cup could be the end of Afcon in its current form.

Residents say they prefer their traditional stone-built homes to Ethiopia's "shining cities".

Indigenous women sell handicrafts at a street market in the tourist city of Antigua, Guatemala. Credit: Mariela Jara/IPS

By External Source
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 28 2019 (IPS)

More women are entering the workforce across Latin America, with an increase in 11 per cent in the last 30 years, putting the region ahead of the curve when it comes to growth in female labour force participation, according to new data published by the United Nations on Monday. 

The research gathered jointly by the UN’s Economic Commission for Latin American and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the International  Labour Organization (ILO), spotlights the array of factors influencing women’s labour participation in the region, while highlighting the social and economic benefits of women in the workforce.

The gap between women’s labour participation versus that of men still amounts to more than 25 per cent on average. Further, a deeper dive into pay scale shows that for each hour worked, women’s earnings are on average 17 per cent below those of men, of the same age and education and economic status.

Women’s access to paid opportunities, and the narrowing of gender gaps are “crucial for growth, equality and poverty reduction in the region,” the authors highlight in the new study.

Despite a closing disparity  between the number of working men versus women, the new figures demonstrate that the gap between women’s labour participation versus that of men still amounts to more than 25 per cent on average. Further, a deeper dive into pay scale shows that for each hour worked, women’s earnings are on average 17 per cent below those of men, of the same age and education and economic status.

Large differences also exist among countries in the region when it comes to pace of growth, and the levels of female participation achieved, with figures lagging significantly in developing countries.

In 2018 overall, over half of all women (aged 15 or over) in 18 countries in the region were working, with Peru taking the lead at 68.7 per cent, followed by Bolivia with 63 per cent, and among the lowest, Costa Rica at 45.1 per cent, and 43. 5 per cent in Mexico.

One of the main factors underpinning a growing working women population is higher education-the study demonstrates a positive correlation between number of school years completed, with rates of labour participation. In Peru, for example, 90 per cent of women with advanced education (which in this case refers to schooling beyond high-school level), were working, and 80 per cent in Venezuela, with similar correlations in neighboring countries.

The gaps can be attributed to an array of circumstances; from national economic status, to social and cultural expectations, the authors note, and it is “crucial” to take into account that the decision to work, in turn, has an impact on other facets of life.

Greater work opportunities do not necessarily imply greater participation or, better quality of life, the study indicates. The amount of unpaid work to be done within the household, along with greater participation in the labour market can double a women’s workload if unpaid duties are not balanced.

Broadening women’s participation in the labour market, therefore, “necessitates major changes in society.”

Thanks to technology, equal access to education, declining fertility rates, and greater levels of average income have levied the time needed to carry out domestic tasks, which have all contributed to greater participation of working women in the region, ECLAC’s Executive Secretary, Alicia Barcena explained.

“Progress has also been achieved in terms of political rights and social norms. However, some areas that could limit the growth of labor participation are still lagging, “ she said, “these include gender gaps regarding expected educational achievement and cultural aspects that promote women’s reproductive and caregiving role.”

Greater participation of women in the workforce pursues gender equity goals, as established in the UN’s Sustainable Development target (SDG 5), which highlightlights that gender equality is not only a human right, but a prerequisite to achieving a peaceful and sustainable world, the report highlights.

This story was originally published by UN News

The post More Women in Latin America are Working, but Gender Gap Persists, New UN Figures Show appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Boats are trapped by hyacinth in Lake Victoria, on September 11, 2018. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

By PRESS RELEASE
KISUMU, Kenya, Oct 28 2019 (IPS-Partners)

A major partnership between The Embassy of Russia, the United Nations in Kenya and the County Government of Kisumu will see the over 14,000 hectares of the Water Hyacinth in Lake Victoria cleared following an injection of USD 7 million by the Russian government.

The partnership programme dubbed: Sustainable Management and Utilization of Water Hyacinth in Lake Victoria Basin will be launched today in Kisumu. This programme will be implemented in the next 3 years.

A variety of activities around the lake have led to large-scale pollution of the world’s second-largest lake, with one of the effects being the proliferation of the water hyacinth (Eichhorniacrassipes) in the bays, especially within Kenya. The fast-spreading hyacinth is currently estimated to affect over 14,000 hectares of the lake, and though has severe economic consequences.

The programme is to be implemented by the Kisumu County Government with technical support of the UN Kenya Country Team. Based on their comparative advantage and core-expertise, FAO and UNDP will deliver together technical support. FAO will handle sustainable land management and environmental policy aspects while UNDP will focus on the economic utilization aspects.

The project will seek to attract private sector interest especially in the converted products from hyacinth, to providing inputs, equipment, finance, and development of markets. The overall goal of the programme is to benefit an estimated 4.5 million people sharing the lake in the five riparian counties of Kisumu, Busia, Migori. Homa Bay and Siaya.

The programme will focus on initiatives that: Transfer knowledge and skills to the communities living around the lake region with a focus on youth and women. The initial focus will be on Kisumu County and expansion to all counties within the Lake’s catchment is planned to ensure enough impact.

“This programme is part of the Government of Russia’s support for Africa’s Sustainable Development, the African Union’s Agenda 2063, Kenya’s Vision 2030, and Big Four Agenda. We are looking forward to partner with the Government of Kenya and UN Kenya Country Team to realize Kenya’s potential in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals” said Russia Ambassador to Kenya Dmitry Maksimychev.

“As the UN Kenya Country Team, we are moving to the next practical steps after the Sustainable Blue Economy Conference held in Kenya in November last year. I am delighted that UNDP and FAO will deliver as one UN Kenya’s ground-breaking support to improving livelihoods of millions of Kenyans living in the Lake region. Without the strong leadership of the Government of Kenya and support of the Russian Embassy, this would never have been possible and I would like to express my gratitude on behalf of the UN Kenya Country Team” said UN Resident Coordinator to Kenya Siddharth Chatterjee.

“My County Government is grateful to its partners who have come in to help us address the water hyacinth challenges in Lake Victoria Basin and to smartly turn this challenge around into an opportunity for economic growth and improved well-being of our people living in Kisumu and the wider Lake Region” said Kisumu Governor Anyang’ Nyong’o.

“I would like to applaud the Government of Russia and the UN family in Kenya for launching this new partnership in Kisumu and for the people of Kenya. This programme is a clear illustration that our partners are in lock-step with the Big Four development priorities of the Government of Kenya. As the National Government, we are committed to supporting this partnership towards a highly impactful outcome” said Hon Wamalwa, Cabinet Secretary of the Ministry of Devolution and ASALs

***

About UNDP
UNDP helps countries develop strategies to combat poverty by expanding access to economic opportunities and resources, linking poverty programmes with countries’ larger goals and policies, and ensuring a greater voice for the poor. As the poor are disproportionately affected by environmental degradation and lack of access to clean, affordable water, sanitation, and energy services, UNDP seeks to address environmental issues in order to improve developing countries’ abilities to develop sustainably, increase human development and reduce poverty. UNDP will leverage on the Kisumu county government efforts on sewage disposal and ensure current state of sewer leakages from pit latrines do not continue to affect boreholes (for drinking water) and other drinking water facilities but also reducing leakages into the lake and river waters through developing environmental strategic focus on effective water governance including access to water supply and sanitation.

About FAO
FAO was created to reduce the number of people suffering from hunger, eliminate poverty and ensure the sustainable management of natural resources. FAO is uniquely positioned to draw on an unparalleled body of knowledge, skills, and experience (both in country and globally) to support innovative and complex projects. FAO has developed a handbook on the utilization of aquatic plants with specific sections on the utilization of water hyacinth. It will contextualize the local situation and introduce sustainable land management practices that can combat biological, chemical and physical land degradation, enhance the use of biodiversity, and enforce policies and frameworks to control community-based greenhouse emission levels emanating from poor land management practices and agricultural chemicals that are harmful pollutants.

***

For more information please contact:

Newton Kanhema,
Deputy Director, United Nations Information Centre
Tel: +254-20-7621102/ 0709021102 Email: Kanhema@un.org

The post The Russian Government and the UN join to fight water hyacinth in Kenya appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Scientists say the possible homeland of all humans alive today is an area south of the Zambesi River.

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Rwanda's Volcanoes National Park is home to 1,000 mountain gorillas.

Egypt coach Hossam El Badry recalls Liverpool striker Mohamed Salah after resting him for a recent international friendly.

Veteran Burkina Faso striker Aristide Bance scores a hat-trick for Guinea's Horoya in the first leg of a Confederation Cup play-off.

Credit: UN

By Rabiya Jaffery
Abu Dhabi, UAE, Oct 28 2019 (IPS)

Nearly 50 million people in west Africa rely on agriculture and livestock for their livelihood but the land available for pastoral use has been rapidly shrinking.

While a part of this is because of growing population, climate change has also been a major contributor to this, says George Stacey, an analyst working with Norvergence*, an environmental advocacy NGO.

According to the United Nations, nearly 80% of the Sahel’s farmland has been negatively impacted by temperatures rising – which they are at a rate that is 1.5 times faster than the global average.

“As droughts and floods continue to increase in frequency and duration, food production in most of the Sahel region remains highly insecure,” Stacey told IPS.

“And for a region with such a high dependence on agriculture that is also already suffering from food shortage, this has extremely far-reaching consequences.”

Many areas in Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Senegal, and Chad never fully recovered from the food crisis of 2012, which was a result of a combination of droughts and regional conflicts that shocked food prices, and pushed more than 13 million people in the Sahel to malnutrition levels.

And as temperatures continue to rise, food security will continue to destabilize and farmers and herders will be forced to continue to be forced to relocate searching for land to cultivate on.

“As herders and farmers in the Sahel migrate internally to cope with degrading land and diminishing livelihoods, the threats of violence and their chances of being recruited in criminal and extremist groups established in the region continues to increase,” Dr Joseph Faye, a climate and security impact and adaptation scientist working with several think tanks in western Africa, told IPS.

Poor governance and state authority have resulted in number of jihadi groups and other extremist and criminal networks establishing themselves in many parts of western Africa and food insecurity serves as a recruiting incentive for them.

Credit: UN

John Podesta, founder and director of The Center for American Progress, writes in a brief for Brookings Blum Roundtable, that security experts are concerned about the connection between climate change and terrorism and that the “the decline of agricultural and pastoral livelihoods has been linked to the effectiveness of financial recruiting strategies by al-Qaida”.

“There are a number of extremist factions that gained foothold in different parts of western Africa and they are thriving due to the dangerous combination of poor state security and easily recruitable civilians,” says Faye.

The Islamic State in West Africa (ISWAP), for example, is a splinter faction of Boko Haram that just in September 2019 abducted six aid workers in Nigeria and has already executed one. ISWAP is just one of the several extremist groups currently present in the Sahel.

And many studies carried out in recent years by NGOs, think tanks, and international bodies like the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) have shown that most recruits of these groups are, in fact, far less guided by ideologies than by financial vulnerability.

And as climate conditions continue to worsen and diminish the livelihoods of farmers and herders, it will continue to get easier for different extremists and criminal groups to manipulated and recruited them to serve as foot-soldiers.

The UN special adviser on the Sahel, Ibrahim Thiaw, has stated that the region is already amongst the regions of the world that are facing the most extreme brunt of global warming.

Poor rainfall and droughts over the past decade have resulted in at least 14 million still requiring food assistance, according to a report published in 2018. The Permanent Interstate Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel also predicts a “persistent food insecurity” for the foreseeable future.

“Poor agriculture and food insecurity spikes migration and internal displacement which, in a region that already has a network on violent groups and a history of conflicts, will only make more people more vulnerable to turning to whatever option is available for them to sustain themselves,” says Faye.

“Also, conflicts in any localized area almost always spill further which is why threats in any art are highly concerning to the security of the overall region and even beyond that of course.”

The risk of extremism and violence in any part of the Sahel is dangerous to the wider region because most countries in western Africa have porous, largely unguarded borders that are frequently crossed illegally by many – from merchants and herders to those trafficking weapons, drugs, and toxic ideologies.

“Insurgencies in one country can and often do spill across borders, as was the case when conflict spread from northern to central Mali and into north and eastern Burkina Faso and southwestern Niger,” says Faye. “This is why the destabilizing effects of climate change in any part of it should be of great concern to all those who seek security and stability in the region.”

A report by the World Economic Forum emphasizes that while military pressure is “undoubtedly required” to stop extremist groups, the Sahel can only truly counter terrorism and conflicts if foreign aid is used to directly invest in improving the livelihoods of the region’s most vulnerable people.

Reports by agencies such as the International Committee of the Red Cross point out that when funds are put to help income-generating, small-scale pastoral projects such as dairy farms and community markets, conflict and violence almost always calms down.

“So long as armed extremist groups continue to be the only reliable means of livelihood around, they will continue to find people to join them,” states Stacey. “This is why development organizations and governments must provide targeted help to the pastoral and agricultural communities in the Sahel to continue being able to sustain their work.”

The United Nations Office is one of the intergovernmental organizations working on mitigating the conflicts that arise from the loss of agricultural land.

“The United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel promotes the peaceful coexistence between both groups and is working with Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to capture good practice from different countries in the region that could benefit the countries most affected by farmer-herder conflicts,” Kouider Zerrouk, head of strategic communications and public Information of UNOWAS, told IPS.

ECOWAS is a West African political and economic union of fifteen countries that also serves as a peacekeeping force. Member states have also, at times, sent joint military forces to intervene at times of political instability in bloc member states.

The World Bank has also launched a number of projects, including the Regional Sahel Pastoralism Support Project, and the Pastoralism and Stability in the Sahel and the Horn of Africa but the report by World Economic Forum states that there is a need for more.

”It is equally important that public and private leaders and civil societies recognize and anticipate ways that agriculture and livestock production are likely going to change in relation to climate, and encourage investments in adaptation and new crops in advance to avoid major declines in crop yields,” states the report. “The future looks challenging, which makes it all the more important to prepare for it.”

The article was supported by Norvergence, an NGO that supports climate-related advocacy work.

The post Climate Change to Further Escalate Violence in Western Africa appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Rabiya Jaffery is a freelance journalist covering climate, conflicts, and culture-related stories from the Middle East and South Asia.

The post Climate Change to Further Escalate Violence in Western Africa appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Migrant settlement in Lepe, Spain. Credit: UNDP

By Achim Steiner
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 28 2019 (IPS)

Last week, a too-familiar human tragedy captured news headlines. 39 people were found dead inside a shipping container on an industrial estate in Essex in Southeast England; 31 men and 8 women whose individual identities, for now, remain anonymous, as authorities begin to investigate one of Europe’s worst people-trafficking cases.

While I hope I am wrong, we may never know the stories of those 39 people; why they left their friends and communities to make a perilous, hidden journey to the United Kingdom.

And they are not alone. Just like the 71 migrants found dead inside an abandoned truck in Austria in 2015, or the thousands of men, women and children who have died attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea from Africa to Europe — over 1,000 already in 2019 — we may never see or remember all their faces.

After the headlines, interest usually moves on, with those who died at risk of becoming 39 statistics, numbers that drive the debate on the strain and stigma of irregular migration.

Achim Steiner. Credit: UNDP

Except, people are not statistics. Every individual on that truck had a unique story that now may not be told.

All the more important, then, to hear from others of their diverse motivations, hopes and fears as they risk their lives to make it to Europe through irregular means, to remind us of the very real people behind the headlines.

This is one of the reasons why the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) embarked on a new study called Scaling Fences, launched last week: to give voice to irregular African migrants to Europe, a subset of migrants of whom many assumptions and judgements are made but about whom, in fact, we have little primary data.

Featuring analysis of interviews with 1,970 migrants from 39 African countries in 13 European nations, all of whom declared that they arrived in Europe through irregular means and not for asylum or protection-related reasons, the report seeks to better understand the age-old relationship between human mobility and human development.

It reaches some counter-intuitive conclusions.

First, it finds that getting a job was not the only motivation to move, that not all the irregular migrants were ‘poor’ in Africa, nor had lower education levels. 58 per cent were either employed or in school at the time of their departure, with the majority of those working earning competitive wages at home. The average age of respondents when they arrived in Europe was 24.

They are of the ‘springboard generation’ – beneficiaries of two decades of remarkable development progress in Africa. Still, some 50 per cent of those working said they were not earning enough.

Mahamadou Sankareh, from Gambia, lives in Rome. He works at the Joel Nafuma Refugee Center. Credit: UNDP/Lena Mucha

Second, it finds that barriers to opportunity, or ‘choice-lessness’, were critical factors informing the calculation of those surveyed; that in spite of development progress at home, 77 percent felt that their voice was unheard or that their country’s political system provided no opportunity through which to exert influence on government.

Third, despite the danger and risks of the fraught journey from Africa to Europe, only 2 per cent of all those people surveyed said that greater awareness of the risks would have caused them to stay at home.

In fact, 41 percent of respondents said ‘nothing’ would have changed their decision to migrate to Europe.

The findings of Scaling Fences confirm some truths that need to be better understood: that migration is really a story of development; that in an unequal world, human mobility both drives and is driven by development progress, albeit progress that is uneven and not fast enough to meet people’s aspirations.

It confirms that people will move in the pursuit of larger freedoms and opportunities, including through irregular means if they believe they must, to create a space for themselves and their families in the kind of world the 17 Sustainable Development Goals are designed to help us all attain.

That they travel through irregular rather than regular migration channels does not diminish the importance of their stories. Rather, it highlights the need to both expand safe, legal pathways for migration, in line with the 2018 Global Compact for Safe Orderly and Regular Migration, and to continue investment in a future-focused Africa of socio-economic and political choice and opportunity.

Although migration in all its forms is sometimes painted as an emergency – a ‘lose-lose’ situation for everyone — it is actually a long-term development trend: one that started long before there were legal frameworks or sovereign borders to cross and one that will continue long into the future, accelerated in today’s globalized, hyper-connected societies.

Understanding how to harness the potential of human mobility to accelerate human development – in the countries that migrants move from and move to – starts by understanding the determination that drives people to scale metaphorical and physical fences towards a better life.

If we can work together to do that, then perhaps it will be one very small step towards preventing such tragedies as we saw unfold last week.

The post Beyond the Headlines: the Development Story Behind Irregular Migration appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Achim Steiner is Administrator, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

The post Beyond the Headlines: the Development Story Behind Irregular Migration appeared first on Inter Press Service.