Africa

Jean Leonard Teganya is to serve eight years for immigration fraud, but not alleged rape or murder.

Ndomi Magareth, sows bean seeds on her small piece of land in Njombe a small town in the coastal Littoral Region of Cameroon. Pan-Africa Bean Research Alliance is a consortium of 30 bean-producing countries in Africa and its improved bean varieties has helped transition the legume from a subsistence crop to a modern commodity. Credit: Monde Kingsley Nfor/IPS

By Tharanga Yakupitiyage
UNITED NATIONS, Jul 2 2019 (IPS)

As the weather continues to change and land becomes degraded, the socio-economic security implications are vast. In an effort to tackle these issues, climate-smart agriculture is quickly gaining traction around the world.

According to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), 12 million hectares of productive land become barren every year due to desertification and drought alone representing a loss of production of 20 million tons of grain.

Not only is this an economic blow to almost 80 percent of the world’s poor people who rely on agriculture for their livelihoods, but hunger levels are also already rising globally.

Such challenges will only be compounded as we must increased food production by 70 percent by 2050 in order to feed the entire world population.

The need for sustainable, climate-smart agriculture is thus clear.

One practice that is gaining momentum is the development of improved, resilient crop varieties which help ensure both food and economic security.

“In light of changing rainfall patterns where the old varieties which are drought-susceptible can no longer be produced under drought conditions, the new varieties which are developed for resilience have made a complete difference by bringing more beans on the table for food security as well as more beans for the market to bring income to the farmers,” one of Pan-Africa Bean Research Alliance (PABRA)’s bean breeders Rowland Chirwa told IPS.

Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture’s Senior Scientific Advisor Vivienne Anthony spoke of the importance of connecting science to the realities on the ground.

“The community of scientists need to connect with the entrepreneurs and people that are investing in the future here in Africa and to work together to improve crops, create jobs, create markets and not sit back as scientists. They need to engage with the business,” she said.

From Theory to Practice

In collaboration with the University of Bern, the Syngenta Foundation has been working to improve Eragrostis tef, commonly known as teff—one of the most important cereals in Ethiopia where over 80 percent of the population live in rural areas.

The seeds have high protein levels and are much better adapted to drought conditions which is an increasingly common experience in the East African nation.

However, the teff plant produces low yields and harvests are not keeping pace with Ethiopia’s increasing population.

With modern genetics and improved farming methods, the project aims to increase yields, putting money into farmers’ pockets.

Demand and access to markets is also essential, Anthony noted.

“Designing a new variety is no different to designing anything somebody is going to buy. It involves understanding the marketplace, and who wants to grow it, use it, eat it,” she told IPS.

“The way to address some of the problems and challenges of agricultural sustainability in Africa is about encouraging markets to flourish that drive opportunity, innovation and entrepreneurship.  We fundamentally believe in market-based approaches as a way of trying to meet the Sustainable Goals, finding a business rationale where everybody wins and it keeps going,” Anthony added.

Similarly, PABRA is a consortium of 30 bean-producing countries in Africa and its improved bean varieties has helped transition the legume from a subsistence crop to a modern commodity.

Beans are among the most consumed and widely grown legume in Africa, taking up over 6 million hectares of land. Eastern Africa sees the highest consumption of beans with people eating as much as 50-60 kilograms every year.

However, one study found that without any adaptation strategies, the yields and nutritional value of common beans will dramatically decline by 2050.

“We have been following more of a preemptive breeding approach where we know the climate is changing and at the same time the needs of the people we are trying to provide products with are also changing,” bean breeder Clare Mugisha Mukankusi told IPS.

Chirwa echoed similar sentiments, stating: “We look at regionally in Africa and see which are the major market classes we can focus on and look at the capacity of our national partners…and develop varieties that are responsive to the environmental needs, human consumption needs, and market demand needs using a Demand Led Breeding (DLB) approach.”

In Rwanda, improved bean varieties increased yields by 53 percent and household revenue by 50 dollars. Without the improved beans, 16 percent more households would have been food-insecure, PABRA found.

The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), which coordinates PABRA, also helped develop drought-resistant beans which were provided to South Sudanese refugees in order to reduce their reliance on food aid and increase self-sufficiency.

From Sustainable Farms to Table

In addition to designing nutritional legumes that are heat-tolerant and disease-resistant, Mukankusi also highlighted the need to address the entire value chain to ensure there is productivity at the farm level.

This means promoting sustainable crop management practices such as intercropping, which involves growing two or more crops alongside each other, and crop rotation which can help increase soil fertility.

Anthony pointed to the importance of education in demand-led approaches and the business of plant breeding as the Syngenta Foundation in partnership with the Australian Centre for International Agriculture and the Crawford Fund work closely with African Centre for Crop Improvement in Ghana, South Africa, Kenya and Uganda so that local scientists can take the lead.

“Now we have a community of breeders who are trying to do this to really make an impact,” she said.

In light of environmental challenges, the world has already started to see a shift in consumption patterns as plant-based foods gain popularity. Crop breeding may therefore be more essential than ever.

“If we are going to sustain the supply, we cannot sit back but we have to keep pace with the changes. The breeding has to be there and responsive to current and future demands,” Chirwa said.

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The post Food From Thought appeared first on Inter Press Service.

A tanker loaded with petrol skids off the road and explodes in Nigeria.

United Nations staff hold signs with photos of children stating they are not targets. The U.N. has struck a deal with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to stop using child soldiers and to release all youngsters from their ranks. Courtesy: UN Women/Ryan Brown

By James Reinl
UNITED NATIONS, Jul 2 2019 (IPS)

The United States-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have struck a deal with the United Nations to stop using child soldiers across swathes of eastern Syria under their control and to release all youngsters from their ranks, the U.N. announced Monday.

General Mazloum Abdi, the commander of the SDF, an alliance of armed groups that includes the Kurdish People’s Protection Unit (YPG), signed an accord over the weekend to halt recruitment of children under 18 years and to punish any officers who break the new rules.

The YPG has been identified as a recruiter of child soldiers in the U.N.’s annual “list of shame” since 2014. In its most recent annual study, the world body confirmed 224 cases of minors being recruited by the group in 2017.

“It is an important day for the protection of children in Syria and it marks the beginning of a process as it demonstrates a significant commitment by the SDF to ensure that no child is recruited and used by any entity operating under its umbrella,” said the U.N. Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, Virginia Gamba.

The deal was the result of months of talks between the U.N. and the SDF, which must now identify any boys and girls among its force and send them back to their families. The group must also discipline officers who break the new rules.

Conditions for children in Syria are among the “direst” on her agenda, Gamba said. In 2017, she confirmed at least 6,000 violations had been committed against youngsters by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces.

Worse still, the patchwork of rebels, terrorists and other armed militias fighting in Syria’s chaotic civil war committed more than 15,000 violations against children — ranging from recruitment to rapes, killings, maimings and the bombing of schools.

In addition to the YPG, the U.N. has named and shamed Syrian government forces, the rebel Free Syrian Army, the Islamic State (IS), the Islamist Ahrar al-Sham group, Jaish al-Islam and Tahrir al-Sham, the latest iteration of al-Qaeda’s former affiliate the al-Nusra Front.

After releasing all child soldiers and fulfilling the terms of its deal with the U.N. — known as an “action plan” — an armed group can be removed from the U.N.’s list of shame, as has happened with militias in Congo, Chad and Ivory Coast in recent years.

“Action plans represent an opportunity for parties to change their attitude and behaviour so that grave violations against children stop and are prevented to durably improve the protection of children affected by armed conflict,” Gamba said.

The SDF controls the quarter of Syria east of the Euphrates river after driving back IS in a series of advances from 2015 that culminated in March with the group’s defeat at its last holdout in Baghouz, near the Iraqi border.

Washington’s support for the SDF has been problematic, as Turkey views the Kurdish-led force as a branch of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, a domestic independence group that Ankara sees as a terrorist organisation.

Children are among the victims of a recent spike in fighting in Syria’s Idlib Province, the last remaining bastion for anti-government rebels and where a shaky truce brokered by Russia and Turkey appears to be falling apart.

Thousands of pregnant women, vulnerable infants and young children are among the estimated 330,000 people fleeing conflict in the northwestern area, the Christian aid group World Vision said in a statement Monday. 

“It’s hard to imagine the trauma, distress and physical toll that the flight from air strikes and bombs has on families in Idlib. And it’s even worse for pregnant women and those with babies and young children,” said Mays Nawayseh, a World Vision aid worker.

The war in Syria, now in its 9th year, has killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced millions since it started with the violent repression of anti-government protests in March 2011.

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By Caley Pigliucci
UNITED NATIONS, Jul 2 2019 (IPS)

Refugee and migrant women often face inescapable violence in the home. And the potential for intimate forms of violence is exacerbated by humanitarian crises and job insecurity.

On June 25th, UN Women released its report on the Progress of the World’s Women 2019-2020: Families in a Changing World, which focuses on women in the family.

According to the report, one factor that contributes to increased violence in the home is decreased opportunities in work, especially for migrants.

The report states that in Cambodia, when “men struggled to find work, [this] was linked to increased prevalence of violence against women by intimate partners.”

Not only do migrant women face increased violence at home, they are often unable to escape this violence. Women who rely on their male counter-parts to remain in a country do not have the independence afforded to their companions.

This is “particularly dangerous when women are facing, for example, violence against them, domestic violence, in the family,” Shahra Razavi, the Chief of Research and Data at UN Women, told IPS during a press briefing on June 25.

“So, it’s very important that they have the right to stay independent of that particular relationship,” she added.

The report recommends, among others, that there should be a focus on policies and regulations which support migrant families and women’s rights within those families.

The report also points out that “states can make regulatory and policy choices that strengthen women’s bargaining power.”

This can take various forms. Women registered separately from men in their household, or granted residency independent of the men they migrate with through marriage or family ties are less likely to remain in violent relationships in order to remain in a country.

Making Progress

The report cites Indonesia’s recent policies as a step forward in protections for migrant women.

In 2017, the government of Indonesia passed legislation which states that “for the first time, guaranteed some basic rights to workers migrating through official channels,” according to the report.

The new law adds protections like social security programs, protections against trafficking and violence, and gender equality.

Of around 9 million estimated Indonesians working abroad in 2016, about half were women.

Migrant Care, an organization cooperating with UN Women, added that 10 countries (Brunei Darussalam, the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Republic of Indonesia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, the Republic of the Philippines, the Republic of Singapore, the Kingdom of Thailand, and the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam) across the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) added protections to migrant workers through the signing of the Consensus on the protection and Promotion of the Rights of migrant Workers (2017).

One of the principles in the consensus aims to “Uphold fair treatment with respect to gender and nationality, and protect and promote the rights of migrant workers, particularly women.”

But progress has not been seen everywhere.

Dr. Nicole Behnam, Senior Technical Director at the Violence Prevention and Response Unit of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) told IPS that “rates of gender-based violence (GBV) are shockingly high in all contexts,” but that this “increases during and because of crisis.”

According to a report on child brides from the IRC, in Lebanon, 41% of young displaced Syrian women are married before 18.

In Syrian refugee communities in Jordan, rates of child marriages nearly tripled between 2011 and 2014, going from 12% to 32%.

Scenes from Zaatari Refugee Camp, Jordan” Al Mafraq, Jordan, 27 March 2016, UN Archives

This happens despite laws being in place to protect women in the home.

In Jordan, it is illegal to marry before 18, but the IRC states that “the complex process to register a marriage, and the fact that many refugees lack official identification, means that girls who can’t prove their age are even more vulnerable.”

Another concern for many countries comes with the rapid repeals of protections for women in families.

While the UN Women’s report aims at establishing policies not even seen in many developed countries, like paid parental leave, Razavi told IPS of her worries in sliding backwards.

“I think that some of the issues obviously are going to be different for the developed countries,” Razavi said.

But it appears that these differences are in scale, and not in kind.

“Many countries where some of these systems have been built up, at the moment, since 2008, in the context of austerity, these policies are being rolled back,” Razavi said.

She specified that “In particular, violence against women services have had to be cut back in some countries.”

Behnam thinks that for both developing and developed countries, there needs to be “clear acknowledgement of how serious and pervasive the problem is and a matched urgency to both preventing and responding to GBV.”

The IRC sees the need for: continued and increased participation of women’s organizations to address local issues, improving in tracking and reporting of investments for increased transparency in funding to combat GBV, and increasing the number of specialists focused on GBV.

Behnam sees these improvements as necessary for women in migrant and refugee families, but also for women in all contexts.

“Violence is pervasive in women’s lives – it’s the reality of their every day – and it is not just strangers who commit violence against women. Often, it is the people who they should be able to trust the most – their family members,” Behnam said.

She added that “We cannot ignore violence because it happens out of view; in fact, that is the violence we must fight most to name and respond to because it is so hidden.”

The post Unseen and Unsafe: Violence Against Women within Migrant Families appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Protesters are continuing to take to the streets, calling for an end to military rule in the country.

Sadio Mane scores twice as Senegal ease to a Group C victory over Kenya and book their place in the last 16 of the Africa Cup of Nations

By Jan Lundius
STOCKHOLM / ROME, Jul 1 2019 (IPS)

Agriculture is the bedrock of sedentary human civilization, without it we would have no governments or nations. It was food surplus generated by agriculture that enabled people to live in cities and form regimes able to organize food production in such a manner that some community members could engage in other activities than direct food production and thus give rise to the ideologies, techniques and goods which now constitute and govern our existence.

China’s agricultural output is currently the largest in the world and for thousands of years the intimate connection between nature and agriculture has been an outstanding feature of its culture. A worthy example is the poetry of Du Fu (712 – 770 CE) who wrote about the toils of farming:

Long hoe, long hoe, handle of white wood,
I trust my life to you – you must save me now! 1

Like any other peasant today Du Fu was acutely aware of nature´s capriciousness and the disasters brought about through drought and famine.

Heaven has long withheld its thunder,
is this not a most perverse heavenly command?
No rain moistens the living things,
fertile fields rise into clouds of yellow dust.
Soaring birds die from searing heat,
fish dry up as ponds turn to mud.
A myriad of people wander about, destitute and homeless.
Lifting up one´s eyes reveals a plethora of weeds. 2

Much of Chinese history is characterized by huge efforts to mitigate and harness the forces of nature. Myths tell how agricultural tools and implements were invented, how plants and animals were domesticated. They speak of irrigation, the digging of wells, and the establishment of farmers´ markets. Heroes and emperors are hailed as initiators of such endeavours and often became deified and worshipped as gods, like the legendary Yu, son of Gun, who became the fertility god Shénnóng (神農) The Divine Farmer.3

Even in modern times mortal men have been worshipped as all-knowing, almost divine creatures – like Mao Zedong, whose 1958 Great Leap Forward put land use under closer Government control, causing a catastrophic situation when ecologicallly disastrous campaigns, as the extermination of sparrows, were paired with a ban on private food production and the introduction of harmful agricultural practices, such as widespread deforestation, deep plowing and close cropping, as well as the misuse of poisons and pesticides, resulted in a famine that killed an estimated 14 million individuals.4

However, China learned from such disastrous politics and gradually moved away from a Maoist ”command economy”, which did not allow farmers to determine their economic activities according to the laws of supply and demand. In 1984, about 99 percent of the farming communes had been dismantled and agricultural production returned to individual households. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) now produces one fourth of the world’s grain and with less than 10 percent of world arable land it feeds one fifth of the world’s population. China ranks first in the world in terms of the production of cereals, cotton, fruit, vegetables, meat, poultry, eggs and fishery products. However, China´s population is steadily increasing, while the amount of arable land is declining. The population of PRC is approaching 1,5 billion, the equivalent of almost 20 percent of the earth´s inhabitants. Agriculture employs over 300 million Chinese farmers, while 40 percent of PRC´s citizens live in rural areas. Young people are in a steady stream migrating from rural to urban areas. Mechanization rates are rapidly rising to fill agricultural labour shortage, but even with increased mechanization China will need young farmers to replace those who are aging.5

Acordingly, to feed its incresing population Chinese rulers have realized that apart from increasing their nation´s food poduction, investments have to be made in global agriculture, not the least in Africa. Trade between PRC and Africa did in the 1990s increase by 700 percent and PRC has become Africa’s largest trading partner, supporting agricultural production and food exports in a vast range of developing countries. China is currently building up agricultural exchange and cooperation relations with international agricultural and financing organizations, and is actively involved in agricutural development in more than 140 countries.

This push for international cooperation may be one reason for PRC´s growing interest in the United Nations. When PRC in 1971 replaced Taiwan (the Republic of China) as the Chinese representative to the UN, it did at first keep a low profile. However, after Xi Jinping became China´s main leader PRC has steadily become more visible within the UN system.

In a speech delivered at the UN Office in Geneva, Xi Jinping declared that he did not consider trade protectionism and self-isolation to be beneficient. He described the Paris Agreement as ”a milestone in the history of climate governance” and declared that ”we must ensure this endeavour is not derailed.” Furthermore, he emphasized that the UN is ”at the core of the international system.” 6 Xi Jinping´s speech may be compared to a speech Donald J. Trump gave at the UN General Assembly:

America is governed by Americans. We reject the ideology of globalism, and we embrace the doctrine of patriotism. Around the world, responsible nations must defend themselves against threats to sovereignty not just from the global governance, but also from other, new forms of coercion and domination.7

The United States remains the largest financial contributor to the UN, providing 22 percent of its budget. However, US support is declining. Already in 2011, the US stopped paying dues to the UNESCO and in October 2017 it officially quit the Organisation. In 2018, the US withdrew from the UN Human Rights Council and ended all funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). The Trump administration is currently trying to decrease US funding to several UN agencies. Meanwhile, the People´s Republic of China recently surpassed Japan as the second largest national, economic contributor to the UN. So far, Japan has every year contributed with 10 percent, while PRC now is contributing with 10.8 percent and plans to increase its financial support. 8

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is in charge of international efforts to improve agriculture, forestry, and fisheries, intending to ensure food security for all and it is thus natural that its activites are of great interest to the biggest food producer of the world. On the 23rd of June, Qu Dongyu was elected Director General of the FAO, becoming the second Chinese citizen to head a UN agency.9 In a recent speech, Qu Dongyu who at that time still was PRC’s vice minister for agriculture and rural affairs, stated that if he became FAO´s Director General he would try to continue the Organisation´s efforts to foment sustainable agriculture, particularly by supporting value chains, tropical agriculture, dryland farming, water management and innovative ITC (Information and Communications Technology). Qu Dongyu stressed that this can only be achieved by the farmers themselves, emphasizing that rural women and youth have to be mobilized, supported and included in all decision making. The last promise may indicate that Qu Dongyu intends to avoid becoming the kind of demi-god that rulers of big organisations often tend to consider themselves to be. Qu Dongyu´s speech might be perceived as the high-flown oratory of any incoming head of a big organization. However, I found one section of his speech particularly reassuring – when he stated that the future of agriculture depends on the experience of the elderly and the capacity of the young:

When I was a child, my Grandma always took me to pick mushrooms in the neighbouring hills. She told me that we should leave the old mushrooms to spread spores and the young, small ones to grow. This is the only way to ensure that we could have a constant supply of mushrooms within the season. With a strong scientific background, I have always stood by the principle of carefulness, truth-seeking, inclusiveness, and collaboration. 10

The future belongs to the young and we have to prepare and safeguard our world for them. The Swedish environment activist Greta Thunberg became known after she in May 2018 won second-prize in a contest for middle school pupils. They had been asked to write about environmental degradation. Greta called her essay We know – and we can do something now, in it she wrote:

When you think about the future today, you do not think further than 2050. Then, at best, I have not even lived half my life. What happens next? […] If I become a hundred years old, I will be alive in the year 2103. If I by that time have children and grandchildren they would probably celebrate that day together with me. Maybe we would talk about how things were when I was a child. I would presumably talk about you then. How would you like to be remembered? 11

One answer to Greta´s question could be that eighty-four years ago the election of a new Director General for FAO helped reverse our short-sighted and ruthless exploitation of the Earth and thus contributed to a sustainable management of natural resources, making it possible for her and her grandchildren to enjoy food security and live in harmony with nature.

1 Du Fu (2002) The Selected Poems by Du Fu, translated by Burton Watson. New York: Columbia University Press, p. 71.
2 Summer Sigh quoted in Zhang, Yunhua (2018) Insights Into Chinese Agriculture. Singapore: Springer, p. 97.
3 Cf. Yuan Kee (1993) Dragons and Dynasties: An Introduction to Chinese Mythology. London: Penguin Books.
4 Some scholarly estimates are as high as 20 to 43 millions, cf. Dikötter, Frank (2011) Mao´s Great Famine: The History of China´s Most Devastating Catastrophe, 1958-1962. London: Bloomsbury.
5 http://www.fao.org/china/fao-in-china/china-at-a-glance/en/
6 Xi Jinping (2017) Work Together to Build a Community of Shared Future for Mankind. http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-01/19/c_135994707.htm
7 UN Affairs (2018) US President Trump rejects globalism in speech to UN General Assembly’s annual debate. https://news.un.org/en/story/2018/09/1020472
8 Okano-Heijmans, Maaike and van der Putten, Frans-Paul (2018) A United Nations with Chinese characteristics? The Hague: Clingendael Institute.
9 Li Yong is since 2013 heading United Nations Industrial Devolpment Organization (UNIDO).
10 Dongyu, Qu (2019) Building a Dynamic FAO for a Better World. http://www.ipsnews.net/2019/06/chinese-dg-lead-fao-4-years-1-aug-2019/
11 Thunberg, Greta (2018) ”Greta Thunberg: ´Vi vet – och vi kan göra något nu´,” Svenska Dagbladet, 30 May.

Jan Lundius holds a PhD. on History of Religion from Lund University and has served as a development expert, researcher and advisor at SIDA, UNESCO, FAO and other international organisations.

The post Could the Election of Qu Dongyu as FAO´s General-Director be a Turning-point for Sustainable Agricultural Development? appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Napoli midfielder Adam Ounas shines as Algeria finish top of Group C with victory in their final group game against Tanzania at the Africa Cup of Nations.

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By Kelsey Davenport and Daryl G. Kimball
WASHINGTON DC, Jul 1 2019 (IPS)

Iran’s announcement that it may soon breach the 300-kilogram limit on low-enriched uranium set by the 2015 nuclear deal is an expected but troubling response to the Trump administration’s reckless and ill-conceived pressure campaign to kill the 2015 nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

It is critical that President Donald Trump does not overreact to this breach and further escalate tensions. Any violation of the deal is a serious concern but, in and of itself, an increase in Iran’s low-enriched uranium stockpile above the 300-kilogram limit of 3.67 percent enriched uranium does not pose a near-term proliferation risk.

Iran would need to produce roughly 1,050 kilograms of uranium enriched at that level, further enrich it to weapons grade (greater than 90 percent uranium-235), and then weaponize it. Intrusive International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspections would provide early warning of any further moves by Iran to violate the deal.

Tehran is not racing toward the bomb but rather, Iran’s leaders are seeking leverage to counter the U.S. pressure campaign, which has systematically denied Iran any benefits of complying with the deal.

Despite Iran’s understandable frustration with the U.S. re-imposition of sanctions, it remains in Tehran’s interest to fully comply with the agreement’s limits and refrain from further actions that violate the accord.

If Iran follows through on its threat to resume higher levels of enrichment July 7, that would pose a more serious proliferation risk. Stockpiling uranium enriched to a higher level would shorten the time it would take Iran to produce enough nuclear material for a bomb–a timeline that currently stands at 12 months as a result of the nuclear deal’s restrictions.

The Trump administration’s failed Iran policy is on the brink of manufacturing a new nuclear crisis, but there is still a window to salvage the deal and deescalate tensions.

The Joint Commission, which is comprised of the parties to the deal (China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, the European Union, and Iran) and oversees implementation of JCPOA, met on June 28. The meeting was a critical opportunity for the state parties to press Iran to fully comply with the nuclear deal and commit to redouble efforts to deliver on sanctions-relief obligations.

For its part, the White House needs to avoid steps that further escalate tensions with Iran. Trump must cease making vague military threats and refrain from taking actions such as revoking waivers for key nuclear cooperation projects that actually benefit U.S. nonproliferation priorities.

If Trump does not change course, he risks collapsing the nuclear deal and igniting a conflict in the region.

The post US & Iranian Actions Put Nuclear Deal in Jeopardy appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Kelsey Davenport is director for nonproliferation policy at the Arms Control Association
and Daryl G. Kimball is executive director

The post US & Iranian Actions Put Nuclear Deal in Jeopardy appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Nigerian fans are stunned after the Super Eagles lose to Afcon debutants Madagascar.

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Activists say the allegations against Biodun Fatoyinbo have triggered Nigeria's #MeToo movement.

Critics say it is about erasing the contribution of ethnic Tutsis and replacing them with Hutus.

Researchers have found that television viewing of soap operas has an effect equal to 1.6 years of additional education. | Picture courtesy: PxHere. This image is licensed under CC BY 2.0

By Archna Vyas
NEW DELHI, Jul 1 2019 (IPS)

Consistent exposure to TV series with strong characters has the power to influence mental models in society and shift social norms.

Does what you view impact your behaviour? Albert Bandura, an influential pioneer in social cognitive theory, showed that it did. Back in the late 1970s, his studies showed that children who viewed violent images on television also demonstrated more aggressive behaviour than those who viewed neutral content. The work of other noted scholars such as Christina Bicchieri, has shown that individuals learn from watching others and that these observations become behaviours and social norms that are deeply embedded in the collective community mindset.

Does the content on these multiple screens influence how individuals, families, and communities think and behave, and if so, how can it be leveraged to have a positive impact?

Now imagine the implications of these findings in an era where screen time has overtaken face time. The Broadcast India 2018 survey finds that in urban areas, the average time spent watching television per day is about 4 hours, while in rural India, it is 3 hours and 27 minutes. According to the survey, TV homes in the country have seen a 7.5 percent jump, outpacing the growth of homes in India at 4.5 percent. India boasts of 298 million homes, of which 197 million have a TV set. This creates the opportunity to add 100 million more TV homes. In addition to television, mobile phones, first known as the ‘second screen’ have become the device of choice to consume content.

We are therefore inclined to ask: does the content on these multiple screens influence how individuals, families, and communities think and behave, and if so, how can it be leveraged to have a positive impact? Entertainment education (EE) — which is entertainment media that incorporates an educational message to the audience to increase their knowledge about an issue, and create favourable attitudes that can change overt behaviour — is showing us that it does. In fact, researchers have found that television viewing of soap operas has an effect equal to 1.6 years of additional education. So, can we leverage content on screens to educate and create positive change through repeated messaging, powerful storytelling, and strong characters?

 

Characters change the narrative and our mindsets

There are some fundamental reasons why long-format and character-based content, notably, soap operas, are effective in changing behaviours. Firstly, unlike commercials and campaigns, soap operas are multi-episode series that are viewed over a long duration. Second, these scripts are built around a relatable but powerful character.  These characters, in turn, have an impact on us as viewers. Indeed, the journey of a strong character takes viewers into a world where they start seeing themselves in the character. As these characters transition — taking tough calls, overcoming situations, challenging social norms, and succeeding — viewers’ mindsets about issues also begin to change. New role models, frames of references and their decisions become acceptable and possible.

Take for example, Main Kuch Bhi Kar Sakti Hoon (I, A Woman, Can Achieve Anything), a TV series made by Population Foundation of India, and funded by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where I work. The plot is built around a strong-willed female lead character Dr Sneha Mathur, a young doctor who leaves behind a lucrative career in Mumbai to work in a small town. The series was scripted to influence social norms and behaviours on sex-selection, child marriage, spacing between pregnancies, quality of healthcare, and domestic violence — largely difficult and taboo subjects to deal with. An Interactive Voice Response Service (IVRS) accompanies the TV series, providing a discussion forum for 1.7 million viewers as well as a platform to share feedback. Research by Dr H. Wang and Dr A. Singhal has demonstrated how an open, democratic, audio-centric platform can shed light on audience discourse that is triggered by content. The IVRS provided an avenue for user-generated discussion, saw participation from men, women, and youth, and spurred pro-social actions that were inspired by the story line and characters. This is telling of post-viewing impact and engagement possibilities.

 

Right messaging can trigger reflection and behaviour change at scale

Broadcasting soaps and other forms of entertainment education via mass media is an opportunity to influence not only the mental models of individual viewers but also the mental models that are accepted by the wider society, creating possibilities for large-scale change. Since our decisions are impacted by family and community, it benefits individuals when others view similar messages. Interestingly, BARC India data finds that India is a country that is driven by family viewing, and this shows in the increase in the number of TV households. Such collective viewing habits indicate that an entire household’s mindset can be changed together. This is particularly noteworthy in India, where decision-making rights are often vested in the family and not in the individual.

For example, women and girls typically do not have the agency to influence decisions about their bodies and their health. The teledrama AdhaFULL or ‘Half-full’ — produced by BBC Media Action in collaboration with UNICEF – addresses issues such as underage marriage, sex-selective abortion, and sexual health of adolescents, to generate critical conversations among young Indian viewers and their parents. This initiative and others have demonstrated that messages provided in the context of everyday life can change a listener’s expectations about the possibilities of adopting new practices. Entertainment education can serve as a social mobiliser, an advocate, or an agenda setter by encouraging difficult, but important conversations.

Academics have demonstrated that there is a link between what we see and how we behave. Data tells us that we are spending more time on our screens. Together these facts are full of caution and promise, for content creators and scriptwriters to take note for the type of content they produce, and leverage the power of screens to promote positive attitudes on key social issues. And indeed, while more studies to chronicle the impact of viewing on socials norms are needed, there is now enough evidence available to suggest that consistent exposure to media can bring sustained change.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are personal.

Archna Vyas is the Country Deputy Director for Communications at the India Country Office of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

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

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H.E. Frans Makken is Ambassador of the Netherlands to Kenya

By H. E. Frans Makken
NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 1 2019 (IPS)

Demographic dividend is a term which is increasingly preoccupying discussions among development economists and the donor community in general in Kenya. The term refers to countries with the greatest demographic opportunity for development and those that are ushering in a period in which the working-age population has good health, quality education, decent employment and a lower proportion of young dependents. Smaller numbers of children per household generally lead to larger investments per child, more freedom for women to enter the formal workforce and more household savings for old age. When this happens, the national economic payoff can be substantial, and this is the demographic dividend.

Frans Makken

African countries are rightly excited about the prospects of reaping a demographic dividend, based largely on their unrivalled potential of a youthful population. However, whether Africa can reap the benefits of a future demographic dividend will depend on how the continent prioritizes those Sustainable Development Goals that that will give the continent a competitive edge through its youth. In Kenya for instance, one study has estimated that the demographic dividend may not happen before 2055.

In most African countries –including Kenya, high birth rates are weighing down on economic growth as large numbers of under-15 youths need to be supported by a smaller group of workers. Kenya’s fertility rate stands at 3.7 while a rate of 2.5 or less is required to reach the tipping point where the working-age population surpasses the inactive part. Yet, a high working-age population is not the cure-all; the quality of the work force is even more important and how it meets the demands of the market and fits its wider ecosystem.

In my tour of duty, I have over the past four years worked closely with the Kenyan government and non-governmental actors to address some of the challenges, including in the areas of health and food security. The Netherlands strongly believes in the power of partnerships and innovation to ameliorate those bottlenecks.

One of the goals of the Kenyan government, through the UN Development Assistance Framework (2018 – 2022) is to front-load the realization of the demographic dividend by prioritizing strategic investments in the four key pillars of Employment and Entrepreneurship; Education and Skills Development; Health and Wellbeing (including family planning); and Rights, Governance and Youth Empowerment.

In September 2017, The Government of Kenya announced at the United Nations General Assembly the establishment of the SDG Partnership Platform, to realize Kenya’s vision to achieve universal health coverage. The Platform has since received global recognition from the UN as a promising practice to accelerate SDG financing and impact and has become a flagship programme under Kenya’s new UN Development Assistance Framework 2018-2022.

The Platform supported by the Netherlands was established under the leadership of the Government of Kenya, and with support of the United Nations Resident Coordinator’s Office and key private sector partners such as Royal Philips. The Platform convenes leadership from government, UN, development partners, private sector, philanthropy, civil society, academia, and faith-based organizations and is championing the delivery as one of SDG partnerships which catalyze investments and innovations to drive SDG impacts, as for example in health and well-being (SDG3). The outcomes are visible and appreciatable. Healthcare needs are being assessed and primary and community based healthcare is being strengthened in the country.

As the Netherlands is moving from aid to trade, we strongly believe in the contribution of the private sector in achieving the SDGs and investing in the youthful population. In this context, I am pleased to welcome a health sector trade mission comprising of leading innovative Dutch companies working on e-health, public health, medical equipment and training seeking partnerships with their Kenyan counterparts. The trade mission taking place from 1-3 July will be led by Dr. Erik Gerritsen, Dutch Vice Minister for Health who will also meet government officials to discuss cooperation that will lead to mutually beneficial business deals and better health outcomes in Kenya.

By advancing shared-value partnerships, Kenya will be able to sustainably create more health, education, and employment opportunities for its young people and offer a safety-net to many.

Indeed, Kenya is on the way to realizing its demographic dividend; together, we can together make the journey to that goal shorter. Kenya can become a blue print for the rest of Africa.

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H.E. Frans Makken is Ambassador of the Netherlands to Kenya

The post Kenya’s March Towards a Demographic Dividend by Investing in Health and Partnering with the Health Sector from the Netherlands Visiting Kenya appeared first on Inter Press Service.

By Pedro Conceição
UNITED NATIONS, Jul 1 2019 (IPS)

“People are the real wealth of nations,” began the first Human Development Report (HDR). That 1990 report marked a turning point in the global development debate.

During the second half of the 20th century there were growing concerns about the tyranny of gross domestic product (GDP). Many decision-makers seemed to believe that economic growth and wellbeing were synonymous.

But those who understood what GDP actually measures disagreed. Their arguments were well encapsulated in Bobby Kennedy’s now famous speech in which he noted that GDP “measures everything in short, except that which makes life worthwhile”.

Thirty years later global development stands at another milestone. The 2030 Agenda is an opportunity to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure lasting peace and prosperity. Can human development thinking inspire a new generation of analysis, measurement and decision-making to revolutionise global development once again?

How does human development relate to the SDGs?

There are many links between the human development approach and the 2030 Agenda. But it is worth noting up front that the two are fundamentally different things.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a globally agreed tool for assessing development progress. Human development, meanwhile, is a philosophy – or lens – for considering almost any development issue one can think of.

In other words, the SDGs provide a development destination. Human development allows one to design the route to get there. Two characteristics of the approach make it particularly suitable for designing the policies that nations need to achieve the SDGs.

First, the SDGs are ‘integrated and indivisible’. And so, though the goals are discrete, the policies for achieving them need to recognise the interlinkages between the different areas. The human development approach stresses the importance of integrated thinking and the ‘joined up’ nature of development.

For instance, when trying to make it easier for someone to find work, one also needs to think about that person’s health, other responsibilities (at home, for example), education, access to transport, freedom to take a job (particularly for many women), and so on.

Second, while all nations have agreed on the importance of the SDGs, it is for each nation to pursue the goals according to their own priorities. And so, any broad development approach will need to be flexible if it is to be useful to many countries.

Human development can be thought of as broad as – or broader than – the 2030 Agenda. It is an approach that can be applied in different places, by different people and in different ways to tackle different issues.

Measuring and communicating progress

The SDGs comprise 17 goals, 169 targets and 232 indicators. Some commentators see the quantity of targets as a weakness. Others argue it is a necessary reflection of the complexity of life.

Whatever one thinks, the number of indicators undoubtedly makes it difficult to readily summarise a nation’s overall progress against the 2030 Agenda. Indeed, it is often argued that one reason for GDP’s dominance in political debate is that it provides a ‘one number’ measure of progress that captures public attention.

The Human Development Index (HDI) provides an alternative single-number measure, capturing progress in three basic dimensions of human development: health, education and living standards. It enables cross-country comparisons similar to – but broader than – those provided by GDP.

Mahbub Ul Haq, the father of the HDI, recognised the convening power of a single number: “We need a measure of the same level of vulgarity as GNP – just one number – but a measure that is not as blind to social aspects of human lives as GNP is.”

But the HDI has also attracted criticism. This is primarily because – as with almost all composite indicators – it is impossible to avoid rather arbitrary weighting when combining component indicators measured in different units: life expectancy (in years of life), income (in purchasing power) or education (in years of expected and actual schooling).

If this is problematic for the HDI, built from just four indicators, then imagine the uproar if one tried a similar approach with the SDGs’ 232 indicators.

Is there a middle ground? There might be a case for using the HDI as one of a very few measures to summarise progress towards the 2030 Agenda. Many of the SDGs relate directly to the HDI: poverty, health, education and work, for example.

Others – such as peace and hunger – relate indirectly. And if the HDI is moving in the right direction, it is rather likely that those SDGs are progressing too.

This is not to say that the HDI should replace those targets and indicators. It cannot. But the index can offer a rough indication of whether a nation is progressing against many of the SDGs.

Finding other summary measures – to sketch a fuller picture of progress towards the 2030 Agenda – is undoubtedly a challenge given the diversity of goals and targets. But work we are planning at UNDP might help.

It is fair to say that the HDI has not evolved as dramatically as the world’s development challenges have over the past 30 years. Some of the challenges the planet is grappling with are new, such as understanding what the rise in artificial intelligence might mean for the labour force a decade from now.

And some global challenges are more urgent than 30 years ago: the frightening pace of climate change being the most obvious example.

Indeed, the natural environment is a crucial component of the 2030 Agenda. But neither the HDI, nor our other composite indicators of human development, touch on environmental concerns. We intend next year to investigate how environmental – and other – considerations could be included within a composite development index.

Looking to the future

The development world is rightly focused on the SDGs. But global development will not, of course, grind to a halt in 2030 even if all the SDGs are achieved. Old concerns will continue. New ones will emerge.

And the HDR has an important role to play in ensuring we keep one eye on the horizon, even if most attention is focused on the next 11 years.

For example, this year’s HDR will be about inequality. An emerging theme suggests that although many countries are making progress in closing key development gaps, new fissures are opening just as quickly.

In many countries today, for example, the gap between rich and poor children has closed when we look at whether they have access to primary education. But differences between these children are widening when we consider the quality of that education, or whether they have access to other schooling, such as early childhood education.

These ‘new’ inequalities will have lifetime consequences, particularly given the rapid technological changes that are already impacting labour markets. It is important that we pay attention to them now. It is also important that we get ahead of the curve to see what important gaps will emerge in the next decade, even if they are not included in the SDGs.

The 2030 Agenda and the SDGs – with their universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity – foreshadow a better world that the human development approach is helping to build. But the story of global development will not end in 2030.

It is our job to ensure that human development thinking will continue to shape the global development landscape for the rest of the 21st century.

* UNDP’s Human Development Report turns 30 next year. This is a moment both for celebrating the report’s impact, and for reflecting on how it can continue to help global development in a landscape dominated by the SDGs

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Pedro Conceição is Director, UN Development Programme’s Human Development Report*

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