Africa - INTER PRESS SERVICE

IOM constructs safe sanitation facilities for displaced communities in Gedeo zone.
Photo: Olivia Headon/IOM 2018

By International Organization for Migration
DILLA, Ethiopia, Jul 24 2018 (IOM)

Today (24/07), IOM the UN Migration Agency launched an appeal for USD 22,200,000 to respond to the internal displacement crisis in Ethiopia’s Gedeo (SNNPR region) and West Guji (Oromia region) zones. Since April 2018, some 970,000 people have fled their homes due to fighting between communities along the border of the two regions; the vast majority were displaced in June alone.

“Leaving with what little they could carry and typically losing these possessions on their journey to safety, the displaced communities in Gedeo and West Guji are in great need of humanitarian support to help them get through Ethiopia’s cold and rainy season,” said William Lacy Swing, IOM Director General.

“The international community must rally for the people and Government of Ethiopia. Some partners have already begun to do so, and we thank them, but the current funding levels for a sudden onset crisis of this scale – nearly one million people displaced such a short period of time – are nowhere near acceptable,” added Director General Swing.

Since June, IOM has been scaling up its response in Gedeo and West Guji. However, urgent funding is required to continue to provide life-saving assistance. The IOM appeal outlines funding requirements for the next six months in line with the Government’s West Guji-Gedeo response plan.

Many of the displaced population are staying with local communities, while others are sheltering at collective sites like schools, Government properties and disused or unfinished buildings. Those staying in the local community still come to the collective sites during the day to access humanitarian assistance. The collective sites are overcrowded with thousands of people sheltering in buildings not fit for habitation and thousands more are sleeping outside on the muddy ground with only a sheet of tarpaulin to protect them from the cold and wet weather. Both situations raise major concerns from protection and health perspectives.

IOM operations focus on providing humanitarian assistance to displaced populations in collective sites and within host communities through an integrated approach, including core relief distributions, primary health care, shelter and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). Through site management support, IOM is facilitating the improvement of humanitarian service delivery, as well as the local authorities’ capacity to address protection concerns in displacement sites. In addition, IOM is supporting the overall humanitarian community’s response by monitoring population movements and needs through its Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM).

In the past two weeks, IOM has distributed over 2,000 blankets and is currently transporting more items to the collective sites like blankets and emergency shelter kits, which include tarpaulin and rope, through a UK Department for International Development (DFID) in-kind donation. For those who are sheltering outside buildings, IOM has begun the construction of 40 communal shelters, of which four have been completed. IOM is also building communal kitchens for the displaced communities at collective sites: five of these have so far been completed.

With so many people sheltering in sites not prepared to host them, access to safe sanitation is another major worry. In just over two weeks, IOM has constructed more than 200 latrines of a planned total of 450. IOM is also promoting safe hygiene practices among the displaced population through the formation of committees, household visits, group sessions and information campaigns.

Health needs are also high but the capacity of local hospitals and clinics to address these needs is outweighed by the sheer number of people displaced in such a small area and short span of time. IOM plans to support local health infrastructure through staff and mobile health clinics.

Access the detailed appeal here.

For more information, please contact Olivia Headon in Ethiopia, Tel: +251902484062, Email: oheadon@iom.int

The post IOM Launches USD 22.2M Appeal for Gedeo, West Guji Displacement Crisis in Ethiopia appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Rohingya refugees walk past new emergency shelters built by IOM shelter teams in the Camp 20 Extension, Cox’s Bazar. Photo: IOM July 2018.

By International Organization for Migration
COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh, Jul 24 2018 (IOM)

Shelter teams from IOM, the UN Migration Agency, working with over 19,000 Rohingya refugee and local labourers, this week completed the construction of over 1,000 new shelters as part of a rapid response project to help move refugee families most at risk from landslides during the monsoon.

In just over a month, 1,150 of the “Robust Emergency Shelters” have been built with the support of refugee and host communities, who have helped with the construction and transported materials to the new site known as Camp 20 Extension.

Almost a million Rohingya refugees who fled violence in Myanmar are currently living in tarpaulin and bamboo shelters on hilly land in the Cox’s Bazar region of southern Bangladesh – an area prone to some of the world’s worst monsoon conditions.

IOM and partner organisations are working to move thousands of families whose shelters are most at risk from soil erosion and landslides during the monsoon. Hillsides stripped of vegetation during the initial influx of refugees in late August 2017 have become increasingly unstable.

The new shelters, which have been directly constructed by the IOM shelter programme, use techniques designed to make them more durable during the heavy rains. They are built on land prepared and made safe under the Site Maintenance Engineering Project – a joint initiative between IOM, WFP and UNHCR.

“This is an important achievement and a testament to the incredibly hard work of IOM’s shelter teams, the joint efforts of the SMEP initiative, and of course the refugees and host community themselves,” said Manuel Pereira, IOM’s Emergency Coordinator in Cox’s Bazar.

“Everyone involved has put an immense effort into making this land safer and creating robust shelters where families facing the very real danger of landslides can now live more securely. But we desperately need more funding for this work to continue,” he said.

Ambi Khatu, a 60-year-old woman originally from Buthidaung in Myanmar’s North Rakhine State, is among those who have moved into the new shelters.

“My (previous) shelter was damaged in a landslide. The mud overflowed into my house. I feel here is a good place. I feel better,” she said, showing off the small plot of pumpkin seedlings she recently planted outside her new shelter.

IOM has played a lead role in meeting the shelter needs of those affected by the Rohingya refugee crisis. Since February this year, almost 43,200 households have received shelter upgrade kits, while 41,500 households have been given shelter upgrades and disaster risk reduction orientation. Since May, over 37,300 households have also received tie-down kits to further secure their shelters.

For more information please contact Fiona MacGregor at IOM Cox’s Bazar, Email: fmacgregor@iom.int, Tel: +88 0 1733 335221

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Credit: Bigstock

By Martin Khor
PENANG, Malaysia, Jul 24 2018 (IPS)

The escalating trade war initiated by United States President Donald Trump is a major threat to world trade and the global economy.  The developing countries will be among those most affected. It is time for them to respond and speak out.

The trade war is a very dangerous game that will engulf the whole world if it is prolonged.  The country most directly affected by the US trade attack is China. But it is not just a tit-for-tat fight between two giants, the US and China.

Many developing countries are among the most vulnerable to a trade war. Taiwan, Korea, Singapore, Hungary, Malaysia Thailand, Vietnam, Chile, and the Philippines are among the most dependent on global supply chains and would thus be susceptible to a breakdown in trade
The US has also increased tariffs against European countries, Mexico, Canada and others with regards to steel and aluminium.  Additional US tariffs on automobiles and their components are now imminent, and if implemented this will take the conflict to a much higher level, with US versus Europe as the centre.

But many countries that are integrated in the regional and global supply chains will also be affected.  Some could even suffer more damage than the direct protagonists.

For example, many Asian countries like South Korea, Vietnam and Malaysia export components to China, such as electronics.  The components are used to make products such as mobile phones and computers, some of which are exported to the US. If the extra US tariffs reduce Chinese production, there will be less demand for components exported by these countries to China.

Moreover, a decline in economic growth in China and the US will depress their demand for commodities and other products, thus affecting many developing countries including in Africa and Latin America.

A study done by Pictet Asset Management of 45 countries shows that many developing countries are among the most vulnerable to a trade war.  Taiwan, Korea, Singapore, Hungary, Malaysia Thailand, Vietnam, Chile, and the Philippines are among the most dependent on global supply chains and would thus be susceptible to a breakdown in trade.  For example, Malaysian exports are about 60% dependent on global supply chains, while the rates are about 48% for China and 40% for the US.

A Reuters report using OECD data to calculate value-added embodied in Chinese exports by its source countries shows that the most exposed Asian countries to a reduction of Chinese exports would be Taiwan (8% of its GDP value is embodied in Chinese exports), Malaysia (6%), South Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore (4-5%).

Another study by the Development Bank of Singapore found that in Asia,  South Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan and Singapore are most at risk from a trade war, based on trade openness and exposure to supply chains.  A trade war would reduce economic growth in 2018 by 0.4 percentage point for Korea, 0.6% for Malaysia and Taiwan, and 0.8% for Singapore, and double these rates in 2019.

These are significant losses indeed.  Thus, developing countries cannot afford to be mere spectators of a US-China trade war.  They should assess how their countries will be affected, and prepare for the effects. More importantly, they should examine who is at fault, speak out and act.

It is clear that the US is the initiator and provocateur of the trade conflict.  Its tariff hikes are unilateral actions, against the rules of the World Trade Organisation and the global trading system.  Complaints have been filed against the US at the WTO, including by China, the EU, Russia and India. Other countries should join in as complainants.

The US actions threaten the very survival of the trade system.  If moves and counter-moves keep taking place, there will no longer be any predictability for any country’s exports.  The EU remarked at the WTO recently that the trading system is facing now acute “stress and uncertainty.” The uncertainty and the reduction of trade will hit the whole world, but most affected will be export-dependent countries.

This is also the worst time for a trade war.  It comes on top of the increasing shakiness of the world financial system, now on the verge of a new crisis.  Already foreign funds are moving out of developing economies, and their currencies are weakening, thus increasing inflationary pressures and making it more expensive to service external loans.

Trump and his advisors have been planning a trade war for some time and now they are putting it into action.  It started in January with an extra 30% tariff on solar panels and components, and 20% tariff on washing machines.

Then came US tariffs of 25% on steel and 10% on aluminium on all countries, except some that are exempted.  The US used Section 232 of its Trade Expansion Act 1962, which allows the President to impose extra tariffs to counter threats to national security threat.  This section has been rarely used and until now never invoked since the World Trade Organisation was established in 1995.

Using “national security” as a reason is clearly a disguise for what is a commercially-motivated move, as the imported metals are hardly a security threat, and most countries affected are close US allies.

There are well-founded concerns that the use of the “national security” factor by the US will undermine the world trading order, since it will also open the door for other countries to cite the same reason to take similar unilateral actions.   Although there is a clause in the WTO rules allowing trade measures to ensure national security, it has been hardly used as there is a fear it can be abused.

China in April and the EU in June initiated complaints at the WTO against the US action.  Retaliatory actions in the form of tariffs on imported goods from the US with equivalent value have been taken by China on 128 US products worth $3 billion;  by Canada on 299 products valued at $13 billion; by the EU on 180 products valued at over $3 billion; and by Mexico on $3 billion of US goods.

On 6 July the US imposed an extra 25% tariff on US$34 bil worth of Chinese goods, with similar action coming soon on another UD$16 bil of imports.  This time the US invoked Section 301 of its Trade Act 1974, accusing China of violating intellectual property rights of US companies, and of pressuring American firms in China to transfer their technology.  Section 301 is deemed by almost all countries and experts to violate WTO rules.

China immediately retaliated with tariffs on US$34 bil of imports from the US. It accused the US of launching the “largest trade war in economic history.”

US tariffs will hit China’s exports of electrical, telecom and transport equipment, engines and motors, farm machines.  Chinese actions will affect US agriculture goods, especially soybeans, autos and aquatic products.

Responding to China’s retaliation, the US on 10 July announced it would slap a 10% tariff on another US$200 billion of Chinese imports, again invoking Section 301.  China said it is shocked by the US’ behaviour and vowed to retaliate.

Trump has calculated the US will win a trade war because in 2017 the US imported US$506 bil from China, while China imported US$130 billion of US goods.  He thinks China would soon run out of retaliation capacity as it does not have much more US imports to slap tariffs on.

The Chinese however could still retaliate by taking other measures, such as setting more conditions for US firms based in China, not giving access for US companies in various sectors, or not implementing WTO obligations on intellectual property.

Trump will probably go into a rage and raise more tariffs against China, thus escalating the war further.   This will provoke even more actions from China, which has vowed to stick to its rights and not to retreat.

The US is also examining imposing tariffs on automobiles and parts. Trump has threatened to place a 20% tariff on all European cars.  This would have dire consequences, warned German leader Angela Merkel.

In short, the world is on the brink of a Trump-induced global trade crisis.  It will have spill-over effects on exports and GNP growth in developing countries, and secondary effects on policies of banks (which may increase the price and volume of credit) and on the financial markets (with effects on stock prices and the outward flow of funds).

The developing countries should now strongly speak up against the unilateral measures of the US at many venues, and to take or join other initiatives to stop the trade war from escalating into a very big crisis that the world cannot afford to have.

The post Trade War – Developing Countries Should Respond appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Martin Khor is Advisor to the Third World Network, and a former Executive Director of the South Centre

The post Trade War – Developing Countries Should Respond appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Michelle, a transgender peer educator, walks through her village in Joyce Bay, Port Moresby. Credit: Tom Maguire

By Tom Maguire
LONDON, Jul 24 2018 (IPS)

A group of teenage boys huddle around Michelle in the mangroves behind Joyce Bay, a spot frequented by men who have sex with men (MSM) in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea (PNG).

She asks them how regularly they have sex and whether they have been tested for HIV or tuberculosis (TB). Her questions are met with giggles, intrigue and confusion. It turned out that none of the eight present have been tested for either disease. Michelle is a peer educator working to test key populations in her community for HIV, and more recently TB as well.

Five key populations— sex workers, MSMs, transgender people, people who inject drugs, and people in prison and confined settings are disproportionally affected by HIV, but are also the least likely to have access to preventative care, diagnostics, and treatment. One in two new HIV infections worldwide are in these populations.

They face a number of barriers that limit their access to essential health services or exclude them all together. Many are subjected to significant levels of stigma, discrimination, abuse and violence. In many settings, laws that criminalise behaviours such as drug use, sex work, and same-sex relationships further marginalise young people and perpetuate their exclusion.

Fearing discrimination and possible legal consequences, they are hesitant to accessing testing and treatment services. They are also often reluctant to disclose their HIV status to their family and community in fear of revealing their identity or sexual orientation. The outcome is that they remain hidden from the services and support networks they need.

Same-sex relationships are illegal and punishable by up to 14 years in prison in Papua New Guinea. While some coastal communities in the National Capital District are increasingly accepting of same-sex relationships, tolerance across this predominately Catholic country remains low and impacts the number of MSM who get tested.

Balou Chabart Rasoananaivo speaks with local MSM in a safe space in Tamatave, Madagascar. Credit: Tom Maguire

A new report on key populations, commissioned by PNG’s National Department of Health, says more than half of gay men, other men who have sex with men, and transgender people have never been tested for HIV.

To overcome the myriad and interconnected barriers, civil society organizations are introducing programs to increase awareness about HIV among those groups who are often missed by national programs.

In Papua New Guinea’s capital Port Moresby, a cadre of volunteer peer educators, like Michelle, have been trained to go out to clubs, pick-up spots for sex workers, and safe spaces where LGBTQ+ people meet and socialize, to distribute condoms and encourage people to get tested.

In Madagascar, Solidarité des MSM Madagascar, set up by transgender activist Balou Chabart Rasoananaivo, targets men who have sex with men with HIV sensitisation programmes at local social events. This approach aims to support young MSM to think of themselves as part of a community, and to strengthen community norms for sexual health. Dispelling myths around using condoms is another important part of the organisations work.

For example, many Malagasy’s believe that the gel on the tip of a condom is tap water. Madagascar’s water supply is so polluted that this seemingly unimportant detail can make the difference between people choosing to use condoms or not.

While good progress has been made, many so-called ‘key populations’ are still unable to access treatment. In some countries drug-stocks outs are regular occurrences. Drug stock-outs can have a devastating and life-threatening impact for everyone completing treatment for HIV, but key populations are often worse affected as they typically access treatment outside of the national healthcare system.

Just recently, the amount of antiretroviral medicine available in Papua New Guinea has fallen to such low levels that the country has started to eat into its buffer stock. Health Secretary Pascoe Kase admitted in a statement to local media that stocks were low, but that the Department of Health was working with donors to figure out a solution. Madagascar found itself in a similar predicament in 2015.

Interruption of treatment can weaken the immune system of people living with HIV and increase their susceptibility to other infectious diseases such as TB, which is the biggest killer of people living with HIV, causing approximately one in four deaths.

According to the 2017 Global TB Report, more than one million people infected with HIV contract TB annually, and 374,000 people die from it.

Globally, progress is being made to integrate TB-HIV services. Papua New Guinea’s capital, Port Moresby, has the highest rate of TB in the world; all patients are now being tested for both HIV and TB whenever they visit a health facility and display symptoms of either disease.

The recent integration of the two programs is already helping to identify more cases of both disease and ensure those that are living with TB/HIV co-infection are put on an appropriate course of treatment.

According to David Bridger, the UNAIDS Country Director for Papua New Guinea: “Only when we ensure that Papua New Guinea’s HIV programming reaches the right people in the right way and place, and at the right time, will the increasing HIV infection rates amongst key populations be slowed”.

Civil society organisations (CSOs) and peer educators like Michelle and Balou play a leading role in the fight to end the world’s two deadliest infectious disease and ensuring no group or individual gets left behind. But their efforts are futile unless governments and donors ensure those that need treatment can access it.

This is the message that CSOs conveyed to the AIDS 2018 Conference in Amsterdam, July 23 -27.

On the road to the first-ever United Nations High Level Meeting on TB, advocates are using the AIDS conference to highlight the deadly link between HIV and TB that is so obvious in places like PNG, and to make it clear that attaining the Sustainable Development Goals rests heavily on how well societies understand and treat these diseases.

The post HIV-TB Connection: Key to Ending Infections appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Tom Maguire is the Communications Manager at RESULTS UK

The post HIV-TB Connection: Key to Ending Infections appeared first on Inter Press Service.

The weakness of poor farmers and the growth of low-nutrition crops have been, until now, some of the deterrents of efficient agriculture. Esmilda Sánchez picks string beans on the Finca de Semillas farm. Credit: Jorge Luis Baños/IPS

By Carmen Arroyo
UNITED NATIONS, Jul 24 2018 (IPS)

Significantly more investment is needed to lift hundreds of millions rural poor out of poverty and make agriculture environmentally sustainable, according to Rob Vos, director of the markets, trade and institutions division at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

With a growing world population, hunger and undernutrition are on the rise, and governments are looking for private alliances to alleviate these issues.“The world has over-invested in low-nutrition staple crops, driving up the relative price of nutrition rich-foods. Empty calories is the food system of the poor." -- John Coonrod, executive vice-president, the Hunger Project.

During the 2018 High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, this July, IFPRI organised a side event called “Investing for Reshaping Food Systems”.

Speakers included Claudia Sadoff, director general for the International Water Management Institute; Nichola Dyer, from the Global Agriculture and Food Security Programme at the World Bank; Gerda Verburg, coordinator at the Scaling Up Nutrition Movement (SUN); and Chantal-Line Carpentier, chief at the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development.

They all emphasised the urgency of investing in sustainable agriculture, defined by the Barilla Centre for Food and Nutrition as “the efficient production of safe, healthy, and high-quality agricultural products, in a way that is environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable.”

While the world population will reach over eight billion people in 2025, the amount of cultivable land will remain the same. Decimated by pesticides, non-sustainable agricultural techniques, and water waste, healthy nutrients will become harder to access for the growing population. This issue, along with food waste (20 percent of every food purchase is wasted), is a major concern for Verburg, who highlighted the need to rethink food systems and stop blaming agriculture.

The relationship between the private sector and agriculture isn’t new. On the contrary, many farmers-especially the poorest ones-are members of the private sector.

“The majority of poor and hungry people are small-scale farmers. They are in fact members of the private sector, albeit the weakest. And some corporate investments in agriculture can hurt them,” John Coonrod, executive vice-president at the Hunger Project, told IPS.

The weakness of poor farmers and the growth of low-nutrition crops have been, until now, some of the deterrents of efficient agriculture.

“The world has over-invested in low-nutrition staple crops, driving up the relative price of nutrition rich-foods. Empty calories is the food system of the poor. To overcome malnutrition, we need to increase the dietary diversity of the poor to include many more fruits and vegetables, which means increasing their local production and reducing their price to local consumers,” Coonrod explained.

How can private investment develop sustainable agriculture? Vos from IFPRI said that a first priority should be to provide incentives for investments beyond farms “in infrastructure like roads, electricity and cold transportation and agri-food processing.”

“This will help provide better and more stable market conditions for farmers, create lots of new jobs, and limit the risks of investing in agriculture itself,” he said.

He also added that “the second priority is to provide incentives for investing in sustainable practices and crop diversification, including towards fruits and vegetables.”

Brian Bogart, senior regional programme advisor for South Africa to the U.N. World Food Programme, agreed with Vos.

“Key areas for investment to equity in food systems include rural infrastructure, access to markets, knowledge and technology, and improved storage and transport capacity to reduce post-harvest losses,” Bogart said.

What about governments?

During the event, Verburg, from SUN, pointed out the importance of political commitment and leadership within countries to reduce hunger and reshape food systems.

When asked about the role of national governments, Bogart said: “Member states have a responsibility to lead such efforts by developing effective partnerships with the private sector and fostering an enabling environment for investment.”

“With shrinking public investment in agriculture (according to the Secretary General’s progress report on the SDGs, government expenditure as a percentage of GDP declined from .38 to .23 between 2001 and 2016 and international aid allocations for agriculture declined by 20 percent between the mid-1980s and 2016), the question is how public-private partnerships can unlock opportunities for private investment to complement public resources and capacity to generate improved food security, particularly for the most vulnerable populations,” he added.

Some countries are already doing this. The Barilla Centre for Food and Nutrition’s Food Index on sustainable agriculture, which ranks 25 countries according to 58 indicators, reveals that Germany and Canada are among the states that rank highest with regards to sustainable agriculture.

However, responsibility does not lie solely with the state, but with civil society also. Coonrod, from the Hunger Project, explained what his organisation does in this regard: “We promote good nutrition through education, promoting better local farming methods, increasing local food processing and, in indigenous communities of Latin America, we’ve opposed junk food and helped communities reclaim their nutritious traditional foods.”

Finally, Vos highlighted the importance of research in reducing hunger.

“We undertake research to better understand the causes underlying the deficiencies in the present food systems and test out the effectiveness of interventions that aim to overcome these shortcomings. We know far too little on what is driving food system change, not just in agriculture, but in all stages of the food chain, from farm to fork.”

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The post Sustainable Agriculture To End World Hunger appeared first on Inter Press Service.

By WAM
JAKARTA, Jul 24 2018 (WAM)

Arcandra Tahar, Deputy Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources of Indonesia, and Mohamed Abdullah bin Mutlaq Al Ghafli, UAE Ambassador to Indonesia, have reviewed the progress in implementing the floating solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant by Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) on the Cirata Reservoir in the West Java province of Indonesia.

The 200MW project will be the largest project of its kind in Indonesia.

The two parties also explored prospects for joint cooperation in areas of conventional and renewable energy.

The Indonesian minister said Jakarta is keen to expand its cooperation ties with the UAE for the best interests of the two friendly countries.

WAM/Tariq alfaham/Hatem Mohamed

The post UAE, Indonesia review work progress at solar power plant appeared first on Inter Press Service.

The post Building Peace in Societies Affected by Small Arms appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Izumi Nakamitsu is UN Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs & Jean-Pierre Lacroix is UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations

The post Building Peace in Societies Affected by Small Arms appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Credit: Institute for Palestine Studies

By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Jul 24 2018 (IPS)

The Group of 77 (G77) — the largest single coalition of developing countries at the United Nations– is to be chaired by Palestine, come January.

“It’s a historical first, both for Palestine and the G77,” an Asian diplomat told IPS, pointing out that Palestine will be politically empowered to collectively represent 134 UN member states, including China.

Created in June 1964, the 54-year-old Group comprises over 80 per cent of the world’s population and approximately two-thirds of the United Nations membership

Traditionally, the G77 speaks with a single voice before the 193-member General Assembly, the highest policy making body at the UN, and also at all UN committee meetings and at international conferences.

Under a system of geographical rotation, it was Asia’s turn to name a chairman for 2019. The Asian Group has unanimously endorsed Palestine, which will be formally elected chair at the annual G77 ministerial meeting, scheduled to take place in mid-September.

Palestine will take over from the current chair, Egypt, which is representing the African Group of countries.

The chairmanship is a tremendous political boost for Palestine at a time when it is being increasingly blacklisted by the Trump administration which is kowtowing to the Israelis.

Although it is not a full-fledged UN member state, Palestine is recognized by 136 UN members, and since 2012, has the status of a “non-member observer state” –as is the Holy See (the Vatican).

Nadia Hijab, President, Al-Shabaka Board of Directors, told IPS: “At a time when Israel is moving on all fronts to wipe Palestine definitively off the map through relentless colonization – and to muscle in on UN committees despite its flagrant violations of international law — it is a source of solace to see Palestine slated for a very visible role at the UN.”

However, comforting as this may be, she pointed out, it will take a lot more than this to make “Palestine” a reality on the ground.

Sadly, the Ramallah-based Palestinian leadership has been unwilling or unable to end security coordination with Israel and to heal internal divisions. Instead, she said, it is cracking down on peaceful Palestinian protests.

”It is also reshaping the Palestine Liberation Organization, which has always been recognized as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, in a way that excludes alternative and opposing views,” Hijab declared.

Martin Khor, Advisor to the Malaysia-based Third World Network, told IPS: “I think it will be a historic and a significant development-first for the G77 countries to elect Palestine as its chair, and thereby affirm their confidence in its leadership.”

The election will also prove that the State of Palestine itself has decided it can mobilise its human and material resources to take on the complex task of coordinating the largest grouping in the UN system– even though it has to fight its own very challenging battles of survival and independence, said Khor, the former executive director of the Geneva-based South Centre.

“Both Palestine and the G77 deserve the support of people around the world to wish them success in voicing and defending the interests of developing countries in these very difficult times when international cooperation and multilateralism are coming under attack,” he said.

Last week, the Trump administration refused to grant visas to a six-member Palestinian delegation that was expected to participate at the UN’s High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development which took place July 16-18.

This was clearly in violation of the 1947 US-UN Headquarters Agreement which calls on the US, among other obligations, to facilitate delegates participating at UN meetings.

Asked about the visa refusal, UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq told reporters last week: “Well, certainly, we’re aware of this latest incident, but as far as I’m aware, there is a Host Country Committee that deals with disputes involving access to the United Nations and any problems dealing with the host country on that.”

”As of now, the Host Country Committee has not been approached or formally informed of this, so they haven’t acted on this. But it’s normally their role to deal with this situation. Of course, we would hope that all of those who are here to attend UN meetings would have the ability to do so,” he added.

Samir Sanbar, a former UN Assistant Secretary-General who headed the Department of Public Information (DPI), told IPS chairing the G-77 will be an unprecedented role for Palestine. He said leading that large, varied yet collaborative group will require tactful handling by all sides at a time when the rightful Palestinian cause needs every support as the region—and a fragmented conflicted, almost leaderless world— is facing serious challenges.

“It is hoped that Ambassador Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine and an experienced diplomat with proven U.N. record, will be given the opportunity and required leeway to operate in an inclusive, patient and fruitful manner to enhance the role of the G 77 while advancing the status of the Palestine, said Sanbar, who served under five different UN secretaries-general.

At the UN, the Trump administration has been increasingly undermining the Palestinian cause – a cause long supported by an overwhelming majority of member states in the world body.

In May, the US relocated its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem even though the UN has deemed it “occupied” declaring that the status of East Jerusalem should be subject to negotiations and that East Jerusalem will be the future capital of the State of Palestine.

Last month, the Trump administration also reduced its funding—from an estimated $360 million in 2017 to $60 million this year — to the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), created in 1949 to provide assistance to over 5.5 million refugees resulting from the creation of Israel in 1948.

Last year when Secretary-General Antonio Guterres proposed the appointment of former Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad as UN’s Special Representative in Libya, the proposal was shot down by US Ambassador Nikki Haley, purely because he was a Palestinian.

And speaking before the US House Appropriations State and Foreign Operations Subcommittee, Haley went even further down the road when she indicated she would block any appointment of a Palestinian official to a senior role at the UN because Washington “does not recognize Palestine” as an independent state.

Suddenly, the Palestinians, for the first time, seem blacklisted– and declared political outcasts– in a world body where some of them held key posts in a bygone era.

Guterres, who apparently relented to US pressure by stepping back on Fayyad’s appointment plucked up courage to tell reporters: “I think it was a serious mistake. I think that Mr. Fayyad was the right person in the right place at the right time, and I think that those who will lose will be the Libyan people and the Libyan peace process.”

And, he rightly added: “”I believe that it is essential for everybody to understand that people serving the UN are serving in their personal capacities. They don’t represent a country or a government – they are citizens of the world representing the UN Charter and abiding by the UN Charter,” he said, pointedly directing his answer at Haley

A former chair of the G77 chapter in Vienna told IPS although the Palestinian issue is fundamentally a political one, centred as well on the legitimacy and legality of Israeli occupation, it no longer remains in the political-legal realms exclusively.

He said there are a large number of issues of economic, social and cultural and environmental nature, including health, education, food, water, etc, which arises both directly from conditions of occupation, as well as laterally from other conditions such as denial of humanitarian access, and, very recently, the declaration of “Israel as a Jewish state”.

It is logical that advancing a struggle on these issues call for a broad forum of solidarity, and the G 77 fits the bill, he noted.

In an oped piece marking the 50th anniversary of the G77, Mourad Ahmia, the G77 Executive Secretary said: “When it was established on Jun. 15, 1964, the signing nations of the well-known “Joint Declaration of Seventy-Seven Countries” formed the largest intergovernmental organisation of developing countries in the United Nations to articulate and promote their collective interests and common development agenda.

Since the First Ministerial meeting of the G-77 held in Algeria in October 1967, and the adoption of the “Charter of Algiers”, the Group of 77 laid down the institutional mechanisms and structures that have contributed to shaping the international development agenda and changing the landscape of the global South for the past five decades, he pointed out.

“Over the years, the Group has gained an increasing role in the determination and conduct of international relations through global negotiations on major North-South and development issues.”

The Group has a presence worldwide at U.N. centres in New York, Geneva, Nairobi, Paris, Rome, Vienna, and Washington D.C., and is actively involved in ongoing negotiations on a wide range of global issues including climate change, poverty eradication, migration, trade, and the law of the sea.

“Today, the G-77 remains the only viable and operational mechanism in multilateral economic diplomacy within the U.N system. The growing membership is proof of its enduring strength,” he declared.

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By WAM
ADEN, Jul 23 2018 (WAM)

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has commended the humanitarian role played by the Emirates Red Crescent in Yemen (ERC), including the significant relief, social, service and developmental projects carried out by the UAE’s premier humanitarian aid provider in the war-ravaged country.

This came at a meeting this morning between Engineer Saeed Al Ali, Head of the ERC Mission in Aden, and Carlos Batallas, the Head of ICRC Mission to Aden, and his aide.

The two sides explored paths of promoting cooperation, with special emphasis on finding efficient solutions to the Internally Displaced People (IDP) in Yemen and providing them with sufficient assistance.

Al Ali reviewed the ERC’s milestones in Yemen as part of the ‘Year of Zayed Initiative’, which included water, medical and educational projects established across different Yemeni governorates. He hailed the current level of collaboration between ERC and ICRC.

The international official expressed ICRC’s keenness to intensify cooperation with ERC to continue to launch joint projects in Yemen.

WAM/Hatem Mohamed

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By WAM
ABU DHABI, Jul 23 2018 (WAM)

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) welcomes the decision of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on 23rd July 2018 in regards to Qatar’s request for Provisional Measures under the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination.

The ICJ refused to grant any of the Provisional Measures specifically requested by Qatar. By a very narrow margin, the Court indicated certain measures with which the UAE is already in compliance.

The ICJ’s decision reflects that Provisional Measures sought by Qatar are without a valid basis and were unsupported by the evidence. Instead of these unproductive maneuvers, Qatar should be engaging with the legitimate concerns of the UAE and the other three States that have ended relations with Qatar regarding its continuing support for terrorism and its efforts to destabilize the region.

In a statement today, the UAE reiterated its position that its actions are directed at the Qatari government and not towards the Qatari people. Contrary to Qatar’s false allegations, thousands of Qataris continue to reside in and visit the UAE. Qatari visitors may enter the UAE with prior entry permission issued through the telephone hotline announced on June 11, 2017.

“We urge Qatar to constructively engage on the requests made by the UAE and other countries for Qatar to comply with its international obligations. The UAE reiterates that it will continue to welcome Qatari citizens into its territory, as affirmed in the statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation on July 5th, 2018,” the statement added.

WAM/Hatem Mohamed

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By WAM
ABU DHABI, Jul 23 2018 (WAM)

Awaidha Murshed Al Marar, Chairman of the Department of Energy, DoE, has emphasised the strength of the economic partnership between the UAE and China.

Today, several Chinese companies are playing a major role in strengthening the economic relationship between both parties and taking part in developing numerous vital and strategic projects at the country level.

Today, several Chinese companies are playing a major role in strengthening the economic relationship between both parties and taking part in developing numerous vital and strategic projects at the country level.

This came in light of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to the UAE to demonstrate ways of mutual development in all fields. It is worth mentioning that the DoE has a strategic partnership with China’s JincoSolar Holding, which signed a contract to implement the Noor Abu Dhabi solar photovoltaic, PV, project in Suwaihan, in a joint venture with Japanese Marubeni Corp. The project includes the development, financing, establishment, operation and maintenance of the independent plant at a capacity of 1,177 MW, which is expected to be completed during the second quarter of 2019.

Al Marar commended Abu Dhabi’s experience in attracting major companies and international coalitions who are seeking to invest in the Middle East especially projects implemented by the DoE in partnership with the private sector.

An example of this is Noor Abu Dhabi project an independent solar power plant using PV technology located in Suwaihan, 120 km south-east of Abu Dhabi, at a total cost of AED3.2 billion. He also stated that the project will reduce the need for gas imports, achieve savings in water and electricity sector, fulfil the government’s attempts for diversifying energy resources and using clean energy, promote sustainable economy in Abu Dhabi, and create job opportunities for UAE nationals, especially in the eastern region. Further, the plant is expected to supply Abu Dhabi grid with electricity within the second quarter of 2019.

In addition, Al Marar indicated that this project serves Abu Dhabi’s vision in achieving sustainability of the sector. Besides, it goes under one of the most significant government programmes aimed at building an integrated system of water and electricity being produced and generated from renewable and conventional resources, which depend on innovative and sustainable solutions.

He also appreciated the vision of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan and the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council, and the supervision of H.H. Sheikh Hazza bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Chairman of Abu Dhabi Executive Council, to provide the requirements of a decent life and well-being as the core priority of the country.

The Chairman of the DoE has also lauded Abu Dhabi’s experience as one of the best countries in terms of energy production and foreign investments compared to the local economy as well as the major financial deals with global, regional and local entities.

WAM/Nour Salman

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By WAM
ABU DHABI, Jul 23 2018 (WAM)

Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi is a significant landmark and tourist destination that translates the far-sighted vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, and His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, to enrich the country’s civilisational legacy, H.H. Sheikh Hazza bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Chairman of Abu Dhabi Executive Council, has stated.

“Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi inculcates the culture of happiness embraced by the country and adds to the impressive cultural potential boasted by Abu Dhabi as a preferred global destination and a significant bridge for intercultural dialogue and communication,” Sheikh Hazza said in his comment on today’s opening of the landmark destination in the UAE capital.

WAM/Hatem Mohamed

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By WAM
ABU DHABI, Jul 23 2018 (WAM)

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, and His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, today opened Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi, the world’s first-ever Warner Bros. branded indoor theme park developed by Miral, Abu Dhabi’s creator of destinations. The world-class destination officially opens to the public on 25th July.

Their Highnesses also attended the inauguration ceremony for the theme park, which took place at the Warner Bros. Plaza at Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi. The ceremony included a series of festive celebrations where guests were also treated to the first screening of the Warner Bros. Cinema Spectacular, a captivating show that brings Warner Bros.’ unparalleled film library to life, as well as a specially produced video by YouTube celebrity sensation Devin Super Tramp.

Sheikh Zayed bin Ahmed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and Saif and Ahmed bin Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan took the stage, along with a number of famous cartoon characters of Warner Bros. and pressed a button to mark the official start of the new theme park’s operations.

Their Highnesses toured the new 1.65 million square feet theme park, located at Saadiyat Island, which offers a new entertainment destination for families and visitors of different age groups. They were briefed about the various development phases of the project, and the high standards of safety and security that the project has maintained to ensure visitors have a high-quality experience.

"It is with great pride that we celebrate the opening of Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi on Yas Island today. This is a milestone moment for us as we continue to cement Abu Dhabi’s positioning as one of the world’s leading family and tourism destinations. I am confident that the addition of this theme park to our already rich portfolio will further enhance Yas Island’s offering,"
Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of Miral
“It is with great pride that we celebrate the opening of Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi on Yas Island today. This is a milestone moment for us as we continue to cement Abu Dhabi’s positioning as one of the world’s leading family and tourism destinations. I am confident that the addition of this theme park to our already rich portfolio will further enhance Yas Island’s offering,” said Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of Miral.

“We’re delighted that our partnership with Warner Bros. Entertainment has resulted in us delivering our promise of creating an attraction that will amaze and entertain both the young, and the young at heart,” added Al Mubarak.

The park transports guests to six expertly designed lands, including DC’s Metropolis and Gotham City, as well as Cartoon Junction, Bedrock, Dynamite Gulch and Warner Bros. Plaza. From the meticulously curated musical arrangements to the faithfully created landscapes, Warner Bros. World is uniquely designed to truly immerse guests in the places they’ve seen in movies, comic books and on TV. Home to a total of 29 exhilarating rides, interactive family-friendly attractions and unique live entertainment shows, the park will offer an incredible range of themed experiences. Guests will also enjoy authentically themed dining experiences, from grab-and-go eateries to full-service sit-down restaurants and cafes, as well as custom designed shops featuring bespoke Warner Bros. merchandise inspired by fan-favorite characters, some of which has been developed exclusively for the park.

“Warner Bros. has an almost-100-year legacy of producing and distributing high-quality entertainment to global audiences, and this world-class attraction continues that tradition in grand style,” said Kevin Tsujihara, Chairman and CEO, Warner Bros. “Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi literally brings our characters to life and provides fans a truly unique immersive entertainment experience. We couldn’t have better partners than our colleagues at Miral, and we look forward to continuing our longstanding relationship,” he continued.

Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi is the latest addition to Yas Island’s immersive theme parks, including Ferrari World Abu Dhabi, Yas Waterworld Abu Dhabi and the upcoming attraction, CLYMB. These are complemented by: Yas Marina Circuit – one of the most technologically-advanced Formula 1 circuits in the world; Yas Marina – a vibrant venue offering dining, fitness and leisure facilities; Yas Mall– the largest shopping mall in Abu Dhabi with 400 retail stores; Yas Beach; Yas Links Abu Dhabi – the 46th golf course in the world; as well as seven sophisticated hotels ranging from 3 to 5 stars.

The event was also attended by H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council; H.H. Sheikh Ammar bin Humaid Al Nuaimi, Crown Prince of Ajman; H.H. Sheikh Hazza bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Chairman of Abu Dhabi Executive Council; H.H. Sheikh Nahyan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Charitable and Humanitarian Foundation; H.H. Lt. General Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior; H.H. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation; H.H. Sheikh Khalid bin Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy National Security Adviser; Chairman of Abu Dhabi Department of Transport H.H. Sheikh Diab bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan; Sultan bin Tahnoun bin Mohammed Al Nahyan; and Director of The Martyrs’ Families’ Affairs Office at the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince’s Court Sheikh Khalifa bin Tahnoun bin Mohammed Al Nahyan, in addition to a number of senior officials.

 

WAM/Hatem Mohamed

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Grenada has rebounded after being destroyed by Category 4 hurricane Ivan in 2004 which destroyed 90 percent of homes. More than a decade later, the island’s prime minister Dr. Keith Mitchell says adjusting to the new normal requires comprehensive and coordinated efforts to mainstream climate change considerations in development planning. Credit: Desmond Brown/IPS

By Desmond Brown
ST GEORGE’S, Jul 23 2018 (IPS)

In 2004, when the Category 4 hurricane Ivan hit the tiny island nation of Grenada and its 151 mph winds stalled overhead for 15 hours–it devastated the country. But not before pummelling Barbados and other islands, killing at least 15 people.

And again last year, the destruction left behind in several Caribbean islands by Hurricanes Irma and Maria once again highlighted the vulnerability of these island countries.

It has also emphasised the need for a strong natural resource base to protect and make communities and ecosystems more resilient to the impacts of climate change, which are expected to become even more severe in the future.“We have seen first-hand how poverty and social weaknesses magnify natural disasters. This need not be the case.” -- Grenada’s prime minister Dr. Keith Mitchell

“Building the region’s resilience to climate change, natural hazards and environmental changes is not only a necessary and urgent development imperative, but it is also a fundamental requirement to ensure our basic survival as a people,” Grenada’s prime minister Dr. Keith Mitchell told IPS.

“We have no choice as a region but to pursue climate-smart development, as we forge ahead to build a climate-resilient Caribbean.”

Grenada is among 10 Caribbean countries getting help from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) to address water, land and biodiversity resource management as well as climate change.

Under the five-year Integrating Water, Land and Ecosystems Management in Caribbean Small Island Developing States (GEF-IWEco Project), countries are implementing national sub-projects at specific sites in order to enhance livelihood opportunities and socio-economic co-benefits for targeted communities from improved ecosystem services functioning.

Project sites include the upper reaches of the Soufriere Watershed in Saint Lucia, the Cedar Grove and Cooks Watershed areas and McKinnons Pond in Antigua, and the Negril Morass in Jamaica.

“Adjusting to the new normal requires comprehensive and coordinated efforts to mainstream climate change considerations in development planning,” Mitchell said.

“In practice, this will require a shift in focus, from sustainable development to climate-smart sustainable development.”

In addition to Grenada―Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago ―are also participating in the project, which also aims to strengthen policy, legislative and institutional reforms and capacity building.

Half of the 10 countries ― Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and; St. Vincent & the Grenadines ― belong to the sub-regional grouping, the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS). Their participation in the project is being funded by the GEF to the tune of USD20 million.

IWEco is being co-implemented by United Nations Environment and the U.N. Development Programme and co-executed by U.N. Environment’s Caribbean Regional Coordinating Unit (U.N. Environment CAR RCU), which is the Secretariat to the Convention for the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment of the Wider Caribbean Region (the Cartagena Convention).

All OECS countries are signatories to the Cartagena Convention, a comprehensive, umbrella agreement for the protection and development of the marine environment.

Fresh and coastal water resources management, sustainable land management and sustainable forest management are all challenges to Caribbean SIDS, and more so as the region’s economies face numerous demands and, inevitably, another hurricane season.

Addressing these challenges while improving social and ecological resilience to the impacts of climate change are objectives of the IWEco Project.

Stating that storms and hurricanes do not have to result in catastrophic disasters, Mitchell said in too many instances in the region this has been the case because of the prevailing susceptibilities of communities.

“We have seen first-hand how poverty and social weaknesses magnify natural disasters. This need not be the case,” he said.

“We must redouble our efforts to improve the conditions for the most vulnerable in our societies so that they are empowered and supported to manage disasters and climate risks.”

Grenada, along with all participating countries, will benefit from regional project activities aimed at strengthening policy, legislative and institutional frameworks, strengthening monitoring and evaluation, and public awareness.

At a recent meeting in Montserrat, the regional coordinator of the Cartagena Convention, Dr. Lorna Inniss noted that since the particularly destructive hurricane season of 2017, perhaps even as a consequence of it, the trend in the region towards consolidating several related areas of responsibility into single ministries seems to have grown.

Grenada, for instance, now has the combined ministry of climate resilience, the environment, forestry, fisheries, disaster management and information. Dominica now has the ministry of environment, climate resilience, disaster management and urban renewal.

The most recent projections in climate research all anticipate a significant increase in the frequency and/or intensity of extreme weather events, as well as slow onset climate-related changes, such as sea-level rise, less rainfall and increased sea surface temperatures.

These impacts can disrupt Grenada’s economy and critical economic sectors like agriculture and tourism and damage critical infrastructure and personal property.

The findings of a regional study concluded that climate change has the potential to increase the overall cost to local economies by one to three percent of GDP by 2030 in the Caribbean. It also alters the risk profile of the islands by impacting local sea levels, hurricane intensity, precipitation patterns and temperature patterns.

According to the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF), in absolute terms, expected losses may triple between 2010 and 2030. Climate change adaptation is therefore critical for the economic stability of the tri-island state.

“Charting a course to 2030 is even more an urgent requirement as the impacts of climate change are increasingly affecting CCRIF’s Caribbean and Central American member countries,” CCRIF CEO, Isaac Anthony said.

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• Urgent Action Needed to Safeguard Saint Lucia’s Biodiversity
• St. Lucia’s PM on Climate Change: “Time Is Against Us”

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By Dan Steinbock
Jul 23 2018 (Manila Times)

After explosive growth, China’s bond market provides diversified investment options to Chinese and foreign investors. But should you believe the hype, China’s bonds are overshadowed by fatal defaults.

Dan Steinbock

While China bulls might accuse such coverage of being excessive “glass is half empty” reporting, a more substantial problem haunts these briefings. The latter tend to assess the financial future of large emerging economies, which have high growth rates but low living standards, with the same benchmarks as major advanced economies, which are amid secular stagnation.

As a result, these reports systematically undervalue financial future in emerging economies, while overvaluing those in advanced economies. That’s misleading to investors at a historical moment of transition when financial might is following economic power toward emerging economies.

Low foreign participation as an investment opportunity
Rather than a great one-time opportunity for foreign investors, the low share of these investors in China’s bond market is often portrayed as a major liability.

Here are the realities: China has the world’s third-largest bond market, which was valued at about $12 trillion in year-end 2017. Currently, foreign investors own only 1.6 peercent of the total market. That is not a problem, but an investment opportunity.

Here’s why: Since the early 1990s, the Chinese bond market has achieved an annualized average growth rate of almost 40 percent. Just as Chinese industrialization took off in the late 20th century, China’s financial sector is following in the footprints, but with a time lag.

Let’s put the time lag in context, however. In the US, the Treasury bond market was created as part of the funding plans for World War I. In other words, it took almost 140 years of independence to create the first bond markets in America. In China, the bond market was created in the early 1990s; barely 40 years after China’s independence –more than three times faster than in the US.

It is the historical pace and structural importance of the Chinese bond market to ordinary Chinese and Beijing’s central government that should make it attractive to international investors as well.

Here’s why: After four decades of the most rapid catch-up in world history, Chinese per capita incomes, adjusted to purchasing power, are today on average about $18,100; or 30 percent of those in the US. In America, multiple generations have contributed to the bond market; in China, barely one.

Due to the lower prosperity levels of individual Chinese and Beijing’s national growth plan, the Chinese bond market is a priority for the well-being of Chinese families and for Beijing’s economic welfare plans – a priority that can now benefit foreign investors as well.

China’s impending financial expansion
In the past four decades, China’s economy has grown almost six-fold to more than 12 percent of the global economy. In the future, that share will continue to expand, as evidenced by the Chinese contribution to global growth, which has been around 30 percent since the 2008 global crisis. This is about 2.5 times more than its current share of the global GDP.

Relative to its rising economic importance, China’s role in the global financial market was limited until the early 2000s, however. Financial reforms started with pilot programs a decade ago and have dramatically accelerated, along with the internationalization of the renminbi. At the same time, sovereign paper, which dominated the bond market until the late 2000s, has been augmented by corporate bond issuance, particularly after the global crisis.

Today, the rapidly growing Chinese bond market comprises an expansive mix of sovereign, quasi-sovereign (policy banks), sub-government (municipal and state-owned enterprises, SOEs) and corporate bonds.

Moreover, the rapid growth of the Chinese bond market is not likely to be exhausted any time soon. By 2020, China is likely to catch up with Japan as the second-largest bond market in the world.

Indeed, the Chinese bond market has much more space to grow: relative to the $12 trillion economy, the bond market is less than 100 percent of China’s GDP. This ratio is far smaller than those in major economies. For instance, in the US, the ratio is closer to 200 percent. And China’s population base is more than four times larger than that of the US.

While cases of defaults and downgrades in the Chinese bond market have increased in recent years, these have remained under the control of the government, particularly regarding the state-owned enterprises (SOE) and local government subsidiaries (e.g. local government financing vehicles, LGFVs). Yet, only a decade ago the LGFVs were often portrayed as fatal to China’s economy by a slate of “China crash” theorists in Western media.

Chinese government may even have used some defaults as “demonstration effects” to signal the need for greater market discipline, while the campaign against corruption has enhanced regulators’ grip over potential credit events.

International takeoff
As the gap between media perceptions and investor realities has broadened, many investors ignore media reports that downplay opportunities. According to June data, overseas investors are pouring funds into China’s domestic bonds at record pace, despite what media portray as the “yuan’s jitters.”

The future of Chinese bond market expansion is likely to mimic that of China’s role in the IMF’s reserve currency basket (SDR), which is today 11 percent. That’s less than that of the US dollar (42 percent) and the Euro (31 percent), but more than the Japanese yen (8 percent) and the UK pound (8 percent). For all practical purposes, the Chinese bond market is likely to emulate the SDR allocations, which would imply that foreign participation has the potential to grow at least six-fold. Unsurprisingly, central banks and sovereign-wealth funds were the first to participate in RMB following its inclusion in the IMF’s SDR basket.

In contrast, private-sector investors—pension funds, insurance companies and asset managers—remain largely under-represented. Yet, in the past few years, the likelihood of their entry has been boosted by a number of highly regarded global index operators that have incorporated Chinese assets into their index space, including the IMF (SDR for global reserve currencies), MSCI (global equities) and Bloomberg-Barclays (BBGAI for global bonds).

It is the critical moments of historical transition that highlight the importance of unbiased financial reporting. The coming explosion of the Chinese bond market is a textbook example.

Dan Steinbock is the founder of Difference Group and has served as research director of international business at the India, China and America Institute (US) and a visiting fellow at the Shanghai Institute for International Studies (China) and the EU Center (Singapore). For more, see http://www.differencegroup.net/

This story was originally published by The Manila Times, Philippines

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By Rukhsana Shah
Jul 23 2018 (Dawn, Pakistan)

As with so many other professions, nursing remains a neglected line of work, despite its practitioners being responsible for the treatment, safety and quick recovery of patients, as well as post-op management and specialised interventions. Doctors need them because no doctor can care for each patient.

Rukhsana Shah

According to the latest Economic Survey, there are 208,007 doctors and 103,777 nurses in the country. This reflects a ratio of one doctor to less than 0.5 nurses, while the recommended ratio is 1:4. This should not be surprising as 90 per cent of nurses here are females working in a highly misogynist culture, encountering sexual harassment and being treated as inferiors by doctors and hospital administrators.

They have long working hours and low wages. Their career trajectories are poor as they are inducted in Grade 16 after BSc in nursing, with prospects of promotions and perks like their officers in the public sector with similar qualifications. Many nurses are qualified from abroad but are not integrated at policymaking levels.

Nurses in Pakistan work in a highly misogynist culture.

In the private sector, nurses are paid between Rs12,000 to Rs20,000 per month with frequent double shifts due to shortage of staff. The quality of their qualifications varies as some nursing teaching institutions exist only on paper, while many others lack basic infrastructure. There is poor monitoring of benchmarks and discipline as the Pakistan Nursing Council is often hampered by the health bureaucracy and even by executive district officers who interfere in nursing recruitment, training, inspection and examination. Even transfers and postings of nurses are not controlled by directors generals of nursing in the provinces.

According to an Aga Khan University study, there is a highly skewed physician-centred culture in Pakistan with most nurses not being recognised as medical professionals in their own right. “The low socioeconomic status of nurses, unsafe work environment, lack of respect from doctors, and the very nature of nurses’ work create a dichotomy in society’s attitude towards the nursing profession.” It was noted that nursing shortage and the image of the profession had a reciprocal relationship: while most people appreciated the critical role of nursing in healthcare, very few considered it a suitable profession for their daughters or sisters, and even television portrayed nurses as handmaidens of doctors.

This is in complete contrast with the more feasible and affordable nurse-centred culture in developed countries, where public health is embedded in the nursing profession to reduce healthcare costs. Nurses work in a variety of settings in primary, secondary, community and social care services in hospitals, health centres, hospices and teaching institutions. They serve local communities in emergencies, work as midwives, nurse the sick and old, and also cater to persons with disabilities and mental illnesses. In the UK, despite NHS budget cuts, there are 300,000 nurses, while in the US, the ratio is one doctor to four nurses.

In India, high-powered institutional mechanisms such as the Bhore and Kartar Singh Committees have brought about major changes in the nursing culture, improving their working hours and recommending a minimum of Rs20,000 per month as starting salary. From 2000 to 2016, BSc colleges increased from 30 to 1,752 and MSc colleges from 10 to 611 in India. There are also eight institutions offering PhD programmes in nursing. Florence Nightingale Awards including medals and cash are given every year on International Nursing Day to 35 nurses for outstanding services.

In Pakistan, neither the legislators nor health professionals have effectively addressed the problems faced by nurses in the country. According to a Pakistan Medical Association office-bearer, it is an emergency situation and a special commission has to be put in place to review the entire system of nursing and align it with the requirements of not only the SDGs but the entire public health system. The number of nursing teaching colleges needs to be increased manifold and PhD programmes introduced. In order to improve the dismal doctor to nurse ratio, the government must take affirmative action to support nurses with higher salaries, a proper service structure and improve their image by publicly acknowledging through the media their services as a critical component of healthcare.

It is imperative that the bureaucracy of the health sector provide respect and space to the Pakistan Nursing Council to fulfil its mandate of training, inspection and protection of nurses without interference, providing modernised curricula, and ensuring access to foreign trainings which are usually used up by bureaucrats based in Islamabad. Other bodies such as the Pakistan Nursing Federation and Pakistan Nursing Association should also play their due role in empowering nurses, providing leisure facilities and encouraging the use of social media such as Twitter and WhatsApp to communicate with patients.

The writer is former federal secretary.

This story was originally published by Dawn, Pakistan

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Imran Khan, the prime minister-in-waiting?

By Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury
Jul 22 2018 (The Daily Star, Bangladesh)

As one heads towards the elections in Pakistan on July 25, the main question in concerned minds is whether Imran Khan, the leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), is going to be Pakistan’s next prime minister. Mr Khan has much going for him. He is a refreshingly fresh face in high political office untainted by corruption with rivals whose reputations stand in stark contrast. He is the blue-eyed boy of Pakistan’s “angels”—also known as the military establishment—who see themselves as the “mirror image” of the Pakistani society with scant respect for civilian political leaders drawn from feudal and business backgrounds, most of whom they accuse of having exploited the people. And finally, for a nation that thirsts for glory that has generally eluded it, Mr Khan is someone who earned huge admiration by winning for his people the World Cup in cricket, the holy grail of recognition in South Asia. Undeniably, Mr Khan has also toiled long and hard for victory at the polls. Is he going to get it? The question merits analysis.

Imran Khan gives a speech during a political campaign rally outside Lahore. Photo: Arif Ali/AFP

Imran Khan’s party, the PTI, has two main rivals. The Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), led by Nawaz Sharif, a former prime minister, currently in jail on charges of corruption; PML (N) is said to be the most popular party in Pakistan’s largest province, Punjab. The other is the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), jointly headed by the father-son combination of Messrs Asif Zardari and Bilawal Bhutto, which holds sway in the province of Sindh (though not in its principal urban centre, Karachi). The PTI currently rules Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), where Mr Khan continues to enjoy massive popularity. Finally, in Balochistan, the principal political players known as “electables” are those who are tribal leaders with assured electoral seats, who are more likely to be influenced by offers in kinds than by any ideological predilections.

Now to look at numbers. The distribution of seats in the 272 contested constituencies (60 more are reserved for women and non-Muslims) in the Parliament (called the National Assembly) is as follows: Punjab 141, augmented by 3 in Islamabad the capital, which geographically lies within the province; Sindh 61 (including 21 for Karachi); Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 39; Balochistan 16; and Federally Administered Tribal Areas 12. So, the magic number to secure an overall majority is 137. Simply put, the party that wins that number gets to provide the prime minister. It would be stretching facts to say that the fiercely fought electoral battle is being conducted on a perfectly level playing field. Partly because of their past performance, or lack of it, in office and partly because of their poor relations with the military, the “angels”, with aid and comfort from the higher judiciary, surprisingly activist in Pakistan, both PML-N and PPP are left ploughing a difficult furrow on the political ground. This gives Mr Khan a decent leg-up. But can he, in the end, bring home the bacon—or in this case—the beef?

As of now, he is likely to win a huge majority in KP. In Sindh, he can pick up a few seats in Karachi, particularly as the influence of the earlier dominant Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) comprising Urdu-speaking refugees from India is on the wane. In rural Sindh, where the PPP generally calls the shots, Mr Khan has articulated, at least at stated levels, sufficient religiosity to earn him blessings of some right-wingers, now organised as Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA). This can be converted into a few more seats. The Balochi “electables” will give him, a fellow Pathan, succour and solace, should he win. But to win, the battleground he will need to triumph in is Punjab. He has made significant inroads into the less developed southern part of the province, which has 45 seats. But in central and northern Punjab, which commands 95 seats, the PML-N, who currently govern at provincial level and claim some credits in development deliveries, are clear favourites.

So Mr Khan will have to rely on the 25 or so independent candidates for whom purse and perks can be major attractions to clinch the requisite majority. In all, should Mr Khan manage 110 or so of those numbers, he may have fortune smile on him. In that case, the president, who incidentally is a PML-N member but with the army looking over his shoulders (in this case, the act of “looking” may be accompanied by a modicum of “gentle pressure”), would have to offer him the first bite at office. If that happens, the number of parliamentary supporters is likely to swell because belonging to the government party always brings along certain welcome advantages.

But that remains, at least as of now, quite an “if”. There is always the possibility that immediately following the polls, the PML-N and PPP could join hands and demand to form government. Of course, by doing so, they would risk the ire of the “angels” and the possibility of their leaders following Mr Sharif into jail at some point in time. But the immediate temptation of office can boost audacity even against unsavoury odds. While this scenario is not far-fetched, right now Mr Imran Khan increasingly seems to be assuming the aura of a prime minister-in-waiting. It is true that given his internationally recognised charm and charisma, his appointment will make global headlines. But of course, Mr Khan himself more than most would know that just as in a game of cricket, politics is fraught with uncertainties. He surely understands that there is many a slip between the cup and the lip, and in this particular case, it would have to be “a cup that cheers but does not inebriate” (with power, that is!)

Dr Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury is a former foreign adviser to a caretaker government of Bangladesh and is currently Principal Research Fellow at the Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore.

This story was originally published by The Daily Star, Bangladesh

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Imran Khan, the prime minister-in-waiting?

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Baloch fighters at a location in Pakistan. Credit: Karlos Zurutuza/IPS.

By Quratulain Fatima
ISLAMABAD, Jul 20 2018 (IPS)

Last week, 200 people were injured and 131 died in a suicide bombing in Mastung, Baluchistan. This attack was second most deadly since the 2014 Army Public School Attack in Peshawar, KhyberPukhtunkwah, which killed 144 people. This recent attack was one of three in 72 hours related to the country’s upcoming elections on July 25.Terrorist attacks are not new in my country. Pakistan has lost over 50,000 civilians in terror-related deaths since 2003.

For me, the latest deadly suicide bombing triggered traumatic memories and an acute reminder that Pakistan, and the world, need preemptive and inclusive conflict prevention if we are to stem the tide of growing violence.

Nine years ago, I participated in Pakistan‘s war on terrorism against the Taliban as a Pakistan Air Force officer stationed at Pakistan’s conflict torn province of Khyber Pukhtunkhwah. On 16 October, 2009, while going home to celebrate my birthday with my only daughter, I was stopped by the police who told me that a suicide bomber had  exploded near the residential complex where my house was situated. My then three-year-old daughter was in the house at the time. I was asked to go on foot to my house.

What is important for conflict prevention is knowing that a cause of terrorism is a sense of relative deprivation. Social scientists have long acknowledged that people evaluate their own wellbeing not only based on what they have but also based on what they have relative to what other people have.

The 13-minute walk to my house was the hardest of my life. My only thoughts were why this was not prevented and how much personal cost I would bear for this war. I could smell burnt flesh, saw bloody bodies and felt broken glass under my feet. I saw the young happy cobbler’s charred and shrapnel ridden dead body in front of me. He had come to the city so that he could earn a living and let his daughters study.

My own daughter survived the bombing, but she was traumatized for a very long time. That one day changed my perception of peace and conflict forever. Despite being in internal conflict for a very long time, Pakistan has not learned the art of preemptive conflict prevention.

Conflict prevention is defined as not only controlling the damage caused by conflict but also targeting the underlying causes of conflicts to avoid recurrence.  Development remains a potent tool for conflict prevention.

Conflict prevention efforts can save both lives and money. The cost savings could be up to US$70 billion per year globally given that two billion people live in countries where economic stability and opportunity are affected by fragility, conflict, and violence and conflicts derive 80% of all the humanitarian needs.

Of course, the horrors of terrorism cannot be captured by using statistics alone. Terrorism destroys way of life, inculcates lingering fear and leaves survivors traumatized for life, as my daughter and I can attest.

What is important for conflict prevention is knowing that a cause of terrorism is a sense of relative deprivation. Social scientists have long acknowledged that people evaluate their own wellbeing not only based on what they have but also based on what they have relative to what other people have. Discontent and inequality in access to resources remain an important cause of conflict. Development strategies target exactly that.

In the case of Pakistan, the military has a very heavy involvement in the foreign policy and counter terrorism strategies. This may halt conflict and give a sense of peace, but it’s a fragile peace imposed on people instead of coming from them. This remains a handicap for Pakistan that has not been able to foster positive and sustainable peace through development as a conflict prevention strategy.

In Pakistan, most of the terrorist attacks happen in two of its provinces: Khyber Pukhtunkhwah and Baluchistan where there is a long history of unresolved grievances against the Federation and its biggest province Punjab. These areas are navigating a very complex conflict nexus that includes the Taliban, Daesh and internal separatists, but it is also a source of conflict that these provinces overwhelmingly see themselves as deprived in comparison the affluent province of Punjab.

As much as intelligence and military efforts help to curb terror attacks, targeting underlying causes of conflicts requires the inclusion of a broader group of stakeholders, such as the government, community leaders, military, civilians and media.

Today, militaries in many conflict ridden countries — including Pakistan —drive the process of conflict resolution. This needs to change. Peacebuilding needs the inclusion of all other stakeholders to make the process of conflict resolution—as well as prevention—feasible. All other parts of society need to step up and demand their voices be heard.

Until now, the world and Pakistan have been failing at conflict prevention because we’ve relied on military forces alone. We have paid a high cost through instability and recurrent loss of lives. At the same time, civil society has been driving for democracy through events like the Arab Spring. Today we need the same kind of movement to make conflict prevention a priority for the world. Indeed, a “Prevention Spring”—a time when civil society focuses on building more equitable societies rather than preventing conflict—may well be the solution to making the world peaceful.

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Flight Lieutenant Quratulain Fatima is a policy practitioner working extensively in rural and conflict-ridden areas of Pakistan with a focus on gender inclusive development and conflict prevention. She is a 2018 Aspen New Voices Fellow

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Sunita Narain* is Director-General of the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) & Editor of Down to Earth magazine

By Sunita Narain
NEW DELHI, Jul 20 2018 (IPS)

A global trade war has broken out. The United States fired the first salvo and there has been retaliation by the European Union, Canada, China and even India. Tariffs on certain imported goods have been increased in a tit-for-tat reaction.

Sunita Narain

Analysts see it as a limited war in the understanding that Donald Trump is all for “free-trade”. But this view denies the fact that a tectonic shift is taking place in the world. It is a war for ascendency to global leadership; a contest between the US and China.

China is heaving its might on the world. President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative is an open call for its global influence. In July 2017, China launched the ambitious plan to invest in the technology of the future—artificial intelligence.

There are dark (unconfirmed) whispers about how it is going about acquiring many new-age technologies by rolling over western companies operating in vast markets.

The last century belonged to the US and Europe with Russia as the communist outlier. China became mighty all because of the emergence of the free trade regime in the world. Just some 35-odd years ago, it was behind the iron curtain.

But then the World Trade Organization (WTO) was born in January 1995. China’s trade boomed. It took over the world’s manufacturing jobs. India, too, found its place by servicing outsourced businesses like telemarketing. “Shanghaied” and “Bangalored” entered the lexicon—as jobs (and pollution) moved continents.

This way, globalisation fulfilled its purpose to usher in a new era of world prosperity. Or so, we thought.

Instead, globalisation has made the world more complicated and convoluted. In early 1990s, when the discussions on the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) were at its peak, there was a clear North-South divide.

The then-developed world pushed for opening up of trade. It wanted markets and protection through rules on “fair” trade and intellectual property. The then developing world was worried what the free trade regime would do to its nascent and weak industrial economies.

More importantly, there were fears of what these new open trade rules would do to its farmers, who would have to compete with the disproportionately subsidised farmers of the developed world.

In 1999 tensions flared up at the WTO ministerial meet in Seattle. By this time, reality of globalisation had dawned and so it was citizens of the rich world who protested for labour rights, worried about outsourcing of their jobs and environmental abuses.

But these violent protests were crushed. The next decade was lost in the financial crisis. The new winners told the old losers that “all was well”.

Today Trump has joined the ranks of the Leftist Seattle protesters, while India and China are the new defenders of free trade. The latter in fact want more, much more of it.

But again, is it so straightforward? All these arrangements are built on the refusal to acknowledge the crisis of employment. The first phase of globalisation led to some displacement of labour and this is what Trump is griping about.

But the fact is that this phase of globalisation has only meant war between the old elite (middle-classes in the world of trade and consumerism) and the new elite. It has not been long enough or deep enough to destroy the foundations of the livelihoods of the vast majority of the poor engaged in farming. But it is getting there.

But this is where the real impact of globalisation will be felt. Global agricultural trade remains distorted and deeply contentious. The trade agreements targeted basics like procurement of foodgrains by governments to withstand scarcity and the offer of minimum support price to farmers.

Right now, the Indian government is making the right noises that it will stand by its farmers. But we will not be able to balance this highly imbalanced trade regime if we don’t recognise that employment is the real crisis.

It is time that this round of trade war should be on the need for livelihood opportunities. Global trade talks must discuss employment not just industry. It must value labour and not goods.

This is what is at the core of the insecurity in the world. It is not about trade or finance. It is about the biggest losers: us, the people and the planet.

The link to the original article follows:
https://www.downtoearth.org.in/

The post Balancing Trade Wars appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Sunita Narain* is Director-General of the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) & Editor of Down to Earth magazine

The post Balancing Trade Wars appeared first on Inter Press Service.