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Updated: 5 days 36 min ago

Five Steps to Combat Gender-Based Violence Globally

Tue, 03/16/2021 - 19:20

District Manager, HRLS Program, conducts a client workshop in the presence of the Upazila Nirbahi Officer, Sakhipur Upazila, Tangail. Cedit: BRAC

By Jenefa Jabbar
DHAKA, Bangladesh, Mar 16 2021 (IPS)

The 410 Legal Aid Centers that I manage in Bangladesh for BRAC’s Human Rights and Legal Aid Services received approximately 35,900 requests for assistance in 2020. Almost all of them involve gender-based violence against women and girls.

In Bangladesh, gender-based violence comes in many forms: physical abuse; husbands throwing wives out of the home in domestic disputes; husbands demanding that their wives get more dowry money from their families, and child marriage, among others. The COVID-19 pandemic has only increased the problem, as unemployment and other financial stresses have grown. BRAC documented a nearly 31 percent (8,709) increase in reported incidents of violence against women and girls in 2020 compared to the same time last year (4,566).

The problem, however, is global. The United Nations estimates that 35 percent of women worldwide have experienced either physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or sexual violence by a non-partner (not including sexual harassment) at some point in their lives. In some nations, that number rises to 70 percent.

Through our experience, BRAC has developed an integrated five-step approach to addressing gender-based violence. This approach includes prevention, protection, partnership, rehabilitation, and monitoring. It can be replicated worldwide to defeat gender-based violence.

Prevention requires increased awareness of gender-based violence. This must be done on every scale – from global to local, justice-seeker to duty-bearer. Leaders and the public need to understand the extent and nature of the problem, the factors that influence it, and what can be done. Leaders of government, civic institutions, and religious groups need to help change the norms that have made such violence so pervasive for so long.

At BRAC, we conduct Human Rights and Legal Education (HRLE) classes with our own specially designed curriculum to inform women of their basic legal rights in cases of domestic violence, intimate partner violence, community violence, child marriage, inheritance, and trafficking, among others. In 2020, we reached out to 53,994 women and girls through these classes and provided advice and counselling to 10,492 women by phone, as the pandemic caused people to be in lockdown. In addition, BRAC organizes workshops with local community leaders on the legal rights of women and girls and the leaders’ responsibilities.

HRLS Officer provides legal assistance to a justice-seeking client in Nangalkot Upazila, Comilla. Credit: BRAC

BRAC also supports community-based women’s groups called Polli Shomaj, which are active in 54 of the nation’s 64 districts, working to stop child marriages and other forms of gender-based violence and to help women access relevant resources. In 2020, they prevented 1,091 child marriages – an increase of 196 percent over the same period in 2019.

Protection should also be pursued through proper implementation of the laws against gender- based violence. Unfortunately, the court system in Bangladesh has a backlog of 3.7 million cases, which gives perpetrators comfort that they are unlikely to be punished.

BRAC enables access to justice through alternative dispute resolution in cases that can be appropriately resolved without formal courtroom litigation. In other cases, BRAC provides court case support through its 350 enlisted panel lawyers across the country. In 2020, BRAC’s Legal Aid Centers resolved 19,854 complaints through alternative dispute resolution and filed 2,469 civil and criminal cases.

Partnership enables collaboration with government agencies and nongovernmental organizations to combat gender-based violence. Through partnerships, BRAC assists survivors of violence in getting immediate medical and shelter support and in lodging complaints at police stations. BRAC works with other service providers to assist the government in fulfilling its commitment to ensure access to justice.

Rehabilitation – both social and economic – is another vital area for mainstreaming the survivors of gender-based violence. They must be supported rather than shunned, and they must have the financial resources to survive without their abusive husbands. BRAC has succeeded in recovering a sizable amount of money for victims of gender-based violence, through alternative dispute resolution and court cases. In 2020 alone, BRAC’s Legal Aid Centers recovered $5.1 million (US) for victims. Recovery of those funds not only exacts a cost to the perpetrator; it supports the victim in her quest to establish a life free of such violence. A woman free of violence but left destitute has not received justice.

Survivors must also be re-empowered through skills training, so that they can find jobs, and through ongoing education, so that they can graduate. Re-empowerment must also be aligned with rehabilitation. The stigma of being abused must be eliminated. The norms that perpetuate gender-based violence must change.

Monitoring is essential, as it provides the latest data to increase awareness of gender-based violence and energize efforts at prevention. Monitoring should be performed by government but often falls to nongovernmental organizations – both to collect the data and provide an independent assessment. Regardless, government participation is vital.

Monitoring is needed in advance of incidents to help prevent them. Checking a girl’s birth certificate, for instance, in advance of marriage can help prevent child marriage. Monitoring is also needed to understand trends – in gender-based violence itself, criminal cases filed, judicial outcomes, and changing circumstances such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Everyone must step forward to end gender-based violence. This five-step integrated approach marks the path. It is time for all of us to join in the march to a new day when gender-based violence is no more.

The author is Director of Human Rights and Legal Aid Services and Social Compliance at BRAC, based in Bangladesh.

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Categories: Africa

Inequality, COVID-19 and the Plight of the Young

Tue, 03/16/2021 - 17:46

Credit: @ Mahnaz Yazdani

By Jan Lundius
STOCKHOLM / ROME, Mar 16 2021 (IPS)

Inequality characterizes the world we live in, predisposing how we act and think. We perceive our existence as composed of dichotomies – men and women, young and old, black or white, as well as a difference between those who have and those who do not have access to wealth, health, education and influence. Dichotomies are also born out of comparisons, about how things are now and how they could have been, how they were before and how they are now.

COVID-19 is on the mind of a majority of the world’s population and as in everything else what is happening to us it is influenced by inequalities. Many are exhausted from isolation and worries: personal and economic losses mingle with ignorance about what COVID-19 really is and how it will develop. Among the many factors governing decisions concerning the pandemic are preconceived differences between nations and age groups.

During a briefing on the 18th of June and 2nd of July last year, the World Health Organization (WHO) proposed A Global Framework to Ensure Equitable and Fair Allocation of COVID-19 Products. The recommendations were based on statistics indicating that one percent of the world’s population are healthcare system workers, while eight percent are 65 years and older, and a further 15 percent adults have “comorbidities”, which place them in high risk for fatal COVID-19 infections.

Most governments have declared they intend to follow WHO’s recommended allocations for a vaccine roll-out, by prioritizing “health- and social care workers” as the first group to receive the COVID vaccine. These people are in “developed countries” estimated to constitute three percent of the population. The second stage of vaccinations will benefit individuals who are at “high risk” and/or “above 65 years of age” (approximately 20 percent), while a third stage will benefit “further priority groups”, whose need is based on their health conditions (20 percent).

It may be emphasized that WHO’s Allocation Framework was foremost recommended to be applicable to “low income countries” and “low and middle income countries”, while making it free for “self-financing” nations to acquire a preferential access to a still limited global access to COVID vaccines. This means that wealthy nations are free to enter into advance purchase agreements with manufacturers and thus capture the constrained supply of vaccines, most of them have already secured preferential access, meaning that they currently control a larger proportion of the vaccine supply.

However, under a scheme called Covax WHO intends to, in cooperation with the Global Vaccine Alliance (Gavi) and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (Cepi), ensure that 92 “poorer countries” will receive access to vaccines, at the same time as 98 “wealthier countries”. Currently Covax has raised 6 billion USD, but at least another 2 billion USD are still needed to meet its target for 2021.

Vaccines produced in the UK, US, Europe, Russia and China have already been approved and bought and are now being distributed in countries around the world. High-income countries are currently holding 4.2 billion doses of COVID vaccines, while low-middle income nations have obtained 670 million, meaning that rich nations, representing 14 percent of the world’s population, so far has bought up more than half of the most promising vaccines.

Accordingly, poor countries are still lagging behind in the race for obtaining enough vaccine, while several of the Covax signatories, which have provided funding to the programme, are directly negotiating their own deals with pharmaceutical companies. Accordingly, they may be undermining the initiative by taking doses off the market, risking that demand will continue to outstrip supply. Of course, every political leader wants to protect her/his own population first, though during a global pandemic no country can be safe until all countries are protected.

The facts above are clear for all to see, though they are just the tip of an iceberg of inequalities connected with COVID-19. One aspect that so far has not been widely acknowledged is the degree to which youngsters and children are affected by and suffering from the effects of COVID-19. They are actually those who are scheduled to be the last ones to obtain the COVID vaccine. This group does not only include adolescents, but the entire so called Generation Z, i.e. the demographic cohort which grew up with internet and portable digital technology and whose majority now is taking care of the sick and elderly, as well as maintaining the production and services that support us all.

Small children are also hard hit by COVID-19. The number of children under five dying from avoidable diseases increased considerably last year, since the pandemic in many nations has paused the fight against infectious diseases and overturned vaccination programs. Children and young people are also experiencing increased abuse and neglect due to COVID-19. Particularly young people, and women to a higher degree than men, are suffering from closure of schools, universities and diminished job opportunities. A worrisome trend is that at least 13 million girls are assumed to have been married off at an earlier age than before, mainly due to school closures and missed education- and job opportunities.

For those of us who have children and grandchildren, young and old, COVID-19 now confirms that our generation has let them down. With good reason, our young ones raise their voices accusing us for belonging to a generation that has been willing to sacrifice its children for its own welfare. It is only when we ourselves are being threatened that we have been prepared to take drastic action. Young people might tell us: “Look what you have left behind as heritage to us – a wrecked climate, a polluted earth and weapons of mass destruction, and now you demand that we remain secluded at home to prevent you from being infected with COVID-19.”

When I observe young people and children around me it is easy to discern the difficulties they have to cope with. How they struggle with themselves and their existence. Most young people feel worse now, than before COVID-19. They worry more about their future, while fewer and fewer think life is meaningful. Youngsters, finding themselves in a period of life when social interaction is crucial for their development and well-being, are now being secluded between four walls in homes that many of them are forced to share with frustrated, ageing and nagging parents.

The majority of the world’s children did not go to school last year and it has been demonstrated that the education of those students who received distance education have slipped behind. Danish researchers found that eight-graders in Copenhagen who due to COVID-closure did not go school gained an average of 7.6 kilos, of which 3.3 kilos were pure fat. Children simply stopped moving. In other areas the effect may have been the opposite when children from poor families have missed their school lunches.

A survey by the German Institute for Economic Research (Ifo) found that students on average had halved the time they spent on learning and homework, while Germany’s weekly magazine, Der Spiegel, warned that poorer education entails a risk of physical and mental illness, while reporting that education economists had calculated that four months of closed schools reduced a future annual income by 2.5 percent.

It has been stated that the financial crisis that shock the world 15 years ago led to around 10,000 more suicides than normal. Currently, European and American organisations working to prevent suicides are warning that their hotlines are getting overworked. The economic distress of millions of young people and struggling families trying to make ends meet, due to lay-offs and decreasing job opportunities in the wake of COVID-19, does not bode well for the future.

Unfortunately, I do not think I am an alarmist. It is high time we concern ourselves with the welfare of the world’s children and young people. Let as take the COVID-19 as a warning and let us remind ourselves that we cannot act in a laissez-fair manner by avoiding what parents have done before us – considering the well-being of their children to be their main priority.

Main sources: BBC: Covax: How will Covid vaccines be shared around the world? 24 February https://www.bbc.com/news/world-55795297, Ifo Insitute: COVID-19 school closures hit low-achieving students particularly hard. 15 November 2020 https://www.ifo.de/en/node/60075 Gardell, Jonas; Vi offrar barnens hälsa och framtid i covidstrategin, 1 March https://www.expressen.se/kultur/jonas-gardell/vi-offrar-barnens-halsa-och-framtid-i-covidstrategin/

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 Inequality, COVID-19 and the Plight of the Young appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Categories: Africa

Sustainable Development Goals Can Guide Asia-Pacific to Build Back Better

Tue, 03/16/2021 - 11:53

By Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana
BANGKOK, Thailand, Mar 16 2021 (IPS)

The COVID-19 crisis poses an unprecedented threat to development in the Asia-Pacific region that could reverse much of the hard-earned progress made in recent years. The good news is we know how to tackle this challenge. Recovery from the pandemic and our global efforts to deliver the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 must go hand-in-hand. The Goals provide a compass to navigate this crisis, faster and greener, everywhere and for everyone.

Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana

Results from the 2021 edition of the Asia and the Pacific SDG Progress Report published today by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) show that the region fell short of its 2020 milestones for the Goals, even before entering the global pandemic. The region must accelerate progress everywhere and urgently reverse its regressing trends on many of the Goals and targets to achieve the ambitions of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

In the last decade, Asia and the Pacific has made extraordinary progress in good health and well-being (Goal 3), which may partly explain its relative success in reducing the health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on its population. Yet despite these hard-won gains, the region faces many challenges, such as providing an adequate healthcare workforce, reducing premature deaths and improving mental health.

As we find our way out of this pandemic, we must focus efforts on more equitable and greener growth. The environment and the most vulnerable population groups should not pay the price for our economic ambitions and rapid industrialization (Goal 9, another area of faster progress for the region).

The most alarming observation in the new ESCAP report is regressing climate action trends (Goal 13) and life below water (Goal 14). The Asia-Pacific region is responsible for more than half of the global greenhouse gas emissions. Adverse impacts of natural disasters on people and economies increase year-by-year. The quality of the oceans continues to deteriorate due to unsustainable human activities, and economic gains from sustainable fisheries are decreasing.

The COVID-19 pandemic was another urgent signal that our unsustainable consumption and production put unbearable pressure on ecosystems. Unless there is a transformative change towards a sustainable future, pandemics will emerge more often, with more damage to our societies and economies. Wildlife and ecosystem conservation are vital to prevent future pandemics and the transfer of diseases from animals to humans.

Robust evaluation of progress on the SDGs is disrupted by lack of data. Data availability on the indicators has increased in the region in recent years as more countries prioritize the SDGs. However, challenges remain, and we need to do more to fill data gaps on nearly half of the official indicators without sufficient data to tell us the true story of progress.

It is too soon to see the real impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on progress towards the SDGs. However, early studies from UN agencies in the Asia-Pacific region show no single Goal is safe against the pandemic’s negative impact. In particular, the “leave no one behind” objective of the SDGs is at high risk. Early data show that mothers and children, students, informal workers, the poor, elderly, refugees and asylum seekers are extremely vulnerable. Simultaneously, despite a short-term dip in air pollution during strict lockdowns, the pandemic’s negative environmental impacts have already emerged. Additionally, there are concerns that the economic recession caused by COVID-19 might lead to a decline in investment in protecting natural environments.

Recovery measures are an excellent opportunity for us to rethink our options for development pathways that are inclusive, more resilient and respect planetary boundaries. As we enter the Decade of Action to deliver the 2030 Agenda, we need to reinforce our collective commitment to the SDGs and let it provide our compass for building back together, better and greener.

Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana is the United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.

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Categories: Africa

COP26 and India’s NDCs

Tue, 03/16/2021 - 11:34

By Simi Mehta and Ritika Gupta
NEW DELHI, India, Mar 16 2021 (IPS)

Climate change is one of the most pressing issues that the world is collectively facing at the moment. It is contended that strengthening the global response is pertinent to combat the threat of climate change.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) adopted in 1992 that entered into force on 21 March, 1994, primarily aims to prevent anthropogenic interference in the earth’s climate system and stabilize Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions.

With this aim, the Conference of Parties* meets every year to assess progress and review documents by countries on their plans to combat climate change.

COP and the Paris Agreement

The Conference of Parties (COP) is the core decision making body of the UNFCCC. The Parties are the States that have ratified the Convention. Their task is to review its implementation by reviewing the various documents and emission inventories submitted by Parties.

From the first COP meeting held in Berlin, Germany in March, 1995 there have been 25 meetings so far. The 26th COP meeting, 2020 was scheduled to be held in Glasgow, United Kingdom, but had to be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and is now scheduled for November 1-12, 2021.

The COP meetings have resulted in several important decisions and agreements. For instance, COP 3 was one of the most important meetings held in Kyoto, Japan that led to the adoption of the Kyoto Protocol. It called upon the developed countries to reduce their GHGs and established legally binding obligations under international law. Similarly, the Paris Agreement was adopted by 196 countries at COP 21 in Paris in 2015.

It is a legally binding international treaty on climate change that aims to limit global average temperature to well below 2, preferably to 1.5 degree Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels. However, the implementation of this agreement requires comprehensive economic and social transformation. It works on a 5-year cycle of goals and actions carried out by countries.

In 2020, countries were supposed to submit their plans for climate action – known as Nationally Determined Contributions or NDCs, which was postponed to 2021 in the COP 26 due to the pandemic. The NDCs are the goals and actions that the countries communicate as their plan to undertake to reduce their GHG emissions to reach the goals of the Paris Agreement.

Means of implementation of India’s NDCs

The Paris Agreement provides a framework for financial, technical and capacity building to the countries that require it. Climate finance is particularly important as it is needed for mitigation and adaptation efforts by the countries.

As such, the agreement reaffirms the need for developed countries to offer financial assistance to those needing it for reducing their GHG emissions and also in their pursuit of climate-resilient development. India’s climate actions have mostly been funded by domestic resources.

However, to achieve the goals set forth, the substantial scaling of the climate action plans should be complemented by financial resources and assistance from developed countries. There would also be additional investments required for strengthening resilience and disaster management.

The Paris Agreement also discusses technological development and transfer for achieving the goals of the Agreement. India has advocated for global collaboration in Research & Development (R&D), with regards to climate change adaptation and mitigation, particularly in clean technologies. It has also advocated for enabling their transfer, and free Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) costs to developing countries.

The Agreement emphasizes upon climate-related capacity building for developing countries and exhorts the developed countries to extend their support for the same. In this area, India aims for a manifold scaling up of the country’s renewable energy targets and India’s climate change goals which are linked to the implementation of policies such as the programme on Smart Cities, Swachh Bharat Mission (Clean India Mission) and the cleaning of rivers.

What are India’s NDCs?

India ratified the Paris Agreement a year after the submission of its Intended National Determined Contribution (INDC). Its NDCs for the period 2021 to 2030 are as follows –

Union Budget 2021-22

To achieve the above goals, India has begun to tread on the objectives of promoting a variety of renewable energies, such as by the introduction of newer, more efficient and cleaner technologies in thermal power generation, reduction in emissions from industries, transportation sector, buildings and appliances, waste etc.

The implementation of the Green India Mission remains a priority. This Mission is a comprehensive program towards sustainable environmental development through which the country can protect, restore and enhance forest cover and other afforestation programmes, along with planning and implementation of actions and schemes to enhance climate resilience and reduce vulnerability to climate change.

The Union Budget was presented by the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1, 2021. Some of the key proposals to enhance India’s comprehensive environment protection efforts include: Hydrogen Energy Mission in 2021-22 for generating hydrogen from green power sources; Capital infusion of ₹1,000 crore to the Solar Energy Corporation of India; ₹1,500 crore to the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency; Centre’s clean air programme with a fund of ₹2,217 crore for air pollution control in 42 cities with a million plus population; Voluntary vehicle scrapping policy to phase out old and unfit vehicles; Swachh Bharat Mission 2.0: Allocation of ₹141,678 crore over a period of five years from 2021-2026; Allocation of₹4,000 for Deep Ocean Mission for five years; Launch of Jal Jeevan Mission (Urban), with an outlay of ₹ 2,87,000 crores to be implemented over 5 years for universal water supply in all 4,378 Urban Local Bodies with 2.86 crores household tap connections, as well as liquid waste management in 500 AMRUT cities..

India’s progress so far

Even though India’s GHG emissions have more than doubled between 1990 to 2015, when India entered its liberalisation period, it still remains less than other G20 nations. Among the G20 nations, India has one of the most ambitious targets set for reductions in GHGs.

Experts believe that India has remained on track to achieve its NDC by 2030, which will be catalysed with the adoption of its National Electricity Plan, which aims to achieve 47% capacity from non-fossil sources by 2027.

Any complacency cannot be afforded. A decrease in the budget allocation for the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change from ₹3100 in 2020-21 to ₹2869 is not an encouraging signal.

This is especially true for the renewable energy sector where India needs to stepping up its planning and implementation as we move towards the attaining the Agenda 2030. Since the energy sector contributes massively to the production of GHGs, tackling this area could contribute to fulfilling its NDCs.

India needs a consolidated mitigation plan which should include reducing fossil fuel subsidies, phasing out coal, better coordination between the central and state governments and raising self-sufficiency by domestic manufacturing in the renewable sector.

With regards to the NDC about creating an additional carbon sink, not much is being done in the afforestation/reforestation sector. There is a lack of data pertaining to the Green India Mission and reports show that the Mission has been consistently missing its targets due to a lack of funding at the centre and state level.

There needs to be a dedicated ministry or committee responsible for afforestation, which should be funded adequately and take the recommendations of an expert panel on mapping and planning. The Clean Air Program for air pollution control in 42 cities with a million plus population and the Hydrogen Energy Mission has the potential to reduce India’s carbon footprint are important steps in the right direction.

India is well on its track to achieve its 2030 climate targets. However, it needs to do more in the mitigation and adaptation sector by creating a holistic mitigation plan. The COVID-19 pandemic and extreme environmental events such as Cyclones Fani and Amphan and droughts in several parts of the country highlight significant setbacks in terms of achieving the yearly targets and the overall goals by 2030.

Even though the COVID-19 pandemic induced lockdown temporarily brought down emissions to some extent wherein we witnessed the nature in its pristine form, it will continue to rise unless a green COVID-19 recovery strategy plan is created and followed.

Simi Mehta is CEO and Editorial Director of Impact and Policy Research Institute (IMPRI), New Delhi and Ritika Gupta is Assistant Director of IMPRI.

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Categories: Africa

Policy Inconsistencies and Poor Research Slow Young Farmers in Africa

Tue, 03/16/2021 - 11:00

Young farmers who have land are failing to access bank loans despite the Zimbabwean government touting farming as the final frontier that will guarantee the country's food security needs. Credit: Busani Bafana/IPS

By Ignatius Banda
BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe, Mar 16 2021 (IPS)

It is not everyday that a young farmer registers success in his enterprise and vows this is what he will do for the rest of his life. Yet this is the story of Lihle Moyo, a 27-year-old farmer from Gwanda, about 160km south of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s second-largest city.

With little to no experience in farming, Moyo says he took over his father’s plot and turned it into a thriving poultry, cabbage, tomato and onion farm two years ago as an experiment.

“I had just finished college and had nothing to do, no source of income,” Moyo told IPS.

He pooled resources with assistance from siblings working outside the country to finance the installation of a borehole, water storage tanks, a generator and initial start-up capital for the project on his father’s eight hectares of land.

His success is outstanding in a country where farming has proven to be a headache for local farmers, especially in the aftermath of the country’s much criticised land redistribution programme that saw Zimbabwe morph from net food exporter to dipping into its scarce forex reserves to import grain.

“Not many young people I know are interested in farming because where are they are going to get start-up capital,” said Moyo on being asked why other young people like himself have not been too eager to take up farming.

While commercial famers in Zimbabwe previously received agro-loans from banks, financial institutions have been reluctant to lend to farmers who benefitted from the land reform exercise citing lack of collateral and security for farmers.

The same has plagued young farmers who, like Moyo, have land but are failing to access bank loans despite government touting farming as the final frontier that will guarantee the country’s food security needs.

Farmers are therefore expected to source their own resources despite the government launching schemes that provide free inputs such as seeds and free fertiliser.

“Even if you get these free things, you still have to think about how you are going to maintain your farm. And in any case one still has to contend with the fact that not every young farmer wants to plant maize. We want to try other things,” Moyo said.

Other aspiring young farmers such as 30-year-old Dumisile Gumpo, also from Gwanda, have given up on large-scale farming ambitions.

“I am only farming now on my parents’ land because of the rains,” Gumpo said. “After the rains, it means I will wait again for the next rainy season,” he said.

Gumpo plants traditional staples that include maize, pumpkins and peas.

“I would love to do farming all year round but I don’t see how when I have no cash to venture into other things such as poultry or even installing a borehole,” he said, expressing the frustration of many young farmers in Zimbabwe.

To make matters worse, the Gwanda region where the two young farmers are based is well-known for illegal mining activities whose promise of instant riches have attracted thousands of young people from across the country.

Experts have noted that youth agriculture has failed to take off in Africa because of policy inconsistencies by governments and poor research on the needs of young farmers.

According to the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD), there are about 1.2 billion people aged between 15 and 24, with 600 million residing in rural areas globally.

IFAD has noted that especially in the midst of COVID-19, the “re-invention of the agricultural sector is indispensable today,” and young people are going to be at the centre of that revolution.

The Enhancing Capacity to Apply Research Evidence (CARE) project sponsored by IFAD and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) runs the Policy for Youth Engagement in Agribusiness and Rural Economic Activities in Africa.

The project seeks to understand the factors influencing youth engagement in agribusiness and rural farm economies among other areas of focus.

Researchers, however, are wary that there has been little traction in driving youth participation among African countries.

“Policy makers, government agencies, and other stakeholders need to come up with incentives that will attract youth involvement in agriculture practices if CARE-IFAD goals are to be realised,” said Esther Kwaamba, an agricultural economist at the Namibia University of Science and Technology.

“From research, the trends are the same among youths. They are not involved in agriculture because of lack of finance, access to land, poor infrastructure and agriculture machinery being expensive,” Kwaamba told IPS.

While IITA says there is need to increase “youth engagement in profitable agriculture and agribusiness is critical for sustainable development,” young farmers such as Moyo and Gumpo find themselves in a position where they have to teach themselves the ropes while they go.

“I have no business model, I just do what I think needs to be done. For example with the poultry project, I lost a lot of chicks when I first started because I had no clue about the business of raising chickens,” Moyo told IPS, exposing the difficulties many farmers face in a country where inflationary pressures have pushed many business to the ground.

While Zimbabwe has in the past distributed youth economic empowerment loans, Moyo says it has always been difficult to access these loans as farming is not seen as an enterprise that guarantees immediate returns.

“We have seen in the past young people being given loans but even for any project it has always been hard to get anything from government imagine telling them about your big ideas about farming,” he said.

Experts say the problems for young farmers are far-reaching as there remains a dearth of informed approaches to the youth involvement in agriculture.

“There is lack of you-specific research-based evidence to inform the design of youth-relevant policy and development programmes,” said agro-economist Dr. Shiferaw Fekele, in a presentation to CARE Intermediaries training focusing on youth research youth in Africa.

“There is need for more scholarly research to explore well-informed business opportunities in agriculture,” Feleke said.

A better approach to addressing this, according to Fekele, would be to have “youths researching youth” because “youths have a better grasp than anyone else of their peers’ real needs, aspirations, challenges and perspectives on agriculture”.

This rings true for Moyo and Gumpo, whose experience could well be a pointer for other youths on what needs to be done to attract more young people to farming in a country where tens of thousands of university graduates are without jobs alongside unskilled young people who leave school without hope of gainful employment.

“There is a need to strengthen the capacity of young Africa scholars in generating, appraising and disseminating evidence based-results and also strengthen the ability of key stakeholders to use evidence-based approach in policy development related to youth empowerment,” Fekele said.

The CARE project is already working with young researchers to inform the future action plans of national government that will lead to better youth policies.

These concerns could mean it is still a long way before young farmers such as Moyo add to the continent’s food security needs and take up land’s labour as a fulltime and lifelong occupation.

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Categories: Africa

Magellan, Inquisition and Globalisation

Tue, 03/16/2021 - 07:15

Sculpture of Enrique de Malacca <ahmadfuadosman.com>

By Felice Noelle Rodriguez and Jomo Kwame Sundaram
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Mar 16 2021 (IPS)

Globalisation’s beginnings are symbolised by Ferdinand Magellan’s near circumnavigation of the world half a millennium ago. But its history is not simply of connection and trade, but also of intolerance, exploitation, slavery, violence, aggression and genocide.

Magalhães, conquistador
The Philippines today struggles with this history. Some Filipinos highlight the warm native reception extended to Magellan’s fleet and the first Catholic mass, reminiscent of American Thanksgiving mythology. For others, native resistance to conquistador aggression, captured by Danilo Madrid Gerona’s biography of Magellan, is more memorable.

In 1494CE, Pope Alexander VI, now of Borgias TV series infamy, united the Iberian Catholic kings behind the Inquisition. His Tordesillas treaty, after Christopher Columbus’ 1492 ‘discovery’ of the New World under Spanish royal auspices, gave the Portuguese rights to Brazil and all lands east of it, with Spain getting the rest of the Americas.

Felice Noelle Rodriguez

Vasco da Gama reached India in 1498 with the help of an Arab trader. In February 1502, he returned to demand that the ruler of Calicut (Kozhikode) expel all Muslims. When rejected, da Gama bombarded the port city and severely maimed those he captured.

Under Portugal’s second Viceroy to the East, Afonso d’Albuquerque, Fernão de Magalhães distinguished himself in several Portuguese naval sieges, attacks and sackings of ports in southern India and beyond.

Portugal had its eyes on Malacca well before arriving there. For the Portuguese chronicler Tome Pires, Malacca then was the greatest port in the world.

Magalhães arrived with the first Portuguese expedition to Malacca in 1509, returning in 1511 with a thousand men under Albuquerque’s command to capture it.

Magalhães was later injured in the 1513 Portuguese invasion of the Maghrib (Morocco). This aggression had begun almost a century earlier under the legendary Prince Henrique, Henry the Navigator. Later, after failing to get what he believed to be his due, Magalhães moved in 1517 to Sevilla, the base of the Spanish Inquisition and navy.

Magallanes, near circumnavigator
As Ferdinand Magallanes, he persuaded Spanish King Carlos V to sponsor his proposed circumnavigation to get to the Moluccas spice islands in Southeast Asia by sailing west, as allowed by the Tordesillas treaty. The monarch provided him with five ships, crew and provisions for the expedition.

On 16th March 1521, Magallanes’ depleted fleet of three ships arrived in the eastern Visayas in the central Philippines. The ships had sailed through the straits at the southern tip of the Americas which now bears his name. Sailing on to Cebu, he demanded native acceptance of his God and King, plus tribute.

He twice attacked the small neighbouring island of Mactan, where the Cebu airport now is, razing two villages who did not comply. Anticipating the third attack before dawn on 27th April, Lapulapu – a local leader, with the name of a grouper fish species – prepared to resist.

Portrait of the slave circumnavigator <enriquedemalacca.com>

Over-confident and arrogant, Magallanes shunned offers of reinforcements. Lapulapu’s mobilised village defence force greatly outnumbered and prevailed against his. Thus, the 500th anniversary recalls a rare victory for native resistance against the conquistador.

Of the five ships in his original fleet, only the smallest, Victoria eventually returned to Spain in 1522 under Spaniard Juan Sebastian Elcano. Nevertheless, despite the loss of most of his ships and many crew, the King still made a huge profit.

Slave, the first circumnavigator?
But there is another, largely untold story. After the Portuguese conquest of Malacca in 1511, Magalhães left with a captured teenage slave, whose original name no one knows. Perhaps to honour Henry the Navigator, Magellan renamed him ‘anRyk’, probably a Catalan version of the name.

A favourite slave of Magellan, anRyk served as his interpreter and was to be freed upon his death. However, the ship’s captain refused to honour the will. Unsurprisingly, anRyk deserted. Thus, he may well have become the first to circumnavigate Earth, as some claim he returned to live out his life near Malacca, avoiding the Portuguese there.

In 1957, a history teacher in Singapore named Harun Aminurrashid published a novel to inspire children in the newly independent Malaya. The hero was a character loosely based on what was known about anRyk, whom he lionised as Panglima (Commander) Awang.

Thus, we have the heroic figure of Panglima Awang. Almost Spartacus-like, the captured defeated slave becomes the hero. Recent portraits as well as a sculpture of Enrique da Malacca by the Malaysian multimedia artist Ahmad Fuad Osman strengthen this image.

A Man of All Nations
Today, anRyk is claimed by several contemporary Southeast Asian nation states. Some Malaysian historians have reified the fictive Panglima Awang. Thus, Malaysian memorialisation has involved not only making history from fiction, but also creating new myths from history.

Indonesian claims rely on self-appointed Magellan chronicler Antonio Pigafetta’s suggestion that anRyk was from Sumatera; others claim he was from the Moluccas, Maluku today. Some Filipinos insist he stayed there, becoming Filipino before there was even a Philippines. More than anyone else, anRyk symbolises island Southeast Asia, the Nusantara.

In Iberia, in Europe, in the West, there is a subtle debate over personalities and dates. For the Portuguese, the circumnavigation began under Magellan’s leadership in 1519. For their neighbours, the Spaniard Elcano led the Victoria back in 1522. His diverse crew allows pan-European claims, ignoring most slaves, presumably of colour, who were not deemed worthy of mention in the official ship manifests.

Imperialism today is, in many ways, a far cry from what it was five centuries ago. Yet, there are many continuities and parallels, including racisms, cultural, including religious intolerance, exploitations and oppressions of various types despite changing forms, relations and even vocabularies.

The voyages of exploration and conquest were driven by greed. Nonetheless, God, king and country have been readily invoked to legitimise avarice and atrocities. Invoking 21st century intellectual property norms, globalisation today involves vaccine imperialism, apartheid and genocide.

Dr Felice Noelle Rodriguez is a Filipina historian. She is now a Scholar-in-Residence in Kuala Lumpur and Visiting Fellow at the Ateneo de Zamboanga University.

The post Magellan, Inquisition and Globalisation appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Categories: Africa

Are High-Ranking UN Jobs the Political Birthright of Big Powers?

Mon, 03/15/2021 - 16:37

The UN General Assembly in session. Credit: UN Photo/Manuel Elias

“The basic problem is that the 193-member General Assembly has deferred too many times, for too long, and on too many issues to the UN Security Council and the five permanent members (P-5) of the UN Security Council (UNSC)”.

By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 15 2021 (IPS)

The United Nations has continued to pursue a notoriously longstanding tradition of doling out some of the highest-ranking jobs either to the five big powers, who are permanent members of the Security Council—namely the US, UK, China, France and Russia – or to Western industrialized nations such as Spain, Italy, Canada, Sweden, Germany, plus Japan.

As a result, the world’s developing countries, comprising over two-thirds of the 193 UN member states, have been complaining they are not being adequately represented in the higher echelons of the world body –- despite competent candidates with strong professional and academic qualifications vying for these jobs.

The 134-member Group of 77, the largest single coalition of developing countries, complained last year that “persistent imbalances in equitable geographic representation in the UN Secretariat are a major concern.”

And, worse still, some of the big powers lobby the Secretary-General recommending their own nationals to succeed to the same post – and, at times, in consecutive years — implicitly claiming that some of the senior positions in the UN hierarchy are their political birthrights.

With Mark Lowcock’s decision to step down as Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC) last week, there is a guessing game as to which big power or which Western nation will get that job.

Lowcock is a British national and there are widespread rumors that UK has already recommended a Briton as his successor.

Since 2007, British nationals have held that post for four consecutive terms: John Holmes, Valerie Amos, Stephen O’Brien and Mark Lowcock.

Is there a fifth Briton in line for that position?

In an “open letter” to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the UN Association of UK has urged him “to champion a transparent, inclusive and merit-based appointment process for the UN’s Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC)”

Over the past decade 20% of roles at Under-Secretary-General or above have gone to nationals of the Permanent Members – nearly 10 times higher than is proportional, said the letter signed by over 52 signatories, including former senior UN officials, members of the House of Lords, academics and representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

“Ringfencing” roles excludes a large swathe of global talent and creates a perception of partiality, which can undermine the appointee’s authority and compromise the Secretary-General’s independence, the letter added.

Meanwhile, since 1997, the post of USG for Peacekeeping Operations has been monopolized by France with five French nationals succeeding each other: Bernard Miyet, Jean-Marie Guehenno, Alain Le Roy, Herve Ladsous and Jean-Pierre Lacroix.

And since 2007, the US has held the position of Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs: Lyn Pascoe, Jeffrey Feltman and Rosemary DiCarlo.

Not surprisingly, another permanent member of the Security Council, the then Soviet Union clung to that position no less than 13 times since 1952 when the post was designated USG for Political and Security Council Affairs.

Arpad Bogsch, a U.S. national of Hungarian origin, held the post of director general of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva for an all-time record: 24 years (1973-1997).

Still, the United States, the largest single donor, continues to unreservedly hold the unique monopoly of nominating its own national as the head of the U.N. children’s agency, UNICEF, since its inception in 1947.

The seven U.S. nationals who have uninterruptedly headed that agency include Maurice Pate, Henry Labouisse, James Grant, Carol Bellamy, Ann Veneman, Anthony Lake and Henrietta Fore.

No other agency at the United Nations has had a stranglehold on such a senior position in the history of the organization.

The independence of the Secretary-General is a longstanding myth perpetuated mostly outside the United Nations. As an international civil servant, he is expected to shed his political loyalties when he takes office, and more importantly, never seek or receive instructions from any governments.

But virtually every single Secretary-General—nine at last count– has played second fiddle to the world’s major powers in violation of Article 100 of the UN charter.

Over the last few decades, successive Secretaries-Generals have played ball, particularly with the Big Five – caving into their demands – in order to avoid a veto, particularly when their re-election comes up before the Security Council.

The current SG Antonio Guterres of Portugal has declared his intention to run for a second term in office, beginning 2022. But he has to placate the big Five or curry favour with them – whichever comes first—in order to avoid a veto.

Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt never got a second term because he was vetoed by the US—even though 14 of the 15 members of the Security Council voted in his favor.

When he took office in January 1992, Boutros-Ghali noted that 50 percent of the staff assigned to the U.N.’s administration and management were U.S. nationals, although Washington paid only 25 percent of the U.N.’s regular budget.

Thomas G. Weiss, Distinguished Fellow, Global Governance, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, told IPS the Secretary-General “gave away the store as part of his campaign in 2016. His re-election effort will follow the same path. The electoral college has five members”

Competence has occasionally been a qualification for the Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC), but not always. Nationality and the SG’s electoral promises and chits, however, are always the primary consideration, said Weiss, Presidential Professor of Political Science, Director Emeritus, Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies at the CUNY Graduate Center.

Ramesh Thakur, Emeritus Professor, Senior Research Fellow, Toda Peace Institute,
Crawford School of Public Policy at the Australian National University, told IPS the basic problem is the General Assembly (GA) has deferred too many times, for too long, and on too many issues to the UN Security Council (UNSC) and the five permanent members (P-5) of the UNSC.

It is past time for the GA to assert itself, use the power of the purse, and use it universal membership against the self-serving narrow clique of the P-5 dominated UNSC, he pointed out.

“The UN’s unique legitimacy flows from its universal membership, which means the GA, not the UNSC. I would like the GA to adopt a formal censure of the SG for violating the 1992 GA resolution,” he argued.

“And then follow it up by mandating the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (or its successor if that has changed since my days) to read the annual report on the distribution of senior posts – Assistant Secretaries-Generals (ASGs), SG, and all special envoys and representatives at that rank – by the UN’s regional groupings, said Thakur, a former UN Assistant Secretary-General and Senior Vice-Rector at the UN University.

And where someone has dual nationalities, this should be reflected in the report, to stop someone who is both a US and an African country national, for example, from claiming 100% representation of that African country. Make that 50% US and 50% second nationality. And equivalent for all countries, noted Thakur.

“In other words, the primary blame for this continued racist domination lies not with the SG, not with the UNSC, but with the GA and its failure to impose standards and accountability,” he declared.

Joseph Chamie, an independent consulting demographer and a former director of the UN Population Division, told IPS while it is understandable that P5 members may wish to maintain their disproportionate advantages, and in some cases, monopoly with respect to USG and higher UN appointments, the world has changed markedly over the past 75 years and appointments at those high levels need to take those changes fully into account.

Simply in terms of demographics, he argued, the P5 members represent substantially less of the world than in the past. In 1950 the P5 countries represented 36 percent of the world’s population; today they represent 26 percent.

In addition, he said, the educational levels, career experiences and professional dedication of men and women in developing countries have also increased markedly over the past seven decades and in most instances are comparable to those in developed countries.

“It should be obvious to any impartial observer of the repeated breaches of the 1992 General Assembly resolution concerning no national of a Member State should succeed a national of that state in a senior post,” he said.

While it is important to have gender equality at high levels of the UN, it is also important to avoid “ringfencing” roles and posts, which contributes to undermining the credibility, effectiveness and support of the United Nations system, said Chamie.

The Secretary-General’s decisions on future appointments to high level positions in the Organization, he said, would benefit greatly from being transparent, inclusive and merit-based.

Mandeep S. Tiwana, Chief Programmes Officer at CIVICUS, who was one of the signatories to the letter addressed to the British Prime Minister, told IPS a key factor holding the UN back from achieving the aims of the UN Charter is the assertion of narrowly defined geo-political interests by the big powers.

“If anything, the pandemic has taught us, it’s the need to invest in people centred multilateralism to meet the demands of the 21st century”

He said “it could be a beautiful thing if senior UN appointments reflected the diversity of member states while demonstrating a strong commitment to core UN values.”

Hard-nosed assertion of raw power by the P5 without consistent fidelity to international norms has caused much suffering in the world, declared Tiwana.

The writer is the author of the newly-released book on the United Nations titled “No Comment — And Don’t Quote me on That” –From the Sublime to the Hilarious. The book is available on amazon:
https://www.rodericgrigson.com/no-comment-by-thalif-deen/

The post Are High-Ranking UN Jobs the Political Birthright of Big Powers? appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Categories: Africa

I Don’t Want to Be a Superwoman

Mon, 03/15/2021 - 11:57

By Shammi Quddus
Mar 15 2021 (IPS-Partners)

My newsfeed on International Women’s Day: “Happy Women’s Day to my superwoman! You got promoted to Vice President at the bank, you are an amazing mom to our kids, you make sure a simple guy like me has his life in order and take care of your parents and in-laws with the utmost care. Salute!”

I wonder what the guy is doing since his wife seems to be doing the work of four people combined.

I scroll on.

“We are launching a campaign to celebrate the superwoman in your lives! Your mom, your wife, your sister they do much for us! Send us a recorded video and you can win a special discount for your next order.”

This has become standard fare of International Women’s Day in social and traditional media. While this type of superwoman hype feels good, it perpetuates certain harmful norms.

First, congratulating women for being superwomen is congratulating them for doing it all—working a full time job and shouldering caregiving for children and the elderly. Why are women doing it all? Do they have 36 hours in a day? What are their partners doing? By celebrating this definition of a superwoman, we reinforce the idea that women doing it all is the gold standard when in reality, it is a perpetuation of entrenched patriarchal norms that absolves men of taking up household responsibilities.

Second, the superwoman label takes permission away from women to seek help. Women who cannot do it all or refuse to are shamed and shunned. It puts immense pressure on all women to keep up the appearance of having it all together when in reality, many are struggling to balance work and family, and carve out a sliver of time for self-care. If anything, we need to do the opposite and communicate that juggling so many roles is unsustainable. Something has to give and something will give. Many women often end up quitting careers they love or suffer in silence from poor mental and physical health.

Third, it hides the fact that being a superwoman is a class issue. Women who can afford daycare or nannies can keep working with school-going kids. Having a family car makes pickups and drop-offs much easier. Having grandparents who live in the city and look after the young ones is a big relief. These advantages are not available to the millions of women who work in low-paid jobs. Such women are rarely picked up by media to be superwomen. The prerogative only belongs to the white collar, upper middle class who can afford the extra help.

So what can we do instead?

Enough with the superwoman label. It’s not helping women. It’s hurting women. Yes, there are women who do a million things for us. Thank them in person but have a conversation to figure out how the work can be shared more equitably in the home and workplace. These conversations need to take place with mothers, wives, sisters, daughters and even the women who work for us—the nannies, the cleaning ladies, the cooks. If you are a leader in an organisation, instead of celebrating the lone superwoman in the C-suite, ask yourself why your C-suite is not half female. Better yet, ask your women.

International Women’s Day was established more than a century ago to fight for equality. Let’s honour that vision by making sure personal and professional success is attainable not just by superwomen, but by all women.

Shammi Quddus is a Product Manager at Google. She is a wife and mother of two, and not a superwoman.

This story was originally published by The Daily Star, Bangladesh

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Categories: Africa

The Fruition of the “China Dream”: Beijing’s Inexorable Rise

Mon, 03/15/2021 - 10:50

By Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury
SINGAPORE, Mar 15 2021 (IPS-Partners)

China is on the roll. Already the second largest economy in the world, it is poised to become the first sooner than expected, possibly within this decade. Small wonder that the focus of the globe should be on the lianghui currently being held in Beijing. This is the ‘two sessions,’ China’s annual Parliamentary meeting. They entail back- to- back sessions of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the highest advisory body, and the National People’s Congress (NPC), the principal legislative forum. There might lack the scintillating repartees of a debate in the House of Commons, and the thrill of the Question hour in Commonwealth Parliaments. But nonetheless would have an enormous impact on the lives of global citizens, including the proverbial man on the Clapham omnibus. That is because the sessions provide an insight into the plans and aspirations of the world’s most rising power.

Dr. Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury

These two significant events rolled in one were expected to propound and approve policies that would have significant knock-on effects on the global economy. By all counts, China’s rise is appearing to be increasingly inexorable. Decisions are being designed to reap maximum benefit out of the population of 1.4 billion and a middle class of 400 million. A major success over the past decade has been the lifting of over 100 million citizens from absolute poverty, over which President Xi Jinping and the Communist Party have recently declared “Complete victory”. Xi has called it a miracle that will “go down in history’’. The sessions would also mark the release of the nation’s fourteenth five- year plan, on the anniversary of the Party’s centennial of existence.

China is already in the process of implementing its ‘’dual circulation” strategy. It principally entails stimulating domestic demand, now facilitated by the burgeoning middle class (internal circulation) , as well as catering to the export market (external circulation) , though with reduced reliance on the latter. In other words, the country will continue to improve its participation in global trade, finance and technology, at the same time hedging against global market disruptions by sharpening focus on domestic consumption, production and innovation. This idea assumes importance given the backdrop of the trade spat with the United State, dating back to the Trump Administration. It now seems that the Chinese calculus is that even under President Joe Biden, the rivalry with the US, though somewhat less strident at least in language if not in substance will continue. All indications extrapolating from the ‘’two sessions “are that China will continue to have faith in the international trading system, but will keep its powder dry.

At the sessions Premier Li Keqiang announce a planned GDP rise of “over 6 per cent”’ for the year. He desisted from making a quantitative target last year because of Covid-19 related uncertainties. But despite the fact that the virus has originated in China, the country handled the crisis in an exemplary fashion, and was able to post a growth -rate of 2.3 percent, being the only major economy to achieve a positive number. So Premier Li’s declaration reflected a sense of confidence. In fact, the International Monetary Fund thinks China might do even better and rise by 8.1 per cent. Pundits feel that if the trend continues in a general fashion, China might overtake the US as the world’s largest economy by 2038, seven years ahead of predictions. This will put the nation well on the way to achieving as the somewhat demurely expressed aspiration of becoming a “’moderately prosperous country”.

But the Chinese eyes were fixed on more than development and prosperity. The anticipation of intense US competition led to a spike in defense spending. In this regard an increase of 6.8 percent, adding up to US $ 210 billion, surpassing last year’s 6.6 percent was announced. This will help China modernize its military, and expand its capabilities in newer domains of cyber, outer- space, deep- sea and electromagnetic warfare. In these dual- purpose sectors monies could also be sourced from other heads. China’s advance in areas of novel technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence, has been remarkable. These could enable China to leap-frog ahead, off- setting western current conventional military superiority. In many ways we may be witnessing a reversal of the past cold-war scenario when the Warsaw Pact powers were conventionally superior to the West or NATO, and the latter pinned its doctrine to the “trip-wire” strategy. Accordingly, NATO would unleash a nuclear response automatically, should there be a conventional crossing of lines by the adversary. Except that, China could soon have the capability to effect devastating consequences through non-kinetic strikes.

But an accompaniment of China’s rise must be studied circumspection. China need not have to “hide its capabilities and bide its time” as in the 1970s and 80s anymore, but nor can it afford to recklessly pursue the classic formula of “kill one to persuade a hundred”. China will need the world to accommodate its burgeoning position., While it is true much of the world is willing to do so, it is also true there is a pervasive fear of China among many, of not just its military might but also economic clout. The US will clearly remain a competitor for the rivalry is structural. But most analysts agree it need not come to war. The responsibility for its avoidance is in the perceived national self-interest of both China and the US.

For now, with much good news emanating out of the “two sessions”, the mood in China seems euphoric. The people see this as an important milestone in the fruition of what in Mandarin is called, their “Zhang Guomeng”, or “China Dream”. The Chinese are not Anglo-Saxons. But the current sentiments in that ethos would be the same as in nineteenth century England, as evident in that phlegmatic jingle, inspired by a speech of Disraeli, which was the origin of the term ‘jingoism’:

“We don’t want to fight,
But by jingo, if we do,
We ‘ve got the ships, we’ve got the men,
We’ve got the money too!”

Dr Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury is the Honorary Fellow at the Institute of South Asia Studies, NUS. He is a former Foreign Advisor (Foreign Minister) of Bangladesh and President & Distinguished Fellow of Cosmos Foundation. The views addressed in the article are his own. He can be reached at: isasiac @nus.edu.sg

This story was originally published by Dhaka Courier.

The post The Fruition of the “China Dream”: Beijing’s Inexorable Rise appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Categories: Africa

How to Achieve Peace in Afghanistan

Mon, 03/15/2021 - 09:47

Women impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic wait to receive cash assistance from the World Food Programme in Kabul, Afghanistan. Credit: WFP/Massoud Hossaini

By Saber Azam
GENEVA, Mar 15 2021 (IPS)

There is much expectation about US President Joe Biden’s Afghanistan strategy to end the United States’ longest war effectively. So far, he continues to rely on Ambassador Zalmai Khalilzad, the Special Envoy for Afghanistan, appointed by Mr. Trump.

The initial statements issued by the White House, State Department, and Defense Department seemed promising. However, some highlighted that they ignored an essential element: the Afghan people’s wish about their future!

Following the latest visit of Ambassador Khalilzad to the region, various assumptions have emerged. It seems that he still pushes for a transitional government formula with the participation of Afghan chieftains and the Taliban, a new version of an old strategy that never proved efficient!

It may be futile to invoke details of what has transpired or speculate about President Biden’s intention on Afghanistan. However, an overview of the challenges will help define a sound solution, allowing foreign troops to regain their country in the most dignified manner and the Afghan people to dispose of its future.

As of the end of the 18th century, Afghanistan became the battleground for controlling central and south Asia between superpowers. Their “great game” and the ineptness of Afghan rulers who quickly succumbed to the “divide and rule” policy never permitted this country’s population to evolve as a nation.

Therefore, understanding the Afghan puzzle is laborious. So far, those who intervened in this eternally fragmented country, more recently the British Empire and the Soviet Union, never grasped fundamental hindrances. Both lost their glory as a result of their uncalculated decisions. The Biden administration must not rush and consider national challenges, regional impediments, and international hurdles to find a lasting, workable, and sustainable solution.

National Challenges

A significant source of eternal conflicts in Afghanistan is an unequal historical treatment of its diverse populations by their governments. Effective equal rights and opportunities and good-governance constitute the basis of a peaceful future. Some fundamental national challenges are as follows:

Meritocracy

2 – Since the takeover of power by Communists in 1978, atrocious crimes against humanity have been committed by various regimes, warlords, Mujahidin chieftains, and more specifically, the Taliban and their Islamic State and Al-Qaeda associates. Without a truth and reconciliation process, it would be difficult for any peace effort to achieve its objectives.

3 – While Afghanistan is a country with defined borders and recognized status in major international and regional arenas, Afghans never constituted a nation. Without acknowledging this fact and undertaking a robust nation-building program, Afghanistan will remain a plaything in the hands of foreign adversaries.

4 – Afghanistan’s post-Taliban constitution was drafted without considering decades of profound political, social, and economic transformations in the country. It did not satisfy the aspirations of the population. A substantive reform of the current constitution can only improve the chances of durable peace in the country.

5 – Despite efforts undertaken by the international community, Afghanistan is affected by rampant corruption. It has gangrened all layers of central and provincial government institutions and even the private sector, hampering efforts to rebuild and reconstruct the country. A comprehensive good-governance and ethics framework, policy, and action plan for public and private sectors must be agreed upon and put in place instantly.

6 – Since Mr. Hamid Karzai was propelled to Afghanistan’s leadership and despite trillions of US dollars granted to various Afghan governments, the expected development path is unsatisfactory. Leaders have not been capable of defining where their country would be in a year, ten years, or thirty years from now. It is extremely urgent that Afghanistan’s leadership clearly describes short-, med-, and long-term political, social, and economic plans for the country and elaborate the appropriate action strategies so that the population comprehends the sacrifices that are still needed to attain peace and prosperity.

7 – For decades under King Zaher Shah, Afghanistan benefited from a recognized neutral status that helped the country position itself as an unbiased element of the “great games”! Subsequently, it received development aid, particularly from the United States, major European countries, the Soviet Union, India, and the People’s Republic of China. The forceful change of regime by Daoud Khan from kingdom to republic with the help of Soviet-trained military officers annihilated Afghanistan’s privileged neutral status. Therefore, it is in the interest of this country to regain its neutrality in the international arena and stay away from the “new great game” battles.

8 – Since 2009, elections have been marred with an unacceptable level of corruption and mismanagement. The population has lost trust in the democratic process and does not believe in the elections’ outcomes. This is a significant handicap for the country’s future political, social, and economic development and peace and serenity prospects. Without a solid and unbiased election law, rules and procedures, and honest people in charge, there will be no future for democracy in Afghanistan.

Regional Impediments

Afghanistan is situated in a very volatile region of the world. For centuries neighboring powers crashed with each other and caused unforgivable tragedies. Below are some of the significant regional impediments to the Afghan crisis:

Regional rivalries

b – Exploitation of resources, in particular minerals and water, constitute a major source of discord. Moreover, climate change has affected Afghanistan to the extent of destroying its agriculture. Any effort by Afghanistan to exploit its water faces powerful neighbors’ fury, deteriorating the atmosphere for an amicable understanding and peaceful coexistence. Regional power must recognize Afghanistan’s vulnerability and assist overcome the difficulties through exploitation of their own natural resources.

c – Internal challenges of regional powers, particularly claims of autonomy or independence by the peoples of Baluchistan, Kurdistan, Yemen, and Kashmir, affect Afghanistan. There are reports of Afghans dispatched to fight in Kashmir, Syria, Yemen, and elsewhere. Often ethnic and religious motivations are the driving force for such insanity, resulting in the lack of unity within Afghanistan. Regional powers must restrain from using Afghans as foot soldiers for their interests.

International Hurdles

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the world has become multipolar. In the absence of sound morality, there is a bitter competition for global political and economic leadership. The four years of the Trump administration unmasked glimpses of some’s ambitions to dethrone the United States from their leading positions.

While Europe is a stand-alone power and the Russian Federation rises from the ashes of the Soviet Union, the People’s Republic of China and India are undeniably the future centers of political and economic gravity.

The Middle East and Central and South Asia are the battlegrounds for a “new great game”. Therefore, the leading international hurdles for Afghanistan are as follows:

repeated failure

(ii) Afghanistan is no more a priority for the international community. Other emergencies such as the Covid-19 pandemic or an eventual conflict between important rivals in the world arena can make it even more irrelevant. It is, therefore, vital for the country to find lasting peace in a reasonably not distant future.

(iii) The horrendous terrorist attacks on the United States in Nairobi, Darussalam, Aden, and, more specifically, New York and Washington were perpetrated by Al Qaeda, whose leadership sought protection with the emerging Taliban movement in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Islam, a religion of peace and mercy, was used as a pretext for their inhuman actions. “Islamic terrorism” inflicts misery on people in Asia, Africa, Europe, and elsewhere. The image of Islam is tarnished durably. Islamic countries and Afghanistan, in particular, must undertake unsurmountable efforts to bridge a sustainable trust among all peoples of faiths.

The way forward

Afghanistan has been “an inspiration” for terrorist organizations for decades. However, it can be a significant source of regional and international stability too. It all depends on how the Biden administration shapes its strategy to bring lasting peace in this country with the firm assertion that they accomplished the objective of defeating terrorism in this country. Therefore, Afghans implore President Biden and his team to consider the following:

must not rush

B – Since 2002, the Afghan leaders proved inept, corrupt, and lawless. They cannot handle national challenges, regional impediments, and international hurdles surrounding their country. It is time to empower a new generation of young, competent, and incorruptible leaders within the country.

C – The United States and its allies must opt for a transitional government between five to seven years, formed by the new leaders who sound the population and address the national challenges and embark with regional and international powers to agree on a neutral and peaceful future for Afghanistan.

D – Initiate a new inclusive peace process, conducted by the transitional team with the support of regional and international powers, following which an honest and transparent election would be conducted under international monitoring. No transitional government member would be eligible to have substantial public office in the future. They can form an Ethics and Good-governance Council to scrutinize the future governments and private sector actions and take immediate corrective measures in cases of breach of ethics.

Peace in Afghanistan signifies the defeat of terrorism. Bringing terrorists and corrupt leaders to forge a future for this country will signify yet another immense failure.

* Saber Azam is also the author of SORAYA: The Other Princess, a historical fiction that overflies the latest seven decades of Afghan history, and Hell’s Mouth, also a historical fiction that recounts the excellent work of humanitarian and human rights actors in Côte d’Ivoire during the First Liberian Civil War. He also published articles mainly about Afghanistan and the need to reform the United Nations.

The post How to Achieve Peace in Afghanistan appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

The writer* is a former United Nations official who served with the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) in key positions in Europe, Africa, and Asia

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Categories: Africa

Sudan Took Important Step, But Now Should Send the ICC Suspects to The Hague

Fri, 03/12/2021 - 22:47

Displaced people living in Ardamata camp in El Geneina, capital of West Darfur, welcoming the start of proceedings in the case against “Janjaweed” militia leader Ali Kosheib at the International Criminal Court. Photos courtesy of Radio Dabanga www.dabangasudan.org.

By Elise Keppler
NEW YORK, Mar 12 2021 (IPS)

Sudanese authorities concluded a Memorandum of Understanding with the International Criminal Court (ICC) in February in its investigation of Ali Kushayb. This much needed step is expected to allow ICC investigators access to Sudan ahead of ICC judges’ deliberations in May to assess whether there is sufficient evidence to send his case to trial.

Kushayb, a leader of the “Janjaweed” militia who also held commanding positions in Sudan’s auxiliary Popular Defense Forces and Central Reserve Police, faces ICC charges on more than 50 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Darfur. He voluntarily surrendered to the court last June.

Sudan’s transitional government has promised to cooperate with the ICC, and welcomed the ICC prosecutor to Sudan for the first time in October. This is in marked contrast to the previous government of Omar al-Bashir – who is also sought by the ICC, for alleged genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity committed in Darfur – which actively blocked the ICC’s efforts.

But the transitional government can and should take its cooperation further by surrendering the four remaining ICC fugitives, three of whom, including al-Bashir, are already in Sudanese custody.

The transitional government can and should take its cooperation further by surrendering the four remaining ICC fugitives, three of whom, including al-Bashir, are already in Sudanese custody

It is important to note that there is no legal basis for the Sudanese authorities to hold on to the ICC fugitives, and they are in fact under an international obligation to surrender them. The UN Security Council resolution that referred the situation in Darfur to the ICC in 2005 expressly requires Sudan to cooperate with the ICC. It was adopted under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, meaning it carries with it the council’s enforcement authority.

Some may argue that Sudanese authorities can and should try the ICC suspects at home. But then the government would have to establish to the ICC’s judges that Sudan’s legal system is in the process of trying the same suspects for the same crimes that the ICC charges cover.

No such proceedings currently exist based on available information, and a year and a half after the transitional government took office, too much time has already passed. The authorities should transfer the ICC’s outstanding fugitives now and thereafter follow necessary procedures should it wish to try the suspects at home on the same crimes.

But the authorities also should consider all the challenges of trying to prosecute the ICC’s cases at home. Genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes – the charges the ICC suspects face – were not explicit crimes in Sudanese law until more than five years after government forces began to commit widespread atrocities in Darfur in 2003. It is possible that local courts could hold that the suspects cannot be tried on these crimes in Sudan since the law wasn’t changed until after the crimes occurred.

If domestic prosecutions were to take place only for other crimes, such as murder and conspiracy, this would deprive victims of accountability for the full scale of atrocities committed.

The legal principle of command responsibility, on which the criminal responsibility of leaders often rests, is still not incorporated into Sudanese law. Immunity for those in official positions and statutes of limitation limit cases domestically as well, and Sudan’s system lacks fair trial protections in law and practice, which are needed for credible proceedings, in actuality and in appearance.

The ICC focuses on a small number of cases involving the highest-level suspects for good reason – the cases can be extremely complex and costly to prosecute as they often involve numerous incidents over an extended period and showing links to suspects who may not have been physically present when crimes were committed. The cases tend to be highly sensitive given the profile of the suspects and present significant security and witness protection problems. Addressing these issues could be a major strain for Sudan’s authorities.

Meanwhile, there are more than enough opportunities for Sudanese authorities to bring justice for past crimes that go beyond the ICC’s five Darfur cases. There are no doubt dozens – maybe even hundreds –of other people who should be criminally investigated with a view to prosecution for mid to higher-level responsibility for atrocities in the conflicts in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile and Darfur, along with attacks on protesters. Some people implicated in these abuses remain in official positions.

While news reports suggest there has been progress in a few domestic criminal investigations of past crimes, impunity overwhelmingly prevails and far more robust efforts are needed. Sudan should establish, without delay, the special court for crimes in Darfur provided for in the 2020 Juba peace agreement.

And, if the Sudanese authorities are pursuing charges for any of the ICC suspects for crimes other than those brought by the ICC, they can negotiate an opportunity for the suspects to face those charges back in Sudan. ICC procedures also potentially allow suspects to serve sentences in their own countries, if desired.

Sudan should not hold onto ICC fugitives in defiance of international obligations because they aspire to one day try them on Darfur crimes. This serves neither the victims nor the government, which could gain a lot of support for the transition with a prompt handover and could benefit from having greater resources to devote to the many other cases involving serious crimes that should be prosecuted.

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Excerpt:

Elise Keppler is associate international justice director at Human Rights Watch

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Categories: Africa

International Women’s Day, 2021More Women Leaders Make Better Societies

Fri, 03/12/2021 - 20:11

The upcoming Samoan election is a unique opportunity to encourage diversity in politics

By Simona Marinescu
APIA, Samoa, Mar 12 2021 (IPS)

This year it will be 128 years since the right of women to vote was first recognized, with New Zealand becoming the first nation to allow the participation of women in its general election in 1893.

From the suffragettes – to today’s feminists, both men and women have fought to increase women’s political participation and representation. It has been a slow, sometimes bitter and occasionally even dangerous struggle. Yet global progress remains slow and uneven – as it does in Samoa. As we approach the 2021 General Election on 9 April, it is important to remember that women’s full and effective participation in all areas of life drives progress for everyone.

Simona Marinescu

As in many countries around the world, Samoan women face higher levels of poverty than men, have limited access to finance, carry the burden of a greater share of care duties, and experience challenges in realizing their sexual and reproductive health and rights. Forty-six percent of Samoan women have experienced some form of violence in their lifetimes, with domestic violence cases tripling between 2012 and 2017. More than 39,000 Samoan women are in unpaid domestic care work, making them vulnerable to economic shocks.

COVID-19 has only exacerbated this inequality. Findings from a 2020 UN Women household survey on the socio-economic effects of COVID show that 90 percent of women compared to six percent of men in formal employment saw their work hours decline, and more than twice as many women (63 percent) as men (28 percent) in paid employment reported a decrease in income.

Not only do these factors limit women’s full participation in political life, but they highlight how important it is that women are given an equal role in decision making to tackle the challenges we all face – from climate change to poverty. Women’s participation in political life is urgent. It is a matter of life and death! And of course women must have the opportunity to play a full role in shaping the decisions being made right now as Samoa responds to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A person aspiring to become an MP in Samoa must hold a matai title and be a member of the village council. But due to cultural constraints, only 11 percent of women are registered matai, and only half of that number are active in their village councils. It is not surprising then that in the 2016 election women accounted for only 14.6 percent of all candidates. Due in part to the 2013 constitutional amendment, 10 percent of sitting MPs today are women (one woman candidate entered Parliament due to the temporary special measure, the remainder were elected through the normal process.) However, this figure is less than half of the global average of 25 percent.

There are 22 women standing in the upcoming election, only 11 percent of the total running.

On International Women’s Day – when we ought to remember how gender inequality continues to disadvantage millions of people around the world, and how it prevents countries from reaching their full potential. This year’s theme: ‘Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world,’ with the campaign hashtag of #ChooseToChallenge. As this country recovers from the pandemic, we at the United Nations choose to challenge Samoa to finally end the exclusion and marginalization of women and girls and create a just and equitable environment for all people to exercise their rights. More inclusive leadership leads to stronger democracies, better governance, more peaceful societies and environmentally sustainable economies. In line with the Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the United Nations has committed to ending gender inequality in Samoa, including through actively training women to be better and more prominent leaders, supporting women community leaders, and most importantly supporting women electoral candidates in the upcoming election.

Parliamentary democracy is very young in this country. The 9 April General Election will be only the seventh held since the 1990 referendum, which introduced universal suffrage. There have been multiple achievements in Samoa in that time that have reduced gender inequality. Samoa has made some progressive decisions. For example, it was the first Pacific country to ratify the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women in 1992, the first Pacific country to set up a separate ministry for women, and it is one of 80 countries around the world to guarantee a quota of seats to women in parliament.

You can help to continue this progressive and proud march towards equality in Samoa. This International Women’s Day, I challenge you to be at the forefront of inclusive movements for social change – online and in real life. Challenge climate change, domestic violence and fight for women’s rights. Challenge bigots, hire women, push for women in positions of power and support women leaders. And on 9 April, vote for women candidates where you can – or candidates that believe in diversity in leadership. Disrupt the status quo, and work to amplify women’s voices in public institutions, parliaments, the judiciary, and the private sector.

Let’s shatter the glass ceiling that hinders the realization of women’s and girls’ aspirations, and strengthen a nationwide partnership across gender – for peace and prosperity in Samoa.

Originally published as an op-ed by Simona Marinescu, United Nations Resident Coordinator, Cook Islands, Niue, Samoa, and Tokelau – in the Samoa Observer – 8 March 2021.

The post International Women’s Day, 2021
More Women Leaders Make Better Societies appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

The upcoming Samoan election is a unique opportunity to encourage diversity in politics

The post International Women’s Day, 2021
More Women Leaders Make Better Societies appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Categories: Africa

The Ongoing Fight for Gender Parity in Lebanon

Fri, 03/12/2021 - 11:17

Zwein during one of the 2019 protests in Beirut. Credit: Victoria El-Khoury Zwein

By Maria Aoun
BEIRUT, Lebanon, Mar 12 2021 (IPS)

The fight for equality around the globe has taken a few steps forward in some countries which provides a glimmer of hope for future generations for increased female participation and representation. However, that particular fight is taking new shapes and forms in multiple corners of the world, where women are still persecuted, silenced, threatened, killed, harassed, and stripped off their basic human rights on a daily basis. The question today is, when will the world become a safer place for women and girls?

While the degree of severity is uneven in countries, Lebanese women and girls struggle each day on multiple fronts. While many Civil Society organizations (CSOs) and United Nations agencies work on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 5) for Gender Equality, facts point towards a reality that will require years to achieve gender parity as per Agenda 2030. In fact, according to the World Economic Forum Gender Gap Index of 2020, Lebanon is ranked 145 out of 153 countries when it comes to gender equality and parity.

Lebanese women’s political participation has increased over the years. This was seen especially during the 2018 parliamentary elections, with 86 registered women candidates, according to a study by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), titled “2018 Lebanese Parliamentary Elections: Gender Key Results”. In contrast to the parliamentary elections of 2009, that saw only 12 women candidates.. In January 2020, and as a result of the 2019 Lebanese revolution, a new cabinet formed by Prime Minister Hassan Diab, included 6 female ministers, a first in Lebanese history.

Victoria El-Khoury Zwein; political activist & Trainer

This unequal political representation is due to gender stereotypes that Lebanese women still have to face on a daily basis. Political activist and trainer, Victoria El-Khoury Zwein, told IPS that women still face gender stereotyping when running for elections. As a woman in politics, Zwein explained that she faced multiple challenges, especially when in 2004, while pregnant, she ran for the municipal elections for the first time in her town of residence.. “According to them [the public], I was a foreign pregnant woman with children and needed to take care of them”, she said, adding “It seemed [to the residents] as if there were no more men to run for elections”.

The political activist went on to run for the 2016 municipal elections after more than a decade and she was met with a more welcoming attitude from the residents of Sin-el-fil where she won with a high number of votes.

Zwein believes that politics should be viewed and practiced differently in Lebanon; subsequently she was pushed to run for the Lebanese parliamentary elections of 2018.

Zwein highlighted to IPS the political violence that women are subjected to in this field. “Women [politicians] are faced with violence in all aspects. They are targeted with comments on social media and receive constant threats of rape and abuse especially when publicly stating controversial political opinions”. Zwein explained that when women discuss political topics, they are met with attacks on their personal lives which could potentially end their careers, while in parallel, men are not met with the same shameful attitude.“Any sexual scandal that befalls men in politics is not given much attention and a male politician could still become prime minister if he wishes to be, but never a woman”, stated Zwein.

Additionally, the activist pointed out that the media play a huge role in reinforcing gender stereotypes because of some inherently sexist and disparaging questions that are asked to women candidates during interviews, such as juggling their professional and personal lives, and whether or not they have their spouse’s approval and support. “Violence against women politicians only ocurrs, because they are women” Zwein emphasized.

Violence against women in Lebanon takes on multiple shapes and forms. In fact, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to an increase in domestic abuse, gender-based violence and femicides in Lebanon and across the globe. The United Nations refers to this phenomenon as the “Shadow Pandemic”. This escalation in cases of domestic violence was visible through an increase in the numbers of calls from 1375 in 2019 to 4127 in 2020 to the domestic violence helpline affiliated to ABAAD; a Lebanese resource center for gender equality. Additionally, the Lebanese internal security forces (ISF)’s domestic violence hotline (1745) registered 1468 calls from 2020 till 2021, in contrast to 747 calls between 2019 and 2020, showing that reports of domestic abuse have almost doubled in the past year. According to the ISF, 61 percent of those abuse reports are made against husbands.

Hayat Mirshad; Gender expert, journalist, and human rights activist*. Credit: UN Women

Multiple women’s rights experts have attributed the rise in gender-based violence to the unprecedented lockdowns and economic crisis Lebanon is currently facing. Gender expert, journalist, and human rights activist, Hayat Mirshad told IPS that: “Not a week goes by in Lebanon without hearing on the news of murder of a woman that was the result of domestic abuse. Ever since the beginning of 2021 until this day, more than 5 femicides occurred, which indicates an alarming aggravation of this phenomenon [gender-based violence]”.

Mirshad explained that the real issue when it comes to gender-based violence is the societal culture and conservative mentality that justifies abuse and violence against women and girls by holding victims accountable for the abuse. The justifications are often related to honour and disobeying their spouse, among others. “It is important to point out that a law [Law n. 293 ratified on 7/5/2014] to protect women and girls from domestic abuse exists in Lebanon and was amended recently [December 2020]. However, the real problem is the execution of this law” stated Mirshad.

The gender expert pointed out that the measures taken by authorities are not as strict as they should be and that there is still a lot of wasted time when it comes to taking real action and separating the victim from the abuser. “We are still witnessing patriarchal practices at courts, from different judges, from the internal security forces (ISF) and many other entities. This also contributes to increase in cases of gender-based violence” added Mirshad.

The activist stressed on the critical importance of the government to execute all aspects of the law that protects women and girls from domestic abuse such as providing victims with financial support which encourages more victims to leave abusive households. There is a need to handle such matters with the appropriate urgency, seriously by imposing stronger sanctions on abusers, accelerating prosecution processes.

According to “Sharika Wa Laken”, an online feminist platform, Lebanon saw 27 murders of women and girls in 2020 and 5 femicides in 2021. The latest victims were Zeina Kanjo a young newlywed who got married 6 months prior to the murder, and both middle-aged women Widad Hassoun and Ahkam Derbas who were brutally murdered in 2021 among many other women and girls who were severely injured at the hands of abusive spouses, relatives, or even strangers.

In June 2020, the Ministry of Social Affairs (MoSA) in partnership with the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) among other donors, launched the initiative, “Qudwa”. This initiative tackles violence against women and children, especially child marriage, child labor and gender-based violence, to be operative from 2020 until 2027 to promote equality and dignity. Additionally, the National Commission for Lebanese Women (NCLW) [an official institution established by the Lebanese presidency of council of ministers], Sexual and Gender-based Violence Taskforce (SGBV TF), alongside the United Nations system in Lebanon launched a campaign for the 16 Days of Activism (November 16 – December 10, 2020) to promote safety and prevent gender-based violence…

The launching of such projects and campaigns in collaboration with Lebanese ministries and official institutions grant hope to women and girls living in harsh conditions nowadays, although tangible changes are yet to be seen when it comes to the number of victims in Lebanon.

The reality of Lebanese women still requires drastic changes that can only be brought forth by improved laws and policies. These changes can only be attained once more women are granted a seat at the decision-making table and are given the opportunity to influence laws that take into consideration women’s struggle for equality, gender parity, and security. Lebanon is looking at potential parliamentary elections in the undetermined near future in hopes to change this unfortunate reality.

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Categories: Africa

Peace & Security in Armed Conflicts Mean Presence of Food & Absence of Gunfire

Fri, 03/12/2021 - 07:02

Tents and makeshift shelters at an IDP camp in Yemen. Years of conflict has left millions at crisis levels of hunger, with some facing starvation due to COVID. “This fight…is far, far, far from over,” said WFP Executive Director David Beasley, briefing the Security Council during a virtual debate on conflict-induced hunger. Credit: UNICEF/Alessio Romenzi

By Gabriela Bucher *
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 12 2021 (IPS)

In 1941, the people of Greece were facing a horrific winter. The Axis powers had plundered local supplies and introduced an extortionate tax on Greek citizens. Allied forces imposed a cruel blockade, cutting off imports. Prices skyrocketed. Hundreds of thousands of civilians perished.

I have been invited to address you today as the Executive Director of Oxfam International, an expression of people power that was first launched to stand with the people of Greece to demand their most basic of rights – the right to food – in the midst of conflict.

I am horrified that we are forced to confront the same basic injustice that gave birth to our founding nearly 80 years ago. Indeed, as we witness blockades cutting off food and fuel to Yemen, millions going hungry in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Afghanistan and Syria, we should all be horrified.

Three years ago, when this Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2417, we heard an unequivocal condemnation of starvation of civilians as a method of warfare. We heard a recognition that peace and security in an armed conflict means the presence of food as much as the absence of gunfire.

But the promise of 2417 being kept?

Many of the countries that were at risk of famine from conflict in 2017 are still at risk. And now, more countries have joined them.

Overall, at least 88 million people are suffering through acute hunger in countries where conflict and insecurity stalks. Women and girls are disproportionally affected, too often eating last and eating least.

People in these areas are not starving; they are being starved. It makes little difference to the hungry whether they are being starved by deliberate action or the callous negligence of conflict parties or the international community. An international community whose most powerful states too often drive starvation with a plentiful supply of weapons.

In conflict-ridden South Sudan FAO has distributed fishing kits to local communities. Credit: FAO

A’eshah Yahya Dahish is from Yemen. When her village was bombed, she was forced to flee. A’eshah had dreamed of becoming a midwife, but in an economy under attack from all sides, it takes all the energy she has just to survive. n Her two-year-old brother Maydan depends on her, but all she can afford to feed him is a few crumbs in water. Maydan is so malnourished that A’eshah believes any exposure to Covid-19 will be fatal.

Tesfay Getachew, a farmer in Tigray regional state in Ethiopia, has faced blackouts, market and bank closures that have devastated millions, but felt he could rely on the food he grew to feed his family. Last November, his village was shelled and his crops were set on fire, leaving his family with nothing.

Housseina is from the Central African Republic. The country has seen a deadly spike in violence over recent months that has led to insecurity on roads, meaning that food isn’t getting to markets. Food prices have skyrocketed by 240% in some areas. Housseina’s home and fields were destroyed in the fighting.

With support from Oxfam, she replanted her crops – only to see them destroyed again in the recent fighting. “My pain was immense,” she said. “I don’t know how to feed my family. We ate almost exclusively the vegetables that I grow.”

Women like Housseina want you to live up to your basic promise to keep their families safe. She and her fellow farmers are more than capable of producing enough to feed their families, but they cannot do so in the face of violence.

Women in conflict face impossible choices – to travel to market and risk crossing checkpoints, or to watch their families go hungry? To harvest their crops and risk being attacked, or to stay and face starvation?

Sometimes they have no choice. Sahar, three, and her sister Hanan, eight, were displaced by the conflict in Yemen, and forced to marry because their parents said they could not feed them.

I am here to amplify their call to the Security Council to make good on its unanimous agreement to break the vicious cycle of conflict and food insecurity. How?

First, the Council should deepen its work on this topic with a clear commitment for action. It should agree on depoliticized criteria facilitating the regular, mandatory reporting on situations where there is a risk of conflict induced famine or food insecurity. It should undertake quarterly reviews of action on the white papers considered under the early warning system.

Second, the Council must take genuine action to support the Secretary-General’s call for a global ceasefire. Urgently. Ensuring humanitarian access. Ensuring the inclusion of women from the beginning of the process. It took 4 months for this Council to support the initial call for a ceasefire. People on the edge of starvation do not have the time to wait another year for action.

Third, the Council should apply the principles they have endorsed in the abstract to the particular situations on its agenda. It should impartially condemn the starvation of civilians as a weapon of war, the targeting of critical food infrastructure, and all restrictions on humanitarian access. It should also take any opportunity to create meaningful accountability for starvation crimes. Today, there is near-global impunity.

Fourth, it should endorse – and its Members should lead – the effort to fulfil the global appeal for $5.5 billion to meet additional needs to avert famine, most especially in light of Covid-19. To be most effective this aid must flow as directly and urgently as possible to local organizations, especially women-led and women’s rights organizations, which are on the front line in addressing hunger.

And fifth, it should endorse a People’s Vaccine for Covid-19 that is free and accessible to all. Ending this pandemic will not end hunger, but we won’t end hunger if we cannot end this pandemic. Rich nations must unlock global supply constraints and help get the vaccine to all who need it.

Our failure to address hunger before the Covid crisis, and the rampant inequality and climate change which has so often triggered conflict, has left us scrambling to avert famine across the globe.

Let us also be clear: Starvation is a symptom of a deeper problem. The growing crisis of starvation is taking place in a world where eight of the biggest food and drink companies paid out over $18 billion to shareholders last year.

Those dividends alone are more than 3 times what we are asking for in aid today to avert catastrophe. There is not a lack of food, there is a lack of equality.

There is an unnerving consistency in what people living through hunger and conflict around the world tell us they want. They want peace. But what does peace mean to them?

Peace is not just the absence of war but the ability to live in dignity and flourish. It means a job. A return home. Stable, affordable food prices. If the Security Council aims to foster peace in their name, it should be no less expansive in its perspective and its actions.

* An address before the USUN-hosted Security Council Open Debate on Conflict & Hunger, on March 11.

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Excerpt:

The author is Executive Director at Oxfam International

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Categories: Africa

Women Will Not Reach Parity at the Pinnacle of Power for Another 130 Years, Predicts UN

Fri, 03/12/2021 - 06:53

María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés was only the fourth woman in the 76-year history of the United Nations to be elected President of the General Assembly, the UN’s main deliberative and policy-making body. She was the Foreign Minister of Ecuador. She is being congratulated by the outgoing President Miroslav Lajčák, (centre) and the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres. September 2018. Credit: UN / Loey Felipe

By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 12 2021 (IPS)

The United Nations says the highest levels of political power remain the furthest from achieving gender parity in an increasingly male-dominated power structure worldwide.

Women serve as Heads of State or Government in only 23 countries (10 women Heads of State and 13 women Heads of Government out of 193 UN member states), while 119 countries have never had a woman leader.

At the current rate, says a new report by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, parity at the pinnacle of power will not be reached for another 130 years. (based on calculations of UN-Women data, as of 1 November 2020).

But this triggers the question: Does this also apply to the United Nations, which has never had a woman as Secretary-General, while only four women have been elected to lead the General Assembly– over a period of 76 years.?

Available research demonstrates that women’s and men’s education, political experience and ages upon entering executive office are similar.

Gendered perceptions that executive offices should be filled by men, and not on the basis of credentials, account for women’s severe underrepresentation at this level., according to the report which will go before the annual sessions of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), March 15-26.
https://undocs.org/E/CN.6/2021/3

The CSW, described as the principal global intergovernmental body, exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women, is a functional Commission of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

Speaking on International Women’s Day March 8, Guterres singled out the progress made on gender parity under his administration.

“Overall, we in the United Nations are on a positive trajectory towards gender parity. Two decades after the General Assembly’s first deadline, we are finally making progress across the entire United Nations system. We achieved the goal of 50-50 gender parity amongst my Senior leadership, two years ahead of my commitment,” he said.

In the Secretariat, the proportion of women in the professional categories and above has increased to over 41 per cent from 37 per cent in 2017 – a steady annual increase. “This shows that our strategy works”.

In the Secretariat’s field operations, the gender balance is 31 percent women and 69 percent men.

Guterres also said: “We are taking steps to identify qualified women candidates to replace many of the 3,000 international staff who are retiring in the next eight years, the majority of whom are men. This includes measures to develop staff and build internal talent pipelines.”

There have been only three previous women General Assembly Presidents or PGAs as they are known. In 1953, India’s Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, pictured at UN Headquarters alongside the then Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld, was elected as the 8th and first woman President. Credit: UN / Albert Fox

Gender equality is a question of power. “We live in a male-dominated world with a male-dominated culture and male-dominated power structures. This has inevitably affected the institutional culture of the United Nations, and of diplomacy as a whole”, he declared.

But does that male-dominated power structure reach out to the office of the UN Secretary-General?

Ian Richards, a former president of the UN staff coordinating committee, told IPS there have been varied reactions from UN staff to the Secretary-General’s gender parity policy, particularly when it comes to downsizing in peacekeeping operations.

“However, this year many staff have been asking us if the Secretary-General plans to apply the gender parity policy to his own position, which up to now has only been filled by men. We don’t know how to answer them on this as it is outside our mandate,” said Richards.

“The Secretary-General may wish to address this question directly,” he added.

Barbara Adams, chair of the board of Global Policy Forum, told IPS: “It’s a relief to see that the Secretary-General is no longer equating gender parity with gender equality. As we know overcoming structural or institutional discrimination of any and all kinds extends to measures beyond individual appointments.”

The recognition of importance and impact of power dynamics is welcome, but “taking” power in the present setup is a bit of a contradiction in terms, she argued.

Perhaps the quote of Simone de Beauvoir would be of interest, said Adams, a former Associate Director of the Quaker United Nations Office in New York (1981–1988).

Considered one of the most pre-eminent French existentialist philosophers and writers, Simone de Beauvoir, once famously remarked: “The point is not for women simply to take power out of men’s hands, since that wouldn’t change anything about the world. It’s a question precisely of destroying that notion of power”.

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Categories: Africa

Only Small Percentage of COVID-19 Recovery Allocated to Green Initiatives

Thu, 03/11/2021 - 18:55

Photovoltaic panels on St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Of the trillions of dollars set aside for COVID-19 recovery, a small percentage has been used in green recovery initiatives according to a United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report. Credit: Kenton X. Chance/IPS

By Samira Sadeque
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 11 2021 (IPS)

Last year, only $368 billion of a $14.6tn budget geared towards COVID-19 recovery measures across the world’s largest 50 countries took into account green recovery initiatives, according to a report launched yesterday, Mar. 10.

“Are we building back better?” by the Global Recovery Observatory, an initiative led by the Oxford University Economic Recovery Project (OUERP), and supported by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) was launched during a panel talk where global leaders who discussed measures taken to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic that are favourable to the climate.

“With growing climate instability, rising inequality, and worsening global poverty (World Bank, 2021), it is crucial that governments build back better through a green and inclusive recovery,” read a part of the report.

UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen addressed the trillions in the budget for post-COVID-19 recovery.

“We are taking extraordinary amounts out of the pockets of the future — because these are borrowed monies — so let’s not do that with the engine of driving further environmental destruction,” she said.

Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which also supported the report, was on the panel and highlighted the crucial importance of including climate action in the budget for development after the pandemic. The role of climate action is “indispensable” in IMF’s work, she said.

“We cannot have microeconomic and financial stability without environmental and social sustainability and these are issues we need to learn fast how to integrate in economic policy,” Georgieva said.

She was echoing one of the key recommendations in the report that called for a higher investment in research and development (R&D) of understanding economic impacts and requirements of green initiatives.

In some cases, some of the impact may not even be seen in the immediate aftermath of the implementation, the report noted.

“The new technologies developed through such programmes will be necessary to meet climate commitments, particularly in hard-to-abate sectors such as heavy transport, industry, and agriculture,” the report claimed.

In the COVID-19 recovery packages, among other green initiatives, the R&D sector was allotted the lowest amount — $28.9 bn. This, the authors claimed, could potentially be because of the long time it takes to see results in these types of investments.

This likely means that “governments that are looking for tangible change on the scale of months may prioritise different policies in the short-term,” the report added.

But Andersen of UNEP said that countries could learn from what others were doing to help shape their own approach.

She said the partnership between the Observatory and UNEP, and their findings would allow countries “to check what neighbours are doing” and “see a menu of options”.

“Brazil is going to have different solutions to Guinea Bissau but it’s about doing elements that can lead us in the right directions,” Andersen said.

Moderator Nozipho Tshabalala said: “This is not about comparing between countries, but about galvanising momentum to look at what others are spending and the impact of that.”

Economist and Nobel Laureate Professor Joseph Stiglitz also spoke at the panel and pointed out various tools that need to be taken into account: how the money is allocated, how the projects are designed to make sure that in the designs there are concerns about inequality and the environment.

“These are not contradictory objectives but complementary objectives,” he said.

Georgieva of IMF brought the focus to factors important for the IMF to take into account as they plan.

“In our function of looking at the health of national economies and the world economy, we must integrate climate change,” she said.

“We take into account bulk opportunities to reduce the risk of climate change in the future — such as, how to bring down emissions, how to integrate that in economic development, and also factoring in the opportunity for green growth,” she added. “How can we create more jobs and better opportunities by investing money the right way?”

She emphasised that it’s crucial for those in the finance industry to be aware of the climate risks to financial stability.

“There are transitional risks if the economy shifts away from carbon intensive industries and the financial system is slow to adapt to that — that could be a massive shock,” she said.

She added that financial institutions should further be aware of the exposure of the industry to the climate crisis.

“We have to integrate climate in our capacity development; central banks and finance ministries ought to be better equipped to factor sustainability in their decision making,” she said.

She also highlighted the importance of data collection.

“We are now working on bringing carbon intensity in quarter economic reports,” she said, adding that it’s crucial information for countries to look at during their growth to ensure it is not happening at the cost of climate sustainability.

Overall, the panelists shared enthusiastic notes and ideas about how to move forward with financial plans for a recovery with a strong focus on climate action.

Stiglitz summarised the issue in a few words: “A stronger recovery and a green recovery are not in conflict — these are complementary policies. It’s not a question about building back, it’s about going forward.”

The post Only Small Percentage of COVID-19 Recovery Allocated to Green Initiatives appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Categories: Africa

Unregistered Marriage and Violence Against Women

Thu, 03/11/2021 - 09:02

By Taslima Aktar
Mar 11 2021 (IPS-Partners)

Bokul (pseudonym) is a 23-year-old married woman from Teknaf, Cox’s Bazar. She shared her troubling story in an interview for a recent study by Brac Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD). She is the fifth wife of her husband and has two daughters: a four-year-old and an eight-month-old. Recently, her husband decided to marry again. He wants to leave Bokul and is not willing to provide her with alimony. His actions are not unusual, as polygamy is a common practice among the local, as well as the Rohingya community in Teknaf. Bokul said that her husband kidnapped their eight-month-old daughter to intimidate her and stop her from claiming her rights as his wife.

Bokul got married seven years ago, but the marriage was not registered. She and her husband went to Cox’s Bazar, where she put her signature on stamp paper from a computer shop. This is known as “Kagoj er Bia” (stamp marriage/ affidavit marriage). There was no witness. This kind of marriage is not legal but socially acceptable. Bokul was unaware at the time that her marriage had to be registered. In the absence of registration, she cannot seek alimony. Unregistered marriages are a common occurrence in the area where she lives, partly because people lack proper knowledge about marriage registration. At the discussion organised by Brac, which included government education officials and local headmasters, unregistered marriages were discussed as a significant socio-legal phenomenon that needs to be addressed to protect the rights of women and children in the host communities of Teknaf and Ukhiya.

Under Bangladesh’s civil law, every marriage must be registered, and the legally married couple must get a marriage certificate, which is the main document to prove the legal status of the marriage. A marriage that is not registered is not legal and therefore, a woman’s marital status is not acknowledged. This creates scope for violence against women, as there are no legal bindings. From the BIGD field work in Cox’s Bazar, researchers found polygamy and underage marriages to be the most common reasons for domestic violence. Without the bindings of marriage registration, men can marry as many times as they want, without bearing any responsibility for their wives and children. Prevalence and social acceptance of unregistered marriages also encourage child marriage.

The discussions at the field level identified illiteracy as one of the key reasons why many people do not bother to register marriages. The value of registration in protecting women and children is not understood by the poor and illiterate individuals of that community. Negligence, which can be deliberate on the part of the bridegroom, is also an issue. The bridegroom and his family have clear incentives for not registering the marriage; the absence of documentary evidence makes it easy to dispute the marriage and avoid responsibilities.

Another issue is the need for birth registration. The government has made it mandatory to produce birth registration and the national identification card for marriage registration. While the system is designed to curb child marriage, if the societal attitude does not change, it may, in effect, increase the vulnerabilities by encouraging unregistered child marriage. As the host community, the local community in Teknaf was in a bind because birth registration was suspended from August 25, 2017, as many Rohingyas were trying to get Bangladeshi citizenship certificates. In some cases, people were taking advantage of this situation and promoting child and unregistered marriages, causing the numbers of both to rise. Birth registration for the Bangladeshi population in Teknaf has since been reopened once a writ petition was filed in the High Court by Nashreen Siddiqua Lina, a Supreme Court lawyer and resident of Cox’s Bazar, after which the High Court issued a rule asking why the failure of the birth registration programme in certain areas in Cox’s Bazar should not be declared illegal.

One of the crucial reasons for registering marriages in Bangladesh is to protect the social and economic status of women. The Bangladesh government, as well as many other NGOs, donors, and international institutions are using a variety of platforms to raise awareness and promote compliance with long-standing national laws and policies relating to marriage and family. But awareness among the local community in Teknaf has been found to be low and incentives for not registering the marriages to be high. While increasing awareness of the need for marriage registration has been an important part of legal rights programmes all over the country, it is still not universal.

Bokul shared that her husband did not give her any financial support for the last couple of years and that when she asked for money to buy food for their children, he physically abused her. This incident traumatised her as she was not able to get any legal or social support because she was unable to prove her marriage was legal.

At one point, Bokul decided that she would take matters into her own hands. She went to the local government representative and community leaders to ask for help. This action led her husband to kidnap their 8-month-old daughter. Bokul went to see the community leaders again. However, the second time around, they told her that since she already had two girls to support, losing one daughter would be beneficial in the future. They expressed that girls are a burden and have no financial use. The local police were unable to help since she had no proof of marriage.

The socially acceptable practice of “Kagoj er bia“, causes women like Bokul and children to suffer. Bokul had to run from door to door, seeking justice. After being rejected repeatedly, she visited the Brac legal aid office. The relevant officer called the local police station, but the legal authorities informed him that this was a complicated situation in the community because of the Rohingya crisis, and since Bokul did not have any legal marriage documents they could not help her immediately. They advised her to go to the court. Bokul broke down, saying that she just wanted her daughter back and that she was worried for her safety. At that point, the legal aid officer called Bokul’s husband and told him that what he had done was illegal. At some point in the conversation, the husband seemed to understand the consequences.

The case of Bokul illustrates that even when all the necessary laws exist, they may not have much effect on the lives of women and children for a variety of reasons. Legal actions are almost always complex and expensive, and the loopholes are abundant, particularly in cases where incentives are strong. Till today, marriage and family issues are dealt predominantly as social, not legal, matters. Thus, building mass awareness and creating grassroots activism and social capital may be more effective against child and unregistered marriages and violence against women and children. The government must recognise that having laws in place is just a first step. To protect women’s rights, it must work with grassroots organisations to gradually change the social and cultural norms and values that make women vulnerable.

Taslima Aktar is Research Associate, BIGD.

This story was originally published by The Daily Star, Bangladesh

The post Unregistered Marriage and Violence Against Women appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Categories: Africa

COVID-19 Education Response: Education Cannot Wait and Partners Reach over 9 Million Vulnerable Children and Youth

Thu, 03/11/2021 - 08:49

One year into the COVID-19 pandemic, emergency education programmes supported by Education Cannot Wait are providing hope and protection to girls and boys in over 30 emergencies and protracted crises world-wide

By PRESS RELEASE
NEW YORK, Mar 11 2021 (IPS-Partners)

As the world marks the one-year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic on 11 March 2021, initial progress reports on Education Cannot Wait’s (ECW) COVID-19 emergency responses to date show that the Fund and its partners have already reached over 9 million vulnerable girls and boys in the midst of the worst education crisis of our lifetime.

Within days of the declaration of the pandemic one year ago, ECW rapidly allocated $23 million in COVID-19 emergency grants to support continuous access to learning opportunities and to protect the health and wellbeing of girls and boys living in emergencies and protracted crises. Shortly after, ECW continued to scale up its response with a second allocation of $22.4 million – specifically focusing on refugee, internally displaced and host community children and youth.

“During COVID-19, our investments have been life-sustaining for children and youth enduring crisis and conflict around the world. Despite the pandemic, our government partners, civil society and UN colleagues have been working hand in hand with communities to deliver remote learning and continued education in safe and protective learning environments,” said Yasmine Sherif, the Director of Education Cannot Wait. “Yet, so many children and youth have been left behind, as financial resources are required to reach them. We risk losing entire generations of young people who are already struggling in emergencies and protracted crisis.”

The Rt. Hon. Gordon Brown, UN Special Envoy for Global Education and the Chair of Education Cannot Wait’s High-Level Steering Group, reinforced the urgent need for more funding to deliver on Sustainable Development Goal 4 through Education Cannot Wait – during and after the pandemic: “I call on all education stakeholders to join Education Cannot Wait’s efforts in mobilizing an additional $400 million to immediately support the continued education of vulnerable children and youth caught in humanitarian crises, stressing the need to move with speed. We cannot afford to lose more time, nor to let millions of refugee and conflict-affected children, their families and teachers lose hope.”

In total, ECW’s COVID-19 emergency grants target 32 million vulnerable children and youth (over 50% of whom are girls) in over 30 countries affected by armed conflict, forced displacement, climate-related disasters and other crises. For these girls and boys, the pandemic has generated a ‘crisis within a crisis’, further entrenching pre-existing vulnerabilities and inequalities. Without access to the protection and hope of an education, they face multiple risks, including child labor, child marriage and early pregnancy, human trafficking, forced recruitment into armed groups, sexual exploitation and gender-based violence.

ECW’s COVID-19 emergency grants to over 80 United Nations agencies and Non-Governmental Organizations working on the ground in 33 crisis-affected countries and contexts support a wide range of interventions ranging from pre-primary (19%), primary (56%) and secondary (25%) education as well as non-formal education. These include:

• A focus on gender: gender-specific actions were integrated at the design stage of the response, supporting rapid gender assessment and targeted approaches for girls. Over half of the children and youth reached to date are girls and 61% of all teachers trained are women.

• A focus on forcibly displaced population: 2.7 million refugee and internally displaced children and youth are specifically targeted through ECW-supported interventions.

• Safe and protective learning environment: activities improve access to water, hygiene and sanitation to protect children and their communities against the risks of COVID-19. Messaging, tailored to local languages and contexts, provides practical advice about how to stay safe, including through handwashing and social distancing.

• Mental health and psychological support: this includes COVID-19-specific guidance and training for parents and teachers to promote the resilience and the psychosocial wellbeing of children and youth. ECW also supports all children and adolescents to receive instruction in social emotional learning.

In addition to its 12-month emergency grants portfolio, ECW also invests in multi-year resilience education programmes that provide longer-term holistic learning opportunities for children and youth caught in protracted crises to achieve quality education outcomes.

More information on ECW’s COVID-19 response is available here.

The post COVID-19 Education Response: Education Cannot Wait and Partners Reach over 9 Million Vulnerable Children and Youth appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

The post COVID-19 Education Response: Education Cannot Wait and Partners Reach over 9 Million Vulnerable Children and Youth appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Categories: Africa

More ‘Can & Must be Done’ to Eradicate Caste-Based Discrimination, Says UN Rights Chief

Thu, 03/11/2021 - 08:16

People walk down a street of shops in Kathmandu, Nepal. Credit: World Bank/Peter Kapuscinski

By Simone Galimberti
KATHMANDU, Nepal, Mar 11 2021 (IPS)

There is hardly a better way to promote human rights in Nepal than celebrating Muskan Khatun for being one of the winners of the prestigious International Women of Courage (IWOC) Award, released on the International Women’s Day by the Government of the United States of America.

As an acid attack survivor, Khatun, despite her young age, turned herself into a courageous advocate. Her work, together with many of her peers, themselves victims, was instrumental, in pressing the Government of Nepal to enact tougher regulations against the perpetrators of acid and burn violence.

With Kathun being rightly celebrated as an icon, will now the government be able to match the same level of commitment shown by her and many others victims of human rights abuses?

It should be the case as Nepal has been recently re-elected to the United Nations Human Rights Council, UNHRC, a prestigious position that the country could leverage to become a global trendsetter in upholding and promoting human rights.

In occasion to the recently held 2nd cycle of the Universal Periodic Review, UPR the only human rights accountability mechanism at global level, the Government has projected a very confident self-image, depicting a fairly positive picture on status of human rights in the country.

While it is unsurprising for a Government to push forward such narrative, the reality is much more complex and less optimistic than depicted.

It is true that at legislative and policy levels, an array of actions have been taken, mostly centered on the introduction of the new National Penal Code of 2017 and the Criminal Procedure (Code) Act of 2017.

Through these changes, previous provisions in matter of persecution of human rights abusers, especially in relation to sexual abuses, have been toughened and brought closer to the international standards.

Yet while it is important to recognize such steps, more should be expected from a member of the Human Rights Council like Nepal, a country that highly upholds democracy and pluralism in its Constitution and is often seen as a success story in terms of post conflict national reconciliation.

The areas where the country needs to step up its commitment, bridging the gap between rhetoric and facts on the grounds, are certainly not lacking. It is not only the perennial issue of transitional justice, since years in a stalemate that reflects the fears and insecurity many top political leaders feel about being held accountable.

“It is a countrywide effort to advance truth and justice that the state must facilitate as a collective process involving communities, political and religious leaders, and citizens” shares Madhav Joshi. In absence of political leadership, the only option to move forward the peace process rests with survivors and victims’ families and other activists.

Removing the existing roadblocks in restorative justice, ensuring culprits are brought to book might help shifting gears in other human rights dimensions that warrant urgent attention.

Nepal, for example, did not ratify yet the Convention against Torture nor took any action in relation to its Optional Protocol, a consequence of the existing situation in dealing with its conflict. The new Criminal Code, approved in 2017, extended prison terms to a maximum of five years but as explained by Amnesty International in its recommendations to the UPI, this is not enough.

“Punishments are not proportionate to the gravity of a crime under international law. A separate anti-torture bill, pending in Parliament since 2014, fell short of international legal requirements”.

In addition, the new provisions are comparatively weak especially in relation to a six-month limitation period to file complaints as “under international law, acts of torture must not be subject to a statute of limitations” as explained by a consortium of leading international and national human rights organizations.

As consequences, tortures are still too common in detention, reports Advocacy Forum-Nepal, a leading human rights organization. Those paying the highest price are members of minority groups like Dalits that end up being disproportionally targeted despite an amendment to the Caste Based Discrimination and Untouchability (Offence and Punishment) (CBDU) Act that increased the minimum sentencing to three months.

The situation clearly reflects stigmas and perceptions that are so rooted and common against members of other minorities, including persons with disabilities, LGBTQ community that face discrimination on daily basis.

We can notice a trend: improvements in the law that, despite their deficiencies, should have an important impact on the ground, are not able yet to bring tangible results in the reduction of human rights abuses.

Exemplary is the case of sexual abuses and gender violence: there have been positive legislative developments in the areas of rape and sexual abuses but the statute of limitations, extended to one year, is still “too short and fosters impunity for the crime of rape” as explained Human Rights Watch in its submission for the recently concluded UPR cycle.

At community level, there are still too often accidents including rapes and grave abuses that often remain unresolved like in the case of the murder of Nirmala Pant. The gap between action at legislative and policy spheres and lack of progress on the ground can be explained by the levels of implementation of the previous recommendations provided to Nepal in the previous UPR cycle in 2015.

“The majority of those concerning enforced disappearance, extra-judicial killings, impunity and transitional justice, remain unimplemented” is explained by TRIAL International, Human Rights and Justice Center and the THRD Alliance.

This is certainly a record that should not belong to a country who is for a second consecutive term in the UNHRC. The fact that the National Human Rights Commission has been crippled by a serious lack of cooperation from the Government in fulfilling the vast majority of its recommendations is worrisome and dangerous.

It is evident that enforcement is the real issue and the partial steps in the right direction should not overlook a culture of impunity that remains hard to be eradicated where abuses continues, many going unpunished.

Amrit Bahadur Rai, Nepal’s permanent representative to the United Nations as reported by the Kathmandu Post shared that the re-election of Nepal to the Human Rights Council “is also a recognition of Nepal’s efforts in protection and promotion of human rights both at home and across the globe, including through our peacekeepers,” If Nepal wants really become a torchbearer of human rights in its own country and around the world, then it must do more. Victims turned into human rights defenders like Muskan Khatun are surely going to remind the government of is responsibilities.

As for the case of more stringent regulations to punish the perpetrators of acid and burn violence, where the citizens were the ones who played an indispensable role in propping up the Government, holding it accountable, human rights defenders and members of the civil society are the ones that must remain engaged and vigilant.

They must be helped and supported.

The international community should step up their approach to human rights, helping keeping the government of Nepal accountable to its obligations, supporting it towards becoming a beacon for human rights standards.

*Simone Galimberti writes on volunteerism, social inclusion, youth development and regional integration as an engine to improve people’s lives.

The post More ‘Can & Must be Done’ to Eradicate Caste-Based Discrimination, Says UN Rights Chief appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

The Author, is the Co-Founder of ENGAGE, a not for profit in Nepal*.

Shocked over the killing of five men in Nepal, who had planned to escort home one of their girlfriends from a higher caste, the UN human rights chief stressed that ending caste-based discrimination is “fundamental” to the overall sustainable development vision of leaving no one behind. May 2020

The post More ‘Can & Must be Done’ to Eradicate Caste-Based Discrimination, Says UN Rights Chief appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Categories: Africa

Extent of Violence Against Women During Pandemic Exposed

Thu, 03/11/2021 - 07:54

Parliamentarians from Africa and Asia met to discuss how to improve the conditions of women, girls, and youth during pandemics. Credit: APDA

By Cecilia Russell
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, Mar 11 2021 (IPS)

COVID-19 restrictions exposed women and girls to heightened abuse – revealing the conditions in which gender-based violence became the shadow pandemic on the continent, a recent webinar attended by parliamentarians from Africa and Asia heard.

Gift Malunga, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) country representative for Zambia, told delegates that during the lockdown in Zambia, 90% of calls to traditional hotlines between March and May 2020 were related to intimate partner violence.

Malunga was talking at the webinar facilitated by the Asian Population and Development Association (APDA) and supported by UNFPA-JTF. This was the second event to enable inter-continental sharing of information on implementing ICPD25 commitments during the COVID-19 pandemic. The webinar’s theme emphasised gender-based violence (GBV) during lockdowns.

Asahiko Mihara, a member of parliament and Deputy President of Japan-AU Parliamentarians Friendship League, opened the forum by noting that women, as frontline workers, played a crucial role in managing the pandemic. However, the reallocation of resources, including SRH services, could be detrimental to global and national efforts to improve women’s health, he said.

Malunga said while even before the pandemic sexual and gender-based violence was high, with one in three women on the continent having experienced physical or sexual intimate partner violence, the pandemic exacerbated this. Services for sexual reproductive health were disrupted, and as a result, the UNFPA expected long-term consequences, including, according to a study, 7 million unintended pregnancies every six months.

The study also estimated that an additional 18 million child marriage cases could occur due to disruptions of programs to prevent female genital mutilation and child marriage. Transactional sex increased as poverty increased.

When girls dropped out of school, “they become more vulnerable to sexual and gender-based violence, even to teenage pregnancy, to sexually transmitted diseases including HIV and child marriage,” Malunga said.

“This perpetuates the cycle of poverty. COVID-19 affected women who worked in the informal sector as they had been pushed out of work. When more vulnerable to poverty, they also experienced more GBV in their homes.”

The eastern Southern Africa region recorded spikes in GBV, child marriage, and teenage pregnancies across all countries. In addition, child marriage was on the rise. Malawi recorded an 11% increase in teenage pregnancies and an additional 13 000 cases of child marriage from January to August 2020, compared to 2019.

In Zambia, during partial lockdowns, there was increased exposure to GBV, and a study conducted in December 2020 showed that 30% of young people between the ages of 15 and 24 experienced domestic violence.

There was also an increase in transactional sex, Malunga quoted a respondent:

“Child marriage is on the increase because parents have become poorer and can’t afford to provide adequately for their children. Lack of income and prolonged closure of schools are the major causes of the increase in child marriage. This is more common in large families where hunger is more pronounced.”

She called on parliamentarians to advocate for an enabling environment for women and girls. She said while many countries had great policies and strategies, problems arose with implementation.

Sam Ntelamo, Head of the Sub Office International Planned Parenthood Federation (AR) Sub-Office to the African Union & UNECA, called on the delegates to support the AU’s recently launched gender equality and women empowerment strategy.

He said that because of circumstances, even civil society found itself hampered because of restrictions imposed during the pandemic – this included not being able to reach those in need because of a loss of funding.

Ntelamo said CSOs implored governments to address women and girls’ needs, especially in rural and remote areas. These areas needed time-sensitive services such as voluntary termination of pregnancies. Governments should guarantee access to assistance and protection of women survivors of sexual violence, trafficking, and other exploitation.

Justine Coulson, Deputy Regional Director, UNFPA East and Southern Africa Regional Office, reiterated the call asking parliamentarians to consider what was needed to halt the trends.

She said it was also critical to look at the impact on the youth, which ranged from school and university closures, loss of employment, heightened food insecurity, and accessing health services. South Africa, Namibia and Botswana were already among some of the world’s most unequal countries despite being middle-income countries, and this inequality had increased during COVID-19.

The webinar attended by about 50 parliamentarians from Botswana, Cameroon, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Japan, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Tanzania, Tchad, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Also present were delegates UN affiliates, the Southern African Development Community, and the AU.

The post Extent of Violence Against Women During Pandemic Exposed appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Categories: Africa

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