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Q&A: How to #BeActive during COVID-19 Lockdown

Mon, 04/13/2020 - 14:28

Maher Nasser, Director of Outreach Division at the United Nations Department of Global Communications, says that its important for people to remain active during the coronavirus lockdown, not only physically, but mentally also. Courtesy: Maher Nasser

By Samira Sadeque
UNITED NATIONS, Apr 13 2020 (IPS)

Growing up in Ramallah in Palestine, Maher Nasser, Director of Outreach Division at the United Nations Department of Global Communications, never really liked running. “I only ran when I needed to: to catch a bus or to run from soldiers,” he tells IPS. But now with three marathons under his belt — which raised thousands for scholarships for Palestinian women’s education — Nasser is still running, albeit on his balcony.

He hasn’t left the house in over two weeks since the coronavirus lockdown. “That’s why I ran on the balcony and went around maybe a thousand times,” he says, explaining that he’s run about 5km. And he’s seen colleagues skipping rope and jumping to keep fit.

Growing up under curfews in Palestine, Nasser knows the toll that staying home can take on ones body and mind.

Apr. 6 marked the United Nations International Day of Sport for Development and Peace. But this year, it was observed under a significantly different reality as most people are locked in their own homes, either self-isolating or under quarantine, because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The World Health Organization, U.N. and FIFA came together for the #BeActive campaign urging people to share stories about how they’re staying active within the confines of their home.

WHO recommends for an adult to be engaging in 30-minute physical activities daily, and has suggested a variety of activities people can build into their schedule.

This year, the day was scheduled to have people from the sports field coming to the U.N. to speak about their own experience.

But since the coronavirus outbreak, the U.N. created the #BeActive and #HealthyAtHome campaign.

IPS caught up with Nasser on what sports and being active means at a time we’re locked in our homes.

Inter Press Service (IPS): What is the mission of the #BeActive and #StayAtHome activity?

Maher Nasser (MN): Every year, we choose a different focus. This year, we were looking at 75 years of multilaterals in the U.N. and how we can talk about conversations in the future. How can sports play a role in getting us to a future where the people expect not only the 2030 agenda being implemented but also what else by the age of 2040 and 2050? But everything needs to be put in the context of today’s reality and that’s where #BeActive came from.

#BeActive is not just about the international day of sports. This is something that we want to make clear: the need to be active needs to be done on a regular basis. People are sitting at home, many people are working from home, other people have been laid off. When you’re confronting a pandemic, we don’t know whether that’s going to be a few weeks, or few more months — and we pay a price for not being active. And [we mean], not only active physically but also active mentally to enable people to go through this with the least amount of long term damage to their health.

IPS: How can sports play a role in times of a crisis situation as we are in now?

MN: The whole notion of the international day of sports was looking back on moments of crisis. In the early days when the olympics used to take place in Greece, warring used to stop [during that time]. We know that competition is something that is inherent in human nature and competition in sports is a peaceful competition. You can compete, you can support different clubs, teams and at the end of the day you do it peacefully. And sports have led to massive improvements in people’s lives, investments, big games have given the economy a boost.

So, sports is not only encouraging peaceful competition but also leads to development of technology in things that we use eventually in everyday lives.

In situations where there’s a lot of energy among young people, sports can be a positive space for them to use that energy to build on to improve their lives.

IPS: As a marathoner, what does lockdown mean for you in terms of having lost access to sports and outdoor activities?

MN: I took up running only six years ago…Running a marathon is something I always thought about doing but couldn’t get around to doing it. I was introduced to the concept of fundraising through social media, and without that I probably would’ve never probably become a marathoner.
In 2014, I ran a race and raised $6,000 and sent them to refugees in Gaza.

In 2015, I qualified for running the marathon, put it on Facebook to raise funds for scholarships for women in Gaza and the West Bank because I know women have fewer opportunities to go to university unless their university [fees] are covered.

After the first contribution came in, then you’re morally committed. You can’t not do it. I can’t tell you how many times I regretted doing it — with the training having to run five times a week but eventually I raised $26,000 and that was enough for three scholarships.

I finished and I told my wife whatever happens again, never let me run. Afterwards, I received letters from the young women who got the scholarships and I signed up again. I ran in 2016 and 2017 and raised funds for four more scholarships.

IPS: For a lot of people, their mental health is tied to their physical activity, which has been affected. Do you have any advice for them?

MN: So I grew up with curfews. We had weeks-long curfews stuck at home. In those days, sometimes we would break the curfew to go out and visit a friend, or just out of defiance. But now getting out isn’t about yourself, it’s also about the people with you and whether you want to risk bringing the virus to your loved ones. And I think the advice that we have is to stay at home and to avoid any unnecessary interaction with people outside your household so staying home is necessary until we manage to contain this virus.

Staying home can have a toll on your body and a bigger toll on your mind so I think it’s important for people to create a programme for themselves and [not] just let the day drag on.

IPS: Many are comparing this lockdown to how communities live under occupation live. As someone who grew up in Ramallah, how do you feel about that? Is it a fair comparison?

MN: I don’t think it’s an issue of comparing situations. What is clear now is that the crisis has created a situation where the entire world has been shown that no matter where you live, no matter how rich you are, no matter how powerful your position is, you can get the virus and end up in the ICU. And that the most vulnerable are the ones that are probably still paying the highest price. Viruses know no borders and as such we’re as strong as the weakest link in the health system in the world. So, we can get rid of the virus in Europe and the United States but if the virus continues somewhere else it could mutate and it could come back.

What is important is that people can now maybe empathise more with people who have to live through curfews or with hardship but nobody needs to live like this. And what we need to do now is ensure we build better health systems, we’re better prepared and the U.N. has an agenda for this. We can’t go back to business as usual: when we go back, recovery needs to be a recovery to build better.

The post Q&A: How to #BeActive during COVID-19 Lockdown appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Categories: Africa

Debunking 9 Popular Myths Doing the Rounds in Africa About the Coronavirus

Mon, 04/13/2020 - 11:05

By External Source
Apr 13 2020 (IPS)

In the second week of March the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic. By mid-March the disease had spread rapidly in many countries around the world.

Governments are taking drastic steps, including the complete lockdown of cities, as well as extensive health interventions to try and stem the disease which is caused by a new coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2.

There is still a great deal that’s not known about SARS-CoV-2. This limited scientific information has contributed to a slew of myths and misconceptions. Some claims being made are harmless. Others can be potentially dangerous.

We have identified nine misconceptions doing the rounds on social media in Africa and set out to counter them. The purpose of debunking these myths is to provide people with trusted information. And to provide people with valid scientifically backed answers which they can share on social media to counter the misinformation and disinformation out there.

Myth 1: SARS-CoV-2 does not affect Africans

Across the continent rumours have been rife that the virus does not affect black people. This was fuelled partly by the fact that a Cameroonian student in China, who was among the first people to contract the disease, responded well to treatment.

But there is no proof that melanin protects black people from the coronavirus. There is also no scientific evidence that African blood composition prevents Africans from contracting the coronavirus.

This misinformation persisted even after the deaths of high-profile black Africans, such as legendary Cameroonian musician Manu Dibango, and Zimbabwean media personality Zororo Makamba.

This myth is not limited to Africa. Twitter has recently been abuzz with claims of African-Americans being immune to coronavirus.

Myth 2: SARS-CoV-2 cannot survive in Africa’s warm climate

This myth arose after research, which hadn’t been peer reviewed, pointed to temperature having a role in the survival of the virus. One of the most widely quoted sources was John Nicholls, a pathology professor at Hong Kong university who said that “in cold environments, there is longer virus survival than warm ones”.

This claim, however, was not based on verified research. It was nevertheless seized on as proof that the virus cannot thrive in Africa’s warm climate.

According to the WHO, the virus can be transmitted to all areas, event hot and humid countries.

The only continent that has no cases of COVID-19 is Antarctica. This could change.

Myth 3: Spray alcohol and chlorine all over your body

Using hand sanitisers that contain 60% or more of alcohol has been found to kill the coronavirus. But, there has been a myth that spraying alcohol and chlorine will kill the virus.

Alcohol and chlorine will not kill the virus if it has entered the body already.

Spraying alcohol all over your body can be harmful, particularly to your eyes and mouth. Importantly, the alcohol in the sanitiser is not the same as the alcohol that people drink. The latter ranges up to 40% while hand sanitisers need to be 60% and above.

Myth 4: Drink black tea first thing in the morning

The media in Kenya have been reporting on false claims that drinking black tea first thing in the morning is effective against the COVID-19 disease.

This is untrue. There is no evidence to suggest that tea can protect a person from the virus. These claims can result in a sense of false security and can be dangerous.

Coronavirus can be prevented by maintaining a safe social distance and washing your hands with soap and water for 20 seconds.

Myth 5: Pepper soup with lime or lemon flushes out the virus

The pepper soup myth has been circulating mostly in Nigeria.

Pepper has anti-oxidant, detoxification and antimicrobial properties. But, there is no evidence that it prevents or kills SARS-CoV-2. It is also a rich source of vitamin C, which helps maintain a good immune system.

Likewise, lemon and lime also contain high amounts of vitamin C. But there is no evidence to support the claim that they flush the virus out of an infected person’s system.

Myth 6: Steam your face with and inhale neem tree leaves

There have been claims, mostly in Ghana, that steam therapy with neem can prevent COVID-19. What we know is that according to ayurvedic medicine experts, neem can assist in strengthening the immune system and prevent viral infections.

Neem is known to exhibit immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory, antihyperglycaemic, anti-oxidant and anticarcinogenic properties. But, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has emphasised that there is no clinical evidence to suggest that steaming and inhaling with neem will prevent coronavirus.

Myth 7: Vitamin C tablets prevent COVID-19

Vitamin C is a known anti-oxidant. It prevents damage to tissue in the body by neutralising free radicals, which are charged particles that cause damage to cells and tissues and result in inflammation. Vitamin C is also known to protect against pathogens.

But there is no proof that vitamin C can prevent one from contracting COVID-19 though there are trials being undertaken on the use of vitamin C among COVID-19 patient. None has provided conclusive proof.

Myth 8: Having had malaria makes one immune

There have been several social media posts that suggest that malarial endemic countries have a decreased risk of acquiring new coronavirus cases.

There is no evidence to support this.

Malaria – which is caused by a parasite and is transmitted from the bite of an infected Anopheles mosquito to humans – used to be treated with the drugs chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine. These have been used, respectively, as an anti-malarial and as an auto-immune disease drug for inflammation.

The over-hyping of chloroquine has led to worldwide shortages and resulted in people self-medicating. Experts have warned that high doses of the drug are toxic.

Myth 9: The flu injection will protect you

The fact that health practitioners encourage people to vaccinate themselves against the flu, might have led to the mistaken view that the flu shot protects against the new coronavirus.

No, it does not. The flu vaccine is only effective against the influenza virus – and even then against only some flu viruses.

Humans have been known to be affected by six coronaviruses, four causing the common cold. The other two were the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in 2002 and 2012, respectively.

Now there is a seventh coronavirus, the SARS-CoV-2.

There is no scientific evidence that a flu shot can protect people against coronaviruses.

Neelaveni Padayachee, Lecturer, Department of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, University of the Witwatersrand and Lisa Claire du Toit, Associate Professor, University of the Witwatersrand

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

The post Debunking 9 Popular Myths Doing the Rounds in Africa About the Coronavirus appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Categories: Africa

Time to Raise the Ambition for Climate Action

Mon, 04/13/2020 - 09:29

By Peter Paul van de Wijs
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, Apr 13 2020 (IPS)

In recent days we have seen the understandable decision reached to postpone the UN climate change conference – COP26 – which was due to take place this November. As the world reels from the widespread impacts of the coronavirus crisis, it is the right call.

COVID-19 is a pressing global issue that is starting to strain health systems, cut down economic output and undermine efforts to address poverty and inequality. These are challenges that, in the coming months, will need concerted and collaborative effort between and within nations to overcome.

But what does this mean for one of the most enduring and universal challenges we face – that of climate change? The delay of COP26 until 2021 does not mean that efforts by countries to meet their climate change commitments have to be on hold. Far from it.

Fulfilling Paris Agreement promises

As with coronavirus, climate change is a significant cause of reduced outcomes for health and wealth around the world. We know that the consequences of climate change continue to escalate, disproportionately impacting communities that have contributed the least to the problem of carbon emissions, with devasting effects on the environment and global biodiversity.

So, while the COP26 global gathering of opinion formers and climate change experts won’t take place this autumn in Scotland, there can be no delay or dialling back of ambition when it comes to climate action. Indeed, if countries are to fulfill the promises made in the Paris Agreement we need levels of ambition to grow.

A green transition in the COVID-19 recovery?

Even as countries strive to contain and mitigate the COVID-19 crisis, we cannot lose sight of this. That’s why climate action needs to be kept in the mainstream of political discussions – and even consider how the recovery phase of the pandemic, when it comes, can be implemented in a way that supports a green transition.

Peter Paul van de Wijs

The European Commission has been forthright already, with Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans stating on 1 April that, when it comes to addressing climate change, “we will not slow down our work domestically or internationally”. That position is welcome – and one we need the world’s other major economies to echo.

Business input to the solution

Efforts by governments to tackle climate change need to include greater engagement of the private sector. Businesses have a huge role in helping reduce carbon emissions and contributing towards solutions. That’s why sustainable business practices need to be front and center of corporate efforts to realign the way they operate, both now and in the aftermath of the pandemic.

Indeed, contributing to climate change mitigation makes sense to companies from both environmental and economic standpoints. So-called sustainable investing has been on the rise for some time – and the current crisis is demonstrating why ESG (environmental, social and governance) factors are increasingly important to major investors.

Business resilience, continuity planning, community engagement and employee rights – these are all ESG risks to be managed. Responsible companies, that are transparent about their practices and take obligations to people and the planet seriously, stand to benefit.

Understanding impacts can drive improvement

GRI is the independent and multi-stakeholder organization that provides the most widely used sustainability reporting framework, the GRI Standards. And during this testing period, we are continuing to help companies to disclose their impacts and support governments to collaborate with the private sector in fulfilling national climate change commitments.

This includes engaging business in the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), which articulate the efforts by individual countries to cut emissions and adapt to climate change.

The NDCs are central to the implementation of the Paris Agreement, with all new or updated NDCs requiring to be submitted this year. While acknowledging the huge challenges many governments face as a result of coronavirus, we cannot let this timetable slip.

In a very short space of time, the impact of COVID-19 has sent shockwaves around the world. When it comes to climate change, the risks are longer-term, more diffused and harder to quantify.

Yet they remain real and more volatile than ever. Future generations will look back on 2020 as a year when the global community either stepped up or fell short. Let’s ensure this year of crisis brings out the best in us and we do not let them down.

The post Time to Raise the Ambition for Climate Action appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Peter Paul van de Wijs is Chief External Affairs Officer, Global Reporting Initiative

The post Time to Raise the Ambition for Climate Action appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Categories: Africa

Bioenergy, the Ugly Duckling of Mexico’s Energy Transition

Fri, 04/10/2020 - 22:54

Two women fill sacks of charcoal made in mud igloos in the small town of San Juan Evangelista Analco in the mountains of the state of Oaxaca in southwestern Mexico. A group of women from this Zapotec indigenous village created a charcoal company in 2017, to take advantage of the wood that the community logs sustainably. CREDIT: Emilio Godoy/IPS

By Emilio Godoy
OAXACA, Mexico, Apr 10 2020 (IPS)

Rosa Manzano carefully arranges pieces of wood in a big mud igloo that, seven days after it is full, will produce charcoal of high caloric content.

“Our forest also produces oak, which in the past was only sold as firewood and had little value. But with forest management and the work of women who have organised, we began this project,” Manzano told IPS, as she stacked the pieces of wood neatly and without leaving empty spaces inside the large igloo-shaped ovens.

Manzano belongs to the “Ka Niulas Yanni” – “active women” in the Zapotec language – Group of Women Charcoal Producers. The organisation was founded in 2017 by 10 women and two men in San Juan Evangelista Analco, a Zapotec indigenous municipality of fewer than 500 people, located in the northern highlands of the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca.

With financing from the government’s National Forestry Commission, the women built seven eight-cubic-meter igloo-shaped ovens and set up a warehouse for their community logging project. Under a 10-year plan that began in 2013, the community can extract 1,500 cubic meters of oak wood annually to make furniture and sell wood.

The charcoal makers light the ovens through a hole called a “rozadera”, and through a similar hole they check the progress of the fire and then block up the entrance with mud bricks. As the fire descends through the structure, smoke spews from the igloo’s “ears”.

“We work hard, because there is a market for charcoal, but being pioneers involves an effort,” says Manzano, a married mother of one, whose workday starts very early and ends mid-afternoon. She also works in the restaurant at a community-owned ecotourism site.

The women fire up the ovens twice a month, to produce 23-kg bags of black charcoal, which they sell for about five dollars a sack.

Wasted bioenergy

Despite these local initiatives, Mexico is wasting the potential of bioenergy, especially solid biofuels, including all forms of energy from different kinds of biomass.

This alternative source represents 10 percent of final energy consumption, with 23 million users of bioenergy for cooking (especially in rural areas), 10 million for heating (mainly in urban areas), 100,000 small factories and 100 medium and large ones, according to the Thematic Network on Bioenergy (RTB), an association of bioenergy researchers and entrepreneurs.

In Mexico, Latin America’s second-largest economy, almost 19 million tons of dry waste are produced and consumed annually in the residential sector for cooking, heating and water heating.

The installed capacity totals about 400 megawatts, based on raw materials such as firewood for domestic and industrial use, bagasse, charcoal and biogas.

Industrial uses of biomass are gaining ground in Mexico, such as the sawmill of the Sezaric Industrial Group, owned by the General Emiliano Zapata Union of Ejidos and Forest Communities, located in the municipality of Santiago Papasquiaro, in the state of Durango in northern Mexico. At the facility, forest waste fires the boiler that dries the wood and generates electricity. CREDIT: Emilio Godoy/IPS

The country also generates some 70 million tons of organic waste per year, which can be used in this area.

In terms of electricity generation, the sector’s contribution is modest – 894 gigawatt-hours (Gwh) – compared to other alternative sources of energy. In the first quarter of 2019, gross generation totaled 80,225 Gwh, up from 78,167 in the same period last year. Gas-fired combined cycle plants produced 40,094, conventional thermal power plants 9,306 and coal-fired plants 6,265.

Hydroelectric plants accounted for 5,137 Gwh, wind farms 4,285, nuclear plants 2,382 and solar stations 1,037.

One technology that is expanding is the biodigester, for the treatment of manure and agricultural waste to obtain biogas and electricity. Some 900 of these operate in rural areas. Of this total, around 300 generate electricity, according to the state-run Shared Risk Trust.

In this country of 130 million people, around 19 million use solid fuels for cooking, according to the National Institute of Statistics and Geography. The main material consumed by 79 percent of these households is LPG, followed by firewood or coal (11 percent) and natural gas (seven percent).

In the southwestern state of Oaxaca, gas and firewood each represent 49 percent of household consumption.

“It is a renewable energy that is largely untapped in the areas of agriculture, urban waste and industry,” said Abel Reyes, president of the non-governmental Mexican Association of Biomass and Biogas.

The expert stressed to IPS that if the country were to develop the sector’s value chain, it would be equivalent to five or six points of GDP, with energy, economic, labour, health and climate benefits.

While bioethanol and biodiesel have boomed over the past decade, their growth now seems to be slowing down due to high costs compared to alternative sources and to competition with food crops.

Teresa Arias, president of the non-governmental organisation Nature and Development, noted that the industrial sector is interested in using waste to fire boilers, while households, hospitals, restaurants and hotels can use pellets of agglomerated sawdust.

“The most viable variables are determined by the market. It has a lot to do with competitiveness against fossil fuels. Solid biomass does not compete with natural gas, and in hotel heating it could compete with liquefied petroleum gas,” she told IPS.

The environmentalist said that “there is enough biomass for electricity, its costs just have to be lower or equal to those of the fuel they currently use. But it couldn’t compete with solar, although mixed systems could be installed.”

Forest and jungle management, agro-industrial residues, forest plantations, sugar cane and agricultural waste offer the greatest biomass potential. Replacing fossil fuels with bioenergy and solid biofuels would mean savings of some 6.7 billion dollars a year, in addition to social and environmental benefits, according to the RTB.

Although Mexico has adopted ambitious goals for bioenergy, the pro-fossil fuel policies of leftist President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, in office since December 2018, have clouded the picture, according to analysts.

The 2017 “Biogas Technology Roadmap” predicts production of between 32 million and 120 million cubic meters of biomethane per year from animal waste by 2024, and 57 million to 100 million by 2030, in the face of barriers such as low production attractiveness and lack of project financing.

With respect to solid biofuels in 2030, the map projects 160 petajoules of energy, 130 of which would correspond to households, 20 to the commercial sector and 10 to government institutions. The joule is the energy measurement unit that is equivalent to one watt per second and estimates the amount of heat required to carry out an activity. Each petajoule represents one quadrillion joules.

Arias, the environmentalist, who is preparing diagnoses of biomass in the north of the country, said the outlook is discouraging, because “there is no defined and determined policy for pushing alternative energies.

“They’re taking a position that looks to the past instead of the future; they’re taking steps backwards after many efforts to have a diverse energy mix that would make us less vulnerable, and to transition to climate benefits,” she said.

In this context, she proposed incentives for their use in households and businesses; adapting commercial technologies to the conditions in Mexico; increasing the efficiency of supply chains; disseminating the benefits of bioenergy; implementing favourable policies for this sources; and designing programmes for rural areas.

For his part, Reyes, from the Biomass Association, called for the design of regional and local policies, aimed at boosting the use of bioenergy with adequate financial support.

Meanwhile, the charcoal makers of San Juan Evangelista know what they want: to take care of the forest, foment self-employment and consolidate their organisation and thus their community.

“We are trying to earn an income, but we are working precisely because we know it has a future. We’ve tried to organise ourselves as women, because in the social sphere it’s difficult to get out,” Manzano said during the day that IPS accompanied their activities in this town, 48 km from Oaxaca, the state capital, and 540 km from Mexico City.

Along with other Oaxacan community-owned companies, the group offers its products on new digital platforms.

Some say the government does not support initiatives like those of her group, but Manzano and her colleagues are confident that wood and charcoal will continue to be available in Mexican kitchens thanks to sustainable efforts like theirs.

The post Bioenergy, the Ugly Duckling of Mexico’s Energy Transition appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Categories: Africa

Unesco to Support Cultural Sector Hit by COVID-19

Fri, 04/10/2020 - 20:28

By SWAN
Apr 10 2020 (IPS-Partners)

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has announced it is “launching initiatives” to support cultural industries and cultural heritage, sectors hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“COVID-19 has put many intangible cultural heritage practices, including rituals and ceremonies, on hold, impacting communities everywhere,” the organization stated April 9. “It has also cost many jobs, and across the globe, artists … are now unable to make ends meet.”

UNESCO’s Director-General Audrey Azoulay. Credit: UNESCO/Calix

Governments ordered the lockdown of museums, theatres, cinemas and other cultural institutions (along with schools) as infections from the new coronavirus spread around the world in March and April – resulting in 95,000 deaths as of April 9. (The victims have included cultural icons such as playwright Terrence McNally and musicians Manu Dibango, Ellis Marsalis Jr, and John Prine.)

Many arts businesses will find it economically difficult to recover, officials have acknowledged. Bookshops too have had to close their doors, while publishers have largely postponed the publication of books. Numerous international visual-art, literary and music events have been cancelled as well, including the UNESCO-sponsored International Jazz Day main concerts, which were scheduled to take place in South Africa April 30.

The UN had already launched measures to assist the estimated 1.5 billion students affected by school closures, but this is the first time its cultural agency has directly addressed the impact on the arts.

“UNESCO is committed to leading a global discussion on how best to support artists and cultural institutions during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond, and ensuring everyone can stay in touch with the heritage and culture that connects them to their humanity,” stated UNESO’s Director General Audrey Azoulay on Thursday.

The agency (whose headquarters in Paris remain closed, in line with French lockdown rules) will convene a virtual meeting of the world’s culture ministers on April 22, to discuss the impact of COVID-19 in their countries and to “identify remedial policy measures appropriate to their various national contexts”.

UNESCO’s Paris headquarters are closed during France’s lockdown. Credit: SWAN

This follows an emergency online meeting of education ministers hosted on March 10, and a meeting of science ministries’ representatives on March 30. Earlier this month, the organization introduced a “CodeTheCurve” Hackathon to “support young innovators, data scientists and designers across the world to develop digital solutions to counter the COVID-19 pandemic”. The Hackathon will run until April 30, in partnership with IBM and SAP, UNESCO said.

For culture, the organization said it was launching an international social media campaign, #ShareOurHeritage and initiating an online exhibition of “dozens of heritage properties across the globe”, with technical support from Google Arts & Culture.

It will give information via its website and social media on the impact of COVID-19 on World Heritage sites, which are partly or fully closed to visitors in most countries because of the pandemic.

Children around the world will be invited to share drawings of World Heritage properties, giving them the chance to “express their creativity and their connection to heritage”, UNESCO added.

On World Art Day, 15 April 2020, the organization will partner with musician and Goodwill Ambassador Jean Michel Jarre to host an online debate and social media campaign, the “ResiliArt Debate”. This will bring together “artists and key industry actors to sound the alarm on the impact of COVID-19 on the livelihoods of artists and cultural professionals”, UNESCO said.

The Eiffel Tower is one of many World Heritage sites closed to the public during the pandemic. Credit: SWAN

It remains to be seen how these initiatives will help the cultural and creative sectors, which provide some 30 million jobs worldwide. Many artists have reported dire circumstances, but many are also using their creativity to deal with the situation.

Since the health crisis started, artists have been providing online concerts, sharing artwork digitally and taking other steps to reach out to audiences, as “billions of people around the world turn to culture for comfort and to overcome social isolation”, to use UNESCO’s words.

“Now, more than ever, people need culture,” said Ernesto Ottone Ramirez, assistant UNESCO director-general for the sector.

“Culture makes us resilient. It gives us hope. It reminds us that we are not alone,” he added.

For an earlier article on the impact of COVID-19 on cultural and creative industries, please see: http://www.ipsnews.net/2020/03/arts-culture-trying-keep-lights-amid-covid-19/

Follow SWAN’s founder on Twitter: @mckenzie_ale

The post Unesco to Support Cultural Sector Hit by COVID-19 appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Categories: Africa

Hegemony Shift in Times of COVID-19

Fri, 04/10/2020 - 20:13

Wuhan City. Credit: UNESCO

By Manuel Manonelles
BARCELONA, Apr 10 2020 (IPS)

We have long speculated on the moment when the shift of global leadership from the United States to China would take place. From Washington to Beijing for the political power, from New York to Shanghai for the economic one. It seems that we are witnessing it now.

Some saw the Beijing Olympics (2008) and especially its opening ceremony as an attempt by China to display this new reality. Others saw it later, with the creation of the Asian Investment and Infrastructure Bank (2015), as opposed to the Bretton Woods system (IMF and World Bank) that for decades has been a fundamental pillar of North American hegemony.

A certain truce came with Obama and Xi Jinping, with some sort of a de facto confirmation of a new bipolar global regime. A regime that, even if temporary, could punctually have some positive effects for global governance, such as the two leaders’ pact on climate change that made the Paris Agreement feasible, also in 2015.

However, with the arrival of Trump and his “Make America Great Again”, the escalation of this quarrel for global leadership increased in both speed and visibility. The most relevant examples, so far, are the trade war between the two countries -with the World Trade Organization as a hostage-; or the open battle over the control of 5G, with the Huawei controversy at its the core.

Manuel Manonelles.

Others examples are less obvious to general opinion, but a matter of debate in specialised settings. An example is the full-fledged offensive that China has made to increase its presence and influence in the multilateral system. Obtaining important first-level positions, but also second level postings key to influence these institutions, in the face of the neglect of the early years of the Trump administration.

One case is that of Geneva, where the US administration has vacated for more than three years the position of ambassador of this key place, the city with most diplomatic activity in the world. Three long years has taken to the State Department to realize the space that China and other powers were gaining by taking advantage of the US “empty seat” policy.

They did so by appointing a new high political-profile ambassador in November last year. However, the positions of the battles for the future of the WTO or the leadership of the International Telecommunication Union (key in the management of satellite orbits, the management of radio space or digital world governance) were already well advanced at that time.

History is capricious, and again the unexpected ends up precipitating Copernican changes. No one expected the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914 with the chain of fatalities that would follow.

Nor could be expected that a clumsy press conference on the afternoon of November 9, 1989 would lead to the Berlin Wall immediate collapse; something that none of the Western intelligence agencies had anticipated.

Then, between November and the beginning of last December something happened in the Huanan market, in the city of Wuhan. It seems that the first case occurred on November 17. But it was not until December 31 that an “outbreak of an unknown pneumonia” in this city was reported to the World Health Organisation.

The Huanan market was closed down on January 1. The following day the new virus was confirmed, with the technical name of SARS-CoV-2. On January 16, Japan reported the first case, on the 17th, Thailand did.

The 21st was Taiwan and the United States. On the 24th, France reported the first three cases within the EU, the number of countries increased as the first border closures took place, especially in countries bordering China.

On January 30 the WHO declared an International Public Health Emergency, the same day that Italy reported its first case; the next day it was Spain at the same time that the virus was already spread in India, Russia, the Philippines or Australia. On March 11 the WHO declared the global pandemic and, while the world trembles, global leadership transits.

On March 20, while the White House or Downing Street were still flirting with denialism in relation to COVID-19, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced a plan to support 82 countries in their fight against this virus.

Two weeks later, as the virus wreaked havoc on hospitals on both coasts in the United States, and the British Prime Minister was admitted to the ICU, 18 countries in central and western Africa had already received hundreds of tons of Chinese donations of medical supplies, and 17 more were waiting to receive them in a matter of days. Pakistan, South Korea, Spain or Italy are other countries that have received help. In the latter, this help was not only of material, but accompanied by experts and medical staff.

Putin’s Russia also took advantage of the pandemic in the first weeks to project its role as international power; by sending military personnel to Italy – in a context of astonishing silence and blockage of the European institutions- or aid in health supplies to his “friend” Trump.

And even as COVID-19 spreads through Moscow and other cities and regions of the Federation these rather symbolic activities continue. Turkey also tried, by responding to Spain’s NATO urgency request, but soon changed its policy once they realised how the situation was deteriorating in Ankara and Istanbul.

It is too early to evaluate the full scope of COVID-19. In fact, no one can really assert at this point what the evolution and global impact of the pandemic will be, neither in terms of public health, nor in its humanitarian, social or economic dimensions.

The outlook is not good, and particularly worrisome is the uncertain effect that this pandemic will have in less developed countries, considering how it is affecting higher-income ones.

However, it is quite clear that this will be a turning point in terms of global governance and hegemony. Once again, the arbitrariness of history precipitates change. The strategists, the intelligence agencies, the think tanks that for years have debated and conspired from Langley through Georgetown, Xijuan or Gouguan had not foreseen what would end up igniting in a provincial market in Wuhan.

But what does seems plausible is that, in the midst of such drama, we are witnessing the hanging over of global hegemony.

The post Hegemony Shift in Times of COVID-19 appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Manuel Manonelles is Associate Professor of International Relations, Blanquerna/University Ramon Llull, Barcelona

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Categories: Africa

How Can We Support Sanitation Workers During COVID-19?

Fri, 04/10/2020 - 18:43

Courtesy: WaterAid/ CS Sharada Prasad/ Safai Karmachari Kavalu Samiti

By External Source
NEW DELHI, Apr 10 2020 (IPS)

In addition to healthcare professionals, there is another group of people at the frontlines of the global crisis caused by COVID-19. They put their lives at risk every day and play a critical role in preventing the spread of the virus, by ensuring our streets, parks, public spaces, sewers, septic tanks, communities, and public toilets are kept clean and hygienic.

They are our often-overlooked sanitation workers. These five million public health and safety workers—who continue to work through the COVID-19 pandemic—are unprotected, stigmatised, unappreciated, and seen as people to be shunned.

One of the biggest challenges they face is that they have no information about affected households, nor about those who are at high risk. If they contract the virus, they have very little recourse to health safety nets, insurance, or access to already overflowing public health facilities.

This is particularly stark for women sanitation workers, who make up more than 50 percent of urban sanitation workers.

What needs to be done to ensure the health and safety of these essential workers?

Provide protective equipment

While we recognise that frontline staff in hospitals and health facilities face a dire shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE), the need of the hour is also to find ways to provide sanitation workers with the following necessities: masks (at the very least, double-layered stitched cloth masks), rubber gloves, aprons, protective footwear or boots, sanitiser, and soap.

In Maharashtra, the government has allowed all Urban Local Bodies to use the Fourteenth Finance Commission funds to purchase PPE for sanitation workers, and allowed sanitation workers to work in shifts. In Telangana, self-help groups (SHGs) have been roped in to produce masks for sanitation workers.

Provide financial support

This can be done both at individual and organisational levels.

Protection of salaries: An advisory has been issued by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs stating that the salaries of sanitation workers must be protected if they are unable to report to duty due to lockdown.
Allocation of CSR funds to organisations that work with sanitation workers: The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has declared that CSR funds may be utilised for activities related to COVID-19 including preventive healthcare, sanitation, and disaster management.

While such efforts by government at national, state, and city levels are welcome, they do not reach all the five million sanitation workers in India.

Offer support at a local level

Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) should ensure that sanitation workers who work in their localities have proper PPE. If required, funds can be collected at a local level to ensure that workers have proper safety gear. RWAs can also support the sanitation workers’ organisations to ensure that all sanitation workers are provided health insurance and regular health checks. MPs, MLAs, and municipal councilors have annual funds available for development in their respective constituencies and can be encouraged to allocate amounts from these for the welfare of sanitation workers.

Provide access to food and boarding facilities

In Chennai, sanitation workers are provided free meals at Amma Canteens. Local communities could also pool resources to ensure that sanitation workers have access to food and other supplies. This will ensure that they do not have to worry about providing for their families while they are at their jobs.

In terms of helping them self-isolate, to keep their families safe, state governments should explore the option of providing sanitation workers with boarding in designated hostels and residential facilities. The Delhi government has undertaken a similar step, wherein hotel rooms have been rented for doctors who do not want to go home for the fear of infecting their families with COVID-19.

Finally, it is important to raise the profile of sanitation workers—just like we do with all the other health workers—and pay them their due respect, acknowledging their importance as frontline warriors.

Because, just as the nation’s health workers tirelessly work to save lives, our sanitation workers have also been working in every ward and mohalla to ensure that we remain safe and healthy. It is time for all of us to recognise this.

The authors are members of the National Faecal Sludge and Septage Management (NFSSM) Alliance.

Abhinav Akhilesh is a director with a leading consulting firm in India, in the human and social services practice.

Meera Mehta is a Professor Emerita at CEPT University, Ahmedabad, and executive director of its Centre of Water and Sanitation (C-WAS)

Zara Juneja is a consultant, working with partners across the urban WASH and communities sectors in India.

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

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Categories: Africa

Few Clinical Trials are Done in Africa: COVID-19 Shows Why this Urgently Needs to Change

Fri, 04/10/2020 - 16:25

Credit: Jeffrey Moyo/IPS

By External Source
Apr 10 2020 (IPS)

The World Health Organisation (WHO), in its quest to find efficacious therapies to treat COVID-19, plans to conduct a multi-arm, multi-country clinical trial. The trials have yet to begin, but ten countries have already signed up. Only one of them, South Africa, is on the African continent.

Of course, the WHO isn’t the only organisation trying to find treatments or even a vaccine for COVID-19. The United States National Institutes of Health maintains an online platform that lists all registered, ongoing clinical trials globally.

Africa’s virtual absence from the clinical trials map is a big problem. The continent displays an incredible amount of genetic diversity. If this diversity is not well represented in clinical trials, the trial findings cannot be generalised to large populations

On March 26, a quick search of the platform using the term “coronavirus” revealed 157 ongoing trials; 87 of these involve either a drug or a vaccine, while the rest are behavioural studies. Only three are registered in Africa – all of them in Egypt.

This low representation of African countries in clinical trials is not unusual. Poor visibility of existing sites, limited infrastructure and unpredictable clinical trial regulatory timelines are some of the key issues hindering investments in this area.

The same goes for the outcomes of the COVID-19 studies. They too may not be relevant for people in African countries unless conducted locally. This is because responses to drugs or vaccines are complicated and can be influenced by, among other things, human genetics: different people will respond differently to different drugs and vaccines.

More countries on the African continent must urgently get involved in clinical trials so that the data collected will accurately represent the continent at a genetic level.

Time is of the essence. The usual approach, of developing site or country specific protocols, won’t work. Instead, African governments need to look at ways to harmonise the response towards COVID-19 across the continent. Now, more than ever, African countries need to work together.

Centres of excellence

Africa does have clinical trial infrastructure and capabilities. But the resources remain unevenly distributed. The vast majority are in Egypt and South Africa. That’s because these countries have invested more heavily in research and development than others on the continent.

Traditionally, clinical trials are conducted at centres of excellence, which are sites that have the appropriate infrastructure and human skills necessary to conduct good quality trials. These can be located at a single university or research organisation, or work can be split between a few locations.

But setting up these centres requires significant time and financial investment. Most that I am aware of on the continent have developed over the years with heavy support from external partners or sponsors. In many cases, African governments have not been involved in these efforts.

Once such centres are set up, the hard work continues to maintain these centres and to ensure they’re able to attract clinical trial sponsors. They require continuous funding, the establishment of proper institutional governance and the creation of trusted, consistent networks.

Usually African scientists leading clinical trial sites can apply for funding to conduct a trial; if the site is well known the scientists may be approached by a sponsor such as a pharmaceutical company interested in conducting a trial.

Clearly this approach takes time and usually benefits well-known sites or triallists. So what alternatives are available in the face of an epidemic that’s moving as fast as COVID-19?

How to change direction

Key stakeholders should work together to expedite the rollout of trials in different countries. This would include inter-country collaborations such as working with different governments and scientists in co-designing trials; and providing harmonised guidelines on patient management, sample collection and tracking and sharing results in real time.

African governments, meanwhile, should provide additional funding to clinical research institutions and clinical trial sites. This would allow the sites to pull resources together and rapidly enrol patients to answer various research questions.

Because of the uneven distribution of skills and resources the continent should also adopt a hub-and-spoke model in its efforts. This would involve countries that don’t have much capacity being able to ship samples easily across borders for analysis in a centralised well-equipped laboratory, which then feeds back data to the country of sample origin.

Governments should also form a task force to quickly engage with key pharmaceutical companies with drug candidates for COVID-19. This team should establish the companies’ appetite for collaborations in conducting relevant trials on the continent.

Through all of this, it is necessary for stakeholders to identify and address key ethical issues that may arise. Ethics should not be compromised by haste.

Beyond COVID-19

Every country’s epidemic preparedness kit should contain funds set aside for clinical trials during epidemics or pandemics.

This would require governments on the continent to evaluate their role and level of investment in the general area of clinical trials. This will augment the quality and quantity of clinical trials in the face of the constant challenge of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases as well as a steady rise in non-communicable diseases.

On top of this, clinical trial centres, clinical research institutions and clinical triallists on the continent should strive to increase their visibility in the global space. This will make them easy to find in times of crisis, and enhance both south-south and north-south collaborations.

The African Academy of Sciences is currently building an online platform to facilitate this visibility and encourage greater collaboration.

Jenniffer Mabuka-Maroa, Programme Manager, African Academy of Sciences

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Categories: Africa

A Gender-equal Ethiopian Parliament can Improve the Lives of all Women

Fri, 04/10/2020 - 13:40

Sahle-Work Zewde is Ethiopia's first female president. Since coming to power in 2018, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has reorganised the cabinet to ensure that 50 percent of the government’s top ministerial positions have been given to women. Never before in Ethiopia have so many high-ranking government positions been held by women. Courtesy: UN Photo/Evan Schneider

By James Jeffrey
YORK, United Kingdom, Apr 10 2020 (IPS)

Recent gains by women in the Ethiopian political landscape offer a chance to improve gender equality around the country and put an end to long-standing societal iniquities.

Since coming to power in 2018, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has reorganised the cabinet to ensure that 50 percent of the government’s top ministerial positions have been given to women.

Sahle-Work Zewde became the country’s first female president, while Aisha Mohammed became the country’s first defence minister. Never before in Ethiopia have so many high-ranking government positions been held by women.

In 1991, the share of seats held by women in the Ethiopian parliament was under 3 percent. Today it stands at 38 percent, almost twice the ratio of women in the United States Congress.

But, at the same time, stark gender disparities persist all around the country. The hope is that improved representation in the federal government will tangibly affect and improve the status of Ethiopia’s more than 50 million women and girls.

“There is strong evidence that as more women are elected to office, there are more policies enacted that emphasise quality of life and reflect the priorities of families, women and minorities,” Katja Iversen, president of Women Deliver, an international organisation advocating around the world for gender equality and the health and rights of girls and women, tells IPS.

“Studies also show that women are more likely than men to work across party lines, help secure lasting peace, and prioritise health, education and other societal priorities key to the wellbeing and prosperity of both constituents and societies at large.”

At the same time, there are concerns that Ethiopia’s most recent female politicians are not in elected positions rather are making up a quota.

“The women who are in power are more loyal to the prime minister than the public that is why they find it difficult to act—for fear of disappointing the person who put them there,” Hadra Ahmed, a freelance Ethiopian journalist, tells IPS.

“We can only say women are in politics when they are represented as candidates and as decision makers,” she adds.

Women in Ethiopia have long faced systemic inequities. The discrepancies begin early and often persist throughout Ethiopian women’s lives. Nearly twice as many men than women over age 25 have some secondary education. Women often face more economic constraints than men, including less access to credit and limited market access.

“Ethiopians strongly believe that women can never be as good as men and this is specially heart breaking when it comes from your mother [or] a well-educated person that you probably look up to [such as] your teacher,” Ahmed says.

“And the whole system tells you that you are not as capable through different policies like affirmative actions that lower the passing grade rather than helping girls to study and making sure they make it to school in time.”

Female genital mutilation rates remain high, with 74 percent of girls and women aged 15 to 49 years of age experiencing FGM, according to UNICEF. Child marriage still occurs, with about 58 percent of Ethiopian females marrying before they turn 18.

Eighty percent of Ethiopia’s population resides in rural areas and women provide much of the agricultural labour in these communities, while shouldering the majority of child-rearing duties.

But the contributions of women can go largely unrecognized. Fathers or husbands often restrict access to resources and community participation. One in three women experience physical, emotional or sexual violence, according to USAID.

“Ethiopian society practices negative social norms that reinforce inequality and perpetuate deep power and gender imbalances,” Dinah Musindarwezo, director of policy and communications for Womankind Worldwide, a global women’s rights organisation working in partnership with women’s rights organisations and movements, tells IPS.

“The perceptions and attitudes that women should belong to the kitchen and men in the board room are widely spread across the world. Although we have seen changes and progress towards women participating in public sphere including in political leadership, we are seeing less progress of men entering the kitchen and taking leadership in care work. Globally, women still perform majority of unpaid and domestic work.”

Ethiopia is no exception, Musindarwezo says, illustrated by the widespread expectation that women should not only be the primary childcare providers but they should also perform the majority of unpaid and domestic work.

In Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region, life for the majority of women follows a traditional course, centred on family and agriculture. Credit: James Jeffrey/IPS

In 2017, Ethiopia ranked 121 out of 160 countries on a Untied Nations gender equality index based on various social, health and political factors.

“If you look at the experience of other countries like India, the media representation of strong women is what helped women become stronger in the society,” Ahmed says. “Seeing a stronger version of us somewhere pushes us to be better. Assigning to women a quota in government positions and exploiting them in these positions will not solve anything.”

Iverson says that in order to make sure women’s political participation is not only symbolic, governments must also fully commit to gender equality through equal pay, affordable childcare, gender sensitive budgeting and auditing, and paid parental leave.

Parental leave—including paternity leave—has proven a significant “norm changer” in improving women’s participation in the workforce, Iverson says. When men take paternity leave, she explains, it both affirms that caregiving is everyone’s responsibility, helps improve pay equity, and makes it easier for more women to be successful and climb the career ladder.

Despite the Ethiopian government’s bold moves to empower female politicians, the country’s fraught political realm—which can be dangerous for anyone, regardless of sex—still poses many hurdles for women to overcome, especially given the pernicious influence of social media.

“Women politicians face unique forms of online and offline attacks and deliberate actions to discourage their participation in politics,” Daniel Bekele, commissioner of the Ethiopia Human Rights Commission, said during the keynote speech at the “Women’s Political Participation and Election in Ethiopia: Envisioning 2020 and Beyond for Generation Equality” national conference at the end of 2019.

“This reflects how patriarchal [our] society is in its functions.”

Musindarwezo notes that in addition to having women in political leadership, it’s just as important to create an environment that is conducive for women to be effective leaders.

“Often times we expect women to magically address all the issues especially gender issues without removing structural barriers they face,” Musindarwezo says. “Women political leaders face barriers such as their voices being overshadowed by political parties’ voices, limited access to adequate resources they need to make a difference and being held to different standards to those of men. Women leaders often face biased public criticism, harassment and intimidations just because they are women.”

Bekele says that Ethiopian women face particular challenges in times of elections that seriously impact and discourage their participation. Ethiopia is due to hold an all-important national election this year, but currently it has been delayed due to the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak.

“There must also be implemented legal protections for women including laws against gender-based violence, policies regarding sexual harassment, and accessible justice systems for accountability,” Iverson says. “Countries must ditch discriminatory laws that are holding women back and enact legal frameworks that advance gender equality at work, in society and at home.”

Those at Women Deliver note how, to Ethiopia’s credit, it has brought in a new law that annulled previous legal provisions that gave authority to a husband over a couple’s assets and whether his wife could work outside of the home.

As a result of the legal change, spouses are now equal with regard to the administration of assets, and a husband cannot unilaterally prevent his wife from working. The World Bank estimates that this law has enabled an increase in the participation rate of women in productive sectors.

Despite continuing challenges for Ethiopian women, change is afoot beyond the political level. In the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, Setaweet is the country’s first feminist research and training company, which offers tailor-made gender equality services for schools, agencies and corporate companies. Its flagship project is a feminist curriculum for secondary school students dealing with femininity and masculinity, healthy relationships and positive self-images.

“Women are powerful agents of change, and their participation at all decision-making levels is a prerequisite for politics and programs that reflects societies and are effective, sustainable and inclusive,” Iversen says.

The post A Gender-equal Ethiopian Parliament can Improve the Lives of all Women appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

In 1991, the share of seats held by women in the Ethiopian parliament was under 3 percent. Today it stands at 38 percent, almost twice the ratio of women in the United States Congress. Experts say when women are better represented in government office, the gains are likely to spill down and improve the lives of all women.

The post A Gender-equal Ethiopian Parliament can Improve the Lives of all Women appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Categories: Africa

The Declaration of the Human Solidarity Initiative Against the Coronavirus Pandemic

Fri, 04/10/2020 - 13:29

By External Source
AMMAN, Apr 10 2020 (IPS-Partners)

We find this to be a difficult time in the history of humanity. COVID-19 has brought about ever-increasing tragedies of death and deprivation all the while inflaming our social and economic problems. The time has come to form a humanitarian consensus – strong and active – to face the challenges and dangers that threaten humankind and its future onour small planet.

As a group of Muslim scholars and thinkers that share in the ethical commitment and humanitarian obligation towards others, we call on all individuals wherever they may be to take part in the blessed efforts of international, regional and national organisations and carry out their human, ethical and religious duty to overcome a deadly pandemic that has affected humankind, our ways of being, world economies and indeed a majority of life systems, and afflicted the impoverished with the additional suffering of a livelihood constricted and constrained.

With a view to reviving the ethical and humanitarian responsibility towards others as the governing and organizing principle of human behavior and activity, and out of the belief that the concept and practice of Zakat, or the giving of alms, entails good formankind and with respect to the conference that the Arab Thought Forum planned to hold on the subject of the ‘Universalism of Zakat – Dimensions and Institutional Manifestations’ in Ramadan of 1441H, we issue a call of support to the initiative made by Prince El Hassan bin Talal under the heading ‘Solidarity and the Awakening of the Human Conscience’ and a call to action for the establishment of an international institution for Zakat and human solidarity, an undertaking that His Royal Highness called for many a year ago.

In all its reverberations and consequences, the present calls for reform from within. We must find inner peace and security, seek the soundness of our hearts andresuscitate acollective consciousness that leads us tothereinforcement of values that elevatethe dignity of Man above polychromatic nationality,religion, color and gender.

Reason and human existence today face monumental challenges –in awe of a miniscule organism, intelligence has stood befuddled.An egalitarian pathogen perseveres in its mightand obliges us to underline the potential of human sufferingto bring people together further than the vocabulary of interests andgains. In truth, each of us harbors the feeling that the threat to humanity is one. And, that truth ought to marshalour capabilities and give rise to thoughtful reflection on the meaning of our collective humanity in all its strengths and weaknesses whilst it uncovers for us novel spaces of convergence and joint action.

The good of an individual lies in hishumanityand his humanitya cornerstone of human solidarity around which all of our shared values revolve. An imperative that beckons us to recognize our shared responsibility towards future generations, the injunction to give serious thought to the challenges facing humanity is a corollary of the belief in the dignity and the rights of Man.

These arduous times are a test ofthe humanityof Man and his humilityjust as they are a test ofthe truth, rituals and fruits of faith: Will we fail or will we succeed? WeMuslimscarry the flag of a mercifuland compassionate religion. An international institution for Zakat and human solidarity should be preceded by interpretive jurisprudential activity on the issues of our time such as Zakat and social solidarity. Zakat could be a starting point from which mercy – which God Almighty rendered as the principal purpose behind the sending of His Messengers – is realised. The revival of our human and ethical duty towards others is in effect a revival of the common sense that God has endowed us with. A revival as such would be a faithful representation of the true religion of God in all its doctrines and fundamental parameters.

We thus refer to a fatwa byMuslim scholars that permits nay applauds accelerating the payment of the Zakat owed over the course of one or two years to the impoverished and even favors the rapid payment of Zakat over waiting for thestart of the holy month of Ramadan to give alms.The value of that Zakat in the Muslim world this year alone is estimated in excess of four hundred billion dollars–a tremendous sum which if collected in the current circumstances,where curfews and shutdowns have meantinterruptions to the livelihoods of many, may salvage the faith, lives and dignity of the needy.

The ability of the mind to innovate, invent and face challenges is resounding. The problems that arise from a knowledge alien to the idea of a balance with nature can be addressed through the integration of the natural and social sciences. An opportunity to exhibit the extent of our involvement in the deft management of a crisis and showcase our collaborative efforts to realise the common good and blunt the effects of poverty, destitution and illness on people, the present brings to the fore the role of networking and coordination, the obligation to learn from others and the importance of working together to rebuild the trust that remains lostand that which has weakened between the young and the old and the rich and the poor.

We find it vital to emphasise the role played by faith in strengthening our capacity for hardship and our ability to persevere in the face of that hardship as well as the role played by faith in encouraging supportfor and the alleviation of the suffering and pain of others. “We shall certainly test you with fear of hunger, and loss of property, lives and crops. But [Prophet], give good news to those who are steadfast” – the Qur’an (The Cow 2:155).

We view Man as a part of nature rather than asa creature outside of God’s natural creation. Man is thus entrusted with the care of the Earth and the creatures that inhabit the Earth: “We offered the Trust [of reason and moral responsibility] to the heavens, the earth, and the mountains; yet they refused to undertake it and were afraid of it; but mankind [undertook to] bear it” – the Qur’an (The Joint Forces 33:72).

We call for a reconciliation betweenhumankind and nature. Mankind must develop a sense of responsibility towards the environment and begin to protect the environment. A balance between the requirements of modern civilization and the preservation of life must be found: pollution of all stripesand encroachments of all kinds must be curtailed, natural resources must be carefully managed, and troves of buried ore must be maintained and preserved. Institutional responsibility thus lies in the increase of funds made available for the purposes of scientific research in our contemporary societies

The here and now is a truly encouraging moment for the humanitarian side of religion to come to the fore and a moment conducive for the development of a civilizational discourse anchored in the shared values of humanity. In its entirety, humanitymustunite and bring repertoires of knowledge together and synchronize the endeavor to find a way out of the global catastrophe that we all face regardless of race, colorand belief.

We are all children of a civilization united by common bonds of a far greater kind than the differences – cultural, racial or other – that divide us: “People, be mindful of your Lord, who created you from a single soul, and from it created its mate, and from the pair of them spread countless men and women far and wide”– The Qur’an (Women 2:1). We must come to sense the moral responsibility that we hold for the disasters caused by Man, or those natural disasters that come as a consequence of the actions and conduct of Man, as the Holy Quran says,“Corruption has appeared throughout the land and sea by [reason of] what the hands of the people have earned so He may let them taste part of [the consequence of] what they have done so that they may return [to righteousness]” – The Quran (The Byzantines 30:41)

In the sake of Allah/God

Signatories:

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Categories: Africa

Gender and COVID-19: Where Can Research Help?

Fri, 04/10/2020 - 12:03

By Jemimah Njuki
NAIROBI, Apr 10 2020 (IPS)

As of April 8, there have been 1.5 million reported cases of coronavirus and over 83,000 deaths. Most of these deaths are of men. Italy, for example, has so far had 71 percent of all case deaths attributed to men while Spain, another major global hotspot, has seen 65 percent of all deaths being men.

While the mortality rates for men are higher, women are disproportionally affected by the social and economic impacts of the pandemic. Indeed, there is evidence that pandemics affect men and women in different ways, and COVID19 is no different.

Women comprise seven out of ten health and social care workers and contribute US$ 3 trillion annually to global health, half in the form of unpaid care work. Health workers continue to be exposed to the virus due to lack of basic protective equipment

Women are facing higher risks of infection compared to men due to their large numbers in the health sector. The health and social sector, with its 234 million workers, is one of the biggest and fastest growing employers in the world, particularly of women.

The care work burden which disproportionality falls on women has increased with the pandemic. In addition to women making up most of health-care workers, women are overwhelmingly the primary caretakers in their families.

As schools have closed, as COVID 19 measures, which require services and activities mainly done by women, such as requirement for water, women have found themselves with a bigger workload.

Gender based violence has increased as families find themselves in lockdowns with low economic security and feeling of helplessness. For example in France, domestic violence cases went up by 30% during the lockdown, while calls to the domestic violence line in Argentina went up by 25%.

New research has shown the multiple pathways between pandemics and gender based violence. Recently, UN chief António Guterres called for measures to address a “horrifying global surge in domestic violence” directed towards women and girls linked to lockdowns.

The economic impact of COVID-19 has hit women harder, as more women work in low-paying, insecure and informal jobs. Disruptions, including movement restrictions, are likely to compromise women’s ability to make a living and meet their families’ basic needs, and access much needed sexual and reproductive health and maternal health services.

In addition to understanding these kinds of gender differences at times of pandemics like COVID-19, research can play a much more long-term role.

Indeed, it can play a critical part in documenting and studying the long-term impacts of the pandemic and suggesting ways to ensure that systems protect women and girls during pandemics. This is how.

First, research can help understand, test and scale interventions that build the economic and social resilience of women and girls, as well as provide evidence on how programs can be designed to cope with and minimise the gendered impacts of future pandemics.

For example, unconditional and conditional cash transfers that aim to shift power imbalances by targeting women are likely to be important design features for reducing gender based intimate partner violence. While these have been studies out of pandemics, research during pandemics can help understand the impacts and potential adaptations of these programs.

Second, while the focus with COVID 19 has been on the negative impacts on women’s workloads and women’s rights, pandemics can bring much desired shifts in gender roles and responsibilities.

The key question is how to sustain these changes long after the pandemic has passed. Understanding how short-term pandemic-induced changes in gender roles and responsibilities can be sustained over a long time can generate evidence on pathways to equitable role sharing within households.

For example, the Spanish flu disproportionately affected young men, which in combination with World War I, created a labor shortage gap that was filled by women, entrenching women’s right to work.

Third, research can provide insights that inform a more gender sensitive and effective response to epidemics. While there has been a focus on the role of social sciences in understanding and managing pandemics, there has not been enough application of a gender lens to this research.

For example, understanding how men and will be affected in different ways before pandemics occur, how proposed management and response measures will affect them and can be designed to have positive outcomes, and even understanding the power dynamics and how they will affect response are all key areas of research.

And finally, research and researchers can play a role in ensuring the collection and analysis of age and sex disaggregated data both so that the needs and realities of men and boys, women and girls women’s do not fall through the cracks.

As we address the very immediate needs of different groups in the pandemic, let us also invest in long term gender research that ensures there is no disproportionate impact of pandemics, especially on women and girls and that their voices are heard.

Dr Jemimah Njuki is an Aspen News Voices Fellow and writes on gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. Follow her @jemimah_njuki

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Categories: Africa

The Cost of Coronavirus in Africa: What Measures can Leaders Take?

Fri, 04/10/2020 - 11:17

By Dorothy Tembo
GENEVA, Apr 10 2020 (IPS)

With the novel coronavirus COVID-19 having reached the African continent, countries are getting ready to manage the spread of the virus and ensure that their fragile health systems can cope. Images from China and Europe give many reasons for concern.

In addition to the health challenges posed by COVID-19, Africa is already feeling the effect on its economies. With industries shutting down in Asia, America and Europe demand for raw materials and commodities is declining, but it is also hampering Africa’s access to industrial components and manufactured goods (including medical equipment).

Initial actions in Africa have focused on slowing viral contagion with measures, including the closing of borders. These actions come as the continent has been making bold moves to increase economic integration, with African Union officials recently swearing in the first-ever Secretary-General of the newly created Secretariat of the African Free Continental Free Trade Agreement.

The coronavirus could represent a risk for the continental project but leaders could also turn it into an opportunity for stronger collaboration. If leaders fast-track specific policies, it may also represent an opportunity if certain policies are fast-tracked. Quick gains could be achieved by consolidating the regional integration initiatives they are already implementing.

The closing of borders, for instance, can send a very different signal depending on how governments do it. Where leaders of neighbouring nations close borders together, as those of Portugal and Spain have done, it is a symbol of partnership in the fight against a pandemic.

Reducing flows of people while keeping borders open for goods signals continued faith in the importance of economic activities and trade in providing the goods people need to continue their daily lives. In Africa, such collaboration will be crucial, especially for the continent’s sixteen landlocked countries.

The crisis may also provide African leaders with an opportunity to look at regional value chains differently. Reliable regional supply chains characterize North America, Asia and Europe.

In Africa, however, integration in international markets mostly entails integration in global, not regional, value chains – with Africa providing the raw products for processing elsewhere around the world.

Dorothy Tembo

Opportunities for creating regional value chains exist, notably for making motor vehicles or in aerospace activities in Northern Africa. But designing regional strategies may mean agreeing on which component of the value chain is produced where, and can involve trade-offs that policymakers do not always find it easy to make.

But the exceptional nature of the pandemic could provide fertile ground for regional collaboration by policymakers in the fields of pharmaceuticals, disinfectants, diagnostic testing equipment or protective garments. Such decisions will have to be taken and implemented very rapidly.

African leaders can also act in unison in the fight against the economic consequences of the pandemic. Nobody knows how much the pandemic will affect global GDP, but any impact is sure to be significant.

Estimated losses in GDP growth for the world as a whole – but also for Africa as a region – currently hover around between 1.5 and 2 percentage points. Those figures are most likely to be revised to include even greater losses.

The travel industry has been the first to be impacted. Airlines around the world are struggling, and tourism has been hit hard. The blow will not go unnoticed in African countries like Tunisia, Egypt and Kenya – where tourism represents around 14%, 11% and 10% of GDP respectively. For underperforming regional airlines, this could spell disaster.

Shutdowns in China and Europe, notably in the apparel, machinery and footwear subsectors, will significantly hit global supply chains – with consequences for Africa. Traditionally reliable sectors in Africa – like the cut flower industry – could also take a pummeling.

In countries that impose lockdowns, large parts of the services sectors are likely to suffer dire outcomes. The hospitality, sports and recreation sectors, and large parts of retailing, are among those most affected by partial or full lockdowns.

The drastic drop in oil prices – triggered by events independent of the coronavirus pandemic but now reinforced by the negative demand resulting from it – is set to compound these economic shocks. Oil exporters like Nigeria will see their revenues shrink.

Rwanda’s e-commerce booms as the first E-commerce Service Centre sets up in Kigali, bringing Rwandan businesses to domestic and international markets with minimal investment and risk. Credit: ITU

Faced with this outlook, African policymakers may want to ask themselves how long businesses in their countries can survive in the absence of or with significantly reduced revenues and what the scale of job losses may be.

For many micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), with fewer assets to ride out the storm, the survival rate may only be counted in weeks. That is why small businesses, more than larger businesses, will tend to go out of business or cripple their capacity to be competitive.Yet, because MSMEs employ around 70% of the workforce in most countries, shedding workers will only aggravate the economic downturn brought on by the pandemic.

Knowing how small businesses act as a lynchpin connecting the pandemic to a broader economic recession, governments around the world have scrambled to reduce the operational stresses on them.

They have introduced policies meant to help MSMEs cope with short-term financial risks and long-term business implications. This will, it is hoped, reduce layoffs, prevent bankruptcy, encourage investment and help economies get back on their feet as soon as possible.

These measures include concessional financing; tax reductions and grants; employment incentives; technical assistance; and indirect measures.

Low-interest loans and other concessional financing, aimed at easing short-term liquidity issues, have been among the most popular policy measures announced to date. But the experience of the 1970s oil price shock shows that this can have a limited impact in the supply-shock, low-interest rate environments that exist today.

Instead, the most effective way to prevent bankruptcies may be measures aimed at reducing costs for MSMEs – such as tax breaks. Investment in digital trade and investment facilitation must also continue – countries with such facilitating policies will be first off the mark in the post-crisis period.

All of these measures require funding. Countries with fiscal space will find it easier to introduce them than those without it. Unfortunately, global debt levels have continued to increase after the financial crisis over a decade ago.

Though the bulk of global debt is held by the industrialized world, its increase has been more important in the developing world over the past decade. Concerted action among leaders may therefore be necessary in order for efforts to support small and medium sized businesses not to have negative repercussions on financial markets.

History shows us that cross-border collaborations often arise during or after significant crises. The First World War prompted the creation of the International Labour Office; the United Nations was formed in the aftermath of the Second World War. The construction of the European Union was also a reaction to that conflagration.

The African Union has already recognized that Africa will be stronger if countries are more integrated and unified with the birth of the African Continental Free Trade Area. A similarly strong commitment to joint action by leaders on the continent would undoubtedly benefit the fight against the coronavirus pandemic and its economic consequences for Africa.

These actions should include a recommitment to the Sustainable Development Goals, to multilateralism and a pledge to help those that will be most affected by the economic downturn: small businesses, women, young people and vulnerable communities.

The International Trade Centre (ITC) with its mandate to build the competitiveness of small businesses in developing countries, emphasizing women-owned businesses and people at the base of the economic pyramid, stands ready to support these efforts.

The post The Cost of Coronavirus in Africa: What Measures can Leaders Take? appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Dorothy Tembo is Executive Director ad interim, International Trade Centre (ITC)

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Categories: Africa

Un and Partners Request $267.5 Million to Respond to Humanitarian Needs Arising from COVID-19 Pandemic in Kenya

Thu, 04/09/2020 - 20:23

By PRESS RELEASE
NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 9 2020 (IPS-Partners)

The Government of Kenya, the United Nations and humanitarian partners have launched today a Flash Appeal requesting $267.5 million to respond to the most immediate and critical needs of10.1 millionpeople.

Cabinet Secretary for National Treasury and Planning, UkurYataniKanacho, said: “When times are challenging you get to know your friends better. I would like to commend the Kenya United Nations Country Team and humanitarian partners for being real friends and fighting with us shoulder to shoulder as we fight this deadly pandemic”.

The Appeal is seeking to mobilize emergency funding for UN agencies and NGOs to complement the Government’s preparedness and response efforts for the next six months. The funds will be used to support public health responses to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country and provide targeted humanitarian assistance and protection to the most vulnerable and at-risk communities

From the current UN Development Assistance Framework to Kenya 2018-20, the UN family has redeployed US$ 45 million to support Kenya in its response to the COVID 19 pandemic. The UN has also deployed over 70 staff and volunteers to assist the Government of Kenya.

Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Devolution and ASAL, Eugene Wamalwa, said during the launch: “This Flash Appeal is much appreciated.Coming on the heels of several natural disasters since 2016 this appeal aims to bring humanitarian relief at a time where we are all stretched to the limit fighting COVID-19”

The COVID-19 outbreak in Kenya is occurring in a context of significant chronic vulnerabilities as well as increased humanitarian needs as a result of back-to back droughts, ongoing floods and a locust upsurge.

“We believe Kenya is at an important tipping point and that together we can move this into the right direction. We are confident that together we can flatten the COVID-19 curve and diminish thethreat in Kenya while continuing to strengthen our health systems, and economy. We thank the UN and all our partners for their support,”Chief Administrative Secretary for Health Dr Rashid Aman said.

The UN and NGO partners response is focused towards saving lives and preventing loss of livelihoods.

In addition to the immediate and direct public health emergency response, the Flash Appeal has prioritized the continue delivery of basic essential services as well as the protection of livelihood assets and food support to the most vulnerable communities.The response is about ensuring access to essential health care, education, protection, services for women children and vulnerable communities,including people with HIV, displaced populations, people in high concentration areas in urban and peri-urban areas, refugees, and people affected by floods and the locust upsurge.

“We will stand in full solidarity with the Government and people of Kenya in the fight against COVID 19,”said the UN Resident Coordinator in Kenya, Siddharth Chatterjee. “This Flash Appeal is a clear expression of our solidarity as we mobilize support to accelerate our COVID-19 response in Kenya in lockstep with the Government,” he added.

The continuity of humanitarian operations will be critical and would rely on the Government’s support to facilitate internal movement of humanitarian supplies and workers in case of a lockdown; facilitate the operation of humanitarian flights between Nairobi and the refugee camps and vulnerable communities; fast-track and facilitate custom procedures to bring in relief supplies ; and facilitate humanitarian access to particularly vulnerable hotspot areas including refugee camps and urban settlements.

The humanitarian community will comply strictly to the regulations put in place by the Government to contain the spread of COVID-19 and only personnel who have complied with quarantine requirements and are trained in safe/physical distancing and equipped with personal protective equipment (PPE) will be deployed.

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Categories: Africa

COVID-19 and Hope for a Compassionate Future

Thu, 04/09/2020 - 17:23

By Jan Lundius
STOCKHOLM / ROME, Apr 9 2020 (IPS)

The Coronavirus, COVID-19, makes its deadly round across the world. People fall sick and die, communities and entire nations end up in its deadly grip and try to cope with it. Everything is changing, and changing fast and we all have to deal with it together, even if many of us are being physically apart. Humans are social beings. Our mental and physical capacities are created around that fact and crave for support and compassion.

Some of us benefit from social security, relative wealth, access to health care and a home of our own, others lack all of this. COVID-19 brings already existing social ills and inequalities to the surface. The general and the personal are getting mixed up. A collective state of mind becomes part of our intimate sphere of existence. While an imposed quarantine isolates us from others, we become subjects to conflicting information, wild rumours, and apocalyptic prophesies, combined with an awareness of the injustice of unequal suffering and worries about what the future might hold in store. What happens to our bodies affect our minds, and vice versa. We might feel as we are awake within a nightmare, a state of mind that has been described by several imaginative authors.

In Gabriel García Márquez’s One Hundred Year of Solitude the plague comes to the small town of Maconde, which in Márquez’s novel serves as an archetype for countless other Latin American rural towns. However, this plague is not a plague of the body, but of the mind. It makes it impossible for people to sleep and accordingly it also makes them unable to dream. As the plague extends and ultimately affects everyone in Maconde, people do not starve because they can work day and night. They do not suffer since they cannot dream and have thus lost their ability to imagine another existence. To save other communities from the ”illness of insomnia”, the town’s most influential leader, José Arcadio Buendía, decides that it has to be restricted ”to the perimeter of the town. So effective was the quarantine that the day came when the emergency situation was accepted as a natural thing and life was organized in such a way that work picked up its rhythm again.”1 However, at its final stage the plague proves to be deadly. The victims soon lose their memory, their sense of reality and worst of all – their compassion.

One of the lessons learned from this fable might be that we humans cannot subsist without our dreams, hopes and imagination. Furthermore, we all depend on one another. The weak on the strong, the old on the young, and the entire humanity depends on a natural environment we have abused in a horrifying manner.

The imposed quarantine many of us are subject to might hopefully remind us about differences between the rich and the poor – that wealth and class are always an issue and might determine our ability to cope with the pandemic. A Brazilian story may illustrate this fact:

The first death from COVID-19 in Rio de Janeiro was a domestic worker who tried to get treatment for her breathing problems. However, she was sent back home unattended. When her health deteriorated further and she on the 16th of March returned for treatment, she told the hospital staff that her employer had become ill after returning from Italy. It was found that he had been suspected of being infected by the Coronavirus, something he had not told his employee. He had early on been hospitalized and tested positive. His 63-year-old employee died the day after she was admitted to a hospital.2

Similar cases have occurred in other areas of Latin America and the Caribbean, where maids, gardeners, drivers, nurses, hotel staff and other people in the service sector have by employers and clients been infected with COVID-19. This have made several Latin Americans inclined to label COVID-19 as a ”rich man’s disease”. Many of the original COVID-19 cases have been people returning from visits to Spain, or Italy, as well as tourists coming from these countries, or businessmen returning from trips to other European countries, or China. Such patients have generally received excellent and expensive care, while poorer victims of COVID-19 who caught their infection from them have often been left unattended and furthermore forced to suffer the disease under conditions of poor housing, insecure income and deficient, or non-existent health care. Similar stories are told from other parts of the world, where we also witness how migrant workers are desperately trying to return to their homes to avoid becoming locked-in within huge cities, far away from their loved ones. How citizens in war-torn areas of Libya, Yemen, Afghanistan and Syria now are further threatened by the pandemic, as well as the homeless refugees amassed and stuck in camps in border areas of Turkey and Bangladesh. Medical doctors are warning that once the pandemic is spreading from wealthy regions and privileged social classes into poorer strata of society, issues of quarantine, loss of income and inadequate healthcare are going to be paramount and insurmountable for poor nations.

Like the people trapped in Maconde many of those quarantined within affluent societies may be affected by a loss of their sense of reality, while becoming numbed by figures and statistics. Living in wealthy nations and/or secluded within upscale neighbourhoods may make them forget the plight of the less fortunate.

Let us hope that this pandemic will serve as a reminder that we all share this earth and it is our common interest to take care of it together. That many of us might come out of our quarantine with an improved, more compassionate view of the world and our fellow human beings. That this global affliction makes us realize that the best way to mitigate future disasters is to preserve our natural resources in a sustainable manner and guarantee equal education and healthcare for all. This can be done and for our own survival we have to achieve it.

1 García Márquez, Gabriel (1978) One Hundred Years of Solitude. London: Picador, p. 45.
2 https://apublica.org/2020/03/primeira-morte-do-rio-por-coronavirus-domestica-nao-foi-informada-de-risco-de-contagio-pela-patroa/

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.

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Categories: Africa

Kerala Covid-19 Response Model for Emulation

Thu, 04/09/2020 - 13:30

By Anis Chowdhury and Jomo Kwame Sundaram
SYDNEY and KUALA LUMPUR, Apr 9 2020 (IPS)

Within weeks, the Covid-19 epidemic was classified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as an epidemic of international significance, triggering a pre-agreed WHO response. By the end of the first week of April, more than 1.3 million people had been confirmed as infected, with over 65,000 deaths across the world.

Anis Chowdhury

Many governments of developing, especially poor countries are unsure what to do, fearing the likely economic consequences of the ‘lockdowns’ increasingly adopted by Western economies. Indeed, lockdowns may shut down businesses relying on daily turnover and eliminate incomes for daily rated workers.

Meanwhile, most East Asian and some other governments have acted early to trace, test, isolate and treat the infected without lockdowns. Yet, most measures recommended have been criticized as beyond the means of the most vulnerable societies and populations.

Early action crucial
Early measures have required ‘physical distancing’ and other precautionary measures — at work, at home and in the community, at relatively low cost. People also need to be prepared to live differently for a long time to come as part of a ‘new normal’, at least until everyone can be effectively vaccinated.

‘All of government’ approaches are urgently needed everywhere to provide effective leadership to ‘whole of society’ efforts to contain the spread of viral infections. While this is no conventional war, only whole of society mobilization efforts can help mitigate major economic disruption and damage.

This should not only involve public health and police authorities, typically those empowered by draconian lockdowns. But repressive measures are unlikely to secure needed public support for effective enforcement and implementation, and adoption of needed behavioural and cultural changes.

Health authorities must provide publics with much better understanding of the threats faced and the rationale for policy responses to secure compliance. Public appreciation of the challenges involved is crucial for policy compliance and effective implementation.

Physical distancing, social solidarity
Kerala state in southwestern India, with a population of 35 million, has become “a model state in the fight against Covid-19”. Its Left Front-led government was among the first to introduce precautionary state-wide measures against the novel coronavirus threat.

Through appropriate and effective early actions, it has successfully slowed the spread of infection in the state, largely by promoting physical distancing and mainly sanitary precautionary, measures, and providing better protection for health staff well before the hugely disruptive and draconian lockdown imposed in India in late March.

Jomo Kwame Sundaram

The Kerala state government invited religious leaders, local bodies and civil society organizations to participate in policy design and implementation, considering its specific socio-economic conditions, including urban slum environments.

It has communicated effectively in different languages to educate all, including migrants, and to prevent stigmatization of those infected, even opposing the term ‘social distancing’, which has caste connotations, with ‘physical distancing and social solidarity’.

Returning migrants
Despite Kerala’s long-standing achievements in education, health and science, highly educated Keralans tend to migrate to work out of state, if not abroad, seeking more lucrative employment. The state was still recovering from the devastating floods and nipah virus epidemic of 2018 when tens of thousands began returning after losing jobs in the Middle East.

Kerala is also the destination for a large number of Indian internal migrants. With the nationwide lockdown, non-residents, equivalent to almost 5% of Kerala’s population, have returned, causing a surge of new infections.

Such unusually high movements of people have made the state more vulnerable. Despite some controversy, the state appears to have handled the migrant issue very well, especially compared to other state governments and the central government.

There has also been a close connection between Kerala and Wuhan, a popular educational hub offering affordable quality medical and other courses; the first three positive Covid-19 cases detected in India involved returned university students in Wuhan.

The state health department promptly went into action, setting up a coordination centre on 26 January. Recognizing there was no time to be lost, the Kerala state government set up mechanisms to identify, test, isolate and treat those infected, quickly earning an excellent reputation.

Less disruptive, less costly, more effective
Some key features of Kerala’s response, undertaken by a government with very limited fiscal resources, are hence instructive.

*All-of-government approach: involving a range of relevant state government ministries and agencies to design measures to improve consistency, coordination and communication, and to avoid confusion.

*Whole-of-society approach: wide community consultations, including experts, to find the most locally appropriate modes of limiting infections, along with means to monitor and enforce them.

*Social mobilization: communities were provided essential epidemiological information to understand the threat and related issues, ensure compliance with prescribed precautionary measures, and avoid panic.

*No one left behind: adequate supply of essential commodities, particularly food and medicines, has been ensured, especially to protect the most vulnerable sections of society.

To make things worse, Kerala has been discriminated against by the central government’s disaster relief fund on specious grounds. The largely agricultural state has modest fiscal resources of its own as state governments in India have limited fiscal rights and resources.

Credible leadership
The Kerala government has set up 18 committees and holds daily evening meetings to evaluate the situation, issuing media updates about those quarantined, tested and hospitalized .

At these meetings, the state Health Minister and Chief Minister calmly explain what is going on, including what the government is doing. They thus provide credible leadership on the difficult issues involved, securing strong public participation for its mass campaign of containment.

Kerala’s approach has proven less disruptive, less costly and more effective than most others. After recording its first COVID-19 case on January 30, its infection and death rates have been kept relatively low despite much more tracing and testing.

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Categories: Africa

10 Ways Young People are Leading the Way Against COVID-19

Thu, 04/09/2020 - 13:20

A graphic shared in Hashim's #AgirContreCOVID19 Twitter Chat to stop misinformation.

By External Source
Apr 9 2020 (IPS-Partners)

As the world grapples with unprecedented challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, young people are demonstrating their continued leadership in their communities and countries. According to a new UN plan to address COVID-19, young people are some of the most affected by the pandemic’s socio-economic impacts. Nevertheless, youth are also among the most active in global responses: Not only are they on the frontlines as health workers, but they are also advancing health and safety in their roles as researchers, activists, innovators, and communicators. As such, decision-makers must commit to ensuring youth voices are part of the solutions for a healthier, safer, and gender-equal world.

Here are just some of the ways that Women Deliver Young Leaders are stepping up and taking action against the outbreak:

1. Providing essential reproductive health services and companionship

With many countries going into some form of lockdown, women around the world are having trouble accessing safe abortion and contraception. To ensure people are still able to care for their sexual and reproductive health, Lina López and her organization, safe2choose, are offering support via email, website, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. “During these uncertain times, we remain committed to provide safe abortion information and counseling to women and girls from their homes,” Lina said. “Talk to us, we are here to support you.”

In Israel, welfare social worker Or Ram and in the UK, NHS Volunteer Responder Gbemisola Osadua offer telephone support to those experiencing loneliness while in self-isolation. Or also counsels girls with unwanted pregnancies, highlighting the cross-cutting work of social workers during this time of quarantine and other protective measures.

2. Using social media and apps to spread accurate information

According to medical doctor Hashim Hounkpatin of Benin, there are two diseases currently spreading around the world in a viral manner: COVID-19 and fake news. The vaccine for both? “Good information.” Hashim, who launched a mass literacy program in Francophone Africa called Arayaa, teamed up with a consortium of health-related content producers to organize a Tweetchat about how to keep safe against COVID-19. Their hashtag #AgirContreCOVID19 has reached more than 90,000 participants to date. Additionally, they are designing an app that displays trusted knowledge in local languages and allows users to interact directly with experts for help.

3. Speaking out for effective and equitable care

On top of treating patients, young doctors are also responding by sounding the alarm bells around limited resources and demanding greater investments in health. Sujitha Selvarajah of the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) emphasizes the need for personal protective equipment (PPE), increased testing capacity, and protection of the most vulnerable populations. “This pandemic reveals the existing inequalities in society,” Sujitha said. “Protecting the most vulnerable should be a priority at all times, not just during a pandemic.”

Sujitha Selvarajah’s medical team appeals the public to stay home and protect others.

Meanwhile, Gvantsa Khizanishvili of Georgia is focused on improving access to quality and equitable care for cancer patients during the pandemic. As the Tbilisi City Manager of C/Can, Gvantsa is calling for oncologists around the world to share information and data on the impact of COVID-19 on cancer patients. Because cancer patients are at higher risk of complications from the virus, she believes “it is crucial to provide the most accurate information, resources and support to people with cancer, cancer survivors, their families, and caregivers.”

4. Championing mental wellness

Protecting everyone from the pandemic also means safeguarding people’s mental health. In Poland, physician and psychiatry resident Anna Szczegielniak is bringing attention to how social isolation puts additional stress on individuals, especially those who are homeless, have no internet connectivity, or lack support from their families. According to Anna, physicians in the country are organizing social media groups for those in crisis and are highlighting the value of community. “Only united we can beat this pandemic,” Anna said.

5. Innovating to improve access to lifesaving testing

Widespread testing is a vital part of saving lives in a pandemic. To bolster their city’s coronavirus defense, Helena Likaj developed and implemented a drive-thru testing center in New Orleans, Louisiana. Every weekday afternoon and while supplies last, their facility provides free COVID-19 testing to individuals riding up in cars and bicycles.

Helena Likaj conducts drive-thru testing.

6. Conducting research and developing technology

Another critical aspect of combatting coronavirus is research. Hamza Meghari of Palestine, a Clinical Care Research Assistant currently based in the UK, is joining forces with the World Health Organization to conduct a study of the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of COVID-19. This research would enable better understanding of the disease and therefore improved management of its symptoms and spread. While things may be uncertain now, “we should all believe in the power of scientific research,” Hamza said.

Hamza Meghari prepares materials for his research.

7. Harnessing the strength of communications

Jama Jack is the Head of Communications of the Medical Research Council Unit for the only COVID-19 testing center in The Gambia. For her, one of the biggest local challenges is the information gap, so she created posters and videos busting myths about coronavirus and published the materials in various Gambian languages. “Solidarity will provide an opportunity for the sharing of correct information, and this can help to minimize the potential for panic,” Jama said.

Similarly, editor, producer, and presenter Robert Mukondiwa provides daily updates to Zimbabweans (and the rest of the world) about his country’s efforts to tackle COVID-19. Through informative programming at Zimpapers TV Network, Robert is influencing others to engage in helpful behavior changes such as social distancing and self-isolation.

Jama Jack demonstrates good hygiene next to a poster she created.

Robert Mukondiwa at Zimpapers TV Network.

8. Delivering food and sanitation

In a time when essentials are scarce, young activists are working to fill the needs of their communities. Community Development for Peace (CDP) founder Muhammad Ferdaus works through his organization to distribute dry food and sanitation kits to daily laborers — such as street vendors and rickshaw pullers — in Bangladesh. Since Dhaka’s lockdown has made maintaining health and safety especially difficult in the slum area of Korail, Muhammad gives these residents hygiene products and provides training on how to keep their surroundings clean.

Social activist Krishna Maheshwari is also providing free meals to families in Pakistan. His self-initiated service prioritizes single women and widows, as well as workers whose livelihoods have been disrupted by the crisis.

Community Development for Peace prepares food donations.

Bags of food packed by Krishna Maheshwari.

9. Engaging elected officials and lawmakers

As a lawyer, Bernarda Ordóñez Moscoso used her role as legal advisor at the National Assembly of Ecuador to secure funding for COVID-19 response. After Bernarda urged political parties to donate money they had set aside for election campaigning, the President of Ecuador announced that the government would channel these reserves into fighting the pandemic. Often, violence against girls and women tends to skyrocket in times of crisis. In response, Bernarda is also helping implement a protocol to address the safety of girls and women during the emergency.

10. Ensuring the most vulnerable are not left behind

Several reports show that those in humanitarian settings, particularly groups who are displaced and/or living in camps, may experience the direst effects of COVID-19. Young people like Muzna Dureid are raising their voices to make sure these populations don’t get left behind in the crisis. As Liason Officer at White Helmets, a volunteer organization that has gained international attention for rescuing wounded civilians during Syria’s civil war, Muzna advocates for a “global effort of expertise, technology, money, and materials to save lives everywhere, including in Syria,” where crowded refugee settlements leave girls and women especially vulnerable to the disease. “The ceasefire is the only way to deliver medical products,” Muzna said.

White Helmets sterilizing schools, mosques, and other public places.

To read more about how Women Deliver Young Leaders and other youth around the world are affected by this pandemic and how they are responding, please visit our Youth Deliver channels on Twitter and Facebook.

For resources on how to effectively engage with young people in your work, check out Women Deliver’s paper on Meaningful Youth Engagement.

Learn more about Women Deliver’s response here.

All photos courtesy of Women Deliver Young Leaders.

The post 10 Ways Young People are Leading the Way Against COVID-19 appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Women Deliver Young Leaders perform vital work on the frontlines of the pandemic response

The post 10 Ways Young People are Leading the Way Against COVID-19 appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Categories: Africa

Alive Amidst the Mayhem of COVID-19 – A Sex Worker’s Story

Thu, 04/09/2020 - 11:21

By Fairuz Ahmed
NEW YORK, Apr 9 2020 (IPS)

For a Bangladeshi woman, who has worked as a sex worker since childhood, her future post-COVID-19 looks hopeless.

Shilpy, who works at Daulatdia, the largest brothel in the country, told IPS how she now also fears for the future of her two daughters.

“When I was born, the woman my mother worked for gave everyone rice pudding as a celebration. This is not a place for male children, only females are valued,” she says, adding that when her mother died, she wasn’t given a proper burial. Shilpy soon found herself involved in the sex industry.

“I think I was around six years old when I learned to dance, put makeup on and taught other traits profitable for the business. I was sold after a few years,” Shilpy says.

Sex work is legal in Bangladesh for women aged 18 or older, although new sex workers are often much younger. Many of them are sold into sex work for about $250 which the women need to repay to their handlers, usually older women, known as ‘madams’.

The sex workers’ rights were confirmed in 2014. The Bangladesh National Women Lawyers Association convinced the High Court the eviction of the sex workers from another large brothel, Kandapara, was illegal. This decision was welcomed as girls born in a brothel or belonging to a sex-worker are shunned by society and have no place to go.

However, the COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing protocols to prevent the diseases spread resulted in the closure of brothels.

The World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11, 2020, characterised the Coronavirus/COVID-19 disease as a pandemic and called for a comprehensive, all-of-society strategy to prevent infections from saving lives and minimising the impact. Following the global outbreak, the Bangladesh government ordered a shutdown of all businesses, including brothels until at least April 14.

The sex workers have accepted the government order because it is a serious health issue.

Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women, in March commented the pandemic had shifted the way we work and live. She noted women’s unique role in this.

“One thing is clear about the COVID-19 pandemic, as stock markets tumble, schools and universities close, people stockpile supplies and home becomes a different and crowded space: this is not just a health issue.

“It is a profound shock to our societies and economies, exposing the deficiencies of public and private arrangements that currently function only if women play multiple and underpaid roles,” Mlambo-Ngcuka said.

Sex workers are one of the categories of women profoundly affected by international shutdowns.

The Bangladesh government promised to give all of the sex workers a package of 30 kgs of rice, $25, and a freeze on rent during the lockdown. But this is little comfort to the more than 3500 sex workers at the brothels which were frequented by 8000 customers a day.

For Shilpy, the lockdown is devastating. A few years ago, a local NGO health worker told her about a safe home where her children could go and get an education.

“Without a second thought I signed up my children on the spot and later left my two daughters in their care when the little one was only six months old,” says Shilpy. “I just knew that they needed to be out of this place. I pay a portion of the tuition, and the NGO pays for the rest. I save $1 someday or $2 on good days and keep it for their education. The NGO lady assured me that my children would never have to return to the brothel. I want them to have a normal life and get married.”

With the closure, this future she planned for her children is no longer assured.

Shilpy is not alone; most of the sex workers face similar dilemmas.

Most sex workers in Bangladesh live hand-to-mouth existences, with only about one in nine having the ability to save up and feed themselves. On average, workers earn between $12 to $24 a day.

The truth is that many of these women may not return to sex work for some time after the pandemic has come under control.

Many stories describe men’s fears of getting COVID-19 when engaging sex workers. Fewer stories define how sex workers’ lives remain extraordinarily precarious and the risks they face of being infected with the novel coronavirus. The physical and psychological harm, abuse and exploitation, the perpetrators, sex buyers, and traffickers inflict on women and girls in prostitution remain with the sex workers forever.

Yet for Shilpy sex work was her means for survival.

“Now, as our place is closed, I have no way to earn, and I fear that my children will be ruined. I have no place to keep them. My family cut all family ties, and this is the only home I have.”

The post Alive Amidst the Mayhem of COVID-19 – A Sex Worker’s Story appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Categories: Africa

Covid-19 & its Impact on the Work of Disarmament

Thu, 04/09/2020 - 10:36

Credit: United Nations

By Izumi Nakamitsu
UNITED NATIONS, Apr 9 2020 (IPS)

Humanity has faced no challenge greater than COVID-19 since the Second World War. As this rapidly developing global health emergency places unprecedented strain on our medical, economic and social systems, we must work hard to prevent new risks for instability, unrest and conflict.

The pandemic arrived as our frameworks to prevent catastrophic confrontation are crumbling. Countries are building faster and more accurate nuclear arms, developing new weapon technologies with unpredictable implications and pouring more resources into militaries than at any point in decades.

In the 75-year history of the United Nations, the folly of seeking security in vast destructive arsenals has never been clearer.Nor has the need to finally put the brakes on this deadly addiction.

Recognizing this, the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) remains fully active and committed to the important work of disarmament. We are adapting our working methods and substantive activities to continue operations during the COVID-19 crisis.

Our staff strives to be nimble and flexible, and we are carrying on work around the world to help people in all States apply every tool of disarmament to build a more peaceful and secure future.

I will explain how the pandemic is affecting each area of our Office’s work. I will also share some of the changes we are making to continue fulfilling our mandates and advancing the Secretary-General’s Agenda for Disarmament.

Working to eliminate all weapons of mass destruction

Our Office is working tirelessly with the States Parties of relevant treaties, instruments and bodies, as well as civil society and other actors, to continue pursuing a world free of all nuclear weapons and secure against threats from biological or chemical weapons.

The largest immediate impact of COVID-19 has been the postponement of the 2020 Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, which would have been an opportunity to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the Treaty’s entry into force and the twenty-fifth year since its indefinite extension.

It is important to remember, however, that the Review Conference will take place as soon as circumstances permit, fulfilling its tasks so critical to our collective security. We are working with the president-designate and bureau to make sure this happens.

Likewise, we are working with States and our colleagues across the Secretariat and the United Nations system to explore all options—from virtual meetings to online exercises—to help prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction to non-State actors; support instruments and processes from the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty to the Conference on the Establishment of a Middle East Zone Free of Nuclear Weapons and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction; enhance the preparedness of the existing Secretary-General’s Mechanism for the investigation of the use of chemical, biological and toxin weapons; and assist the Security Council in efforts to hold the perpetrators of chemical weapons use accountable.

Izumi Nakamitsu. Credit: United Nations

Tackling threats from conventional weapons

As Member States review plans to hold the Seventh Biennial Meeting of States on the Programme of Action on small arms and light weapons from 15 to 19 June, the Office for Disarmament Affairs is continuing to support the entire process for the meeting, including an elaboration of the Secretary-General’s report on small arms and light weapons.

With regard to the Group of Governmental Experts on “Problems arising from the accumulation of conventional ammunition stockpiles in surplus”, we are facilitating arrangements to hold discussions from 20 to 24 April, as scheduled, in a virtual, informal format. Our staff also continues to support the Chair in bilateral consultations with Experts during the intersessional period.

While the COVID-19 pandemic has delayed some of our practical support for conventional arms-focused projects in beneficiary countries, our Office continues to carry out essential preparatory work to guarantee their successful full implementation when the situation allows.

These temporary impacts extend to our European Union-funded project on Gender and Small Arms and Light Weapons, which we are continuing through the development of online training and desk research.

The global health emergency is similarly affecting our Office’s support for the African Union’s “Silencing the Guns” initiative through the Africa Amnesty Month Project, but we are carrying on consultations and coordination with national counterparts and key project partners, desk research, and preparation of workshop and sensitization material.

With our new funding mechanism, the Saving Lives Entity (SALIENT), the Office for Disarmament Affairs is collaborating with the United Nations Development Programme and the Peacebuilding Support Office to finalize administrative project documentation and compile terms of reference for field assessment missions in the beneficiary countries.

Our Office will also continue to service and update, as appropriate, the databases for our transparency mechanisms, the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms and the United Nations Report on Military Expenditures. Meanwhile, the United Nations SaferGuard Technical Review Board continues to actively engage through an online platform to review the International Ammunition Technical Guidelines. This review is expected to be finalized by the end of 2020, as scheduled.

Addressing emerging weapon technologies

Despite the postponement of the Disarmament Commission’s annual session, my Office continues to work closely with the Office for Outer Space Affairs and the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research to facilitate the next steps in multilateral deliberations to address the disarmament aspects of outer space.

These steps will include implementing and further developing transparency and confidence-building measures as well as elaborating effective measures for the prevention of an arms race in outer space. We will also continue to engage on these issues within the framework of the Conference on Disarmament and the General Assembly First Committee.

With regard to the Open-ended Working Group and the Group of Governmental Experts on information and telecommunications in the context of international security, I am committed to working with the Chair of each process to assess the need to change its meeting schedule.

To date, the Chair of the Open-ended Working Group has had to cancel a round of intersessional consultations scheduled for 30 and 31 March on the pre-draft of the Group’s report, requesting written contributions from delegations instead. Possible impacts on the other meetings of the two processes will be reviewed on an ongoing basis.

Ensuring continuity in Geneva-based disarmament processes

In Geneva, where the core business is to support meetings of disarmament conventions and bodies, COVID-19 is likely to impact meeting plans throughout the year.

So far, the Conference on Disarmament could not hold plenary meetings from 16 to 27 March as planned. With its session scheduled to resume on 25 May, our Office is supporting the current President in holding virtual consultations with the other Presidents of the 2020 session as well as regional coordinators.

The pandemic is also affecting planned consultations of other Geneva-based disarmament conventions. Our staff in Geneva is undertaking extensive consultations with office holders, States Parties and stakeholders to identify options ranging from cancellation to postponement to virtual alternatives.

We are also continuing our substantive support to these disarmament processes to the fullest extent possible.

Our Office is also pushing ahead in efforts to strengthen the financial sustainability of Geneva-based conventions. We are working closely with States to promote tools and platforms to address structural challenges across Conventions, while also increasing accountability, ownership and transparency.

Our projects in support of the Biological Weapons Convention and a prospective fissile material cut-off treaty are largely ongoing. We are also preparing strategic communications to mark the forty-fifth anniversary of the Biological Weapons Convention entering into force and the fortieth anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons.

Advancing disarmament education

In Vienna, the Office for Disarmament Affairs is continuing preparations to implement the online portion of the joint project on disarmament education it is undertaking with the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

Recently, this programme finished selecting 150 participants from a competitive field of more than 1,000 candidates. While the project’s eight-week online portion will commence on 6 April as planned, both organizations have agreed to postpone its in-person segment in Vienna.

We are also working with our partners to explore further development of our online disarmament education materials.

Promoting women’s empowerment & equal representation in disarmament

In a year that held much promise for celebrating and further accelerating progress and partnerships for gender equality and women’s empowerment, including in disarmament processes and forums, the COVID-19 crisis creates added uncertainty around the ability to advance this agenda amidst the competing priorities of Governments.

Our Office remains committed to promoting women’s leadership and full, equal and meaningful participation in all disarmament processes, including in meetings held in a virtual format, and to strengthening analysis and approaches that take into account the gendered impact of different weapons.

Promoting disarmament at the regional level

The three regional centres of the Office for Disarmament Affairs continue to operate and maintain regular contact with donors and beneficiary States. Although the pandemic has forced the postponement of in-person programmatic activities in Africa, in Latin America and the Caribbean, and in Asia and the Pacific, the centres continue to undertake related efforts that do not entail travel and operations on the ground.

In this regard, they are elaborating substantive notes, supporting the drafting of national action plans and carrying out other, similar functions.

Meanwhile, ongoing preparations for meetings and workshops by our Office will allow the centres to rapidly resume their full operations at the soonest opportunity. In addition, the regional centres continue to engage with donors on new projects.

Communicating with stakeholders

Our Office remains committed to providing Member States, the diplomatic community, non-governmental organizations and the public at large with unbiased, up-to-date and relevant information on multilateral disarmament, non-proliferation and arms control through our website and social media channels.

We are also continuing our work on upcoming publications, including the forty-fourth annual edition of the United Nations Disarmament Yearbook.

As States continue to finalize arrangements for upcoming meetings, we will keep interested stakeholders informed of their status regarding cancellations, postponements or virtual arrangements.

Our Office is also continuing its efforts to engage, educate and empower young people through online resources, including e-newsletters and the development of a dedicated youth website.

Looking ahead

The COVID-19 pandemic will test us all, and like World War II, it will transform our world in ways that are unforeseeable.

But let’s remember, unlike the trials of that horrific world war, we all face this crisis together.

This pandemic has the potential to unite societies, institutions and individuals, just as the hard lessons of the Second World War laid the foundation for deeper international cooperation and stronger institutions to support our common security.

The Office for Disarmament Affairs will remain a steady partner in our collective effort to prevent this global health emergency from breeding conflict.

And I sincerely hope that in our solidarity through this crisis, we will realize we can transcend our entrenched divisions to pursue our highest collective aspirations.

These include ensuring healthy lives, promoting the well-being of every citizen across the planet, and striving to build a peaceful and secure world for all.

Let us put humanity at the centre of our security.

The post Covid-19 & its Impact on the Work of Disarmament appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Izumi Nakamitsu is UN Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs

The post Covid-19 & its Impact on the Work of Disarmament appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Categories: Africa

The Fierce Urgency of Now

Thu, 04/09/2020 - 08:31

By Yasmine Sherif
Apr 9 2020 (IPS-Partners)

We are living in a crisis unprecedented since World War II: COVID-19. The pandemic brutally sweeps across the globe, where we already face a massive global learning crisis and multiple brutal humanitarian crises. How much more can those left furthest behind in forced displacement and armed conflicts take?

Across 26 countries of conflicts and forced displacement, host-governments are now struggling to find solutions for the 230 million estimated children and youth out of school, not the least the girls who are the most marginalized. UN agencies and civil society are trying their best to mitigate the impact of the Corona virus on their life and their learning. COVID-19 poses enormous risks for those left furthest behind, their learning and development, their safety, their food security, and their overall physical and mental health.

In response, Education Cannot Wait immediately conducted a rapid assessment in close conjunction with all our stakeholders and partners in-country ‘The Fierce Urgency of Now! Education In Emergency Response to COVID-19.’ The assessment paints an alarming picture of the huge impact that the COVID-19 crisis is having on already severely strained education systems in countries affected by conflicts and forced displacement. There is an acute shortage of distance learning tools and materials, which means that millions of students won’t be able to complete the current school year. Many do not have access to trusted and accurate information about the measures and behaviours that mitigate the threat of the virus.

In support of the COVID-19 Global Humanitarian Response Plan, ECW is doing what it can to deliver urgently needed assistance, both by making the necessary adjustments to existing programmes and by releasing funds to quickly move from face-to-face to distance learning. This entails stepping up investments in mental health and psychosocial support, water, sanitation and hygiene, as well as other cross-sectoral activities linked to student, teacher and parent well-being and protection against, and dealing with the impacts of, COVID-19.

Last week, ECW released it emergency reserve of US$23 million to 55 UN agencies and Non-governmental organizations to protect and support vulnerable girls and boys facing the COVID-19 pandemic in 26 crisis-affected countries. As the Chair of the Education Cannot Wait High-Level Steering Group and UN Special Envoy, Gordon Brown, stated: “Martin Luther King Jr spoke of the fierce urgency of now. The crisis is now and that is why ECW is making its entire emergency reserve available.”

When there is a crisis, one’s response cannot wait. To paraphrase Martin Luther King Jr “In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there is such thing as being too late.” At Education Cannot Wait, we encourage our strategic partners to help fill $50 million gaps now for the first three months from April to June and to stay with us throughout the entire emergency response and during the recovery in the aftermath of COVID-19.

The post The Fierce Urgency of Now appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Yasmine Sherif, is Director of Education Cannot Wait

The post The Fierce Urgency of Now appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Categories: Africa

Helping the homeless of Rome combat COVID-19

Thu, 04/09/2020 - 08:13

Credit: Martina Martelloni / INTERSOS

By Elena L. Pasquini
ROME, Apr 9 2020 (IPS-Partners)

Behind the Tiburtina Station, in the East of Rome, with just a small covered area protecting from the inclemency of the weather, sleeping close to each other is the only way to stay warm. A boy of Ivorian origin is alone, far from everyone, in the centre of the sidewalk, exposed to a freezing wind.

‘He told me he preferred to die of cold than to get infected, because he was very scared and he knew that it was not safe for him to be close to the others’, Dr. Antonella Torchiaro told Degrees of Latitude. She is a physician of the NGO Intersos, one of the few organisations carrying out prevention activity, medical examinations and screening of COVID-19 symptoms among those who do not have a secure roof over their head in the Italian capital.

An estimated eight thousand people are homeless in Rome; between fourteen and sixteen thousand, if the figure includes those who call ‘home’ an inadequate housing or who live in such extreme exclusion that their living conditions are comparable to those who are homeless.

About two hundred and fifty persons crowd the area of Tiburtina, where social distancing is hard, if not impossible, because the sheltered space is narrow. Among the most vulnerable population, there are also those who live in the squatted houses, mostly in the East of the city, and at the Termini station, in the centre.

They are migrants and Italians fearing not only the disease but the future, living without hand sanitiser, access to water, having lost their jobs, with few chances of getting what they need to survive.

Since April 1st, Intersos has deployed two social health teams in the field because the demands are so high: In just three weeks, the first mobile medical unit reached 610 people and performed 255 medical examinations. What is being protected, however, is not only the individual health but also the collective one: ‘It is as if this epidemic reveals [….] that the public health is made up of many rings and the people who live in a condition of fragility or social marginality are fundamental links in the chain. Excluding them means undermining everyone else’s health, the community. It is as if this moment reminded us how important it is to start from the most fragile ring to ensure the tightness of the entire system’, shared Torchiaro, who is also the medical coordinator of the clinic of Intersos24, a project which includes a primary care centre the Italian NGO has set up in Torre Spaccata, on the outskirts of Rome. It provides protection and support to unaccompanied minors, women who are victims of violence and exploitation, as well as young adults who are out of the national reception systems and are living in conditions of vulnerability.

Fear of the virus, fear of the future

Credit: Martina Martelloni / INTERSOS

Those met by Intersos’s physicians and cultural mediators behind Tiburtina Station are mostly migrants. They are waiting for the regularisation of their residence permit, sometimes they are passing through just to get their documents between one seasonal job and another in the agricultural areas of Foggia, Calabria or Northern Italy; or they are new adults expelled from the Italian reception system, employed under the table at car washes, restaurants or as unloaders. ‘It remains a place of transit for people who are temporarily homeless, for migrants in conditions of extreme social unease, exposed to labor exploitation’, Torchiaro said.

The work, even the illegal work, is no longer there, and those men and women, the unseen ghosts of the emergency, cannot imagine a future. Torchiaro observes, ‘At the moment everything is halted, so they are living suspended lives, lives that were already suspended as they waited for a residence permit or for an improvement to their conditions’.

The same is happening at Termini, where chronically homeless Italians and migrants, who get their living from handouts or from charities, find a shelter and where the inhabitants of the large buildings around Piazza Vittorio Emanuele gravitate. Those are the most fragile from the Chinese and Bengali communities, and being poorly integrated, they do not have easy access to the information necessary to protect themselves from the virus.

In the squatted houses, more information is being circulated among the better organised groups. Coming from the experience of the political struggle, these groups are more aware of what is happening and how to prevent the spread of the disease. ‘But they live with a double fear: [becoming ill] and losing their homes. Getting sick would mean leaving the house, jeopardising their squatting rights. It is the fear of losing the little they have’, Torchiaro stressed. As for the women assisted by Intersos: many are caregivers without a contract, some of which probably continue working without being able to protect themselves and without being entitled to paid leave should they contract the disease.

Credit: Martina Martelloni / INTERSOS

However, those who are on the streets experience the greatest despair, like the Afghan boy met by Torchiaro, homeless after finding and then losing a job. He carries the trauma of someone who comes from a wartorn country: ‘He suffers from panic attacks; he told me of the worsening of symptoms and insomnia. He told me he already had problems due to his past, his experience. And then the street, the difficulty of sleeping on the street. He told me: “Every evening, when I think I won’t be able to shelter myself from the cold, panic attacks come and now this fear of dying and not being able to do anything to protect myself is tormenting me”’.

People lacking the most important personal protective equipment — a home — feel more and more isolated: ‘In Termini, those who usually have oppositional behaviour are increasing. They are even more agitated and nervous; they feel their impotence quadrupled compared to normal conditions’. They often only manage to eat a single meal every day, most of the time just lunch, in the few soup kitchens left open or thanks to food distributions. ‘Moving around in Rome is now much more complex, especially for people who are afraid of being stopped by the police … This means the struggle to survive is increasing’, Torchiaro explained.

Fighting the virus among the most vulnerable

Prevention in the context of such fragility is particularly hard. In the stations, homeless people live in crowded spaces and have no way to bathe or wash hands: ‘We are distributing toilet kits, but they are not enough; alcoholic gel, wet wipes and surgical masks’. It is also difficult to make a differential diagnosis, that is to distinguish between COVID-19 and the normal flu because those who live on the streets not only run a greater risk of contracting the coronavirus and of not reaching the health services in time — ‘with risks for individual health and collective’ — but they are also much more exposed to other types of diseases. ‘That is one of the main expressions of inequalities in health. The possibility of protecting [the homeless] from common environmental factors would certainly simplify a possible early diagnosis’, Torchiaro added.

Credit: Martina Martelloni / INTERSOS

Many of them have previous diseases or chronic conditions, from hypertension to diabetes, from broncho pneumopathies to oncological pathologies. Often they know about the pandemic and the main prevention measures, but ‘we often find very fragile people — those with discomfort or mental difficulties, very old, who do not speak the language well, who are more isolated or do not have a community of reference — bewildered, frightened because they have the perception that we are certainly in an exceptional moment, but then, in the individual conversation, the lack of information comes out’.

Most of them want to be examined by Intersos’s doctors because they are scared. Only at the beginning of oIntersos’s activity, Torchiaro said, was there some distrust because after the Decree of 9 March imposing the lockdown, many nonprofit organisations have slowed down their activities in order to adapt to the new conditions and the areas of fragility in the city have been left to their own devices. Intersos itself had to change its way of working, closing the centre of Torre Spaccata and finding accommodation for its guests, asking for permits to operate and implementing new procedures ranging from individual protections to the daily sanitisation of uniforms and means of transport.

An extremely complex and time-consuming job, although the most demanding aspect, according to Torchiaro, is not so much the assistance to the people as the making sure that ‘the needs of those we meet’ get a concrete institutional response because the public institutions are currently struggling.

The opening of reception and active surveillance centres for the homeless is crucial: the Plan of the Municipality of Rome foresees the opening of 24H facilities for approximately 450 persons, but just 240 for the whole day. Pending this, Intersos is calling for the government to provide what is essential, water: ‘Awaiting the opening of the centres, which are the most urgent thing, strengthening or reopening the facilities dedicated to the personal hygiene of the homeless or [installing] chemical toilets [is fundamental]’.

Without adequate places to shelter those who do not have a home, prevention is impossible—it is impossible, without a home, to call health services, to enforce active surveillance and isolation, or to monitor symptoms. ‘At this moment, there are no places for active surveillance unless the person is positive for the swab, but the person [does] the swab only if he has done active surveillance’, Torchiaro explained.

‘The reality is that there is still no access to those centres, and in any case, they will not be enough.’

On March 19, however, Intersos signed an agreement with the Municipality of Rome to transfer people in particularly vulnerable conditions into a dedicated structure.

This story was originally published by Degrees of Latitude

The post Helping the homeless of Rome combat COVID-19 appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Categories: Africa

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