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Old taxi Park in Uganda's Capital Kampala. Credit Wambi Michael/IPS

By External Source
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 31 2019 (IPS)

Over half of the world’s population now live in cities, with numbers expected to double by 2050, but while urbanization poses serious challenges, cities can also be powerhouses for sustainable development; something the UN is spotlighting on World Cities Day, marked 31 October. 

The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) will host a celebration at its Paris Headquarters on Thursday, convening representatives from all corners of the world for discussions on how cities can combat the climate crisis, create more inclusive urban spaces, and contribute to technical innovation.

Cities provide a wealth of opportunities, jobs included, and generate over 80 per cent of gross national product across the globe, according to UN estimates. Urban areas also account for between 60 and 80 per cent of all energy consumption, despite only occupying three per cent of the planet’s surface and are responsible for three quarters of all greenhouse gas emissions

 Cities provide a wealth of opportunities, jobs included, and generate over 80 per cent of gross national product across the globe, according to UN estimates. Urban areas also account for between 60 and 80 per cent of all energy consumption, despite only occupying three per cent of the planet’s surface and are responsible for three quarters of all greenhouse gas emissions.

In addressing these pros and cons, the Organisation has advocated for a “people-centred” development model, and aims to “re-humanise cities” in the face of trends impacting them, from population growth, demographic shifts, and increasing the risk of disasters induced by climate change.

This year’s theme: “Changing the world: innovations and better life for future generations” spotlights the role of technology and young people in building sustainable cities. To do so, Thursday’s commemorative event will be organized along four key discussion themes: ‘Cities 4 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)’, ‘Cities 4 Climate Action’, ‘Cities 4 Communities’, and ‘Cities 4 the Future’.

In line with its multidisciplinary mandate, UNESCO’s 2004 Creative Cities Network continues to harness the various ways cities spanning the globe are placing creativity and cultural industries at the heart of their development plans.

From gastronomy in Tucson, Arizona, to design in Nagoya, Japan, the network engages 180 cities in total, which integrate creative approaches in their development plans. See the complete list of cities, and their creative undertakings here.

For World Cities Day this year, UNESCO is partnering with the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), UN-Habitat, and refugee agency (UNHCR) to amplify the concerted action of the United Nations for cities alongside their planners and other urban players.

The UN-proclaimed World Day serves as a call for States, municipalities and city dwellers to work together for transformative change and sustainable strategies for cities, as urbanisation continues to swell.

 

This story was originally published by UN News

The post As Urbanisation Grows, Cities Unveil Sustainable Development Solutions appeared first on Inter Press Service.

By Emilio Godoy
VILLA DE ZAACHILA, Mexico, Oct 30 2019 (IPS)

The sun’s rays are also used to cook food and thus replace the burning of firewood and gas, improve the health of local residents and fuel the energy transition towards the use of renewable sources – the objectives of an enterprise in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca.

Sponsored by the Washington-based non-governmental organisation Solar Household Energy (SHE), women from 10 communities have received some 200 solar cookers, including residents of the municipality of Villa de Zaachila, which has about 43,000 inhabitants.

Solar cookers function as a sort of greenhouse that cooks food by concentrating heat. They are are low-tech devices that use reflective panels to focus sunlight on a pot set in the middle.

 

 

The pot “uses as fuel the sun’s rays, which are totally free, are 100 percent clean, do not emit carbon dioxide and thus promote the energy transition. The technique foments women’s empowerment, makes it possible to cook healthy foods and keeps women from inhaling smoke from burning firewood,” explains Margarita Christlieb, SHE’s representative in Mexico.

In 2004, the first attempts began to distribute solar cookers in Oaxaca. In 2008, activists created the initiative “Solar energy for mobile food stalls in Mexico”, sponsored by three Swiss institutions: the Geneva city government, the SolarSpar cooperative and the non-governmental organisation GloboSol.

In 2016, SHE initiated a pilot project in indigenous communities to evaluate how well the solar cookers had been accepted.

The four-litre pot, which has a useful life of between five and 10 years, costs about 25 dollars, of which SHE covers half and the beneficiaries the other half.

Some 19 million of Mexico’s 130 million people use solid fuels for cooking, a practice that led to an estimated 15,000 premature deaths in 2016 from the ingestion of harmful particles, according to the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi).

The main material consumed by 79 percent of these households is LPG, followed by wood or charcoal (11 percent) and natural gas (seven percent).

In Oaxaca, gas and firewood each account for 49 percent of household consumption, with other fuels making up the rest. It is one of the three Mexican states with the greatest energy poverty, defined as more than 10 percent of a household’s income spent on energy.

The promoters of the initiative are betting on expanding the delivery of the devices. But to do so they need government and private support, as part of a broader policy fomenting the use of solar energy.

 

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• Mexican Women Use Sunlight Instead of Firewood or Gas to Cook Meals

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By African Development Bank
ABIDJAN, Cote d’Ivoire , Oct 30 2019 (IPS-Partners)

The Board of Governors of the African Development Bank will hold its fifth extraordinary meeting on Thursday, 31 October 2019, at the Sofitel Abidjan, Hotel Ivoire. During the meeting, the Bank’s shareholders will make signification decisions, and a major announcement is expected.

The Board of Governors of the Bank represents the 80 members, including 54 countries of the African continent, and 26 across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.

About the Bank

The African Development Bank was established in 1964 by 33 African countries, many of which had only just achieved independence. Their objective was to have an African development finance institution to manage African issues and under African control, a role the Bank has effectively played since its inception. The Bank currently has 80 member countries, including the 54 states of the African continent, and 26 across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.

Apart from the Bank’s unique and central role in Africa’s economic transformation, it has several comparative advantages, with considerable experience and skill in: investing in quality infrastructure, strengthening Africa’s private sector, promoting regional integration, strengthening economic governance; and mobilizing development funds for Africa.

Media Contact: Alkassoum Diallo, Communication and External Relations Department, African Development Bank, email: a.a.diallo@afdb.org

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Justin Sandefur is a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development (CGD). Julian Duggan is a research assistant at the Center for Global Development.

By Justin Sandefur and Julian Duggan
WASHINGTON DC, Oct 30 2019 (IPS)

Leading economic indicators have slowed or reversed. Criticisms of official statistics are mounting. But the IMF and World Bank continue to forecast 6-percent growth by simple extrapolation.

As of late last year, official data suggested India was the fastest growing major economy in the world. But serious doubts have begun to emerge about the true state of the economy.

The head of the government’s own think tank has expressed alarm at a liquidity crisis that he called “unprecedented in the last 70 years,” and analysts are debating the causes and depth of an ongoing economic slowdown.

Nobody was surprised earlier this month when the World Bank lowered its 2019 growth projection for India to 6 percent from 7.5 percent just four months earlier, and the IMF followed suit, dropping its 7 percent forecast from July down to 6.1 percent.

But given the state of affairs in India’s economy to date in 2019, the immediate question for the World Bank and IMF isn’t why they lowered their forecasts, but why they still remain so high.

The dramatic slump in non-GDP indicators
We looked at the growth of leading economic indicators from official Indian government sources for April to September 2019, which corresponds to the first six months covered by the IMF’s new forecast.

Several key indicators are not just slowing, but in absolute decline, including non-oil imports (-6.6 percent in current dollars), non-oil exports (-1.6 percent in current dollars), and the index of production of capital and infrastructure goods (-3.5 percent up to August 2019).

Other indicators show positive growth, but far below the 6 percent benchmark that the World Bank and IMF project for the economy as a whole: the aggregate index of industrial production is up just 2.5 percent, the index of manufacturing output up just 2.1 percent, and receipts from the goods and services tax are up just 1.6 percent in real terms. Growth in toothpaste sales is slowing, car sales have declined for 11 consecutive months, and reports suggested declines in underwear sales.

India: IMF growth forecast versus early 2019 indicators

The IMF’s 2019 growth forecast for India looks optimistic given other key indicators for the first half of the fiscal year

Note: Growth of non-oil imports and exports are expressed in current US dollars, downloaded from the government of India, Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics. GDP is measured in real Indian rupees, deflated with the official CPI. The 2018 growth rate is taken from the World Bank WDI. The index of industrial production is taken from Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation and ends in August rather than September 2019.

The failure of GDP to track imports has been cited as evidence of manipulation of official growth rates, particularly in the case of China.

A recent paper by John Fernald, Eric Hsu, and Mark Spiegel of the San Francisco Fed shows that the correlation between GDP and imports is higher in countries with better statistical systems (0.9 for the U.S.), and that imports—which can be verified using the export data of third parties—are a better predictor of other leading economic indicators than is GDP in China’s case.

In India’s case it is not just imports, but also exports, industrial production, tax revenues, and the banking system all pointing in the same downward direction.

New data, new doubts
The latest indicators from April to September 2019 reinforce doubts about India’s official GDP that made a big splash in Delhi earlier this year.

In June, Arvind Subramanian, former Chief Economic Advisor to the government of India and our former colleague here at the Center for Global Development, published a Harvard working paper (and a follow-up paper) suggesting that technical changes in national accounts methodology in 2011 had led India to significantly exaggerate its official GDP growth rate ever since. Rather than 7 percent growth from 2011-12 through 2016-17, Subramanian suggested the true rate might have been closer to 4.5 percent.

That discrepancy is, as they say, big, if true.

Official government of India sources dismissed Subramanian’s analysis out of hand, and some independent analysts have questioned whether the recent divergence of GDP growth from growth in other indicators was a sufficient basis to abandon the official figures.

But other analysts have looked at the data and reached broadly similar conclusions as Subramanian. Whichever numbers you believe, the core mystery posed by Subramanian remains: How is India growing so fast if, as the government’s own statistics show, a long list of other major economic indicators have slowed or even reversed?

Any errors in India’s data are baked into IMF and World Bank forecasts

Suppose, just for the sake of argument, that Subramanian’s concerns are justified, and that actual growth has been considerably slower than reported growth.

Wouldn’t independent analysis by the World Bank and IMF serve to ’fact check’ the government of India’s numbers?

It seems not.

The problem is that, rather than examining independent indicators of economic activity, the Bretton Woods’ forecasts appear to be based primarily on (a) extrapolation of the official growth figures, and (b) some subjective adjustment based on staff’s assessment of policy changes.

The details of the IMF’s growth forecast methodology are not publicly documented, but in response to a query, the IMF noted that the India forecast takes into account data from the first quarter of 2019—i.e., an official growth rate of 5 percent—combined with the IMF staff’s assessment of recent policy moves, including more accommodating monetary policy from the Reserve Bank of India and a cut in the corporate income tax rate.

While reasonable on its face, this approach is extremely vulnerable when confronted with erroneous official numbers. If the growth series up to 2019 is mis-measured, then all those errors are going to be directly baked into the IMF forecast as well.

With trade volumes shrinking and indicators of real economic activity slowing to a crawl, it might be time for the IMF and World Bank to ask some harder questions. India no longer relies on the Bretton Woods institutions for any meaningful share of its financing needs, but if these DC institutions have one thing to offer Delhi, it should be an impartial, technically sound perspective on economic reality.

That reality suggests that Indian growth is in barely positive territory, while the IMF-World Bank forecasters appear too timid to tell the emperor he has no clothes—not to mention cars, toothpaste, or underwear.

The post If India Stopped Growing, Would the IMF and World Bank Say So? appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Justin Sandefur is a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development (CGD). Julian Duggan is a research assistant at the Center for Global Development.

The post If India Stopped Growing, Would the IMF and World Bank Say So? appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Medina of Fez in Morocco is a UNESCO World Heritage Site frequented by tourists.

By Hugo Bourhis
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 30 2019 (IPS)

The crème de la crème of Hollywood was in Marrakech, Morocco, for the wedding of British movie star Idris Elba in April this year. Elba tied the knot with his Canadian model girlfriend, former Miss Vancouver Sabrina Dhowre, at the Ksar Char-Bagh hotel, an exquisite Alhambra-style hotel.

Kenyan-Mexican Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o, American actress Jessica Alba, soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal and others have all embraced the glamour of the rose-coloured city of Marrakech and its plethora of tourist attractions, including the vibrant Jemaa el-Fnaa square and the picturesque Majorelle Garden.

Morocco draws tourists from the far corners of the world. They may be seen strolling along the Corniche in Casablanca—an oceanfront boardwalk lined with restaurants, nightclubs, theatres and hotels—or dining at one of the small cafés in the quiet city of Azemmour—a short day trip or overnight jaunt from the big city.

Adil El Fakir, director of the Moroccan National Tourist Office (ONMT), says that over 12 million tourists visited Morocco in 2018, of whom 2.4 million headed for Marrakech.

Morocco’s tourist attractions include the spectacular beaches of Essaouira, an Atlantic coastal town included on the World Heritage List of UNESCO since 2001, and the country’s mountains, particularly the Atlas and the Rif.

“Tourism is a terrific land-use tool, and our territory is rich in its activities, its landscape, its heritage, its culture and its gastronomy,” declares Mohamed Benamour, a former president of the Morocco Tourism Federation.

A cultural crossroad
The country is also a cultural hub, reflecting the diversity of its inhabitants’ national origins: sub-Saharan Africa, Europe and the Middle East. This crossroads attracts fashion designers, artists, filmmakers and other cultural tourists.

In 2017, for example, a museum on the international luxury fashion house Yves Saint Laurent opened in Morocco. “Marrakech taught me colour. Before Marrakech, everything was black,” Saint Laurent once noted.

Over 50 Hollywood motion pictures have been shot in the country, including Alfred Hitchcock’s The Man Who Knew Too Much; Lawrence of Arabia, directed by David Lean; Orson Welles’ Othello; Jesus of Nazareth, directed by the late Franco Zeffirelli; and the latest James Bond movie, Spectre.

The country is also becoming a major hub for international conferences due to its proximity to Europe, Middle East, the Americas and the rest of Africa. The country recently hosted the United Nations Climate Change Conference, which brought about 20,000 participants to Marrakech.

Last year, the Global Forum for Migration and Development and the conference on the adoption of the Global Compact for Migration were held in Marrakech and attracted representatives from most UN member states and nongovernmental organizations.

In March the city hosted the Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development on “fiscal policy, trade and the private sector in the digital era: a strategy for Africa”, which was organized by the UN Economic Commission for Africa.

This year, UNESCO’s first International Forum on Artificial Intelligence in Africa and the Africa Youth Leadership Summit, among other events, will take place in Marrakech. These international conferences shine a spotlight on the country while contributing to the economy.

Tourism revenues account for 11% of total GDP, according to the tourism ministry. Industries in the sector, such as air and land transport, food service and hospitality, generate significant employment opportunities for young people. Morocco was the most visited country in Africa in 2016, with 10.3 million tourist arrivals.

Despite the potentials in the tourism sector, climate change effects threaten to put a dampener. In 2015, for example, Morocco’s economic growth nosedived to 1.5% due to drought, according to the World Bank. To address the situation, the country is constructing the world’s largest desalination plant, which turns seawater into drinking water, in Agadir, near the Atlantic coast.

It has also set ambitious goals that focus on, among others, generating 52% of its electricity needs from renewables by 2030 and improving coastal zone management.

Regulatory reforms introduced in 2010 are bringing Morocco closer to its goal of making the country one of the world’s 20 leading tourist destinations by 2020. Its 10-year plan, dubbed Vision 2020, is aimed at creating eight new tourist destinations and 470,000 new jobs while doubling tourist receipts.

That goal is within reach, it seems. The country has set its sights on a good slice of the 1.4 billion global tourists traveling abroad annually, many of whom are Chinese. Following Moroccan king Mohammed VI’s visit to Beijing in 2016, the number of Chinese arrivals in Morocco skyrocketed to 180,000 in 2018, up from 42,000 in 2016.

By 2020 Morocco hopes to reach the 500,000 mark, according to the Moroccan National Tourist Office, a wing of ONMT.

Investing in tourism
Massive investments in new infrastructure, such as new airport terminals, roads and railways, and the relaxed visa requirements for citizens of some countries, such as China, are two factors in Morocco’s success.

Thanks to the new airport terminal in Casablanca that was opened earlier in 2019, the airport can now handle up to 14 million passengers a year, up from 7 million. Another newly built terminal in the Rabat-Salé Airport can now handle 4 million passengers a year, up from 1.5 million.

Investments in airport infrastructure have had a domino impact on the broader economy. For example, the Rabat airport expansion is transforming the neighbouring city of Kenitra into a fast-growing industrial hub, attracting international companies such as Groupe PSA, the French company that manufactures Peugeot and Citroën.

“[The economic growth of] Kenitra has exceeded our expectations,” says Moulay Hafid Elalamy, minister of industry, investment, trade and the digital economy.

With improving infrastructure, safety and security, Morocco is on its way to becoming a premier destination for an increasing number of tourists.

This article was first published by Africa Renewal.

The post Africa Watch: Morocco Tourism Gains Momentum appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Africa Renewal, United Nations*

The post Africa Watch: Morocco Tourism Gains Momentum appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Credit: World Bank, Indonesia

By Andrew Bovarnick
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 29 2019 (IPS)

The annual rhythm of the United Nations year peaks with the General Assembly in September. One month on, it’s a good time to reflect on this year’s gathering which was remarkable for its focus on fighting climate change, the transforming effect of one 16 year old girl telling it like it is, and the way people heard her words in a way they haven’t heard before.

“People are dying, entire ecosystems are collapsing, we are in the beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth”

The world has heard many comprehensive scientific explanations of what we need to do to combat global heating. All of those were many times longer than the 495 words that Greta Thunberg used in her speech to delegates, and yet her words had a galvanizing effect on everyone who heard them, and she is spurring more people to act with a sense of urgency that was never triggered by thousands of pages of carefully argued science. Why are so many people hearing these messages as if for the first time?

The reasons behind this are important to explore and should cause us to think about how we try to bring about change in the world. They are embedded in human psychology, and can help us learn how our messages are received by those we would wish to influence.

Understand these human foundations, and we will understand why sometimes our climate change arguments hit home, and sometimes they seem to hit a wall. It’s all to do with calm, clear messaging, which can arise from within, as it seems to for Greta, or for the rest of us through the use of mindfulness techniques to calm ourselves before we speak.

Andrew Bovarnick holds Sustainable Development Goal 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts at the Good Growth Conference (Peruvian Amazon, May 2019).

We need to light a fire under the seats of decision makers. Greta has sparked the flame but we must learn how to keep it burning brightly. Extinction Rebellion is certainly fanning the flames but what can we as development practitioners do to keep up the momentum?

A calm and direct voice helps us to hear these messages better than the raised voices in a high-volume argument. Research has found that the human ear closes down to reduce the volume of strident speech, so a measured approach cuts through more effectively than raised voices.

Note how Extinction Rebellion, though determined to get their point across, are unfailingly polite and forever apologizing for the disruption they cause. Getting the tone of voice right – and using techniques such as meditation to build audible compassion and empathy with our audience – helps people to feel safe and truly hear the message.

How can we do this?

In UNDP’s Green Commodities Programme we have developed a series of carefully designed processes that bring all the relevant stakeholders together into carefully curated safe spaces where people can explore differences, find common ground and build sustainable commodity solutions together.

We call it Multistakeholder Collaboration For Systemic Change. It instils trust amongst stakeholders, builds resilience to external shocks, and produces a community of stakeholders that can calmly hear each other’s ideas and problems.

If we are to take the actions we must take to combat climate change, we need not only to change what we do, but also consider how we think and speak. And we must create collaborative spaces where we can be calm and feel safe if we are to truly hear each other’s solutions.

The post How Can We All Hear That the World is on Fire? appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Andrew Bovarnick is Lead Natural Resource Economist and Global Head of UNDP’s Green Commodities Programme

The post How Can We All Hear That the World is on Fire? appeared first on Inter Press Service.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Excerpts from the interview:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

IPS: How are they planning to get this done?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

IPS: Isn’t that a tall order?

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

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

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

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

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

Jomo Kwame Sundaram

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Anis Chowdhury

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Credit: SEWA BHATTARAI

By Sewa Bhattarai
Oct 29 2019 (IPS)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Credit: SEWA BHATTARAI

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Credit: SEWA BHATTARAI

 

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

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

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

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

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

 

This story was originally published by The Nepali Times

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

 

 

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

 

What will that take?

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

 

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

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

 

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

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

 

Stronger public institutions dedicated to groundwater management

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

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

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

 

To demystify the science and involve people in solution-making

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

 

More attention and investment in promoting partnerships and collaborations

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

 

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This story was originally published by UN News

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

***

For more information please contact:

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

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

Credit: UN

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Credit: UN

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Excerpt:

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

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

Migrant settlement in Lepe, Spain. Credit: UNDP

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

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

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

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

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

Achim Steiner. Credit: UNDP

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

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

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

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

It reaches some counter-intuitive conclusions.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Excerpt:

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

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

Credit: WHO

By Dr. Mary Assunta and Dr. Ulysses Dorotheo
BANGKOK, Thailand, Oct 25 2019 (IPS)

The tobacco industry’s new rhetoric that smoking is harmful and that its so-called less risky products will reduce the global tobacco epidemic, should see the industry stop opposing or fighting government efforts to reduce tobacco use. However, this is not the case.

The first Global Tobacco Industry Interference Index report found the tobacco industry continues to undermine and derail government’s tobacco control efforts to protect public health around the globe.

Furthermore, this Global Index shows many governments continue to move at a glacial pace in countering industry meddling, although they are empowered to act under the global tobacco treaty, the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).

This report card ranked countries according to their efforts in protecting public health policies. Japan, Jordan, Egypt and Bangladesh are among those that scored the highest in the level of tobacco industry influence, which means weaker resistance of governments from industry meddling, while the United Kingdom, Uganda and Iran lead in protecting health policy from industry meddling.

The ranking is based on civil society reports from 33 countries covering about 70% of the world population. The Global Tobacco Index is released by the STOP (Stopping Tobacco Organizations and Products) project.

Key global findings

• Transparency matters. Countries fared better when they were more transparent about their interactions with the industry, including recording meetings or any donations and FOI regimes. Political contributions and gifts from the tobacco industry are banned in Brazil, Canada, France, Iran, Myanmar, Turkey, U.K., Uganda and Uruguay. Among the countries surveyed, transparency on political contributions is required only in Kenya and the U.S.
• Wooing senior government officials was rampant across countries. Tobacco companies targeted departments of finance, commerce and trade to achieve policy influence. They even used frivolous awards to access and obtain endorsement from senior officials.
• Tax breaks benefitted the industry in many countries. Many governments still consider the tobacco industry’s business portfolio as a major economic driver and grant the industry with trade incentives, exemptions, and duty-free tobacco allowance that boost production and sales in markets that may have other regulations in place.
• E-cigarettes pose a new threat. There is growing evidence of the industry using harm reduction claims about e-cigarettes to justify interactions with government officials to promote and open their doors to these new alternative products. In 2018, tobacco companies lobbied to make it easier for them to sell or promote e-cigarettes in Philippines, Mexico, Lebanon and Turkey.

Meddling by the tobacco industry comes from all directions and in various forms, presenting big challenges to governments. Countries that resisted industry interference and prioritized protecting health over foreign tobacco investments sometimes paid a hefty price – they were sued by the tobacco industry for their tough stance on tobacco control. India, Kenya and Uganda endured such legal challenges and were delayed in implementing their strong tobacco control laws.

Industry interference is rife in Asia, a huge, profitable market for transnational tobacco companies. In recent years, Japan Tobacco International (JTI), for example, acquired domestic cigarette companies in Indonesia, Bangladesh and the Philippines, which will increase its profits in these developing countries. JTI has opposed tax increases in Bangladesh, the Philippines, Malaysia and elsewhere.

Contrary to its public stance on the dangers of smoking, Philip Morris successfully sued the small City of Balanga (96,000 residents) in the Philippines for passing stringent legislation that creates a tobacco-free environment to protect its people, particularly the young generation.

The Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance has been annually reviewing government efforts in implementing WHO FCTC Article 5.3 for the past six years through a regional index across ASEAN.

Over the years, some governments have made progress to protect public health policy, albeit slowly. Thailand and Myanmar have been steadily improving in tackling industry interference, such as ending tobacco-related CSR activities and rejecting recommendations from the tobacco industry to be included in their health policies.

The Philippines and Malaysia, on the other hand, have deteriorated over the years showing they have succumbed to industry interference. Malaysia, which in 2016 announced plans for standardised packaging of tobacco, has not moved forward on the policy.

The tobacco industry targets non-health departments, particularly finance, industry, and trade, to protect or promote its interests and disassociate its image from the health harms caused by the inherently defective products it manufactures and sells.

Governments must close this gap and tackle industry interference by applying a whole-of-government approach. All departments need to cooperate in putting public health first to strengthen overall tobacco control.

Governments can short circuit the ‘divide-and-rule’ tactic of the tobacco industry and fulfil their obligation under the WHO FCTC to implement measures that protect themselves and public health policies from being hijacked by the tobacco industry. It is in governments’ hands to stop the interference.

About STOP (Stopping Tobacco Organizations and Products)

STOP is a global tobacco industry watchdog whose mission is to expose the tobacco industry strategies and tactics that undermine public health. STOP is a partnership between The Tobacco Control Research Group at the University of Bath, The Global Center for Good Governance in Tobacco Control (GGTC), The Union and Vital Strategies.

The post Governments Must Short Circuit Tobacco Industry’s Pervasive Tactics appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Dr. Mary Assunta is Senior Policy Advisor of SEATCA and Head of Global Research & Advocacy, Global Center for Good Governance in Tobacco Control (GGTC) & Dr. Ulysses Dorotheo is Executive Director of Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA)

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Heads of State and governments from 120 countries will convene at the 25-26 October XVIII Non-Aligned Movement Summit, to be held in Baku, Azerbaijan, to discuss the movement's future. Credit: Elchin Murad

By Manssour Bin Mussallam
GENEVA, Oct 25 2019 (IPS)

By the time of publication, representatives, senior officials, and Heads of State and Government of 120 countries from around the world will have converged on Baku in Azerbaijan for the XVIIIth Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).

To many, it may seem that the continued existence of the NAM, almost three decades after the end of the Cold War, is nothing more than a mere political formality, reminiscent of a bygone era. But whilst the creation of the NAM cannot be dissociated from its Cold War context, it cannot be reduced to it either. For to focus excessively on its origins in the age of a bipolar world would be to miss the point: the reason behind the collective, perhaps unconscious, reluctance to let it go.

The NAM was not merely created by states seeking independence from having to formally align with one of two power blocs. It was created with the recognition that the (former) Third World was constituted of diverse nations, peoples, and cultures that simultaneously shared systemic challenges and aspirations which the Cold War’s bipolar world order did not serve. And since that order did not serve the aspirations of the Third World, since it did not act in the interest of the majority of the world, then a third, parallel order needed to be built.

The bipolarity may have come to an end with the USSR’s collapse, and a brave, new world order may have emerged since 1961, but the foundational purpose of the NAM, consisting of achieving a world order which better served the development aspirations of its members, has remained unfulfilled. In fact, the premise behind the creation of the NAM has become all the more pertinent. With knowledge of the undisputable role played by our development models in the advent of climate crisis, this foundational premise has become irrefutable: the current world order does not, just as it did not in 1961, serve the interests states belonging to the NAM – with one, non-negligible addition: we now know that it does not serve the interests of the entire world. There is, therefore, a dire need, not too dissimilar from that of 1961, to build a more just and sustainable world order. There is an urgent necessity to construct a third, alternative, inclusive, and sustainable way of development. This time, however, whilst it must be built from and by the (former) Third World, it must inevitably be for the sake of the entirety of Humanity.

But development directed towards achieving social cohesion, justice, equity, prosperity, and sustainability for all cannot emerge from cosmetic alterations to our existing institutions. It can only emerge by fundamentally transforming the unjust, unsustainable dynamics of our societies. And only through the overhaul of our education systems can this be achieved. Education is, after all, both the sculptor of the future and, as it currently stands, an industrial factory which reproduces society’s injustices and inequalities.

Our education systems must be capable of reflecting national and local cultures, whilst unveiling the millennia of inter-influences which have shaped them – the reality that our cultures are already the result of diversity, that: ‘les autres, c’est moi.’ They must be capable of overcoming sectoral segregations and disciplinary silos, integrating academic and non-academic knowledge domains alike, to engage with the world in all its complexity. They must become capable of transforming the dynamics of the classroom, by enabling teachers to become facilitators – rather than the mere custodians of information which may be encountered more accurately and swiftly online – guiding student-protagonists in their dialogue in and with the world. They must become capable of acknowledging context, rather than rejecting it on the false premise of egalitarian standards which, in fact, reproduce inequality. They must adapt to national priorities and local realities, to the aspirations of communities and the individuality of students. For to dismantle the power dynamics which have existed, and still persist, in education, is to do so for society at large.

The task ahead is gargantuan, and the investment will be colossal – of this challenge, however, we are collectively worthy. But to that end, we must articulate a common language, overcoming the deaf monologues and cross-talk which we mistake for constructive dialogue, to not only share experiences and best practices, but also to achieve genuine, efficient, mutually beneficial partnerships amongst equals.

It is in this context that the Education Relief Foundation (ERF) is convening, jointly with the Republic of Djibouti, the Third International Summit on Balanced and Inclusive Education – III ForumBIE 2030, on 27-29 January 2020. Concluding with the signing of the Universal Declaration of Balanced and Inclusive Education, the III ForumBIE 2030 will operationalise an international, cross-sectoral, solidarity-based framework of technical and financial cooperation in Balanced and Inclusive Education, to forge a future to which we can collectively aspire.

In many respects, the world has changed beyond recognition since the first NAM Summit. Its underlying dynamics, however, have largely remained unaffected. As the XVIIIth NAM Summit concludes, it is now time to revive its original aspirations and truly transform the development models whose undercurrents have led the world to the brink of unmaking itself, giving long-overdue birth to our collective humanity – for the sake of the South and the North alike.

The post Sustainable Development and Education – Is the Non-Aligned Movement Still Relevant? appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Manssour Bin Mussallam, President of the Education Relief Foundation

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More than 237 million people are suffering from chronic under nutrition in Africa of which 32.6 million are in Sub Saharan Africa. Credit: Busani Bafana/IPS

By Busani Bafana
ACCRA, Ghana/BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe, Oct 25 2019 (IPS)

There is evident correlation between countries with high levels of children under five years of age who are stunted or wasted and the existence of political instability and/or frequent exposure to natural calamities, experts say.

But current food systems in Africa are not addressing nutrition because of the combination of poor investment in the agriculture value chain, inadequate policies and lack of accountability in addressing malnutrition.

In fact, many governments still focus on providing calories to their populations, not quality diets, Jan Low, Principal Scientist at the International Potato Center and 2016 World Food Prize Laureate, told IPS, warning that hungry populations, especially in urban areas, can become effective political forces for change.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), a healthy diet meets the nutritional needs of individuals if it provides sufficient, safe, nutritious and diverse foods for an active life and reduced disease risk. Diverse foods should include fruits, vegetables, legumes, seeds, nuts, whole grains and foods low in fats, sugar and salt. However foods that constitute a healthy diet are neither affordable nor available for many people.

• More than 237 million people are suffering from chronic under nutrition in Africa of which 32.6 million are in sub-Saharan Africa, says the FAO. With more people either over eating or not eating food with the necessary nutrients to be healthy and productive.

“Most poor people still get over 60 percent of their calories from staple foods. Two ways in which the quality of the foods can be improved is through fortifying them by breeding in key micronutrients into the crops themselves (biofortification) and adding micronutrients to the staple when it is being transformed industrially (fortification),” said Low.

Accounting for nutrition

According to Low, the Continental Nutrition Accountability Scorecard is an excellent attempt to hold governments in Africa more accountable for progress on nutrition.  

The scorecard is an initiative of the African Union and the African Development Bank and helps governments assess progress towards reaching their nutrition targets and to identify the right partnerships within countries across multiple sectors.

Backstopped by the growing evidence base that investing in good nutrition has positive outcomes on economic development, increasingly governments are developing multi-sectoral nutrition policies. Low told IPS that the scoreboard captures includes indicators concerning access to clean water and good sanitation, for example.  

“Unfortunately, the accountability scorecard only calls for monitoring the adoption of legislation for fortification, not for the investment in development and release of biofortified crops.”

“However, the great challenge is to move from words on paper to action in the ground,” Low said.

Moving commitment from paper to reality would also require governments to make knowledge about nutrition a basic life skill and to embed nutrition education in primary and secondary school education and as part of ante-natal clinic services for pregnant women. 

The international community should also support governments to take an innovative and tough stand in tackling unhealthy processed foods and changing food habits in rapidly urbanising centres through establishing international standards of behaviour in advertising and providing guidance on how to tax and regulate private operators promoting such products. 

Positive public policies on nutrition are key

Sonja Vermeulen, Director of Programmes for the CGIAR System Organisation, told IPS that only four African countries; Benin, Namibia, Nigeria and South Africa so far are known to have national dietary guidelines.

“Most governments focus on quantity of food available (national breadbasket, maize, rice), not quality; and there is little pro-active sustained public policy work to raise nutritional standards, outside of aid programmes,” said Vermeulen.

She lamented that despite studies showing that most diets of central African countries are among the healthiest in the world, many people in low-paid urban jobs are consuming poor quality, low diversity foods such fizzy drinks and white sweetened buns for lunch.

Derek Headey, a senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute, said poor diets, largely defined in terms of excess consumption of unhealthy foods (like red meat and foods rich in sugar, sodium or fat) as well under-consumption of protective foods (like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes and nuts), are now the leading risk factor in the global burden of disease. 

“That’s not yet true in Africa, but it is coming because consumption of unhealthy foods is rising rapidly in the continent, especially in urban areas,” Headey told IPS. “Obesity rates are already high in many West African countries, and are now rising rapidly elsewhere, even in places where incomes are still relatively low, like Tanzania. Part of that is related to reduced energy expenditure, but of course it is also driven by poor diets.”

Heady said the consequences of neglecting nutrition are dangerous because poor diets and obesity impose significant economic costs on healthcare systems and on the productivity of the workforce.

The Global Panel on agriculture and food systems for nutrition says malnutrition is costly to African economies, accounting for between 3 and 16 percent of GDP annually. Globally, the impact of malnutrition on the economy is estimated to be as high as $3, 5 billion a year or $500 per individual as a result of lost economic growth and lost investment in human capital, according to the Global Panel.

Reducing food loss and waste could positively impact on global food security and nutrition, said the U.N., arguing that reducing on farm losses can help farmer improve their diets through increased food availability and gain more income from selling part of their produce.

“Achieving Zero Hunger is not only about addressing hunger, but also nourishing people while nurturing the planet,” the FAO said.

Overhauling the food system

World Food Prize Laureate Lawrence Haddad has said the world has a huge challenge of moving from global calls for a more nutritious and sustainable system to meaningful and measurable action.

“There has to be some kind of desire or motivation to make food systems more nutrition supportive, how do you create that desire, that demand and motivation? The narrative has to change dramatically from ending hunger only to nourishing populations,” said Haddad, noting that five of the top 10 risk factors for the burden of disease relate to diet and what we eat.

Haddad is also the Executive Director of Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), a Swiss-based foundation launched by the U.N. in 2002 to tackle malnutrition. He told a panel discussion at the recent Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa Forum in Ghana that data is also a critical element in making food system nutrition sensitive but data on food preparation, storage distribution, retailing, marketing and processing is not accessible in place.

He said documenting where government and businesses made commitments and kept them is important for accountability in the promoting nutrition.

“We really need to be able to adjust to new opportunities and existing and new shocks which could be conflict, climate, could be changing political regimes and could be a while range of things and the key to the ability to adapt in a dynamic way is resources and capacity,” said Haddad.

Though the future for new food systems in Africa can become a reality with commitment. “Unlike many places, Africa can build new food systems, you do not have to try to reform entrenched food systems that are very difficult to change and have vested interests and that have been vesting for hundreds of years. It is not easy but there is a chance to build new food systems.”

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The post Nutrition – the Best Investment for a Developing Africa appeared first on Inter Press Service.

A Pakistani child receives a dose of the oral polio vaccine (OPV). Credit: Ashfaq Yusufzai/IPS

By External Source
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 25 2019 (IPS)

In a “historic achievement for humanity”, two of three wild poliovirus strains have been eliminated worldwide, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Thursday, following the conclusion by a group of experts that WPV3, type three of the disease, has been eradicated completely.

The deadly viral disease is “very close” to disappearing altogether, with the number of affected children having dropped by 99 per cent since 1988, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) announced on World Polio Day, marked each 24 October, positioning the world closer than ever to its total eradication.

 Afghanistan and Pakistan are the two remaining countries with reported cases, with Nigeria, a third polio-endemic country, having gone three years without a reported infection, placing it on track to be certified polio-free by 2020

The number of recorded cases has fallen from 350,000 in 1988, to less than 40 today, and from a presence in 125 countries, to just two.

Afghanistan and Pakistan are the two remaining countries with reported cases, with Nigeria, a third polio-endemic country, having gone three years without a reported infection, placing it on track to be certified polio-free by 2020.

“Following the eradication of smallpox and wild poliovirus type two, this news represents a historic achievement for humanity”, WHO said, with only type one of the virus remaining.

 

18 million would have been paralyzed

All three strains are symptomatically identical, WHO explains, causing irreversible paralysis, and in cases when muscles become immobilized, the disease leads to death. Early on, other signs may include fever, fatigue, and stiffness in the neck and limbs, though most infected people (90 per cent) have very mild, or no symptoms at all.

Thanks to disease control efforts, including the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), comprised of WHO, UNICEF and other health partners, 18 million people are currently walking, who otherwise would have been paralyzed by the virus.

In addition, milestone polio eradication work has saved the world more than $27 billion in health costs in the last 30 years, with potential to generate $14 billion in cumulative cost savings by 2050, when compared to costs incurred in controlling the virus indefinitely.

Beyond Thursday’s milestone, eradication “will send a strong message” regarding the power of vaccines at a time when public trust has been undermined, WHO has said.

As the world faces a spread of misinformation over vaccine safety, eliminating polio will provide “irrefutable evidence” that they work.

UNICEF has stressed that seeing polio disappear means every child, in every household must continue to be vaccinated. The agency has managed to distribute over one billion doses annually, but thousands of children are still missing out.

Vulnerable children live in remote areas or in conflict-affected communities, making access a challenge. Marginalized and underserved communities, already lacking basic resources like water and health care, sometimes only received care through targeted polio vaccination campaigns.

UNICEF continues to lead efforts to increase acceptance and demand for the vaccine through community dialogue, trust-building and evidence-based communication on the effectiveness of the immunization.

 

This story was originally published by UN News

The post World Closer Than Ever to Seeing Polio Disappear for Good appeared first on Inter Press Service.

In the past, prolonged droughts meant no vegetation and an acute water shortage for both humans and livestock in Kachho, but the situation has changed with the large-scale use of solar-powered tubewells. Courtesy: The Third Pole/Ihsan Birahmani

By Zulfiqar Kunbhar
KARACHI, Pakistan, Oct 25 2019 (IPS)

At the southern end of Pakistan’s Sindh-Balochistan border near the Kirthar mountain range, Sindh’s Kachho desert has witnessed an unprecedented surge in the use of solar-powered tubewells for groundwater extraction in agriculture.

The rise in the number of tubewells powered by solar energy as compared to grid-provided electricity or diesel is linked with the acute power shortage in the country as well as high costs of fuel. While there is no doubt that these solar tubewells have improved agriculture in this drought-hit desert, their mass installation has caused serious environmental hazards. But despite these challenges, the absence of legislation for groundwater control and the lack of a mechanism to store rainwater means that these tubewells continue to be installed at a rapid pace – and the environmental threat worsens.

Rainwater slips away

One major factor behind the excessive groundwater extraction in Kachho is the incomplete construction of the Nai Gaj Dam, which has been designed to provide rainwater storage to Kachho and surrounding areas.

Despite the short-term relief brought on by heavy rains in the 2019 monsoon, farmers in Kachho are likely to continue extracting groundwater in the next farming season starting December, as the rainwater of the Kirthar mountains catchment areas cannot be stored in the incomplete Nai Gaj Dam.

This year, Pakistan received higher rainfall than average. “From January 1 to October 14, Pakistan saw 377 millimetres rains, which means that so far we have got more than 23% higher than normal rain,” said Muhammad Riaz, Director General of the Pakistan Meteorological Department.

Following the rains, farmers in Johi – the largest agricultural village of the Kachho Desert – enjoyed a fulfilling cultivation period. Rains in the catchment areas of the Kirthar mountain range caused the flowing of streams in full swing to the Kachho. The rain provided water for drinking, agriculture and also to recharge aquifers.

“The rains have allowed an additional 150,000 acres of cultivation. But we are well aware that this jubilation is short-lived. For the next crop which is three months later, we will have no water as the streams will stop flowing by then,” Mashooque Birhamani, the Chief Executive Officer of the Sujag Sansar Organisation, told thethirdpole.net.

Incomplete dam

In 2012, the government started the construction of the Nai Gaj Dam, an earth core rockfill embankment dam located on the edge of the Kirthar range near Dadu’s Kachho desert. The plan was to store 0.3 million acre feet (MAF) of rainwater from the Kirthar catchment area and also irrigate 28,000 acres, thus reducing water shortage.

So far, 51 percent of the project has been completed. In August this year, a committee of Pakistan’s upper legislative house Senate revealed that due to differences on payment between the provincial Sindh government and the federal government, the estimated construction cost of the Nai Gaj Dam is now three times higher than the original projection of PKR 16.9 billion (USD 108 million). The committee also told the House that the matter is now subjudice and that the Supreme Court’s decision is awaited.

“Completion of the Nai Gaj Dam can reduce pressure on groundwater extraction,” said Muhammad Munir Babar, a professor at the US-Pakistan Center for Advanced Studies in Water (USPCAS-W) at the Mehran University of Engineering and Technology (MUET).

Babar, who hails from the Kachho area, added, “Overall, due to climate change, the rain has become scarce in Kachho. No steps have been taken to recharge the aquifer whenever the rains do come. So Kachho is left vulnerable.”

Surge in tubewells

Prior to the introduction of low cost solar powered tubewells in Kachho two years earlier, traditional tubewells operating on electricity and diesel were used in the area – albeit in a smaller quantity.

With reliable solar technology available at a lower cost, the region has witnessed a sharp increase in tubewells. The latest estimates by the Sujag Sansar Organisation, a local non-governmental organisation working in Kachho on water, says the number of tubewells has surged from less than 1,000 to over 5,000 in just two years.

“On an average, everyday there are three new tubewells are being installed in the area – all solar. Even the existing tubewells are being converted to solar technology,” Birhamani added.

Kachho stands well above the national average of tubewell installations, taking its area and population into account. The national average stands at one tubewell for 217 people for every 79 hectares. In Kachho, there is one tubewell for every 50 persons for 48 hectares.

Environmental impact

In the past, prolonged droughts meant no vegetation and an acute water shortage for both humans and livestock in Kachho. Joblessness in the area resulted in a high level of poverty and destitution.

The mass installation of tubewells here has breathed new life into Kachho when it comes to economic prosperity. The expanded agriculture in the area has brought radical changes in inhabitants’ lifestyles. There is a sharp decline in migration and an increase in livelihood options.

“Increased availability of groundwater means that migration has almost been suspended. Now, the only people who migrate are those who cannot afford tubewells,” said Birhamani.

But while the economic and agricultural activities in Kachho have resumed with a new zeal, the large scale groundwater extraction has brought serious environmental hazards.

According to Babar, the groundwater table has fallen drastically.

“The gravity of the situation can be gauged by the fact that the aquifer level has gone down drastically within the passage of two years – after the installation of solar powered tubewells. In western Kachho, which is nearer to the hill torrents, water is shallow. However, the water level in eastern Kachho is 450 feet. Two years back, it was somewhere between 60 to 70 feet,” he added.

In just the second year of the mass tubewell installation, the groundwater has become saline.

Since there is no regulation of the extraction of  groundwater and locals are largely unaware of the limits of aquifers, pumping continues unabated and can lead to the elimination of groundwater altogether, Birhamani warned.

Babar added that no Kachho-specific environmental study has been conducted to calculate the effects of excessive groundwater usage.

He referred to Pakistan’s National Water Policy (NWP), which says that groundwater was depleting and its quality was deteriorating in the country.

“In general, the document refers to the overmining and pollution of aquifers that results in salinisation and the presence of fluorides and arsenic in water, which in turn degrade the quality of agricultural lands. Due to excessive extraction, Kachho is prone to depleting the aquifers. The area is already under-reported. If the government wants to improve the water situation and the level of poverty, a study is vital,” Babar said.

A bleak future

Kachho’s increasing dependence on groundwater depicts the country’s overall situation, as aquifer extraction is the only reliable resource that provides resilience against droughts and climate change impacts.

Pakistan, which is currently at the ‘water stressed’ level, is likely to touch ‘water scarcity’ levels by 2025. The agriculture sector is Pakistan’s backbone, and to fulfill its 60% irrigation needs from groundwater, the country has become the fourth largest groundwater extractor in the world.

According to the NWP, Pakistan is extracting more than 50 MAF from the aquifers and has already crossed the sustainable limit of safe yield.

According to a document compiled by the Pakistan Academy of Sciences (PAS), the introduction of solar technology in groundwater extraction has boosted the number of tubewells in the country so much that the number has gone from 0.2 million to 1.2 million in two-and-half decades.

The NWP, which is Pakistan’s first ever consensus document signed by all administrative units, provides guidelines on water scarcity related issues and has stressed upon legislation for uncontrolled groundwater extraction.

In its guidelines, the NWP has asked provinces to establish groundwater authorities to ensure sustainability, transparency, efficiency, safety and affordability.

However, so far, Sindh has not been able to act upon the NWP’s recommendations.

Rasheed Channa, spokesperson of the Chief Minister of Sindh, acknowledged the delay and said that the formation of the province’s groundwater authority is “in process”.

“I cannot announce any date. However, I can tell you that the relevant departments – including law, public health engineering and others – are working on it,” he said, adding that the government is aware of the importance of such a body.

The writer is a Karachi-based environmental journalist. He can be reached @ZulfiqarKunbhar

This story was originally published by The Third Pole and can be found here.

The post Solar Tubewells Suck Water out of Sindh Desert appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Cheap and reliable solar technology has bolstered the use of tubewells in Sindh; but as groundwater is sucked out rapidly, life is under a grave threat

The post Solar Tubewells Suck Water out of Sindh Desert appeared first on Inter Press Service.