Africa - INTER PRESS SERVICE

By Jan Lundius and Rosemary Vargas-Lundius
STOCKHOLM, Nov 23 2018 (IPS)

The recent rise of nationalism in some western countries has been fuelled by an anti-immigration campaign based on the assumed negative influences migrants may have on the host country’s “culture”. Nationalists seem to conceive culture as a static concept. However, culture is not invariable, it develops and changes over time and as most things created by humans, it is also connected with power. Generally, when people define themselves as “cultured” they assert themselves as superior to others.

Jan Lundius

The nationalists’ distinction of their culture from that of others usually entails that people from a different cultural background have insurmountable “cultural differences”. Migrants are therefore considered as a homogeneous group whose outer aspects gain importance at the expense of their individual characteristics. Cultural markers such as dress codes, language and food preferences are assigned an overriding significance. The Other is transformed into a one-dimensional creature defined by her/his appearance. Such artificial dichotomies have given rise to the so called “clash of civilizations”, suggesting that the coexistence of people with different cultural identities creates conflicts. This kind of polarization between “cultures” may be connected with an instinct to define one’s self-image in relation to others, people we either identify with, or distance ourselves from. This kind of “othering” creates and maintains power and domination and has within the geopolitical sphere been connected with Western attitudes towards non–Western peoples.

The concept of culture is also connected with the idea of “progress”, i.e. that humans are “developing” from lower to higher stages of culture, power and wealth. If most migrants are considered as people coming from “underdeveloped” countries, then bigots may conclude they deescalate progress in host countries. However, history shows that migration has been one of the most beneficial contributions to development and human progress. The nationalist movements’ ideology has an odour of bigotry, even racism, suggesting a world where people can be divided into separate entities ̶ us versus them. We being advanced, while they are circumscribed by “underdeveloped” cultures.

Rosemary Vargas-Lundius

Nowadays, chauvinistic “nationalist” parties tend to avoid the word “race”, considered to be an outdated concept that passed away with Nazism and Apartheid. However, racism remains, it has only become camouflaged by the less negatively charged word “culture” ̶ racism without race. These views can be exemplified by the Swedish nationalist party which recently obtained 17 percent of the Swedish electorate vote. The Sweden Democrats describe themselves as “social conservatives with a nationalist foundation”, claiming to safeguard “Swedish values and culture”. Like many of their European equivalents they have gained support through a strong anti-migration stance. The Sweden Democrats distinguish “immigrants” from “Swedes”, often by indicating their state of underdevelopment. Immigrants are unfavourably compared to Nordic people and their “superior” culture. According to the Sweden Democrats:

“Culture could be defined as a way of life that unites a society, or a group of people. […] The unique nature of Swedish culture finds its roots in our history and in the nature and the climate in which it has developed. Against this background, it is not surprising that our culture has great similarities with that of our Nordic neighbours. […] Cultural impulses that, without being adapted to Swedish conditions, are being inoculated into Swedish society by decision makers or other groups who do not consider themselves as Swedish, are by us not considered part of Swedish culture, but rather as a form of cultural imperialism. […] The Sweden Democrats are opponents to both cultural imperialism and to cultural relativism. It is obvious that some cultures are better than others in safeguarding fundamental human rights.” (2)

Like similar “nationalist” parties, Sweden Democrats lump together all “true” Swedes under the lofty and vague label of “the Swedish people”, an entity they claim to represent. However, as the poet Paul Valéry once pointed out: “The only meaning I can see in the word “people” is “mixture”….” (3). Immigrants may have to change some of their customs and behaviour and adopt new norms to adapt in receiving countries, at the same time as host countries would be enriched by the positive contribution of migrants. This may not be an easy or short process as it requires both individual efforts, which may be different for women and men, and adequate migration policies. Central to this dynamic coexistence and exchange, there are unique human beings, with different backgrounds, physiological traits, ideas, behaviour and beliefs. Most humans are able to adjust to various cultural contexts and abide to rules and laws of a specific nation without losing their unique identity.

Is it really possible to define unique “Swedish values”, or any other “national” values for that matter? It is more viable to assume that a “nation” and thus all individuals, would benefit from Immanuel Kant´s categorial imperative: “Act only in accordance with that maxim through which you can at the same time will that it become a universal law.”

The ideology of nationalists and chauvinistic demagogues is based on unfounded myths that reduce human existence to ideals of “nations”, “races” and “cultures”, while rejecting the reality of change and diversity. Recent historical events demonstrate that when such movements which idealise reality rise to power, the consequences can be disastrous. As Goethe once stated: “A confusion of the real with the ideal never goes unpunished.”

 
Jan Lundius holds a PhD. on History of Religion from Lund University and has worked at Sida, Unesco, FAO and other international organisations as researcher and advisor.
Rosemary Vargas Lundius holds a Ph.D on Development Economics from Lund University and has worked on gender and migration issues at IFAD and UNDP. She is presently the Chair of the KNOMAD gender and migration research team.

(2) https://sd.se/var-politik/kulturpolitik, visited 07/21/2018, translated from Swedish by the au-thors.
(3) Valéry, Paul (1989) The Outlook for Intelligence. Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press, p. xvi.

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Credit: UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

By Selim Jahan
UNITED NATIONS, Nov 23 2018 (IPS)

The lack of women’s empowerment is a critical form of inequality. And while there are many barriers to empowerment, violence against women and girls (VAW) is both a cause and a consequence of gender inequality.

Estimates by the World Health Organization (WHO) indicate that about 1 in 3 (35 percent) of women and girls worldwide have experienced physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence in their lifetime. However, these numbers – shocking as they are – only tell a part of the story.

VAW is a global phenomenon that cuts across boundaries of age, socioeconomic status, education and geography. Yet globally we still do not know very much about its extent: only 107 of 195 countries have data available on intimate partner violence for example, a number that falls to just 56 countries when we seek to understand non-intimate partner violence.

Even when data is available, it is likely that the figures are an underestimate as it is notoriously difficult to collect sensitive information on VAW when the victims can fear coming forward or feel ashamed.

VAW also has an impact on the lives of many women beyond the direct victims. The fear of violence can prevent women from pursuing education, working or exercising their political rights and voice. A recent Gallup survey shows that in every region of the world, women consistently feel more insecure than men, although the levels of insecurity significantly vary across regions.

VAW is not only a cause of gender inequality, it is a consequence of it. In many places, gender-based violence is reinforced by discriminatory laws and exclusionary social norms that undermine women and girl’s opportunities for education, income and independence.

Sometimes VAW accompanies shifting power relations within households and communities, especially when there is resentment against women who move away from conventional roles.

Today, 49 countries still do not have laws that protect women from domestic violence. In 32 countries the procedures that women face to obtain a passport differ from those of men. In 18 countries women need their husband’s approval to take a job.

Practices like early marriage are also widespread, particularly in low human development countries, where 39 percent of women aged 20 to 24 were married before their 18th birthday.

Estimates from the 2015 Human Development Report show that even though women carry out the major share of global work (52 percent), they face disadvantages in both paid and unpaid work.

They perform three times more unpaid work than men – 31 percent vs 10 percent – and, when their work is remunerated, they earn 24 percent less than their male counterparts. A professional ‘glass ceiling’ means that women still hold only 22 percent of senior leadership jobs in businesses, and fewer than 25 percent of senior political and judicial positions.

So what next? It is clearly vital to support women and girls who encounter violence, for example ensuring they have access to justice, shelter and protection, whether violence is domestic or in the work place.

But to break the VAW cycle, policy interventions should focus on the longer-term by changing discriminatory social norms; closing gender gaps whether they are educational, economic or social level; or building awareness about VAW.

Innovative and aggressive policy that aims to change outcomes (such as increasing women’s voice in the community) may change norms. Although norms should guide the design of culturally sensitive policies and programs, they should not constrain or undermine initiatives.

Progress has been made on many important fronts (e.g. on closing gaps between men and women in primary education and political participation), but there has been inertia and stagnation in others (e.g. employment).

And so much more effort is needed to tackle the patterns of violence that cut deep into many societies so that they are not perpetuated across generations. Collecting more data is an important first step.

*The HDialogue blog is a platform for debate and discussion. Posts reflect the views of respective authors in their individual capacities and not the views of UNDP/HDRO.

HDRO encourages reflections on the HDialogue contributions. The office posts comments that supports a constructive dialogue on policy options for advancing human development and are formulated respectful of other, potentially differing views. The office reserves the right to contain contributions that appear divisive.

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Excerpt:

Selim Jahan is Director of the Human Development Report Office, UNDP

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Terry Hunter is a cultural tour guide at Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm. Being an extractive and extensive form of farming, pearl oyster aquaculture is one of the most environmentally sustainable industries. Credit: Neena Bhandari/IPS

By Neena Bhandari
SYDNEY/BROOME/CYGNET BAY, Australia, Nov 23 2018 (IPS)

Australia’s remote north-western Kimberley coast, where the Great Sandy Desert meets the sapphire waters of the Indian Ocean, is home to the giant Pinctada maxima or silver-lipped pearl oyster shells that produce the finest and highly-prized Australian South Sea Pearls.

Australia is the only country in the world that uses wild oyster stocks. To ensure its sustainability, the pearling industry operates on a government-regulated quota system that sets a maximum number of wild stock pearl oysters that can be caught each year from the Eighty Mile Beach, south of Broome in the state of Western Australia. These wild pearl oyster beds represent the last wild commercial fishery for Pinctada maxima oysters in the world.

There are currently 15 wild stock pearl oyster licence holders, but the majority of licences are owned by Paspaley subsidiaries. As Paspaley Group of Companies’ Executive Director, Peter Bracher tells IPS, “Our wild pearl oyster quota is hand-collected by our divers. This is an environmentally friendly and sustainable form of commercial fishing that causes no damage to the seabed and produces no wasteful by-catch. Elsewhere in the natural habitat of Pinctada maxima, which includes much of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, the wild oyster populations have been depleted by overfishing.”

In recent years, the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) has been set between 600,000 and 700,000 pearl oysters. The 2016 TAC was 612,510 pearl oysters and the total quota that could be seeded was approximately 907,670 (557,670 wild stock and 350,000 hatchery-produced), according to the Western Australia Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development’s 2016-17 Status Reports of the Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.

Australian pearling companies have been conscious of the need to protect the oysters’ habitat as there is a strong co-relation between Kimberley’s pristine environment and the production of high-quality pearls.

“The nutrient-rich Kimberley waters, in which our pearls are farmed, are our most valuable asset and monitoring their condition forms an integral part of our operations and management. We have opened our infrastructure and expertise to the academic world and established the Kimberley Marine Research Station to encourage independent marine research and to help bridge the indigenous cultural knowledge with scientific knowledge, which we believe will help in our attempt to ensure our production practices are sustainable,” says James Brown, the third-generation owner and managing director of Cygnet Bay Pearls, the first all-Australian owned and operated cultured pearling company.

Being an extractive and extensive form of farming, pearl oyster aquaculture is one of the most environmentally sustainable industries. Oysters are voracious filter feeders drawing their nutrition from micro-organisms like algae from the water column and in so doing effectively clean the water.

Professor Dean Jerry, Deputy Director at James Cook University’s (JCU) Centre for Sustainable Tropical Fisheries and Aquaculture tells IPS, “Pearl farms also act as fish attraction devices (FAD). The oyster lines, buoys and panel nets hung in the ocean provide habitat and structure for larger and small fish. Often this is the only form of structure in the ocean where farms are providing habitat for marine life to live.”

But Pinctada maxima oysters are very sensitive to pollution and environmental changes. “Global warming and increased carbon dioxide levels in the ocean will make it harder for the pearl oysters to quickly and efficiently lay down calcium carbonate for the mother of pearl that makes the nacre for the pearl. This means that oysters will have to spend more energy for growth, leaving less for immune functioning thereby increasing their exposure risks of disease as rises in water temperatures speed up microbial and parasitic lifecycles,” Jerry adds.

Since 2006, Australian companies have battled Oyster Oedema disease and Juvenile Oyster Mortality Syndrome, which impacts oysters before they are seeded with a pearl and may result in 90-95 percent mortality. Scientists haven’t yet been able to find a causative agent for the two diseases, which have almost halved the worth of the industry.

To make the industry more sustainable, Jerry says, “We need to adopt technology to make oyster breeding programs more productive and disease tolerant. Pearl oysters will really benefit from selective breeding, which will help them grow faster and therefore get to a point where they can be seeded at a younger age and ultimately produce the pearl quicker.”

It takes two years for an oyster to grow where it can be seeded and another two years for when the pearl is harvested. During these four years, the oysters have to be regularly cleaned. “It can cost up to AUD1 an oyster each time, which is a huge financial cost to businesses. If we can get to a stage of harvesting the pearl from a younger oyster, say three years, it will not only increase financial sustainability, but also environmentally sustainability,” Jerry adds.

Mother of Pearl at Cygnet Bay. Australia is the only country in the world that uses wild oyster stocks. To ensure its sustainability, the pearling industry operates on a government-regulated quota system that sets a maximum number of wild stock pearl oysters that can be caught each year. Credit: Neena Bhandari/IPS

Hatchery-bred pearl oysters are now a major part of pearl production. Three oysters are required to create one pearl. A nucleus is inserted from one oyster into another healthy oyster with a small piece of mantle tissue selected from a donor oyster. With time, the mantle tissue that produces nacre (the secretion known as mother-of-pearl) grows completely around the nucleus, forming a pearl sac in which the pearl grows.

An oyster can be reseeded up to three times, and, when it reaches the end of its reproductive life, it is harvested for the mother of pearl shell used in jewellery and inlay for furniture, and pearl meat.

Last year, the Australian South Sea pearling industry of Western Australia and the Northern Territory, have been certified sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC).

Chief Executive of Pearl Producers Association, Aaron Irving tells IPS, “The MSC Standard is an independent, internationally accredited science-based standard, against which the environmental sustainability management of a wild marine resource fishery is rigorously assessed. MSC ecolabel assists discerning customers in making an ethical choice.”

Australia is the world’s first pearl fishery to be certified against the MSC’s standard for sustainable fishing. MSC Oceania Program Director Anne Gabriel says, “It’s an exciting development and opens the door to engage a whole new world of consumers on the important issue of fisheries sustainability. We are looking forward to seeing the MSC ecolabel on wild pearls in the jewellery and fashion markets of the world, as well as on mother of pearl and pearl meat products. By buying sustainable pearl products, consumers can also play their part in maintaining healthy ocean ecosystems and securing the future of our fish stocks.”

Paspaley, Australia’s leading pearling company, exports over 95 percent of its production to wholesalers and jewellery manufacturers around the world. Bracher tells IPS, “We sell to many of the world’s leading brands for which ethical supply chains are a high priority. Although we cannot communicate directly with their end-customers, our environmental credentials are an important differentiator as a supplier.”

Cygnet Bay Pearls uses tourism as a way of educating consumers about the making of the Australian South Sea Pearl and the environment it thrives on. Brown tells IPS, “Our new business model welcomes general public to the farm. Our Giant Tides tour shows visitors the unique Kimberley marine environment, which is now regarded as having the largest tropical tides by volume of water and also the fastest tidal currents in the world. This is what powers our pearl farm and allows Australians to grow the finest pearls in the world.”

Terry Hunter, a fourth generation Bardi man, is a cultural tour guide on the Cygnet Bay Pearl farm. He tells IPS, “Cygnet Bay has been my playground. My father and grandfather worked here. The Browns have always recognised, acknowledged and respected Indigenous knowledge. When I hold a mother of pearl oyster shell, I feel alive – connected through ceremony and ancestors.”

Traditionally, the indigenous Aboriginal Bardi and Jawi tribes collected the mother of pearl to make a riji, which boys wear as a pubic covering at the time of initiation or formal admission to adulthood. The engravings on the shell symbolise their connection to earth and water. Now, the riji is worn for ceremonial purposes.

Bart Pigram, an indigenous Yawuru man, worked as a pearl shell cleaner and now owns and operates Narlijia Cultural Tours and shares the unique pearling history of Broome with visitors. He tells IPS, “The environment’s health is integral to not only sustaining the pearling industry, but also the local indigenous communities.”

The pearling industry employs about 800 people. The value of the pearl aquaculture sector was about AUD78.4 million for the 2015-16 financial year, according to the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) Australian fisheries and aquaculture statistics 2016 report.

• The first global Sustainable Blue Economy Conference will be held in Nairobi, Kenya from Nov. 26 to 28 and is being co-hosted with Canada and Japan. Over 13,000 participants from around the world are coming together to learn how to build a blue economy.

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• Seychelles Issues World’s First Blue Bond to Fund Fisheries Projects
• Sustainable Coastal Fisheries in the Pacific Depends on Improving Sanitation
• Kashmir’s Fisherwomen Live Between Hope and Despair

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Two fisherwomen walk along the seashore in Nemmeli, India. Canada is committed to building a sustainable ocean economy that is inclusive and can prosper for many. Credit: Stella Paul/IPS

By Jonathan Wilkinson
OTTAWA, Nov 23 2018 (IPS)

This November, Canada, along with Kenya and Japan, is proud to host the world’s first global conference focused on the world’s ocean economy: the Sustainable Blue Economy Conference in Nairobi, Kenya.

The Sustainable Blue Economy Conference, designed to follow the G7 meeting, brings together the international community to discuss ocean economic opportunities and ocean sustainability. This is a crucial step in ensuring the benefits of the blue economy and of a healthy ocean today and for future generations. The world needs to focus on preserving and restoring the ocean’s health while seizing the economic opportunities that come from doing so.

Jonathan Wilkinson is Canada’s Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard.

The blue economy provides jobs for hundreds of millions of people around the world – and generates trillions of dollars. In Canada alone, 350,000 jobs depend on the ocean and 36 billion dollars of our national GDP is generated by the ocean economy.

It is a critical example that the environment and the economy go hand in hand.

This conference comes at a critical time. Across the world, thousands of tons of fishing gear are lost and discarded in seas and oceans every year, putting marine life in jeopardy and clogging up harbours. Climate change is warming our ocean at faster rates than we had imagined. And the illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing market is scooping up millions of kilograms of fish each and every year.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has said “the ocean economy is essential to the future well being and prosperity of humankind. It is a key source of food, energy, health, leisure and transport on which millions of people depend”.

As our global population continues to grow, we increasingly understand that we will need to rely on our oceans to provide for our global needs of food, trade and livelihoods. Canada is committed to building a sustainable ocean economy that can prosper for many.

Canada made the ocean a cornerstone of our G7 Presidency. Ocean science and observation; addressing illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing; achieving marine conservation targets; addressing ocean plastics including “ghost fishing gear”; restoring and rebuilding fish stocks and marine biodiversity; preventing and controlling invasive species; being prepared for marine emergencies; and improving marine safety are key elements of Canada’s ocean agenda.

The Sustainable Blue Economy Conference is the start of an important global conversation. One hundred and fifty countries will be participating. Over 10,000 people are expected to attend. The stakes are high, the time is short.  Global environmental and sustainability challenges needs global solutions. We must work with the United Nations, our G7 partners, our Commonwealth partners, other international organisations, small island developing states, non-governmental and business groups, who want a vibrant blue economy and a healthy ocean.

We look to the Conference to shape the international cooperation and collective actions needed to seize the opportunities and to meet the challenges. Success will show the essential relationship between environmental sustainability and economic growth, and we are committed to success.

As a country that is bordered by three oceans: the Atlantic, the Arctic and the Pacific, and home to the longest coastline in the world – protecting our oceans for future generations and ensuring the sustainability of this marine resource is of critical importance.

To all the Ministers, partners, businesses and delegates at the Conference and beyond, I encourage you to join with us. We need your voice. You have a stake in this. It’s your future. Join us in building a sustainable future that our kids and grand kids can be a proud of. You can make a difference. Follow us in Kenya and beyond.

Related Articles

• Expectations High for First Global Blue Economy Conference
• Women Must be at the Heart of Africa’s Blue Economy
• Seychelles Issues World’s First Blue Bond to Fund Fisheries Projects

The post The Start of an Important Global Conversation on the Blue Economy appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Jonathan Wilkinson is Canada's Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard. A Rhodes Scholar, Wilkinson holds Masters Degrees from Oxford University and McGill University.

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PRESS RELEASE

By Football for Peace
Nov 22 2018 (Football for Peace)

Airways Aviation Academy has teamed up with sports charity ‘Football for Peace’ (FfP) Founders British Footballer Kashif Siddiqi and Chilean FIFA Legend Elia Figueroa, to support #FootballSavesLives campaign, aimed at training the next generation of young leaders in how to harness a shared passion for football to bring together their local communities.

FfP will launch the #FootballSavesLives initiative, at a Peace Tournament, to be held on the 22nd November 2018 at the Copper Box Arena in London. HRH Prince William, The Duke of Cambridge will participate in the event which will honour the Young Peace Leaders that have graduated from the City for Peace initiative this year from across the UK.

The new #FootballSavesLives programme aims to train 500 Peace Leaders by 2020 by working in conjunction with local councils, football clubs and schools to train young people aged 15-18 in how to unite their communities on and off the pitch, from running local football tournaments to organising classroom workshops to discuss the issues currently dividing their communities.

Romy Hawatt, Founder of the Airways Aviation Group and also a Founding Member of the Global Sustainability Network ( GSN ) says that “business and governments alike carry a joint and several responsibility to help create safe, tolerant and sustainable societies for the benefit of present and future generations. Worthy initiatives like #FootballSavesLives that contribute towards the empowerment of our youth, the promotion of self-determination, the encouragement of a peaceful community dialogue and the seeking of common ground between us through initiatives like #FootballSavesLives has our commendation and complete support”.

The peace tournament will bring together footballing ambassadors Wilfried Zaha, Mesut Ozil, Louis Saha, John Terry, Bacary Sagna, Lucas Perez and newly trained Young Peace Leaders who have already been through this programme to manage the teams branded as Equality, Diversity, Unity, Friendship, Dialogue from different schools across Newham.

On the day, HRH Prince William will attend a workshop on tolerance and team building, which will be delivered by FfP tutors and attended by Young Peace Leaders. His Royal Highness will then meet the charities Footballing Ambassadors and students who will all then take part in an activity which will break down a wall with footballs in a message against hate and violence to support the #FootballSavesLives campaign.

“With the #FootballSavesLives campaign, we want to encourage all football lovers and peace defenders to support our pledge to train the next generation of Young Peace Leaders to create more peaceful and tolerant communities across the UK. These schools in normal instance, hardly mix let alone play on same teams, the country needs more integration activities”, says FfP co-founder Kashif Siddiqi.

Adding to this, Arsenal player Mesut Ozil said “I am proud to support an initiative which brings people together in the such divided times we are living in”.

ENDS

Football for Peace: An overview of the charity
Football for Peace is a grassroots football movement with diplomatic impact, championing the power of the beautiful game to bring people of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds together on the pitch, while fostering understanding and tolerance off it. Supported by international personalities including Ronaldinho and The Duke of Cambridge, Football for Peace organises Peace Matches, one-off football matches held annually around the world to raise awareness of football diplomacy and promote a message of equality and peace. FfP also provides football and leadership training for youth from different faiths, cultures and backgrounds through a local community programme, Cities for Peace. Futbol Por La Paz (Football for Peace) was established in 2006 by FIFA and Chilean legend Elias Figueroa and co-founded Internationally in 2013 by British South Asian International Footballer, Kashif Siddiqi. More information on footballforpeaceglobal.org.

Airways Aviation Academy overview www.airwaysaviation.com
Airways Aviation is a global Aviation Pilot Training solutions provider for European, Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), Australian, Civil Aviation Safety Agency (CASA) and Montenegro Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) Fixed Wing pilot licenses courses.It has established Pilot Training Academies across key locations in Oxford, United Kingdom, Huesca, Spain, Podgorica Montenegro, Gold Coast & Caloundra, Australia. Airways Aviation Head Quartered in Oxford, United Kingdom brings together a global network of singled owned aviation flight schools to offer flight training and an enhanced experience for aspiring pilots from locations around the world.

Global Sustainability Network overview http://gsngoal8.com
The Global Sustainability Network (GSN) is a platform that brings leaders and innovators from each respective sector (Business, Government, Community, Media & Faith) to achieve Goal 8 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s). In a span of three years the GSN has over 900 global change makers from around the world. The GSN conducts four main events yearly located at the United Nations Head Quarters in New York, Lambeth Palace or House of Lords in London, The Vatican in Rome and Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Event Partners

Grange Hotels
EFI and Syncoms
Puma
Apco Worldwide
Soccerex
DCD Group
BT Sport
Airways Aviation
Diplomat

Social media

Twitter: @FfP_Global
Facebook: Football For Peace Global
Instagram: ffp_global
#FootballSavesLives

Media queries
For more information about Football for Peace or this campaign, please contact:

FOOTBALL FOR PEACE
info@ffpglobal.org
0207324 2025

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Excerpt:

PRESS RELEASE

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By International Organization for Migration
Nov 22 2018 (IOM)

The Global Migration Film Festival showcases films that capture the promise and challenges of migration

 
THE FESTIVAL

Over the years, films have been used to inform, entertain, educate and provoke debate. It is in this spirit that IOM, the UN Migration Agency, launched The Global Migration Film Festival (GMFF) in 2016.

Cinema and migration have a magical bond stretching back over a century ago when film makers, many of whom were immigrants themselves, began making movies that depicted a world on the move. Their films brought the dramatic, poignant and comic stories of migrants to diverse audiences, through images that provoked feeling amongst people of every culture.

The Global Migration Film Festival (GMFF) features films and documentaries that capture the promise and challenges of migration, and the unique contributions that migrants make to their new communities. The goal of the festival is to pave the way for greater discussion around one of the greatest phenomenon of our time.

 
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?

Films have the power to show different facets of life, which can in turn help viewers to cultivate deeper empathy for migrants and a better understanding of their realities, needs, perspectives and capacities.

The objective of the GMFF is to use films as educational tools that influence perceptions of and attitudes towards migrants, by bringing attention to social issues and creating safe spaces for respectful debate and interaction.

Furthermore, the Festival is an innovative creative avenue for normalizing discussions of migration through storytelling, and it is an advocacy tool that can also draw attention to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), thus helping all nations as they work to meet them.

Films can: INFORM, INSPIRE, TRANSFORM AND PROMOTE INCLUSION

 
HOW IT WORKS

Professional and emerging filmmakers are invited to submit films about the migrant experience according to the established theme:

The Promise and Challenge of Migration, and the Positive Contributions Migrants Make to Their New Communities. A committee of international film professionals will select a number of outstanding productions to be screened for a diverse audience: thousands of people in almost 100 countries.

The screenings will take place in varied locales, from cinemas to concert halls, and even impromptu settings in hard to reach areas and along popular migration routes such as the trans-Sahara corridor.

MORE THAN 30 FILMS
IN OVER 100 COUNTRIES

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Ready for a day's work at sea, a small fleet of boats hugs the shoreline of a fishing village in the district of Kilifi. Fishing is important to the local economy. Experts experts insist that there is still a lot more to be done towards developing a strong blue economy action plan for Kenya. Credit: UN Photo/Milton Grant

By Miriam Gathigah and Robert Kibet
NAIROBI, Nov 22 2018 (IPS)

In a matter of days the world’s blue economy actors and experts will converge in Nairobi, Kenya for the first ever global conference on sustainable blue economy.

From Nov. 26 to 28, participants from around the globe will meet in Kenya’s capital to discuss how to develop a sustainable blue economy that is inclusive of all.

Professor Micheni Ntiba, the Principal Secretary for Kenya’s Department of Fisheries, Aquaculture and the Blue Economy, says partnership linkages with development agencies such as the United Nations Development Programme are key to progress, but synergies need to be directed towards integrating policy and strategy for implementation.

“This will be a conference like no other, with a research and scientific symposium. It requires knowledge and hence there is the need to integrate policy and strategy for implementation as well,” Ntiba told IPS in an interview.

Wilfred Subbo, an expert in natural resources and an associate professor at the University of Nairobi, told IPS that the Sustainable Blue Economy Conference will significantly jumpstart the country’s blue economy by setting the agenda on the need to prioritise the exploitation of water-based natural resources.

He said that the stage is set for governments and private sector actors to transform the country into a robust commercially-oriented blue economy.

Just this week, on Nov. 19, President Uhuru Kenyatta launched the country’s newly-formed Kenya Coast Guard Service in Mombasa, Coastal region.

With the Kenya Coast Guard Act 2018 already in place, the mandate of the new coast guard includes controlling illegal and unregulated fishing, border disputes, and piracy as well as the degradation of the marine ecosystem.

Also on the same day, Kenyatta launched the ‘Eat More Fish’ campaign, which has Ali Ahmed is elated. Ahmed is a Malindi-based fisherman whose main target markets are in Malindi, Mombasa and Nairobi.

Government statistics shows that the current per capita fish consumption is at 4.6 kilograms, and that the president’s campaign will drive consumption to rival Africa’s average of 10 kilograms, and later attain the global average of 20 kilograms. This is part of an agenda to encourage ordinary Kenyans to both invest and reap from the blue economy based on the untapped potential in fisheries.

“Kenyans have turned to other foods like traditional vegetables and ignored fish. They say it is too expensive but this is not true. Most of the fishermen are in the business to put food on the table and nothing else,” he tells IPS.

Nonetheless, experts insist that there is still a lot more to be done towards developing a strong blue economy action plan, just as countries in the Western Indian Ocean such as Mauritius, Seychelles, Madagascar and the Union of Comoros have done.

Professor Peter Anyang Nyong’o, the Governor for Kisumu County where Lake Victoria is located, told IPS in a telephone conversation that despite huge funding towards solving environmental problems in Lake Victoria, the impact has been negligent.

The Lake Region Block is planning to host a conference early next year that seeks to discuss pollution in Lake Victoria, mainly caused by the hyacinth, the invasive plant that has paralysed commercial fishing and marine transport.

“Hyacinth has heavily affected fish life in the lake as it impedes oxygen level. We are going to discuss scientific research that seeks to bring a better solution to the hyacinth in the lake,” says Nyong’o.

And as counties from the Lake Region plan to attend the Sustainable Blue Economy Conference, Nyong’o says his county is currently working on a plan to revive the fibreglass boat-making project to curb accidents and deaths caused by the use of soft wood in making boats, which he says causes roughly 5400 deaths a year.

Experts such as Nairobi-based economist Jason Rosario Braganza told IPS that the conference offers the public and private sector an opportunity “to reinforce the narrative on the importance of a holistic approach to sustainable development through the diversification of the economy.”

Braganza says that the high-level meeting will draw attention to the responsibility that citizens have in the ethical consumption and responsible use of natural resources.

According to the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (Kippra), the estimated annual economic value of goods and services in the marine and coastal ecosystem in the Blue Economy in the Western Indian Ocean is currently slightly over 22 billion dollars. Kenya’s share is approximately 4.4 billion dollars, with the tourism sector accounting for about 4.1 billion dollars.

Dickson Khainga, from the Productive Sector Division, says that Kenya’s blue world is more than just tourism and includes “the extraction of non-living resources such as seabed mining, marine biotechnology and the generation of new resources such as energy and fresh water.”

The research and policy analyst says that despite the country having a maritime territory of 230,000 square kilometres and a distance of 200 nautical miles offshore, equivalent to 31 of the 47 counties, Kenya has only explored tourism and fisheries.

According to Kippra, fisheries are by far not its most productive sector, accounting for a paltry 0.5 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Against this backdrop, Braganza emphasises that in pursuit of the blue economy the country will need to seal its policy loopholes.

He says that the “exploitative nature of big corporations of natural resources is a threat to sustainable development.” Braganza cautions that governments “will need to be more robust and decisive in the development of institutions, and legislation to police the exploitation of natural resources.”

With shipping said to be responsible for about 2.5 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants, an agreement reached to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from global shipping when nations met at the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) in April this year marked a big milestone.

Feeding the globe’s projected 9.6 billion people by 2050, invigorating aquaculture estimated to supply 58 percent of fish to the global market has the potential to contribute to food security as well socioeconomic inclusion of some of the world’s poorest.

Ntoba says Africa is still blind to the rich diversity of water body resources, and that its nations should now seize the opportunity by using the upcoming global conference as a wake-up call to foment greater African partnership.

Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya, who chairs the Lake Region Economic Block, told IPS the region will seek to push for a focus to have more funding directed towards improving commercial fish farming in the counties.

So far, the government has already set aside some Ksh 10 billion to improve marine fishing in the coastal region and another Ksh 14 billion to harness commercial aquaculture in 14 counties.

“Water has been mainly used in conventional irrigation agriculture which has contributed to greenhouse gas emissions but there has to be a shift. Sustainable water use will help spur the economy and at the same time curb greenhouse gas emissions,” Oparanya told IPS.

Related Articles

• Women Must be at the Heart of Africa’s Blue Economy
• Kenya Looks to Lead the Way in Developing the Blue Economy’s Potential
• Q&A: All Sustainable Development Goals Relate in Some Way to the Oceans

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The post Q&A: How to Transition One of the Fastest-Growing Economies in the World to a Green Growth Model appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Karolien Casaer-Diez is the new country representative of Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) for Cambodia. She started her career in Foreign Affairs in Belgium and worked for the United Nations Development Programme in Somalia and Bangladesh. She has been based in Myanmar and Laos for GGGI and was assigned to Cambodia three months ago.

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Rita Francke and another fisherwoman at the jetty, in front of the old crayfish factory at Witsands, South Africa. Credit: Lee Middleton/IPS

By Mahawa Kaba Wheeler
ADDIS ABABA, Nov 21 2018 (IPS)

The blue economy has quite rightly been described as the ‘New Frontier of the African Renaissance’. Its potential for a continent on which almost two thirds of its states have a coastline, whose trade is 90 percent sea-borne and whose lakes constitute the largest proportion of surface freshwater in the world, is enormous.

Indeed, its potential runs into the many trillions of dollars and promises to combine enormous economic growth with environmental conservation, if stewarded properly.

The Africa Union’s Integrated Maritime Strategy (AIMS 2050) provides a robust roadmap to fully exploit the potential of its oceans and seas and the first Sustainable Blue Economy Conference in Nairobi next week offers African nations the opportunity to solidify this continental framework.

But one thing we can say with certainty now is that the full potential of Africa’s blue economy can only be reached if it is truly inclusive, allowing all people in society to reap the dividends on offer from the oceans, seas, lakes and rivers of the continent.

Women must be at the heart of this inclusivity. Gender equality and women’s empowerment is at the heart of all African Union (AU) policies and actions and the blue economy is fertile ground to further women’s role in this transformative field.

The AU at its 31st Ordinary Summit in Nouakchott adopted its first Continental Strategy for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (2017-2027) to accelerate translate Agenda 2063 into reality for the millions of women and girls across the continent.

The first pillar of this strategy is aimed at achieving economic autonomy for women through maximising outcomes and opportunities for them. The blue economy is one such target.

Women have not always been able to fully enjoy the rewards of the growth in Africa’s economies and the roles they have played in helping expand sectors across the continent are gaining greater recognition.

Mahawa Kaba Wheeler, Director for the Women, Gender and Development Directorate, at the African Union Commission, says that while the marine industry in Africa is male dominated, women are working collaboratively with men to find a voice within it. Courtesy: Mahawa Kaba Wheeler

The AU is committed to ensuring this is not the case with the blue economy and is advocating for women to be more involved in marine industries across Africa. The AU currently works with women’s networks in this field, including among others Women in Maritime Africa, Women’s International Shipping and Trading Association and Women in the Maritime Sector in Eastern and Southern Africa, and welcomes new initiatives.

As delegates will hear at the Nairobi conference, we are pushing several initiatives for women in the blue economy, for instance to help them become sea cadets, lead port operations, increase the number of women in the industry, become captains of ships, celebrate their accomplishments and leaders in the industry, to expand their roles in shipping, fishing and other sectors of the marine industry.

We want to make sure that the blue economy is an inclusive one for women. Agenda 2063 calls for inclusive economic growth and we want to make sure that women are included in that growth and within the blue economy.

At present, the marine industry in Africa is male dominated, but women are working collaboratively with men to find a voice within it. This conference will ensure women’s voices are more fully heard.

This is especially important now as we have seen women deciding to come together to play their part in the blue economy and take their dividend from it – across Africa they are joining groups to promote and support the role played, and which could yet be played, in the marine industry.

The AU welcomes and fully supports these and any similar activities as they can only be good for women, for the promotion of inclusivity, and the blue economy as a whole.

But it must not stop there.

The Sustainable Blue Economy Conference in Nairobi offers an opportunity for all blue economy stakeholders, in Africa and from other countries, to not only hear about the key role women can play in the blue economy, but help suggest and support ways and means to expand those roles and to ensure that women are truly and fully included in Africa’s blue economy and able to reap its rewards. Several events will be held to promote women’s role in the blue economy and are anticipated to help leaders rally behind women’s initiatives in the industry.

Together, heads of state, ministers, policymakers, civil society groups and other stakeholders must come together to honour commitments we have all made to inclusivity in the blue economy and guarantee that women are not left behind as Africa’s ‘New Frontier’ is opened up. We must therefore create bold and transformative initiatives to accelerate women’s economic empowerment and leadership in this field.

It must also not be forgotten that this is not just about women’s roles in developing the potential of the oceans, seas, lakes and rivers around the world. It goes well beyond this.

By showing that women can succeed and thrive as entrepreneurs and independent active agents of change and growth in the blue economy, we can inspire women in all other sectors of society. If they can succeed in one economy, why not in another? If a woman can rise to the top in a sector of the marine industry, she can rise to the top in, for example, the finance or retail industry, to name just two.

The AU helps give women a voice in all industries, especially those which are non-traditional or male-dominated, and in Nairobi, we want to help them find their voice in the blue economy.

We say “women can sail Africa to the seas” and we believe the Sustainable Blue Economy Conference will give us the chance to succeed.

Related Articles

• Kashmir’s Fisherwomen Live Between Hope and Despair
• Africa’s Giant Blue Economy Potential
• Q&A: All Sustainable Development Goals Relate in Some Way to the Oceans

The post Women Must be at the Heart of Africa’s Blue Economy appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Mahawa Kaba Wheeler is Director for the Women, Gender and Development Directorate, Bureau of the Chairperson, at the African Union Commission

The post Women Must be at the Heart of Africa’s Blue Economy appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Inequality out in the open. Credit: A.D. McKenzie/IPS

By Anis Chowdhury and Jomo Kwame Sundaram
SYDNEY and KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 21 2018 (IPS)

Economic inequality – involving both income and wealth concentration – has risen in nearly all world regions since the 1980s. Gross economic inequalities moderated for much of the 20th century, especially after World War Two until the 1970s, but has now reached levels never before seen in human history.

No more inclusive prosperity
The World Inequality Report 2018 found that the richest 1% of humanity captured 27% of world income between 1980 and 2016. By contrast, the bottom half got only 12%. In Europe, the top one percent got 18%, while the bottom half got 14%.

OXFAM’s Reward Work, Not Wealth reported that 82% of the wealth created in 2016 went to the richest 1% of the world population, while the 3.7 billion people in the poorer half of humanity got next to nothing.

2016 saw the biggest increase in billionaires in history, with a new one every two days. Billionaire wealth increased by $762 billion between March 2016 and March 2017, with OXFAM noting, “This huge increase could have ended global extreme poverty seven times over”.

The latest World Inequality Report warns, “if rising inequality is not properly monitored and addressed, it can lead to various sorts of political, economic, and social catastrophes”.

The Global State of Democracy 2017: Exploring Democracy’s Resilience had anticipated this concern: “Inequality undermines democratic resilience. Inequality increases political polarization disrupts social cohesion and undermines trust in and support for democracy”.

Growing inequality undermining progress
Alexis de Tocqueville believed that democracies with severe economic inequality are unstable as it is difficult for democratic institutions to function properly in societies sharply divided by income and wealth, especially if little is done to redress the situation, or if it worsens.

De Tocqueville also maintained that there cannot be real political equality without some measure of economic equality. Poor citizens would not enjoy the same access to political and policy influence as the wealthy enjoy much more influence.

For Amartya Sen, the poor’s ‘substantive freedom’ or ‘capability’ to pursue goals and objectives is circumscribed. Those with more power not only block progressive redistribution, but also shape rules and policy to their own advantage.

For Robert Putnam, economic inequality also impacts civic norms, such as ‘trust’, critical for political legitimacy. Growing inequality exacerbates the sense of unfairness about a status quo run by and for wealthy plutocrats.

For Joseph Stiglitz, rising inequality weakens social cohesion. Declining trust increases apathy and acrimony, in turn discouraging civic participation. Economic inequality thus worsens ‘political anomie’, eroding community bonds besides contributing to anti-social behaviour.

Meaningful democracy needs active citizens’ participation in community affairs, typically greatest among the ‘middle class’. Growing economic polarization has hollowed out the middle class, reducing civic engagement, exacerbating the ‘democratic deficit’.

Exclusion and deprivation exacerbate alienation, causing greater abandonment of prevailing social norms. Meanwhile, the privileged indignantly see others as undeserving of ‘social transfers’.

Populism threatens multilateralism
Thus, de Tocqueville was concerned that growing inequality would gradually erode the ‘quality’ of democracy, even in high-income societies. The rise of ‘plutocratic populism’ has contributed to the latest identity politics in the US and Europe.

Public discourses and the media have blamed the ‘other’ – immigrants and the culturally different – for growing social ills. Thus, plutocrats often succeed in satisfying ‘their people’ with privileges and ‘rights’ in contemporary modes of ‘divide and rule’.

With the media, they often obscure plutocracy’s rule, sometimes even justifying its worst features, e.g., legitimizing high executive remuneration as ‘just rewards’ as tycoons secure generous tax breaks and investment incentives, at the expense of social spending and public services for all.

In today’s ‘winner-take-all’ economy, those on top successfully lobby for and secure lower taxes. Nonetheless, they indignantly denounce budget deficits as irresponsible and inflationary, threatening the value of all financial assets.

America divided
In the United States, the income share of the top 1% is now at its highest level since the Gilded Age, on the eve of the Great Depression. Meanwhile, the bottom half of Americans has captured only 3% of total growth since 1980. Disparities are reaching levels never before seen in the modern period.

Thus, around 2013, the top 0.01%, or 14,000 American families, owned 22.2% of US wealth, while the bottom 90% – over 133 million families – owned a meagre 4%! The richest 1% tripled their share of US income within a generation, with 95% of income gains since the 2008-2009 financial crisis going to the top 1%!

Meanwhile, legislative and other reforms as well as judicial appointments have stacked the legal system even more heavily against those with little power or influence. A recent survey found more than 70% of low-income American households had been involved in civil legal disputes in the previous year, such as eviction and employment law cases, with more than 80% lacking effective legal representation.

Lack of attention to those down and out has worsened the sense of abandonment and exclusion. Many Americans, especially in depressed regions, have become disillusioned and alienated, but also more susceptible to chauvinist politicians promising protection against ‘the other’, imports and immigrants.

The post Inequality undermines democracy appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Fishermen at work, Little Bay, Jamaica. Credit: Zadie Neufville/IPS

By Terry Waghorn
ROTTERDAM, The Netherlands, Nov 21 2018 (IPS)

I recently connected with Felix Dodds and a colleague of his Chris Tomkins about the development around how the Blue Economy prior to the Kenya Government’s international conference (26-28 November) on the subject. Felix is a global sustainable development leader who has worked on sustainable development for more than two decades observing and participating in international development meetings, including the negotiations on the Global Goals for Sustainable Development, which the Blue Economy is part of and asked for his take on why and how the business and finance community should get behind them.

Terry Waghorn: We are now three years into implementing the Sustainable Development Goals one of which deals with the Oceans. For many people the term the Blue Economy is new. What does it mean?

Felix Dodds: The Blue Economy is the sustainable use of oceans, their coastal and estuarine hinterlands, as well as lakes and associated areas which embrace key sectors such as seabed mining, port development, fisheries, energy and tourism. It is a new frontier for sustainable investments.

This Blue Economy approach is key to the development of coastal, oceans, and lakeside areas, putting growth, jobs and the natural resource base on a sustainable footing. Done well it has the potential to release the estimated 12 trillion dollars of oceans goods and services in a sustainable way.

Governments, particularly in emerging economies, working in partnership with the private sector and need to make full use of the substantial foreign investment flows and loans available, can get ahead of the game and guide coast and ocean development in a sustainable and profitable manner.

This Blue Economy approach is key to the development of coastal, oceans, and lakeside areas, putting growth, jobs and the natural resource base on a sustainable footing.    Done well it has the potential to release the estimated 12 trillion dollars of oceans goods and services in a sustainable way.

Terry Waghorn: What could be done to bring together investment in this area to support addressing the challenges of the Blue Economy?

Chris Tomkins: We are suggesting the establishment of a Blue Economy Investment Facility (BEIF) this would mobilize greater investment to address the challenges in the Blue Economy. Such a BEIF would be created by a partnership of governments, the finance sector and other relevant stakeholders.

The aim of the BEIF in a country would be to develop a pipeline of bankable projects that catalyze sustainable investment requiring close public-private cooperation. This cooperation would inter alia utilize the UN”s  Guiding Principles on People-First Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs)..

The structure of a Facility would of course depend on national circumstances. For example, Some governments have Blue Economy units which could be re-oriented towards a mandate for securing Blue investment, aligning investment partners with projects, utilising national and regional expertise and best practice, and ensuring that investments contribute to an ongoing Blue Economy process.    Governments can move quickly to such an integrated focus given that the various elements for so doing are in in place.

Terry Waghorn: Is there really a business case for Blue Economy Investment?

Felix Dodds: We do believe that the time has come for a more robust and sustainable approach to Blue Economy Investment. There are a number of underpinning and linked elements in making this cass. Perhaps the most obvious for business is managing risk.

This means proper valuing of the resources provided by oceans, coasts and lakes effectively.   We need robust valuations – and much work has been done on this which could enable is to move forward looking at the stream of ecosystem, growth and livelihood benefits, which flow from investing in the Blue Economy.

The Sustainable Blue Economy Conference

The first global Sustainable Blue Economy Conference will be held in Nairobi, Kenya from Nov. 26 to 28 and is being co-hosted with Canada and Japan. The aim of the conference is learn how to build a blue economy that harnesses the potential of the world’s oceans and waterbodies in order to improve the lives of all.

This helps provide fund managers, investors generally, lenders, businesses and indeed governments with a necessary rate of return rationale, and effective risk management to satisfy fiduciary duties to shareholders, donors and other stakeholders.

Terry Waghorn: How is this reflected in effective valuation?

Chris Tomkins: Because sustainability arguments are more effectively mainstreamed into lending decisions there is greater willingness by the private sector – corporate and institutional – as well as national and multilateral sectors and donors – to invest in sustainability over significant periods of time.

Private investment recognizes increasingly the need for longer time lines in making investment decisions consistent with the requirements of sustainability and profitability. Sustainability has become a more core concept for many businesses, as more and more, report on their environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) issues.

Terry Waghorn: What do governments need to do to enable this to happen?

Felix Dodds: Governments need to provide the right enabling environment for private investment and wider borrowing flows.  It is particularly important when much investment will be large scale and, to some extent, of the nature of a public good.

This would include major infrastructure, such as improved water quality; sewage management and storm damage control; harbour, tourism and fishing fleet development; and energy production and sustainable mining.

Finally, A Blue Economy Investment Facility and associated process would allow governments to accelerate, focus and strengthen moves towards a genuine Blue Economy approach.    They would be able to utilize their and private sector expertise and orientate, develop, and tender projects and initiatives which deliver improved livelihoods, improved environmental quality, and improved spending of investment flows.

Appropriate investment principles, recognized by the international community of donors, lenders and other investors can help consolidate the process and drive it forward in a sustainable manner.

Terry Waghorn is Founder and Managing Director of Katerva, one of the world’s largest ‘human neural networks’ dedicated to innovation. The network brings together entrepreneurs and innovators, academics and researchers, business and thought leaders, ministers and policymakers, NGOs, governments, and investors intent on improving the state of the world.

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Credit: Global Forest Coalition

By Rabiya Jaffery
SHARM EL SHEIKH, Egypt, Nov 21 2018 (IPS)

A discussion held earlier this week at the ongoing Convention of Biodiversity’s (CBD) Conference of Parties in Egypt highlighted that grants to curb deforestation in the Amazon are not enough if they are accompanied with investments that increase the loss of biodiversity.

“Parties are talking about ‘investing in biodiversity’, but we need to talk about divesting from biodiversity destruction,” stated Isis Alvarez of the Global Forest Coalition (GFC), a worldwide coalition of NGOs and Indigenous peoples’ organizations from 60 different countries striving for rights-based, socially just forest conservation policies.

“Meat and soy are the top two contributors to deforestation, we must eliminate financial and other support for these sectors.”

Incentives to produce and export meat and soy in major producer countries like Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina — or the “United Soy Republic” according to GFC — are a leading cause of deforestation and biodiversity loss, according to a briefing document prepared by GFC for the discussion at the ongoing Convention.

Originally launched in 1992 as part of the Rio Earth Summit, the Convention on Biological Diversity is a global agreement among 196 nations that represents the growing global commitment to sustainable development.

In the next two years it aims to define a post 2020 global framework on biodiversity to be adopted in Beijing in 2020 — much as the Paris Agreement did in 2015 for climate change.

UNCBD’s Aichi Targets that were set out in 2010 to be phased out in the next 10 years, states that incentives, including subsidies, that are harmful to biodiversity, need to be eliminated, phased out, or reformed in order to minimize or avoid negative impacts, while positive incentives are developed to support alternatives.

GFC highlights that, while grants are being provided in efforts to “conserve biodiversity” of the Amazon, the livestock and feedstock industry (mainly soy) are continuing to receive significant incentives, including subsidies and tax cuts.

Isis Alveraz, along with multiple other sources and scientific reports, state that at the current rate of deforestation, the world’s rainforests could diminish and virtually vanish within the next 100 years

“The biggest driver of deforestation is agriculture. Farmers cut forests to provide more room for planting crops or grazing livestock,” says Alvarez, a Colombian biologist and member of the GFC.

“Plant-based agriculture used to feed animals bred for food drives up the amount of resources consumed by crops. Intensive livestock production requires large quantities of harvested feed which, in turn, requires substantial areas of land while grazing animals such as cattle place additional stress on the state of Earth’s forests — especially the Amazon.”

GFC states that the Paraguayan Chaco region is being deforested at the rate of 1,000 hectares per day due to cattle ranching and soy monocultures, the highest rate of deforestation in the world while meat and soy companies here are receiving multiple tax incentives.

Brazil, for example, continues to be one of the countries with the highest deforestation rates on the planet. Between 2005 and 2015, the Brazilian government invested $3.18 billion in the livestock industry – 90% of which went to just three corporations.

In 2017, $48 billion went to agribusiness companies in the form of cheap credit while only $115.6 million was allocated to combatting deforestation and forest degradation.

Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon has also jumped by almost 50% during the three month electoral season that brought Jair Bolsonaro to power, according to preliminary official figures.

Between August and October, nearly 1, 674 square km (an area more than double the size of New York City) of forest was converted to pasture— making the deforestation rate go up to 273%. To put it in perspective, the rate stood at 114% during the same period last year.

And while experts observe that deforestation usually increases in Brazil’s electoral years amid promises from local politicians they tp open up protected land or make environmental legislation more flexible, far-right candidate and now president-elect Bolsonaro has added a powerful permissive voice to agribusiness, land-grabbers, illegal gold miners and loggers.

Aside from deforestation, reports show that the livestock industry is also causing significant negative impacts on local communities, animal welfare, and the environment.

“Much of the land for livestock in Paraguay was acquired via land grabbing, while wages paid by ranching operations are a third of the national minimum wage,” says Miguel Lovera of GFC’s Paraguay hub.

The discussion at the Convention proposed that alternatives to support biodiversity conservation the paper proposed a rapid reduction in meat and dairy consumption and incentives for small-scale, localized, and ecologically sound food production as well as community conservation initiatives.

The post NGOs Call for Disinvestments in Biodiversity Destruction appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Eminent photographer Shahidul Alam walks out of Dhaka Central Jail in Keraniganj last night, five days after the High Court granted him bail in a case filed under the ICT Act. Photo: Palash Khan

By The Daily Star, Correspondent
Nov 21 2018 (The Daily Star, Bangladesh)

After 107 days in jail, acclaimed photographer Shahidul Alam was finally released last night, five days after he had secured permanent bail from the High Court.

He walked out of Dhaka Central Jail in Keraniganj around 8:20pm, following a daylong confusion over his release.

Shahidul hugged his wife Rahnuma Ahmed who, along with their relatives, his students, well-wishers and lawyers, had been waiting at the jail gate since 11:00am.

He raised his fist in the air as they welcomed him with bouquets.

In an instant reaction, Shahidul said, “We expect that in independent Bangladesh, people will be able to speak freely. If that does not happen, being inside [jail] or out in the open is the same.”

Asked how he had been in jail, he said, “I was so-so. Others’ conditions were much worse.”

A smiling Shahidul then thanked all those who spoke for his freedom at home and abroad.

His lawyers said the release order reached jail authorities around 11:30am. However, around 2:30pm, the authorities said the address on the document did not match with that on the jail documents.

They then sent the order back to a Dhaka court for correction. The corrected copy came back around 5:55pm, they said.

Talking to The Daily Star, Rahnuma said a jail official called them over phone around 7:30pm and said her husband would not be released. The official told them to come again around 10:00am today.

However, the official again called them around 8:00pm and told them to go near the jail gate. By that time, many of those waiting outside had left, she said.

Shahidul came out around 20 minutes later.

Rahnuma also said both the addresses were correct. One was the present address while other was the permanent one.

Senior Superintendent of Dhaka Central Jail Iqbal Kabir Chowdhury said they received the release order from a Dhaka court yesterday morning, but could not let Shahidul go as the order had “some mistakes”.

Shahidul, also the founder of Drik Gallery and Pathshala South Asian Media Institute, was picked up on August 5 from his Dhanmondi home in the capital during a widespread demonstration for safe roads.

Police filed a case against the 63-year-old under section 57 of the ICT Act and produced him before a Dhaka court the following day. He was then placed on a seven-day remand. Police charged him with “spreading propaganda and false information against the government”.

His arrest and imprisonment sparked outrage and condemnation at home and abroad.

The noted photographer obtained permanent bail from the High Court on November 15 following a petition by him.

On Monday, the government filed a petition with the Supreme Court seeking a stay on the High Court verdict that granted him permanent bail.

Meanwhile, in response to Shahidul’s release, Saad Hammadi, Amnesty International’s Regional Campaigner for South Asia, in a statement, said, “Shahidul Alam is a bold representation of Bangladesh through his lens. He should not have been detained in the first place.

“Bangladesh authorities must immediately drop charges against Shahidul Alam and uphold its international commitments to protect the right to freedom of expression,” he added.

This story was originally published by The Daily Star, Bangladesh

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By Eresh Omar Jamal
Nov 21 2018 (The Daily Star, Bangladesh)

Sultana Kamal, lawyer and human rights activist, member of CPD board of trustees, former Executive Director of Ain o Salish Kendra, and former advisor to the caretaker government of Bangladesh, talks to Eresh Omar Jamal of The Daily Star about the upcoming national elections and the state of human rights in Bangladesh.

Sultana Kamal. Photo: Anisur Rahman

In a report released on October 19, Human Rights Watch (HRW) expressed concern over the government taking a number of steps ahead of the national elections which it believes will have “a chilling effect on speech”. What are your thoughts on their assessment?

In your question you have not spelled out what exactly are the steps taken by the government ahead of the national elections that the HRW is fearing will have a chilling effect on people’s freedom of expression. I presume they are referring to the random, arbitrary arrests of social activists as well as the members and supporters of the opposition political parties and implicating them in anti-State cases. They have been very random as many of the accused in such cases are known to have died already. These cases have been termed as “ghost cases”.

Police excess in controlling meetings and rallies of the opposition could also be an example here. In our current political culture where there is every reason to believe that police actions normally are manifestations of the wish of the ruling party, the Human Rights Watch quite justifiably sees these as steps taken by the government to have serious effect on people’s freedom of expression.

In addition to the above, the other concern the Human Rights Watch may have in mind over which we could not agree with them more, obviously relates to the passing of the Digital Security Act (DSA). This Act, as had been promised by the government, was supposed to replace the previously passed ICT Act, Section 57 of which was notoriously misused by the government and its supporters to stop dissent and shun any criticism against them. It is worrying to note that even after passing the DSA, the cases filed under Section 57 of the ICT Act remain in force.

Coming back to the DSA, Bangladesh now has this regressive Act giving police unlimited power, as illustrated in a write up of the Sampadak Parishad, “to enter premises, search offices, bodily search persons, seize computers, computer networks, servers, and everything related to the digital platforms.” Aided by this Act the police on the ground can arrest anybody even on suspicion without warrant—not requiring to seek approval of any authorities. It’s worth remembering that the responsible ministers of the government under the pressure of concerned citizens and journalists sat with the Sampadak Parishad with a view to review the Act but unfortunately did nothing to bring the desired changes. This kind of dependence of the government on police is most unbecoming of a democracy.

This attitude of the government of demonstrating its will to not allow people to speak their minds without fear sends serious signals to everyone concerned. It has a far-reaching effect in curbing people’s freedom of expression and other civil liberties, eventually negatively influencing them in freely exercising their right to vote during the elections. In a weak democracy like Bangladesh where political parties are not sure of their power base, all parties in power across the border unfortunately tend to follow the same strategy of silencing the people’s voice by taking such actions.

It may not be out of context to note here that the dialogues that were held in the meantime among the opposing political alliances ended without any conclusive decision. This happened, in my opinion, due to the lack of political will of the main parties to use the opportunity to seriously dedicate their focus and everything else towards holding a free and fair election. From what we gather from the media, the parties were more determined in re-asserting what they have been saying to each other in their public speeches rather than discussing ways to meet the election challenges posed in front of them.

Over the last months, we have seen a number of police cases being filed against leaders and activists belonging to opposition political parties. Some of them were filed against individuals who were abroad at the time they are said to have committed a crime, or who had earlier passed away. What effect can this have on voter confidence?

Well, people mainly depend on the police for safety and security on the day of polling. It is the police that is entrusted with the sacred duty of ensuring an atmosphere for the voters to feel confident that the election is being held in a free and fair environment where they can cast their votes without the fear of their votes being rigged or manipulated—physically or technically. It is therefore important that they find people with integrity around them for the desired protection.

Police actions, as described in your question, certainly have a negative impact in the confidence level of voters which manifests in the fear and anxiety expressed by them in relation to the election time. This is particularly true of the religious and ethnic minorities, women and supporters of the opposition parties who, without exception, become victims of violence and have their rights violated in the pre, during as well as post-election periods. In the past, we have seen these people not being given timely or proper protection by the police.

In your view, have the different political parties been emphasising enough on human rights in their appeal to voters?

Unfortunately, the answer is no. Not only in their appeals to voters, in general even, as it seems from the discourses of the different political parties, human rights are placed quite low in their list of priorities. In their appeal to voters the emphasis of the different political parties is on development which, to many, lacks reflection of human rights values to a considerable extent.

As I said earlier, the aim of the political parties is to win the elections at any cost. Unfortunately, our elections with very few exceptions have been characterised by dependence on money, muscle and manipulation. In such an atmosphere, human rights is not given a fair chance.

Only recently in one of the TV talk-shows, a very high-ranking police officer when asked to comment on remarks made by human rights activists about escalation of human rights violation in the country, responded by saying that he finds these comments “irritating and ridiculous”. Such statements coming from a high-ranking police officer clearly demonstrate the degree of apathy and disrespect officers and politicians have towards human rights. Promotion and protection of human rights evidently are placed in subordination to all other priorities of the power centric political culture that the political parties have embraced so dearly.

Rights violations have taken place under every regime. Even though we’ve seen the party in power change, why is it that we don’t see any meaningful improvement in the government upholding the basic rights of citizens?

It all depends on the state of democracy in a society whether the State will seriously dedicate itself to upholding the basic rights of the citizens. In Bangladesh, historically, because of repeated interference by undemocratic forces in political processes, democracy was not allowed to take root in society.

Hence we are confronted with socio-political and cultural conditions that permit the State to undermine the norms of human rights without having to answer for the lapses. This was originally facilitated by the rehabilitation of the anti-liberation forces accused of war crimes in every sphere of our life. They were not simply allowed to return to the country but were rehabilitated with power and opportunities to infiltrate into our political, social and economic fabric, and to mould our culture to embrace the character of intolerance towards the “others”. The fundamental principle of respect for equal rights and dignity of all somehow ceased to bear much value to the power centric political forces. Which is why we do not see any meaningful improvement in the government upholding the basic rights of citizens.

This story was originally published by The Daily Star, Bangladesh

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Sea level rise threatens Raolo island in the Solomon Islands. The ongoing negative effects of climate change, inadequate agricultural, industrial and household waste management, to name but a few, all threaten and undermine the promise of the Blue Economy. Credit: Catherine Wilson/IPS.

By Cameron Diver
NEW CALEDONIA, Nov 20 2018 (IPS)

We live on a “blue planet” where water covers around 75 percent of the Earth’s surface. Without water we would simply not survive as a species. As we strive to find pathways to and take action for inclusive sustainable development, we must ensure that our ocean, our seas, rivers, lakes, waterways and wetlands, together with their invaluable biodiversity, are preserved, sustainably used and integrated into development programming.

Above all, we should understand, value and harness these natural pillars of the Blue Economy as answers to many development challenges, as solutions to help us achieve the ambition of the Paris Agreement, deliver a new deal for nature and people, and reach the Sustainable Development Goals.

The Blue Economy has enormous potential as a driver of economic growth, social inclusion and environmental protection, but it is also faced with immense challenges.

The ongoing negative effects of climate change, inadequate agricultural, industrial and household waste management, plastic and chemical pollution, corruption and lack of robust water governance mechanisms, the alarming rate of biodiversity loss in global ecosystems and sometimes wilful ignorance of scientific evidence and advice, to name but a few, all threaten and undermine the promise of the Blue Economy.

There are inspiring examples worldwide of action to clean up waterways, restore habitat and create clean environments for economic and recreational activities. But you don’t have to be a wealthy developed country to share the same ambition or achieve similar outcomes.

Here are just a few examples from the Pacific region, whose large ocean/small island states are taking up the challenge, all the while dealing with the immediate impact of climate change, natural disasters and the very real tyranny of distance.

The Pacific Islands are uniquely vulnerable to the environmental impacts of maritime transport due to their reliance on shipping and the fact that many ports in island contexts are located both in the main urban area and in fragile coastal ecosystems like lagoons.

Through programmes like our Green Pacific Port initiative my organisation, the Pacific Community, is helping its Member States address these issues through improved efforts to increase port energy efficiency and reduce their carbon footprint, and enhanced environmental management including marine pollution and waste management.

In the tiny archipelago of Wallis and Futuna, the issue of used oils, batteries and saturated landfill was prioritised by local authorities due to its potential repercussions on the quality of the aquifer, lagoon and coastal water, and of course marine biodiversity.

Working alongside local communities and decision makers, our teams contributed to developing multiple measures to remove hazardous waste from the islands. A viable export business was set up to process this type of waste and, on the island of Futuna, the landfill was closed and underwent site remediation.

In the agriculture sector Pacific Island countries are also tackling threats to soil quality, plant life and water resources. In Fiji, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands and Samoa we are helping develop and implement innovative approaches using soft chemicals and biocides to target specific pests and diseases without affecting other forms of biodiversity and significantly lessening the environmental impact.

Alongside other partners, the Pacific Community contributed to the 2018 Pacific Marine Climate Change Report Card. The Report Card provides an easy to access summary of climate change impacts on coasts and seas in the Pacific region.

It also highlights the critical nexus between the ocean and climate change and underscores the significant threat that deteriorating marine and coastal biodiversity would present for livelihoods, health, culture, wellbeing and infrastructure.

It also proposes are range of responses Pacific Islands can adopt such as: building resilience to unavoidable climate change impacts on coral reefs, mangroves and seas grass by reducing non-climate threats and introducing protected areas; working with communities to diversify fisheries livelihoods and restore and preserve fish habitats; optimising the sustainable economic benefits from tuna through regional management.

For the large ocean/small island States of the Pacific region the ocean is at the heart of their identity: “We are the sea, we are the ocean, we must wake up to this ancient truth”. Through the Blue Pacific narrative, Oceania’s Leaders seek to harness the potential of Pacific peoples’ shared stewardship of the Pacific Ocean based on an explicit recognition of their shared ocean identity, ocean geography, and ocean resources.

The Blue Economy must therefore contribute to the Blue Pacific identity and help fulfil a higher ambition for regionalism and sustainable development based first and foremost on the deep-rooted bond between the peoples of the Pacific, the land, the ocean and biodiversity.

In this context, the Pacific Community and our partners provide scientific and technical expertise and advice for evidence-based policy making and sustainable solutions tailored to the needs of the 22 Pacific Island countries and territories. Globally, as in the Pacific, we must ensure that the Blue Economy is more than a slogan, more than a concept encouraging sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth.

It must become a concrete reality where decisions are informed by science and the best available evidence. We must use the Blue Economy so that nature and the environment are not sacrificed for short-term political or economic gain but leveraged for long-term sustainable growth and development.

We must truly transform the promise of the Blue Economy from the page and the conference hall to tangible and integrated climate action, ocean action and biodiversity action to guarantee a sustainable future for our planet and, as a consequence, ourselves.

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Excerpt:

Cameron Diver is the Deputy Director-General of the Pacific Community (SPC).

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The block M24 (Camp 20) mosque is one of the community structures upgraded by IOM, with funding from ECHO, to provide temporary shelter for Rohingya refugees during emergencies. Photo: IOM

By International Organization for Migration
Cox’s Bazar, Nov 20 2018 (IOM)

Dozens of community buildings in Bangladesh’s Rohingya refugee camps have been upgraded by shelter teams from IOM, the UN Migration Agency, to provide temporary accommodation for refugees in emergency situations.

Seventy buildings have now been completed under the first phase of the project, supported by the European Union (EU), offering temporary shelter space for over 4,500 people.

The upgraded structures will allow IOM shelter and site management teams to provide better protection for refugees if they are affected by landslides, floods, bad weather or other unexpected events that force them to leave their own shelters.

Mohammed Nur, 36, a maji or community representative, said: “If weather conditions turn bad and storms destroy our shelters, people from our area will be able to stay here safely for a few days. It is a relief for all of us.”

In a second phase of community shelter upgrade work, to be funded by the United Kingdom, a further 100 buildings will undergo improvements. Once completed, the 170 strengthened structures will be able to accommodate 10,000 people with urgent shelter needs.

The facilities will also serve as a temporary accommodation for families whose shelters need to be repaired or completely re-built in the coming months, as the dry season offers a window of opportunity to tackle damage inflicted during the monsoon season.

“IOM and partners have provided over 100,000 households with materials to help them upgrade their own shelters. But weather and environmental conditions in the camps mean tens of thousands of families live with the knowledge that their shelters could be damaged or destroyed at any time,” said Manuel Pereira, IOM’s Emergency Coordinator in Cox’s Bazar.

“Ensuring we have secure and stable buildings in which people can safely take shelter if disaster strikes is hugely important under such circumstances. This project means that even though people are living in very uncertain conditions, if the worst happens, we are still able to offer them a safe haven.”

The EU funding was provided by the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO) under a consortium project implemented by IOM, the German Red Cross, and the UN Development Programme (UNDP). The Disaster Risk Reduction consortium was established to mitigate against disasters among refugee and local communities affected by the Rohingya refugee crisis.

Almost a million Rohingya are currently living in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, after escaping violence in Myanmar, which surged in late August 2017 sending over 500,000 people fleeing across the border in just a few weeks. The region is prone to some of the worst monsoon conditions on earth and undergoes two cyclone seasons each year.

Most Rohingya live in what has become the largest refugee settlement in the world – a desperately overcrowded environment on ground prone to landslides and flooding. People living in local villages, where infrastructure has been severely overstretched since the arrival of so many people in a very short period, also face ongoing risk of environmental and other disasters.

For more information please contact Fiona MacGregor at IOM Cox’s Bazar. Email: fmacgregor@iom.int, Tel: +88 0 1733 33522

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St. Lucia's iconic Pitons, a World Heritage Site, located in Soufriere in the south of the island. Small Island Developing States (SIDS) have been poorly placed to take advantage of the blue economy.They face acute development challenges; small population size, limited opportunities to diversify their economies, inability to achieve economies of scale in production, weak institutional capacity. Credit: Kenton X. Chance/IPS

By Cyrus Rustomjee
WINDSOR, England, Nov 20 2018 (IPS)

The blue economy—a concept and economic model that balances economic development with equity and environmental protection, and one that uses marine resources to meet current needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own—is not a new idea.

Already the global blue economy, through fisheries, aquaculture, coastal and marine tourism, ports, shipping, marine renewable energy and many other activities, generates global value added of over USD1.5 trillion, a figure that is projected to double by 2030.

But so far, the world’s almost 50 Small Island Developing States (SIDS) have been poorly placed to take advantage of the blue economy.

They face acute development challenges; small population size, limited opportunities to diversify their economies, inability to achieve economies of scale in production, weak institutional capacity.

Many are among the world’s most remote countries with disproportionately high transport costs severely reducing opportunities for trade.

Most face disproportionately high impacts from climate change and adverse weather events. There is an irony and paradox in this: collectively, 10 Caribbean SIDS together enjoy an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of 1.25 million square kilometres.

That’s a sea area exclusively available to these countries to develop, of 23 times their collective land area. For 12 Pacific SIDS the opportunity is even greater, with EEZs totalling an enormous 16.8 million square kilometres – on average 31 times their collective land area.

Constrained by these and other factors, SIDS have seen little of the potential benefits of the blue economy. But with the blue economy concept quickly gaining global attention as an opportunity for sustainable, transformative economic development, all that may soon change.

The first global Sustainable Blue Economy Conference (SBEC) will take place in Nairobi in late-November, bringing together almost all countries involved in the blue economy, civil society, the private sector, international financial institutions and other stakeholders.

The purpose: to find ways to accelerate the blue economy and to share more widely the prosperity, job opportunities and the promise the blue economy offers for transformative development. It’s a huge opportunity for SIDS and a potential game-changer for their future development path.

There have been many global ocean-related conferences, including several United Nations-led events, before – so what’s different about the SBEC?

For SIDS and other developing countries, for the first time global focus will move beyond an overarching preoccupation with one critical component of the blue economy on which all stakeholders agree – the urgent and imperative quest to protect the world’s oceans and waterways from further deterioration and to restore ocean health. Focus will also be on identifying how to best increase growth and jobs, reduce poverty and make blue economy opportunities available to a much wider range of countries and stakeholders.

For SIDS, the opportunity and the stakes could not be higher. A successful conference could help unshackle many of the constraints that have long held back their blue economy aspirations. It sets a course for a long-term systematic transformation from terrestrially-based economies, to ocean economies that integrate land, coast and sea space; and could put in motion a sustained process of transition.

Dr Cyrus Rustomjee says for SIDS, the opportunity and the stakes at Sustainable Blue Economy Conference could not be higher. A successful conference could help unshackle many of the constraints that have long held back their blue economy aspirations. Courtesy: Cyrus Rustomjee

Four key outcomes from the SBEC will serve as critical measures of success for SIDS and as key pointers to the pace and scale of their future progress toward the blue economy.

First, renewed, repositioned partnerships for SIDS. Through the U.N. SIDS and Ocean conferences, over 1,400 SIDS partnerships have already been established, with about a third focused on Sustainable Development Goal 14 – Life Underwater. But most focus on knowledge transfer and the bulk are yet to be implemented. Success at the SBEC will see accelerated implementation of existing commitments and the establishment of more partnerships directly focused on creating and supporting marine and coastal projects in SIDS.

Second, strengthened regional and international initiatives to ensure effective cross-border and multi-jurisdictional governance and oversight of the blue economy. The blue economy has little respect for national borders. Several fish species are themselves highly migratory and many blue economy activities, including fisheries, require cross-border, multi-jurisdictional oversight and cooperation. Overfishing and illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, for example, have all severely limited SIDS and other developing countries’ ability to reap the full gains from fisheries. For SIDS, a successful SBEC will see many regional and international agreements across all traditional and emerging blue economy activities tightened, rationalised, simplified and made more effective.

Third, improving SIDS’ access to the scientific know-how, research and marine technologies needed to engage in emerging sectors of the blue economy, such as technologies to harness opportunities from marine biotechnology, bio-prospecting, marine renewable energy and seabed mining. These have remained largely the preserve of advanced economies. New initiatives agreed at the SBEC, to share these more widely, coupled with signature of a series of access and benefit sharing agreements that see a larger share of revenues and jobs from joint initiatives accruing to SIDS, will be a strong marker of success.

Fourth, new traditional and innovative sources of finance. Investing in the blue economy can come at high cost, particularly in investing in port infrastructure, marine transport and emerging sectors such as biotechnology and minerals prospecting.

And although international financial institutions, including the World Bank, the Caribbean, African and Asian Development Banks, and some SIDS themselves have successfully scaled up sources and volumes of blue finance, more needs to be done to establish the infrastructure needed to tap the transformative potential of the blue economy for SIDS.

SBEC outcomes that result in wider sharing of SIDS’ experiences in attracting innovative finance, particularly inter-regional sharing, together with greater uptake of existing international finance institutions, blue finance can both directly help accelerate progress for SIDS.

The full and multiple opportunities offered by the blue economy for transformation remain elusive for SIDS and have yet to be realised. These include:

• sustained, higher levels of output and growth;
• a transformation from terrestrially-based, low-wage to higher wage employment;
• a steady shift to higher value added production;
• greater diversification and external competitiveness;
• large-scale increases in infrastructure and investment;
• reduced reliance on imported energy, diversification; and
• reduced poverty and inequality.

All eyes are now on the SBEC in November, to see if the arc of sustainable development and resilience for SIDS can be shifted and their journey to the sustainable blue economy accelerated. For SIDS, the time for the blue economy is now.

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Excerpt:

Dr Cyrus Rustomjee, is a senior fellow with Global Economy Programme, Centre for International Governance Innovation; and is managing director of CETAWorld, an independent consulting practice.

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Tobacco pickers carry leaves to one of the sheds where they are cured on the Rosario plantation in San Juan y Martínez, in Vuelta Abajo, a western Cuban region famous for producing premium cigars. Credit: Jorge Luis Baños/IPS

By Wendell C Balderas
BANGKOK, Thailand, Nov 20 2018 (IPS)

Thailand is set to become the first Asian country to introduce standardized packaging of tobacco. On 14 November 2018, the Thai National Committee on Tobacco Control approved the Ministry of Health Regulation that requires cigarettes in Thailand to be sold in packaging stripped of the fancy, colorful and unique cigarette branding.

Instead, the packs will be in drab brown color, free of any logos or images with 85 percent pictorial health warnings on both sides. Tobacco brand names can only be printed in a standardized font type, size, color, and location. This regulation will be gazetted soon and implementation will be in 270 days.

Standardized packaging is the global best practice in packaging tobacco products as recommended in the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Article 11 (Packaging and labelling) and 13 (Tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship) Guidelines and are designed to make smoking less appealing.

With this move, Thailand continues to be a leader in tobacco control in Asia joining seven other countries worldwide already implementing standardized packaging.

Standardized packaging’s promises to reduce the attractiveness of tobacco products, eliminate tobacco packaging as a form of advertising, and increase the noticeability and effectiveness of pictorial health warnings.

This will also reduce the tobacco industry’s ability to market to young people who have not started using tobacco, support adult tobacco users who want to quit, and help prevent ex-users from relapsing. But is there evidence to support this?

While the tobacco industry denies the evidence, studies done in Australia and the United Kingdom show standardized packaging works. A national survey measuring Australian smokers’ responses one-year post-implementation found that more adult smokers noticed graphic health warnings and attributed their motivation to quit to the warnings.

A year after implementation, another study showed sustained reduction in visible smoking. The sustained reduction suggests that plain packaging may be changing norms about smoking in public.

A global independent network, the Cochrane review, has reviewed, 51 peer-reviewed studies, investigating the impact of standardized packaging focusing on associations between the use of standardized packaging and changes in the prevalence of smoking, number of people starting smoking, the number of people stopping, or the number of people relapsing after attempting to quit.

This systematic review of the evidence points to the effectiveness of plain packaging.
The review also mentions evidence from eye-tracking studies that adults and teenagers pay more attention to health warnings on standardized packs compared to branded packs.

Tobacco from standardized packs has been rated as tasting worse than from branded packs by smokers, and as being lower quality. There is also evidence supporting the idea that teenagers who see standardized packaging are less likely to report wanting to start smoking than those who see branded packaging.

Thailand’s new regulation is part of a comprehensive set of measures in the Tobacco Products Control Act passed in March 2017 by the Thai National Legislative Assembly. Other important measures in the law include the ban on tobacco-related Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities, ban on single stick sales, requiring the tobacco industry to report its marketing activities, and increased penalty fee for smoking in prohibited areas from THB 2,000 ($60.89) to THB 5,000 ($152.23).

Earlier this November, Singapore announced its plans for standardized packaging and the domino effect has begun. Singapore’s Tobacco Control of Advertisements and Sale Act will be amended moving towards standardized packaging to come into effect in 2019.

Worldwide, Australia was the first country to mandate plain packaging in 2012. Since then, eight other countries, namely, France, the United Kingdom, Hungary, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, Uruguay, Slovenia, and Mauritius have also introduced plain or standardized packaging laws, and at least 16 other jurisdictions are formally considering the same.

Since plain packaging is effective and will reduce smoking, the tobacco industry countered by suing Australia, France, the UK, and the EU, but failed in all its legal challenges.

In June this year, a World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute panel upheld Australia’s plain packaging law as being consistent with international trade and intellectual property laws.

The tobacco industry has a history of using the threat of legal challenges to intimidate governments, particularly in low and middle-income countries that have limited resources to fight the industry in court, but these latest announcements by Thailand and Singapore and the recent WTO ruling in favor of Australia should encourage more countries to adopt and implement this life-saving measure.

SEATCA is very delighted with this important development in the the history of tobacco control in Asia and we look forward to Thailand implementing this law and monitoring the compliance.

This new law will not only help the more than 10 million current smokers to quit but more importantly stop children from being addicted to tobacco and protect the Thai people from being exposed to secondhand smoke.

Stay tuned for the next country in Asia who will follow Thailand and Singapore’s strategic action to protect public health.

The post Thailand First Asian Nation to Join Global Efforts to Control Tobacco appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Wendell C Balderas is Media and Communications Manager, Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA)

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By Editor, The Manila Times, Philippines
Nov 20 2018 (Manila Times)

For the first time in 29 years, the 21 countries in the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum this week could not agree on a declaration to mark the 2018 meeting of leaders in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.

In this era of high-tech and high-speed communications, this year’s meeting will probably be described as a “low-batt” summit because of its perceptible lack of energy and harmony.

Both Presidents Donald Trump of the United States and Vladimir Putin of Russia sent their second-stringers to the summit. Only President Xi Jinping of China was on hand to represent his country.

President Rodrigo Duterte was even initially reported as cutting short his visit to Port Moresby, although he changed his mind and stayed for the meeting of leaders.

The Associated Press described the 2018 summit as an “acrimonious meeting of world leaders” when the leaders failed to agree Sunday on a final communique. That was seen as highlighting the widening divisions between global powers China and the US.

The 21 APEC nations struggled to bridge their differences on the role of the World Trade Organization, which governs international trade. They settled on a statement to be issued, instead, by the meeting’s chair, Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O’Neill.

“The entire world is worried” about tensions between China and the US,” O’Neill told reporters after he confirmed that there would be no communique from leaders.

The problem once again was the differing visions of the future by China and the US. For several summits now, the two nations have offered divergent routes toward the future in their preferred policy on global trade.

Draft versions of the proposed communique at Port Moresby, as reported by AP, showed that the US wanted strong language against unfair trade practices that it accused China of perpetrating. China, on the other hand, wanted a reaffirmation of opposition to protectionism and unilateralism in which, it said, the US was engaging.

The two-day summit in PNG, therefore, wound up underlining the rising rivalry between China and the US for influence in the Pacific. US Vice President Mike Pence and Chinese President Xi Jinping even traded sharp barbs in their speeches.

Pence accused China of luring developing nations into a debt trap through the loans it offered for infrastructure.

Xi said the world was facing a choice between cooperation and confrontation as protectionism and unilateralism grew. He said a trade war would produce “no winners.”

Where this tit-for-tat leaves the Asia-Pacific and APEC is unclear.

This could revive interest in the words of former Australian Foreign Minister Gareth Evans, who memorably described APEC as “four adjectives in search of meaning.”

As in the beginning, APEC could be engaged again in an acute search for coherence. Ironically, Evans was one of the architects or midwives of APEC when it was born in 1989.

This story was originally published by The Manila Times, Philippines

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