Africa - INTER PRESS SERVICE

By WAM
ABU DHABI, Aug 1 2018 (WAM)

The Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) and Airbnb, the online community marketplace which provides access to millions of unique accommodation and Experiences around the world, have teamed up to promote the UAE capital’s offerings.

DCT Abu Dhabi’s Emirati Experiences initiative offers visitors to the emirate a selection of 20 different tours and experiences designed and led by Emirati nationals which provide firsthand insight into Emirati culture, heritage and history.

These tailor-made experiences are echoed by Airbnb’s own ‘Experiences’ – unique excursions and activities designed and led by local hosts – which Airbnb offers across 800 cities worldwide. This new joint initiative means all 20 Emirati Experiences will now be included on Airbnb’s popular global platform for the first time.

“This collaboration with our friends at Airbnb to showcase Emirati Experiences on their hugely popular service makes perfect sense and is in line with our mandate to promote our emirate to the widest possible audience,” said Sultan Al Mutawa Al Dhaheri, Executive Director, Tourism Sector, DCT Abu Dhabi. “Each year, millions of tourists come to Abu Dhabi to experience our history, traditions and heritage and there is no better way for visitors to experience the uniqueness of Abu Dhabi and its districts, and to learn about our rich history than by spending time with an Emirati tour guide, which is what Emirati Experiences offers. With this new initiative, the demand for these unique experiences should increase as more potential visitors are exposed to the wonderful things on offer in Abu Dhabi.

“This co-operative initiative will no doubt result in greater visibility of our emirate to an international audience, which can only positively impact visitation numbers going forward.”

Emirati Experiences currently offers 20 unique tours and excursions, including the Bait Al Oud Visitor Experience, the Emirati Ladies Experience, the Emirati House Experience, Capture the Moment – a four-hour guided photography tour with professional photography tips and Desert Safari.

Also available are the Zayed Tour – a journey around various historic and important locations in Al Ain city that highlights the extraordinary life of HH Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, Explore & Shop, Traditional Shopping in Abu Dhabi, the Sandals Handicraft Experience – a guided tour of the Al Dana shoe-making Factory, Top Traditional Food in Abu Dhabi, the Discover Al Ain tour, which includes a visit to a date factory and a traditional souq and the Fossil Dunes and Flamingoes experience.

Emirati Traditional Crafts, the Food Experience Tour, the Carpets and Antiques experience, The Pearl Journey, Amazing and Affordable Abayas, Emirati Women’s Handicrafts and a Modern Islamic Architecture experience are also available, the latter taking in the amazing Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, as does the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque and Palaces of Abu Dhabi experience.

“We are delighted to be partnering with the DCT Abu Dhabi to help grow the number of Experience hosts on the Airbnb platform,” said Hadi Moussa, Airbnb General Manager for Middle East and Africa and Head of EMEA Business Development. “Experiences on Airbnb enable passionate, local hosts to share the very best of their destination with millions of travellers from around the world, whether it’s an authentic cooking class or a chance to enjoy an insider view of the city. Following the success of Experiences in Dubai, this partnership will attract new guests to experience Abu Dhabi’s famous hospitality and discover one of the most dynamic and fast-growing tourism destinations in the world.”

Further information is available on https://visitabudhabi.ae and www.airbnf.ae.

WAM/Hatem Mohamed

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Assam register: politics, citizenship and beyond.

By Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury
Aug 1 2018 (The Daily Star, Bangladesh)

Shakespeare had once observed, through his character Marcellus addressing Horatio in the drama Hamlet, that there was something rotten in the State of Denmark. Thereafter, he sought to analyse those remarks by weaving an incredibly complex scenario that focussed on the woefully morbid persona of his brooding and indecisive hero, Prince Hamlet. Were the English bard to return to the present times and be asked on his view as to what ails contemporary Pakistan, he would perhaps respond, with incontrovertible logic and certitude, that it is the economy. Prime Minister-elect Imran Khan would agree. Mr Khan would also conclude that the indecisiveness of the young Dane would be a luxury that he could ill afford.

Mr Khan cannot be faulted for any absence of zeal during the preparatory process, leading up to the polls, to go about this task. In his election manifesto issued early July, he entitled his aspirations as the “Road to New Pakistan”. It was, if not influenced by but certainly reminiscent of, a similar document of the British Labour Party of Mr Clement Attlee in 1945 called “The New Jerusalem”, based on a mystic poem by Robert Blake. Mr Attlee set these as goals for post-war Britain. He used it effectively as a tool to unseat the war hero Sir Winston Churchill, despite the latter’s derision, belied by the election results, that Mr Attlee was a “modest man with much to be modest about!” In Pakistan, Mr Khan rendered his plans more attractive to his right-wing supporters by stating that his idea was to emulate the state apparatus emplaced in the city of Medina in the seventh century by the Holy Prophet, as components of an “Islamic welfare state”. To his more contemporary constituency, he explained the model as being similar to the politico-economic culture prevalent in Scandinavia. The explanations seemed to have gone down well with the electorate.

The big challenge to Mr Khan will be as to how this is to be implemented. Alas, the road to a “New Pakistan” appears to be extremely uneven, unusually steep, and full of potholes. That is because he has unfortunately inherited an economy that is, by all accounts, in shambles. The World Bank estimates that Pakistan’s growth rate will be only 5 percent in 2019. This is not above India’s so-called “Hindu growth rate” of yesteryears (which would be a bitter pill to swallow in Pakistan). Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves have plummeted to USD 9 billion. This is less than a third of that of Bangladesh, which is often held out by analysts as a frame of reference. It is just about sufficient to finance two months of imports instead of three, which is the norm for comparable countries. The rupee is in free fall, devalued four times over the last six months, and is now at a rock-bottom par of 128 to the US dollar. The 200 or so state-owned enterprises in Pakistan (SOEs) are inefficient, mismanaged, politicised, and corrupt, costing the national exchequer well over half a trillion rupees. Direct taxes amount to a mere 11 percent of the total collection. Less than 1 percent pay income tax. These numbers are enough to daunt any incoming government anywhere.

The “Team Khan”— including Mr Asad Umar, the likely finance minister—have plans. Mr Umar is an extremely qualified technocrat-turned-politician who was once the highest paid CEO in the land. They will seek external funding, possibly an over USD 13 billion credit from the IMF, some of which will be used for paying off debts. China, which Mr Khan extolled as perhaps Pakistan’s closest friend, will also be approached. Of course, any IMF balance-of-payment support will come with restrictive conditions likely to dampen the enthusiasm for public expenditure for social sectors. Mr Khan, however, may be intellectually persuaded that a “government must do what a government must do”. The SOEs would be depoliticised with experts brought in to head them, as well as to fill government posts where deemed fit. Ministries would be streamlined, their numbers in the federal structure reduced from 37 to 17. The Federal Board of Revenue would be made autonomous, perhaps somewhat like the Central Bank. They would be urged to increase tax collections up to 5 percent of the GDP. Five percent of the GDP would be spent on education within five years, in place of the current 2 percent, to create a pool of schooled girls and boys. A new agriculture policy will be designed to optimise subsidies (not necessarily increase), reduce input costs, and provide credit.

A sticky wicket for this legendary cricket captain would be handling the military finances. The implementation of Mr Khan’s “five-point emergency plan”, the initial phase of his overall programme, would logically entail reduction of the army budgetary allocation. Currently, it stands at USD 9.6 billion, nearly 20 percent of the total national budget. Any downsizing would need to be carefully balanced by perhaps an augmenting of privileges to the uniformed through what the writer Ayesha Siddiqa has critically called the “Milbus”, or providing business opportunities to the military. Indeed, Mr Khan’s overall relationship with the military will be an important element as to how his governance will pan out. He is said to have the blessings of the army, far more than what is enjoyed by his rivals. It is also true that the army does not have too much choice. Mr Khan is a strong personality. Moreover, he is also popular. If things work out for him, he may become more so in the future. Many of his views coincide with those of the military. But there are also some differences, as with regard to military action in the Pashtun frontiers. Mr Khan and the army need each other for now, and both are well aware of this reality.

To lift Pakistan up from the economic morass, trade would be key. Mr Khan has emphasised this aspect while mentioning his relations with India in the post-polls speech. The figures currently are abysmally low. There are many common elements between Messrs Khan and Narendra Modi of India. Both possess tremendous self-confidence in their self-assessments. Mr Dayan Jayatilleka, a Sri Lankan scholar and diplomat, once a colleague of the author in Singapore, has written: “South Asian politics had only one charismatic star in the firmament… now it has two.” When they meet, as they perhaps will sooner than later in this era of “surprise summits”, the region and the world may see the adage play out—that “when Greek meets Greek, then comes the tug of war!” The other important protagonist would be the United States. As of now, Mr Donald Trump has demonstrated remarkable self-restraint by not tweeting his initial thoughts on Mr Khan.

As one awaits the unfolding of further political developments in Pakistan, Mr Khan’s capacity and capabilities are being meticulously scrutinised. His second wife Ms Reham Khan has recently published a book which contains an elaborate laundry list of Mr Khan’s shortcomings. This was doubtless timed to do damage to Mr Khan’s reputation and electoral ambitions. However, not many Pakistanis seemed to have taken note. In it, Ms Reham Khan, among other things, has accused Mr Khan of ignorance. To make her point, she has said that she was baffled by his unawareness of the fairy tale of Rapunzel. In this children’s story, a princess had laid down her long hair from a window in a castle in which she was imprisoned to enable a handsome prince to climb up to rescue her. Mr Khan might not have been clued in on this detail. But he was nevertheless, in the meanwhile, creating his own fairy tale by climbing the ladder of power reaching up to the highest public office of his country.

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

This story was originally published by The Daily Star, Bangladesh

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Runoff from the north into the Chao Phraya River, heavy rains and high tides all pose major flooding threat to Bangkok. Credit: Ron Corben/IPS

By Sinsiri Tiwutanond
BANGKOK , Aug 1 2018 (IPS)

As preparations are underway for an important formal discussion between countries committed to the Paris Agreement; Thailand, Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy, has been determining its progress towards reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 20 to 25 percent by 2030. But experts have warned against merely emphasising policies to affect real changes.

Under the Facilitative Dialogue 2018, countries will have the opportunity to revisit  their nationally determined contributions (NDCs) in a fight to close the gap between the GHG emissions trajectory needed to achieve the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement. NDCs are outlines of the actions countries propose to undertake in order to limit the rise in average global temperatures to well below 2°C.

“Climate change impacts deal with long-term planning. We need to be looking at how we are planning to adapt ourselves to the impact in the next five to 10 years and the infrastructure needed to be resilient to those impacts. It is very site-specific. You can’t really focus on the policy level alone,” Wanun Permpibul of Thailand Climate Action Network told IPS.

According Permpibul, unofficial talks have indicated that Thailand may not be revisiting their NDC commitments this year.

“When we meet with government officials, they claim that they already achieved 17 percent of reduction even though we haven’t implement the NDCs yet. It seems they are still unsure if we are going to resubmit our targets this year,” she said.

She cautioned against this optimism as there are still ongoing projects from the government that contradict their NDC commitment, in particular a plan for two coal-fired powered plants in in the southern tourist destinations of Krabi and Songkhla. Earlier this year, the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand announced it would delay the construction of the power plants after months-long opposition from local villagers and activists. However, the coal-fired power plants remained on the pipeline with an expected start date in the next three years.

“There is no room to say we have a marginalised renewable energy and that is already acceptable. We’ve been working with communities and networks in the lower northern region of Thailand and they have already witnessed the impacts of climate change. It’s more difficult now to plan for their crops because the rainfall pattern has changed,” Permpibul said.

She believes a stronger push is needed to see real progress towards the government’s commitment. “We need to limit the temperature to 1.5 degrees. It’s a matter of life and death and it’s the urgency that Thailand is not aware of. You can’t afford to go for another half degree.”

Global Green Growth Intuitive (GGGI) Thailand’s green growth and planning and implementation programme manager Khan Ram-Indra said that the country is making meaningful progress on their NDC goals. Credit: Sinsiri Tiwutanond/IPS

Global Green Growth Intuitive (GGGI) is one of the organisations working closely to assist the country’s Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy (ONEP).

GGGI’s Thailand’s green growth and planning and implementation programme manager Khan Ram-Indra said that Thailand is making meaningful progress on their NDC goals.

The organisation has previously worked with the government to develop a GHG reduction roadmap for the Thai industry to remain on track with the agreement.

“GGGI’s work in Thailand has a strong focus on green industries. We believe we are in the best position to help Thailand achieve their ambitious target in GHG reduction. Out of the 20 percent [commitment under the NDC], eight percent will be from the energy industry, which is the area we are focused on, so we are currently working to turn those plans into real actions by collaborating directly with the private sector to develop bankable projects,” Ram-Indra said.

He said what makes GGGI’s work here crucial is that it is among a few development agencies working to focus on bankable project developments in the implementation phase of the value chain instead of planning. This has already demonstrated hopeful results from local companies. Under GGGI’s Accelerate NDC Implementation track, the organisation worked with local industry to identify potential energy efficiency projects and helped mobilise financing from its reach of investors.

Through a series of audits, on-site electricity and economic studies, the organisation was able to narrow down two companies with the most potential for energy efficiency projects.

GGGI was also able to raise USD1 million for a green industry project and based on that project, the organisation predicts similar successes across the country. While green investment makes up the bulk of GGGI’s efforts, Ram-Indra stressed that the means are as important as the end. “What we want is to see real tangible GHG reduction by the end of the project,” he added.

“For our Thailand programmes, they tend to focus more on climate change mitigation. Because GGGI’s mandate is to create a resilient world of strong inclusive and sustainable growth, with all of our projects, especially green cities, we make sure that the plan that we develop to help mobilise finance has a strong aspect of resilience to address climate change,” Ram-Indra explained.

Other projects on GGGI’s portfolio also include assisting the Udon Thani municipality develop a feasibility study to decide what will be the most cost-effective measures in collecting e-waste products. Udon Thani, a province located 560 km northeast of Bangkok, is ramping up efforts to become a regional hub for waste products after successfully developing their own waste treatment plant. GGGI is also assisting them conduct a feasibility study for a recycling plant that disassemble products like mobile phones and makes them more economically viable to sell to third-parties.

Another focus is on the Green Climate Fund, which Thailand currently has limited capacity in accessing. GGGI is working closely with ONEP which is the focal point of the fund to help the agency effectively access it.

Whether these efforts would bolster the country’s results to meet its NDCs by 2030 remains to be seen.

“If you set your demands very high, it doesn’t reflect the reality of this country. Rather, why don’t we use the time and resources to make our targets more ambitious and affect real changes,” Permpibul concluded.

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By WAM
DUBAI, Jul 31 2018 (WAM)

A delegation of engineers from the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre participated in the International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS) in Feria Valencia Convention & Exhibition Centre, from 22 to 27 July 2018.

The delegation attended workshops and lectures where they discussed vital topics in the field of geomatics and remote sensing, to highlight the pressing demands for observing, understanding and predicting the dynamics of the planet.

During the conference, Saeed Al Mansoori, Head of Applications Development and Analysis Centre at MBRSC and the Chair of Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society -IEEE (UAE Section) presented the educational initiatives and activities that were held in Dubai last year in the field of remote sensing such as the GIS and Remote Sensing Annual Scientific Forum.

He highlighted the events and workshops that were organised this year and presented the future plans to upgrade remote sensing in the UAE to benefit from it in all fields of services. Al Mansoori also shed light on the upcoming Remote Sensing Application Competition, which will be held in September 2018. The competition aims to promote the use of important data received from DubaiSat-2, and develop a smart tool to solve some of the challenges related to remote sensing analysis using image processing and deep learning concepts, in addition to teaching university students about geosciences and remote sensing.

Yousuf Al Shaibani, Director-General of the MBRSC, said, “Our participation in the International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium reflects our commitment to review the best global practices and the latest technologies in this field and highlight the latest applications developed by MBRSC.

It also allows us to discuss these applications with experts and scientists in the field of remote sensing. This contributes to the enhancement of quality of life and happiness index in Dubai, and promoting the Emirate as a smart city, to reflect the objectives of the UAE Centennial 2071, launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai.

The UAE Centennial includes key objectives for the future of the UAE. This also supports the Dubai Plan 2021 to make Dubai a smart and sustainable city whose environmental elements are clean, healthy and sustainable.”

IGARSS is the largest scientific gathering, co-organised by NASA and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and witnesses the participation of over 4,000 academics, researchers and specialists in geomatics and remote sensing from all around the world.

WAM/Hatem Mohamed

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By Razeena Raheem
UNITED NATIONS, Jul 31 2018 (IPS)

At the High-Level Political Forum, which concluded mid-July, world leaders from 46 countries show-cased their progress in achieving the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including eradicating extreme poverty and hunger by 2030.

All 46 countries produced voluntary national reviews (VNRs) aimed at facilitating the sharing of their experiences, including successes, challenges and lessons learned, with a view to accelerating the implementation of the 2030 SDG Agenda.

Slovak Deputy Prime Minister Richard Raši

The VNRs also seek to strengthen policies and institutions of governments and to mobilize multi-stakeholder support and partnerships for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Since the launch of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the number of countries presenting VNRs has increased significantly since the original 22 in 2016.

With this year’s Forum, says the UN, more than 120 countries have submitted their reviews, showing commitment to tackle some of the biggest challenges of our time. The Forum also brings together leaders from all sectors of society, including the business community and civil society.

Perhaps one of the most comprehensive VNRs was from the Slovak Republic which was presented by the Deputy Prime Minister for Investments and Digitalization Richard Raši.

Asked about Slovakia’s key challenges in implementing the 17 SDGs, the Deputy Prime Minister told IPS: “Our main challenge is a change of mindset in our society where there is still prevalence of strong orientation on instant benefits and individualism, but communitarian and holistic needs are being considered only too little, as well as further horizons.”

“A big task ahead of us is therefore creating awareness about SDGs to promote voluntary engagement of all stakeholders. Our objective is mainly to engage local and regional stakeholders, because it is estimated that 65% of the 169 targets of the 2030 Agenda cannot be reached without engaging and coordinating with local and regional governments,” he pointed out.

“To make our interventions towards reaching the SDGs effective and targeted, they will be based on a territorial approach and on the principle of subsidiarity. Local and regional governments have an indispensable role in mobilizing a wide range of stakeholders and facilitating “bottom-up” and inclusive processes for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. The formation of multi-stakeholder partnerships is equally important,” he declared.

“I have first-hand experience with the role of cities in localizing agendas and engaging its citizens for various causes. Between 2010 and 2018, I served as the mayor of the second largest city of Slovakia, Košice. During my term, Košice was named European Capital of Culture in 2013 and European City of Sport in 2016. In 2019, the city will be a European Volunteering Capital. Until 2030, we aspire to make significant progress in six national priorities that were defined in a broad stakeholder participation process.”
Excerpts from the interview:

IPS: What are your national priorities relating to Agenda 2030?

Deputy Prime Minister: Education for a life in dignity – support for education of socially or physically disadvantaged groups of people, because no one can be left behind. We also need to upgrade the overall quality of our educational system, because we cannot be satisfied with the results of Slovak pupils in international testings.

We also aim at intertwining education more closely with future labour market needs, that will, in the near future, require more and more complex skills like solving complex problems, critical thinking or creativity. Last but not least, our ambition is to better the teachers´ position in society as well as their professional preparation.

Transformation towards a knowledge-based and environmentally sustainable economy in the face of changing demography and global context: Slovakia has an open, export-oriented economy that is part of the European Union and Euro-zone. Therefore, we have to sensibly perceive and react to challenges and changing conditions that Europe has to face. Our own challenge is an ageing population that our social system must deal with. As to the transition to circular economy, that is an absolute environmental imperative.

Poverty reduction and social inclusion: although the problem of poverty is not too convex in Slovakia, we are aware of the need to raise the purchasing power of our citizens to match their counterparts in most developed European nations, the need to reduce regional disparities in income, and above all we are aware of multigenerational islands of extreme poverty that are sharply bounded both regionally and ethnically and pose a very complex problem.

Sustainable settlements, regions and countryside in the face of climate change: climate change is a fact and we have to reflect if in our urbanistic planning and in our approach towards the country. It is especially important to strengthen adaptation measures and to enhance the resilience of our communities and society to the potential adverse effects of climate change.

Rule of law, democracy and security: by which I mean, for example, strengthening of public trust into institutions and readiness towards new security threats such as spreading disinformation, rise of extremism or cybernetic crime.

Good health: apart from increasing the quality of health care, there must be above all increase in the state of public health by preventive means. That will not happen without a change in Slovak people´s lifestyle. Because our population is ageing, increasing healthy life years and prevention of chronical and civilisation diseases must be priority.

IPS: Conforming to a widespread appeal to member states by the UN, Slovakia has firmly committed its political will to implement the 2030 Agenda. But what is the primary impediment towards achieving its goals? Is it lack of development funding? Or decline in ODA? Or both?

Deputy Prime Minister: We of course recognise, that the national priorities will gain genuine significance only once they will be prioritised in terms of budgetary allocations. At the moment, the 2030 Agenda and the national priorities are not sufficiently integrated into the sectoral strategies of ministries and consequently they are not included in sectoral investment plans either. Therefore, as an essential part of the National Development Strategy, a National Investment Plan will be elaborated, which should bolster financing for sustainable development.

But if the importance of sustainable development was recognised in society and the stakeholders came forward with voluntary initiatives, finance would not be so essential. Therefore, I do not deem the main obstacle in achieving the SDGs to be only money, but also a lack of awareness.

We are fully aware, that while it is crucial to set up an effective framework for implementing the 2030 Agenda within our national borders, our responsibilities stretch further. In terms of supporting the implementation of the SDGs globally, we regard ODA as an important tool but not the only one. Net ODA as a percentage of gross national income has been gradually increasing in Slovakia over the last decade, but still falls below target values.

A second tool we utilise to contribute to sustainable development on a global level is leveraging our membership and position in international and regional organisations to mainstream sustainability in all areas of global concern.

IPS: How do the 17 SDGs fit into your national development strategy? Is there any coordination among your various ministries in helping implement the 2030 agenda?

Deputy Prime Minister: Our ambition is to establish the 2030 Agenda as the core of Slovakia´s strategic governance framework. Having defined our six national priorities in a broad stakeholder participation process, our next step will be to further develop these priorities within a National Development Strategy until 2030. This strategy should in turn form the basis of all sectoral and cross-cutting strategies, as well investment plans.

To turn this ambition into practice, a robust institutional framework is in place. It includes all key stakeholders for implementing the 2030 Agenda. In Slovakia, the coordination of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda is shared by the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office for Investments and Informatization, in charge of the national implementation of the Agenda, and the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, responsible for implementing the Agenda in an international environment.

The main high-level coordinating body for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda is the Government Council of the Slovak Republic for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In particular, the Government Council coordinates the creation of policies and strategies related to sustainable development, both at the national and regional level.

It also assesses the progress made in implementing the 2030 Agenda. Members of the Government Council include key line ministers, representatives of other relevant state institutions, regional administration, cities and municipalities, employers, trade unions, academia, non-governmental organisations and relevant government advisory bodies.

IPS: Are there any significant contributions from parliamentarians, NGOs, academia and the private sector– described as key stakeholders– in the implementation of the 17 SDGs?

Deputy Prime Minister: Key stakeholders, including academia, NGOs and the private sector, have been involved in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda from the very beginning. Stakeholders were engaged in the process of defining Slovakia´s national priorities for the 2030 Agenda, in accordance with the principle of participation and partnership. Currently, we are working to involve parliamentarians more deeply, who should have an important role in monitoring the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and in ensuring continuity.

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Meteorologists and hydro-met technicians assemble one of the 40 Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) being installed by the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) with funding from the USAID Climate Change Adaptation Program (USAID CCAP). Credit: Zadie Neufville/IPS

By Zadie Neufville
BELMOPAN, Jul 31 2018 (IPS)

By the end of September 2018, the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) would have installed the last of five new data buoys in the Eastern Caribbean, extending the regional Coral Reef Early Warning System (CREWS) network as it continues to build resilience to climate change in the Caribbean.

At the same time, the centre is also installing an additional 50 Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) across nine countries to expand the existing network of hydro-meteorological stations- yet another push to improve data collection in the region. The data will help scientists to better evaluate potential risks and impacts, and provide the information national leaders seek to build more resilient infrastructures to mitigate climate risks.

Enhancing the data collection and availability is central to the centre’s mandate to prepare the Caribbean’s response to climate change, Dr Ulric Trotz science advisor and deputy executive director told IPS.

He noted: “Experts here are using the critical data they collect, to enhance models, design tools and develop strategies to mitigate and build resilience to the devastating impacts – rising seas, longer dry spells, more extreme rainfall and potentially higher impact tropical cyclones – associated with climate variability and change.”

Reporting in “Volume 1 of the Caribbean Climate Series,” released ahead of the 23rd Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change  in Germany in 2017, researchers at the University of the West Indies Climate Studies Group, Mona Campus, Jamaica, pointed out that the Caribbean is already experiencing the impacts associated with changes in climatic conditions.

According to the report, nights and days are warmer; air and sea surface temperatures are higher and there are longer and more frequent periods of droughts. Not surprisingly, after the 2017 hurricane season, researchers also reported increasing intensity in rainfalls and more intense hurricanes with stronger winds and lots more rain.

“Even if global warming beyond the 1°C already experienced were limited to only a further half a degree, there would still be consequences for the Caribbean region,” the report said.

Trotz explained: “These data gathering systems, which were acquired with funding from the USAID Climate Change Adaptation Programme, are increasing the volume of real-time data and enhancing the reliability and accuracy of weather and climate forecasting in the region”.

In addition to the super computers installed at CCCCC’s Belize location, the University of the West Indies’ Mona Campus and Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH)-under previous projects- the newly installed data points, are already enhancing the capacity of regional scientists to monitor and process the atmospheric and other environmental variables that are affected by the changes in climatic conditions.

The data collection efforts support evidence-based decision-making, and improve the accuracy of the projections from the regional and global climate models while building the region’s resilience to the impacts of climate variability and change. In the end, the information provided in the 1.5 Report which will form part of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change global assessment report AR6 as well as all other Caribbean forecasts and models promises to be more accurate and reliable.

“The data collected from these stations forms the baseline for all climate modelling, ensuring that we have a good baseline data to suffice our regional climate services models for regional forecast and predictions. The network strengthens the baseline for climate change projection models thereby increasing the confidence in the results that are used in the decision-making for climate change mitigation and adaptation,” Albert Jones, instrumentation technician at the 5Cs, told IPS.

The retired weather forecaster explained, that the new AWS are not only improving data collection, they are also expanding the capability and roles of local Met Offices from their historic roles of providing information for primarily aviation purposes.

The importance of these systems cannot be understated, particularly in countries like Guyana and Suriname where deficiencies in the data seriously hampers the coverage of areas with significant differences in the topography and climatic conditions. This is especially significant where comparisons of hinterland and elevated forested areas to the low-lying coastal flood plains are critical to development of lives and property.

The centre, which celebrates its 14th year of operation in July 2018, has worked with several donors over its existence to improve the collection of data in a region that largely depended on manual systems and where historical data has been hard to come by. The latter is an essential input for validation of the regional models required for the production of region-specific climate scenarios, which are utilised in impact studies across all of the affected sectors in the region. These in turn form the basis of crafting the adaptation responses required to build climate resilience in specific sectors.

Popularly known as the 5Cs, the climate change centre carries out its mandate through a network of partners including government meteorologists, hydrologists, university professors and researchers. Scientists and researchers in Universities across the region and at specialist institutions like the Barbados-based CIMH, do the data crunching.

“We are building climate and weather early warning systems to build resilience, so it is important that we collect and turn this data into useful information that will benefit the society,” CIMH’s principal Dr David Farrell told hydro-met technicians at a USAID sponsored training on the grounds of the institute in March.

He noted that in designing the system, the CIMH- that has responsibility for maintaining the network- identified and reduced existing deficiencies to improve the quality of data collected.

And as global temperatures continue to soar, the World Meteorological Organisation 2018 report noted that 2017 was “was one of the world’s three warmest years on record.”

It said: “A combination of five datasets, three of them using conventional surface observations and two of them re-analysis, shows that global mean temperatures were 0.46 °C ± 0.1 °C above the 1981–2010 average, and about 1.1 °C ± 0.1 °C above pre-industrial levels. By this measure, 2017 and 2015 were effectively indistinguishable as the world’s second and third warmest years on record, ranking only behind 2016, which was 0.56 °C above the 1981−2010 average.”

With studies pointing to a warmer Caribbean and an increase in the frequency of extreme events, regional scientists are committed to improving the way they use data to guide governments on the actions that will lessen the expected impacts. In 2017, extreme weather events in the form of Hurricanes Irma and Maria claimed lives, destroyed livelihoods and infrastructure, throwing islands like Barbuda, Dominica and the Virgin Islands back several decades.

In identifying extreme weather events as “the most prominent risk facing humanity”, the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2018 noted: “Fuelled by warm sea-surface temperatures, the North Atlantic hurricane season was the costliest ever for the United States, and eradicated decades of development gains in small islands in the Caribbean such as Dominica. Floods uprooted millions of people on the Indian subcontinent, whilst drought is exacerbating poverty and increasing migration pressures in the Horn of Africa.”

The CREWS network is part of a global system to improve the monitoring and management of coral reefs as environmental and climatic conditions increases coral bleaching and death. The centre works in collaboration with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric and Administration to install monitoring stations that collect data on climate, marine and biological parameters for use by scientists to conduct research into the health of coral reefs in changing climatic and sea conditions.

Under previous funding arrangements, CREWS stations were also installed in Belize, Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, the Dominican Republic, as well as other parts of the region.

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The post Caribbean Builds Resilience Through Enhanced Data Collection appeared first on Inter Press Service.

By Mahmood Hasan
Jul 31 2018 (The Daily Star, Bangladesh)

The 10th BRICS summit (July 25-27, 2018) has just concluded in Johannesburg, South Africa. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa hosted China’s President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Brazilian President Michel Temer. Eighteen African leaders, along with leaders from Turkey, Argentina and Jamaica, were also invited as guests. The main theme of the conference was “Collaboration for Inclusive Growth and Shared Prosperity in the 4th Industrial Revolution.”

The summit came at a time when global trade war looms large—threatening world trade and commerce. With the summit President Ramaphosa also celebrated the centenary of the birth of Nelson Mandela, acknowledging his contribution to democracy and service to humanity.

The American administration driven by aggressive nationalism has actually threatened imposing high tariffs on imports from China and European allies. These policies of Washington have seriously upset the global economic system that was devised after WWII. There are acrimonious debates among members of the Western alliance that reflect that the West is in serious dysfunction—both on global economic issues and with security matters. The recent G7 Summit in Quebec, Canada (June 8-9) and the NATO summit in Brussels (July 11-12) speaks loudly that the Western alliance is arguably in decline.

China, the second largest economy in the world, is actually the driving force behind BRICS. Xi Jinping, emphasising the importance of globalisation called upon member countries to resist the growing global trade war by working together to build an open world economy. Xi said trade wars should be rejected “because there will be no winner”. Understandably global trade issues dominated the conference.

The 102-paragraph Final Declaration issued after the concluding session amply reflects the worries and anxieties of the five leaders. The declaration divided into four broad segments dealt with strengthening multilateralism, enhancing globalisation, reinforcing international peace and security, and strengthening international cooperation.

On strengthening multilateralism the summit raised several issues calling for greater cohesion in global-governance, i.e. stronger role of the United Nations in conflict resolution and representation in other world organisations. It raised the issues of the Syrian conflict, Afghan civil war, Palestinian-Israeli conflict, climate change, terrorism, etc. where the United Nations should play a strong role in establishing peace and ensuring security. With regard denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula the Declaration called for a peaceful diplomatic solution. As for JCPOA, the BRICS leaders emphatically called on all parties to fully comply with the obligations of the agreement.

On global economic growth the leaders expressed concerns as the global trading system is facing serious challenges. The statement read, “We recognise that the multilateral trading system is facing unprecedented challenges. We underscore the importance of an open world economy.” It called for strengthening the WTO mechanism to resolve trade disputes. The leaders welcomed the successful test-run of the BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA) and asked for closer cooperation between the IMF and CRA. The leaders also noted the role played by the New Development Bank in catalysing private sector financing of private sector infrastructure and investment.

Interestingly while the summit demonstrated apparent signs of unity against the US-led challenges to the global economy, the two largest members—China and India—were actually vying for influence over the African continent. Before attending the summit, Xi Jinping made a quick tour of Senegal and Rwanda. Evidently Xi was drumming up support for his Belt and Road Initiative. Not to stay behind, Narendra Modi also visited Rwanda and Uganda before arriving at Johannesburg. Despite the informal summit bonhomie at Wuhan in late April—China and India remain rivals. But the fact remains that both China and India the two most populous nations and rapidly growing economies of BRICS—need to cement their energies to confront global challenges as their interests are convergent, at least on economic issues.

China is petrified that a trade war with US will cripple its growing economy, which is based on exporting to the consumer markets around the world. America constitutes the largest market—almost 20 percent (USD 431 billion, 2017) of Chinese exports went to that market. Xi Jinping needs Modi’s support more to face the challenges from America, because the other three members do not have as much clout on the world economy as India.

Russia is not fully integrated with the global economy and certainly at odds with the West. However, after his recent talks with Donald Trump (Helsinki, July 16) Putin has been looking to enhance Russia’s political position globally and within BRICS. But with economic sanctions over its head Moscow’s ability to manoeuvre is limited.

Brazil’s economy has not fully recovered (GDP growth one percent, 2017) from the depression it suffered in 2015 and 2016. Michel Temer’s tenuous economy is threatened by various knock-on effects from the American trade and currency war. With a ballooning debt problem, Temer is seeking financial support from the New Development Bank to help Brazil’s balance of payments.

And South Africa with a much smaller economy (GDP USD 280 billion, 2017) does not carry any global influence. Ramaphosa welcomed the Belt and Road Initiative as it is likely to bring fresh Chinese investment into his stagnated economy.

BRICS was formed in 2009 at a time when the world economy was going through a serious depression. The idea was to pursue the “other options” and reverse some of the evil trends and revive the global economy. Critics say that despite 10 summits the block which has 41 percent of world population, 23 percent of world GDP worth about USD 40.6 trillion and 18 percent of world trade—its impact and progress on the world stage has been rather slow.

As the world economy is going through profound transition and changes, the BRICS summit has once again reminded the world the importance of multilateralism and globalisation. Actually, unilateralism and trade wars do not increase the world’s wealth—it only makes nations and people poorer.

Mahmood Hasan is former Ambassador and Secretary.

This story was originally published by The Daily Star, Bangladesh

The post Reminding the World of the Importance of Multilateralism appeared first on Inter Press Service.

The Commonwealth’s team of observers began their assessment of the electoral process in Zimbabwe, leading up to general elections on Jul. 30. Courtesy: The Commonwealth/CC By 2.0

By Busani Bafana
BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe, Jul 31 2018 (IPS)

Counting is underway today across Zimbabwe as the country voted in an historic election on Jul. 30, which many expect will bring political and economic transformation. It is a long-awaited change for many after autocratic leader, Robert Mugabe, was ousted in a soft coup in November 2017 after 37 years in power.

A post-Mugabe future has provided a kindling of hope among citizens that a new Zimbabwe, which can offer a better life for all is still possible.

The country has survived a myriad of crises that have traumatised its citizens, scared investors and left this resource-rich country isolated internationally. It was an election pregnant with expectations for change and transformation. Economic restoration, jobs, unity, peace and prosperity have been key election expectations. “A non-violent election is a big step but of course at the end of the day the real crisis is still here, the economic crisis." -- David Moore, researcher and political economist.

On election morning in the Bulawayo suburb of Famona, the lines where short and it took most people less then 10 minutes to cast their votes. But people were trickling in. And soon most of the 10,000 polling stations across the country had long queues.

No reports of violence have been reported so far. Though the Zimbabwe Republic Police told a local radio station yesterday that a few voters had been nabbed for sloganeering outside voting stations in direct violation of election rules.

Political analysts told IPS that while Zimbabwe has all the potential to turn around its fortunes, it is a tall ask that this election needs to deliver on. The voter turnout yesterday was high as more than 75 percent of the five million Zimbabweans registered to vote went to the polls to choose a president, members of parliament and local government councillors. There were 23 presidential candidates and more than 100 political parties with registered candidates to contest the 210 seats in the House Assembly.

The presidential contest – the most important of all – appears a largely two horse race pitting current Zimbabwean president, Emmerson Mngangwa (75) of the ruling Zimbabwe Africa National Union-Patriotic Front (Zanu PF) against president of the Movement for Democratic Alliance (MDC), Nelson Chamisa (40).

Mnangagwa is a lawyer and was Mugabe’s point man for many years, having served in government since independence where he held the portfolios of minister of state security and minister of justice. He was the vice president until he was fired by Mugabe in 2017.

Chamisa, also a lawyer and firebrand activist, is a founding member of the MDC under the late Morgan Tsvangirai. He succeeded Tsvangirai in March 2018 in a controversial manner that split the party and which saw Thokozani Khupe lead a breakaway faction. Khupe is one of four female candidates vying for the presidency.

Calling the presidential race a “male” race, pitting men from the privileged classes against each other, Professor Rudo Gaidzanwa, a lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe and social commentator, told IPS this contest excluded even elite men who are perceived to be competent but “alien” because they do not exhibit the earthy, violent and killer characteristics that can win a party the election and appeal to the grassroots.

“Men of violence and force are admired and accepted because they are perceived as being able to fight for their constituents and followers. This is a legacy of Zimbabwe’s struggle for independence that extolled the virtues and legitimacy of violence as a means of achieving political ends. That legacy continues to haunt us,” said Gaidzanwa.

He said that Zimbabwe needed to transcend the values and politics of the past that focused “on colonists as the enemy and accept that even the elites amongst the former oppressed people are not angels.”

“They have shown us what they are capable of doing to their own people! If you look at Zimbabwe’s political and nationalist elites that pillaged diamonds, agricultural and land you will realise that in Africa, we are yet to embark on a class war that attempts to restore to the working people the wealth of their countries.

“The nationalists continue to use nationalism to justify their pillaging of national resources and they use nationalism to dupe the peasants and workers to think that it is ok for their clansmen, tribesmen to loot “on their behalf” when in fact the clansmen and some women get crumbs.”

A vote for change

Zimbabwe has a harsh history of violence, dating back to before this southern Africa nation became independent in 1980. The price of that violent past has been dear—deep divisions and polarisation along ethnic, and political lines, economic ruin and palpable corruption. These are some of the legacies blamed on Mugabe who led Zimbabwe for 37 years before a coup forced him into permanent retirement.

“Zimbabweans have to break with the violent past, because that will be a real symbol of something that is new no matter who wins,” David Moore, researcher and political economist at the University of Johannesburg, told IPS. “A non-violent election is a big step but of course at the end of the day the real crisis is still here, the economic crisis. What took Zimbabwe out of the 2008 crisis was the Americanisation of the crisis you cannot do that now. How long does it take for a dream of floods of billions of dollars in investment that remains to be seen?”

In 2008 Zimbabwe’s economy had been on the brink of collapse, experiencing hyperinflation of unprecedented levels. The country was forced to abandon its currency, the Zimbabwean dollar, and replaced it with the United States dollar, to stabilise the economy.

Moore said the 2018 elections were different for many reasons. There was no Mugabe—at least on the ballot paper—and neither was there his erstwhile political foe, Tsvangirai.

Former president Mugabe, in an election eve press conference at his home in the capital Harare, on Jul. 29, said he would not be voting for the Zanu PF because it still harboured his tormentors and the reason he was out of power.

“Neighbours have been fooled into believing this was not a coup d’état. Nonsense, it was a coup d’état.. ….I cannot vote for a party and those in power who have caused me to be in this situation.”

Legitimacy and credibility are at stake for political contenders

Chamisa is seeking legitimacy. He is a young contender for the highest political office in the country and has made his own blunders along the way. But he is seeking to prove he can lead and change the future for Zimbabwe. For Mnangagwa, who has been at the helm for seven months, the key is to legitimise his rule and to cement international relations. ‘Zimbabwe is open for business’, has been his campaign mantra.

“Usually processes like an election after a coup are not that successful because a coup has its characteristics of using force and not wanting to give up but when you look at the effort of the coup makers to legitimise this coup by having free and fair elections you have a certain amount of pressure from the donors and the investors,” Moore told IPS.

“It is actually been a pretty peaceful election given Zimbabwe’s history, the Gukurahundi, the 1980s election has a lot of violence and the British were debating whether to let it go. In 2008, there is intimidation but its minor. I think there is a real appetite and hope for serious change. There could be a turning point whoever wins if the elections are seen as credible and the people accept them as credible. It could perhaps be the most important election since 1980.”

A compromise of sorts like a semi-government of national unity could be in the office, Moore believes.

“If Mnangagwa wins, he could bring in a few people inside, people who can interface with capital and people with money. But it’s a volatile situation too and Zanu PF will have to work very hard to make it acceptable to the main opposition,” said Moore. “The MDC has really fired up a lot of people especially young people, who are really hoping for something and if they feel this election has not been credible one could possible expect some pretty tense situations. If it is a victory for the MDC, there will have to be a lot of bridge building and lot of horse trading as well.”

The jury is out still about the choice Zimbabweans made at the ballot this week, and whether that choice will take the country out of its conundrum and raise it to a new level.

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The post Zimbabwe’s Election of Great Expectations appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Credit: IOM 2018/Sibylle Desjardins

By International Organization for Migration
Mauritania, Jul 30 2018 (IOM)

Since 2015 IOM, the UN Migration Agency, has been assisting victims of human trafficking in Mauritania. Sahel populations have always been very mobile, but in recent years a complex economic situation and the difficulty of finding jobs has pushed more and more people to seek jobs abroad. Unscrupulous traffickers seize on this desperation by promising men and women well-paid stable jobs away from home. Instead, these migrants wind up working under inhumane conditions for families who cannot protect their interests and do not care about their well-being. Deprivation, humiliation, hardship, restricted movement and limited communication with their families become the new norm for those who excitedly embarked on an adventure, with hopes of a brighter future.

Mouna* is a mother in her thirties. She relocated to one of the Gulf nations with help from a hiring agency that had promised her a secretary position at the ministry of foreign affairs and a monthly salary of four hundred dollars. Once she had reached her destination, she was forced to work as a maid and babysitter for a family. One day, Mouna fell ill; in order to avoid paying the hospital bills, her employer abandoned her on the streets and claimed that she had run away.

“I never planned to migrate, I never wanted to leave my children [behind], but it was my destiny,” she later said of her ordeal “Everything is written!”

Unfortunately this is not an isolated incident; too many optimistic economic migrants around the world experience ordeals similar to Mouna’s every year. Misled by false promises, countless individuals find themselves trapped in critical and precarious vulnerable situations.

Credit: IOM 2018/Sibylle Desjardins

Tate, a 29 year-old mother of three, was also trapped by the promise of work. A so-called hiring agent, like many others, took advantage of economic migration inflows to develop a network. “I was sold out, exploited,” Tate recalled. “The same hiring agent asked me to help him recruit new girls. I rejected his request! Those were the darkest days of my life, and I do not wish that on anyone else.”

Rama*, 29, once met a handsome, charming man called Ali. He was a so-called hiring agent for a recruitment agency; these groups are often instrumental in convincing migrants to travel abroad for work and they charge for their job placement services. “He made me believe in Eldorado, a world that does not exist,” she said of her encounter with the man who would lead her down a dangerous path. “I found nothing but pain and illusions.”

Sometimes these journeys end well for the migrants that undertake them, so news of economic opportunities abroad often spreads via word of mouth, but there are often many rumours and uninformed claims involved. But equally often, the idea of migrating to a foreign country comes from loved ones. CTDC data show that more female victims of trafficking are recruited by their intimate partners, family, relatives, or friends than male victims. Investing in someone who will help provide for the family is a custom in many communities where trafficking is prevalent.

Nasra, a 34-year-old mother of six, never wanted to migrate, but she bowed to pressure from people around her. “I was strongly encouraged to leave,” she said. “I was homesick, and suffered racial discrimination and unfair treatment in an environment that I thought would be free of bias, free of injustice and full of opportunity.”

“Migrating was never part of my life plan, my family’s advice and my husband’s death influenced my decision,” she continued. “I had to find a way to survive and provide for my children.”

Credit: IOM 2018/Sibylle Desjardins

Unfortunately, when journeys like Nasra’s are unsuccessful and the migrants return home empty-handed — if they return at all — many of them are left helpless and abandoned by the same family members that pushed them to leave. The resulting to rejection and judgment of an unsuccessful migration attempt can make the reintegration process an uneasy or indeed impossible experience.

Most migrants spend all of their savings to leave home, and many are left without resources on their return. IOM put a reintegration programme in place to support vulnerable migrants like these. Upon their arrival in Mauritania, Mouna, Tate, Rama and Nasry were able to take part in this programme, along with 95 other women. They were given psychosocial and medical assistance through IOM’s programme, and received financial support to start income-generating activities.

Today, Rama runs a small business. She designs and creates women’s accessories and beauty products, which she supplies to wholesalers and exhibits during traditional wedding ceremonies. Her family was also a great source of support to help her regain her standing within the community. “Together with my brothers and sisters, we were able to renovate our two houses and purchase a third one,” she explained” My brother is a fisherman; with his help we are able to meet our day-to-day needs with dignity.

Credit: IOM 2018/Sibylle Desjardins

After going through difficult plights, the women are independent and can meet their family’s needs. They were able to rediscover their sense of belonging, regain respect within their societies and start supporting their own livelihoods.

Mouna runs a ladies’ shop with expanding clients and growing demand for her products. “I never thought I would be able to start-up a business on my own,” she said. “IOM helped me rebuild my confidence and I am grateful, from the depth of my heart.”

For these women, sharing their stories empowers them and helps raise awareness of human trafficking while providing resilience strategies for those who have already fallen victim to this horrible crime.

This story was written by Sibylle Desjardins, who has been at IOM Mauritania since 2017 working on communications and content creation for the mission. She also runs awareness-raising campaigns under the EU-IOM Joint Initiative.

The post “I never planned to migrate, but it was my destiny.” Victims of Trafficking Start Over in Mauritania appeared first on Inter Press Service.

By International Organization for Migration
GENEVA, Jul 30 2018 (IOM)

On the occasion of World Day against Trafficking in Persons (30/07), new data released by IOM, the UN Migration Agency, show that in the last ten years, almost 80 per cent of journeys undertaken by victims trafficked internationally cross through official border points, such as airports and land border control points.

Trafficking in persons is often seen as an underground activity, linked to irregular migration, and hidden from the authorities and the general public. IOM case data depict a different story, indicating that most trafficking is in fact happening through official border points. This highlights the crucial role that border agencies and service providers at border points can play to identify potential victims and refer them for protection and assistance.

Women are more likely to be trafficked through an official border point than men (84 per cent of cases, versus 73 per cent for men). Adults are also more likely to be trafficked across official border points than children (80 per cent of cases, versus 56 per cent for children).

Victims are exploited at some point during their journey in two thirds of cases, meaning that they are likely to cross official borders having already experienced some form of exploitation, while one third may still be unaware that they are being trafficked and may believe they are taking up new opportunities abroad that have been promised to them.

Khadija, a fourteen-year-old girl, was trafficked through an official border point between Uganda and Kenya in 2015. Without her knowledge, her father had arranged to marry her off in Kenya, and sent her to Kenya with a man she didn’t know. When Khadija and the man reached the border between Uganda and Kenya, he took her passport and told her he would help her clear immigration. He hid her under the seat of the car until they were on their way to the Kenyan capital. Khadija was transferred to members of her family who were arranging the marriage. Luckily, Khadija was able to contact her embassy, who helped her with IOM support.

Some victims trafficked through official border points carry forged travel documents (9 per cent of cases), while others do not have their own travel documents (23 per cent of cases).

The figures presented here are based on data from victims IOM assisted during the last ten years, involving about 10,500 journey legs undertaken by nearly 8,000 victims. The data are hosted on the Counter-Trafficking Data Collaborative (CTDC), which is the world’s first data portal to include human trafficking case data contributed by multiple agencies. Launched in 2017, the CTDC currently includes case records of over 80,000 trafficked persons from 171 countries who were exploited in 170 countries.

The final draft of the Global Compact on Migration for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration, adopted by UN Member States on the 13 July 2018, calls for whole-of-government approaches to enhancing border management cooperation on proper identification, timely and efficient referral, as well as assistance and appropriate protection of migrants in situations of vulnerability at or near international borders, in compliance with international human rights law. It highlights the need for improving screening measures and individual assessments at borders and places of first arrival, by applying standardized operating procedures developed in coordination with local authorities, National Human Rights Institutions, international organizations and civil society.

IOM’s new data echo this need and show that national governments should devise and operate robust border management procedures that are sensitive to migrants’ vulnerabilities and protection needs, coupled with well-established systems to ensure that migrants having suffered from violence, exploitation, and abuse are identified and referred to relevant service providers in a timely manner.

Front-line actors, including border management officials at air, sea and land border-crossing points, can play an important role in facilitating the timely identification of victims and potential victims of trafficking, as well as of traffickers. There is a need to continue developing the capacity of these actors to identify and refer victims of trafficking at an early stage upon arrival, and to strengthen cooperation mechanisms at border points so that victims who are identified upon arrival can be referred to service providers for their protection and assistance.

It is also important to continue providing training and awareness raising to service providers at border points in departure and destination countries such as airport staff, airline personnel, and railway personnel, and to develop procedures for communication and reporting to local authorities. Leveraging technology at border points could also contribute to improving data collection which, in turn, can help with risk analysis and smarter identification in real-time.

IOM’s programming provides a unique source of primary data on human trafficking. The organization maintains the largest database of victim case data in the world, which contains case records for over 50,000 trafficked persons whom it has assisted. This victim case data is used to inform policy and programming, including for estimating prevalence and measuring the impact of anti-trafficking interventions.

Regularly updating policies and interventions based on new evidence is key to improving counter-trafficking initiatives at border points. The new information highlights the importance of leveraging operational data from direct assistance activities to inform counter-trafficking policies and programmes.

More information about IOM’s Counter-Trafficking initiatives can be found here.

For more information please contact Harry Cook at IOM HQ, Tel: +41227179111, Email: hcook@iom.int

The post IOM: Most Victims Trafficked Internationally Cross Official Border Points appeared first on Inter Press Service.

A young boy from the Philippines with leprosy. The chronic disease is curable, and if treated in time disabilities related to the disease can be averted. Courtesy: moyerphotos/CC By 2.0

By Elisio Muchanga
MAPUTO, Jul 30 2018 (IPS)

In the first six months of this year, the southern African nation of Mozambique has already registered 300 more cases of leprosy, some 951 cases, than it registered for the whole of 2017.

The country, which had previously eliminated the chronic disease in 2008, is receiving funding from the Nippon Foundation—a non-profit philanthropic organisation from Japan that is active in many countries across the globe in eliminating leprosy—to provide free multi-drug therapy (MDT) to leprosy sufferers. Leprosy is curable, and if treated early enough disabilities related to the disease can be averted. But treatment can take between six to 12 months.

The chairman of the Nippon Foundation and the World Health Organisation (WHO) goodwill ambassador for leprosy elimination, Yohei Sasakawa, recently visited the country to assess Mozambique’s progress in identifying and treating leprosy.

He told IPS that the increased attention by health authorities on relatively new endemic diseases such as Malaria, HIV and Tuberculosis (TB) may have contributed to the increase of new leprosy cases in the world.  This is despite the fact that treatment for the disease remains free. The WHO has provided MDT for free since 1995 thanks to initial funding from the Nippon Foundation.

Sasakawa said that while the WHO has indicated that a prevalence rate of one leprosy case per 10,000 inhabitants indicates elimination of the disease, “this indicator is simply a milestone. Eradication has not yet been achieved, so we must continue to work towards eradication and elimination.”

Excerpts of the interview follow:

Inter Press Service (IPS): There has been a massive decline in the prevalence of leprosy following the global implementation of MDT in the 1980s by the WHO. However, there are still over 200,000 new leprosy cases recorded every year. And we have seen the emergence of multi-drug resistant leprosy in recent years. How has this affected the prevalence rate?

Yohei Sasakawa (YS): Both in the past and now, MDT is supplied by our foundation and distributed free of charge. Although the medication continues to be distributed free of charge, there are many patients with HIV, Malaria and TB, and these diseases get more attention from ministries of health than leprosy. This fact increases new cases of leprosy. There was a complication caused by multi-drug resistant leprosy, which also contributes to the increase in the number of patients, but it is a very small number, a much lower percentage.

IPS: How can Zero Leprosy be achieved?

YS: It starts from talking about the disease by using a social approach, because leprosy is a social problem. So the leaders of a country, teachers in schools etc, must work to spread the knowledge that leprosy is a curable disease. It is possible to cure with the correct treatment, which starts with the diagnosis of the skin. (Initial symptoms are patches of skin that are paler than normal.) If this message is spread exhaustively, for sure leprosy will be zeroed.

IPS: Do you find it difficult to reach the level of Zero Leprosy?

YS: Achieving Zero Leprosy is not such a difficult process. As I have said, we just need an exhaustive dissemination of the message that it is possible to treat the disease and that the medication is free at health centres. This is the only way that Zero Leprosy will be reached because this disease is not so difficult to diagnose, it is easy to identify.

IPS: Treatment of leprosy costs nothing. But we are seeing a shift towards complacency about the disease among government policy makers, and hence an increase in the prevalence of the disease in some areas. This is unfortunate. Why is this the case? And how do we address this?

YS: Leprosy is not a medical disease it is a social problem. This disease has no symptoms like pain, and this fact alone makes some people chose not to go to hospital when they come across spots on their skin etc. But with time, deformation takes place and then the person feels ashamed to go to hospital because of discrimination… For a long time, history has shown that people with leprosy were highly discriminated against.

And this discrimination still exists quite strongly amongst almost every population…I had the opportunity to see in Nampula (northern Mozambique) that those recovered from leprosy work as volunteers in the search for other people with leprosy in need of treatment. I think this is very good and would be even better if it were spread throughout the country.

The chairman of the Nippon Foundation and the World Health Organisation (WHO) goodwill ambassador for Leprosy Elimination, Yohei Sasakawa, recently visited the country to assess Mozambique’s progress in identifying and treating leprosy. Credit: Elisio Muchanga

IPS: What concrete actions is your foundation carrying out, especially in Africa, to eliminate leprosy.

YS: Over the last 40 years the foundation has been working to provide the necessary assistance to people with leprosy through the WHO, and we will continue providing this assistance.

In Africa, specifically in countries with cases of leprosy, I try to talk to the top leader, the president. I explain the situation to them in order for them to take action. I think in talking to presidents it makes it easier for a ministry of health to get a bigger budget and carry out its activities.

The number of people with leprosy is much lower than those with HIV, Malaria and TB. So it is very difficult for the government to allocate a larger amount to the ministry of health to tackle this disease, and this is not prioritised. So I go to these countries and ask the government to increase funding to the ministry of health to combat the disease.

IPS: Your foundation has given support to many countries towards eliminating leprosy. What is the feedback from these countries and what can be taken as model or case for success?

YS: The feedback is very positive. We are experiencing a significant reduction in cases of leprosy with countries declaring themselves free from leprosy, although there are new cases. India is a great example, the country has the greatest number of leprosy sufferers in the world—about 70 percent of the world’s cases of leprosy are in India—and the work that has been developed there is positive.

However, one concrete case of success was in Indonesia where I met a girl who developed the disease at 18 and was cut off from her family. I had the opportunity to have a meal with this girl, and that gesture demystified that leprosy was a cursed disease.

IPS: As part of efforts to sustain the quality of leprosy services and reduce the burden of leprosy in the world, the WHO has recognised the important contribution that people affected by leprosy can make. What have some of the contributions that you have seen that have positively affected leprosy services?

YS:  Well, India, you know that this country has a massive number of people with leprosy, and many of those who have been treated and recovered from leprosy have nothing to live on and end up begging on the streets.

I spoke to Dalai Lama to see what we can do for these people. He wrote a book, sold it and donated the money from the sale of the book to our foundation. Later we created an association to support people affected by leprosy by giving them a small pension. We also provide microfinance and teach people how to make their own living.

We also offer university scholarships to the children of people who have recovered from leprosy, but this type of support, unfortunately, only happens in Ethiopia and India.

IPS: Why only in these countries?

YS: I don’t know. What a pity (it is limited). We also wanted to do the same in Indonesia. Now here in Mozambique, from what I understand, there is no a colony where only people with leprosy live. But if people get together and form an association, maybe we can offer support. I understand that those recovering from leprosy want to work but do not have the opportunity. We can help create this opportunity.

IPS: Your foundation managed to lobby the United Nations to pass a resolution for the “elimination of discrimination against persons affected by leprosy and their family.” How do you measure the result of this lobbying today with regards to the commitment and actions from member states?

YS: It is true that we have been able to mobilise countries and pass this resolution, but what happens is that this rule contains its principle and guideline but has no penalty. Some countries have included this rule in their policies but unfortunately there are only a few countries that have done that.

Recently, a leading rapporteur was elected by the Directorate of Human Rights (in the U.N. Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner), and will have to visit countries and see why they are not complying with the U.N. recommendation of 2010.

IPS: There still remains significant stigma attached to the disease. And the stigma placed upon people with leprosy has been considered one of the greatest social injustices. In some parts of Africa people with leprosy are still separated from society, when research and science proves there is no need to. How do we overcome this?

YS: In fact there is discrimination against leprosy sufferers and this is difficult to remove from people. Stigma and discrimination are ancient and deeply rooted. So it is not only with my efforts that we are going to end this stigma, we need to have the participation of all of us working together to change this situation.

Related Articles

• Eradicating Leprosy in Mozambique, a Complicated Task
• Mozambique Tackles its Twin Burden of Cervical Cancer and HIV

The post Q&A: Leprosy Increases as World Gives Attention to Newer Endemic Diseases appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

IPS correspondent Elisio Muchanga spoke to the World Health Organisation goodwill ambassador for leprosy elimination, Yohei Sasakawa, during a recent visit to Mozambique to evaluate the country’s progress in treating leprosy patients.

The post Q&A: Leprosy Increases as World Gives Attention to Newer Endemic Diseases appeared first on Inter Press Service.

By Anis Chowdhury and Jomo Kwame Sundaram
SYDNEY & KUALA LUMPUR, Jul 30 2018 (IPS)

Ten years ago, deteriorating confidence in the value of US sub-prime mortgages threatened a liquidity crisis. The US Federal Reserve injected considerable capital into the market, but could not prevent the 2008-2009 global financial crisis (GFC).

The 2008 meltdown exposed the extent of finance-led international economic integration, with countries more vulnerable to financial contagion and related policy ‘spillovers’ exacerbating real economic volatility. It also revealed some vulnerabilities of the post-Second World War (WW2) US-centred international financial ‘architecture’ – the Bretton Woods system – modified after its breakdown in the early 1970s.

Jomo Kwame Sundaram

Robert Triffin, the leading international monetary economist of his generation, had long expressed concerns about the use of a national currency as the major reserve currency. International liquidity provision using the greenback required the US to run balance-of-payments deficits, ensuring US monetary policy spillovers to the world economy while eroding confidence in the greenback.

The Bretton Woods system was under increasing strain from the late 1960s, as US President Johnson funded the increasingly unpopular Vietnam War by issuing debt, rather than through higher taxes. The system finally broke down when the Nixon administration unilaterally cancelled the US commitment to dollar (gold) convertibility in August 1971.

What emerged was a ‘non-system’ for Triffin. Since then, the US dollar, issued by fiat, has relied on the greenback’s own credibility and legitimacy to continue as de facto world currency.

Current ‘non-system’
In 1985, Triffin identified three systemic problems of the international financial ‘non-system’. First, “its fantastic inflationary proclivities, leading to world reserve increases eight times as large over a brief span of fifteen years” since the breakdown of the Bretton Woods system.

Second, “skewed investment pattern of world reserves, making the poorer and less capitalized countries of the Third World the main reserve lenders, and the richer and more capitalized industrial countries the main reserve borrowers of the system”.

Anis Chowdhury

Third, “crisis-prone propensities reflected in the amplitude” and frequency of financial crises such as the 1980s’ debt crisis causing developing countries’ ‘lost decades’. Other critics have identified further flaws.

First is the ‘recessionary bias’, due to the asymmetric burden of adjustment to payments imbalances. While deficit countries are under great pressure to adjust, especially when financing dries out during crises, surplus countries do not face corresponding pressures to correct their own imbalances.

Second is the cost of the perceived need of emerging and developing countries to ‘self-insure’ against the strong boom-bust cycles of global finance by building up large foreign exchange reserves and fiscal resources, especially after the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis.

Such precautionary measures enabled emerging market economies to undertake strong counter-cyclical measures during the GFC. But they have huge opportunity costs as such reserves are generally held as presumably safe, liquid, low-yielding assets, such as US Treasury bonds.

Hence, Triffin complained that “the richest, most developed, and most heavily capitalized country in the world should not import, but export, capital, in order to increase productive investment in poorer, less developed, and less capitalized countries… [The] international monetary system is at the root of this absurdity.”

Reform appeals
There were renewed calls for reform of global economic governance in the wake of the GFC, especially by the 2009 UN Conference on the World Financial and Economic Crisis and Its Impact on Development.

Governance reform of the IMF and World Bank should ensure fairer, more equitable representation of developing countries. This should improve the accountability and credibility of the Bretton Woods institutions, enabling them to better address current financial and economic challenges in the world.

The UN also called for a “multilateral legal framework for sovereign debt restructuring”. Without a fair, legally binding, multilateral sovereign debt work-out mechanism, developing countries remain vulnerable to private creditors, including vulture funds.

There were renewed hopes for trade multilateralism and early successful completion of the Doha Development Round of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), giving developing countries better access to external markets, seen as vital for balanced global recovery and development. The promise to keep international trade open echoed G20 leaders’ unfulfilled commitment to eschew protectionism.

However, only a few of the modest promised reforms have been implemented, with limited changes in international financial governance, still dominated by G7 economies. After all, every financial crisis is followed by appeals for reforms, with complacency setting in with hints of recovery.

Less coping capability
Most developed country governments are now more heavily indebted than in 2008, when they bailed out large financial institutions, but failed to sustainably revive the world economy. Major monetary authorities do not have much policy space left after long pursuing unconventional expansionary policies.

Meanwhile, developing countries have been subject to increasing international integration, e.g., through global value chains, foreign financial institutional investments and increased short-term capital flows induced by the unconventional monetary policies of the US Fed, ECB and Bank of Japan, while debt-sustainability concerns for some are growing again.

These vulnerabilities have been compounded by growing trade protectionism, and dwindling precautionary reserve holdings of many developing economies as global trade has slowed. Even before President Trump’s election, developed countries had effectively killed the Doha Development Round, not least by opting for bilateral and plurilateral, instead of multilateral free trade deals.

Trump’s more explicit rejection of multilateralism in his efforts to eliminate major US bilateral trade deficits are now expected to further set back prospects for world economic recovery. Despite pious declarations to the contrary, most national policymakers typically turn from rhetoric about international cooperation to focus on domestic issues.

It has not been different this last time. A decade after the worst economic downturn since the 1930s’ Great Depression, the world economy remains vulnerable.

Anis Chowdhury, Adjunct Professor at Western Sydney University (Australia), held senior United Nations positions in New York and Bangkok.
Jomo Kwame Sundaram, a former economics professor, was United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development, and received the Wassily Leontief Prize for Advancing the Frontiers of Economic Thought in 2007.

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By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Jul 30 2018 (IPS)

When Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was asked about the legality of the UN’s much-ballyhooed Global Compact for Migration, he was initially evasive in his response.

“I’m not a lawyer”, he told reporters July 12, “and I presume that this question might be better asked from a lawyer”.

Still, he pointed out that “if I remember well in my past capacity (as UN High Commissioner for Refugees), I don’t think this can be considered as customary law in the sense, like, for instance, the 1951 Convention (on Refugees), even for countries that have not signed it, is valid as customary international law.”

In the case of something that is not legally binding, (which the Global Compact is), he said: “I don’t think it can be considered directly as customary international law”.

Guterres chief Spokesman Stephen Dujarric added a note of levity when he intervened: “We’ll get a lawyer”. [Laughter]

But the growing humanitarian crises, which triggered the Global Compact for Migration, is no laughing matter.

The lingering question, however, remains: If countries such as the US, Australia, Hungary and the Gulf nations, who have signed and ratified the 1951 Convention, continue to restrict or bar political refugees, what good is the Global Compact, whose implementation is only voluntary?

At the same time there are growing political movements in countries such as UK, Italy and Germany challenging the entry of political refugees and migrants in violation of the Convention.

Asked about the shortcomings of the Compact, Charlotte Phillips, Advisor/Advocate, Refugee and Migrants’ Rights team at the London-based Amnesty International (AI) , told IPS: “As you rightly point out, the Compact is non-binding, which means there is no legal obligation for states to put the Compact into action.:

She said this is one of the key problems with the Compact. It effectively means that states can cherry pick which aspects of the Compact they want to implement.

This reflects and entrenches the current status quo whereby wealthier states can pick and choose what, if any, measures they take to share responsibility, leaving major hosting nations in developing regions to shoulder the lion’s share of refugees, she pointed out.

“Having said that, the Compact is supposed to express a consensus commitment and member states have spent months negotiating the details of the Compact, showing that states do take its content seriously.

“The real question now is whether the political will needed from governments to implement the Compact is there?,” she said.

It is also worth noting, she pointed out, that many of the states negotiating the Compact have already ratified the 1951 UN Refugee Convention, which is legally binding and these obligations are still relevant and the Convention is referenced in the Compact’s guiding principles.

“Despite this, whilst negotiations have been in full swing, we have seen the rights of refugees violated by governments. For example, we have seen European governments attacking NGOs’ capacity to rescue refugees stranded at sea and adopting policies of deterrence and border control that expose refugees to abuses”.

“We have seen Australia continue to justify its cruel and torturous detention practises on Manus Island and Nauru. For the Compact to be worth the paper it is written on, we need to see the principles laid out in the Compact translated into real action to protect refugees,” she declared.

Joseph Chamie, a former director of the United Nations Population Division and an independent consulting demographer, told IPS: “The Global Migration Compact is a step in the right direction, but it will not resolve major problems, including the refugee crisis.”

Why?
Fundamentally, he argued, the Compact is non-binding and voluntary and while various factors are at play, four key elements are human rights asymmetry, global demographics, limited migration options and growing opposition.

Firstly, Human rights asymmetry: you have a right to leave your country, but you don’t have a right to enter another country. (See: “Knock, Knock …. Who’s There? Many Migrants!“).

Secondly, Global demographics: the demand for migrants in receiving countries is far less than the growing pool of potential migrants in the sending countries. (See: “Prepare for the 21st Century Exodus of Migrants“).

Thirdly, Limited migration options: the large majority of people wishing to emigrate basically have no legal means available to them other than illegal migration. (See: “Understanding Unauthorized Migration“).

Fourthly, Growing opposition: countries worldwide increasingly aim to reduce immigration levels and stem record flows of refugees by erecting fences and barriers, strengthening border controls, tightening asylum policies and restricting citizenship. (See: “Mind the Gap: Public and Government Views Diverge on Migration“).

A New York Times report on July 22 said thousands protested in cities across Australia to mark five years of a controversial government policy under which asylum seekers and migrants have been turned away and detained in Pacific Islands such as Papua New Guinea and Nauru for years –triggering criticisms from human rights groups and UN refugee agencies.

The fate of over 1,600 people remains in limbo due to this practice of “off shore processing” of asylum seekers.

The Global Compact for Migration, which is expected to be adopted at an international conference in Marrakesh, Morocco, in December, is unlikely to resolve their key problems.

The United Nations is expecting 192 countries to participate in the Morocco conference, minus the US which pulled out of the negotiations back in December, with the Trump administration hostile towards cross border migrations and with a ban on migrants from six Muslim-majority countries: Syria, Yemen, Libya, Iran, Somalia and Sudan.

An estimated 258 million people are categorized as international migrants, and since 2000, about 60,000 people have died while crossing the seas or passing through international borders.

The European Union (EU) is taking one of its members, Hungary, to the European Court of Justice because of its anti-immigrant laws in violation of several EU treaties.

Iverna McGowan, Director of Amnesty International’s European Institutions Office, was critical of Hungary’s decision to prohibit civil society organizations (CSOs) from advocating the cause of migrant and refugees.

“Hungary’s attempts to prohibit the legitimate and vital work of people and civil society organizations working to protect the rights of migrants and asylum-seekers are unacceptable.”

“By challenging a legislative package that flagrantly breached EU human rights law, the European Commission has sent a clear and unambiguous message that Hungary’s xenophobic policies will not be tolerated” she said, pointing out that European leaders who have remained largely silent over the human rights crackdown in Hungary must now follow the Commission’s lead and call for these laws to be shelved.

“With new restrictions on freedom of expression and assembly also on track for adoption by the Hungarian parliament tomorrow, it is more important than ever to challenge the Hungarian government loudly and clearly,” said McGowan.

According to Amnesty International, the new infringement procedure by the European Commission concerns a package of xenophobic measures that came into effect in Hungary on 1 July 2018.

Under these laws people providing assistance to asylum seekers and migrants, including lawyers and international and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), can have their access restricted to asylum-processing areas and may even face criminal proceedings if they facilitate claims that are unsuccessful.

The measures make it impossible for people who passed through another country before arriving in Hungary to claim asylum, said Amnesty in a statement released last week.

The European Commission found these measures to be in violation of the Union’s Asylum Procedures, Reception Conditions and Qualifications Directives and of the right to asylum. It also pointed out inconsistencies with the EU’s provisions on the free movement of Union citizens and their family members.

Hungary’s policies and practices on refugees, asylum seekers and migrants cause unnecessary human suffering, while the government has increasingly sought to silence critical voices, Amnesty warned.

Michael Clemens, a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development, said the Global Compact is the biggest step the world has taken to cooperatively face the defining policy challenge of our time: how to better regulate international migration in this century.

The Compact offers a clear mandate and roadmap for countries to work together to get more of what they want from migration and less of what they do not want, he noted.

Unfortunately, he warned, there is currently a political movement ascendant in the U.S., UK, Italy, and elsewhere promising to address the many problems of migration by restricting or eliminating it altogether.

This new Compact is the defining alternative to that movement. It is a treasure chest of the best ideas on how to address the many challenges of migration with hard work and a pragmatic cooperative approach, he said.

“While the Compact is now final, the real work is just beginning. As countries prepare to adopt the Global Compact for Migration in December, discussions will revolve around how to operationalize and implement the commitments agreed to in this document”.

One innovation endorsed by the Compact, he said, is the idea to create Global Skill Partnerships. Other innovations should also be piloted and tested out, as countries and their partners work to identify sustainable solutions to today’s migration challenges and opportunities.

“The road ahead will be difficult and many of the challenges and points of contention that arose during the Compact’s negotiations will not disappear with its adoption”.

Rather, countries will need to tackle these challenges head-on as they work toward pragmatic, evidence-based, and coordinated migration policies and practices that fulfill the objectives and commitments of the Compact, he declared.

Chamie told IPS while the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol are legally-binding, implementation remains problematic, even when countries are in violation.

The trend is clear: governments are increasingly resisting taking in refugees and those who seek asylum. Why?

Global demographics play a central role because of the sheer record-breaking levels of refugees, asylum seekers and internally displaced persons.

Claiming refugee status: further complicating the refugee situation is as many unauthorized migrants seek to improve their lives and those of their children. (See: “The Dilemma of Desperation Migration“).

Implicit message: the de facto message and understanding of men, women and children including smugglers as well as the implicit principle guiding many governments of receiving countries is: If you can get in and keep a low profile, you can stay. (See “Illegal Immigration Illogic“).

Ineffective policies: due to the complexity of the issue, limited resources, human rights concerns and heated public sentiments, government policies have been ineffective in coping with surges of unwanted migration.

In the end, although invariably contentious, deferred action, amnesty and regularization are frequently used to address large numbers of unauthorized migrants. (See: “Unwanted Migration: How Governments Cope?“).

https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Migration/Pages/GlobalCompactforMigration.aspx

The writer can be contacted at thalifdeen@ips.org

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President Donald Trump poses for photos with the 2017 NCAA football national champions the Alabama Crimson Tide at the White House on April 10, 2018. PHOTO: NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP

By Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury
Jul 30 2018 (The Daily Star, Bangladesh)

A fundamental law of physics, also applicable to the social sciences, is that everything in nature is in a state of flux. The sage Heraclitus had said we never step into the same river twice. The flow of the river of life today has remarkably gained a momentum that is torrential. It gushes ahead washing away old values, norms, and the societal architecture that human mind and endeavour had conceived and created over a long period of time. As it leads us into the digital post-modern era dominated by big data, cloud-computing, and artificial intelligence, it also impacts on the politics, economics and sociology of how we organise our lives.

It is without doubt that a major factor of change in our socio-political and economic life today, President Donald Trump, the leader of the world’s most powerful nation, the United States. He is relentlessly adding kinetic energy speeding up the motion. But did not make a sudden appearance. Ex Nihilo nihil fit—nothing comes from nothing. Mr Trump, with his disturbingly erratic and seemingly irrational behaviour, is the product of decades of domestic and global developments. These are those that are both within America and in the world beyond. In the nineteenth-century America believed it had a “manifest destiny”, ordained by God. It was not only to expand its territorial dominion westward, but also spread democracy and capitalism throughout North America.

Across the Atlantic, in Europe, the present was being shaped by the past. The Treaty of Westphalia of 1648 created nation-states. The French Revolution of 1789 sparked nationalism with its positive and negative ramifications. Germany, a somewhat late entrant to European civilisation, burst upon the unfolding history with its enormous contributions in literature, mathematics and philosophy. The “Protestant Reformation” of Martin Luther, supplanted orthodox Catholicism, igniting the spirit of enquiry. It also laid the foundation sciences and a new work ethic. Eventually a scattered Germanic nation became united under Bismarck. Meantime other European nations—Spain, Portugal, Holland and England—were dividing up the world between themselves. Freshly empowered, Germany now demanded its “platzan der Sonne”—“a place in the sun”, including its own colonies.

The result was two disastrous world wars. America, the “new world”, was called out to aid the “old” Europe. Thereafter, to rebuild it on the ashes of the conflagrations. Through the Marshall Plan and the establishment of the Bretton Woods Institutions (World Bank, International Monetary Fund), the United Nations, and the World Trade Organization, it helped create “a new World Order”. It helped set the norms and standards for trade, arms control, and international relations. The “Manifest Destiny” now moved eastward. The opposing Communist ideology of the Soviet Union was confronted and ultimately vanquished. The winner was capitalism, buttressed by free trade and liberal values. America was now the “city on the shining hill”, the unparalleled “hyper-power”.

Then several things happened. First, unsurprisingly, hubris set in. Its military misadventures, in Iraq and Afghanistan, led to immeasurable damage to the respect and reputation it had acquired. Second, its strategic nuclear-weapon superiority was now deterred not just by Russia, but also China. Third, it incurred huge deficits in trade with its partners, with many now seeing commerce as a “zero-sum game”. Finally, other nations were rapidly emerging in capabilities and in particular China. Its new-found wealth and capacity, spurred on by President Xi Jinping’s “ZhungGuomeng” or China Dream, were being rapidly translated into power. The American sociologist, Andre Gunder Frank, remarked that what he feared more was not so much the rise of China, as America’s response to it.

America was now exhausted. Middle America, the redneck white working classes, distressed by the widening gulf between them and the elite, thought they were paying a heavy price , economically and militarily, for their so- called “leadership of the free world”. Enter Donald Trump. He was thrown up by this constituency, small, but consistent and powerful. He promised to tear up the rulebooks of traditional conduct, put “America First” and make it “Great” again. He pulled America out of past agreements, challenged the very institutions that America had created, and sought to renegotiate America’s engagements with the rest of the world. America was not necessarily disengaging from the world. Rather, it was re-engaging with its perceived self-interest, on new terms. It now preferred to do it bilaterally, where it was strong, rather than multilaterally, where it felt weak and constrained by rules. To America there was no longer “friends” or “foes”. Only “others”. Idealism had yielded to realism. Lord Palmerston of Britain had once, in a moment of pique vis-à-vis his continental peers, had reportedly remarked that God had made a mistake when He made foreigners. Mr Trump actually seemed to believe it.

So, is the old global order giving way to a New World Disorder? Perhaps. Some fear that there may be chaotic consequences that would be unmanageable. But chaos need not necessarily be bad. For instance, ancient Greeks perceived it positively. To them it was the dark void of space, the primeval state of existence, from which the four elements of nature—air water, earth and fire, and eventually divine and human forms emerged. Today we see disruption as providing the necessary fillip to technological innovation. Trump’s actions may be perceived as doing the same on the political matrix. Possibly in a dialectical fashion, the “disorder” that we “confront” would eventually synthesise into another order, a newer methodology for the interrelationship of peoples and nations.

For most countries, including those in our own region, South Asia, these developments may presage a return to the classical form of “balance of power”. Henry Kissinger has endeavoured to educate the contemporary times on it. It entails that no nation is supremely dominant. Each is left to calculate its imperatives of power, and accordingly, align itself with or oppose other nations. No one would be an a priori ally or antagonist forever.

For countries like Bangladesh, as for other smaller South Asian countries, it would mean the need for nimble diplomacy. Linkages would need to be constructed on the merits of specific issues. It is important to bear in mind, that even if America at the highest levels disengage, at operational levels, where its interests are not critical, its field functionaries like its diplomats may be landed with a greater role. This is why we see America sanction, on recommendations from its agents in the field, Myanmar generals for their alleged atrocious perpetration of inhumane violence upon the “Rohingyas” in the Rakhine State.

Nevertheless, South Asia, as well as other regions, must know that it can no longer routinely draw on external state-actors to make up the power gaps with adversarial neighbours. It is a key point to bear in mind for our leaderships in this election period in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Maldives, Bangladesh and India. These countries would be well advised to renegotiate their intramural relationships. They must aim to ease tensions among themselves to be better able to confront the world with collective interests. They must be able to help themselves, as no one else will.

The global trends cited earlier will not alter substantively even after Trump leaves office. He is not the cause but the effect of the changes. The “New World Disorder” will eventually become a new normal, which will become yet another “New World Order”. For now, however, the “disorder” has come to stay. The rest of the world has no option but to recognise, readapt and respond to the changing times.

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

This story was originally published by The Daily Star, Bangladesh

The post The New World Disorder: We must learn to live with it appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Voters in Pakistan’s general election outrightly rejected political parties with extremism records in the country’s Jul. 25, 2018 – which had the largest ever voter turnout. Credit: Ashfaq Yusufzai/IPS

By Ashfaq Yusufzai
PESHAWAR, Jul 30 2018 (IPS)

Voters in Pakistan’s general election outrightly rejected political parties with extremism records and candidates linked to banned terrorist groups, opting instead to back liberal forces in a support for peace.

“None of the parties related to terrorism won any of the 272 national assembly seats as the people don’t want to empower them to legislate,” analyst Muhammad Junaid told IPS.

On Saturday, Jul. 28, electoral officials announced that Pakistani cricket star Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf or PTI (Move for Justice party) won 115 of the 272 contested seats in the National Assembly. The former ruling party, the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), won 64 seats and Pakistan People’s Party won 43. Other seats went to smaller parties and independents, with militant parties losing badly.

Junaid, who teaches political science at the University of Peshawar, said that Pakistan has suffered a great deal because of terrorism and people had clearly rejected terrorist-linked groups in the polls.

Political party Allah-o-Akbar Tehreek supported extremist candidates allegedly linked to the mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai attack that killed 108 people, Hafiz Muhammad Saeed. Saeed is head of Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), one of the largest terrorist organisations in South Asia.

However, the party was rejected by voters across the country as it failed to win a single seat in the national assembly.

Saeed’s son, Talha Saeed, contested the elections from Punjab province, but lost. Saeed’s son-in-law, Khalid Waleed, faced a similar fate. The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) results show that the party’s candidates received just 171,441 votes, just a drop in the ocean when compared with the more than 49 million votes that were cast.

Tehreek-i-Labaik Pakistan (TLP), another party with a clear sectarian mindset, had fielded more than 150 candidates contesting the National Assembly seats and hundreds more who contested provincial assembly seats. The party received just over two million votes and just two of its candidates were elected to the Sindh provincial assembly, the ECP results showed. Sindh is one of Pakistan’s four provinces.

People also rejected candidates from Jamiat Ulemai Islam Sami for the party’s connection with the terrorist group Tehreek Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The party’s leader, Maulana Samiul Haq, is known as the father of the Taliban and his seminary Darul Uloom Haqqania is referred to as the “University of Jihadists”.

Pakistan faced a great deal of criticism from both the international and local media, human rights groups as well as political leaders for having hundreds of individuals with clear links to extremists openly campaigning in the election.

In June, the global watchdog Financial Action Task Force placed Pakistan on its terrorism financing watchlist. The call for Pakistan to be placed on the list was led by the United States in a move to pressure the country to close financing loopholes for terrorist groups. The U.S. has previously accused Pakistan of providing a savehaven for terrorists.

The country itself, however, has not been immune to terror attacks.

On Jul. 10, Haroon Bilour, a candidate from the Awami National Party, was killed in Peshawar along with 30 others. The terrorist group TTP claimed reasonability for the attack. Two days later, a candidate from PTI was killed in a separate act.

On Jul. 13, candidate Siraj Raisani, along with 130 others, was killed in a suicide attack in Balochistan, one of the Pakistan’s four provinces. On election day the province was scene to another suicide attack, which killed 30 people.

However, the deadly attacks failed to deter people as they formed long queues at polling stations to cast their votes. Some 55 percent of Pakistan’s registered 100 million voters turned out at the polls – the highest ever turnout in Pakistan’s history.

Junaid said militants wanted to advance their own agenda and rule people through the use of force and fear and not democracy.

In Khan’s victory speech he continued to condemn terrorism and vowed to establish peace in the region. “We want a better relationship with neighbouring countries, India, Iran and Afghanistan as well as China and the U.S. to have peace in the region,” he said.

Pakistan’s army deputed 350,000 soldiers to guard polling stations on election day and publically declared their support for democracy.

“Militants want to create anarchy in our country, but the nation is united against militancy. Our military and civil leadership are on the same page and determined to continue the war against terror till its logical end,” military spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor said.

Analyst Khadim Hussain said that it was indicative of people’s hate for terrorism that they took part in a “high-decibel campaign” for the national polls to defeat terrorism.

“Long queues were seen outside the polling booths. People remained vibrant and upbeat, which was a signal that they wanted democracy and rejected terrorism in all its forms and manifestations,” he said.

Despite incidents of terrorism, the mood was extremely upbeat, and towns and villages were adorned with party flags and banners calling on people to vote for respective candidates, he said. The message was loud and clear that people wanted democracy at any cost, Hussain said.

Foreign observers declared the election free, fair and transparent.

“A number of violent attacks, targeting political parties, party leaders, candidates and election officials, affected the campaign environment,” the European Union’s election observation mission chief Michael Gahler, told a news conference Jul. 27.

Most interlocutors acknowledged a systematic effort to undermine the former ruling party, Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), through cases of corruption, contempt of court and terrorist charges against its leaders and candidates, he added.

Religious parties contesting the polls also fared poorly.

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The post Pakistan’s Vote – a Loud and Clear Message that People Want Democracy at Any Cost appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Maria Grazia Giammarinaro* is UN Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons

By Maria Grazia Giammarinaro
GENEVA, Jul 30 2018 (IPS)

States around the world must act now to strengthen their efforts to prevent and combat trafficking in human beings, including by ensuring that victims and potential victims are considered and treated as rights holders.

Many people who fall prey to traffickers are migrants, including refugees and asylum seekers, who have decided to leave their country for various reasons, such as conflict, natural disaster, persecution or extreme poverty.

Maria Grazia Giammarinaro

They have left behind their social protection network, and are particularly vulnerable to trafficking and exploitation.

In the current poisonous anti-migration political atmosphere, migrants are often targeted as a threat, while in reality they contribute to the prosperity of the host countries where they live and work.

In this context, the anti-trafficking discourse is often misused to justify restrictive migration policies and push-back activities. Taking a stand against xenophobic and racist approaches, as well as violence, hatred and discrimination, is a moral duty which is in everyone’s power.

States have an obligation to prevent trafficking. It is a gross human rights violation. In the context of the Global Migration Compact, States should establish – in addition to international protection schemes – individualised procedures and appropriate indicators to identify migrants’ vulnerabilities to trafficking and exploitation, and provide them with tailored solutions to prevent further harm.

In many countries, human rights activists and civil society organisations have been criminalised and ostracised for acting in solidarity with migrants and victims and potential victims of trafficking.

All over the world, civil society organisations are playing a pivotal role in saving lives, and protecting people from trafficking, during search and rescue operations, and on arrival in transit and destination countries. Any attempt to delegitimise their humanitarian work is unacceptable.

NGOs also play an important role in the identification of victims of trafficking. This is essential for ensuring access to protection and rehabilitation for victims, and should be prioritised, including during large mixed migration movements.

Identification and referral to protection services is only a first step, which must be followed by innovative action to promote social inclusion. This can only be possible if exploitation, especially labour exploitation of migrant workers, ceases to be normalised and the right to the enjoyment of decent work, with fair pay and conditions, is respected and guaranteed to everyone, regardless of their migration status.

On World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, my message is that, even in difficult times, inclusion, not exclusion, is the answer.

*Maria Grazia Giammarinaro (Italy) was appointed as Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, by the UN Human Rights Council in June 2014, to promote the prevention of trafficking in persons in all its forms, and to encourage measures to uphold and protect the human rights of victims. She has been a Judge since 1991 and served as a Pre-Trial Judge at the Criminal Court of Rome, and currently serves as a Judge in the Civil Court of Rome.

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Excerpt:

Maria Grazia Giammarinaro* is UN Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons

The post States Must Treat Refugees & Migrants as Rights Holders & Prevent Trafficking & Exploitation appeared first on Inter Press Service.

By WAM
SHARJAH, Jul 29 2018 (WAM)

Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has recently reaffirmed Sharjah’s positive BBB + / A-2 sovereign credit ratings over the long and short terms, according to Sharjah Government Media Bureau.

The Emirate’s positive ratings are driven by its strong financial position and low-risk exposure, the agency said. In a statement, S&P said that it expected the Emirate’s economy to grow 2 percent between 2018 and 2021, and expected GDP growth to accelerate in 2018 based on the growth of business in the real estate and construction sectors.

The global credit ratings agency lauded the economic structure of the Emirate for its high level of diversity, compared to many economies of the region. The industrial sector contributes as much as 17 per cent to the Emirate’s GDP, followed by real estate, retail, wholesale and financial services, each accounting for about 10 per cent of the Emirate’s GDP.

It also lauded the leadership of H.H. Dr. Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah for playing an active role in achieving these goals. The ease of citizens’ communication with the leadership enhances stability, it emphasised.

The agency said it expects the Emirate’s economic growth to touch 2 percent annually, from 2018 to 2021, reflecting the growth of public investment and recovery of demand in the region as a whole and the growth of international trade.

It expects Sharjah’s financial situation to improve significantly over the next two years, supported by measures to raise higher revenues for government-owned companies and institutions.

Top Sharjah officials and economic stakeholders have strongly welcomed the move by S&P. Lauding the decision by the global watchdog, they emphasised that Sharjah’s economic outlook remains healthy and positive in short and long terms, thanks to the Emirate’s diverse economy and its robust economic fundamentals under H.H. Dr. Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, attracting global investments and strengthening Sharjah’s leading position in the region.

Hailing the move by S&P, Sheikh Sultan bin Ahmed Al Qasimi, chairman of Basma Group and chairman of Arada, asserted that the keenness of the Ruler of Sharjah, to always communicate with citizens and residents in the Emirate and fulfil their needs has positively reflected on the development work, excellence in performance and growth in the Emirate. It has also helped provide a secure life for people in the Emirate.

Sheikh Sultan pointed out that the Emirate’s credit ratings, arising from its robust financial position and low risk exposure, underscore the strength of Sharjah’s economic environment and importance of its development programmes in achieving stability. He cited the Emirate’s initiatives and legislations that help provide a safe environment for investors and achieve prosperity for all people in Sharjah, heralding a future of giving and achievement.

Abdullah Sultan Al Owais, chairman of Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, stressed that S&P’s prediction of the accelerating growth of Sharjah’s GDP in 2018 reflects the upward trend of the Emirate’s economy in light of the wise leadership’s vision to achieve comprehensive growth and build a modern and sustainable economy founded upon knowledge, creativity and innovation.

“S&P’s ratings did not come out of thin air,” said Al Owais. “They are the outcome of the vision of H.H. the Ruler of Sharjah. He has for decades looked ahead and charted the roadmap for a prosperous future, in perfect harmony with the UAE’s economic system that seeks to build the world’s best economy and happiest society through serious preparations to join the Fourth Industrial Revolution and become a key player in the comity of nations.”

WAM/Hatem Mohamed

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World Health Organization goodwill ambassador for Leprosy Elimination and chair of the Nippon Foundation, Yohei Sasakawa (left), holds the hand of a leprosy patient. Sasakawa visited Mozambique’s rural Namaita Centre to assess the progress of leprosy patients. The Nippon Foundation has been providing funds and medication in order to eliminate leprosy in Mozambique. Credit: Elísio Muchanga/IPS

By Elisio Muchanga
NAMPULA PROVINCE, Mozambique, Jul 28 2018 (IPS)

It takes Faurito António, 42, from Lalaua district, Nampula Province, two hours to reach his nearest health centre in order to receive the drugs necessary for his treatment of leprosy. António, whose foot has become affected by the muscle weakness that occurs when leprosy goes untreated, says this long walk while ill is the reason why many don’t continue treatment – which can take between six to 12 months.

“There are people who drop out of treatment for alleged fatigue from going long distances to gain access to a hospital,” he tells IPS of the rural distribution of Mozambique’s health centres.

In the deeply rural and poor northern province of Nampula, some six million people, according to the Mozambique ministry of health, are serviced by one health centre in each of the 23 districts.

The lack of development—many of the villages in the region do not have electricity or even paved roads—also often makes these centres difficult to access.

This southern African nation was in a 16-year civil war that ended in 1992 and ranks 181 out of 188 countries on the United Nations Development Programme’s Human Development Index, sharing its place with conflict-ridden South Sudan. World Bank data shows that more than half, 63 percent, live below the poverty line of USD1.90 a day.

A source in the health ministry says that on average, about 5,000 people are treated in Nampula’s health centers, leaving the remaining population without access.

Distances to Health Care Centres

Nampula Province was ranked in a study as one of the areas with the highest number of villages located 60 minutes away from a health centre. The province’s main 500-bed Nampula Central Hospital, in Nampula City, serves a population of approximately 8.5 million from the three provinces of Nampula, Cabo Delgado and Niassa.

This province has the most cases of leprosy in the country. In the first half of this year, the ministry of health registered a total of 553 cases, most of them from the districts of Lalaua, Meconta, Mogovolas and Nampula, in Nampula Province. This was followed by Zambezia and Cabo Delgado with 121 and 84 new cases respectively.

Leprosy is a chronic disease. Initial symptoms are patches of skin that are paler than normal, and this makes the disease difficult to diagnose. But if left untreated, the World Health Organization (WHO) says it “can cause progressive and permanent damage to the skin, nerves, limbs, and eyes.”

Last year, Mozambique’s national director of public health, Francisco Mbofana, raised concern that the disease was still going undiagnosed and untreated. Club Mozambique quoted him as saying that often patients appeared for the first time at health centres already suffering from second degree malformations “where mutilations of their fingers and toes are evident.”

The disease, which is transmitted via droplets, from the nose and mouth, during close and frequent contact with untreated cases, is curable with multidrug therapy (MDT), and early treatment averts most disabilities. The WHO has provided MDT for free since 1995 thanks to intial funding from the Nippon Foundation. The Nippon Foundation, a non-profit philanthropic organisation from Japan, is active in many countries across the globe in eliminating leprosy, including here in Mozambique.

The MDT treatment that António is on was donated by the Nippon Foundation and is available for free for all leprosy patients across the country.

António has been on the therapy for two weeks now, and says that he can report an improvement.

Promoting early identification of the disease through education

Unlike António, Ermelinda Muelete, 23, was fortunate enough to have been diagnosed early on when white patches appeared on her body. But Muelete, who had been on medication for the disease for some weeks, stopped the treatment because she felt that the patches on her skin were not going away quickly enough.

But she regrets the decision.

“I want to return to the treatment,” she tells IPS from the Namaita Centre, a small clinic in Mozambique’s district of Rapale, Nampula province. Muelete says that while members of the small rural community here have not rejected her outright, she felt that some of their attitudes and actions discriminated against her.

But this Thursday Jul. 26, as a small rally was held in the area to sensitise people about the disease, she felt more confident.

The WHO goodwill ambassador for Leprosy Elimination, Yohei Sasakawa, visited Namaita Centre to evaluate how funding from the Nippon Foundation, of which he is chair, has been able to assist treating Mozambicans with leprosy.

The foundation has been on the forefront of combatting the disease. In 2013, along with WHO, Nippon Foundation held a leprosy summit during which 17 countries that reported more than 1,000 new cases a year issued the Bangkok Declaration to reaffirm their commitment to achieve a leprosy-free world.

Here in Mozambique, the foundation has provided both funds and medication to the health ministry to implement post-elimination interventions at community level in the endemic districts of the central and northern parts of the country, especially for the active search for patients for early diagnosis and treatment. The Nippon Foundation initiative, which began last year, will continue until 2020.

According to Sasakawa, the process of diagnosis of this disease has been difficult, because the symptoms can take a significant time to present and they are not specifically painful. This long incubation period, on average five years, but in some cases up to 20 years according to WHO, means that people don’t always seek treatment immediately.

However, he challenged communities to be vigilant, and to try to identify if their relatives have any skin discoloration so that they can be referred to a hospital for screening and treatment.

“In fact, the appearance of white patches on the patient’s body is one of the main forms of suspicion that may lead to a specific diagnosis to determine the disease,” he says.

“Do not take long with symptoms of leprosy you have to see a doctor in the nearest health centre to get treatment, which is free.”

In addition to providing money and MDT, Nippon Foundation also support public awareness campaigns that sensitise local populations about leprosy, how to identify it and where to receive treatment.

In rural areas, poor understanding of the disease makes it difficult for people to identify it and obtain necessary treatment. Only nine percent of the country’s 28 million people have internet access, according to the World Bank data.

So the education rally made a difference to Muelete.

“Now I don’t feel rejected because of my situation. I feel strong to overcome discrimination and go ahead with the treatment,” she says.

The struggle to eliminate leprosy

Sasakawa says that Nippon Foundation has been struggling to eliminate the disease. There over 210,000 new leprosy cases registered globally in 2016, according to official WHO figures from 145 countries.

Mozambique had been declared free from leprosy in 2008. However, a few years later, it experienced an outbreak of the disease.

The country’s health minister Nazira Abdula, says that just in the first six months of this year, Mozambique registered about 951 new cases of leprosy, compared to 684 cases in 2017.

“The cases may increase, but mini-campaigns are foreseen in the provinces that register some cases of leprosy,” she says from her office in Maputo as she received the foundation delegation.

Manuel Dias, a community leader in Namaíta reiterated the request for support to combat leprosy.

“We ask Mr. Sasakawa to continue bringing the leprosy drug here in Namaíta, because there are many people suffering from this disease.”

Sasakawa reaffirmed his commitment to continue supporting communities with a view to eradicating the disease, particularly in rural areas.

• Additional reporting by Nalisha Adams in Johannesburg

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By WAM
TUSCANY, Italy, Jul 27 2018 (WAM)

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, today attended the final day of the Mohammed bin Rashid Endurance Festival, which was held in Tuscany, Italy, with the participation of more than 500 riders from various countries.

UAE riders dominated the main 120-km race, with rider Saeed Al Kheyari coming in first for M7 Stables, whereas F3 Stables’ rider Salem Al Owaisi came in 2nd, leaving the third place to M7’s Salem Malhouf.

An important stage of the Europe-based endurance races, Sheikh Mohammed followed part of the race and checked on the preparations of UAE team ahead of the World Endurance Cup, which will be held in the United States in September.

The Festival takes place as part of the Toscana Endurance Lifestyle 2018, supported and sponsored by Meydan at San Rossore Racecourse.

WAM/Hatem Mohamed

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