Africa

Religious leaders. Credit: UN Photo/Rick Bajornas

By Azza Karam
NEW YORK, Jul 22 2021 (IPS)

The UN High Level Political Forum (HLPF) came to a conclusion on July 15th. Another HLPF, another series of declaration, and commitments and concerns articulated by governments.

All of which are besieged by the combined pandemics of institutional and systemic failures, increasing violence, global warming which has already led to the deaths of species and humans, and of course, Covid-19 and the utter shame of only the rich getting vaccinated.

And the results of this High Level Political Forum?

Not the dramatic changes that our planetary existence cries for. Not even the radical introspection about each of the governance and civic responsibilities attested to by various human rights and humanitarian catastrophes in almost every corner of the world. In fact, the HLPF, like so many other summits and consultations between and among governments, has ended with more of the same.

But who am I to challenge or hold accountable? What have I done to try to make an iota of difference?

I ask myself that as a human being, as a citizen, as a woman, as a person of faith, as many other things. But most importantly, as the person elected to serve the world’s largest multi-faith leadership and grassroots organization. I ask as a person who has devoted over 30 years of studying and working in and on the intersections of religion with international development, democratization, governance and human rights.

Remember when good governance and democratization were such buzz words? Remember when human rights was not just what the United States tried to claim was critical to its foreign policy, while it was aiding and abetting the same regimes and groups that abused them liberally, and fighting for the triumph of liberalism against communism (which was not supposed to care much for any of those ideals)?

Remember when NGOs sprouted left, right and center, ostensibly committed to realizing good governance, human rights and the attainment of democracy, so that proposals to international development and foreign policy donor entities were replete with “building” and “strengthening civil society”?

And remember the days when “truth and reconciliation” were what the South African bloodless transition from apartheid to democracy, represented (as opposed to the painful turmoil we see in the same country and in most countries around the world)?

Remember those days?

Can we claim, with a straight face – let alone with any data to back this up – that we now have a world where human rights, democracy and good governance reign supreme – or even reign at all in most parts of the world?

If we can claim that, the entire Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agenda, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) before them, and countless Treatise, Conventions, Agreements, Resolutions, not to mention NGOs, academic centers and disciplines, policy think tanks, evidence gatherers and reams of research, etc., might have been a bit unnecessary – to say the least?

Unless of course, we would maintain that democracy and good governance were not meant to ensure a world where every single form of inequality and inequity, where war and violence, where epidemics and a pandemic – run rampant?

Over the last decade in particular, we started to hear more about the importance of religion, engaging with religious leaders, and the value-added of faith-based work and organisations in terms of community reach, moral standing, trust building, conflict mediation and peacemaking, social service provision (such as healthcare, education, nutrition), and humanitarian relief.

Since the pandemic we are now hearing how houses of worship, and the large public health infrastructure, are so critical to the Covid response, and to vaccine uptake (or lack thereof). Multiple global, regional and national initiatives, in and around the United Nations, regional intergovernmental organizations and bodies, governments, networks, projects, academic degrees, and NGOs, are now sprouting in all corners of the world, all professing to do with religion or faith or interfaith.

In the late 1980s and 1990s, democracy, good governance and human rights almost became a commercial business, with donors competing to fund initiatives and to create their own.

Recipient NGOs and projects – some of them developing in record time with support from governments with a dubious record of democracy and respect for human rights – competed to seek funding from governmental, intergovernmental and non-governmental sources.

Millions of dollars were given, and spent. Duplication of efforts – with each claiming to be unique – became the norm. A new global NGO elite emerged, who grew used to meeting each other in different conferences in different locations, racking up airline miles as they globe trotted from one end of the world to the other, offering their wisdom, sharing their ‘lessons learned’, showcasing their initiatives and their respective ‘approaches’ as well as their ideologies.

Members of this democracy and human rights’ community lamented the lack of political will to recognize their unique and necessary value-added, the increasing normalcy of abuse of democracy, the lack of ‘proper’ policies leading to a furthering of authoritarianism and intra-state conflicts, and usually passionately decrying the lack of resources to help their work.

Some of these civil society initiatives competed viciously, sometimes beneath a thin veneer of collaboration and partnership, and even actively undermined one another. Some of these actors compiled and decried human rights abuses in regimes and countries, when they themselves struggled with similar abuses in their own organisations, institutions and networks.

Many demanded accountability, when they themselves were among the least accountable. Few, if any, gave of their own resources to support one another’s initiatives, even when they worked for the same purposes, in the same communities, with the same people. It was each to – usually – his own.

The need for the visibility of the respective organisation or network or initiative, became more important and defining, than the absolute necessity of the collective struggle for democracy and human rights.

Does it sound familiar? It should.

Because faith-based and faith inspired actors, or religion, in various guises, is en vogue today, in the same way that democracy, good governance and human rights, were in the 1990s. And what is happening in the realms of religion, religious engagement, faith-based activity (whatever the nomenclature is), is eerily similar to the above scenarios.

And the catastrophe is that this continues to happen in the midst of a global pandemic which should be dramatically transforming our every thought and action.

In today’s geopolitical reality where authoritarianism and insecurity rules amidst a collapsing planetary infrastructure, the business of human rights and good governance is clearly teetering on bankruptcy. Religions, and faiths, are the sacred realms for most of the world’s populations. None of us can afford the bankruptcy of the sacred.

If Covid is not pushing us to take a deep dive into overcoming every single excuse which prevents us from working together, regardless of the differences between and among our faiths or organisations or races or genders, to serve all, together, then we are looking straight into the abyss of that particular hell – which we are contributing to creating.

 

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Excerpt:

Professor Azza Karam is Secretary General, Religions for Peace
 
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres believes “our solidarity based on the human rights and human dignity of all highlights the crucial role of religious leaders in our communities and beyond”. He cited previous public health crises, including HIV/AIDS and Ebola, noting how spiritual leadership had been a positive benefit in terms of community values, attitudes and actions.

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Roma Capannelle Cricket Ground, home ground of Emi and Zaryan’s cricket club. Photo courtesy: Italian Cricket TV

By Daud Khan and Ahmed Raza
ROME, Jul 21 2021 (IPS-Partners)

Following Prime Minister Imran Khan’s comments about the need to promote ‘Pakistaniyat,’ a debate has been underway on what constitutes this ideology and what unites Pakistanis around the world. While this may be a contentious and polarising debate, one thing is for certain: the game of cricket is something which brings us all together.

Cricket is everywhere – it is present in speeches in the parliament, television shows, family discussions over dinner, and has quickly surpassed other historically important sports in Pakistan, namely field hockey and squash.

Amazingly, cricket is also a conduit for overseas Pakistanis to maintain a cultural and nostalgic link with the home land. Here in Italy, where the Pakistani community numbers close to 150,000 making it the second largest in Europe after the UK, Pakistanis are playing an important in keeping the spirit and passion of cricket alive in a nation where football rules supreme. In Northern Italy, in places like Emilia Romagna, Lombardia, Trentino-Alto Adige and Veneto, club teams feature a significantly large contingent of Pakistani players.

That said, cricket is still in its nascent stages in the country. Although there is a vibrant league which operates under the auspices of the Federazione Cricket Italiana, much remains to be done. For example, it’s important that more games are organized in a calendar year to enable current players to gain greater match practice. There is also a need to make inroads in the Italian school system to encourage young Italians to pick up the cricket bat and ball. Lastly, more sponsors need to come forward to ensure that cricket survives in the country.

At the start of the 2021 cricket season, we meet two young Pakistani cricketers, Emi Ghulam, 26 year old, and Zaryan Ijaz, 17 years old, in Rome to gain an understanding of how cricket plays a role in their identities. Both are all-rounders and are a regular feature in the Roma Capannelle Cricket Club’s (RCCC) 1st XI. Being 10 years apart, their varied outlooks on the game, life in Italy and what means to be a Pakistani in the country makes for a fascinating read.

Tell us about yourself and what got you into cricket?

Emi: ‘I was born in Italy to Pakistani immigrants from androon Lahore. My father used to play cricket in Rome. He was an outstanding wicketkeeper and was praised for his can-do attitude behind the stumps. I was inspired by his approach and passion towards the game and that got me into cricket’.

Zaryan: ‘I was born in Pakistan but have been in Italy for almost 11 years. We are originally from Mandi Bahauddin and we visit Pakistan frequently. My father still plays for the Roma Capannelle Cricket Club and his influence as well as regular trips to Pakistan have been the reason for playing cricket.’

How did you learn the game?

Emi: ‘There was no one to teach me the game, which was frustrating. When I starting playing, I was mocked by other people for the way I played. This riled me up further and pushed me to learn the game independently. I would credit YouTube for teaching me most of what I know. I also have family in Pakistan and England, and during visits to these places, I have had the opportunity to observe the game closely at a higher level. Here I must also mention the valuable contributions made by our club President, Francis Alphonsus Jayarajah, and captain, Leandro Mati Jayarajah, in encouraging me to take up the game seriously and for entrusting me with important responsibilities within the club.”

Zaryan: “Cricket runs in my family! My father still plays the game and my uncle also used to play.”

Emi Ghulam bowling in the nets. Photo courtesy: Roma Capannelle Cricket Club

Who are your influencers in the cricketing world?

Emi: “As a child, my father advised me to identify a cricketer to emulate. While watching TV, I used to like Sachin Tendulkar in the olden days and copy his batting style. Now, the newer exponents of modern batting, Virat Kohli and Babar Azam, are my inspiration. As for bowling, I used to admire Mohammad Aamir for his ability to swing the ball but over time I have found Wasim Akram and Jimmy Anderson to be more effective bowlers to follow.”

Zaryan: “I would have to say my father. He played cricket at a very high level in Mandi Bahauddin and I have always been insipired by his cricketing journey.”

How do you see the perception of Pakistanis in Italy?

Emi: “It’s neither positive nor negative – somewhere in the middle, I would argue. We pop up in the news when there are sad incidents of families choosing to kill their daughters, and that is not a good projection of us as people as there are many of us who are exemplary citizens and are in engaged in respectable professions. I do think that there is still respect for those Pakistanis who do good deeds.”

Zaryan: “My experiences have been positive with Italians and I have only positive things to recall. Plus, I do not think that this treatment is restricted to a big city like Rome, Pakistanis all over the country are regarded and treated well.”

Can cricket promote better integration in the Italian society?

Emi: “Indeed, cricket can be helpful. When Pakistanis play people take notice of them and their mannerisms. They get to interact with numerous Italians, get to travel to various cities to play tournaments, learn the language; as well as and quite importantly, cricket clubs help players get jobs and settle into the Italian way of life. But I do think that any Pakistani who plays the game should play with respect and dignity. Often Pakistanis get into fights on the ground which is not a positive sight. I am all for players earning and giving respect on the ground. That is what it is all about!”

Zaryan: ‘Yes, in principle but the real problem is that very few Italians play cricket. Playing the game therefore can help one to integrate with other migrants, such and Bangladeshis, Sri Lankas, etc., but not with native Italians. In order to get acquainted with the latter, sports such as volleyball, basketball and football, need to be pursued.”

Zaryan Ijaz after completing an innings. Photo courtesy: Zaryan Ijaz

How do you see the role of the Pakistani community (embassy, cultural centres, organizations, ordinary people, etc.) in promoting cricket in Italy?

Emi: “Various things. They can help us in bringing good players into the fold. With good cricketers, the standard in Italy is bound to improve. I also think that should players like me, and others of Pakistani origin in Italy, get a chance to ply their trade in cricket leagues, such as the Pakistan Super League (PSL), it will have positive impacts all around.”

Zaryan: “There is definitely a role that the community can play. Particularly, I think they can help with the publicity of the game. For example, in and around their businesses they can put posters to show support and promote one of the many clubs that play the game.”

What are your most prized accomplishments related to cricket?

Emi: “Once I came in at number seven with wickets tumbling all around. On that day nobody expected me to do anything with the bat but I surprised them all with a quick knock of 40-odd runs. I smashed nearly every bowler receiving accolades from teammates in the process. That one game gave me a lot confidence and put me on an upward trajectory”.

Zaryan: “I have captained the under-13 and under-15 teams for my club. In this role, I helped the team win five games in row which we played all over Italy, in Bologna, Rome, Napoli, etc. I always relish that memory.”

What are your future ambitions related to cricket in Italy?

Emi: “I would like the world to see my family in a good light. I would want people to acknowledge that a quality player has come out of our family. As well, I am motivated to play for the Italian national team.”

Zaryan: ”I need to work on my physique. I feel that if I can surmount this challenge I have it in me to make it to the PSL. I would like to try out for one of the teams there. Plus, I would like to play for the Italian national team.”

Emi Ghulam pictured at the RCCC Ground after scoring a half century and taking three wickets. Photo courtesy: Emi Ghulam

What is the one thing that you dearly miss about Pakistan?

Emi: “FUN. The place is abuzz with energy. I miss walking around in the streets till late at night, seeing how people go about their life, and to enjoy good food.”

Zaryan: “FOOD. I am a fan of seekh kabab and biryani, and miss eating these dished when I am there.”

Zaryan Ijaz with the winning trophy. Photo courtesy: Zaryan Ijaz

The writers are Pakistanis who work and live in Rome. This is fourth in the series of articles on Pakistanis in Italy, and the first one which looks at how sports can be a strong means for integration in the Italian society.

Source: Friday Times (Pakistan)

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While the Biden Administration has taken executive actions to tackle climate change at home and abroad, through upgrading and building infrastructure, and committing to halve US greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, we are yet to see the impact.

By Esther Ngumbi
URBANA, Illinois, Jul 21 2021 (IPS)

Across the United States, the last few months have brought along many climate-linked disasters. From surging wildfires in Hawaii to record-breaking Pacific Northwest heat waves to drought across the western states. The southwestern states also have seen heavy rains that resulted in flash flooding events.

Importantly, these climate-linked events have occurred in regions that had not been impacted before because of geography, sending the signal that no one is immune to climate change. We all must act with urgency to mitigate this existential threat, as described by President Joe Biden.

As new record-breaking events occur, pausing for a moment to wonder about the next record-breaking event becomes natural. What would it be? Where? Who else who was insulated before will be affected now?

Science delivered in a year a vaccine that traditionally takes 5 -10 years, thanks to generous funding by the government and the private sector. With increased funding by the government and private sector, scientists can collaborate across disciplines to uncover bold solutions to confront climate change

These renewed and heightened public awareness about climate change and the dangers that we all face, if we do not mitigate it, creates an important moment for all of us including policy makers at both the state and federal level to roll out bold reforms.

First up is the need to ensure that ordinary people have the most recent research and data about climate change. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration provides timely data, tools, and the information about climate.

The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change further provides policymakers with scientific assessments on climate change including highlighting climate adaptation and mitigation options.

In addition, agencies such as NASA and the United States Environmental Protection Agency also provide very robust scientific data to understand climate change and how to mitigate it. Further, states, including those facing these disasters at the moment such as the State of Oregon, have information about climate change and actions they are taking to address it.

Beyond national agencies are several websites and newspapers that have enormous sources of information about climate change.

While having most recent data is important, communicating what these climate change research and data means clearly and consistently to citizens is key. Moreover, there will be  a need to broaden  and focus on the framing, so as to engage many citizens.

Beyond sharing knowledge and communicating about climate change, both federal and state governments must enact bold and transformative climate change policies.

While the Biden Administration has taken executive actions to tackle climate change at home and abroad, through upgrading and building infrastructure, and committing to halve US greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, we are yet to see the impact.

It will take another nine years to halve greenhouse emissions. As seen, year after year, the disasters are getting stronger, and nine years is a long time to wait for change.

Governments need to re-strategize and develop immediate climate mitigation and adaptation actions that can be achievable in shorter timeframes. Alongside re-strategizing, all government ministries and agencies and sectors need to re-examine how vulnerable these sectors are to climate change.

Furthermore, they should outline what actions need to be taken to ensure that all sectors can withstand the changing climate. It is encouraging to see the Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen leading efforts to review and assess the risks that climate change have on the financial stability of the U.S. Many more sectors including the agriculture and energy sectors need to engage in this type of review too.

Complementing all efforts to address climate change is the need to increase funding to climate science research. From research aimed at finding novel approaches to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to finding low -carbon -climate smart technologies to advanced energy research to climate modelling and simulation studies to understanding how the ecosystems respond to and recover from climate-linked disasters.

As we have seen with COVID-19, science can deliver solutions. Science delivered in a year a vaccine that traditionally takes 5 -10 years, thanks to generous funding by the government and the private sector. With increased funding by the government and private sector, scientists can collaborate across disciplines to uncover bold solutions to confront climate change.

Finally, there is need to ensure that all sectors impacted by climate change adapt and act. From planning for extreme temperatures, heat waves, surging wildfires, and flooding to building more resilient communities and cities.

In the fight against climate, governments must lead the way. Time is of essence.

 

Dr. Esther Ngumbi is an Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, and a Senior Food Security Fellow with the Aspen Institute, New Voices.

Electronic surveillance devices. Credit: 112 Georgia/ UN Women

By Jonathan Rozen
NEW YORK, Jul 21 2021 (IPS)

Tsaone Basimanebotlhe was not expecting security agents to appear at her home in a village outside Gaborone, Botswana’s capital, in July 2019, she told CPJ in a recent interview. But they didn’t come to arrest or charge her, she recalled – they came for her devices, hunting for the source for an article published by her employer, Mmegi newspaper.

Basimanebotlhe, a politics reporter, said she surrendered her phone and password to the agents after they presented a warrant and could not find her computer. A senior officer then used technology sold by the Israel-based company Cellebrite to extract and analyze thousands of her messages, call logs, and emails, and her web browsing history, according to an affidavit from the police forensics laboratory.

The affidavit, which CPJ reviewed, was submitted during a related court case.“They’re looking for people that are divulging information to the media,” Basimanebotlhe told CPJ.

Botswana police also deployed Cellebrite technology to search the phone of Oratile Dikologang, a local editor charged in 2020 over Facebook posts who alleged that police violently interrogated him about his sources, as CPJ recently reported.

The use of powerful tools provided by private companies to scour seized devices raises significant concerns over privacy and press freedom. The experiences of Basimanebotlhe and Dikologang demonstrate that police in Botswana use digital forensics equipment to sweep up vast quantities of journalists’ communications from seized devices, regardless of whether they are charged with a crime.

The extent of these searches was only revealed when police documents were submitted in court months after the fact, and it’s not clear what happened to the data.

Botswana’s security forces routinely arrest journalists and take possession of their devices, CPJ has found. In March, Botswana police seized computers and phones from arrested reporters and media workers with the Moeladilotlhoko News Boiler, a private, Facebook-based outlet, CPJ recently documented; officers demanded their passcodes, answered calls and read messages on the devices, and kept two of the phones as evidence even after the charges connected to that arrest were withdrawn in April.

David Baaitse, a reporter for Botswana’s Weekend Post newspaper, separately told CPJ that intelligence agents took phones belonging to him and his colleague to be analyzed for six months following their arrest last year.

“If you take my phone and go and analyze it, you have my folders and everything, all my contacts,” Baaitse told CPJ in a recent interview. He added that such actions by security forces hinder journalists’ ability to gather information, saying, “Sources, they no longer trust us. They no longer want to deal directly with us.”

In Basimanebotlhe’s case, Mmegi reported that when her phone was first seized in July 2019, police were seeking evidence for their investigation of a former intelligence chief, Isaac Kgosi.

The police claimed that Kgosi had taken photographs of undercover security agents, exposing their identities, and that those photographs were published by Mmegi in a February 2019 article, Basimanebotlhe said. The article, which was attributed to a staff reporter, had been written by one of Basimanebotlhe’s colleagues, Mmegi later clarified.

“They alleged that I had photos of DIS people,” Basimanebotlhe told CPJ, referring to an acronym for Botswana’s Directorate on Intelligence and Security Services. “They believed I’m the one who wrote the story,” she said.

The affidavit detailing the forensic search of Basimanebotlhe’s devices was submitted during Kgosi’s prosecution over the photographs, his lawyer, Unoda Mack, told CPJ by phone. It states that police used Cellebrite’s Universal Forensic Extraction Device (UFED) and Physical Analyzer technologies to retrieve and evaluate the information from her phone, but found no evidence relevant to their investigation, according to CPJ’s review.

Mack told CPJ that Kgosi pleaded not guilty, and local media reported that a magistrate ultimately dismissed for lack of evidence the charge that he had exposed agents’ identities.

“They said they didn’t find anything in my phone,” Basimaonebotlhe told CPJ. “[But] they went through my SMS, my WhatsApp [messages].”

CPJ contacted Botswana police spokesperson Dipheko Motube over the phone about Basimaonebotlhe’s case and he requested that questions be sent via messaging app. He did not respond to those questions, and previously declined to comment on the case involving Dikologang because it was still before the court.

In response to questions about the Moeladilotlhoko News Boiler arrests, Motube told CPJ that investigations “may necessitate” detentions and confiscation of “any implement which may have been used in the commission of the offence” with “due regard to the rights of the individual arrested.”

Reached by phone, Botswana government spokesperson Batlhalefi Leagajang requested questions about security forces’ alleged use of digital forensics technology be sent by email. CPJ sent those questions, but received no response.

Cellebrite, which is owned by the Japan-based Sun Corporation, says that its UFED toolkit can extract data from mobile phones, SIM cards, and other devices even after the information was deleted, and its Physical Analyzer helps examine digital data.

In April, Nasdaq reported that Cellebrite would be listed on the stock exchange via a merger with TWC Tech Holdings II Corp., a U.S.-based special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) designed to take companies public.

In response to CPJ’s questions about the use of its technology in Botswana and human rights due diligence processes, Cellebrite provided a statement emailed via the Fusion Public Relations company that said it could not “speak to any specifics” about its customers.

Cellebrite “requires that agencies and governments that use our technology uphold the standards of international human rights law,” the statement said. “Our compliance solutions enable an audit trail and can discern who, when and how data was accessed, which leads to accountability in the agencies and organizations that use our tools,” the company added.

Cellebrite did not directly address CPJ’s question about if the company considered the use of its tools to search journalists’ devices to be acceptable. Sun Corporation and TWC Tech Holdings II Corp. did not respond to questions CPJ emailed about this article.

“[Police] want access to the data so they can know the sources of these journalists,” Dick Bayford, a lawyer in Gaborone whose firm represented Basimanebotlhe and Baaitse, told CPJ in a recent interview. “It [has] a chilling effect on freedom of the press.”

 

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Excerpt:

The writer is Senior Africa Researcher at the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)

Chiring Tamang holds the family’s new baby while his wife Priya looks on. She delivered the girl at home in their village in Nepal’s Sindhupalchowk district in February 2021. Credit: Marty Logan / IPS

By Marty Logan
Kathmandu, Nepal, Jul 21 2021 (IPS)

One year after Nepal’s Ministry of Health (MoH) appealed to international organisations in the country to urgently supply a drug used to stop excessive bleeding after childbirth, a UN agency has delivered $1 million worth of contraceptives to prevent another shortage.

The 1.6 million cycles of oral contraceptive pills and 776,000 units of injectable contraceptives and syringes will prevent roughly 75 000 unintended pregnancies, 22 000 unsafe abortions and 80 maternal deaths, according to the UN Population Fund (UNFPA).

As it was last year at this time, Nepal is at the tail end of a lockdown designed to break a runaway number of Covid-19 cases. Between April and May 2021, daily cases went from 150 to more than 8,000—fuelled by outbreaks in neighbouring India. Intensive care unit beds were unavailable in most hospitals in the capital Kathmandu and some cities on the southern border with India, and patients attached to oxygen tanks were forced into hospital parking lots. Crematoriums had to be expanded to accommodate the dead.

More than 9 500 people have died, and 667 000 had been infected as of 18 July, according to official figures, which are widely considered to underestimate the true impact.

“This support is very timely as Nepal was on the verge of facing a shortage of the injectable contraceptives and oral pills,” said Dr Tara Nath Pokhrel, Director of the Family Welfare Division (FWD) of the MoH. “These supplies will greatly help the federal, provincial and local governments to address the increasing family planning needs during the COVID-19 pandemic,” he added in a UNFPA press release.

Last year’s urgent need was misoprostol, a drug used for medical abortion and to stop excessive bleeding of new mothers, also known as postpartum haemorrhage (PPH). The condition is the leading cause of death among women who give birth at home, a number that skyrocketed after the first case of Covid-19 was detected in January 2020. Deliveries in health facilities fell by more than 50% during the 2020 lockdown, according to The Lancet journal.

The shortage affected only the three-pill package of misoprostol used to prevent PPH, not medical abortion kits. It was December before UNFPA could deliver nearly 500 000 doses to the government, a one-year supply.

Maintaining a steady supply of misoprostol has been a challenge for the Government of Nepal since it took over the programme from a project sponsored by the US government in 2010. Initially, it was able to turn to international partners to source the drug outside of the country, but it soon absorbed the purchasing into its procurement system.

However, in 2014 the government’s corruption agency charged eight ministry of health employees with importing poor quality misoprostol into the country at inflated prices.

Eventually, they were acquitted, along with private-sector suppliers, but the high-profile case put a ‘chill’ on further buying by government officials, a former employee of the project told IPS. “If the person needed to justify (misoprostol procurement) maybe they were thinking, ‘this created lots of tension in the past, so let’s not go for procurement’.

Shortages resulted. Then in 2015, earthquakes rocked Nepal, killing nearly 9,000 people. That disaster was followed by a months-long blockade of road routes from India after Nepal’s politicians approved a controversial new Constitution. Supply chains became twisted and unreliable.

In 2017, following Nepal’s first elections under a federal governance system, some health responsibilities were transferred from central authorities to provincial or local officials, including the purchase and distribution of misoprostol. But local governments appeared unprepared.

“In general, local governments did not have sufficient time and resources to strengthen their procurement capacity on lifesaving maternal and neonatal health commodities,” a spokesperson for UNFPA noted in a statement. “It also depended on how much priority each local government had given to the health sector in general.”

Before Covid-19 hit, the misoprostol programme was in place in 56 of Nepal’s 77 districts, but in January 2020, a survey of 12 of the 56 districts found that none had the drug, says Surya Bhatta, executive director of One Heart Worldwide, an international NGO working in Nepal.

“I think misoprostol is one of the most discussed matters in our office,” he adds. “We talk about this a lot with local leaders, pregnant mothers, female community health volunteers during their monthly meetings, and with service providers in the health facilities. Even for the managers, in larger government forums, there is a lot of discussion happening, but the implementation side has a lot of holes to fill.”

During the 2020 lockdown, misoprostol shortages and PPH deaths of women who gave birth at home generated many headlines. This year there have been no reports of misoprostol shortages, Dr Punya Poudel of the FWD told IPS. However, maternal deaths remained above average for the second year running. From mid-March 2020 to mid-June 2021, there were 258 maternal deaths, compared to 51 in the same period pre-Covid, according to preliminary statistics.

Nepal’s maternal mortality rate of 239 per 100,000 births is equivalent to roughly 1,200 deaths annually.

In the agency’s press release, UNFPA Representative to Nepal Lubna Baqi urged the government and partners to make reproductive health a priority.

“Nepal has continued to struggle with shortages in supplies due to competing priorities and demands, but it is time for the government and development partners to turn their attention to preventing unwanted pregnancies and unsafe abortions by investing in family planning and comprehensive sexuality education.”

 

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Mayar Sherif will play 'with her heart' as she becomes the first Egyptian woman to play Olympic tennis for her country.

The group, most of them women and children, were kidnapped last month in Nigeria's Zamfara state.

"I have cried so much, my eyes can barely see," one mother tells the BBC after seeing her brother die.

A global system in which poor countries are unable to develop and produce their own vaccines to match their demand is not sustainable; particularly when faced by potential future pandemics. Credit: PAHO/Karen González.

By Jonatan Konafino and Shubha Nagesh
Jul 20 2021 (IPS)

“Vaccine equity is the challenge of our time,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), told the gathering in opening remarks.  “And we are failing”at a special ministerial meeting of the Economic and Social Council.

Earlier, G7 leaders wrote a letter of support declaring that wealthier countries should pay the cost to vaccinate low and middle income countries.

Globally, indiscriminate inequity exists in the procurement and distribution of vaccines, which has hit the countries in Asia and Africa the most. According to the World Health Organization, among the 832 million vaccine doses that have been administered, 82% have gone to high- or upper-middle-income countries, while only 0.2% have been shipped to low-income countries

The United States announced that it would donate 500 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine to COVAX to supply COVID vaccine doses to countries in need. In addition, several countries pledged support to a waiver to intellectual property restrictions, which could allow countries to produce the vaccine generically to amplify production and supply.

While these are essential steps in the right direction, a global system in which poor countries are unable to develop and produce their own vaccines to match their demand is not sustainable; particularly when faced by potential future pandemics.

Stringent measures, with global solidarity and commitment to build global vaccine equity and ensure the last person gets the vaccine in rich and poor countries alike before the next global health crisis hits is the need of the hour. This is a time when internationalism wins over nationalism, and globalism works better than local.

Globally, indiscriminate inequity exists in the procurement and distribution of vaccines, which has hit the countries in Asia and Africa the most. According to the World Health Organization, among the 832 million vaccine doses that have been administered, 82% have gone to high- or upper-middle-income countries, while only 0.2% have been shipped to low-income countries.

According to a United Nations report, in high-income countries alone, 1 in 4 people have been vaccinated, a ratio that drops precipitously to 1 in 500 in low-income countries.

This inequitable vaccine access is rooted in the power, influence and the control of few rich countries who have determined vaccine allocation. Early on, despite COVAX’s commitment to vaccinate the world’s population, Western countries developed vaccines separately, in bulk, more than what was necessary, hoarded and vaccinated all, including their young people, who are considered less at risk.

Citizens of low income countries faced shortage, even those who were at risk for COVID-19. As a result, many countries have been left behind.

In the Global South, countries have welcomed and celebrated the ‘noble’ decision of rich countries to donate overstocked vaccines. However, we must take a step back to understand why countries need donations in the first place.

Our struggle to access vaccines is not a consequence of our present shortcomings but of our long histories––many of which are burdened with the legacy of violent colonialism. If poor countries need to rely on donated vaccines, it’s a sign that the global health system is not working. Global Health has failed in this Pandemic.

It’s not just about purchasing doses. A painful history of unequal power relations has shifted resources out of low- and middle-income countries to their high-income counterparts.

We are working against a persistent lack of support for the infrastructure that allows countries in the Global South to independently drive scientific development. Moreover, our material resources and human capital have supported northern economies for decades.

This is exacerbated by the problem of brain drain, in which talent is pulled from low- and middle-income countries to their high-income counterparts, perpetuating dependence and inequities. For example, it is estimated that researchers working internationally from low-income countries produce 10 times more patents than their compatriots at home.

Scientific and health sovereignty are strategic drivers of equitable access to health.
Rich countries are often lauded for aid and donations- progress can be made when we move from charity to rights-based models.

To sustain development efforts, international cooperation and collaboration that allows what countries need is international cooperation that enhances local capacity and expertise, enables country infrastructure and retains the talent to generate innovation at home is crucial. It’s about Human Rights, Social Justice and Equity.

In the short term, developing countries need to be able to produce vaccines and access them equitably. This includes relaxing the World Trade Organization’s Trade Related Access to International Property Rights to enable countries to produce vaccines on site.

In the long term, international collaboration across nations is urgent. For example, the Sputnik-V vaccine program in Argentina involves cooperation between the Gamaleya Institute, the Russian Investment Fund and a national pharmaceutical, Richmond Lab, to develop and produce vaccines for Argentina and the southern cone. This type of cooperation is strategic to expand vaccine production and enhance technology investment in developing countries.

Regional cooperation will strengthen the health and technology sectors in developing countries. During the last few months, AstraZeneca vaccines have been produced between Argentina, which produces the active substance of the product and Mexico, which subsequently completes and bottles doses.

COVID is a global threat today. There will be more, severe threats in future. As we move forward, let the lesson from the crisis not go in vain. Together, in solidarity, we can each do our bit to advance our shared vision of an equitable world. It has taken extraordinary drive to develop the vaccine. Reimagining Global Health should be  about the deliberate intention to get this vaccine to the last person.

Jonatan Konafino MD, MSc, PhD is a Senior Atlantic Fellow for Health Equity and Professor of Public Health at Universidad Nacional Arturo Jauretche and George Washington University. Secretary of Health in the Municipality of Quilmes, Buenos Aires, Argentina. 

Shubha Nagesh is a medical doctor by training and a Global Health Consultant. She presently works for The Latika Roy Foundation, Dehradun, India. She is a Senior Atlantic Fellow in Global Health Equity.

The Ugandan weightlifter who went missing from a pre-Olympic training camp in Japan has been found.

Spanish officers inspecting the remains of a garrison on Monte Arruit, July 1921. Annual, Morocco. Credit: Public Domain.

By Joaquín Roy
MIAMI, Jul 20 2021 (IPS)

It would seem that those responsible for the recent immigration crisis in Ceuta and Melilla have coordinated their strategy to commemorate the centenary of one of the most serious defeats that Spain has suffered in its foreign relations. One hundred years ago, the Spanish armies suffered one of the most painful losses in its history.

From July 21 to August 9, 1921, the military detachments that had tried to consolidate the colonial presence in the territory of the Riff, north of the northern area of ​​the so-called Protectorate located on the Mediterranean slope of the present Kingdom of Morocco, were bloody massacred in the so-called Annual Disaster.

This episode has been imprinted in the memory of not only of the military, but also in the national conscience.

In succinct terms, what happened in North Africa in the second decade of the 20th century was a consequence of a more spectacular disaster suffered by the Spanish empire at the end of the previous century.

Joaquín Roy

As a resounding burial of the Spanish empire, which had lost almost all American territories in the 19th century, in 1898 the United States ended the Spanish presence in Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines, by imposing the surrender and cession of those territories after the incident of the sinking of the battleship Maine in the bay of Havana.

Embarrassed by the defeat, the Spanish military passed the blame for the awesome disaster onto the politicians. The final traumatic event originated various consequences in Spain, among which are a period of introspection and meditation on the national essence, presided over by the “Generation of ’98”, and the emergence of a regenerationism led by various sectors of public influence.

While the monarchy in the regency period could hardly stand out in remedying the state of national prostration, the military was preparing to seek the construction of a substitute empire.

In continuation of the previous incursions in North Africa, the coalition of conservative forces with military sectors, in search of alternative companies to the loss of the imperial territories, believed to find a replacement empire in North Africa.

The recruitment of military contingents based on forced replacement troops produced the serious incidents of protest at the ports of embarkation. The opposition that originated the so-called Tragic Week of Barcelona in 1909 stood out then, with the result of a fierce repression. The government survived. Spain was destined to invent another empire.

The distribution of the immense African territories among the European powers resulted in the award to Spain of the northern part that comprised the Riff, with a rugged geography populated by a human contingent that has hardly been identified with the precarious unity of Morocco.

The administration of the so-called Protectorate would be a difficult mission to fulfill until its disappearance. The withdrawal order had its holocaust in the place called Annual, where the Spanish detachment of eleven thousand five hundred soldiers was massacred and the survivors were put to the knife. These bloody events were novelistically relived by important writers such as Ramón J. Sender.

In this scenario, the Spanish Legion was founded, following the model of the French. Led by Millán Astray, one of its most prominent leaders was Commander Francisco Franco, who rose through the ranks on merits of war and later became the youngest general in the European armies.

The positions of the Spanish military in North Africa were desired both by the commanders and by the troops themselves who were involved in corruption.

Almost miraculously saved the city of Melilla, the Spanish presence received a considerable effort with the joint operation of the Spanish and French forces in the so-called landing of Al Hoceima (exaggeratedly considered as a precedent of the Normandy operation), a coastal area that still presents the survival of the Spanish “presidios”.

As a result of that remarkable joint operation, the Riff’s leader Abd el-Krim surrendered and was subsequently released. He survived his many adversaries and died in Cairo in 1963. He is considered one of the “inventors” of guerrilla strategy.

The monarchy of Alfonso XIII survived when he handed over power to General Primo de Rivera, but after his fall from grace, the institution soon disappeared when in the municipal elections of 1931 the conservative parties lost electoral favor in the big cities.

The King abdicated and the Second Republic was declared. In 1936 Franco rebelled. The troops led by the coup general left from Morocco at the beginning of the Civil War.

Ceuta and Melilla are remains of that neocolonial stage, recently converted into “autonomous cities” within the Spanish territorial administration. Despite the abandonment of the territory of the Sahara, as a result of the Green March of 1975 when the Franco regime died, Spain insists on the evaluation of the UN opinion subject to a referendum that Morocco has refused to carry out, claiming sovereignty over its inhabitants, a thesis that clashes with that of Algeria, where the Sahrawis take refuge.

Although Morocco’s tactic seems focused on the occupation of Ceuta and Melilla, in reality the priority is the control of the entire Sahara and domination of the southern slope of the Strait of Gibraltar. This strategic detail is a priority for the United States, which has generally supported Moroccan interests, as has France, a power that in turn supports Algeria’s theses.

 

Joaquín Roy is Jean Monnet Professor and Director of the European Union Center at the University of Miami

People in Yangon queue for oxygen cylinders to treat COVID patients as a third wave of the pandemic sweeps through Myanmar. Credit: Sai T

By Sara Perria
ROME, Jul 20 2021 (IPS)

The third wave of Covid-19 is sweeping through Myanmar, from the high narrow buildings of the commercial capital Yangon to bamboo houses in rural areas.

Ma Ni, not her real name, caught the virus in Yangon, infected by her husband and son. But no members of the family show up in the official numbers because they preferred to buy a home test instead of going to a hospital or a quarantine centre.

“It’s been seven days with COVID now,” 34-year-old Ma Ni says. “My husband needs oxygen, but we cannot get it … I hope God will save us.”

Ma Ni’s family is not alone. According to the military’s Ministry of Health, Myanmar recorded 3,461 new cases of COVID-19 and 82 deaths on July 11 alone.

In total, since the pandemic first struck, Myanmar has reported almost 4,000 deaths. Videos circulating on social networks show a dramatic increase in the number of bodies taken to Yangon’s crematorium.

The numbers, although certainly under-reported, are far lower than they were in Europe, the US or India, but they are growing. Moreover, the impact of COVID-19 has been compounded by the aftermath of the military coup on February 1 that ousted elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and triggered nationwide protests, resulting in more than 900 deaths and thousands of prisoners, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, an NGO based in Thailand.

As a result, hundreds of panicking citizens are shying away from testing and quarantine facilities perceived as mismanaged by the unpopular military.

“I’d rather die than go to a military hospital,” Ko Moe, again not a real name, tells IPS. “I don’t trust them, and given my work as a volunteer ambulance driver, they might arrest me for helping the protestors.”

The military is trying to stop private initiatives, even shooting to disperse a crowd queuing to refill oxygen tanks. It is also forbidding producers to distribute oxygen to ineligible citizens, saying people are hoarding it unnecessarily.

Myanmar people think otherwise. Deep inside the country, in the city of Taunggyi, Shan State, a doctor interviewed by IPS says people are organising themselves autonomously to cope with the emergency because the health system has collapsed.

“As for now, things look still normal here but … many donors and well-wishers have set up a committee to install oxygen plants by themselves to help the people in the city and the small villages around Taunggyi,” she tells IPS.

Grievances are expressed all over social networks and emotional appeals for help from the international community or obituaries of loved ones who succumbed to the virus.

But it’s also the flu season, which many, feeling abandoned by the State or unable to afford private facilities, mistake for COVID.

“The situation is pretty chaotic. There have been many outbreaks of COVID but also of seasonal flu, in major cities and rural regions,” another doctor working for a private hospital in Yangon tells IPS on condition of anonymity. “People are frustrated for not getting efficient medical care from the authorities, while general hospitals cannot operate on a full scale since the majority of civil service doctors have joined the disobedience movement and there are only a few doctors and nurses left,” he says.

Indeed, only a small percentage of citizens have been vaccinated against the virus. The ongoing protests that started in February have crammed prisons with political prisoners, turning the repression into an epicentre of the outbreak.

Following a recent trip to Russia, junta leader General Min Aung Hlaing announced the purchase of 5 million doses of the Sputnik vaccine. However, it may be too little, too late to avoid an unprecedented health crisis in a country of over 54 million people only partly controlled by the military.

The international community is also accused of not helping, having been already stigmatised for failing to do anything to support Burmese citizens during the coup, beyond statements of condemnation.

The UN special rapporteur for Myanmar Tom Andrews told the Human Rights Commission on July 13 that the junta lacks the “capabilities and the legitimacy to bring this crisis under control”. And the lack of trust in the military makes this crisis “particularly lethal”, he said.

Activists from the opposition ‘Milk Tea Alliance Burma’ expressed the sentiment of the public in a Tweet: “Last year, the pandemic was contained successfully in Myanmar because of collective efforts of everyone. DASSK (Aung San Suu Kyi) was influencing the public well, holding campaigns to make cloth masks, the public followed the instructions well, they masked up and stayed at home without complaining.”

With the population mistrustful of the military and pro-democracy protests continuing, albeit on a much smaller scale, rules are often overlooked.

A Google app tracing people’s movements shows that the situation is back to the pre-coup situation in terms of traffic and crowds in the streets. Many shops may appear to be closed from the outside but are working at normal capacity behind. Masks are usually left at home.

The military has a history of resistance to international aid despite being unequipped to deal with an emergency, as happened in the disastrous aftermath of cyclone Nargis in 2008. The junta is unlikely to change its isolationist stance now, and international help may well be limited, according to a diplomat in Yangon, interviewed by IPS.

“COVID is not going to change anything for the junta, it’s taking people’s minds off the revolution, so it’s not such a bad thing for the military,” he says, asking not to be named for security reasons.

 

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The writer is a Research Analyst at Stimson Center

By Cristina Petcu
WASHINGTON DC, Jul 20 2021 (IPS)

The forthcoming UN Secretary-General’s “Our Common Agenda” report, to be released before this year’s UN General Assembly High-Level Week, is expected to offer ambitious recommendations to accelerate the realization of the UN75 Declaration as the world comes to grips with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Promote Peace & Prevent Conflicts. Credit: United Nations

While the report’s ideas are still undisclosed, three notions are likely to represent conceptual building blocks: a “new social contract,” a “new global deal,” and “networked and inclusive multilateralism” have each permeated current high-level discussions at the United Nations, especially in speeches of UN Secretary-General António Guterres.

While these three concepts are not mentioned explicitly in the UN75 Declaration, they are implicit in the framing of the declaration’s twelve commitments. Building on perspectives from past and present scholars, world leaders, policymakers, and practitioners, these powerful notions are each unpacked in Stimson Center’s recent report, “Beyond UN75: A Roadmap for Inclusive, Networked, and Effective Global Governance.”

Critics, including the United Nations, argue that the present state of the social contract is outdated and incapable of meeting the needs and challenges of the twenty-first century. The UN Secretary-General himself emphasized that a new social contract is “an opportunity to build back a more equal and sustainable world” from COVID-19.

A new, modernized social contract could, indeed, help advance a more just post-COVID-19 recovery and economic policies that consider the realization of human rights as an end in itself—rather than as one more channel to achieve high economic growth levels under outdated metrics.

It could include a global political commitment to securing social protection floors and universal access to educational systems, among other initiatives that seek to respond to the major economic, technological, and societal shifts now underway.

Similarly, an equitable, resilient, and sustainable social contract should rebuild people’s trust in governance institutions. Trust is a prerequisite that offers legitimacy to those governing, and it permits the existence of a contract in the first place.

With the “new social contract” being the vision and long-term goal for weaving a new normative fiber binding states and peoples together, the world also needs a more operational “new global deal.”

The UN Secretary-General suggested that a new global deal would entail a redistribution of power, wealth, and opportunities, and global political and economic systems that deliver critical global public goods: public health, climate action, sustainable development, and peace.

This echoes long-standing discussions about representativeness in the current system of global governance, considering, for example, the distribution of special drawing rights at the International Monetary Fund, which gives the United States a blocking minority share, or the setup of the Security Council with its five permanent, veto-wielding powers and ten non-permanent members.

Resource redistribution and redirection also need to be seen in light of calls for a “green recovery” from the COVID-19 pandemic and of the need to recalibrate the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.

Advancing a new social contract and new global deal further require a more networked and inclusive multilateralism. This would entail a paradigm shift from the state-centric international world order to one where myriad actors, beyond nation-states (especially traditional major powers), can collaboratively share and implement solutions to complex problems.

Delivering the future we want will not come from “polarized member states or politicized UN secretariats.” It will result from collaborations between international civil servants, Member States, and progressive networks of non-state actors—including scholars, academics, media, businesses, philanthropies, and other stakeholders.

In this spirit, the United Nations and other intergovernmental organizations must update their rules of engagement with non-state actors, to facilitate networked and inclusive multilateralism. There is no dearth of institutional innovation ideas that can help build inclusive multilateralism.

For instance, the Call for Inclusive Global Governance, released in April 2021 and endorsed by over 150 civil society organizations worldwide, provides three recommendations for promoting greater inclusion and participation of civil society at the UN: first, the creation of a formal instrument—a World Citizens’ Initiative—to enable individual citizens to influence the UN’s work; second, a UN Parliamentary Assembly to allow for the inclusion of elected representatives in agenda-setting and decision-making at the UN; and third, the appointment of a UN Civil Society Envoy to support greater civil society engagement at the UN.

Networked and inclusive multilateralism, going beyond classic intergovernmentalism, provides a platform and framework to carry out a new global deal (operational plan) in the service of establishing a new social contract (vision).

What is needed now is enlightened leadership, combined with a well-designed strategy for reform for channeling these ideas in support of a more interlinked and participatory global governance system.

Guided by these three powerful concepts, the Secretary-General’s “Our Common Agenda” can generate political momentum for a potential 2023 World Summit on Inclusive Global Governance for truly innovating the United Nations system to keep pace with present and future challenges and opportunities.

The 75th anniversary of the United Nations was believed to be a moment for laying the foundations for a new kind of multilateralism. Although adoption of the UN75 Declaration represents an important milestone, its vision is yet to be matched by a commensurate global plan for action.

Bouncing back now from the COVID-19 presents an opportunity to also rebuild a global system that can help all nations and peoples effectively overcome current global inequalities, injustices, and insecurity. It is incumbent on all of us to make 2021 a turning point for multilateralism.

 

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Excerpt:

The writer is a Research Analyst at Stimson Center

By Anis Chowdhury and Jomo Kwame Sundaram
SYDNEY and KUALA LUMPUR, Jul 20 2021 (IPS)

Despite facing the world’s worst pandemic of the last century, rich countries in the World Trade Organization (WTO) have blocked efforts to enable more affordable access to the means to fight the pandemic.

Everyone knows access for all to the means for testing, treatment and prevention – including diagnostic tests, therapeutic medicines, personal protective equipment and vaccines – is crucial.

Anis Chowdhury

European deceit
In October 2020, South Africa and India requested the WTO to temporarily suspend relevant provisions of its Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). By May 2021, the proposal had 62 co-sponsors and support from more than two-thirds of WTO member States.

Despite overwhelming support from low- and middle-income countries, Western governments, Big Pharma and other industry officials dismiss this waiver request as not only unnecessary, but also undermining future technological innovation.

Although most European Parliament members support the waiver proposal, it is actively opposed by European governments and the European Commission (EC), the European Union (EU) executive.

It is also resisted by Brazil and other rich countries, such as the UK, Norway, Switzerland, Australia, Canada and Japan. However, the Biden administration now supports a temporary waiver for vaccines, but is silent on the other items urgently needed.

Misleadingly, European leaders insist that the temporary waiver request is unnecessary, but IP rights (IPRs) are essential for innovation. “IPR regimes have, at best, second-order effects upon the rates of innovation”. In fact, “when patent rights have been too broad or strong, they have actually discouraged innovation”.

Jomo Kwame Sundaram

They misleadingly claim access can be achieved by existing provisions for voluntary licensing (VL), technology transfer, COVAX bulk purchasing and existing TRIPS flexibilities, especially compulsory licensing (CL). But these purported solutions are known to be grossly inadequate.

COVAX is struggling due to poor funding, supply shortages and inadequate donations. Hence, many poor countries have not even applied. With IPRs strengthened internationally since 1995, TNCs find technology transfer agreements less profitable.

Big Pharma law
Strict international enforcement of patent protection is recent. Pfizer’s then chairman, Edmund Pratt successfully pushed IP onto the agenda of the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which created the WTO and TRIPS in 1995.

Fearing stronger IP rights would enhance corporate power and reduce affordable access to life-saving medicines, many developing countries resisted TRIPS. But rich countries pushed TRIPS through, using carrots and sticks to divide developing countries.

TRIPS includes CL, first introduced in the 1883 Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property. A government can thus allow a third party to make or use a patented product or process without the patent owner’s consent. But this can only be for domestic use, subject to other conditions, e.g., paying “the right holder … adequate remuneration”.

Despite great efforts, rich country governments failed to increase members’ TRIPS obligations at the 1997 Singapore WTO ministerial. Nevertheless, US President Clinton tried again at the 1999 Seattle ministerial, triggering an African walkout.

After 9/11, some concessions were made before the 2001 Doha ministerial, including a new ‘Development Round’ of WTO talks. Two decades later, no conclusion is in sight as rich countries see little chance of getting what they want.

With the HIV/AIDS crisis, campaigning against TRIPS was boosted by President Mandela’s leadership. The Doha Ministerial Declaration included ‘public health exceptions’ to TRIPS. Now, there is no need to first negotiate VLs during health emergencies. Also, countries without manufacturing capacity can use CLs to import cheaper versions.

European deceptions
By insisting that existing TRIPS flexibilities are sufficient, European leaders deny all actual problems in practice. Ignoring decades of experience, they used to insist VL provisions are enough to expand output and share expertise.

In reality, VLs are often shrouded in secrecy, with patent holders choosing beneficiaries and even distributors. Thus, the AstraZeneca VL to the Serum Institute of India limits what it can produce, and prevents it from meeting Indian and other needs.

They concede when “voluntary cooperation fails, compulsory licences… are a legitimate tool in the context of a pandemic”. But CLs are only relevant for patents, not new vaccines which have not been patented, and deny other IP barriers.

EC arguments protect Big Pharma, but effectively reject the World Health Organization’s COVID-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP) initiative. C-TAP seeks to enable equitable access to technologies for approved COVID-19 vaccines and therapies. But industry and government officials dismiss technology sharing as unnecessary, and worse, dangerous for future innovation.

Inflexible ‘flexibilities’
For a long time, Big Pharma and their governments, including the EC, pressured developing countries not to use the very CLs they now tout as the solution. The US Trade Representative routinely threatened sanctions against countries using CLs for medicines, only recognising others’ right to use them this year.

CLs are very difficult to actually use, especially by countries with limited negotiating capacities or relevant manufacturing capabilities. Existing provisions require complicated country-by-country, company-by-company and patent-by-patent negotiations, also raising massive coordination problems.

The CL provision may be enough for some, but certainly not all needed equipment, tests and medicines. Many products need several CLs, implying “a harrowing number of CL must be coordinated and granted in multiple countries”.

Also, CL does not require sharing industrial secrets, confidential information, industrial design and other relevant knowledge necessary for viable production. These can be critical, e.g., for mRNA vaccines using new technologies.

Those countries unable to produce themselves have to find others willing to issue CLs to produce cheap generics for export. Yet more hurdles are contained in the fine print of TRIPS and the 2001 ‘flexibilities’.

Bogus claims
In fact, sharing such confidential information not only spurs competition, but also enhances innovation. Thus, Shantha Biotechnics in India developed a low-cost hepatitis B vaccine, the basis for UNICEF’s lauded global vaccination drive.

Contrary to industry and political leaders’ claims that circumscribing patents would kill pharmaceutical innovation, “a host of new drugs and improved HIV treatments” followed “the agreement on Public Health exception to TRIPS”. These new and improved treatments effectively ended that deadly pandemic.

After inventing the polio vaccine, Jonas Salk was asked, “Who owns this patent?”. He famously replied, “Well, the people I would say. There is no patent. Could you patent the sun?”

 

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