Africa

A bloody eight-month battle for control of the Tigray region spills over into neighbouring Afar.

Schools in India are not just a source of education but also provide access to health, hygiene, immunisation, and nutritional safety nets. | Picture courtesy: Flickr

By External Source
Jul 22 2021 (IPS)

“The government should open schools, even if it’s for an hour, to facilitate some student-teacher interaction. Most teachers feel that students should be encouraged to come to school.

Neither parents, students, nor teachers are worried about transmission as little has changed in the community habits such as social gatherings, shared resources, intermingling of children, and drinking, among others.

Only schools have closed. What a child can learn by coming to school for two hours a week will be much more than what they learn from online videos, six days a week,” says Deepa Khare*, a pre-primary teacher from a government school in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.

With schools shut, she adds, “We call students from our own numbers and sometimes we receive calls back at odd hours. On top of that, we are expected to distribute ration, uniforms, and teaching assignments in communities. We are doing everything, except teaching.”

Schools in India are not just a source of education but also provide access to health, hygiene, immunisation, and nutritional safety nets. India’s Mid Day Meal Scheme (MDM), one of the largest school feeding programmes in the world, has been widely studied for its positive associations with an increase in attendance, decreased rates of malnutrition, and prevention of stunted growth across generations

With COVID-19 restrictions being lifted across the country, it is promising to see the centre and states focus on the way forward for reopening schools. Many states are planning to reopen schools for Grades 8-12 after a 15-month lockdown—which affected more than 260 million students in India.

While it is important to resume classes for secondary and senior secondary graders, we cannot overlook primary school students, who are at a higher risk of impaired socio-emotional learning and nutritional loss due to school closures.

There is plenty of evidence on how prolonged school closures can result in learning loss, impact mental health, and increase the risk of child labour, early marriage, and nutritional loss for children.

The learning loss has been widely discussed and acknowledged. However, primary school students are likely to face larger risks, such as lack of socio-emotional development and nutritional loss, if schools continue to remain shut.

 

Missing out on socio-emotional development

“My daughter, who is in Grade 2 now, has never met any of her classmates physically since she joined school in April 2020. She has online classes for three hours every day, where she can’t really interact with any of her other classmates.

And so, some of us (parents) have created a WhatsApp group to set up a 30-minute Zoom session for them to interact every evening,” says Asif Hassan* about his elder child, who is seven years old.

His younger child, who is three years old, has formally ‘joined’ pre-school this year. Arif is anxious about how the lack of interaction will impact the socio-emotional learning of his children, given that early childhood learning is critical for overall development. He says, “If the school vaccinates all the teachers and staff, I would be open to sending my children to school.”

What is a child’s first memory of school? More often than not, it is about peers and teachers, who constitute our definition of school—even before academic learning kicks in. Can you imagine school life without reminiscing about your peers and teachers?

These early memories of school play an important role in shaping our socio-emotional learning, which is a process for young children and adults to develop their emotions and identities. And schools are one of the first ecosystems to provide community and authentic relationships with peers and teachers This has a direct bearing on the stress and anxiety levels of children.

Globally, public health experts have stressed that lockdowns have put one in seven students at risk of poor mental health. With primary caregivers of children—both parents and teachers—currently juggling health and economic shocks, children’s needs are being put on the backburner.

Preliminary findings from a survey by ChildFund India across 10 states showed that 78 percent of children were feeling sad and eight percent were feeling anxious because they were not able to meet friends and teachers, access or/and understand online learning sessions, and because they were missing active face-to-face learning.

India’s National Education Policy 2020 also stressed the importance of socio-emotional learning for the holistic development of children. The closure of institutions during the pandemic has resulted in learning gaps, no in-person interactions, and loss of routines for children, which leaves them vulnerable to poor mental health.

 

Risking children’s health due to a lack of nutrition

“I was stuck in Bihar due to a lockdown for six months during COVID-19. When I came back to Delhi and went to take ration as a part of the midday meal for students, they told me that my children’s names had been removed as we were away for 6 months.

We didn’t stay there by choice. In the last 1.5 years, my children haven’t studied anything and I cannot afford tuition,” says Puja Devi*, a domestic worker and parent of two primary school children in Delhi.

Schools in India are not just a source of education but also provide access to health, hygiene, immunisation, and nutritional safety nets. India’s Mid Day Meal Scheme (MDM), one of the largest school feeding programmes in the world, has been widely studied for its positive associations with an increase in attendance, decreased rates of malnutrition, and prevention of stunted growth across generations.

The scheme mandates government schools to provide one cooked meal per day to their students. It is estimated that 115.9 million children in India benefit from midday meals. Schools and anganwadi centres are primarily responsible for the delivery of these hot, cooked, nutrition-rich meals.

As the pandemic led to the closure of schools and anganwadi centres in March 2020, the Supreme Court of India directed states and union territories to disburse midday meals to students in the form of take-home rations, dry rations, or cash transfers. However, the supply and implementation of this have been inadequate.

According to an Oxfam report, 35 percent of children did not receive midday meals in 2020, despite government orders. While closing schools has potentially protected children from COVID-19, it has certainly resulted in a loss of nutrition for children in India.

Here are some facts to be considered while accounting for the health risks for students, resulting from school closures:

• UNICEF estimates a 10-20 percent increase in malnutrition in India, due to COVID-19.
• A survey conducted across 12 states following the nation-wide lockdown found that 83 percent urban and 73 percent rural households were consuming less food than before.
• Poor nutrition in the first 1,000 days of a child’s life can lead to stunted growth; India is home to 46.6 million stunted children.

It is predicted that India will not meet its target of reducing undernutrition and low birth weight by two percent by 2022, under the POSHAN Abhiyaan. The continued school closures will further lead to increased malnutrition in India.

Despite the central government’s efforts to increase the per-child cooking cost and the budget of nutrition-related programmes, the closure of schools—which are responsible for the delivery of hot cooked meals—is disrupting service delivery. Hence, it is important to consider the benefits of reopening schools for primary graders, in relation to the possible health risk caused by nutritional loss.

 

Things to remember when reopening schools

With 141 countries opening schools for some kind of in-person engagement, evidence from reopened schools shows a low risk of transmission—especially among primary and pre-primary students.

Countries such as France, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Italy appear to be taking into account the emerging evidence that schools have not been major centres of transmission of the virus, especially for young children. On July 20, 2021, the Indian Council of Medical Research also suggested that primary schools be reopened first, as children can handle viral infections better than adults.

As we look at the possibility of reopening schools in the wake of decreasing COVID-19 cases, it is crucial to prioritise the opening of schools for primary classes (Grades 1-7). This must be done to mitigate the impact of impaired nutrition and to promote cognitive growth. Here are some things we need to prioritise, in the context of reopening schools:

• For India, the midday meal programme must be reactivated in the form of cooked meals. These must be distributed to students in school, with schools taking an ‘eat and play’ approach for the first three months. This would mean focusing on feeding students hot, cooked, nutritious meals and enabling them to play and interact with each other. Opening school playgrounds and/or large halls for 2-3 hours on alternate days to do would help children ease back into schools after a 15-month gap.
• Instead of providing an INR 100 cash transfer to each child’s family under the midday meal scheme, the calorie intake under MDM must be increased for the next 6 months with the addition of more fruits, milk, and vegetables. This is important in order to compensate for nutritional deficiencies and losses incurred due to missed meals in the pandemic, and to account for those vulnerable to stunted growth.
• Teachers must be vaccinated on priority to ensure minimal risk of transmission. Those who have not received a single dose must be prioritised. Partially vaccinated teachers should be given the second dose with a 4-6-week gap—replicating the priority model followed for Indian students going to foreign universities.

UNESCO has issued a framework for reopening schools with a strategic plan and measures such as masking, social distancing, ventilation, health, and academic assessment. The World Food Programme has also released guidelines on how to activate midday meal programmes while reopening schools.

While designing standard operating procedures for the reopening of schools, the state and central governments can refer to these guidelines and adapt them to the Indian context, in order to ensure that all safety protocols are followed.

While most Indian states are focusing on reopening schools for Grades 8-12, primary schools must also be reopened in a staggered manner. While the pandemic was not foreseen, the loss of socio-emotional learning and increasing malnutrition due to school closures could be a human-induced health epidemic, if not acted upon quickly.

*Names changed to maintain confidentiality.

 

Achalika Ahuja works with Indus Action, a policy implementation organisation that works to bridge the gap between law and action. Her area of interest lies in engaging with adolescent girls and women to apply community-based learnings for policy-level solutions. In the long term, she is interested in working towards social justice for underrepresented communities.

Mayurdhar Devolla is the lead of operations at Indus Action, a policy implementation organisation that works to bridge the gap between law and action. He works closely with the state teams at Indus Action and enjoys working with the government. His long-term focus is on building solutions for a positive social impact in education, sanitation, sports, and the environment.

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

Rwanda has introduced mobile dryer machines as part of an innovative solution to reduce post-harvest losses of food Credit: Aimable Twahirwa

By Aimable Twahirwa
KIGALI, Rwanda, Jul 22 2021 (IPS)

Rwanda is trying to reduce post-harvest loss by relying on new technologies to increase the amount of food available for consumption and help smallholder farmers confront some challenges caused by the overproduction of staple crops.

For over 20 years, Cyriaque Sembagare, a maize grower from Kinigi, a mountainous village in Northern Rwanda, had survived on farming to feed his extended family but struggled with the loss of a significant portion of his harvest to rot. High levels of aflatoxin prevent farmers in remote rural Rwanda from selling maize to high-value buyers.

“I have been selling maize on the market, but I was given a low price because of the harvests highly perishable nature,” the 56-year-old farmer told IPS in an interview.

Post-harvest losses are high in Rwanda, with smallholder farmers losing an average of 27.5 percent of their production annually.

A comparison with the global and African scenarios indicates that Rwanda does well on preventing food loss and wastage (72.5 percent). The country is slightly lagging on average in sustainable agriculture (71 percent). It is among the lowest performers while tackling nutritional challenges (71.2 percent), according to the Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition (BCFN) sustainability index.

To boost resilience and reduce post-harvest losses, the government and different development partners have supported thousands of farmers facing several barriers, ranging from a lack of knowledge to poor market access.

The initiatives include innovative solutions in post-harvest handling to improve food security in this East African country. The country is ranked 59th among 67 countries on the latest Food Sustainability Index (FSI), developed by The Economist Intelligence Unit with BCFN.

While Rwanda is ranked on top among nine low-income countries, especially in Sub-Saharan African, the country is lagging in addressing food waste.

FSI research by the Economist Intelligence Unit, based on data from the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), indicates that in terms of annual food waste per head, Mozambique comes on top of African countries with 1.2kg, followed by Rwanda (1kg).

This high level of waste has prompted the government and partners to promote modern technologies to tackle post-harvest losses, including two types of dryer machines: Mobile grain dryer machines and Cob Dryer machines that tested successfully on maize, rice and soybean.

“The aim was to reduce the risk of crop degradation or contamination by different fungi which occurred when dried naturally and affects the availability of food,” Illuminée Kamaraba, the Division Manager in Post-Harvest Management and Biotechnology at Rwanda Agriculture Board, told IPS.

During the implementation phase, Rwandan researchers had embarked on testing Cob dryer machines on other crops like Roselle (Hibiscus). Some 400kg were dried before samples were taken to the laboratory to verify if the nutrients remained intact. This method focuses on limiting the harvests’ exposure to aflatoxin.

Before expanding the technology countrywide, a study to measure the impact of these innovations, especially the use of dryer machines, is planned for testing this year.

“The new technologies are complementary with some traditional methods for food preservation,” Kamaraba said.

Currently, Rwanda has acquired ten mobile dryer machines for the pilot phase to process 57 to 84 tons of well-dried and cooled cereals per day.

The mobile grain dryers mostly use electricity but could be connected to tractors to run on its diesel-powered burner where there is no electricity supply system.

For the cob dryer machine, its burner and fan depend on the supply of three-phase electricity and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) gas, while the cob container (the wagon) is a tractor-drawn vehicle.

According to official projections, the new technology, promoted through private and public partnerships (PPP), aims to help Rwanda achieve 5 percent of post-harvest losses by 2024 – down from the current 22 percent for cereals and 11 percent for beans.

Jean de Dieu Umutoni, one of the experts from Feed the Future Rwanda, Hinga Weze, a non-government organisation working to increase the resilience of agriculture and food systems to the ever-changing climate in Rwanda, told IPS that the idea behind this innovation was to increase access to post-harvest equipment and solutions

“This has been conducted through different channels such as grants, especially for smallholders’ farmers,” he said.

Both Umutoni and Kamaraba are convinced that for Rwanda to implement the public-private partnerships to reduce post-harvest losses, gaps in knowledge of smallholder farmers, especially in remote rural areas, need to be filled.

So far, Hinga Weze and Rwanda Agricultural Board (RAB) have worked together in developing some guidelines that allow the private sector to use the new technologies. Experts say, however, that the biggest challenge for farmers is that they lack information on how to access suppliers. In contrast, the suppliers lack information on the growers that need the equipment.

Umutoni says that while public-private partnerships could introduce good practices, the government needs to support the technological innovations for them to be scaled up.

“There is a good start with on use of mobile dryers to address food waste reduction, but the private sector needs to be engaged in other crop value chains,” Umutoni told IPS.

While it is the task of the government to initiate solutions, experts argue that the private sector has a role to play in ensuring the technology is sustainable.

One such example is Hinga Weze’s ‘Cob Model’. This project has enabled a private sector operator to assist farmers by using the first sizeable mobile drying machine in Rwanda. It has a capacity for drying 35 metric tons within three hours or about 100 tons per day. The NGO developed guidelines with the Rwandan government for the machine’s use.

Already, there is some indication that these technologies will be successful.

Farmers, like Sembagare, are satisfied.

“Thanks to the adoption of smart post-harvest technologies, I was able to save half the crop that would otherwise have been lost,” Sembagare told IPS.

Guinea withdraws its five athletes from the Tokyo Olympics, citing fears over Covid but better news for Kenya women's rugby team.

Flood damage in Hagen, Germany. Credit: Bärwinkel,Klaus, Creative Commons.

By External Source
Jul 22 2021 (IPS)

Almost 200 people dead and many others still missing. Billions of euros’ worth of damage. Communities devastated. Thousands of homes destroyed and their occupants traumatised.

I am a flood forecaster who helped to set up the forecasting system that was used to predict the recent floods in Germany and surrounding countries. I saw days in advance that they were coming. I read reports of rainfall and river levels rising. And then I watched with growing horror as the death toll surged.

The European Flood Awareness System (EFAS), which I helped to set up, is part of the EU’s Copernicus Emergency Management Service. It provides early information on flooding to national and local authorities across Europe. I work closely with people there in my role as an independent flood scientist at the University of Reading to improve and analyse EFAS data. I don’t work in the team that issues early flood information to authorities, but looking at the data with colleagues, I could see early on just how serious the floods looked.

What is the use of a perfect forecast if the people it is supposed to warn cannot see the danger they are in? Effective flood warnings require people to be able to see into the future and imagine their house full of water, to assess the likelihood of that happening, and to see the multiple paths they could take to keep them, their family, and their property safe.

Forecasts on Friday July 9 and Saturday 10 for the Rhine catchment, covering Germany and Switzerland, had shown a high probability of flooding that would begin on Tuesday July 13. Subsequent forecasts also showed the Meuse in Belgium would be affected. The forecasts in the following days showed that there was little doubt that a major flood was coming.

EFAS sends out bulletins of early information which are designed to be read, understood and acted on by experts. They are not directly available to the public. Public flood warnings come from the national and regional weather, environment and civil protection agencies, and EFAS information needs to be used by these authorities alongside their own forecasts.

The first EFAS bulletin was sent to the relevant national authorities on Saturday July 10. More updates continued over the following days as more precise predictions became available. Formal flood notifications were issued to authorities in Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland and Luxembourg, as well as the Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC) of the European Commission throughout Monday and Tuesday.

As the event neared and uncertainty in the forecast shrank, the predicted start of the flooding was pushed to Wednesday for smaller rivers and Thursday for the larger downstream rivers. Around 25 individual warnings were sent out to parts of the Rhine and Meuse.

 The German weather service, DWD, had independently forecast extremely high rainfall too and issued warnings for more than 200 mm of rain in the same areas several days ahead of time, saying that flooding was possible. Regional warnings were also issued, for example by the Environment Agency in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, one of the areas hit particularly hard by flooding.

The floods that did happen matched the scale and distribution of those that were forecast several days before. I was very surprised, therefore, that so many people died, given that authorities knew about the event and had sufficient warnings to get people to safety before the floods began.

 

Where flood warnings fail

Clearly, tragically, the whole system designed to save lives by ensuring people act on warnings before floods arrive, did not work as it should have done. It may be that individual parts of the system worked exactly as they were designed, and it is certainly true that forecasts were accurate, and there were some warnings issued through official channels. In some areas, many authorities did act in time, to evacuate people, erect temporary flood defences, and move vehicles to higher ground. But this clearly did not happen everywhere.

In the middle of an election campaign, some German leaders in national and regional government still seemed to defend the locally-devolved nature of disaster management in Germany, insisting that the warnings were adequate and agencies did their work well. It is like claiming that the maiden voyage of the Titanic was a success because 99% of its engineering worked perfectly throughout. While their arguments may be true on an individual scale, unless those in power admit that the system ultimately failed, they risk failing to learn lessons and put others at risk in the future.

Science, in large part, is about helping people see the invisible. What is the use of a perfect forecast if the people it is supposed to warn cannot see the danger they are in? Effective flood warnings require people to be able to see into the future and imagine their house full of water, to assess the likelihood of that happening, and to see the multiple paths they could take to keep them, their family, and their property safe.

I recently took part in an exercise encouraging scientists, from senior professors to school pupils, to trace the path of water in a river through time using just their imagination. Weeks later, we are seeing what happens when people cannot visualise the threat of a river ripping down their street, or a lake appearing in their house. These are the elements of flood warnings that must improve.

As climate change increases risks from heatwaves, fires and floods, we need to not only slash emissions but prepare ourselves for the problems we already have in store. Even with sufficient decarbonisation measures – which we are still yet to see from any major government – there is no avoiding the consequences of a hotter, more turbulent environment.

Hannah Cloke, Professor of Hydrology, University of Reading

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

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)

Freed Tanzanian journalist Erick Kabendera says the country needs to tackle injustices which took place during John Magufuli's presidency.

Zambia may have conceded 10 goals, but they made history on their women's football Olympics debut.

The riots sparked by the jailing of former South African President Jacob Zuma were part of a planned insurrection, a minister says.

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.