Africa - INTER PRESS SERVICE

By Jomo Kwame Sundaram
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Feb 7 2024 (IPS)

Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) provisions in international trade and investment agreements – long abused by opportunists with means – are slowly being rejected by cautious governments.

Jomo Kwame Sundaram

Developing country governments need to be much more wary of ISDS and its implications, and should urgently withdraw from existing commitments. They should expunge ISDS clauses in existing trade and investment agreements and exclude them from new ones.

ISDS ripe for abuse
ISDS allows a foreign investor to sue a ‘host’ government for compensation by claiming new laws, regulations and policies adversely affect expected profits, even if changed in the public interest. It involves binding arbitration without going to court.

ISDS provisions are included in many free trade agreements (FTAs) and bilateral investment treaties (BITs). These were invoked in 84% of cases before the World Bank Group’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), the most used arbitration forum. Investment contracts and national investment laws are also invoked.

ISDS decisions are made by commercial ‘for-profit’ arbitrators prone to conflicts of interest. Foreign investors can thus seek compensation amounting to billions of dollars via a parallel legal system favouring them.

ISDS provisions in such agreements enable foreign investors to sue governments for billions of dollars in compensation by claiming changes in national law or policy will reduce profits for their investments.

Neocolonial ISDS
During the colonial era, imperial authorities often used concession contracts to grant private companies exclusive rights to extract resources, such as minerals and crops, or conduct other economic operations, including building infrastructure and operating utilities.

Investments were protected by (colonial) law, and sometimes by investment contracts after independence. Companies might negotiate contracts with governments to get better terms. A tenth of the claims before the ICSID involved such contracts.

Thus, ISDS perpetuates a colonial pattern of privileging the interests of foreign capital. The World Bank’s Foreign Investment Advisory Service (FIAS) has long promoted including ISDS in domestic investment laws. Thirty of the 65 countries it advised enacted new laws providing for such arbitration.

Investment treaty arbitration started as a post-colonial innovation to protect the assets of former colonial powers from newly independent states. Investment arbitration rules deliberately privilege foreign investment over national law.

ISDS abused, biased and corrupt
ISDS encourages abuse and corruption. As legal fees and arbitration awards tend to be very significant for developing countries, when invoked, ISDS has a chilling effect intimidating host governments, often forcing them to concede or compromise regardless of the merits of the claims.

Nigeria was ordered to pay US$11 billion to a British Virgin Islands company, Process & Industrial Developments (P&ID). P&ID had used ISDS to claim compensation from Nigeria for allegedly breaking gas supply and processing contract.

When P&ID initiated ISDS proceedings in August 2012, it had not even bought a site for the gas supply facility. Yet, it claimed to be ready to fulfil its contractual obligations.

Six years later, in November 2023, the English High Court ruled the contract in dispute was obtained fraudulently via secretive practices allowed by ISDS. The Court also ruled P&ID had bribed Nigerian officials, including its legal team then, to get the contract.

Presiding English High Court Judge Knowles expressed “puzzlement over how the [ISDS] Tribunal failed to notice the serious irregularities” despite various “red flags” of fraud noted by others.

Elsewhere, Pacific Rim Mining Corp, a Canadian company, had proposed a massive gold mine in El Salvador using water-intensive cyanide ore processing. Later, it claimed the government had violated its domestic investment law by not issuing a permit for the mine.

The ICSID ultimately rejected the company’s claim, ordering it to pay two-thirds of the US$12 million El Salvador had spent on legal fees. But the company has refused to pay.

Wake-up call ‘down under’
The Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network (AFTINET) advocacy group has updated its brief supporting its call for the urgent review and removal of ISDS clauses in the country’s existing foreign trade and investment agreements.

AFTINET has specifically urged the Australian Joint Standing Committee on Treaties (JSCOT) to review and amend the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area (AANZFTA).

The Australian Labor Party government, elected in May 2022, pledged not to include ISDS in new trade agreements, and to review such provisions in current agreements. Its brief focuses on ISDS provisions used by Australian mining billionaire Clive Palmer to sue Canberra.

Registering his Zeph Investments in Singapore, Palmer has used AANZFTA ISDS provisions to get compensation from Australia in two matters. The first is his application for an iron ore mining lease in Western Australia.

The second is against the authorities’ refusal of coal mining permits in Queensland for environmental reasons. Palmer has also made a third claim invoking the Singapore-Australia FTA, bringing his total claims to nearly A$410 billion.

Despite the government’s policy against ISDS, the provision was not reviewed in the amended AANZFTA. AFTINET is urging Canberra to urgently remove its exposure to ISDS cases as Palmer’s actions have made this all the more urgent.

ISDS abuses recognised
The Palmer case has increased concerns about ISDS, especially the abuse of lack of transparency. Arbitration processes are typically closed-door, preventing public, including forensic scrutiny of business transactions and practices.

AFTINET notes “excessive” ISDS claims have been growing, while Judge Knowles noted the “severe abuses” of ISDS in the Nigeria v. P&ID case “driven by greed”.

The huge compensations sought and awarded have encouraged even more “long-shot, speculative ISDS claims”. Such claims are typically based on “loose” book-keeping and dubious projections and other calculations, easily falsified by well-paid accomplices.

While the Australian government pledges no new ISDS commitments, but also wants to get rid of earlier ones, much more vulnerable developing country governments seem quite oblivious of the huge risks they are exposing their countries to!

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Third UN Conference of Landlocked Developing Countries will be an opportunity to address the issues these countries face.

By IPS Correspondent
UNITED NATIONS, Feb 6 2024 (IPS)

Landlocked developing countries need greater support from the international community so that they are no longer left behind when it comes to progressing with the SDGs, says the UN High Representative of the Least Developed Countries.

The Third UN Conference of Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDC3) is set to be hosted in Kigali, Rwanda, in June. A preparatory committee for the conference has been established and convened its first meeting on Monday. 

The overarching theme of the conference, “Driving Progress through Partnerships,” is expected to highlight the importance of support from the global community in enabling LLDCs to meet their potential and achieve the SDGs. The conference invites the participation of multiple stakeholders, including heads of state and government, the private sector, and civil society. Several senior leaders in the UN system, including Secretary-General António Guterres, are expected to attend the LLDC3 Conference.

Thirty-two countries are classified as LLDCs, 17 of which are also classified as Least Developed Countries (LDCs). Sixteen are in Africa, and the remaining are located across Asia, Europe, and South America. This year will mark the first time that the LLDC Conference will be hosted in Africa.

Rabab Fatima, Under Secretary-General and High Representative of the Office for the Least Developed Countries, and the Secretary-General of the LLDC3 Conference, remarked that this conference would be a “once-in-a-decade opportunity” for the global community to address the needs of the LLDCs in order to “ensure that nobody is left behind.”

“The 32 landlocked developing countries are grappling with unique challenges due to their geographical and structural constraints and lack of integration into world trade and global value chains. Their situation has been further exacerbated by the lingering effects of the pandemic, climate change, and conflict,” she said.

The lack of direct access to coastal ports means that LLDCs rely on transit countries to connect them with international markets. This can lead to high trade costs and delays in the movement of goods. In other cases, many of the LLDCs’ transit neighbors are also developing countries with their own economic challenges. According to Fatima, the average cargo travel time for LLDCs was twelve days, compared to seven days for transit countries.

As a result of the slow progress in development, twenty-eight percent of people in LLDCs live in poverty. At least a third of the people are at a high risk of or already live with some form of debt distress, and fifty-eight percent of people deal with moderate to severe food insecurity.

Enkhbold Vorshilov, Permanent Representative of Mongolia to the UN, noted that the conference would be a “critical juncture” for the LLDCs. He also serves as the co-chair of the preparatory committee along with the Permanent Representative of Austria. He added, “Despite our varied cultural and economic structures, we share common challenges that impede our development and economic growth.”

The Preparatory Committee will negotiate the details of the conference’s outcome document, which has been prepared to “encapsulate the challenges and aspirations of the LLDCs,” according to Gladys Mokhawa, Permanent Representative for Botswana and the Chair of the Global Group of Landlocked Developing Countries. Mokhawa expressed that the document has so far received general support from member states and that the final draft would be comprehensive and committed to addressing the challenges that LLDCs face “that align with their specific needs and aspirations.”

“A vision is clear: to transform the geographical challenges and to ensure that our landlocked status is nothing more than a detail of geography,” she said. “We believe that our collective efforts can and will make a difference.”

“Our goal is not merely to draft a document but to build positive, genuine partnerships that will empower landlocked developing countries to overcome their challenges and achieve sustainable prosperity,” said Vorshilov. He added that, along with support from neighboring transit countries, cooperation from development partners and financial institutions would be important to mobilize the resources needed to support the LLDCs.

The document is intended to serve as a guideline for the LLDCs for the next decade and will touch on several areas of interest. In addition to addressing transport and trade, it will focus on emerging issues, such as science, technology, and innovation, and improving capacity and resilience against issues arising from climate change.

Earlier meetings, including the first meeting of the committee, have seen delegations express solidarity with the LLDCs and support for the agenda of the upcoming conference. Ambassador Stavros Lambrinidis, Permanent Representative of the European Union Delegation to the UN, stated that the development challenges call for “more efficient allocation of financial resources on the path toward the SDGs” and that an “essential element” of their partnership would be the development of connections and transport corridors for the benefit of all peoples.

Speaking on behalf of the Africa Group, Ambassador Marc Hermanne Araba of Benin noted that Africa has faced the brunt of the challenges faced by the LLDCs and their neighboring transit countries. He added that the present moment was an opportunity to “chart a transformative agenda for the LLDCs,” and therefore it is important for the global community to reaffirm its’ commitment to address the LLDCs’ challenges together to “ensure that these countries are not left behind.”.

Fatima welcomed the media as a “key partner,” through which the voices of LLDCs would have a platform, and to bridge the gap between the conference and those communities who will be most affected by the outcomes by sharing their perspectives.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Women’s rights organizations in Asia are calling for states to introduce much-needed laws to criminalize FGM, says Nawmi Naz Chowdhury, Global Legal Advisor at Equality Now.

By Nawmi Naz Chowdhury
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, Feb 6 2024 (IPS)

Significant advances have been made in Africa towards ending female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C). Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for Asia, where FGM/C occurs in at least ten countries, but governments across the region are failing to take effective action. Women’s rights organizations are calling for states to introduce much-needed laws to criminalize FGM, provide national data on the extent and nature of the practice, and adequately fund efforts to tackle this regionally neglected problem.

Calls for governments in Asia to criminalize FGM/C

There remains a widely held misconception that FGM/C occurs primarily in Africa, and this low level of awareness about FGM/C in Asia is contributing to inaction.

Nawmi Naz Chowdhury, Global Legal Advisor at Equality Now, with members of the
Asia Network to End FGM/C at the 7th Asian and Pacific Population Conference.

In recent years, the UN, through its international human rights treaty bodies and other human rights mechanisms, has provided recommendations to Asian countries, such as India, Sri Lanka, Singapore, and the Maldives, to address FGM/C and pass specific laws for prohibition. Yet, nowhere in Asia has a law banning it.

At the 7th Asian and Pacific Population Conference (APPC), seven women’s rights organizations made joint recommendations to regional governments about introducing a zero-tolerance approach to FGM/C.

The APPC is a regional review mechanism that convenes every ten years to discuss critical issues of population and development in Asia and the Pacific. Held at the UN Conference Centre in Thailand on November 15–17, 2023, women’s rights activists convened a side event, Rights-Based Approaches as the Foundation to Achieving Just and Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific – where participants discussed harmful practices affecting women and girls, including FGM/C.

Lawmakers were advised to put in place robust legal and policy measures, and proposals were featured in the Civil Society Call to Action and the Youth Call to Action.

FGM/C is a global problem

FGM/C is a harmful practice involving the partial or total removal of external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.

Internationally recognized as a grave violation of women’s and girls’ human rights, FGM/C is done with the aim of controlling and curtailing the sex drive of women and girls. It can cause a range of lifelong physical and psychological problems, including infections and severe pain, emotional trauma, sexual dysfunction, reproductive health concerns, childbirth complications, and, in some cases, death.

An interactive data tool by the World Health Organization (WHO) revealed that, based on data from just 27 countries, the financial cost of health care for women with issues caused by FGM/C is USD $1.4 billion annually. The WHO also estimates that if FGM/C were abandoned, the savings in health costs would be more than 60% by 2050.

FGM/C is a global concern. Worldwide, the official number of women and girls undergoing FGM/C is estimated to be over 200 million. However, the true scale is far bigger. Academic and media reports, unofficial data collected by civil society organizations, and anecdotal studies based on interviews with survivors reveal that FGM/C is found in every continent except Antarctica.

Asian governments need to provide data on FGM/C

 

The United Nations call to action #HerVoiceMatters in leading the #EndFGM movement.

Indonesia and the Maldives are the only Asian states that share national-level FGM/C prevalence data; no official data is provided by any other Asian countries. However, academic research and survivor testimonies strongly indicate it occurs in Brunei, India, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.

Accurate, comprehensive national FGM/C data collection is vital to understanding how women and girls are directly impacted and at risk. It also provides crucial insights into what communities are involved, the types of FGM/C performed, and what the implications are for health, human rights, and bodily autonomy.

Data on FGM/C can be used to plan appropriate interventions and measure their effectiveness. Furthermore, reliable statistics are key to attracting funding and holding governments and other duty-bearers accountable.

Lack of data gives governments an opportunity to claim a basis for inaction. For example, in India, in response to a question on FGM/C in Parliament in 2023, the Ministry of Women and Child Development noted that while there may be a few instances of FGM/C in the country, “there is no credible data to establish its prevalent existence.”

Investing in community action to end FGM/C

Unlike elsewhere, in most of Asia, there are little or no large-scale government programs for community education and awareness-raising about FGM/C. Few resources are directed toward prevention and supporting grassroots activities, and it is difficult for local organizations to secure funding.

Collective actions, such as those led by the Asia Network to End FGM/C, are playing an invaluable role in shining a much-needed spotlight, supporting women and girls, and galvanizing collaboration within and across national borders.

FGM/C can only be eradicated with positive community engagement about its harmful effects, underpinned by laws and policies that punish perpetrators and meet the needs of survivors. To achieve this, governments in Asia need to work in partnership with civil society organizations, affected communities, and survivors to better understand FGM/C, develop and implement effective policies, and invest in social, legal, educational, and health service provisions.

Global commitments to eliminating FGM/C

February 6 was designated by the United Nations as the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation. How far we have come to ending FGM/C is gauged by the extent to which international commitments made by countries to end the practice are being met.

Various international human rights mechanisms have been put in place for countries to take robust measures. Sustainable Development Goal 5.3 and international human rights treaties on the rights of women and girls, such as the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) expressly prohibit FGM/C and call on states to take action.

International documents, such as the Programme of Action under the  International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD PoA), urge countries to eradicate FGM/C and contain steps to eliminate it. Recommendations include “… strong community outreach programs involving village and religious leaders, education and counselling about its impact on girls’ and women’s health, and appropriate treatment and rehabilitation for girls and women who have suffered cutting” (para. 7.40, ICPD PoA).

Ending FGM/C in Asia must be prioritized

2024 will mark 30 years since the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) was first held in 1994. The anniversary marks a significant milestone in the area of advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights for women and girls globally. Ending FGM/C is a key component of this, and to effectively implement global commitments to achieve this, global efforts must focus on Asia as a priority.

Unless Asian countries step up to resolve current challenges, it will be hard to instigate action, design and implement policies, and hold governments and other duty-bearers to account in advocating for the introduction and effective implementation of legislative measures to finally end FGM/C in Asia.

 

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Asian women at a meeting. Credit: Unsplash/Christina @ wocintechchat.com

By Sara Danzeo and Elena Mayer-Besting
BANGKOK, Thailand, Feb 6 2024 (IPS)

In the bustling financial hub of Singapore, Rhea See, an early-stage fund manager, leads an accelerator platform dedicated to empowering women in technology.

She firmly believes that investing in women transcends the conventional paradigm of merely ‘doing good.’ For Rhea, it represents a strategic move towards smart economics and game-changing innovation.

“Many still view investing in women as a niche, impact-only endeavor and I want to shatter this stigma. Investing in women is not just about doing good, but it’s about smart economics and game-changing innovation; it’s about unlocking untapped potential and driving technological advancement and profitable returns,” shares Rhea.

As of July 2023, women accounted for only 17 per cent of all decision-makers at venture investors headquartered in South-East Asia. About 67 per cent (vs. 77 per cent in 2022) of regional investors do not have a woman in an investment decision-making role.

Evidence shows that diversity in venture capital firms not only fosters creativity and alternative viewpoints but also positively impacts financial performance. A study by Paul Gompers, a professor at Harvard Business School, found that venture capital firms with more diversity among their partners tend to be more profitable.

The study revealed that firms with at least one female partner saw improved financial performance, with returns increasing by approximately 10 per cent. This translates into a significant economic impact, as the median venture capital fund return moves from around 14 – 15 per cent to 16 – 17 per cent with the inclusion of female partners.

Additionally, having women as partners increased the success rate of startups supported by these firms. This research suggests that gender diversity generates alternative perspectives that can uncover new investment opportunities and help avoid blind spots

Starting a fund is no small feat. It requires a commitment of at least 15 years, a factor that might deter many. Additionally, the venture capital industry, particularly for women-led funds, embodies a complex mix of long-term relationship building, navigating biases and strategic networking.

Considering the demanding nature of the role and the need for substantial family support and background education, this may present significant obstacles for women in the Asia-Pacific region, who are traditionally considered the main caretakers in the family.

Women-led funds raised less than 2 per cent of the $166 billion raised by venture firms globally in 2022, indicating the significant gap that still exists.

Acknowledging the unconscious bias and additional hurdles that women fund managers face in the region to raise funds, 2X Global with the support of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) under the Catalyzing Women’s Entrepreneurship Programme, supported by Global Affairs Canada, together with Australian Aid, launched an introductory and acceleration programme for female-led or gender-balanced fund managers with gender smart investing strategies across the Asia-Pacific region.

The 2XI GP Sprint, which began in September 2023, is providing tailored coaching, practical exercises and network facilitation for GPs with the aim of accelerating their progress towards achieving their first close.

In November 2023, in Singapore, selected participants of the GP Sprint presented their investment thesis to LPs. During the presentations, the determination, qualifications and expertise of these women from the region were showcased.

These women are not just poised to become exceptional wealth managers; their investment theses, often environmentally and socially conscious, suggest a transformative impact on the region through strategic capital allocation.

The involvement of women in the investment field is more than a matter of equity; it makes business sense, while emerging as a strategic necessity for the sustainable and holistic growth of the investment landscape.

The Catalyzing Women Entrepreneurship programme by ESCAP has forged strategic partnerships with organizations such as 2X Global to empower female capital allocators and pave the way for a more inclusive and prosperous future in the Asia-Pacific investment landscape.

Sara Danzeo is Partnerships Specialist, Trade, Investment and Innovation Division, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)

Elena Mayer-Besting is Programme Management Officer, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)

IPS UN Bureau

 

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After passing her secondary school certificate (SCC) in 2019, Sweety Akter went door-to-door to collect money to enroll in a college, but she wasn’t successful. Born to an extremely poor family in Fultala village under Baliadangi upazila in Thakurgaon district, Akter saw her dream of studying fading as she was unable to enroll in a […]

Soccer great Cristiano Ronaldo is on target again for Saudi Pro League side Al Nassr. The Saudi government has invested billions of its oil revenues in recent years in sport, including tennis, golf, boxing and, above all, football. Credit: Shutterstock

By Paul Virgo
ROME, Feb 5 2024 (IPS)

Argentina forward Lautaro Martinez scores as Inter Milan beat Napoli in the Saudi capital Riyadh to win the Italian Super Cup for the third consecutive time.

Soccer great Cristiano Ronaldo is on target again for Saudi Pro League side Al Nassr.

England’s Tyrrell Hatton becomes the latest golf star to sign up for the rebel Saudi-backed LIV circuit.

The World Snooker Tour announces a first TV event in Saudi Arabia in March, featuring seven-time world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan and current world title-holder Luca Brecel and a rule change that will make it possible for players to notch a maximum score of 167, instead of the traditional 147.

Human Rights Watch says the policy is primarily designed to “sportswash” Saudi Arabia’s reputation, hosting major sporting events that attract widespread, positive media attention to divert it away from the hosts’ abuses

If you have seen a news headline about Saudi Arabia recently, there is a good chance that the story is related to sport.

The Saudi government has invested billions of its oil revenues in recent years in sport, including tennis, golf, boxing and, above all, football.

Taken at face value, it is a way for the kingdom to splash its vast wealth on laying on lavish entertainment and boost its GDP in the process.

Critics, however, see something more sinister at play.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) says the policy is primarily designed to “sportswash” Saudi Arabia’s reputation, hosting major sporting events that attract widespread, positive media attention to divert it away from the hosts’ abuses.

It says that, by becoming the country where Ronaldo and Neymar ply their trade, and hosting events like Real Madrid versus Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup, it becomes easier to forget Jamal Khashoggi, the journalist brutally murdered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018, and his colleagues jailed, censored or harassed in Saudi Arabia, to not think about women’s and LGBT rights in the kingdom; and ignore the mass killings of migrants along the Saudi border with Yemen.

“Sports unite fans across the political spectrum, and – with due exceptions, such as when national teams of ‘rival’ countries compete against each other – are generally non-political territory,” Claudio Francavilla, HRW Associate Director, EU Advocacy, told IPS.

“They are seen as part of the entertainment industry, and attract media, sponsors, tourists and potential investments.

“When an abusive government hosts a major sporting event for sportswashing purposes, its goal is that media, sponsors and the general public focus on the game, often preceded and followed by flashy opening/closing ceremonies, appreciate the organization and hospitality provided by the host, and promote the hosting government as an open, advanced, great-to-visit-and-make-business-with country – everything but its human rights abuses, to be hidden from the public sphere and debate.

“In other words: look at the ball, look at the fireworks, forget the abuses”.

In May, Saudi human rights activists, and intellectuals released “A People’s Vision for Reform in Saudi Arabia”, a document calling for the release of all political prisoners, the respect of the rights to freedom of expression and of association, the upholding of the rights of women, migrants, and religious minorities, the abolition of torture and the death penalty, reform of the justice system, and a redistribution of the country’s wealth.

HRW says that, instead of complying with their human rights obligations and starting a dialogue with these civil society actors, the Saudi authorities have continued to repress dissent and invest in campaigns and events that whitewash or sportswash their reputation.

Indeed, having already secured the rights to host EXPO 2030 and the 2034 Asian Games, the Saudi government may soon secure the rights to host the 2034 men’s football World Cup and – gallingly, considering the country’s treatment of women – it is bidding for the 2035 women’s World Cup too.

Saudi Arabia is not the only country to indulge in sportwashing.

“The most prominent recent cases include Russia’s 2018 World Cup and China’s 2022 Winter Olympics,” said Francavilla.

“The UAE buying Manchester City FC has been characterized as sportswashing, as well as Bahrain’s Formula 1 Grand Prix and the Saudi acquisition of English Premier League club Newcastle United FC”.

Sportswashing does not always have the desired effect mind.

Before the recent Spanish Super Cup in Riyadh, Barcelona warned their fans of potential “severe penalties” regarding same-sex relations and “open displays of support for LGBTI causes, even on social media”, thus drawing attention to the issue.

The 2022 soccer World Cup in Qatar highlighted serious abuses against migrant workers there.

It could be argued that Saudi Arabia is only using sport in the same way that competitions like NBA basketball and Premier League soccer have long been part of the soft power of the United States and Britain, neither of which have unblemished human-rights records.

That said, while Human Rights Watch doesn’t rank countries in its annual report on abuses worldwide, other organizations, such as RSF with its press freedom index, do and States like China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain and India, rank considerably below the UK and the USA.

“The deliberate use of sports events by governments with abysmal human rights records as a tool to sportswash their reputations, instead of enacting human rights reforms that would do the same job, much more effectively and impactfully, and likely at a much lower economic cost, is particularly despicable,” said Francavilla.

He calls on sports federations, especially world soccer’s governing body FIFA, to take the lead on curtailing this phenomenon, whoever is guilty of it.

“In June 2017, FIFA adopted and published its Human Rights Policy stating that human rights commitments are binding on all FIFA bodies and officials,” he said.

“Human Rights Watch has long called on FIFA to apply clear, objective human rights criteria to all states for hosting both the men’s and women’s World Cup and other tournaments, and for any major commercial sponsorships, including labour protections, press freedom, non-discrimination and inclusion.

“Given past corruption and serious human rights abuses, including discrimination against LGBT people and the unexplained deaths of thousands of migrant workers who built the infrastructure for the 2022 World Cup, Human Rights Watch has requested FIFA to apply a series of measures for the 2030 and 2034 World Cup bids.

“Those measures would apply to any bidder, be it the US, UK, China or Saudi Arabia”.

 

A new UN Advisory Body is expected to make recommendations on international governance of AI. The members of the AI Advisory Body – launched October 2023 by Secretary-General António Guterres – will examine the risks, opportunities and international governance of these technologies. Credit: Unsplash/Steve Johnson

By Nandan Nilekani and Tanuj Bhojwani
BANGALORE, India, Feb 5 2024 (IPS)

India is on the brink of a transformation that could change its economic and social future.

Before the end of this decade, more Indians will use AI every day than in any other country in the world. What’s more, people in advanced economies will be surprised by the ways the country will use AI.

India is on the cusp of a technological revolution that could alter the trajectory of its social and economic future, and in this revolution. there are lessons for the rest of the world.

Our prediction hinges on three facts: India needs it, India is ready for it, and India will do it.

India needs it

The concept of “China plus one” has been gaining traction, with its admonition that global companies should not depend inordinately on China for their manufacturing and software needs.

India, with its growing infrastructure investments, favorable policies, and young working population, is the most likely beneficiary of this shift. It is perhaps the only country poised to match the scale of China.

With 1.4 billion people, India is closer to a continent than a country. Its population is almost twice that of Europe. But the average age in India is 28, compared with Europe’s 44, which means a higher share of the population is of working age. This is the starting point: India is a very large country of very young people.

This demographic dividend, favorable global trends, and the unlocking of decades of suppressed potential are starting to show returns. Even as the macroeconomic projections for most of the world seem modest or bleak, India remains a bright spot. These young Indians are aspirational and motivated to use every opportunity to better their lives.

What really sets India apart from the West are its unique challenges and needs. India’s diverse population and complex socioeconomic concerns mean that AI there is not just about developing cutting-edge technology. It’s about finding innovative solutions to address pressing problems in health care, education, agriculture, and sustainability.

Though our population is just double the size of Europe’s, we are much more diverse. Indians, like Europeans, are often bi- or multilingual. India recognizes 19,500 dialects spoken by at least 10,000 people. Based on data from the Indian census, two Indians selected at random have only a 36 percent chance of speaking a common language.

This language barrier is complicated by the fact that the official literacy rate in the country hovers near 77 percent, varying vastly between states. This means that roughly 1 in 4 people can’t read or write. Even though the government tries to provide welfare assistance for its most vulnerable, it’s hard to spread awareness about the service and reach the last mile.

Filling out a simple form to access welfare can be daunting for someone who is illiterate. Determining eligibility for assistance means depending on someone who can read, write, and navigate the bureaucracy.

Actually. receiving services means assistance seekers must have an agent helping them who is not misinformed—or worse, corrupt. These barriers disproportionately affect those who need government assistance the most.

We have the ability to solve a lot of problems for our population, but the hard part has always been in the distribution, not the solution. In India, we believe that AI can help bridge this access gap.

AI enables people to access services directly with their voice using natural language, empowering them to help themselves. As Canadian writer William Gibson aptly said, “The future is already here—it’s just not evenly distributed.” Nowhere is this more glaringly evident than in India.

The rest of the world has been eyeing AI with curiosity, waiting for real-use cases. In India, we see potential today. While this may be true of many other developing economies, the other important factor is that.

The rest of the world has been eyeing AI with curiosity, waiting for real-use cases. In India, we see potential today.

India is ready for it

India’s population isn’t just young, it is connected. According to the country’s telecommunications sector regulator, India has more than 790 million mobile broadband users. Internet penetration continues to increase, and with the availability of affordable data plans, more and more people are online. This has created a massive user base for AI applications and services.

But where India has surpassed all others is in its digital public infrastructure. Today, nearly every Indian has a digital identity under the Aadhaar system. The Aadhaar is a 12-digit unique identity number with an option for users to authenticate themselves digitally—that is, to prove they are who they claim to be.

Further, India set up a low-cost, real-time, interoperable payment system. This means that any user of any bank can pay any other person or merchant using any other bank instantly and at no cost.

This system—the Unified Payments Interface—handles more than 10 billion transactions a month. It is the largest real-time payment system in the world and handles about 60 percent of real-time payment transactions worldwide.

With the success of these models, India is embracing innovation in open networks as digital public infrastructure. Take the example of Namma Yatri, a ride-hailing network built in collaboration with the union of auto-rickshaw drivers in Bangalore and launched in November 2022.

These drivers have their own app, with a flat fee to use it, no percentage commission and no middleman. The app has facilitated close to 90,000 rides a day, almost as many as ride-hailing companies in the city.

Unlike Western countries, which have legacy systems to overhaul, India’s tabula rasa means that AI-first systems can be built from the ground up. The quick adoption of digital public infrastructure is the bedrock for these technologies.

Such infrastructure generates enormous amounts of data, and thanks to India’s Account Aggregator framework, the data remain under the citizens’ control, further encouraging public trust and utilization. With this solid footing, India is well positioned to lead the charge in AI adoption.

India will do it

In September 2023, the Indian government, in collaboration with the EkStep foundation, launched the PM-Kisan chatbot. This AI chatbot works with PM-Kisan, India’s direct benefit transfer program for farmers, initiated in 2019 to extend financial help to farmers who own their own land.

Access to the program, getting relevant information, and resolving grievances was always a problem for the farmers. The new chatbot gives farmers the ability to know their eligibility and the status of their application and payments using just their voice. On launch day more than 500,000 users chatted with the bot, and features are being released slowly to ensure a safe and risk-managed rollout.

These steps are part of an encouraging trend of early adoption of new technology by the Indian government. But the trend extends beyond the government. India’s vibrant tech ecosystem has taken off as well, a direct offshoot of its booming IT exports—currently at nearly $250 billion a year.

Next to those from the US, the largest number of developers on GitHub, a cloud-based service for software development, are from India. This sector not only innovates but also widely adopts digital public infrastructure.

The effect is cyclical: start-ups feed the growing tech culture and, in turn, leverage the data to build more precise and beneficial AI tools. India’s dynamic start-up ecosystem, moreover, is actively working on AI solutions to address various challenges.

AI can be a game changer in education as well, helping close the literacy gap. AI technologies are uniquely positioned to help students learn in their native languages, as well as learn English. AI’s applications are useful not only for students; they extend to teachers, who are often overwhelmed by administrative tasks that detract from teaching.

As AI takes over routine tasks in government and start-ups, the roles of teachers and students evolve, and they form dynamic partnerships focused on deep learning and meaningful human interaction.

What India needs is a strategic plan to chase down the most important opportunities for AI to help. The trick is not to look too hard at the technology but to look at the problems people face that existing technology has been unable to solve.

And organizations such as EkStep have stepped up with a mission called People+AI. Instead of putting AI first, they focus on the problems of people. This has led to surprising new uses unique to India.

India’s emerging status as a technological powerhouse, combined with its unique socioeconomic landscape, puts it in a favorable position to be the world’s most extensive user of AI by the end of this decade.

From streamlining education to aiding in social protection programs, AI has the potential to deeply penetrate Indian society, effecting broad and meaningful change.

Nandan Nilekani is the chairman and cofounder of Infosys and founding chairman of UIDAI (Aadhaar); Tanuj Bhojwani is head of People+AI

Source: IMF Finance & Development

Opinions expressed in articles and other materials are those of the authors; they do not necessarily reflect IMF policy.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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The road to COP29 has begun in earnest in the backdrop of a global climate report indicating that not only was 2023 the warmest year in a 174-year climate record, it was the warmest by far. Record-breaking temperatures, combined with El Niño, pushed vulnerable and poor nations in the Global South to the frontlines of […]

Passengers board a public bus in Havana. In recent years, some 40 hybrid buses (alternating diesel and electricity), a technology that saves 25 to 30 percent of fuel and generates less pollution, have been added to public transport in the Cuban capital. CREDIT: Jorge Luis Baños / IPS

By Luis Brizuela
HAVANA, Feb 5 2024 (IPS)

Jorge Sarmientos said he made a good investment when he bought an electric motorcycle to get around and avoid the anxiety suffered by the users of Cuba’s deficient public transportation system or the high prices of private alternatives.

“It was expensive, but I gained independence,” Sarmientos, a Havana-based accountant, told IPS. “Transportation has never been good here. When there is no shortage of buses, there are shortages of spare parts or fuel. Prices should be lowered or there should be facilities for more people to acquire electric vehicles.”"Transportation has never been good here. When there is no shortage of buses, there are shortages of spare parts or fuel. Prices should be lowered or there should be facilities for more people to acquire electric vehicles." -- Jorge Sarmientos

Official data indicate that half a million electric motorcycles are on the roads in this Caribbean island nation of 11 million inhabitants, a form of transportation that helps people and families get around.

Over the last decade, the use of electric vehicles has increased in Cuba, based on customs authorizations for their importation.

More recently, the domestic industry has begun to assemble different models, including electric bicycles and three-wheelers, using parts imported largely from China.

But the fact that they are mainly sold in foreign currency is a hurdle to expanding sales.

The cheapest models in state-owned stores exceed 1,000 dollars, while others go for as much as 6,000 dollars.

In Cuba, the average monthly salary is equivalent to about 35 dollars according to the official exchange rate, or about 16 dollars in the informal market.

According to reports, almost 40 hybrid buses (alternating diesel and electricity) have been added to Havana’s deteriorated fleet of public buses in recent years, a technology that saves 25 to 30 percent of fuel and is less polluting.

But the severe internal economic crisis and the shortage of foreign currency are hindering actions to increase the number of 100 percent electric vehicles in order to gradually decarbonize public transportation.

Some companies and institutions have acquired electric cars, which bring reductions in maintenance costs.

Electric three-wheelers or ecotaxis help alleviate transportation problems in the municipality of Boyeros, one of the 15 that make up the Cuban capital. CREDIT: Jorge Luis Baños / IPS

 

Local solutions

In the case of Havana, from 2019 to 2023 the Neomovilidad project was implemented, which among its objectives aimed to strengthen the regulatory framework for an efficient transition to a low-emission urban transportation system.

In addition to prioritizing variables such as a gender approach and the inclusion of different age groups, the project provided a pilot public bicycle rental station, run by a local development project led by young people.

It also created three routes of three-wheeled electric ecotaxis driven mainly by women in outlying neighborhoods of Boyeros, one of the 15 municipalities that make up Havana.

The three-wheelers are light, motorized vehicles with a capacity for six passengers in the back, similar to the autorickshaws or tuktuks that are common in Asia. Here they are also called motocarros or mototaxis.

“I think they are a great option for getting around quickly over short distances, and at affordable prices,” retiree Gloria Almaguer, a resident of the Fontanar neighborhood in Boyeros, told IPS. “The bad thing is that there are not enough to cover demand, they can carry only a few people, and there are certain times of day when they ‘vanish’.”

The Neomovilidad project was executed by Havana’s General Directorate of Transportation, implemented by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) office in Cuba and financed by the Global Environment Facility (GEF).

Other fleets of ecotaxis provide service in the capital’s municipalities of Old Havana, Central Havana, Guanabacoa, Playa and Plaza de la Revolución, also with UNDP support. These are all initiatives that contribute to the national commitment to mitigate climate change.

With routes ranging from two to four kilometers and low prices, a little more than a hundred of these vehicles help provide a solution for sustainable micro-mobility in urban areas.

In other Cuban cities, similar three wheelers with internal combustion engines are in service.

One challenge is that the vast majority of ecotaxis and electric vehicles depend on the national electric grid to recharge their batteries. The ecotaxis recharge during the night at their terminals in the parking lots of public entities, and privately owned vehicles do so at their owners’ homes.

This is because so far there is no infrastructure that would allow electric vehicles to be recharged in a network of service stations.

Around 95 percent of Cuba’s electricity generation relies on fossil fuels.

The government considers it a matter of national security to transform the energy mix, and aims for more than 30 percent of electricity to come from clean energies by 2030, a goal that will be difficult to achieve due to the need for a high level of investment.

Passengers try to board an old vehicle operating as a private cab in Havana. In the Cuban capital, around 25 percent of the estimated total number of passengers resort to private cabs with fixed routes, known as almendrones, which are heavy consumers of gasoline or diesel and are not affordable to everyone. CREDIT: Jorge Luis Baños / IPS

 

New fuel prices

A majority of the Cuban population depends on the public transportation system, based mainly on buses and other fossil fuel-consuming vehicles.

In Havana, home to 2.1 million inhabitants, “less than 300 buses are working, a city that in the 1980s had 2,500 buses and only four years ago had 600,” said Transport Minister Eduardo Rodríguez Dávila during a television appearance in October 2023.

The greatest impact falls on those with the lowest purchasing power, since buses are the most affordable means of transportation.

The panorama is similar in Cuba’s other 14 provinces. Alternative transport in urban, suburban and rural settlements includes modified trucks, traditional horse-drawn carriages and bicycle cabs which carry one or two passengers and are pedaled by the driver.

In Havana, estimates place the total number of passengers who use private transport at around 25 percent, generally in old U.S.-made cars, the so-called “almendrones” – private cabs with fixed routes – which run on gasoline or diesel and are not affordable for everyone.

Together with the deterioration of the vehicle fleet, the chronic shortage of spare parts, lubricants and other supplies, and the migration of drivers to sectors with greater economic benefits, the fuel shortage has been one of the main causes of the irregular public transportation service, which has been accentuated in the last five years.

“You can spend an hour waiting, or more. A lot of times I’m late for class, even though I get up very early. I can’t afford a private car every day. It’s increasingly difficult to get anywhere,” stressed architecture student Yenia Hernández in an interview with IPS, as she waited at a bus stop with dozens of other people in the Central Havana municipality.

 

A train travels along a railroad track in Cuba’s capital. A majority of the population depends on the public transportation system, based mainly on buses, trucks and trains, which consume fossil fuels. CREDIT: Jorge Luis Baños / IPS

 

Energy crises have become more recurrent since 2019, in parallel with the decline of the domestic economic situation and the lack of foreign currency.

According to the authorities, this situation has multiple causes, from breach of contract by suppliers to U.S. government sanctions that hinder access to credit and services from international banks.

In 2021 Cuba imported 126,000 tons of gasoline, in 2022 some 192,000 tons, and in 2023 around 203,000 tons. Despite the increase, the figure remains below the demand of about 360,000 tons, Energy and Mines Minister Vicente de la O Levy said in a televised statement on Jan. 8.

On the other hand, this island nation needs 1.8 billion dollars to cover its annual diesel needs.

“In 2023, 609,000 tons of diesel could be imported, for about 600 million dollars (one third),” added the Energy and Mines Minister.

As of Feb. 1, an increase in the price of gasoline and diesel was planned, in order to bring the selling price in Cuban pesos in line with the official rate of the dollar, regulate sales and sell a portion only through dollar-backed cards, in order to guarantee resupply with the foreign currency, according to the government.

But the measure was postponed until further notice due to a “cybersecurity incident” caused by “a virus from abroad” that affected the system of fuel sales, which is being investigated, official information said.

The strategy to eliminate subsidies projects, as of Mar. 1, an increase in interprovincial transportation fares, with hikes of almost three times the cost of bus fares and six to seven times the cost of train tickets.

While the fares for part of the public transport service will remain unchanged, in the case of Havana, the fare for electric three wheelers will rise from four to 10 pesos (0.03 to 0.08 dollars).

The increases in fuel prices and transportation fares are in addition to the package of provisions that includes tax and tariff modifications as of Jan. 1 and which, according to government officials, are aimed at “rectifying distortions” in the economy and boosting its recovery.

“The only thing I see is that some transportation will be more expensive, but there won’t necessarily be more vehicles, or more modern vehicles with better service,” Reynaldo Martín, an electrical engineer living in Old Havana, told IPS. “Wages remain the same and that means I can’t even dream of buying a bicycle.”

Related Articles

• Local Solutions Boost Sustainable Micro-Mobility in Cuba

Sa’ada, Yemen. Aftermath of a Saudi airstrikes. Credit: Ghaith Abdul-Ahad

By Melek Zahine
KABUL, Afghanistan, Feb 2 2024 (IPS)

Two months ago, an opinion piece I wrote, “The Cries of Gaza Reach Afghanistan,” was published with the hope of reminding American and other Western leaders of how quickly wars ON terror descend into wars OF terror because of their disproportionate impact on civilians and the unpredictability once unleashed.

The United States and its Western alliance of ‘forever wars’ since 9/11 were all entered under the pretext of defeating terrorism. Instead, they strengthened the political and military standing of those they aimed to destroy while simultaneously causing unimaginable suffering for millions of civilians, including their own citizens.

According to Brown University’s Cost of War Project and various other independent research groups, a catastrophic 4.5 million direct and indirect deaths are attributed to Western efforts to “defeat terrorism” since 9/11.

If Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Syria, and Libya have taught us anything, it should be this. Today, the Taliban once again rules Afghanistan, and Iraq, after years of sectarian violence resulting from the U.S. invasion has moved closer to the political influence of Iran. In Syria, Bashar al-Assad’s autocratic rule remains firmly in place. The U.S./European NATO-led air war to rid Libya of Muammar Qaddafi and usher in democracy in 2011 was so naively executed that no consideration was paid to how such a reckless, violent endeavor would ultimately trigger a civil war, terrorism, and mass migration. In Yemen, U.S. support for Saudi Arabia’s war against Houthi rebels has led to the deaths of more than 200,000 Yemenis and strengthened the Houthis to the point where, for the “first time in history, a naval blockade is being successfully enacted” by a non-state actor with “no navy and cheap, low-grade technology.”

The same hubris that has blinded the West’s addiction to answering terrorism with war since 9/11 is the same hubris and hypocrisy that fuels its unconditional support for Israel’s war against Hamas today. To be clear, the attacks of Hamas on October 7, like the attacks of Al Qaeda on 9/11, deserve the harshest global condemnation and a proportional, strategic response that respects international law. It does not justify the unconditional support and shielding of Israel’s punitive war on Gaza’s unarmed civilian population, its civilian infrastructure, and its cultural and religious heritage while further risking the lives of the remaining Israeli hostages held by Hamas. Moreover, this war serves no military objective for Israel and offers no strategic benefit for those aiding and abetting Israel’s war from Washington, London, and various EU capitals.

In seeking to wipe out Hamas, all that Israel and its supporters led by the United States are doing is wiping out Gaza. In 100 days, Israel has succeeded in decimating 4 percent of Gaza’s population. Ninety thousand men, women, and children in the Gaza Strip have been killed, seriously injured, or disappeared. 75% of those killed are women and children (Source: Euro-Med Monitor), not Hamas fighters.

If Gaza was called an open-air prison before this war, now it’s an open-air graveyard. A closer look at the 4 percent shows an even bigger tragedy unfolding by the minute. Unchallenged by those who are supplying it with arms and political cover, Israel is targetting Palestinian healthcare workers, humanitarian relief specialists, journalists, artists, poets, civil society activists, and educators, along with their families. As if the killing of Gaza’s children and its brightest wasn’t enough, Israel, through the collaboration of its Western allies, is also obliterating Gaza’s residential and public service infrastructure.

According to a Wall Street Journal satellite imagery survey, “Israel has bombarded and destroyed 70 percent of homes in Gaza.” According to the W.H.O., “none of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are functioning,” and universities, including its primary medical teaching college, have been blown up by the I.D.F. Even places of worship, mosques, and churches, historically places of refuge during times of war, haven’t been spared the wrath of the Israeli-Western assault on Gaza.

Investigations conducted by The Washington Post and Truthout state, “Israel has deployed over 22,000 U.S. produced bombs on Gaza including 2,000-pound ‘bunker bombs’ which experts warn are not meant for densely populated areas as well as white phosphorus produced by munitions manufacturer, the Pine Bluff Arsenal, in the U.S. state of Arkansas (source: Arkansas Times) and supplied to Israel by the U.S. government over the years. Despite massive protests in major U.S. cities calling for a cease-fire, President Biden has bypassed Congress on two occasions to get even more weapons to Israel. The U.K. and Europe, for their part, have also continued to supply key weapons to Israel since the start of the war (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute) despite loud calls from their citizens for an immediate cease-fire.

When asked about these atrocities, the only reply from Israeli, American, British, and European officials is, “Do you condemn Hamas?” The answer should always be yes, but Hamas’s crimes against Israeli citizens on October 7 are not a license for Israel and the West to kill, maim, and displace the entire unarmed civilian population of Gaza. Furthermore, Israel’s reasoning that Hamas is using the civilians of Gaza as human shields and, therefore, justified in deploying any form of military action it deems necessary is not war but a crime against humanity. It’s also a disingenuous argument meant to create a fog of war repeated with criminal negligence by countless U.S., U.K., and European leaders and government officials.

It’s hard to imagine today, but the suffering being inflicted upon two million Palestinians and the remaining 132 Israeli hostages in Gaza, fatefully connected by history, geography, and the tragic events of October 7, will eventually come to an end. Perhaps the historic ruling by the International Criminal Court of Justice (I.C.J.) will prevail, but this could take months. In the meantime, the atrocities being committed on Gazans will intensify, and the plight of the Israeli hostages will enter an even darker, more desperate stage.

The recent ruling of the world’s highest court, while legally binding, doesn’t have the power of enforcement. Furthermore, the court’s order to Israel to “take measures which prevent further harm on Palestinians” without actually ordering a cease-fire fails to take into consideration the entrenched and sick appetite for war that exists between the world’s political elites who are not providing their unconditional support for Israel’s war on the civilian population of Gaza, but participating and profiting from it.

According to EuroMed Monitoring, “Since the I.C.J.’s ruling, Israel has maintained its rate of killing in Gaza” with either no or muted reactions from Western leaders. The fury but also the inertia of powerful states, regardless of political governance and persuasion, is virtually impossible to stop once their war machines are set in motion. It’s no different for Israel.

It took the United States twenty years to end its war in Afghanistan and almost ten years in Iraq. It still maintains counter-terrorism operations with Saudi Arabia in Yemen despite the deadly impact on Yemeni civilians. Europe continues its unwavering support for continued war in Ukraine for no reason other than political arrogance. Russia, for its part, despite its upper hand in Ukraine, continues to fight with devastating consequences for both Russians and Ukrainians. So, why should Netanyahu and his war cabinet be counted on to rein in their war in Gaza? Like their militarily powerful peers, Israel’s warmongering has no bounds.

The entire population of Northern Gaza is now internally displaced, forced by Israel to move south towards Rafah on the Egyptian border. Despite the I.C.J.’s ruling, Israel has intensified its ground operation towards Rafah, where hundreds of thousands from the North of Gaza are already taking refuge on the outskirts of the city, living for weeks in a harsh desert landscape. If Israel continues its violent push into Rafah as it has warned Egypt it plans to do, the entire population of Gaza will be trapped in a tiny corner of the desert with no protection and no safe passage out.

Those who survive the daily air strikes are now dying of hunger, disease, and injuries left untreated because of the destruction of Gaza’s health care system. Two million people are now also forced to endure the extreme traumas of trying to survive without any viable shelter, food, clean water and sanitation, electricity, and safe passage while surrounded by constant air and ground bombardment, snipers, drone attacks, the cold and rain of winter and perhaps worse of all the inaction of world leaders who have it in their power to end Israel’s genocidal campaign in Gaza and, now it’s frightening assault on the civilian population of the West Bank, where Hamas isn’t even in power.

Only the United States, specifically President Biden, is uniquely positioned to pressure Israel to respect each of the I.C.J’s rulings. Perhaps, given its reliance on war as an answer to every foreign policy challenge since 9/11, the United States has forgotten it also has something called soft power- something it has sorely neglected the past twenty years.

The easiest way for President Biden to prove that he and the United States are still committed to international law is by announcing his personal support for an immediate cease-fire and showing proof that he’s pressuring Israel to do the same. He will also need to push for a robust and independent humanitarian assistance effort without any interference from Israel at either border crossing into Gaza.

Of course, all of this assumes that President Biden is willing to stop listening to the impenetrable wall of aides and advisors he’s created around himself and start seeing with his own eyes the scale of the suffering and the dire risks of a wider, regional war that is already endangering American lives.

According to a confidential source with extensive U.S. foreign policy experience, the deadly attack on U.S. troops on the border between Jordan and Syria this past week “exhibits how even the projection of U.S. military power serves to fuel conflict rather than mitigate it.” For totally preventable reasons, now the families of these American soldiers can join all the Palestinian and Israeli lives torn apart by the sheer insanity of this preventable war and unfolding humanitarian disaster.

Above all, President Biden needs to start hearing the calls of his fellow citizens, including the many thousands of Jewish Americans, who are demanding that their taxes and their nation not be used to wage yet another senseless war in their names. A failure to do so will have unimaginable consequences not just for Israelis and Palestinians but for the world.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Displaced families living in an UNRWA school-turned shelter in Deir al-Balah, Middle Areas, The Gaza Strip, January 2024. Credit: Mohamed Hinnawi/UNRWA

By Naureen Hossain
UNITED NATIONS, Feb 2 2024 (IPS)

South Africa’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Mathu Joyini, said the country would take further legal action should Israel ignore the provisional measures set out by the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

She was speaking at the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People this week. The meeting saw the adoption of its agenda for 2024, for which the Committee will engage with member states and regional groups to support the realization of the rights and dignities of the Palestinian people. This has become all the more relevant in the face of the current humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.

The ICJ ruled that Israel should take all measures within its power to prevent a genocide in the Gaza Strip. It stopped short of ordering a ceasefire. According to the Hamas Health Ministry, 7,000 people have been killed and 66,000 wounded in Gaza since Israel started it’s military offensive in reaction to the October 7, 2023, attack.

The Permanent Representative of Senegal, Cheikh Niang, who was re-elected to his position as Committee Chair, lamented that the current war between Israel and Hamas spoke to a “collective failure” to realize the rights of the Palestinian people and expressed hope that the Security Council “will hear the many voices” that are calling for a ceasefire.

“It is time to begin to heal the wounds that have been reopened in so many places,” he said as he advocated for a two-state solution, wherein Israel and Palestine would co-exist in peace and security within recognized borders based on the pre-1967 border lines.

Secretary-General António Guterres convened the meeting and delivered the opening statement, beginning with reiterating his condemnation of Hamas and other extremist groups and calling for the safe release of the Israeli hostages while also condemning the ensuing violence that has afflicted the people of Gaza.

“There is no justification for the intentional killing, injuring, torture, or kidnapping of civilians, using sexual violence against them, or launching rockets towards civilian targets,” he said. “At the same time, nothing can justify the collective punishment of the people in Gaza.”

He reiterated his call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, warning that the “humanitarian system in Gaza [was] collapsing. The current hostilities have lasted over 120 days, and the casualties and devastation on the Gaza Strip and West Bank stand as a “scar on our shared humanity and conscience.”

Guterres also noted that the recent hostilities in the Red Sea, Iraq, and Syria signal the impact the ongoing violence has on the region and that this could trigger “broader escalation, risking regional stability.”

Gréta Gunnarsdóttir, Director of the UNRWA Representative Office in New York, appealed to the Committee and to donor states that had made the decision to suspend their funding of UNRWA.

“Every day, our staff is making a direct impact on the ground for the people of Palestine,” she said.

She added that other humanitarian organizations, including its UN partners, depend on UNRWA to deliver humanitarian aid. As the largest humanitarian agency in the region, it has been made particularly vulnerable. UNRWA facilities, notably schools, shelters, and health care centers, have not been spared from bombardments. Disease outbreaks and the risk of famine in the region are as likely to be the cause of deaths for civilians as gunfire and bombardments.

Gunnarsdottir warned that if UNRWA were to collapse, then all humanitarian operations in Palestine would collapse.

Recently, the agency has faced allegations that some of its staff were actively involved in Hamas attacks on October 7. As a result, at least 17 major donor countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, and the European Union, have suspended donations.

The dossier Israeli intelligence shared with the United States, which details the allegations, had not been presented to UNRWA, according to Gunnarsdottir.

She told the Committee that UNRWA’s Commissioner General has terminated the contracts of eight out of the twelve staff members accused; two were confirmed dead, one has not been identified, and one does not match with the staff lists.

Joyini accused Israel of continuing “to behave in a manner that is contrary to the court order” and said that if Israel did not comply with the court’s order, then South Africa would be willing to take legal measures to enforce that ruling.

Joyini asked the Committee to extend public support to South Africa’s case to strengthen it further in the ICJ through Article 63 of the ICJ’s Statute of the Court of Justice, which would allow member states to request permission from the court to intervene if the state holds an interest that may be affected by the decision of the court case.

Riyad H. Mansour, Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine, noted that Israeli leaders and the military should “face justice… and accountability in every place possible, including the international legal system.” When speaking of the situation in Gaza, he remarked that the crimes were “beyond description,” adding that it was the international community’s “collective duty” to prevent any further trauma.

Mansour called for Palestine to become a full-fledged member of the United Nations, aligning with the demand for a two-state solution that the Committee and the Secretary-General have made. He proposed that an international peace conference should be convened, which would put the status of Palestine at the forefront. A draft resolution will be brought forward to the General Assembly with support from Nigeria.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Female farmers harvesting in a plantation in Sri Lanka. Credit: UNDP, Sri Lanka

By Marta Perez Cuso and Yihan Zhao
BANGKOK, Thailand, Feb 2 2024 (IPS)

Selyn, a women-led handloom business, offers flexible employment and valuable income opportunities to about 1,000 women artisans and persons from marginalized groups in rural Sri Lanka. Selyn develops and exports high-value craft products in global markets.

The bigger revenue margins of quality products translate into better incomes for women artisans. Thanks to its pioneering use of blockchain in the supply chain – consumers can track how their purchases translate into earnings for women in the informal economy.

The Small Organic Farmers Association (SOFA) of Sri Lanka, produces and exports organic food while creating a sustainable and equitable environment for smallholder farmers. It facilitates fair trade certification for smallholders and links more than 3,600 organic farmers to export markets.

WindForce, the largest renewable energy developer in Sri Lanka, owns, develops and operates renewable energy power plants that provide clean energy access to businesses, communities and industries. WindForce allocates a portion of the profits into community development projects to support the welfare of local communities including livelihood support, education and childhood development, environmental conservation and health care.

These are a few examples of inclusive and sustainable businesses that go beyond the usual “profit-first” market approach to provide affordable goods, services and livelihoods to low-income people and to support environmental sustainability in Sri Lanka.

With ambitious reforms taking centre-stage towards rebuilding Sri Lanka into a resilient and sustainable economy, the Government of Sri Lanka is exploring opportunities to harness the potential of the private sector in fostering inclusive and sustainable growth.

On 31 January, a groundbreaking Strategy to Promote Inclusive and Sustainable Businesses to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals was officially launched by the Government of Sri Lanka. Designed by the Sustainable Development Council of Sri Lanka in collaboration with the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and United Nations Sri Lanka, this strategic roadmap envisions a strong and dynamic ecosystem where inclusive and sustainable businesses like Selyn, SOFA and WindForce can not only emerge but thrive.

Inclusive and sustainable businesses are purpose-driven enterprises that deliberately seek positive change in communities and the environment. These impact businesses can play a crucial role to achieve national social development and environment sustainability goals. Inclusive and sustainable businesses use market-based approaches to achieve positive social and environmental impacts, while ensuring their own commercial sustainability.

The Strategy seeks to put in place regulations that encourage and recognise inclusive and sustainable businesses, provide training and services that help businesses pivot towards more inclusive and sustainable practices, and improve access to finance for businesses.

It builds on and brings together for the first time the collaborative and cross-sectoral efforts of government agencies, private sector organizations and development partners, to shape an inclusive, sustainable and resilient economy.

Actions will cover five core areas:

1) Setting the direction for Sri Lanka to become an inclusive and sustainable export and investment hub;
2) Raising awareness on the economic and social value that impact businesses bring and recognizing local success stories, through award and formal accreditation;
3) Building the capacities of businesses and governments to develop and to promote inclusive and sustainable businesses;
4) Supporting impact measuring and reporting; and
5) Enhancing access to finance for impact businesses.

Sri Lanka’s commitment to this Strategy is a testament to its aspiration for a sustainable and inclusive future where businesses are not just economic entities but forces for positive change.

Marta Perez Cuso is Economic Affairs Officer, UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP); Yihan Zhao is Associate Economic Affairs Officer, ESCAP.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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UN General Assembly meets on the question of equitable representation-- and increase in membership of the Security Council. November 2023. Credit: UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Feb 2 2024 (IPS)

The myriads of proposals for the reform of the much-maligned Security Council have been kicked around the United Nations for more than two decades—with no significant progress.

Speaking at the General Assembly’s (GA) annual debate, GA President Dennis Francis told delegates last November that without structural reform, the Council’s performance and legitimacy will inevitably continue to suffer.

“Violence and war continue to spread in regions across the world, while the United Nations seems paralyzed due largely to the divisions in the Security Council,” he said.

With the world changing quickly, the Council is “dangerously falling short” of its mandate as the primary custodian for the maintenance of international peace and security, he said.

Meanwhile, a proposed new model for reforms, initiated by the Group of Four (G4: Brazil, Germany, India, and Japan), has been doing the rounds.

Not surprisingly, all four countries have been longstanding contenders for permanent seats (P5s) which have remained the privilege of five countries since the creation of the world body 79 years ago: the US, UK, France, China and the Russian Federation (replacing the USSR of a bygone era).

The G4 is calling for a total of 11 permanent members (P11): China, France, The Russian Federation, UK and the US, plus six others.

In the event of possible expansion, and upon the adoption of a comprehensive framework resolution on Security Council reform, interested Member States prepared to assume the functions and responsibilities of permanent members of the Security Council would submit their candidatures in writing to the President of the General Assembly.

The General Assembly will then proceed, as soon as possible, at a date to be determined by the President, to the election of six new permanent members, by a vote of two thirds of the members of the General Assembly. through a secret ballot. The rules of procedure of the General Assembly will be applied to the election of the new permanent members.

The criteria of Article 23 (1) should also apply to the election of the new permanent members: “due regard shall be paid, in the first instance to their contributions to the maintenance of international peace and security and to the other purposes of the Organization, and also to equitable geographical distribution”.

The non-permanent members with a two-year term, currently at 10, will be increased to a total of 14/15 seats – The election process for non-permanent members will follow current practices.

According to the G4 proposal, the six new permanent members of the Security Council shall be elected according to the following pattern: (i) Two from African Member States: (ii) Two from Asia-Pacific Member States, (iii) One from Latin American and Caribbean Member States; (iv) One from Western European and Other Member States.

The four/five new non-permanent members of the Security Council shall be elected according to the following pattern; (i) One/Two from African Member States: (ii) One from Asia-Pacific Member States: (iii) One from Eastern European Member States; (iv) One from Latin American and Caribbean Member States.

Member States should give due consideration during the nomination and election of non-permanent members to adequate and continuing representation of small and medium size Member States, including Small Island Developing States (SIDS).

Andreas Bummel, Executive Director, Democracy Without Borders, told IPS any reconfiguration of the Security Council would have to be adopted in line with Article 108 of the Charter, which means it requires the support of two thirds of UN members and the P5.

“Given the fact that Security Council reform has been discussed for decades, I think it is legitimate to pursue such a vote instead of consensus. Whether it is politically wise is a different question.”

In essence, he said, the G4 are not willing to compromise. “If they can mobilize a two thirds majority and the P5, fine. But if not, it’s finally game over for them. I can’t see how a broad agreement is possible without introducing new concepts that go beyond today’s permanent and non-permanent seats.”

Re-electable seats rotating among the membership of certain regions is a good approach, in my mind. New permanent seats vested with a veto will make the Security Council even more unworkable.

This option should be off the table. Delaying a decision for fifteen years does not solve this, he declared.

On the question of the veto, the G4 says Member States should be invited to continue discussions on the use of the veto in certain circumstances.

The new permanent members, would as a principle, have the same responsibilities and obligations as current permanent members.

However, the new permanent members shall not exercise the veto-right until a decision on the matter has been taken during a review, to be held fifteen years after the coming into force of the reform.

Amendments to the charter shall reflect the fact that the extension of the right of veto to the new permanent members will be decided upon in the framework of a review.

The enlarged Security Council would be encouraged to, inter alia, hold regular consultations with the President of the General Assembly; submit an analytical and comprehensive evaluation of the Council’s work in the annual report to the General Assembly; submit more frequently special reports to the General Assembly in accordance with Articles 15 (1) and 24 (3) of the Charter, improve participation of the Chair of the Peacebuilding Commission and the chairs of the country-specific configurations of the Commission in relevant debates and, in an appropriate format, in informal discussions

Asked for her comments, Barbara Adams, Senior Policy Analyst, Global Policy Forum, told IPS: Surely, now 11 (not 5) veto-wielding powers, will not correct the inability of P5 or P11 to put their chartered responsibility for international peace and security above their national security interests.

She pointed out that the G4 proposal for a 15-year pause on use of the veto acknowledges the tension between expanding the number of permanent members and the veto.

Re the proposal for seats for developing countries, and countries from other regions, they should not need to be justified by the concept of regional representation, she argued.

“The privilege of permanency in the Security Council extends beyond the use of veto. The “chill factor” of this privilege reaches into many parts of the UN system in ways formal and informal such as preferential treatment for senior UN positions,” Adams declared.

Joseph Chamie, a consulting international demographer and a former director of the UN Population Division, told IPS reform of the United Nations Security Council is not a new proposal; it’s been around for decades.

Despite committees, discussions and calls by many Member States for reform of the Council, he pointed out, little progress has been achieved towards equitable representation, inclusiveness and legitimacy.

“Increasing numbers of both governments and people consider the Council to be ineffectual and unjust and require reform, including expanding membership and restricting vetoes”.

While enormous changes have occurred in the world over the past eight decades, he said, the Council continues to have the same five permanent members.

When established, the five permanent members accounted for about 35 percent of the world’s population. Today, they represent 25 percent and by mid-century they are expected to represent 20 percent of the world’s population, said Chamie, author of numerous publications on population and related issues.

In brief, the desire for reform of the Security Council is both understandable and reasonable and despite the geo-political challenges, reform should be undertaken without further delays, he declared.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Myriam Miller and Freddy Vargas stand next to one of the three greenhouses on their farm, where tomatoes are growing, anticipating an optimal harvest this year. The couple uses no chemical fertilizers to ensure the healthy development of thousands of plants on their farm in Mostazal, a municipality in central Chile. CREDIT: Orlando Milesi / IPS

By Orlando Milesi
MOSTAZAL, Chile , Feb 2 2024 (IPS)

The installation of photovoltaic panels to use solar energy to irrigate small farms is expanding quickly in Chile because it lowers costs and optimizes the use of scarce water resources.

This long, narrow South American country that stretches from the northern Atacama Desert to the southern Patagonia region and from the Andes Mountains to the Pacific Ocean is extremely rich in renewable energies, especially solar and wind power."Solar panels have made an immensely important contribution to our energy expenditure. Without them we would consume a lot of electricity." -- Myriam Miller

Last year, 36.6 percent of Chile’s electricity mix was made up of Non-Conventional Renewable Energies (NCREs), whose generation in May 2023 totaled 2392 gigawatt hours (GWh), including 1190 GWh of solar power.

This boom in the development of alternative energies has been mainly led by large companies that have installed solar panels throughout the country, including the desert. The phenomenon has also reached small farmers throughout this South American country who use solar energy.

In family farming, solar energy converted into electricity is installed with the help of resources from the government’s Agricultural Development Institute (Indap), which promotes sustainable production of healthy food among small farmers, incorporating new irrigation techniques.

In 2020 alone, the last year for which the institute provides data, Indap promoted 206 new irrigation projects that incorporated NCREs with an investment of more than 2.1 million dollars.

That year, of the projects financed and implemented, 182 formed part of the Intra-predial Irrigation Program, 17 of the Minor Works Irrigation Program and seven of the Associative Irrigation Program. The investment includes solar panels for irrigation systems.

Within this framework, 2025 photovoltaic panels with an installed capacity of 668 kilowatts were installed, producing 1002 megawatt hours and preventing the emission of 234 tons of carbon dioxide.

The six solar panels installed on the small farm of Myriam Miller and Freddy Vargas, in the municipality of Mostazal, south of Santiago, Chile, allow them to pump water to their three greenhouses with thousands of tomato plants and to their vegetable garden. They also drastically reduced their electric energy expenditure. CREDIT: Orlando Milesi / IPS

An experience in Mostazal

“Solar panels have made an immensely important contribution to our energy expenditure. Without them we would consume a lot of electricity,” 50-year-old farmer Myriam Miller told IPS at her farm in the municipality of Mostazal, 66 km south of Santiago, where some 54,000 people live in different communities.

Miller has half a hectare of land, with a small portion set aside for three greenhouses with nearly 1,500 tomato plants. Other tomato plants grow in rows outdoors, including heirloom varieties whose seeds she works to preserve, such as oxheart and pink tomatoes.

Indap provided 7780 dollars in financing to install the solar panels on her land. Meanwhile, she and her husband, Freddy Vargas, 51, who run their farm together, contributed 10 percent of the total cost.

In 2023, Miller and Vargas built a third greenhouse to increase their production, which they sell on their own land.

“We’re producing around 8,000 kilos of tomatoes per season. This year we will exceed that goal. We’re happy because we’re moving ahead little by little and improving our production year,” Miller said as she picked tomatoes.

On the land next to the tomato plants, the couple grows vegetables, mainly lettuce, some 7,000 heads a year. They also have fruit trees.

Vargas told IPS that they needed electricity to irrigate the greenhouses because “it’s not easy to do it by hand.”

Freddy Vargas turns the soil on his farm in the municipality of Mostazal, south of Santiago, Chile. Lettuce is his star vegetable, with thousands of heads sold on the farm. The farmer plans to buy a mini-tractor to alleviate the work of plowing the land. CREDIT: Orlando Milesi / IPS

The farm has two wells that hold about 30,000 liters of water that arrives once a week from a dam located two kilometers away. This is the water they use to power the pumps to irrigate the greenhouses.

“We have water rights and Indap provided us with solar panels and tools to automate irrigation. They gave us four panels and we made an additional investment, with our own funds, and installed six,” Vargas explained.

The couple consumes between 250 and 300 kilowatts per month and the surplus energy they generate is injected into the household grid.

“We don’t have storage batteries, which are more expensive. Every month the electric company sends us a bill detailing the total we have injected into the grid and what we have consumed. They calculate it and we pay the difference,” Vargas said.

The average savings in the cost of consumption is 80 percent.

“I haven’t paid anything in the (southern hemisphere) summer for years. In the winter I spend 30,000 to 40,000 pesos (between 33 and 44 dollars) but I only pay between 5,000 and 10,000 pesos a month (5.5 to 11 dollars) thanks to the energy I generate,” the farmer said.

Above and beyond the savings, Miller stressed the “personal growth and social contribution we make with our products that go to households that need healthier food. We feel good about contributing to the environment.”

“We have a network, still small, of agroecological producers. There is a lack of information among the public about what people eat,” she added.

Their tomatoes are highly prized. “People come to buy them because of their flavor and because they are very juicy. Once people taste them, they come back and recommend them by word of mouth,” Miller said.

She is optimistic and believes that in the municipalities of Mostazal and nearby Codegua, young people are more and more interested in contributing to the planet, producing their own food and selling the surplus.

“We just need a little support and more interest in youth projects in agriculture to raise awareness that just as we take care of the land, it also gives to us,” she said.

Valentina Martínez stands on her father’s small plot of land in the municipality of María Pinto, north of Santiago, Chile. The fruit trees provide the shade needed to keep the planted vegetables from being scorched by the strong southern hemisphere summer sun in central Chile. CREDIT: Orlando Milesi / IPS

A pesticide-free new generation

Valentina Martínez, 32, is an environmental engineer. Together with her father, Simón, 75, they work as small farmers in the municipality of María Pinto, 60 kilometers north of Santiago. She has a 0.45 hectare plot and her father has a 0.35 hectare plot.

Both have just obtained funding from the Transition to Sustainable Agriculture (TAS) project, which operates within Indap, and they are excited about production without chemical fertilizers and are trying to meet the goal of securing another larger loan that would enable them to build a greenhouse and expand fruit and vegetable production on the two farms.

“It’s a two-year program. In the first year you apply and they give you an incentive of 450,000 pesos (500 dollars) focused on buying technology. I’ve invested in plants, fruit trees, worms, and containers for making preserves,” Valentina told IPS.

In the second year, depending on the results of the first year, they will apply for a fund of 3900 dollars for each plot, to invest in their production.

“This year my father and I will apply for solar panels to improve irrigation,” said Valentina, who is currently dedicated to producing seedlings.

“My father liked the idea of producing without agrochemicals to combat pests,” she said about Simón, who has a fruit tree orchard and also grows vegetables.

In María Pinto there are 380 small farmers on the census, but the real number is estimated at about 500. Another 300 are medium-sized farmers.

Simón Martínez, 75, proudly shows some of the citrus fruits harvested on his farm where he practices agroecology and does not use agrochemicals. He and his daughter Valentina won a contest to continue improving the sustainability of their farming practices on their adjoining plots, located outside the Chilean town of María Pinto. CREDIT: Orlando Milesi / IPS

The rest of the area is monopolized by large agricultural companies dedicated to monocultures for export. Most of them have citrus, avocado, cherry and peach trees, as well as some walnut trees, and they all make intensive use of chemical fertilizers.

Chile exports mainly copper, followed by iron. But it also stands out for its sales of fish, cellulose pulp and fruit. In 2023, it exported 2.3 million tons of fruit, produced by large farms and bringing in 5.04 billion dollars. Agriculture represents 4.3 percent of the country’s GDP.

Family farming consists of some 260,000 small farms, which account for 98 percent of the country’s farms, according to the government’s Office of Agrarian Studies and Policies (Odepa).

Family farms produce 40 percent of annual crops and 22 percent of total agricultural production, which is key to feeding the country’s 19.7 million people.

Valentina is excited about TAS and the meetings she has had with other young farmers.

“It’s fun. We’re all on the same page and interested in what each other is doing. We start in December and January and it lasts all year. The young people are learning about sustainable agriculture and that there are more projects to apply for,” she explained.

She said that 15 young people in María Pinto have projects with pistachio trees, fruit trees, greenhouse gardens, outdoor gardens, animal husbandry and orchards. They are all different and receive group and individual training.

The training is provided by Indap and the Local Development Program (Prodesal), its regional representatives and the Foundation for the Promotion and Development of Women (Prodemu).

“The idea is that more people can learn about and realize the benefits of sustainable agriculture for their own health and for their land, which in a few years will be impossible due to the spraying of monocultures,” Valentina said.

It targets large entrepreneurs who produce avocado and broccoli in up to four harvests a year, both water-intensive crops, even on high hillsides.

“We need to come together, do things properly and recruit more people to create a legal group to reach other places and be able to organize projects. When you exist as an organization, you can also reach other places and say I am no longer one person, we are 15, we are 20, 100 and we need this,” she said.

Interview with Hirotsugu Terasaki, DG of Peace and Global Issues of SGI by Victor Gaetan at UN. Credit: Katsuhiro Asagiri, President of INPS Japan.
 
“Jesus and Buddha were peacemakers and promoters of non-violence,”
Pope Francis, May 28, 2022

By Victor Gaetan
Nagasaki (Agenzia Fides) - , Feb 1 2024 (IPS-Partners)

At the United Nations headquarters in New York City, on the third floor, a solemn statue of St. Agnes, holding her namesake lamb, stands as a disturbing reminder of nuclear destruction.

The saint, known for resisting multiple attempts to kill her, survived an atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki by the United States on August 9, 1945. The bomb exploded 500 meters from Urakami Cathedral, Asia’s largest Catholic church at the time. The bomb incinerated 60-80,000 people, of whom no more than 150 were soldiers. St. Agnes was found face down in the cathedral’s rubble.

Declassified Pentagon documents solve the puzzle of why Nagasaki was targeted despite not being included in the initial list of targets: at the last-minute, the city was added in handwriting, by an unknown hand, to obliterate the most historic Catholic community in Japan as retribution Retribution for the Vatican’s 1942 establishment of diplomatic relations with Japan. The US couldn’t forgive the Vatican for establishing diplomatic relation with its enemy, Tokyo).

Hibakusha Voices

In front of the UN’s St. Agnes statue, I met anti-nuclear campaigner, Hirotsugu Terasaki, director general of the lay Buddhist movement, Soka Gakkai International (SGI), representing some 12 million people worldwide. Founded in 1930, Soka Gakkai is Japan’s largest organized religious group.

SGI is dedicated to the teachings of Nichiren, a 13th century Japanese Buddhist priest. Soka University in Tokyo and Aliso Viejo, California are also associated with the faith tradition. A regular collaborator with the Holy See, SGI was a participating partner at the Vatican’s 2017 conference “Prospects for a World Free of Nuclear Weapons and for Integral Disarmament.” Pope Francis sent public condolences when SG’s highly influential third president, Daisaku Ikeda, died last November at age 95.

Hiromasa Ikeda, vice president of SGI meeting with Pope Francis during the Vatican conference “Prospects for a World Free of Nuclear Weapons and for Integral Disarmament.” Credit: Centro Televisivo Vaticano

Terasaki was at the UN to attend the second Meeting of State Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), an ambitious disarmament treaty—the first prohibiting countries from possessing nuclear arms—signed by 93 countries, most recently Sri Lanka. It went into effect January 22, 2021.

Terasaki explained that SGI’s disarmament commitment stretches back over half a century and is directly connected with his country’s tragic experience of nuclear holocaust. The Soka Gakkai youth division in Japan started a campaign in 1972 aimed at “protecting the fundamental human right to survival” by gathering and documenting the wartime testimonials of Japanese nuclear survivors known as hibakusha (bomb-affected-people). Over the next 12 years, students collected thousands of testimonies, which eventually filled 80 volumes.

“My personal involvement brought me face-to-face with the harrowing accounts of hibakusha,” Terasaki recalled. “There were some who initially agreed to being interviewed, but once it began, they were voiceless, choked by the weight of their anguish and pain. Yet, there were those who bravely shared their persistent suffering and trauma. I was in a state of utter shock witnessing their visceral outpourings of pain. It shook the depth of my soul. These testimonials seared in my consciousness the inhumanity of nuclear devastation.”

Of 650,000 hibakusha recognized by the Japanese government, over 113,000 are alive. To this day, they influence the contemporary disarmament movement by inspiring its leaders: “These individuals form the foundation of building peace,” summarized Terasaki.

Partnering with ICAN

A fortuitous partnership helped amplify SGI’s anti-nuclear commitment in 2007. The International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (which won a Nobel Peace Prize for creating public awareness of the catastrophe of nuclear weapons in 1985) initiated the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) and asked SGI to sign on as an early collaborator to help gain global approval of the TPNW. Both were especially committed to mobilizing youth.

Terasaki remembered, “To realize our vision of a nuclear-free world, we felt compelled to forge a vast global network committed to educating people about the devastating realities of nuclear weapons. Our efforts began by organizing study groups for diplomats around the world, heightening awareness of the aftermath of nuclear exposure”—again, putting the humanitarian impact at the center of the discussion. Regional anti-nuke conferences, from Central Asia to the Caribbean, and directly lobbying foreign ministries were two other tactics.

In the span of merely a decade, the TPNW was adopted by the United Nations in July 2017. The Holy See was one of the first signatories. “This was indeed a miraculous achievement,” confirmed Terasaki, who credits many other organizations with contributing to the success, including Pax, the Dutch Catholic peace group, and the World Council of Churches.

No surprise, TPNW has not been signed by the nine countries with nuclear capability: Russia (5,889 warheads); US (5,224 warheads); China (410); France (290); United Kingdom (225); Pakistan (170); India (164); Israel (90); and North Korea (30). Nor have five states hosting nuclear weapons for the US signed: Italy (35); Turkey (20); Belgium (15); Germany (15); or Netherlands (15) according to ICAN.

Most inhumane weapons

The main message of TPNW campaigners is that nuclear weapons are the most inhumane weapons ever created. They violate international law, cause severe environmental damage, undermine global security, and divert budgets from addressing human needs. Nuclear weapons must be eliminated, not just controlled.

Yet, a cover story in the magazine Scientific American last December warned about the U.S. government’s plans to upgrade its nuclear capacity with an additional $1,5 trillion to modernize its nuclear arsenal. Presently, there are approximately 12,500 nuclear warheads worldwide, with the United States and Russia holding nearly 90% of the stockpile.

Explained Terasaki, “The current plan to expand nuclear capabilities stems from an unwavering belief in the utility of nuclear deterrence. Yet, we must question whether this policy is a sound political strategy or is it a myth created to perpetuate nuclear armament.”

He continued, “Advancing the current nuclear expansion will not yield peace and security based on global nuclear balance but will precipitate global destruction or Armageddon.”

Moral discourse

I asked Terasaki, how he describes the unique role being played by faith-based organizations such as SGI, in the new, emerging disarmament movement, as typified by the TPNW? He explained that while TPNW’s next steps are largely diplomatic and state-centric, faith-based organizations must continue highlighting the negative impact of nuclear arms from a spiritual and humanitarian perspective.

“As the world grapples with escalating challenges, the influence of moral discourse becomes ever more pertinent,” he said. This is a position strongly maintained by the Holy See.

At the same time, Soka Gakkai’s affiliation with the Komeito party (NKP), founded by Daisaku Ikeda in 1964 gives it unique influence on perceptions of governing elite; it’s not “just” a Buddhist lay entity. In the 1960s, Ikeda advocated for the reopening of China-Japan relations. He visited China ten times between 1974 and 1997, meeting with leaders Zhou Enlai and Deng Xiaoping. In the 1970s, Ikeda traveled to the Soviet Union and met with Premier Aleksey Kosygin, passing conciliatory messages between Beijing and Moscow, at the height of China-USSR tensions. NKP has been the Liberal Democratic Party (LPD) junior partner since 1999.

Ikeda’s vision converged with Pope Francis: The Japanese leader observed, “In the end, peace will not be realized by politicians signing treaties. Human solidarity is built by opening our hearts to each other. This is the power of dialogue.”

Kazakhstan and Bahrain

Teresaki described two inspiring images of collaboration witnessed in his travels to promote peace, denuclearization, and cross-cultural dialogue: In 2022 he attended both the Seventh Congress of Leaders of the World and Traditional Religions in Kazakhstan as a Buddhist representative, and, a month later, he was in Bahrain for the forum “East and West for Human Coexistence.”

The events put him in close proximity to Pope Francis, whose encyclicals “resonate deeply with me,” said Terasaki.

“I was particularly moved seeing the reconciliatory atmosphere between Catholic and Sunni Islamic leaders sitting in the same room,” observed the Japanese leader. “These forums offered a promising platform for religious leaders from across the globe to engage in candid and meaningful discourse, sharing insights and wisdom on the pressing global issues facing humanity.”

According to Terasaki, a fundamental Buddhist tenet informing SGI anti-nuclear advocacy is that individual and society’s security are one and interdependent. The Mahayana tradition followed by SGI emphasizes how an individual, through discipline and deepening practice, works change within that impacts the external world.

“SGI is committed to safeguarding dignity of life, happiness of all individuals, and the collective security of the world. Reliance on nuclear arms fundamentally contradicts these aims, as they jeopardize the very security we seek,” he summarized.

As Pope Francis declared at Nagasaki in 2019, “Peace and international stability are incompatible with attempts to build upon the fear of mutual destruction or the threat of total annihilation. They can be achieved only on the basis of a global ethic of solidarity and cooperation.”
(Agenzia Fides, 17/1/2024)

Victor Gaetan is a senior correspondent for the National Catholic Register, focusing on international issues. He also writes for Foreign Affairs magazine and contributed to Catholic News Service. He is the author of the book God’s Diplomats: Pope Francis, Vatican Diplomacy, and America’s Armageddon (Rowman & Littlefield, 2021) published in paperback in July 2023. VictorGaetan.org

Original article: https://www.fides.org/en/news/74617-ASIA_JAPAN_Nuclear_Disarmament_A_Natural_Buddhist_Catholic_Alliance_Explains_Japanese_Leader

 

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Five-month old cassava plants growing in the greenhouse of Wageningen University, the Netherlands. Credit: Rene Geurts/ENSA

By Rene Geurts
WAGENINGEN, Netherlands, Feb 1 2024 (IPS)

The 500 per cent increase in global agricultural productivity over the past 60 years has largely been made possible by the scientific advances of the “Green Revolution” – from the ability to breed higher yielding varieties to improvements in farm inputs, especially fertiliser.

But this has come with both environmental trade-offs and widening inequality. Half the world is now fed thanks to synthetic nitrogen fertiliser, but its use generates an estimated 10.6 per cent of agricultural emissions, including up to 70 per cent of nitrous oxide emissions, one of the less prevalent greenhouse gases that is nevertheless almost 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide.

To address this, scientists are embarking on a new frontier of the Green Revolution, built on fresh understanding about soil microbes and crop biology. This offers the potential for a “genetic revolution” that enables agricultural production without the need for as much costly chemical fertiliser use.

The genetic revolution is partly born of a need to address the fact that the gains of the Green Revolution in the 1960s were not evenly spread. Smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa continue to have limited access to the latest varieties of planting material and fertiliser, while contending with some of the most degraded soil in the world.

Rene Geurts of Wageningen University visiting a smallholder farmer’s cassava field near Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire in October 2022. Credit: Christian Rogers/ENSA

Meanwhile in Africa, key staple crops such as cassava have not yet fully benefited from the progress in modern breeding technologies.

Recent advances in scientific knowledge about how crops interact with soil bacteria and fungi to obtain nutrients therefore offer the opportunity to optimise plant biology to reduce the need for fertiliser, helping to solve both agriculture’s environmental challenges and the inequality that has held back food security in Africa.

It also happens that cassava, Africa’s most important crop after maize, is the perfect starting point for a next chapter of agricultural science and innovation.

In the evolution of crop species, cassava narrowly missed the opportunity to develop the same natural ability as legumes to interact with soil bacteria to convert nitrogen from the air. Legumes engage with rhizobia in soil to naturally fix nitrogen, meaning beans, peas and lentils do not need synthetic nitrogen fertiliser to grow.

While cassava did not evolve with this trait, the root crop does make good use of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, a soil fungus, to source mineral nutrients such as phosphate. The biological system that allows cassava to interact with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi was the evolutionary ancestor of nitrogen fixation.

This makes cassava something of a stepping stone between legumes, which do not need nitrogen fertiliser, and other crops, which currently rely on artificial sources of nutrients.

Scientists including those of us at the Enabling Nutrient Symbioses in Agriculture (ENSA) project are investigating the possibility of using cassava’s existing mechanism for engaging with fungi to also interact with bacteria to fix nitrogen.

Transgenic cassava plantlets possessing legume genes, which may enable the plants to recognize nitrogen-fixing rhizobium bacteria. Credit: Rene Geurts/ENSA

This research is at a very early stage but increasing the ability of more crops to source nutrients organically without the need for fertiliser would in theory have multiple benefits.

Such a development would help improve the uptake of crop nutrients, which would translate into increased growth and higher yields. This is particularly valuable for African farmers, who have seen cassava yields remain stagnant since the 1960s.

Pursuing the development of nitrogen-fixing cassava could also lead to reductions in the need for fertiliser, which would help bring down agricultural emissions while unlocking productivity gains in regions otherwise limited by access to fertiliser. This would mean smallholder farmers in Africa could benefit from yield increases similar to those achieved elsewhere in the Green Revolution.

Finally, if scientists can introduce the trait to fix nitrogen to cassava, it opens the possibility of translating it to other, related crop species.

Researchers are at the start of their exploration of this new frontier but the potential of a “genetic revolution” is ultimately for a “doubly green revolution” that accelerates agricultural intensification without the need for chemical fertiliser.

Not only would this help to feed a growing population more sustainably, but it would also level the playing field for those who have been historically left behind by agricultural innovation.

Rene Geurts, Associate Professor, Wageningen University, and principal investigator at the Enabling Nutrient Symbioses in Agriculture (ENSA) project

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This elderly woman was marginalized as a 'witch' in Southern Nigeria. Her face has been obscured to protect her identity. Credit: Peace Oladipo.

By Peace Oladipo
ABUJA , Feb 1 2024 (IPS)

One day in October 2020, Serah Akpan, 70, was seated in her house at Boki Local Government in Cross River, southern Nigeria, when she heard the murmurings of irate youth outside. Before she could grasp what was really happening, they had broken into her house, bundled her outside, and threatened to kill her for allegedly being a witch.

“They started cutting me with a cutlass. I was bleeding and crying, but no one cared at that point. They cut my leg so deep that, even now, I cannot walk by myself,” she said. 

Moments later, she was among a group of nine individuals who were accused of witchcraft and cast into a ferocious inferno, meant to end their lives in a horrifying manner.

While she and two others survived after being rescued by good samaritans and hospitalised, the others were burned beyond recognition. Now, she finds life difficult, as she was badly injured, is no longer able to walk, and is dependent on her children.

Witch hunting thrives  in Africa

Witch hunting is a serious problem across Africa. In Nigeria, severe acts of violence and abuse targeting elderly women due to accusations of witchcraft are prevalent, particularly in the southern region, where an intensified version of Christianity has been merged with native beliefs.

Elderly or disabled women who are labelled as witches are often subjected to banishment and isolation. In many instances, they are also at risk of facing lynching or enduring other horrifying forms of brutality.

This disturbing trend gained momentum in the 1990s across the region, partly influenced by popular films and opportunistic self-proclaimed prophets capitalising on people’s fears and spiritual mindsets for financial gain.

This remains an obstacle to realising the objectives laid out in the United Nations’ General Assembly’s Declaration on the Eradication of Violence Against Women, which was signed in December 1993.

The problem stems from violence against women, which is rampant in Africa and Nigeria, such that the UN in 2020 described it as a “pandemic within a pandemic.” From 2020 to 2022, 7,349 cases of gender-based violence were reported in the country.

The government turns a blind eye

Before leaving power in 2017, Yahya Jammeh the former president of Gambia, during his 22 years of ruling the country, branded several women as witches; they then experienced physical torture as a result of the accusation.

In September 2022, the Nigerian police stormed a seminar venue on “witch persecution” in Benue State, Nigeria, and chased away participants.

Experts argue that most governments on the continent are even part of the problem.

“The state is weak. When we take this issue to the police, they don’t pick up our calls because they think we are disturbing them. It is not a priority for the state.  Because of their quest for votes and popularity, the government won’t want to go against popular beliefs,” argues Dr. Leo Igwe, the founder of Advocacy for Alleged Witches.

Similarly, other governments in Africa have been unable to stop this gender-based violence in the form of witch branding in their countries. This is one of several reasons why achieving the Sustainable Development Goal on gender equality by 2030 appears uncertain in Africa.

According to Roslyn Mould, a humanist and human rights advocate in Ghana, “Witchcraft branding stems from the misuse of cultural beliefs and has become very detrimental to the most vulnerable, which includes elderly women in society.”

“Ghana is one of the countries in Africa that has witch camps created for people who have been banished from their community. It is detrimental to us internationally, especially when it comes to how we treat our women and mothers. This practice denies women their rights.

She stressed that the key solution isn’t closing the camps but ending the accusations. “Government officials sympathise but lack on-ground research or NGO collaboration. To make a difference, teaming up with traditional leaders is crucial. Even when found not guilty, grapple with persistent societal stigma. Their basic rights, like freedom, healthcare, and proper nutrition, are frequently compromised. It’s worth noting that nearly all accusations, approximately 99 percent, are targeted at women, making this a pressing women’s rights issue, with a majority of the accusations coming from me,” Roslyn added.

Hope Glitters in the Dark

In Malawi, witchcraft killings are still on the rise. The Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation reports that since 2019, mobs have unlawfully killed at least 75 individuals suspected of engaging in witchcraft in the country.

While Section 210 of Nigeria’s Criminal Code Act prescribes a two-year prison sentence for accusing someone of witchcraft or participating in related activities like making, selling, or using charms and engaging in unlawful practices, the actual enforcement of this law has been inconsistent.

But Ghana is taking a step forward to counter the problem, despite the odds. In 2022, following the lynching of a 90-year-old woman in July 2020, the Ghanaian parliament passed a bill that criminalized the practice of witchcraft accusations. The bill prohibits the declaration, accusation, or labelling of another person as a witch.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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By External Source
Feb 1 2024 (IPS-Partners)

 

 
Counsel Hope

Yasmine Sherif is the Executive Director of Education Cannot Wait (ECW). A lawyer specialized in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights Law (LL.M), she has over 30 years of experience with the United Nations and international NGOs.

Ms. Sherif has served in some of the most crisis-affected areas of the world, including Afghanistan, the Middle East, the Balkans, Cambodia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sudan as well as in New York and Geneva. She has led high-level missions to numerous conflict and crisis-affected countries. Her expertise spans across the education, humanitarian, development, human rights, gender and peacekeeping spectrum.

She is the author of the book, The Case for Humanity: An Extraordinary Session, and a Champion for ‘No Lost Generation.’ In 2017, she received the annual award Sweden’s UN Friend of the Year, in 2020 she was awarded the Global Educator Award in the United States, and in 2022 she received on behalf of Education Cannot Wait, the prestigious Mother Teresa Award.

Ms. Sherif also received an award from the United Nations Association-USA Brooklyn Chapter in 2023, and was recently honored as a Listee in Marquis Who’s Who for her dedication to the field of international affairs and law, and leadership of ECW.

Full bio

ECW: We have just six years left to deliver on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including SDG 4. How can ECW and its strategic partners further accelerate and increase education access for children and adolescents impacted by emergencies and protracted crises?

ECW Executive Director Yasmine Sherif: There is a very clear, two-part response to this: first, conflict prevention and climate action; second, financing for the SDGs, in this case SDG4.

Just a few years ago, it was understood that there were 75 million children and adolescents impacted by armed conflicts, forced displacement and climate disasters whose education was either disrupted and/or did not yield learning outcomes. In 2021, Education Cannot Wait (ECW) conducted in-depth research endorsed by a panel of UN agency and NGO experts; the analysis concluded that the actual number was 222 million. Over the past 18 months, that number has increased, with millions more children and adolescents whose education is now disrupted in Ukraine, Gaza and Sudan, to mention just a few stark examples.

We must invest less in wars and violent means of conflict-resolution and invest more in peaceful conflict resolution and a more equitable distribution of the world’s resources between the Global North and the Global South. We cannot go on using violent means of conflict resolution that costs trillions of dollars and then try to manage the consequences with significantly less money.

According to the United Nations Spokesperson, the annual cost of the United Nations was estimated at US$3.59 billion, as approved by the UN General Assembly on 24 December 2023. This comes in addition to US$50 million for decisions taken by the UN Human Rights Council. Tragically, funding needs for all individual UN agencies seldom reach their actual needs. This can be compared to the trillions of dollars invested in and spent on war; more precisely: US$2,240,000,000,000 (US$2.2 Trillion), which “are spent on the war machines of the world,” according to the UN Spokesperson.

We must deeply reflect on why the United Nation – which represents everyone, which is the guardian of the UN Charter and multiple human rights conventions, and which is a multilateral organization that is doing so much good for humanity – receives radically less financing than the wars that cause so much inhumanity? This is the question of our time. We need to think with intellectual honesty and feel with authenticity. We need to take a hard look at these facts.

To manage the current global reality of financing priorities, Education Cannot Wait (ECW) deliberately requested a modest amount for our Strategic Plan 2023-2026: just US$1.5 billion to provide a quality education for 20 million crisis-affected children, adolescents and teachers – whose learning, teaching and lives are affected by armed conflicts, the climate crisis and forced displacement.

Over the past year, ECW’s Trust Fund has been replenished with US$900 million by our many committed and supportive strategic donors. We firmly believe that – in light of the UN Spokesperson’s statement above – the remaining financial resources needed to completely fund our collective efforts for over 226 million children’s education in crises do exist and will soon make their way to ECW, hence to all of our partners. The risk of not investing in these children’s lives, their future and that of their societies, will have irreversible, global implications. The world will not be able to withstand the shocks and disastrous consequences of this destructive approach for much longer, or as the late US President John F Kennedy once said: “Mankind [humankind] must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind [humankind].”

In this spirit, we must all make an ethical and responsible choice. In the education sector this means to fully fund and invest in education, grounded in principles of the UN Charter and international human rights law as endorsed and ratified by UN Member states. As the great poet Robert Frost wrote, “We have promises to keep…”. Indeed, we also have legal commitments to respect and uphold.

Keeping promises and respecting international law are serious undertakings and cannot be disregarded, forgotten or postponed. If we are to establish peaceful co-existence based on the UN Charter, human rights and sustainable development towards real peace and security, rhetoric alone is insufficient. Action, through funding, shows intention. Respecting democratically adopted laws and applying those objectively and equally are the strongest indicators of civilization in the 21st century.

Secondly, we must all work together to further translate the UN Secretary-General’s Reform and Common Agenda into action. Take the concept of the ‘humanitarian-development-peace nexus.’ This is not an abstract concept. It is a very concrete approach towards lasting peace. It means ensuring that immediate humanitarian aid no longer substitutes long-term development solutions, while at the same time recognizing the importance of humanitarian responses. The nexus means that we apply both humanitarian responses and development investments in parallel in mutually reinforcing ways towards sustainable peace.

In protracted crises, without exception, there are always immediate education needs. Indeed ‘education cannot wait until a crisis is over.’ The education of children and adolescents cannot be put on hold, depriving them of hope while furthering their suffering through critical learning time lost in their most formative years in life.

Most crises go on for decades, as in Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Syria, just to mention some of the over 70 conflicts and crises, according to the International Crisis Group. Immediate and life-saving education solutions are crucial, including the rapid provision of non-formal learning centres that also provide several intersectoral responses, such as school feeding, mental health and psycho-social services, school supplies and teacher training.

I recall arriving in central Mali in a situation of mass forced displacement and meeting with internally displaced children and their desperate mothers who were seriously distraught and isolated in the desert. There, UNICEF and Save the Children were trying to find solutions to those immense, urgent needs but without any funding to do so. Thanks to our design, ECW was able to immediately provide a substantive First Emergency Response investment.

I’ve seen the same heroic work by UNHCR, WFP, the Jesuit Refugee Service, Save the Children, Plan, NRC and other strategic partners of ECW along the border of Chad, in northern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in the Central African Republic (CAR), amongst others. In such horrific, soul-shattering situations, ECW’s First Emergency Response investment window quickly provides urgently needed seed funding to our partners on the ground, who then take immediate action to serve the children, their teachers, the Ministry of Education and host-communities, providing them with life-saving education support. ECW has invoked its First Emergency Window in 44 countries and contexts affected by armed conflicts, climate induced disasters and forced displacement.

Still, this does not replace sustainable development investments in the education sector. The top priority is to accelerate progress toward SDG4 and all SDGs, while also ending conflicts and preventing new ones. With additional resources we can ensure that crisis-affected children and adolescents, as well as their teachers, can quickly transit into a functional formal education system and make sure that the conditions for peace exist to ensure sustainability.

Refugees tend to be further left out, so an emphasis on their right to be included in the formal education system is another top priority for ECW. In all crisis-affected countries, it is just as important to support inclusion in the public system, alongside reconstruction and capacity development, as a means of creating sustainable and lasting solutions, peace and security.

Education Cannot Wait’s Multi-Year Resilience Programmes (MYRP), illustrate how we translate the humanitarian-development-peace nexus into results in 26 crisis-affected countries we serve, such as Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Chad, the DRC, Nigeria, Iraq and Ukraine, among others. In all 26 countries, humanitarian and development actors work closely together to deliver education through joint programming.

Still, while development in crises requires solid investments in capacity development and the empowerment of Ministries of Education, it also requires a whole-of-governance approach across several ministries, with the executive leadership on top – all moving with the same vision for education investments. The Ministry of Finance is a key ministry for national planning and budgeting, but so are the Ministries of Defence, Security and Interior. Unless we collectively work to end or mitigate the triggers for violent means of conflict resolution, we cannot apply this whole-of-government approach.

And we certainly cannot give justice to education as a development sector and as a sustainable basic service without adequate financial resources. The main challenges to a whole-of-government approach in advancing education in the Global South include continued wars, growing climate change and the lack of national financial resources to deliver crucial basic services, such as education.

It is important to again stress that sufficient financial resources are required to ensure continued and inclusive quality education that results in learning outcomes and endows students with the degrees needed for them to advance society. These financial resources for learning provide a clear pathway to higher education for all those children who dream of becoming teachers, doctors, nurses, lawyers, engineers, scientists and entrepreneurs.

I believe it can be disingenuous to invite crisis-affected children to tell the world of their dreams – knowing very well that they need a higher education to realize such dreams – if there is no serious intent to provide financial support required for their tertiary education, let alone for their secondary education.

Education Cannot Wait was created to respond to our in-country partners and the children, adolescents and teachers they serve without delay, by mobilizing the financial resources required for an inclusive and sustainable quality education from early childhood development through secondary school. This is a foundational pathway – but let us not lose sight of tertiary education. Together with government partners, UNESCO and UNHCR play an instrumental role to this end, yet more financing is needed.

Thirdly, Education Cannot Wait was also created to end competition over resources amongst education agencies and organizations. This is the third strategic objective of Education Cannot Wait’s mandate. We all need to work together: humanitarians and development actors – civil society, UN agencies, strategic donors, communities – under the leadership of the Ministry of Education. To prevent competition, this can best be achieved with a pooled funding mechanism and joint programming. This is already happening as ECW’s joint Multi-Year Resilience Programming illustrates. ECW investments have already delivered, through our partners, inclusive, quality education to over 9 million children and adolescents. This has been achieved precisely because we work together through bigger and better-coordinated joint programming, rather than in competition or through many smaller individual projects.

Cooperation and coordination are absolute imperative to draw on the added value and comparative advantage of each civil society organization, UN agency and local community towards a holistic approach. No one can do it all alone. It is simply impossible when looking at the actual learning crises in the world. In this regard, ECW transcends the false dichotomy between humanitarian aid and development aid as two distinct, separate approaches and instead places them in the crisis context, where we all find a common denominator and value the contribution, skills and mandate, of each actor and partner.

ECW: Education Cannot Wait has, as you mentioned, already reached more than 9 million crisis-affected girls and boys with quality, holistic education. ECW’s 2023-2026 Strategic Plan seeks to mobilize US$1.5 billion to reach 20 million more girls and boys. Why should donors, the private sector, philanthropic foundations and high-net-worth individuals invest in ECW?

ECW Executive Director Yasmine Sherif: From a macro-perspective, we know that education is the best investment we can make for sustainable economic and social development in any country. Many countries in Europe, such as Sweden and Switzerland, who were once either very poor or lacked other income-generating resources, made deliberate and strategic investments in education to build their countries’ economies and accelerate national development. In the same spirit, I meet so many Ministers of Education in the Global South who share the same vision and determination, but whose ministries are thwarted by a lack of financial resources.

For instance, the Minister of Education in South Sudan is strongly committed to educating every girl and every child in South Sudan to help build that young nation which has suffered so much. And while South Sudan, a country the size of Western Europe, received ECW’s biggest seed-fund investment wherein ECW invested US$40 million, the government also contributed by investing US$10 million and GPE also invested US$10 million. While all of us are working together, we still lack just US$25 million to meet the full needs for the coming three years, also bearing in mind the refugee flow from Sudan arriving in South Sudan. This is so easy to resolve: we simply need five partners to come in with US$5 million each, or ten partners to join with US$2.5 million each, and we have a fully funded joint programme for the coming three years.

The same can be said about Ukraine, where we all work together to invest both in First Emergency Responses and joint Multi-Year Resilience Programming. The commitment of the Ministry of Education is admirable in providing access to on-line education, which has significantly helped reduce learning losses. The Global Business Coalition for Education (GBCEd) has contributed nearly US$50 million in devices to help make this possible, and yet more resources are required.

Then, look across sub-Saharan Africa – including the Sahel, to Mali, Burkina Faso, and Chad – or the Middle East, with Lebanon being a case in point – such generous, refugee-hosting countries, despite their own challenges. They too, have vision and determination, yet without additional financing, we cannot fully support these governments, children and teachers in achieving their goals of quality education to rebuild their country and to care for the refugees they willingly host.

To make it worse, we now have Gaza, where more than 10,000 children have reportedly been killed as of mid-January, and the entire education system has been destroyed. Children will now face the loss of at least one school year, if not more, given the enormous need for reconstruction and a sustainable political solution. With the appointment of a Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza, the whole education system will need to be rebuilt, including significant infrastructure, healing through mental health and psychosocial services, teacher training and fees, school meals, school supplies, educational equipment, and so on. The task is Herculean, the needs are massive, and the costs will be epic. Yet, coming back to the statement of the UN Spokesperson mentioned earlier, trillions of dollars do exist and must be tapped into.

With the Green Climate Fund’s (GCF) fresh and bold commitment to working in fragile and conflict-affected contexts, ECW also stands ready to work with partners and the GCF to achieve its ambition. There has been an ongoing, systematic underinvestment in education for children and adolescents not only living on the frontlines of climate crises, but enduring armed conflicts and forced displacement midst the climate crises. It is time to connect the dots between climate action and investments in education for those left furthest behind.

By investing in education, we lay the foundation for socio-economic development, to advance climate change adaptation and mitigation, to boost national GDP, and can ensure – as this year’s International Day of Education theme suggests – “Learning for Peace.” This is far more cost-effective than using our financial resources for more wars that simply create more refugees, more human suffering and more extreme poverty. The vicious cycle must be broken.

By investing in education, we provide every child and adolescent impacted by armed conflicts, climate-induced disasters and forced displacement with a chance to draw on their resilience, heal from their experiences, develop fully and to prepare their future and unleash their potential. They will enrich their communities, countries and the world. We must always remember that we are all interconnected as one humanity. “Your liberation is my liberation, and my liberation is your liberation,” as someone wisely once said. This is not a naïve, shallow statement, but a rather a deeply profound understanding of our shared humanity.

I honestly believe that every human on earth would benefit from knowing and understanding human rights. Especially those with great responsibilities for humanity. Only then can we create a world based on human rights for all: just as the founders of the United Nations worded it in the UN Charter and subsequent conventions. This is when our priority-setting will shift from investing trillions in wars towards investing trillions in education and the other SDGs, including climate action, peace and security.

As for the young generation who are currently deprived of their human rights, starting with their basic right to an inclusive and continued quality education, we can and must invest financially in those left furthest behind from the SDGs; that is the over 226 million in emergencies and protracted crises, including in climate-induced disasters. Only then can we bring those left furthest behind closer to the SDG targets, empowering them to realize their inherent human rights and contribute to, and benefit from, each of the SDGs, towards peace and security.

We have so many inspiring Ministries of Education, communities, civil society partners and UN agencies who do the real, concrete, and truly noble work together in so many crisis-affected countries. With more funding they can accelerate access to quality education. They have the proven systems and the highly skilled teams in place and know exactly how to operate in crises. They have the partnerships and the trust with government counterparts and among communities. They even have the extraordinary skills of negotiating access to areas – and thereby, children and teachers – which are not under government control. ECW’s partners also deeply understand how to operate effectively in these contexts after decades of in-country presence and experience. All they need now is funding.

In light of this, ECW is not building its own delivery machine, and thus not competing for resources. On the contrary, we are a catalyst for our colleagues and partners. It is our job to serve them and give them the financial means to jointly deliver on ECW’s strategic objectives on coordination, cooperation, quality and accountability through a pooled funding mechanism. I believe that this approach represents a solid model of multilateralism and the UN Secretary-General’s reform as concerns delivering speedy responses, measurable results and sustainable outcomes in-country.

As a catalytic global fund in the UN multilateral system, which also extends to civil society and the private sector, ECW’s priority focus is on resource mobilization for pooled funding, global advocacy, joint programming, quality assurance and results. We want our colleagues and partners in-country to succeed together for children and adolescents.

We also have terrific partners with other global financing mechanisms, working closely with the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), the International Financing Facility for Education (IFFED), and the Education Outcome Impact Fund, among others. We have fantastic advocacy partners at the global level, such as the Global Coalition for Education (GCE) and civil society across the board, as well as Global Citizen, which has made education in emergencies and protracted crises one of its top three priorities for 2024. In this regard, I recommend reading the recently released book, ‘From Ideas to Impact’, by Michael Sheldrick, co-founder of Global Citizen, which brilliantly explains the power of partnerships and collective action.

A proven and innovative example of how the public sector and private sector can work together is that of the LEGO Foundation and the Government of Denmark, to which the Government of the United States has also contributed. Another stellar example is that of the Zurich Cantonal Bank and the Government of Switzerland. By matching funding and/or joining up in a complementary manner, substantive – and above all – sustainable and continued funding replenishes ECW’s Trust Fund.

All of us have complementary roles and mutually reinforcing approaches. We all agree that financing education is indeed both the biggest challenge and yet the greatest opportunity to address the global learning crisis and to empower those left furthest behind towards achieving the 2030 Agenda.

ECW: The UN Secretary-General has made firm commitments to reform the United Nations through the New Way of Working and Grand Bargain Agreements. How Is ECW supporting this UN reform agenda, and what can be done to scale-up ECW’s proven model?

ECW Executive Director Yasmine Sherif: At the United Nations, we are all naturally expected to implement the United Nations Secretary-General’s Reforms and system-wide policies. The reform states that we should focus on cooperation and joint programming, rather than competition over resources. This is what we should all do.

As multilateral global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises within the UN system, hosted by UNICEF, the ECW community feels a strong responsibility to ensure that we implement UN reforms and collectively keep advancing the principles and standards of the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

As all UN entities, ECW is a rights-based global fund. Thus, we are obliged to speak up for children, adolescents and their teachers and to create space for their voices to be heard – as ECW’s global #AfghanGirlsVoices advocacy campaign does for Afghan girls denied their right to education, and our support to the #HearTheirVoices advocacy campaign for children in Gaza. I would like to stress that civil society, youth advocates, as well as UN agencies and communities, are very impressive global advocates for every child’s right to an inclusive quality education and safe learning.

Furthermore, in line with the UN reform, and the UN Secretary-General’s policy of joint programming, ECW is committed to the New Way of Working and translates it into action. This means ending silos and discouraging competition. Having served in several UN agencies and a few civil society organizations over the past 34 years, I am familiar with most mandates and the added value of each. I must admit that heading ECW and serving as a catalyst for their funding and joint programming is a very rewarding experience.

In ensuring coordination (and preventing competition), ECW invests in – and works through – the multilateral UN Coordination System, represented by the Humanitarian and Resident Coordinators, the Cluster System composed of the government, UN agencies and civil society, as well as government- and UNHCR-led Working Groups for refugee education. Indeed, in-country coordination mechanisms exist and it is working. However, we need to continue to empower and support them.

ECW’s rapid growth and expansion into some of the toughest places on earth is due to our early decision to reverse the trend of parallel coordination mechanisms which are not always equipped for crises or may stir competition. Thus, instead of creating parallel structures of coordination, we decided from day one to invest in UN structures that have been in place for years and which are of immediate relevance to bring both humanitarian and development actors together with the governments and communities we serve. Through the UN’s established coordination structure, we included and built bridges to other coordination structures, so that their valuable commitment and contributions are also used for the common good.

The UN Secretary-General’s tireless leadership motivates ECW to keep advancing further and faster. The Secretary-General’s Transformative Education Summit in 2022 laid the ground for ECW’s High-Level Financing Conference in Geneva in 2023, co-hosted by Switzerland and ECW. The timing enabled us to mobilize more resources for education, which in turn are now expanding the outreach of quality education in crisis-affected countries.

Furthermore, based on the UN Secretary-General’s UN Reform and Common Agenda, ECW has made strides forward in the education sector and moved from an initial small handful of donors to now working with 25 strategic public and private sector donors in just a few years – with new donors joining every year: the latest new arrivals to the ECW Community being the Qatar Development Fund and the Government of Japan, while France dramatically increased its funding just a few months ago, following in the footsteps of Germany, the UK, the USA, Denmark, Canada, Norway, Finland, the LEGO Foundation and a number of other strategic donor partners [see donor chart in this Newsletter]. But more financing from current and potential donors is needed to meet the actual needs.

In our new Strategic Plan 2023-2026, we are calling for US$1.5 billion to reach 20 million children, adolescents and their teachers in four years through 2026. This allows everyone to be able to contribute adequate financing without overburdening anyone. This strategic approach is working; in just over a year, our strategic donors have contributed almost US$900 million to our Trust Fund for our new ECW Strategic Plan.

And, since our inception just a few years ago, ECW’s proven model has already generated more than US$1.6 billion for our Trust Fund, aligned with an additional US$3 billion in-country from other strategic donors, including governments. This illustrates ECW’s capacity to be a catalyst for coordination, resources and quality control to achieve collective learning outcomes in the education sector in crisis-affected contexts.

The ECW model ensures strong inclusion by our strategic donors and all partners so they have a voice and can participate strategically and substantively. As a result, we all operate as one collaborative team. Furthermore, we are agile and lean, with low overhead costs. This is possible because we look at host-governments, civil society, UN agencies and local communities as full members of our team. They are truly our colleagues, working on the ground and delivering tangible results. We are one ECW Community working together, visionary, courageous and relentless advocates and doers.

Our public donors are naturally keen to see results for their tax-payers money and the same applies to our private sector donors. Everyone wants to see results, and this is our shared commitment. In that sense, the ECW community has adopted an entrepreneurial spirit towards a shared cause. This entrepreneurial spirit motivates and inspires us to continually race for resources, quality and results.

We have a highly professional, deeply committed and solutions-oriented team in the ECW secretariat. Be it managing the financials to achieve top-notch audit reports, building strong partnerships with our strategic donors and bringing new ones on board, guiding the development of high-quality joint education programming and rapid responses, staying the course on accountability and safeguarding, and conducting impeccable and evidenced-based research and reporting.

We also have a very strong advocacy and communication approach, advocating globally through top-tier traditional and social media approaches which allow us to tell the world how everyone in the ECW Community is working together to achieve positive results for crisis-affected children and their teachers in the world’s most difficult contexts.

I bow to my relentlessly accountable, creative and professional team – they are all go-getters and change-makers, who have their hearts in the right place.

Yet, we all understand that we can continue to improve, to move faster and reach even more girls, boys and their teachers impacted by crises. It will take many more billions of dollars to fully rebuild the lives of over 226 million vulnerable children and adolescents who urgently need quality education.

Thankfully, recalling the UN Spokesperson’s statement, we know that the financial resources exist. It is just a matter of conscientious priority setting and funding choices being made. Do we incorrectly see the glass as half-empty and thus need to cut funding for those left furthest behind – or do we more correctly see the glass as overflowing so we can invest in humanity and the right to a quality education for the young generation.

As for the Grand Bargain, ECW exceeded the 25% target a couple of years ago. As a headquarter-based global fund – with no presence in the field and fully accountable for tax-payers money – it would be irresponsible to invest in local organizations without prior due diligence and oversight. All our non-UN grantees must go through a comprehensive process of eligibility assessments to ensure accountable financial processes, delivery and codes of conduct.

Our grantees – selected in-country through the coordination system – serve as the first accountable oversight actors on the ground. At the headquarter-level, ECW investments are provided on the condition that they invest in local actors that meet or preferably exceed the Grand Bargain target of 25%. This has proven a great arrangement. Funds are going where they are meant to go, while also building local capacities in financial management, delivery and reporting, and thus local empowerment, to take charge of their communities and countries.

Based on recent, independent, and external evaluations of ECW, the ECW model is a “proven model.” It is an effective and interesting model, and, as mentioned earlier, I believe one that can be replicated across the United Nations. We move with humanitarian speed and achieve development depth by reducing bureaucracy and raising accountability, by reducing competition and strengthening cooperation. While the UN is the multilateral global institution for peace and security, based on the UN Charter, we further benefit from the fact that the UN is by default also designed to respond to conflicts and disasters.

When COVID hit, ECW was able to immediately provide responses to COVID-affected countries in crises – acting with the “urgency of now” to quote Martin Luther King Jr. – by delivering First Emergency Response education support to over 30 million children and youth. As we took this action, strategic donors joined forces and kept replenishing the financial needs. By moving with speed into the crisis, we unlocked more resources.

When refugees and migrants faced appalling conditions in the Moria reception centre and other reception centres on the Greek Aegean Islands and we could not use public funding for an EU Member State, we found a solution together with two private foundations and organizations. Theirworld and the Dutch Postcode Lottery specifically earmarked their funding for education to the asylum-seekers, which ECW then invested in UNHCR, UNICEF, their local civil society partners and education administration. In cooperation with UNICEF and Theirworld, EU stepped in and funded this initiative. This eventually enabled transfer to the Government of Greece taking over the responsibility – with over 30,000 children adolescents benefitting thus far.

When the Taliban took over a couple of years ago, we immediately deployed an all-women mission to meet with the de facto Ministry of Education authorities to begin the long, but not impossible, advocacy struggle to get all girls back to learning and to continue our investments in girls’ education in some areas of Afghanistan, which are ongoing today. Today, we know that not all Taliban want to exclude secondary-school girls from school. We see a small step forward, a small window of opportunity. However, it is very painful for the majority of Afghan adolescent girls who are still waiting, and we must never forget them. We cannot rest until all of them can return to secondary school, as a matter of public policy.

When Sudan imploded, we immediately coordinated with UNHCR and travelled to neighbouring refugee-receiving countries making immediate emergency education investments in support of the Regional Refugee Response Plan, calling on public and private sector to follow suit. Sudan is experiencing a horrendous internal armed conflict with grave forced displacement – both internally and across the borders with half a million refugees having fled. In Chad, I met the children and their mothers crossing the border from Darfur, their eyes hollow and their little bodies traumatized by fear. UNHCR staff were sleeping in the reception areas on the Chadian border to provide a sense of safety and protection, while also meeting their immediate needs. I was very moved by the heroic response of UNHCR, an agency I served decades ago.

When Gaza exploded in 2023, ECW was able, thanks to our Executive Committee, to deliver an initial US$10 million immediately for mental health and psychosocial services to children through a well-coordinated response between UNRWA and UNICEF. The enormous needs for mental health and psychosocial services hardly need an explanation. It is a soul-shattering reality for these children. We were able to do something, but it is far from meeting their actual needs. A drop in the ocean.

As regards the ECW proven model, a large part of this relates to our governance structure, which comprises only 40 full-time secretariat staff, our High-Level Steering Group at the Ministerial and CEO levels, and our Executive Committee at the Directors’ level. We have invested much time in communication and dialogue over the years to bridge humanitarian and development narratives and approaches, building a shared spirit of trust and a collective commitment to connecting the dots for speed, results and sustainability. It is all about people working together with the same clarity of priorities, long-term vision and positive energy. This removes redundant bureaucratic hurdles which tend to arise where there is a lack of clarity in communication and different levels of energy.

We continue to revise our Operational Manual to make sure it is fit for purpose. It makes a huge difference when we put the children, their teachers and education at the centre of our vision – letting that vision determine how we operate. With a positive energy compounded by a clear roadmap and strategy, trust and professionalism, I believe all is possible. The ECW governance structure is proof that organizations operating in complex, dynamic environments can work very well by investing in open communication, bridge-building and in adopting an entrepreneurship spirit.

Back to the question as to why the private sector and high-net-worth individuals should invest in ECW and our mission for over 226 million crisis-affected girls, boys and teachers in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Middle East, Latin America, Ukraine or refugees fleeing to Europe, let me refer to the resources that actually exist amongst the world’s billionaires. The Gates Foundation recently stated on X/Twitter that “Globally, the net worth of the world’s 2,640 billionaires is at least $12.2 trillion. If every billionaire on earth donated 0.5% of their wealth, it would unlock $61 billion dollars…”

Besides the socio-economic, peace and stability reasons already mentioned, I think it is now a choice in approach and attitude that the private sector and high-net-worth individuals can adopt; either to be part of making a real difference for over 226 million crisis-affected children and adolescents and derive a deep sense of meaning from this, or to just sit by, doing nothing. Two of my three siblings are private sector entrepreneurs, and they are no less concerned with the education for crisis-affected children and humanity at large, than I am. It is just that I dedicate more time to it, as it is my full-time profession.

We should not underestimate the good-will and the altruism of the private sector and high-net-worth individuals. It is not all about opening markets. It is also about being a concerned human being or enterprise that cares for the world, for children and for future generations – standing ready to use some financial capital and strategic knowledge to contribute to solutions. I am convinced that one can be both a profitable entrepreneur and an impactful humanist.

ECW: Education Cannot Wait became operational in 2017. In just 6 years, you have mobilized billions, changed the lives of millions, and scaled-up your operations across the globe. What is your secret to success for ECW?

ECW Executive Director Yasmine Sherif: Let me say first: It is ECW and the larger ECW Community – governments, strategic public and private sector donors, UN agencies and civil society partners, as well as local communities – who, together, have changed the lives of millions of crisis-affected children.

I do not think it is a secret that great leadership and partnerships constitute a major part of ECW’s rapid growth. In specific, the credit goes to our UN Special Envoy for Global Education and ECW’s Chair of the High-Level Steering Group, the Rt. Hon. Gordon Brown, whom I greatly respect, and to the strong and unwavering support for ECW’s mission provided by the UN Secretary-General, the UN Deputy-Secretary-General, along with all members of the High-Level Steering Group and the Chairs and members of the Executive Committee, including donors, UN agencies, civil society, UN Member States, communities, foundations and private sector.

This ongoing support, close partnerships and firm commitment have created the extraordinary space and trust required for building an innovative, results-driven global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises within the UN system. Credit should also be given to UNICEF and Executive Director Catherine Russell, for being a gracious host to ECW. ECW and our governance structure have independence in all substantive work, while being supported by UNICEF administratively at the secretariat level and often by UNICEF field offices.

The other important ‘secret’ is to assemble a highly qualified, professional, creative team within the ECW secretariat. We all agree that human resources are the most important aspect in building an effective organization. The staff you recruit, their skills and unique qualifications, as well as compatible and complementary personalities, their potential and team-spirit are crucial factors. We receive no core-funding and are exclusively working with extra-budgetary funding, so everyone feels a sense of ownership in mobilizing resources.

At ECW we encourage innovative thinking and taking initiative. This is our culture. We do not shy away from debate and discussion to find solutions together. Our staff represent the full diversity of the United Nations, and we allow everyone to be who they are so they can be their best, while also respecting each other. However, we are not seeking conformity. The great British philosopher, Bertrand Russell, wrote several insightful books on authority, organizations and power; these are great readings for any leader or manager. At the end of the day, we are all committed to reducing redundant bureaucracy and to increasing accountability to those we serve – because abnormal problems require extraordinary solutions.

ECW: Congratulations! Your book “The Case for Humanity: An Extraordinary Session” has been a perennial best seller at the UN for years. What are three books that have most influenced you personally and/or professionally, and why would you recommend them to others?

ECW Executive Director Yasmine Sherif: Thank you. Although I am the author, I still read passages from it sometimes to remind myself to steadfastly hold on to my life-long belief in one humanity and not get discouraged in a world of so much division, chaos and suffering. The Case for Humanity is a semi-fictional book drawing on the authentic words and wisdom of over one hundred of the greatest human beings across time in arts, politics, and service of humanity – with all of them assembled in the UN Security Council. As I researched and wrote the book, I saw clearly how it is true that ‘great people think alike,’ and how their thoughts, writings and actions were fully consistent with the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

As for books that have influenced me, the ones I am most drawn to are books written by authors whose lives were an example, and who help me understand humanity. Nothing influences or inspires me more.

One book that has profoundly influenced me is “Man’s Search for Meaning” by Viktor Frankl, a Holocaust survivor. His entire lifework, research and manuscript were taken away from him when he was sent to Auschwitz, an experience he describes in the first part of the book. Without his manuscript and nothing else left in his life – and in spite of the unfathomable cruelty in the concentration camp – he ultimately decided to choose his response to this horrendous experience and applied his own research and theory, Logotherapy, which he describes in the second part of the book. He had an extraordinary strength to channel unspeakable suffering and pain into a whole new school of psychiatry: Logotherapy.

He also describes the day of liberation and how he treaded carefully to not step on the flowers or crops in the fields due to his deeply felt reverence for any form of life. This is very powerful reading, as are his concluding words: “So let us be alert – alert in a twofold sense: Since Auschwitz we know what man is capable of. And since Hiroshima we know what is at stake.” Understanding his response at a deeper level could resolve many of the problems in the world. His heart-wrenching testimony, his majestic prose and profound insights have had an immense impact in my own life and work.

I was so intensely moved by this book and its universality, that I gave a copy each to my daughter and son when they were teenagers. More than ten years later, they still quote Viktor Frankl when we discuss the state of the world, the human condition or when they contemplate choices in their own daily life. For this I am grateful.

“Beethoven and the Spiritual Path” by David Tame is another book that has influenced me both personally and professionally. My mother was a brilliant pianist and encouraged us from an early age to listen to and appreciate classical music. I was especially fascinated by Beethoven. I loved and still am inspired by his genius in transforming his unquenchable fire into the most magnificent symphonies or the most sublime piano concertos. Suffering from a loss in hearing since childhood and, eventually becoming completely deaf and yet delivering such beautiful music to the world: Imagine what genius, what passion, what determination! Through the book, one can also follow his own spiritual development gradually manifesting in his compositions – with Ode to Joy, from his last Symphony No. 9 – being the grand finale of his lifetime on earth. So, I picked up this book to understand him better as a human being and have read it more than once. He had a deep, grand soul which was connected to something greater than himself and that is why his music is truly immortal.

“Long Walk to Freedom” by Nelson Mandela is a classic and another universal treasure, like the two books above. It is a testimony to the kind of personality the world so desperately needs right now. Mandela’s long and painstaking journey is fascinating, inspiring, liberating and serves as a shining example for us all to follow. Starting off as an adviser to the local chief in his region during the apartheid regime, his decision to study law and take an active role in the resistance to apartheid resulted in him emerging as the leader of ANC. And, after 26 years in prison, he was elected President of a free South Africa. His is an extraordinary example of the strength of the human spirit and genuine leadership.

Naturally, Mandela left behind an immortal legacy that lives on today and continues to inspire billions around the world. His uncompromising commitment to justice and the sacrifices he personally made have helped us define the meaning of true leadership. Leadership is not simply a title or an appointment. It must be earned. It is earned through sacrifice, overcoming fear, and the freedom within, to stand by what is right for humanity.

As a human rights lawyer by training, I am certain that what is right for humanity is best defined in International Human Rights Law and related International Law. Still, one does not need to be a lawyer to understand this. The principle of the ‘Golden Rule’, which can be found in all major world religions would suffice: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” The Golden Rule is also the principle underpinning International Human Rights Law and related International Law. By applying it equally and without discrimination as to race, religion, ethnic group, gender or political opinion, we can establish a world order based on the rule of law, rather than ‘the rule by force.’

Mandela’s oft-quoted words: “Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world,” is of course of immediate professional relevance. Another important quote by Mandela, “May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears,” is worth mentioning. Because we need to make choices every day to live by hope: hope for justice, hope for human rights for all and hope for humanity. It can be very unhealthy and destructive to counsel our fears. I do not think anything that Mandela wrote or said was based on fear, out of expediency, or simply to please anyone. He said what his conscience dictated, he lived by his words, and he made a genuine difference for humanity. This made him both a living legend and a universal icon whose memory we must all keep alive.

Dag Hammarskjold’s “Markings” is also one of my favourite books. It is his diary with passages largely from his time as the UN Secretary-General. He was very deep, authentic and honest with himself. He had a vision and inner conviction. What stands out is his commitment to service at all costs. A man of sacrifices, service and ‘walking ethics.’ As one of my several role models when joining the UN, I have at least three copies of “Markings” spread around at home and have probably read the book ten times. It, too, is immortal, capturing universal truths in words and spirit.

I believe that Dag Hammarskjold was able to grasp that which is universally true for us all in whatever form or shape it takes place, when stating: “Unless there is a spiritual renaissance, the world will know no peace.” His statement connects with the ancient Greek axiom: “Know Thyself,” and Mahatma Gandhi’s well-known words: “You must be the change you wish to see.”

I believe that violent means of conflict resolution, the need for control and superiority, as well as greed, ego and fear are rooted in the unconscious human mind and soul, hence manifested in destruction at smaller or larger scale – the latter causing immense human suffering around the globe. It is all connected. Hammarskjold’s call for a “spiritual renaissance,” is a call for doing the inner work, of becoming conscious, so that we are in touch with ourselves at a deeper level, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. This creates a sense of reverence and gratitude; it enables us to distinguish right from wrong based on universal human rights; and, hence, muster the courage to protect and promote all of this in our daily life – irrespective of our role and function in this world and our purpose in our own lifetime.

This takes me to the final author who most influenced me. Since I love poetry and used to write more when I was younger, I continuously read passages by Rumi. Jalaluddin Rumi was an Islamic scholar, an expert in jurisprudence, a Sufi mystic, a poet and dancing dervish from Balkh Province in today’s Afghanistan; he is buried in Konya, Turkey. He is one of the most well-read poets worldwide. Rumi’s poetry and thoughts deeply touch anyone who reads, contemplates and, above all, feels his sayings and poetry.

Many of his readers will agree that he might be the most enlightened human guide for anyone interested in transforming oneself, and thereby our world. Rumi searched and found that which we are all searching – whether we are aware or not. Through his profound writings, Rumi cracks open the door and shares with us a glimpse.

ECW: A final question: why did you choose to work for international affairs at the global level and focus on human rights and now on education as a foundational human right?

ECW Executive Director Yasmine Sherif: I grew up in a multicultural home. A home of intellectual curiosity, the values of honesty and speaking truth to power, and the freedom to be emotionally authentic. I was blessed with a global worldview and made to feel like a global citizen from a very young age. My mother always told me: “Focus on service to others and all the rest will follow.” This is what inspired me to study international human rights and humanitarian law and to join the UN in my mid-20s. Working internationally for a better world is enriching at all levels and a career path that I highly recommend.

Besides all scientific literature and evidence on parenthood and early childhood education, my own personal experience also reinforces my conviction that early childhood development is the very basis for all subsequent education. It starts at home and during the early years and the formation of the brain, accompanied by well-trained teachers inspiring and nurturing learning for peace throughout adolescence. The first 18 years of life are the most formative years and are critically important for every child and adolescent on the globe. These are the years that our identity is shaped, and our core values are formed.

These are the crucial years that become the foundation in anyone’s life. Of course, it is never too late to learn, change and grow, as life is a journey of learning. However, getting the foundational education right during the first 18 years certainly helps advance and smooth that journey. This is why an inclusive and continued quality education cannot wait for any child, no matter who or where they are.

 

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Credit: Sirachai Arunrugstichai/Getty Images

By Andrew Firmin
LONDON, Feb 1 2024 (IPS)

The military must have expected an easier ride. Three years ago, it ousted Myanmar’s democratically elected government. But the coup has been met with fierce resistance, unleashing a bloody conflict with no end in sight.

Civil society has scrambled to respond to humanitarian needs, defend human rights and seek a path to peace. Last year, civil society organisations in Myanmar and the region developed and endorsed a five-point agenda that calls for an international response to end military violence, including through sanctions, an arms embargo and a referral of Myanmar to the International Criminal Court – a call the UN Security Council hasn’t so far heeded.

Civil society is also demanding that the key regional body, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), takes the conflict more seriously and engages beyond the junta, particularly with democratic forces and civil society.

So far civil society’s calls haven’t been heard. But intensifying violence proves that the approaches tried to far have failed. Staying on the same path is a recipe for further carnage.

Violence and repression

Three years on from the coup, the military doesn’t control significant sections of the ethnically diverse country. People’s defence forces are fighting an armed campaign in support of the ousted National Unity Government, often in alliance with long-established ethnic militia groups.

In October 2023, three armed groups in Myanmar’s north joined the conflict against the junta, forming the Brotherhood Alliance. The resulting offensive in Shan state saw the rebels capture the border town of Laukkai and cut off key trading routes with China. The UN stated that this was the biggest escalation in fighting since the coup. A ceasefire in the region was supposedly agreed in January following China-brokered talks, but fighting resumed.

It seems clear the junta won’t win this conflict any time soon. Morale among armed forces is collapsing and soldiers defecting, deserting or surrendering in growing numbers. Even pro-junta voices on social media have begun to criticise military leaders.

Pushed into a corner, the military is lashing out, committing mass killings, burning villages and unleashing indiscriminate airstrikes to compensate for its struggles on the ground. The deadliest strike so far came in April 2023, when 168 people, including 40 children, were reported killed in the village of Pa Zi Gyi.

This was no one-off. The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar has reported that the junta continues to bomb hospitals, schools, villages and camps for displaced people. Attacks on civilians include mass killings, torture, sexual violence and forced labour, and the junta also obstructs essential humanitarian aid supplies.

In September 2023, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, condemned this violence as ‘inhumanity in its vilest form’. Research suggests that most of the military’s senior commanders are responsible for war crimes.

The humanitarian impacts are deep. By the end of 2023, over 2.6 million people had been displaced, 628,000 of them since the Brotherhood Alliance launched its campaign. The UN assesses that 18.6 million need humanitarian help and 5.3 million need it urgently. But aid workers are being targeted: at least 142 were arrested or detained last year.

The restriction of humanitarian work is part of wider repression. Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a human rights organisation, reports that since the coup 4,468 people have been killed by the junta and pro-military groups. Almost 20,000 people are in detention, among them many activists and protesters charged with offences such as treason and sedition. Torture in prison is widespread, and 34 political prisoners died in detention in 2023.

The junta is doing everything it can to try to control the narrative. It’s believed that 64 journalists are currently detained. Internet shutdowns, website blocking and arrests for social media comments are routine occurrences. Last November, the junta took control of the Broadcasting Council, which oversees TV and radio outlets.

In August 2023, the junta extended the state of emergency, in effect since the coup, for a further six months. The elections that it promised on seizing power are nowhere in sight, and even if they eventually come, they won’t serve any purpose other than trying to legitimise military power.

International action needed

The junta faces strong domestic opposition and has no real international legitimacy but crucially, pressure from the regional body is weak.

ASEAN claims to be following a long-discredited plan, the Five-Point Consensus, which dates back to April 2021. The violence unleashed by the junta against civilians shows it can’t be trusted to act in good faith, but ASEAN still claims to believe it’s possible to involve it in an ‘inclusive dialogue’. At its annual summit in May 2023, ASEAN members reiterated their support for the failed plan, despite civil society’s calls.

ASEAN members are mostly repressive states, and some, including Cambodia and Thailand, have shown signs of seeking to normalise relations with the junta. ASEAN continues to allow junta representatives to attend some of its meetings. This year’s chair, Laos, is an authoritarian state that will have no interest in restoring democracy in Myanmar.

Elsewhere, however, the junta may be running out of friends. China was untroubled by military rule, but it doesn’t want unrest on its border. A potential breakthrough came from the US government in October 2023, when it imposed sanctions on the previously untouchable Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), the state-owned corporation that’s the regime’s main source of foreign income. The European Union also stepped up its sanctions in December 2023, including against two companies providing arms and generating income for the junta.

It remains essential to keep the junta diplomatically isolated and to cut economic relations with the many companies it depends on, including MOGE. It’s vital to stop supplying arms to the junta and, above all, to stop selling it the jet fuel it needs to carry out airstrikes.

A UN Human Rights Council resolution adopted in April 2023 condemned the junta’s violence but failed to call for responses such as bans on the sale of weapons or aviation fuel. Events since then have made it sadly clear that decisive action can no longer wait.

Andrew Firmin is CIVICUS Editor-in-Chief, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report.

 

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Antonio Berni, Unemployed, 1934

By Jan Lundius
STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Feb 1 2024 (IPS)

Karl Marx’s Manifesto of the Communist Party begins with the now worn-out phrase: “A spectre is haunting Europe – the spectre of communism. All the powers of old Europe have entered into a holy alliance to exorcise this spectre”. Nowadays the word “communism” could easily be substituted by “migration”. All over Europe, politicians claim that Europe is being destroyed by migrants. In country after country, ghosts of yesterday are awakened. Parliaments include xenophobic politicians who might be considered as inheritors of demagogs who once dragged Europeans into hate and bloodbaths.

Populists have successfully convinced voters that the greatest threat to their nations is neither inequality, nor climate change, but immigration. Politicized storytellers have found that fear of “the other” can be a means to gain power. Nevertheless, such a fear does not concern any “other” – respected professionals who move to another country are usually not labelled as “migrants”, neither are wealthy businessmen who acquire new passports as easily as they move their money around the world.

To obtain some insights to the often all overshadowing phenomenon of international migration, Jan Lundius recently met with Dr Omar Hammoud Gallego, a fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Omar Hammoud Gallego

IPS: Your research deals with migration, as well as civil society’s connection with international organisations. How did this interest develop?

Hammoud Gallego: Like many of my colleagues and friends, I am the son of migrants. My parents came from different parts of the world and met, married and established themselves in a third country. However, this was not the main reason for me to focus on migration in my research. In 2015, while working for UNHCR in Colombia, where I was engaged in supporting internally displaced Colombians, I soon found out that there was a lack of serious, in-depth research about migration within Latin America. I began to read about regional migration and decided eventually to pursue a PhD on this topic.

IPS: Was it the specific situation in Colombia that made you shift your main interest from internal to regional migration?

Hammoud Gallego: Yes, over the last few years Colombia has received a huge influx of migrants and refugees from Venezuela (although they are recognised as refugees only in a handful of countries). A phenomenon that has not abided. More than 7,7 million migrants and refugees have left Venezuela as a result of political turmoil, socio-economic instability and an ongoing humanitarian crisis, roughly a quarter of the country’s population. While democratic backsliding in the country began with Hugo Chávez, the situation worsened considerably during the presidency of his successor since 2013, Nicolás Maduro. Most refugees, more than 6,5 million, are hosted in Latin American and Caribbean countries; close to three million in Colombia, one and a half million in Peru, and close to half a million in both Chile and Ecuador.

IPS: And the cause of this exodus is mainly political?

Hammoud Gallego: To a certain degree – yes. The Venezuelan government inept and corrupt handling of the economy and plummeting oil prices caused the output of PDVSA (the national oil company) to decrease substantially, leading to lower revenues for the government. As it happens with many countries with vast oil reserves, Venezuela developed into a rentier state, receiving most of its income through the export of oil. Since 2013, the country’s economy has suffered greatly. In 2018, the inflation was more than 63,000 percent compared with the previous year, while nearly 90 percent of the population lives in poverty. Furthermore, estimates by the UN and Human Rights Watch indicate that under Maduro’s administration close to 20,000 people have been subject to alleged extrajudicial killings.

IPS: Is the current situation in Venezuela still excruciating?

Hammoud Gallego: Yes, and the current geopolitical landscape seems to have favoured Maduro’s regime rather than debilitated him. The country is Russia’s most important trading and military ally in South America. Due to the energy crisis linked to Russia’s criminal invasion of Ukraine, the US government in October last year lifted sanctions on the Venezuelan oil and mining sector, which had been in place since early 2019. In spite of this influx of money and support, the situation continues to be severe and so far, few Venezuelans are returning to their country of origin. Many are instead making their way to the Darien Gap, through Panama and from there continue north until they reach the United States. Elections in Venezuela are scheduled for this year, but it is hard to know if Maduro will allow them to take place fairly and transparently.

IPS: How is UNHCR handling the Venezuelan refugee crisis?

Hammoud Gallego: The UNHCR is one of the few UN agencies which depends almost entirely on voluntary contributions. Every year UNHCR funding shifts depending on the outcome of its Global Appeal, the process in which it asks governments and some private donors to contribute to the support of refugees. In 2023, about 74 percent of these funds came from 10 donors only, with much of the funding earmarked for specific crises and only 15% of it consisted of multi-year funds. Commitments are constantly shifting and crises around the world compete for limited resources. For example, when a refugee crisis erupted due to war in Ukraine it meant that less funding was dedicated to Latin American countries hosting Venezuelan refugees, as well as UNHCR commitments in other parts of the world. However, there are many NGOs across the region that also make a concrete difference in the lives of many refugees. For instance, the NGO VeneActiva, which was founded and is led by Venezuelan migrant women and operates in Peru, is one of the best examples in the Latin American region of how civil society can step in and provide the support refugees need. Its digital platform contains key information that helps Venezuelan nationals to restart their lives in Peru. The NGO provides a variety of services, including psychological support and advice on how to regularise one’s migratory status.

IPS: You are currently living in the UK, a country where migration, like in other European nations, is high up on the political agenda. Can you provide us with some insights about how the migration issue is dealt with in the UK?

Hammoud Gallego: Over the last few years, the Conservative government in the UK has been facing a dilemma of its own making. The Brexit decision was supposed to lead to a decrease in immigration, and instead the opposite seems now to have been the case. Still, the lack of enough immigrants to fill in positions in the public sector, particularly in education, and health, and to take on seasonal work in agriculture and construction, has limited economic growth in the country. The health sector was exceptionally hard hit by both Covid and Brexit.

IPS: How is the governing political party affected by the migration issue?

Hammoud Gallego: Since 2010 the UK has had a Conservative-led government, with Conservative party leaders making migration a prime electoral issue. However, according to the latest polling data, it is estimated that 46 percent of voters would vote for the Labour Party in a general election, compared with 22 percent voting for the Conservative Party. Understandably, conservative politicians are worried about losing votes to the far right, and specifically to the Reform Party, and are trying to out-do the far-right by adopting absurd measures to deter the arrival of asylum seekers. One such scheme is the recent Rwanda asylum plan.

IPS: Could you elaborate on whether the Rwanda plan is a feasible project, or not, and why some Conservative politicians actually proposed such a solution for asylum seekers.

Hammoud Gallego: It is a proposal that foresees that some of the asylum seekers who arrive to the UK irregularly will be relocated to Rwanda for processing. Those successful in claiming asylum would remain in Rwanda. It is an absurd proposal based on two wrong assumptions. The first, is that most asylum seekers will know about the scheme. The reality is that the information most of them get, comes from unofficial sources, oftentimes from the smugglers that organise their journeys. Second, even if they knew about the scheme, it is unlikely that it will deter them. For most of them, the choice of a country depends on several factors: the language they speak, the network they have, etc… Also, on their way to the UK asylum seekers have often taken several risks, and suffered greatly, so the minimal risk of being sent to Rwanda will be seen as an acceptable risk for most of them. The reality is that what this plan will only push individuals not to apply for asylum once in the UK, and in many cases simply live in the country with an irregular status, akin to the reality of many Mexican and Central Americans in the US.

IPS: How do you view the future for asylum seekers and so called “economic” migrants?

Hammoud Gallego: It looks bad. I believe that climate change will exacerbate conflicts in many regions of the world, thus forcing people to move. Such challenge needs urgently to be dealt with, both internationally and locally, and it might already be too late. Investments in green energy are far too limited, viable resettlement programs are not in place, leaving asylum seekers no option but to embark on dangerous journeys. Also, one of the main myths surrounding economic migration is that as countries become wealthier, people will have less incentives to leave. The reality is that the poorest individuals in the Global South have always been the ones least likely to travel, as they lack the means to do that. The poor cannot afford to move. As countries become wealthier, the middle classes will seek to travel and migrate more.

IPS: What can be done for migrants who are already in place in Europe, and elsewhere?

Hammoud Gallego: Well thought-through integration policies forcefully implemented and sensible migration policies would be a good place to start. There are many examples of how integration can be conducted successfully. Nations like the UK are to a certain degree proof of this, with a prime minister of Indian origin, and the Mayor of London and First Minister of Scotland both sons of Pakistani immigrants. Considering sudden refugee crises, the way European countries responded to the Ukrainian crisis shows the way forward: let refugees move wherever best suits them, and you will avoid a humanitarian catastrophe. However, politics in Europe seems to be going in the opposite direction. In Germany, Sweden, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands and many other European nations anti-migration and nationalistic forces are gaining strength, not the least among young people who mistrust ageing and unrepresentative traditional parties. If everyone who voted in the election had been aged under 35, Geert Wilders’ Dutch Party for Freedom (PVV) might have won even more votes. In last year’s French presidential runoff, Marine le Pen won 39 percent of votes from people aged 18-24 and 49 percent of those aged 25-34, le Pen’s deputy is the 28 years old Jordan Bardella. Giorgia Meloni’s ruling Brothers of Italy was the preferred party among people under 35 years of age. I assume that the likely win of Donald Trump in the next US elections will boost European anti-migration politics.

IPS: What can immediately be done to address the issue of migrants and asylum seekers already in Europe, and maybe elsewhere as well?

Hammoud Gallego: If governments across Europe were to pursue sensible and evidence-based migration policies instead of replicating far-right talking points, it would be a start. Principled opposition politicians could, instead of focusing exclusively on migration to attract votes, focus more on those aspects of migration policies that might be improved, without resorting to a xenophobic rhetoric that normalises a polarising political discourse. Integration and inclusion are key for people coming to Europe. Integration is both a right and a duty, meaning that every member of a society has to adapt to and respect fundamental human rights, including democracy, the rule of law, freedom of speech and religion, as well as the rights to equality and non-discrimination.
Considering that migration has become a highly politicised issue it has been proposed that long-term immigrants ought to be given the right to vote, thus making their support more appealing to politicians and decision makers. A few countries, such as Chile and New Zealand, are allowing all residents to vote, hoping this would decrease polarisation and marginalisation, whether this will happen remains to be seen. Under all circumstances it would be desirable if we could live in a world where migrants were considered as fellow human beings, rather than as scapegoats for governments’ ineptitudes.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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