Africa - INTER PRESS SERVICE

This article is part of a series on the current state of civil society organisations (CSOs), which will be the focus of International Civil Society Week (ICSW), sponsored by CIVICUS, and scheduled to take place in Belgrade, April 8-12.
 
Lysa John is the secretary-general of CIVICUS, a global alliance of more than 7,000 activists and civil society organisations across 175 countries.

By Lysa John
JOHANNESBURG, Apr 2 2019 (IPS)

“I never thought it would get so big and I think it is amazing.”

The words of a 16-year-old Swedish teenager who skipped school to protest outside her government’s inaction on climate change. Greta Thunberg is marvelling at how, in just a few short months, her solitary protests outside Sweden’s parliament, have inspired and united hundreds of thousands of young people and others across the globe into a powerful, growing grassroots movement for climate change action.

And growing.

Thunberg’s school climate strike has inspired more than 1,500 climate strike events in more than 100 countries across the globe, from Argentina to New Zealand.

Lysa John – Credit: CIVICUS

For those of us fighting what can often feel like a losing battle against a rising tide of rights repression, Thunberg’s words should offer a profoundly insightful message – a lightbulb moment – about the way forward for our struggle for a just, inclusive and sustainable world. About mobilizing for amazing results.

It is fair to say that the traditional civil society sector is at a crossroads. Public trust in and support for aid organisations and NGOs has faded, thanks in part to recent high-profile abuse scandals, dwindling resources and frustration with a lack of real structural societal change in spite of our efforts.

The old approaches of working with governments, who are failing to serve their people’s interests, for incremental change, is not working anymore.

This watershed moment for organized civil society comes amid a serious, global crisis in democracy. A staggering 7 billion people live in countries where fundamental freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly are not properly respected, according to The CIVICUS Monitor, an online platform that tracks threats to civic freedoms worldwide.

In this environment, citizen action is increasingly being organized into grassroots, social movements – mass-based, non-hierarchical groupings driven by people power, that are starting to prove successful in the fight for human rights and social justice.

The global #MeToo gender rights movement and the March for Our Lives American gun reform movement led by high school students – both still growing campaigns – provide encouraging lessons for the Climate School Strike movement on the power of this dynamic approach to activism.

So, how does civil society engage social movements in a way to harness the power of dynamic, new ways to tackling the world’s most pressing challenges?

That’s a key question that more than 700 civil society leaders, activists and international organization representatives will be trying to answer when they meet for the global International Civil Society Week (ICSW) gathering in Belgrade next week, from April 8-12.

Hosted by CIVICUS, a global alliance of civil society organisations in partnership with Civic Initiatives, a Serbian association of NGOs, the conference’s theme, “The Power of Togetherness”, explores how people and organisations around the world can, and are, working together to enable and defend spaces for civic action in a world where global transformations are reshaping how civil society functions.

In order to build stronger, more resilient and effective civil society we need to re-connect with citizens. Across the world, we are seeing the emergence of diverse civic movements aimed at calling out injustices or achieving improvements in governance in local and national contexts.

Many of these are spontaneous, self-organised expressions of change – led by ordinary people who feel strongly about universal values of justice, integrity and solidarity. For formal civil society organisations (CSOs), there could not be a better time to lean into and strengthen approaches to community leadership for ‘glo-cal’ change.

We have the passion and intellect to connect the action on the streets with the spaces where decisions must be taken; and to channel the local energies for change into strategies for long-term, globally-connected transformation.

At the International Civil Society Week (ICSW), a primary goal is for delegates to work together to understand and connect with people’s movements on the streets around the world, to build bridges that strengthen alliances and create solidarity and to identify steps to build and sustain collective impact.

On every continent, forces seek to undo the advances made in our societies and communities. But around the world, brave citizens continue to risk their lives to stand up against repression and persecution.

The ICSW is all the more significant this year as civil society leaders, activists and innovators are gathering in a country in which a growing social movement has been demonstrating some of these very goals.

For weeks now, there have been ongoing mass protests in the capital, Belgrade, calling for democratic reforms under the banner of a campaign known as “#OneinFiveMillion. The campaign is a live example of how civil society plays an instrumental role in fighting to protect and expand civic freedoms and democratic values in the Balkans and globally. The toppling of Macedonia’s government in 2017 by unprecedented civic action is another example of that fight back.

Serbian civil society played a crucial role in the country’s transition to democracy. But not all parts of the country’s society are equally protected, with gay-rights activists and women human rights defenders, in particular, targets of attacks and threats.

By hosting ICSW 2019 in Serbia, we will shine a spotlight on the region’s communities, help address their challenges and find ways to support them.

We will also examine the opportunities we have to forge new alliances and increase our collective impact by coming together to fight for common issues. Across the past year, we have civil society get better at transferring strategies and lessons for change across countries.

India’s legal win for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community has, for instance, boosted efforts to repeal discriminatory laws in other countries, including Costa Rica and Portugal. In Argentina, Kenya and Ireland, we saw ordinary people take action to defend and advance abortion rights.

Last, but not in the least, we will spend time reviewing the changes we need within civil society and the way we operate. We need greater accountability for our own actions and the way we engage those we are meant to serve and represent.

Revelations of scandals around sexual and other misconduct by NGO officials in recent years have done much to erode public trust in the integrity of our organisations and our mission. Urgent solutions – new ways of operating – will continue to be sought through our deliberations at the International Civil Society Week.

As in previous years, this week of dialogue will enable us to emerge stronger in our individual and collective inspirations for change. The ICSW is that much needed space for us to step back from the overwhelming urgency of ‘doing’ and spend time instead thinking deeply about questions of our relevance and legitimacy as a sector.

It will be a time for us to go beyond individual mandates and limitations, and work instead on developing pathways for our future relevance, including in relation to investments we need to make in order nurture the next generation of civic leaders.

This includes decisive and innovative ways to expand the tent of ‘civil society’ beyond traditional limits and enabling more people than ever before to share our values and speak out for the changes needed to ensure a just, inclusive and sustainable world.

Building a new generation of champions for social justice – in the way that Greta Thunberg has inspired millions of children and youth to take action for the climate – is the future we need to design together; our time in Belgrade offers us the opportunity to commit to doing this better and more actively together.

The post Grassroots Organising Points the way in Fight Against Rising Repression appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

This article is part of a series on the current state of civil society organisations (CSOs), which will be the focus of International Civil Society Week (ICSW), sponsored by CIVICUS, and scheduled to take place in Belgrade, April 8-12.

 
Lysa John is the secretary-general of CIVICUS, a global alliance of more than 7,000 activists and civil society organisations across 175 countries.

The post Grassroots Organising Points the way in Fight Against Rising Repression appeared first on Inter Press Service.

The post An Indigenous Nation Battles for Land and Justice in Bolivia appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio. Courtesy: The Commonwealth

By Lahai J. Samboma
LONDON, Apr 1 2019 (IPS)

If the government of Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio were to be graded on their first year’s performance in office, it is likely that their report card would read, “promising start, which they must surpass in the years ahead”.

Since taking office after his successful election last year, this retired brigadier general has made a promising start, beginning with a massive investigation into corruption and mismanagement under All Peoples Congress (the APC) government of ex-President Ernest Bai Koroma.

On the recommendations of that investigation, a judge-led public inquiry is now examining corruption allegations against former officials. Early scalps in this veritable war on graft include those of ex-Vice President Victor Bockarie Foh and former minister Minkailu Mansaray; they have both offered to return money they stole.

The issue of corruption hits a raw nerve here, a country that is desperately poor despite its wealth of natural resources and fertile lands, which in a parallel universe would guarantee a decent standard of life for every one of its 7.5 million citizens. Former government officials are also widely believed to have stolen resources meant for the victims of the Ebola and mudslide disasters which laid waste to thousands a few years back.

Freetown resident Levi Fofana captures the public mood when he says Bio came at the “right time”. “The people of Sierra Leone were lied to by the roguish APC, which created a bankrupt state in which swindlers dressed in suits and African robes abused power with impunity,” he said.

Although ex-President Koroma has called the anti-corruption drive a “witch-hunt”, ordinary people are enthused, urging the government on. They hope Koroma will find himself in the dock one day soon; they want to know how the former president and his close family and associates became “overnight millionaires”.

Bio was the leader of the former military junta who handed power to a democratically-elected government after organising elections in 1996. He has brought renewed hope to this coastal West African nation which suffered a devastating civil war in the 1990s that killed tens of thousands and devastated the economy – and which had to endure a decade-long APC hegemony characterised by corruption, economic decline, and drift.

He inherited state liabilities of 3.7 billion dollars. Simultaneously as he drove forward his anti-corruption campaign, the new President upon taking office established a consolidated account for all government revenues. The goal was to plug any potential “leakages” in his own administration.

According to T J Lamina, Sierra Leone’s High Commissioner to London, the policy has been a success, and is still in place one. Revenues collected have gone towards servicing the domestic debt and paying civil servants, who were now getting paid on time and without government having to borrow.

Ambassador Lamina told IPS: “It’s not like Sierra Leone is not generating revenue; the revenue is there but it was going into private pockets.”

Bio’s stewardship of the economy has won plaudits from the IMF, who have approved a new two-year support programme worth 172 million dollars. The World Bank has chimed in with support to the tune of 325 million dollars. Both Bretton Woods institutions’ relationship with the previous administration had been “increasingly difficult”, which saw the IMF suspending their programme in 2017. President Bio has said both institutions were “necessary evils”.

His ambitious, five-year National Development Plan, costed at 8 billion dollars, was unveiled in February and has been endorsed by the Bretton Woods double act. Its key pillars include the development of human capital and infrastructure, and increasing agricultural production, especially of the staple food, rice – which the country used to export up till the 1970s, but which is now sucks up valuable foreign exchange to import.

Inevitably with report cards, you eventually get to the bits that cause embarrassment or feelings of regret in the subject. In this case one of these has to be the alarming rates of gender-based violence against women and young girls. The available figures paint the story in vivid technicolour.

According to police statistics, there were 632 cases of rapes or sexual assaults in 2012. That figure rose to an astronomical 8,505 for last year alone. Over 70 percent of victims were girls under 15 years old. Although the government declared the crisis a state of emergency and speedily passed legislation making the “sexual penetration of minors” punishable with an automatic life sentence, it remains to be seen how effective this will be.

“Our commitment [to solving this problem] is beyond mere words and beyond mere acknowledgement of an obligation,” President Bio has said. “The protection and empowerment of our women and girls is critical to our existence and progress as a nation.”

While it is true that they inherited the problem, it would be a harsh indictment of President Bio’s “new direction” if, by this time next year, the incidence of egregious sexual violence remains at unacceptably-high levels.

Observers also expressed concern over last year’s arrest by police of a man who led a demonstration against the removal of subsidies from petrol and kerosene. He was later released without charge. Rights groups subsequently called on the government to respect the right of peaceful protest.

“The price of our fuel was hiked because the IMF told government to do it,” said protester Fatmata Bangura, adding that the move would put “more strain on a budget already under a lot of pressure”.

From an appraisal of the first year of President Bio’s government, two things are clear. The first is that he has entered into a marriage of convenience with the IMF and the World Bank; the second is that, if his government’s promising start is to be surpassed, or even sustained, he will need the skills of a master magician to keep both his people, as well as his “marriage partners”, happy.

 

The post Sierra Leone: Bio Government’s First Year appeared first on Inter Press Service.

This article is part of a series on the current state of civil society organisations (CSOs), which will be the focus of International Civil Society Week (ICSW), sponsored by CIVICUS, and scheduled to take place in Belgrade, April 8-12.
 
Michel Forst is the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, and a speaker at the International Civil Society Week, 8-12 April 2019, in Belgrade, Serbia

By Michel Forst
GENEVA, Apr 1 2019 (IPS)

They are ordinary people – mothers, fathers, sisters, sons, daughters, brothers, friends. But for me they are extraordinary people – the ones who have the courage to stand up for everyone else’s rights.

They are the human rights defenders.

Last year, according to reliable sources, 321 of them were killed, in 27 countries. Their murders were directly caused by the work they do to ensure the rest of us enjoy the rights we claim as purely because we are human.

The mandate on the situation of human rights defenders was established in 2000 by the Commission on Human Rights (as a Special Procedure) to support implementation of the 1998 Declaration on human rights defenders.

Countless others were tortured, raped and threatened, also for the work they do protecting their, and others’ human rights.

In fact, 2018 was deadliest year for human rights defenders since the UN began monitoring the challenges they face through the establishment of a mandate for a Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders.

It shouldn’t be like this.

Last year we marked 70 years since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and 20 since the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders. The latter Declaration provides for the practical support and protection of human rights defenders as they go about their work.

It is addressed not just to states and to human rights defenders, but to everyone. It tells us that we all have a role to fulfil as human rights defenders and emphasises that there is a global human rights movement that involves us all.

This is a task we are not performing well.

Human rights should not need defenders, and human rights defenders should not need protection from the might of oppressive governments, corrupt multinationals and crooked legal systems. But this is an imperfect, human world.

Since 2000, when we UN Special Rapporteurs on the situation of human rights defenders began our monitoring work, much progress has been made. There has been extensive discussion on how these courageous people should be protected, and there is a Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders and Journalists in a limited number of countries.

Sadly, it is often not properly implemented, or funded.

It is impossible to canvass each defender’s particular treatment or mistreatment by the authorities they face, or even that of communities of defenders. There are, however, trends.

On 23 October last year, Julián Carrillo, an indigenous rights defender from Mexico’s state of Chihuahua told a friend by phone that he believed he was being watched and that he was going into hiding. On the evening of 25 October, his body was found. He had been shot several times.

On 22 August last year, Annaliza Dinopol Gallardo, a Filipina land rights defender known to her community as “Ate Liza”, was shot dead outside Sultan Kudarat State University in Tacurong City. She had four children.

Mr Carillo’s murder is indicative of the largest trend. More than two-thirds – a full 77% – of the total number of defenders killed were defending land, environmental or indigenous peoples’ rights, often in the context of extractive industries and state-aligned mega-projects.

Ms Gallardo’s murder represents another trend – the number of attacks on women and girls who are defenders is increasing. In the recent report that I have presented to the UN Human Rights Council I have highlighted that, in addition to the threats experienced by their male colleagues, women human rights defenders face gendered and sexualised attacks from both state and non-state actors, as well as from within their own human rights movements.

This includes smear campaigns questioning their commitment to their families; sexual assault and rape; militarised violence; and the harassment and targeting of their children.

Changing all this is our task for the future. Protection Mechanisms for Human Rights Defenders and Journalists need to be properly implemented and funded, at national level.

We need to empower defenders and increase the abilities of those who are responsible for their protection to keep them safe. We also need to improve the accountability mechanisms these officials operate under.

To properly defend the defenders, we also need to recognise their diversity, and that each one of them faces challenges particular to their individual circumstances. There is no one-size-fits-all answer to ensuring each defender is able to do their work unfettered.

We need to acknowledge that defenders, just like all of us, live in this modern, interconnected world.

Protecting them means covering all aspects of their safety: physical, psychological and digital. It means doing so with flexibility. It also means that our protection needs to extend to their families, and the groups and organisations they belong to. We need to speak to them about what they need to feel safe.

In recent years the world has taken a worrying turn away from respect for human rights. Increasingly, groups are becoming inward-looking, and nations nationalistic. We need human rights defenders now more than ever.

They also need us.

The post Human Rights Defenders Need to be Defended as Much as they Defend our Rights appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

This article is part of a series on the current state of civil society organisations (CSOs), which will be the focus of International Civil Society Week (ICSW), sponsored by CIVICUS, and scheduled to take place in Belgrade, April 8-12.

 
Michel Forst is the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, and a speaker at the International Civil Society Week, 8-12 April 2019, in Belgrade, Serbia

The post Human Rights Defenders Need to be Defended as Much as they Defend our Rights appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Joseph Chamie is former Director of the United Nations Population Division.

By Joseph Chamie
NEW YORK, Apr 1 2019 (IPS)

Two, four and eight billion people is the extraordinary doubling and redoubling of the world’s population that occurred in slightly less than a century. World population, which had grown to 2 billion by 1927, doubled to 4 billion by 1974 and will reach 8 billion by around 2023.

Source: United Nations Population Division.

 

Is that record-breaking demographic growth of world population likely to be repeated in the 21st century? The short answer is:  while a doubling of world population over the course of the 21st century is possible, its quadrupling is not in the cards.

In the late 1960s the growth rate of the world’s population peaked at 2.1 percent and has since declined to approximately half that level, or 1.1 percent. The annual addition to the world’s population also peaked in the late 1980s at nearly 93 million and is now about 82 million per year. The primary reason for lower levels of world population growth is the decline in fertility rates or the average number of births per woman.

At the beginning of the 20th century average global fertility was still about six births per woman. By 1950 world fertility had declined only slightly to five births per woman, with less than a handful of countries having rates below the replacement level. During the second half of the 20th century, however, birth rates dropped relatively rapidly across most countries, resulting in today’s world fertility level of about 2.5 births per woman (Figure 2).

 

Source: United Nations Population Division.

 

Powerful forces, which continue to operate today, brought about the declines in fertility primarily during the second half of the 20th century. Particularly noteworthy among those forces were lower mortality, increased urbanization, widespread education, improvements in the status of women and modern contraceptives.  Survival of the young, migration from rural areas to urban centers, education and employment of women contributed greatly to the desire of couples, especially women, to delay, space and limit childbearing.

Not so long ago, the attempts of women and men to time and limit their number of children were resisted, with some countries having laws preventing the distribution of contraceptive materials and information. Throughout the 20th century especially following the Second World War, public attitudes, government policies and personal behavior changed markedly regarding birth control and contraception.

In the early 1960s modern contraceptives, notably the oral contraceptive pill, became available to married women and subsequently to unmarried women. Today nearly two-thirds of women aged 15 to 49 years who are married or in a union are using contraceptives, with close to 60 percent of them using a modern family planning method. However, one in ten married or in-union women aged 15 to 49 years, or approximately 142 million women, want to stop or delay childbearing but are not using any contraceptive method to prevent pregnancy.

The availability of the oral pill and other modern contraceptive methods permitted couples to gain control over the number and timing of their births. The ability for both women and men to determine the timing and number of births is certainly a major achievement having enormous demographic, social, economic and political consequences.

Although mortality levels continue to play an important role in the growth of world population as it has throughout human history, fertility rates constitute the critical determinant of the future size of world population. If birth rates remain unchanged at current levels, a highly unlikely scenario given recent trends, the world’s population would reach 26.3 billion by the end of the century (Figure 3).

 

Source: United Nations Population Division.

 

If fertility rates continue their decline and move to the replacement level of about two births per woman, which is the United Nations medium variant, world population is projected to be 11.2 billion in 2100. A half child above and below the replacement level yields the United Nations high and low variants for world population of 16.5 billion and 7.3 billion, respectively, at the close of the century.

While world population is not likely to quadruple in the 21st century, the populations of approximately three-dozen countries, largely in sub-Saharan Africa, are projected to more than quadruple during this century according to the United Nations medium variant. Africa’s largest country Nigeria, for example, is projected to have its population sextuple over the 21st century, from 122 million at its start to 794 million at its close.

While world population is not likely to quadruple in the 21st century, the populations of approximately three-dozen countries, largely in sub-Saharan Africa, are projected to more than quadruple during this century

The country with the most rapid rate of projected population growth is Niger. Its population is expected to increase seventeen-fold over the 21st century, from 11 million to 192 million, again according to the medium variant. If fertility were to decline more rapidly, the low variant, from its current 7 births per woman to 4 births per woman by mid-century and to the replacement level of 2 births per woman by the century’s close, Niger’s population would increase nearly thirteen-fold to 144 million during the century. Moreover, even if its fertility rate were to fall immediately to the replacement level, the instant replacement variant, Niger’s population is projected to triple to 37 million over the 21st century.

In contrast to the countries with populations that are projected to more than quadruple, the populations of some 50 countries are projected to decline during the 21st century, according to the medium scenario. Moreover, 30 of those countries are expected to experience population declines of at least 20 percent over the current century.

Japan, for example, is projected to have its population decline by 34 percent over the 21st century, from 128 million to 85 million. China, the largest population among this group of countries, is expected to see its population of 1.3 billion in 2000 drop to 1.0 billion by 2100, a decline of 20 percent. The most rapid population declines during the 21st century of approximately 50 percent are projected for Bulgaria, Latvia and Moldova.

In terms of absolute numbers, ten countries account for 62 percent of the projected world population growth between today and the close of the century, which is approximately 3.5 billion according to the United Nations medium variant (Figure 4). Of those countries, the top five contributors to population growth in the 21st century are in sub-Saharan Africa: Nigeria (17 percent), Democratic Republic of Congo (9 percent), Tanzania (7 percent), Niger (5 percent), Uganda (5 percent), India (4 percent), Pakistan (4 percent), Angola (4 percent), Ethiopia (4 percent) and the United States (3 percent).

 

Source: United Nations Population Division.

 

World demographics of the recent past are explicit, detailed and straightforward. The 20th century was the most rapid world population growth in human history. Although dramatic declines in mortality and fertility levels have taken place, the growth of world population continues but at a slower pace than the recent past.

It is evident that world population will soon reach 8 billion and will continue to increase well after that demographic milestone. As described above, the future growth of world population will largely be a function of the path of future fertility, especially across the high fertility countries of Africa.

Of course, the future of world population remains uncertain and current demographic conditions, particularly mortality and morbidity levels, could change markedly for the worse as has occurred at various times in the past.

Nevertheless, population projections for the 21st should not be dismissed as merely demographic soothsaying. Demographic projections provide valuable insight into the most likely future course of population growth and what policies and programs may be needed to address changing demographic conditions and their consequences.

A world population of 8 billion people and possibly double that number by the century’s close poses a plethora of critical challenges for humanity as well as the planet’s flora and fauna. Prominent among those challenges, especially relevant for rapidly growing developing countries, are concerns about food, water, housing, education, employment, health, peace and security, governance, migration, human rights, energy, natural resources and the environment.

Unfortunately, in too many instances political leaders have chosen to address those critical challenges with the three D’s: Denial, Delay and Do nothing. In order to deal effectively with the many population related challenges of the 21st century, government policies and programs as well as the efforts of international and national organizations should be guided by the three A’s:  Acknowledge accurately, Analyze thoroughly and Act prudently.

 

The post 2, 4, 8 and ? Billion People appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Joseph Chamie is former Director of the United Nations Population Division.

The post 2, 4, 8 and ? Billion People appeared first on Inter Press Service.

By Jan Lundius
STOCKHOLM / ROME, Apr 1 2019 (IPS)

On March 19, 78 years old Nursultan Äbisjuly Nazarbayev unexpectedly announced his resignation as President of Kazakhstan, referring to the need for “a new generation of leaders”. The same day the speaker of the nation´s parliament was appointed as interim president, awaiting presidential elections scheduled for 2020.

Nazarbayev ruled his country for more than a quarter-century and since all influence on public administration rests securely with his Nur Otan Party it will undoubtedly once again win the elections. In 2015, Nazarbayev received 97.8 percent of the presidential votes. Why Nazarbayev resigned is open to speculations, though a common assumption is that he intends to yield power to his eldest daughter, Senator Dariga Nazarbayeva, and by resigning give her time to secure necessary support for a credible victory in the upcoming elections.

On March 20, the Kazakh Parliament unanimously decided to change the name of the capital from Astana to Nursultan, to honour the Elbasy, Leader of the Nation, Nursultan Äbisjuly Nazarbayev. The name change has raised questions and worries around the world. Is a name so important? Probably.

In 2014, Nazarbayev suggested that Kazakhstan should change its name to Kazakh Yeli since its current name associated his nation with other -stannations. He noted that Mongolia receives more investment probably because it is not considered to be a
-stancountry, even if it is in the neighbourhood of and not as stable and wealthy as Kazakhstan.

It might be true that Nazarbayev´s assumption is well-founded. Kazakhstan is probably worthy of more global attention. It is the world´s largest landlocked country and the ninth largest in the world. Rich in oil and minerals its economy grows at an average of eight percent a year, making it the first former Soviet Republic to repay all its debts to the International Monetary Fund. In spite of a muffled press and apparent corruption it is according to the World Bank a politically stable country, free of violence. It has furthermore, probably due it is growing wealth, advantageous relations and cooperation with nations as diverse as Russia, USA, Iran, Israel and Ukraine.

An ad for The Walt Disney Company once declared: “What’s in a name? Everything!” The name of individuals have become brands, synonymous with either good or evil. The mentioning of names like Hitler or Stalin may evoke fear and dislike, while other names are associated with quality and creativity, like the names of innovators used for prestigious companies – Friedrich Bayer, André-Gustave Citroën, Christian Dior, Gaspare Campari, William Colgate, King Camp Gillette, Soichiro Honda, Will Keith Kellogg, Max Factor, Henri Nestlé, Sakichi Toyoda, Werner von Siemens, Henry E. Steinway, Andreas Stihl, etc.

On the contrary to take the name away from someone is a way to obliterate her/him. Names were removed from concentration camp prisoners, they became things and could thus be exploited and annihilated. For example, during World War II, the Imperial Japanese Army’s Unit 731 was engaged in deadly experiments on human beings. Prisoners were injected with pathogenic microbes, exposed to different types of weaponry and subjected to other “experimental” atrocities. Victims were designated with numbers from 101 to 1,500. When all had been killed, the count restarted from 101. They were known as “logs”, maruta and deaths were reported as numbers of “felled logs”.

Conquerors have often taken away names of people and the places they inhabit, replacing them with their own. The Philippines are named after Philip II of Spain, while Zimbabwe and Zambia once were named Southern- and Northern Rhodesia after the white supremacist and billionaire Cecil Rhodes, who owned the investment company that controlled these territories. The capital of the Congo Free State carried the name Leopoldville after Leopold II of Belgium, the mass murderer who by foreign nations during the so called Berlin Conference 1885 had been given the immense territory as his personal domain. The capital of the neighbouring country still carries the name Brazzaville after Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza, governor-general of the French Congo. The same is true of countless other places all over the world, renamed after foreign intruders.

Catchy and inspiring names may support rise to power. During his election campaign Donald Trump benefitted from the fact that he was not only a person, but a brand as well. The name Trump had become a product projecting what his company, The Trump Organization, wanted to represent – fame, success, glitz, glamour, wealth and power.

The success of, or repression by, political leaders is accordingly expressed by their names, their brands. Revolutionary leaders often choose striking sobriquets, like Nguyễn Sinh Cung who chose Ho Chi Minh, He Who Has Been Enlightened, which eventually became the name of a town as well. Ioseb Jughashvili chose Stalin, Man of Steel, and not only Stalingrad was named after him, but towns in all Soviet republics and satellites bore names like Stalino, Stalin, Stalinsi, Stalinogród, Stalinogorsk, Stalinsk, Stalinabad, while other towns were named after his henchmen, like Voroshilov, Kirov, Beria, Molotov and Kalinin.

If US citizens are surprised by the impudence of naming towns and capitals after living persons they might be oblivious of the fact that their nation´s capital was named after George Washington while he was still alive. There are even entire countries named after their rulers, like Saudi Arabia, which bears the name of the House of Saud, a dynasty founded in the18th century and still ruling that nation.

Names are signs of lasting power. If a ruler was despotic and his name attached to places it is generally taken away after his death. Like the tyrant Trujillo, who for more than thirty years ruled the Dominican Republic as his personal domain and had his nation´s capital and highest peak named after himself. These names were taken away after his death and when his son and heir had fled the country. However, Gabon´s capital is still named Bongoville after Omar Bongo, who died as one of the wealthiest heads of state, due to oil revenues and shameless corruption, while his son continues to rule the country.

We may hope that the renaming of Astana to Nursultan is not a sign of uncontrolled megalomania, like the one that befell Kazakhstan´s southern neighbour, Turkmenistan, where Saparmurat Atayevich Niyazov, self-appointed Father to the Turkmen, Turkmenbashi, renamed the days of the week and the months of the year after himself and members of his family. He constructed a 120-metre-tall tower, crowned by a gold-plated, revolving sculpture of himself – his face is always directed towards the sun. Niyazov also decided that all libraries outside the capital would be closed, declaring that the only book worth reading was his own Ruhnama; mandatory reading for students, state employees and for those who aspire to obtain a driving license. When Turkmenbashi died in December 2006, he was followed by former dentist Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, who named himself Arkadag, the Protector. It is maybe Berdymukhamedov’s odontological background that has made him love whiteness. Dark-coloured cars have since January 2018 been banned from the streets of the capital. Like his predecessor, Berdymukhamedov also likes gold. In 2015 he “humbly accepted” an equestrian monument. Covered with 24 karats gold Berdymukhamedov is now represented mounted on a horse on top of a 20 metres high, dazzlingly white, marble cliff. In February 2017, Berdymukhamedov was re-elected President of Turkmenistan with 97 percent of the votes in his favour, though his nation´s capital is still named Asischabad.

Jan Lundius holds a PhD. on History of Religion from Lund University and has served as a development expert, researcher and advisor at SIDA, UNESCO, FAO and other international organisations.

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View of the Soviet delegation (left) and United States negotiating team (right) sitting together during Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) in Vienna, Austria circa 1970. Negotiations would last from 1969 until May 1972 at a series of meetings in both Helsinki and Vienna and result in the signing of the SALT I agreement between the United States and Soviet Union in May 1972. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)

By Daryl G. Kimball
WASHINGTON DC, Apr 1 2019 (IPS)

Fifty years ago, shortly after the conclusion of the 1968 nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), the United States and the Soviet Union launched the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT).

Negotiated in the midst of severe tensions, the SALT agreement and the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty were the first restrictions on the superpowers’ massive strategic offensive weapons, as well as on their emerging strategic defensive systems.

The SALT agreement and the ABM Treaty slowed the arms race and opened a period of U.S.-Soviet detente that lessened the threat of nuclear war.

The size of U.S. and Russian nuclear stockpiles has decreased significantly from their Cold War peaks, but the dangers posed by the still excessive arsenals and launch-under-attack postures are even now exceedingly high.

Further progress on nuclear disarmament by the United States and Russia has been and remains at the core of their NPT Article VI obligation to “pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament.”

But as the 2020 NPT Review Conference approaches (scheduled to take place at the UN April 29-May10), the key agreements made by the world’s two largest nuclear powers are in severe jeopardy.

Dialogue on nuclear arms control has been stalled since Russia rejected a 2013 U.S. offer to negotiate nuclear cuts beyond the modest reductions mandated by the 2010 New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START).

More recently, the two sides have failed to engage in serious talks to resolve the dispute over Russian compliance with the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, which will likely be terminated in August. Making matters worse, talks on extending New START, which is due to expire in 2021, have not begun.

Last year, Russia said it was interested in extending New START, but Team Trump will only say it remains engaged in an interagency review of the treaty. That review is led by National Security Advisor John Bolton, who publicly called for New START’s termination shortly before he joined the administration.

New START clearly serves U.S. and Russian security interests. The treaty imposes important bounds on the strategic nuclear competition between the two nuclear superpowers.

Failure to extend New START, on the other hand, would compromise each side’s understanding of the others’ nuclear forces, open the door to unconstrained nuclear competition, and undermine international security.

Agreement to extend New START requires the immediate start of consultations to address implementation concerns on both sides.

Instead of agreeing to begin talks on a New START extension, U.S. State Department officials claim that “the United States remains committed to arms control efforts and remains receptive to future arms control negotiations” but only “if conditions permit.”

Such arguments ignore the history of how progress on disarmament has been and can be achieved. For example, the 1969–1972 SALT negotiations went forward despite an extremely difficult geostrategic environment.

As U.S. and Russian negotiators met in Helsinki, President Richard Nixon launched a secret nuclear alert to try to coerce Moscow’s allies in Hanoi to accept U.S. terms on ending the Vietnam War, and he expanded U.S. bombing into Cambodia and Laos.

Meanwhile, the Soviet Union sent 20,000 troops to Egypt to back up Cairo’s military campaign to retake the Sinai Peninsula from Israel. In late 1971, Nixon risked war with the Soviet Union and India to help put an end to India’s 1971 invasion of East Pakistan.

Back then, the White House and the Kremlin did not wait until better conditions for arms control talks emerged. Instead, they pursued direct talks to achieve modest arms control measures that, in turn, created a more stable and predictable geostrategic environment.

Today, U.S. officials, such as Christopher Ford, assistant secretary of state for international security and nonproliferation, argue that the NPT does not require continual progress on disarmament and that NPT parties should launch a working group to discuss how to create an environment conducive for progress on nuclear disarmament.

Dialogue between nuclear-armed and non-nuclear-weapon states on disarmament can be useful, but the U.S. initiative titled “Creating an Environment for Nuclear Disarmament” must not be allowed to distract from the Trump administration’s lack of political will to engage in a common-sense nuclear arms control and risk reduction dialogue with key nuclear actors.

The current environment demands a productive, professional dialogue between Washington and Moscow to extend New START by five years, as allowed by Article XIV of the treaty; to reach a new agreement that prevents new deployment of destabilizing ground-based, intermediate-range missiles; and maintain strategic stability and reduce the risk of miscalculation.

Ahead of the pivotal 2020 NPT Review Conference, all states-parties need to press U.S. and Russian leaders to extend New START and pursue further effective measures to prevent an unconstrained nuclear arms race. Failure to do so would represent a violation of their NPT Article VI obligations and would threaten the very underpinnings of the NPT regime.

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Excerpt:

Daryll G. Kimball is Executive Director, Arms Control Association, Washington DC

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By Geneva Centre
GENEVA, Apr 1 2019 (IPS-Partners)

(Geneva Centre) – The Geneva Centre for Human Rights Advancement and Global Dialogue (“the Geneva Centre”) was invited by the Secretariat of the Human Rights Council (HRC) to participate in the first informal exchange of views on the issue of the 2021/2026 review of the status of the Human Rights Council.

Permanent Missions, national institutions, international organizations, NGOs, civil society organizations and human rights bodies were present at the informal consultative session.

The Geneva Centre attended the consultative session held at UNOG. In its statement, the Geneva Centre expressed its position on the reform proposals expressed in the Roadmap for 2019 and of the five fundamental questions raised by the President of the Human Rights Council Mr Coly Seck in his letter of 11 March 2019 addressed to Permanent Missions and civil society organizations in Geneva.

The initial part of the informal consultative session explored whether the Council could contribute to the General Assembly’s review of the Council’s status, what the Council’s contributions could take and the topics that should be addressed.

In this connection, the Geneva Centre stated that the Council could contribute to the review of its status and submit its recommendations to the UN General Assembly. It likewise recommended that the Council continue to remain a subsidiary body of the UN General Assembly as the elevation of its status to a main body – reporting to the UN Security Council instead of the UN General Assembly – would have adverse impacts on the functioning of the Council.

In this regard, the Geneva Centre underlined that the endorsement of human rights resolutions would be limited to a restricted body within which five members have veto power. “This would therefore politicise human rights at a time when civil society organizations are exerting themselves to make values prevail over politics,” the Geneva Centre highlighted.

In addition, it was likewise remarked that the Council would lose its access to universality which it enjoyed through reporting to the UN General Assembly. This would in fact downgrade the impact of its work “unless the Council itself is enlarged to become a universal body.” The Geneva Centre therefore recommended that the question of making the Council a main organ of the UN should be discussed jointly with that of “broadening its membership to become a universal body.”

In relation to the possibility of reviewing the work and functions of the Council, the Geneva Centre highlighted that such a process would allow the Council to “enhance its moral authority worldwide” should it be conducted in an objective, transparent and pragmatic manner. It underlined that the review of 2010/2011 was too politicized and that pursuing a similar path, in the present context, would impede the ability of the Council to enhance its long-term efficiency and to fulfil its mandate.

In conclusion, the Geneva Centre suggested to the President of the Council that a review of UN human rights mechanisms’ methods of work and functioning could take place during 2021.

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Tropical Cyclone Idai made landfall on Mar. 14 and 15, destroying some 90 percent of Beria, the capital of Sofala province, according to reports. A majority of those affected are living in makeshift camps as they try to rebuild. Credit: Andre Catuera/IPS

By Amos Fernando
MAPUTO, Mar 29 2019 (IPS)

The city of Dondo, about 30 kilometres from Beira, central Mozambique, didn’t escape the strong winds of Cyclone Idai. It is estimated that more than 17,000 families were displaced and more than a dozen schools were destroyed in the city.

While the world has rallied around Mozambique and countries in Southern Africa affected by Cyclone Idai in order to provide aid, the smaller city of Dondo, which requires food and medical assistance, says it is not receiving enough.

Currently the Mozambique National Institute of Disaster Management (INGC), supported by international agencies, is providing aid to the area.
But in an interview with IPS, the mayor of Dondo, Manuel Chaparica, says that “the efforts have done until now is very little to the city of Dondo,” adding that “right now the support is directed to people who are in accommodation centres [schools or other buildings where people who lost their homes are being housed], but there are a lot of people in their homes with nothing to eat.”

Over 6,000 people are currently being housed in schools around Dondo. And Chaparica points out that “there is an effort to relocate all people housed at schools to resettlement centres in the Samora Machel and Macharote neighbourhoods, to allow for the resumption of classes in these schools.”

Across Mozambique more than 168,000 families (about 600,000 people) have been affected, the majority of whom are now living in makeshift camps in Sofala province. Of this number, more than 100,000 families are estimated to be from Beira where they have lost their homes and all their possessions. In addition, at least one million children and women require urgent assistance. Credit: Andre Catuera/IPS

Tropical Cyclone Idai made landfall on Mar. 14 and 15, destroying some 90 percent of Beria, the capital of Sofala province, according to reports. Idai produced torrential rains and strong winds of around 180 to 200 kilometres per hour, wreaking havoc in central Mozambique as well as in Malawi and Zimbabwe.

It’s caused catastrophic flooding in Mozambique with local authorities estimating that an area of about 3,000 square kilometres was destroyed.

Officially, the last numbers of the country’s death toll amounted to 493, with 1,523 people injured. The death toll for the region is estimated to be over 750.

Across Mozambique more than 168,000 families (about 600,000 people) have been affected, the majority of whom are now living in makeshift camps in Sofala province. Of this number, more than 100,000 families are estimated to be from Beira where they have lost their homes and all their possessions. In addition, at least one million children and women require urgent assistance.

“There are not exact numbers. They can change while new locals that were affected by flood are discovered,” said Celso Correia, the minister of Land and Environment of Mozambique, who coordinated the assistance team in Beira.

Around 15,000 people are still missing or unaccounted for largely from Dombe in Manica province and from Buzi and Nhamatanda in Sofala province. But the number could rise. Buzi village, which lies some 200 km from Beira, was badly affected by Cyclone Idai and 100s of people were seen hanging onto trees and the top of houses for 3 to 5 days, awaiting assistance and rescue. But it is suspected that many have since been swept away by the flooding caused by the rivers Buzi and Pungue.

According to the INGC, 3,140 classrooms were damaged, affecting more than 90,000 students. Also 45 health facilities were destroyed in the provinces of Sofala, Manica and Zambezia, center of the country.

Graca Machel (right), Chair of the FDC (Foundation for Community Development), speaks to Davis Simango (left), Mayor of Beira, at a government facility that was damaged during Cyclone Idai. Credit: Horacio Joao Antoino/IPS

Solidarity and aid for those affected

Meanwhile, national and international organisations have gathered in Beira to help rescue and relief operations. More than 100 search and rescue specialists were deployed to assist people in Buzi and Nhamatanda, aided by 35 boats, 18 helicopters, 4 planes, 8 trucks and 30 satellite phones.
In the field, rescuers continue to find survivors. However, the Council of Ministers announced in Maputo, on Tuesday, Mar. 26, that soon the rescue operations will be closed as the rivers Búzi and Púngue are receding.

In Mozambique many solidarity movements were collecting donations for those affected in Beira.

“It’s the first time I’ve seen an intense movement of solidarity among Mozambicans,” says Joaquim Chissano, the former President of Mozambique, on Monday Mar. 25, after visiting the affected areas in the Sofala province.

The world has also joined Mozambique to help those affected by Cyclone Idai.
Internationally, various charities and NGOs have been providing support for food, money and the means to rebuild the city of Beira.

In addition, on Monday, the United Nations launched an international campaign to raise more than 282 million dollars to support the victims of Cyclone Idai and floods in Mozambique.

Beira is already trying to rebuild. But much of the infrastructure has been damaged, with the high winds downing electricity cables and telecommunications lines. The city was in the dark without electricity, water and communication after the cyclone made landfall. The national road Nº6 was also badly damaged. Beira was literally cut off from the rest of the world.

Former Mozambican first lady Graça Machel said at a press briefing this week that Beira would be the first city to go on record as being devastated by climate change.

“It is painful to say that my country and [Beira] will go down in history as having been the first city to be completely devastated by climate change,” said Machel.

Electricity is being provided to Beira via generators in some neighbourhoods. Some classes have resumed in schools that were not damaged by the cyclone. And the water supply has returned to some neighbourhoods.

But Davis Simango, the mayor of Beira, told the media on Tuesday Mar. 26 that still much remains to be done.

“Beira is destroyed,” reported Simango when interviewed by the Mozambican press.
“We need to do something, because there are many affected, living without food, who are homeless, penniless and without prospects to rebuild,” said Simango.

José Bacar, who lives in Beira, told IPS that “many people don’t have food”.
“There are people in the accommodations centres without food,” Bacar reported.
He said that the support given by the Government through the INGC wasn’t enough.

Diarrhea and Cholera in Beira and Buzi
While the water levels are receding in many areas, poor sanitation conditions are prevalent and fears are growing of the spread of cholera. Many families in Buzi are drinking directly from the river Buzi. In Beira and Buzi there have been reported cases of diarrhoea and cholera. In Beira, the municipal authorities confirmed the registration of deaths caused by cholera, according Simango.

“There are people who are dying by the cholera. We have the record of 5 deaths,” said Simango. This Thursday, Mar. 28, Beira’s health authorities confirmed 139 cases of cholera.

Simango appealed to people to be careful with the water and to treat it before consuming it. “If we have survived the cyclone Idai, it doesn’t make sense that we will die by cholera,” concluded Simango.
But Margarida Jone, a resident in Buzi village, told IPS in telephone interview this Wednesday, that they were trying to use chlorine to purify water, but even so, it remained unfit for human consumption.

Meanwhile authorities are advising communities about good hygiene practices, to prevent that the spread of the disease. The World Health Organization (WHO) announced that will promote a massive vaccination campaign against cholera in Beira and other vulnerable areas affected by the floods.
Mozambican health authorities are also worried about the possibility of increased cases of malaria in the areas affected by Cyclone Idai.

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By Roger Hamilton-Martin
LONDON, Mar 29 2019 (IPS)

The UK Government has announced an aid package to support hospitals in Gaza that are “near breaking point”.

The £2 million package will go to the International Committee of the Red Cross’s 2019 Israel and Occupied Territories (ILOT) Appeal. The aid will contribute to surgical equipment, drugs, wound dressing kits, prosthetics, and post-surgery physiotherapy for up to 3,000 disabled people.

The funding was confirmed by International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt, who said the UK was “deeply concerned by the crisis in Gaza and the pressure it is putting on hospitals, which are now near breaking point.”

The UK Department for International Development said its aid package is designed to support Gazan hospitals following a sharp rise in trauma patients. Pressure has built on the system after trauma patients numbers increased month-on-month to more than 29,000 over the last year.

Mordaunt added that previous aid had helped prevent the spread of disease, and given people access to healthcare, clean water and sanitation. The UK government has also recently provided a package of emergency food supplies for more than 62,000 Palestinian refugees at risk of going hungry.

The hospitals have reportedly been struggling to keep up with the large numbers of Palestinians injured at recent border demonstrations.

As well as an economic blockade by Israel, Gaza also is under sanctions imposed in 2017 by the Palestinian Authority’s Mahmoud Abbas. Years of economic decline and conflict have left the health sector across the Gaza Strip lacking adequate infrastructure and training opportunities.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said the Gazan health system has been “severely affected” by the Israeli blockade which has been in place since 2007. The organisation said healthcare in the strip is beset by recurrent power cuts, deteriorating medical equipment and a lack of spare parts.

Mordaunt added that the UK “supports a return to negotiations to find a lasting political settlement for Palestinians and Israelis,” and is working to address the causes of the humanitarian situation in Gaza through an economic development plan which seeks to boost water and electricity supplies to the territory.

In July 2018, the UK government announced it was set to double aid for economic development in the West Bank and Gaza over the next five years as part of its plan. The funding programme is to increase to £38 million. However, this is far short of Israeli estimates of the funds required to alleviate the humanitarian crisis.

At a meeting in February 2018 of the UN Office for the Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Israel reportedly presented a US$1 billion list of infrastructure projects designed to relieve the crisis, including a desalination plant and a major project to link Gaza to Israel’s natural gas fields.

According to the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, over 90% of the water from the Gaza aquifer is undrinkable and around a third of essential medical drugs are out of stock.

The aid announcement comes amid violent clashes between Hamas and the Israeli military, with exchanges of rocket fire in recent days. The violence is part of a long-running cycle that saw protest against the blockade throughout 2018. The border protest, known as the “Great March of Return”, led to a large numbers of casualties.

According to the WHO’s February 2019 report on the health situation in the Palestinian territories, 266 people have been killed and 29,130 injured, since the start of the mass demonstrations in March 2018.

The Israeli government has also come under criticism from human rights organisations for blocking travel permits for Gazans seeking medical treatment outside the territory.

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have called for the lifting of movement restrictions after the Israeli government only approved medical permits for 54 percent of those who applied in 2017, a figure which has slowly declined from 92 percent in 2012.

In 2018, the US struck a blow to Gazan healthcare with a pledge by President Donald Trump to cut all funding to the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which services more than 20 health centres in the territory. UNRWA provides healthcare services for the majority of the more than 1.2 million Palestinian refugees in the strip.

The administration decried “the failure of UNRWA and key members of the regional and international donor community to reform and reset the UNRWA way of doing business,” describing its funding practices as “irredeemably flawed”.

UNRWA Commissioner General Pierre Krähenbühl said in November 2018 that the cuts had caused UNRWA’s worst financial predicament since its founding in 1949. In response the agency launched a global campaign, #Dignityispriceless, reducing the shortfall to $64 million following pledges from Gulf states.

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Credit: Mann Deshi Foundation

By Ashlin Mathew
NEW DELHI, Mar 29 2019 (IPS)

Radhika Baburao Shinde was all of 12 years old when she was married off to a man who was 10 years older. She was sent away to live with her new husband, a truck driver, and his family in remote, drought-prone Satara district, 330 kilometers southwest of Mumbai. She left school and went to work as a laborer on her husband’s family farm.

When Shinde had children of her own—a daughter and two sons—she wanted them to have a better life. In villages across India, where an estimated 833 million people live on less than $3.20 a day, it usually falls to women like Shinde to take care of their children and ensure they have enough to eat.

A chance encounter in 2014 helped her break the cycle of poverty. Employees of the Mann Deshi Foundation, which teaches business skills and lends money to rural women, arrived in her village offering training in various trades for a nominal fee.

Shinde completed a 120-hour course in tailoring and acquired the skills she needed to start a small business catering to her neighbors, in addition to her farm work. This helped her earn the equivalent of $5 a month to spend on her children—a considerable sum for an area where the median household income was less than $70.

Her in-laws weren’t pleased. They didn’t want her new business to distract her from farming. “There were many fights, and eventually they consented,” she recalls.

Labor force participation

The women-run Mann Deshi Foundation, established in the 1990s, is among a handful of organizations seeking to break down social, legal, and economic barriers to women’s entrepreneurship in India.

Despite rapid growth, wide gender disparities in the economic sphere have been stubbornly persistent. The result has been a tragic waste of human potential that has hampered efforts to reduce poverty in the world’s second most populous country.

Perhaps one of the starkest signs of Indian women’s plight is their labor force participation rate, which was just 27 percent in 2017, about one-third that of men. By that measure, India ranks 120th among 131 countries, according to data from the World Bank. Women entrepreneurs do no better.

Only about 14 percent of Indian women own or run businesses, according to the Sixth Economic Census, conducted in 2014. More than 90 percent of companies run by women are microenterprises, and about 79 percent are self-financed.

Women account for just 17 percent of GDP in India, less than half the global average, Annette Dixon, the World Bank’s vice president for South Asia, said in a speech in March of last year. If even half of Indian women were in the labor force, the annual pace of economic growth would rise by 1.5 percentage points to about 9 percent, she estimated.

The World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2018 ranks 149 countries on four measures: economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment. India ranks 108th overall, with particularly low scores on two metrics: health and survival and economic participation.

Small wonder, then, that the country also fares poorly in indexes of entrepreneurship. India ranked 52 among 57 countries in the 2018 Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs, ahead of Iran and behind Tunisia. The index looks at things like financial access, advancement outcomes, and ease of doing business.

“Many times, there are pressures and opposition from within the family due to societal stereotypes that force women to just take care of the house as her key responsibility,” says Aparna Saraogi, cofounder of the Women Entrepreneurship and Empowerment (WEE) Foundation. “Also, the lack of child-care support systems holds women back.”

Lack of collateral

There are other hurdles. Women in India rarely own property that could serve as collateral for start-up loans. They have less education than men, on average. When they do work, they receive lower wages than their male counterparts and generally occupy low-skill jobs in agriculture and services, often in the informal economy.

Unequal access to finance is a major barrier for aspiring entrepreneurs, who need capital to start a business, however small. Providing equal access to finance while promoting female entrepreneurship would raise GDP and reduce unemployment, according to a 2018 IMF study, “Closing Gender Gaps in India: Does Increasing Women’s Access to Finance Help?”

The potential benefits would be greatest—amounting to a 6.8 percent increase in GDP—if India also simplified its notoriously complex labor market regulations and improved women’s skills, the study found.

“If our economy is to grow by 9 to 10 percent consistently in the next three decades, we have to create ecosystems that support every kind of woman entrepreneur,” says Sairee Chahal, founder of SHEROES, a community platform that allows women to reach out to counselors by telephone or via an app.

The organization has helped victims of domestic violence like Sathiya Sundari, who lives in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. When she left an abusive relationship, she found herself with no means of support. She turned to SHEROES, which helped her start a beauty parlor.

“I didn’t know what it would take to run a business,” she recalls. “SHEROES sent mentors to train and guide me and also set up a crowdfunding campaign to help me begin my business,” Sundari says.

The campaign raised the money she needed in just six days in 2017. Her beauty parlor now earns her about 8,000 rupees ($113) a month, a figure that rises to 15,000 rupees during the December–March wedding season. That’s better than the median monthly household income of 7,269 rupees in rural areas of Tamil Nadu.

Unequal education is another major barrier. The literacy rate for Indian women is 64 percent, compared with 82 percent for men. It’s no coincidence that states with higher literacy rates also have more women entrepreneurs.

The region comprising India’s four southernmost states plus Maharashtra, where literacy is higher than the national average, is home to more than half of all women-led small-scale industrial units in the country, according to the Sixth Economic Census.

Yet even among India’s educated urban elite, women entrepreneurs face discrimination. Meghna Saraogi, who lives in New Delhi, is one of them. She runs a fashion app called StyleDotMe, whose users upload photos of themselves trying on various outfits and get feedback from other users in real time. She recalls her experience seeking start-up capital in the mostly male world of technology.

“There were many who asked what would happen to the business when I got married and had a child,” she says. “Then there were others who were not sure if a business with a woman at the helm would find any investors at all.”

In the end, she got two rounds of funding totaling the equivalent of $322,000 in 2016 and 2017 through the Indian Angel Network (IAN). Last year, StyleDotMe launched an interactive augmented reality platform for jewelry called mirrAR.

Meghna Saraogi’s success story should be the norm, but it isn’t. Padmaja Ruparel, cofounder and president of IAN, says only about a quarter of the fund’s portfolio of more than 130 start-ups are led by women. Of the 10,000 deals they review each year, fewer than a third are brought by women, Ruparel says.

“It is not policy or regulatory changes that women are looking for, but better representation and a change in mind-set,” says Debjani Ghosh, president of the National Association of Software and Services Companies. “India has to grow up and realize that there is no need to fear having an equal number of women in the room.”

Still, there are signs of progress in the technology sphere. IAN, for example, has seen the proportion of pitches from women rise from 10 percent four years ago to 30 percent today. Says Ghosh: “Investors have slowly woken up to the fact that there is a need to look at the merit of ideas rather than the gender of the founder.”

Low female participation in public life may help explain the persistence of formal and informal barriers. Women accounted for just 19 percent of ministerial positions in India and 12 percent of members of Parliament as of January 2017, putting it in 148th place among 193 jurisdictions tracked by the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

“There has to be a mechanism to have an effective legal structure which is supportive of women’s empowerment,” says Aparna Saraogi, of the WEE Foundation. “It should effectively address the gaps between what the law prescribes and what actually occurs.”

Women often lack the knowledge and skills to tap opportunities, says Chetna Sinha, founder of the Mann Deshi Foundation. To help fill that gap, the foundation runs a help line for women entrepreneurs and organizes mentorship programs. It also runs mobile business schools, a women’s bank, and a community radio station.

“Our program highlights access and control of finances,” Sinha says. “We identify and train women according to their needs.”

Among the foundation’s trainees is Rupali Shinde. At age 14, she married into a family that owned a small leather-crafting business that earned them a monthly income of $56, barely enough to send their two children to school. Seeking to expand the business, she took out a loan of $1,405 from the Mann Deshi Bank, but she lacked the know-how to make a go of it. Counselors at the bank encouraged her to take a one-year business course.

“I became financially and digitally literate, and they helped me with practical solutions,” she says. She now has five women working for her, and her family’s income has risen to $281 a month—enough to enroll her daughter in an engineering course.

The WEE Foundation provides a six-month entrepreneurship mentorship program to both tech and nontech start-ups free of charge based on applications from around the country, says Aparna Saraogi. The program is funded by India’s Department of Science and Technology.

“We have mentored more than 500 women-led start-ups since 2016 and enabled more than 5,000 women with skills to ensure that they can earn a living,” she says.

Some vocational programs in India still favor men. Skill India, a government-sponsored program, teaches young men trades such as plumbing, masonry, and welding. But courses for women focus on beauty, wellness, and cooking, and none aim to develop entrepreneurs.

Women like Radhika Baburao Shinde have seen their careers take unexpected turns. She expanded her modest tailoring business with help from the Mann Deshi Foundation, adding a cloth shop. Then, she took a free, six-day course in animal husbandry at a local agricultural research institute after Mann Deshi counselors told her that it would help her improve her income.

“Once I came back, I started going to nearby homes to check their goats and to tell them about artificial insemination, sonograms. I inseminated 100 goats free of cost, and when these goats gave birth to healthy kids, people started trusting me. I started to get calls from nearby villages too.” Now she earns about 8,000 rupees a month—and hopes to save enough to send her 16-year-old daughter to college.

Entrepreneurs like Shinde are blazing a path for the next generation of women. Not only are they making sure their own daughters get the education they need to start businesses of their own, but they are serving as role models for the wider community, offering Indian women hope for a brighter future.

*The article was first published in Finance & Development, the IMF’s quarterly print magazine and online editorial platform, which publishes cutting-edge analysis and insight on the latest trends and research in international finance, economics, and development.

Opinions expressed in the article are those of the author; they do not necessarily reflect IMF policy.

The post Making it in India: Women Struggle to Break Down Barriers Starting a Business appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Ashlin Mathew is a news editor for the National Herald newspaper in New Delhi.

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Devolution and ASALs CS Eugene Wamalwa & UN RC Siddharth Chatterjee in a group photograph with the UN Kenya Country Team during the annual retreat to review UNDAF progress.

By PRESS RELEASE
NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 29 2019 (IPS-Partners)

Devolution and ASALs Cabinet Secretary Hon. Eugene Wamalwa has said that the reforms being carried out by the United Nations are enabling the global agency to align its activities better and coordinate more effectively in delivering on national development priorities.

As the co-chair of the UNDAF National Steering Committee, Mr. Wamalwa was addressing the heads of UN agencies in Kenya at a retreat that is reviewing the UN Country Team’s achievements, one year since the launch of the 2018 – 2022 UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) in June 2018.

“It is almost two years now since we started walking the journey together to develop what has now become one among the best-in-class UNDAFs. The UNDAF and Delivering as One in Kenya is a result of UN member states’ desire for increased coherence in development partnership, and a specific request by the Government of Kenya for stronger accountability for results”.

He said that the Government recognizes the UN leadership for its determination to ensure every project responds and aligns to priorities such as President Kenyatta’s Big Four development agenda.

The CS pointed out the Kenya-Ethiopia cross-border programme as an example of programmes that are using innovative approaches to solve emerging threats.

“This is a programme that will transform our borders from centres of conflict to centres of resilience,” he said. A similar programme will be launched along the Kenya-Uganda border.

Through its Emergency Trust Fund for Africa, the European Union (EU), is supporting the €68 million Cross-Border programme that is covering the entire length of the Kenya-Ethiopia border, south-west Somalia and the cross-border area between Western Ethiopia and East Sudan.

Between 2018 and 2020, various stakeholders including IGAD, the UN and governments in the four countries will implement projects that aim to promote stability by building up local-level peace and security structures and provide investment to support the socioeconomic transformation of the areas through cross-border trade, greater resilience and diversified livelihoods.

“For decades, the people of the border regions of Africa have grappled with violent conflict, climate shocks and marginalization, with the communities finding themselves with little prospects, a widespread sense of exclusion that predisposes them to radicalization and extremism,” said Mr. Wamalwa.

UN Kenya Resident Coordinator Siddharth Chatterjee said that under the UNDAF, 21 UN agencies based in Kenya will raise & contribute about US$1.9 billion to implement the new UNDAF.

He said that the UN and the Government of Kenya, through its Strategic Plan for Devolution, have put in place various initiatives for integrating and transforming communities in ASALs and cross-border areas, aiming to unlock the potential of the regions and accelerate national development.

Chatterjee added that, “The reforms being advanced by the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres are very keen on the nexus between peace and development, and in Kenya we are frontloading development approaches in those regions that have previously been at the periphery, in line with the SDGs mission of leaving no one behind and reaching the farthest first.”

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Approximately 15 percent of the world’s population, or an estimated 1 billion people, live with disabilities. But neglect, discrimination, and abuse are still all too common among disabled youth, leaving them deprived of rights including those to education, health, and employment. Credit : Melody Kemp/IPS

By Tharanga Yakupitiyage
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 29 2019 (IPS)

People with disabilities are being left behind, and steps must be taken to ensure their inclusion in the world of education and work.

Approximately 15 percent of the world’s population, or an estimated one billion people, live with disabilities. But neglect, discrimination, and abuse are still all too common among disabled youth, leaving them deprived of rights including those to education, health, and employment.

“Children with disabilities must have a say in all matters that affect the course of their lives…They must be empowered to reach their full potential and enjoy their full human rights – and this requires us to change both attitudes and environmental factors,” United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet recently said.

UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities Catalina Devandas Aguilar echoed similar sentiments upon the launch of her annual report, stating: “Deprivation of liberty on the basis of disability is a human rights violation on a massive global scale. It is not a ‘necessary evil’, but a consequence of the failure of States to ensure their obligations towards people with disabilities.”

Aguilar noted that a key factor preventing the inclusion of disabled youth is the ongoing discrimination against and segregation into special schools and institutions.

According to the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), 90 percent of children with disabilities in developing countries do not attend school.

More than 10 percent of persons with disabilities have been refused entry into school because of their disability, and more than quarter reported schools were not accessible or were hindering to them.

Such exclusion also extends to the labor market as the employment-to-population ratio of persons with disabilities aged 15 and older is almost half that of persons without disabilities.

In fact, unemployment among persons with disabilities is as high as 80 percent in some countries, according to the International Labour Organisation (ILO). Women with disabilities are two times less likely to be employed.

Those who are employed tend to earn lower wages than their counterparts without disabilities.

“This is a legacy of a model which has caused exclusion and marginalisation…we can no longer have children being hidden away and isolated, children with disabilities must have the opportunity to dream of a full and happy life,” Aguilar said.

In Bangladesh, the Bridge Foundation hopes to bridge these gaps and help create opportunities.

Inspired by the movie ‘Forrest Gump’ and the autobiographies of Helen Keller and Stephen Hawking, Natasha Israt Kabir wanted to support and empower people with disabilities, or the “differently abled.”

“I believe there should not be norm in the way things are done, but there should always be opportunities to do things differently… achieving sustainable development won’t become a reality without the social inclusion and empowerment people living with disabilities,” Kabir said.

Kabir, along with co-founder Swarna Moye Sarker, implemented a programme teaching information technology (IT) and arts, providing people with disabilities with the skills to work. They also established an online platform helping students showcase their skills and talent in order to sell their products and even gain employment.

“I believe technology will give them a voice, help them connect with the world and become independent,” Kabir said.

“Children with disabilities need special care and special management for their education and to merge them with the mainstream education system, social and youth led organisations like Bridge Foundation are playing a pivotal role,” Executive Director of the Center for Research and Information (CRI) Sabbir Bin Shams told IPS.

“Increasing and improving youth led initiatives for vulnerable women and children with disabilities may turn the experiences of economic growth a more equitable and inclusive one,” he added.

In a UN newsletter, Kabir recounted some of the programme participants including Falguny, a physically-challenged student without wrists who was able to quickly develop fast computer operating skills.

Another student, Rajon, showcases determination and courage everyday, attending classes with crutches.

“These people are the source of my strength and inspiration now. I strongly believe—if you have the idea and vision to change the world, yes! You can,” Kabir said.

The Bridge Foundation received the Joy Bangla Youth Award in 2018 for its work in empowering people with disabilities.

 

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Aerial image of the area where the third nuclear power plant is to be built in Angra, next to the Angra 1 and Angra 2 plants, in a coastal area near the city of Angra dos Reis, south of Rio de Janeiro, in southeastern Brazil. Credit: Divulgação Eletronuclear

By Mario Osava
RIO DE JANEIRO, Mar 29 2019 (IPS)

Two military-inspired initiatives are leading Brazil’s new government, which includes a number of generals, down the path of mega-projects, which have had disastrous results in the last four decades.

Completing the country’s third nuclear power plant and setting the construction of eight others on track is the plan under study, announced by the Minister of Mines and Energy, Admiral Bento Albuquerque.

Brazil’s extreme right-wing government risks repeating the disaster of the nuclear programme of the 1964-1985 military dictatorship , which in the 1970s also began to build nine generating units and managed to put only two in operation, at a cost of tens of billions of dollars, while leaving a third plant unfinished.A widespread paranoia among the Brazilian military is the alleged threat to national sovereignty posed by indigenous reservations and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), which they say could lead to a declaration of independence or to the "internationalisation" of parts of the Amazon rainforest.

Another major project, which has been promised by decree before April, is to build a highway, a hydroelectric plant and a bridge over the country’s largest river, in a well-preserved part of the Amazon rainforest.

It is an old proposal by retired General Maynard Santa Rosa, head of the Strategic Affairs Secretariat of the Presidency, who defends it mainly for reasons of national security.

The goal is to generate electricity for the middle reaches of the Amazon basin, where Manaos, a city of 2.1 million people, is located, and to promote local development to curb international environmental and indigenous organisations, the general wrote in a 2013 article.

A widespread paranoia among the Brazilian military is the alleged threat to national sovereignty posed by indigenous reservations and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), which they say could lead to a declaration of independence or to the “internationalisation” of parts of the Amazon rainforest.

President Jair Bolsonaro, a former army captain, warned of the dangers posed by the Triple A, an Andes-Amazon-Atlantic ecological corridor, although it is merely a proposal by the Colombian NGO Gaia Amazonas, as a way to protect nature in the far north of Brazil and parts of seven other countries that share the Amazon basin.

That was the reason, according to the president in office since January, that Brazil decided not to host the 25th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP25), which in the end will be held in Chile in January 2020.

Retired General Augusto Heleno Pereira, head of the Institutional Security Cabinet, with the rank of minister, has repeatedly mentioned the fear that Brazil will lose parts of the national territory if indigenous communities, especially groups with reservations along the border, join together with NGOs or international agencies to seek independence.

The new government is the most militarised in Brazilian history, including more army, navy and air force officers than in any other period, including the last military dictatorship.

In addition to eight ministers, there are more than 40 other high-level government officials who come from the military. And that presence is set to expand, since the ministers of Education, Ricardo Velez Rodriguez, and Environment, Ricardo Salles, are in favor of the militarisation of schools and of their ministries.

Rebuilt but unpaved portion of the BR-163 highway, in the Amazonian state of Pará, in northern Brazil. The government of Jair Bolsonaro wants to build a section of the road that was in the original design but was not even marked out in the middle of the Amazon rainforest. Credit: Fabiana Frayssinet/IPS

Military thinking, therefore, orients various sectors of the government. This is the case of the occupation of the Amazon rainforest by large infrastructure works. “Integrating in order not to hand over” the Amazon was the slogan of the dictatorship, which has been taken up again by the current administration.

In the energy sector, the nuclear option was implicit in the appointment of Admiral Albuquerque, as he was formerly the navy’s director general of nuclear and technological development.

He was in charge of a programme to build four conventional submarines, the first of which was launched in December, and a nuclear-powered submarine.

The navy developed a parallel nuclear programme, kept secret for several years, that succeeded in mastering uranium enrichment technology, even though Brazil had assumed international commitments to renounce any use of nuclear weapons.

Multiplying the number of nuclear power plants is part of the technological and strategic plans of the military that consider the advance of knowledge in that area essential.

In addition, Brazil has large uranium deposits and developed a nuclear fuel and equipment industry that would be boosted by the demand created by new power plants and submarines.

But there is a strong possibility of repeating the frustration of the programme initiated in the 1970s, due to similar financial difficulties. In the face of the foreign debt crisis of the 1980s, several mega-projects of the military dictatorship, labeled “pharaonic” by critics, were aborted.

Brazil acquired its first nuclear power plant in the United States, with a reactor from Westinghouse. It was named Angra 1 because it was installed 130 km west of Rio de Janeiro as the crow flies, on the edge of the sea, in the municipality of Angra dos Reis.

The works lasted from 1972 to 1982 and the plant began to operate in 1985, with a generating capacity of 657 megawatts.

Meanwhile, in 1975, the military government signed a nuclear cooperation agreement with Germany, which included the construction of eight other plants, with technology transfer.

Only the first of them, Angra 2, installed in the same small bay surrounded by mountains, finally began to operate – after a process that lacked transparency – in 2000, generating 1,650 megawatts.

The second German technology unit, Angra 3, began to be built in 1984, although work was interrupted two years later and only resumed between 2010 and 2015.

Reviving a project of astronomical costs sounds like an unlikely undertaking for a government that pledged to voters that it would carry out a fiscal adjustment, starting by reducing the deficit of the social security system.

Besides, the plant would be using outdated technology and equipment stored for more than three decades, all from Germany, which is dismantling its last nuclear plants.

Against the expansion of Brazil’s nuclear industry conspires the cost of its energy, much more expensive than hydropower, which is abundant in Brazil, and than solar and wind energy – alternatives sources whose cost is steadily dropping.

Above all, megaprojects have a track record that includes many failures.

The highway that General Santa Rosa wants to promote in the Amazon is precisely the northernmost and abandoned stretch of one of the mega-projects designed by the military dictatorship and whose construction began in the early 1970s.

BR-163 was supposed to cross the entire Brazilian territory from south to north, stretching a distance of 3,470 km. But construction came to a halt in Santarém, where the Tapajós River flows into the Amazon River. It was a white elephant for more than two decades, until the expansion of soybeans in the state of Mato Grosso made it useful again.

The idea of the new project is to complete it up to the Surinam border, but it is not economically justified. The stretch where the largest soybean production is transported to the ports for export is economically viable, but 90 km of that stretch are still not paved, which would require a large investment.

The government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (2003-2011), of the leftist Workers’ Party (PT), also unleashed a wave of mega-projects that largely failed, such as railways, ports, shipyards, refineries and petrochemical plants, and turned into corruption scandals.

Large hydroelectric plants were completed, but triggered protests from local populations, which tarnished their image. And that would likely be the reaction if the current government’s works in the Amazon continue to forge ahead, since they would cause damage to a number of indigenous and “quilombola” – Afro-descendant communities – territories.

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By Porimol Palma
Mar 28 2019 (IPS-Partners)

(The Daily Star) – A transnational human-trafficking syndicate committed crimes against humanity in Malaysia and Thailand against the Rohingya from 2012 to 2015, the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM) and Fortify Rights, a nongovernment rights body, have found in a six-year investigation.

During 2012-15, more than 170,000 people boarded ships from Myanmar and Bangladesh bound for Malaysia and Thailand, and the trade over Rohingyas is estimated to have generated between $50 and $100 million a year.

At sea and in the camps of Thai and Malaysian borders, the trafficking network committed “murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation or forcible transfer, imprisonment, torture, and rape, as part of a widespread and systematic attack directed against Rohingya civilians from Myanmar and Bangladesh” with knowledge of the widespread and systematic attack underway, the report said.

The majority of people trafficked were Rohingya Muslims, but in late 2014 and 2015, traffickers began to target Bangladeshi nationals as well, says the joint report “Sold Like Fish” released in Bangkok yesterday.

“The Commission and Fortify Rights therefore have reasonable grounds to believe that human-trafficking networks committed crimes against humanity at sea and in camps in Malaysia and Thailand against Rohingya civilians from 2012 to 2015,” said the report.

It comes at a time when the world witnesses one of the biggest refugee crisis as some 750,000 Rohingyas fled a brutal military crackdown in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, where they are denied citizenship and basic rights, since August 2017.

Escalation of conflicts between Arakan Army and Myanmar military is currently displacing thousands in Rakhine state.

Meanwhile, dozens of cases of trafficking of Rohingyas from the refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar to Malaysia and Indonesia made headlines in recent months.

“The victims of these crimes and their families suffered tremendously, and these horrific crimes should never happen again in Malaysia and anywhere else for that matter,” said SUHAKAM Commissioner Jerald Joseph in a statement.

WHAT HAPPENED IN 2012-2015?

On April 30, 2015, the Thai authorities discovered more than 30 bodies in a mass grave in a makeshift camp near Malaysian border. Then on May 25 the same year, Malaysian police announced discovery of 139 graves and 28 suspected human-trafficking camps in Wang Kelian, Perlis State.

The discoveries led to a crackdown against human traffickers only to find another crisis in the sea where some 5000 to 6000 victims of human trafficking — believed to be Rohingyas and Bangladeshis — were found drifting in rickety boats. After initial reluctance, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia rescued them.

The investigation is based on more than 270 interviews with eyewitnesses, survivors, human traffickers, government officials, and others from 2013 to 2019.

It revealed traffickers piled hundreds and thousands of Rohingya refugees into repurposed fishing vessels and deprived them of adequate food, water, and space, committing torture and, in some cases, rape at sea.

Traffickers murdered captives, and many died by suicide at sea. In the Thai and Malaysian jungle camps, traffickers provided their captives with three options: raise upwards of $2,000 in exchange for release, be sold into further exploitation, or die in the camps, the report said.

Members of a syndicate tortured, killed, raped, and otherwise abused untold numbers of men, women, and children, buying and selling them systematically in many cases, in concert with government officials.

Traffickers from Myanmar, Thailand, and Malaysia denied their captives access to adequate food, water, and space, resulting in deaths, illness, and injury. They tortured Rohingya captives with pipes, bats, clubs, belts, wires, tasers, nails, threats and intimidation, and other means, the report said.

“When I was unable to pay the money to the men, they poured boiling water on my head and body,” said a Rohingya Muslim who was 16 years old when traffickers tortured him in a camp on the Malaysia-Thailand border in 2014.

The perpetrators also murdered or caused the death of captives and buried bodies in mass graves and, in some cases, forced captives to bury bodies.

“People died every day,” said a 20-year-old Rohingya woman who survived a human-trafficking camp on the border. “Some days more, some days less, but people died every day.”

Traffickers also systematically sold untold numbers of Rohingya women and girls into forced marriages and situations of domestic servitude in Malaysia, said the report.

“For years, this was a calculated business and attack on the Rohingya community,” said Matthew Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Fortify Rights.

“The massive scale and horrific severity of these operations were never properly documented or fully prosecuted. This new evidence demonstrates the need for accountability.”

However, that still remains a far cry. In 2017, Thailand convicted 62 defendants, including nine Thai government officials, for crimes related to the human trafficking. Since 2015, Malaysian courts convicted only four non-Malaysian persons of trafficking-related offences connected to the mass graves discovered at Wang Kelian in Perlis.

Eyewitness testimonies indicate the complicity or, in some cases, direct involvement of government authorities in the transnational trade over Rohingya refugees. Thai authorities extra-judicially transferred or sold them from state custody to members of a transnational human-trafficking syndicate, the report said.

Late last month, Malaysia created a Royal Commission of Inquiry to investigate and ensure accountability for the human trafficking and mass graves in Wang Kelian.

“There’s a fresh political will in Malaysia to right these wrongs and ensure justice and accountability for Rohingya and all victims of these heinous crimes,” said Jerald Joseph of SUHAKAM.

SUHAKAM and Fortify Rights demand protection of the survivors of these attacks under Malaysian law as survivors of human trafficking, and, in the case of Rohingya, protection as refugees.

The Malaysia government should put into place measures to prevent such crimes from occurring again, the report said.

“The international community should do everything in its power to address the root causes of this crisis in Myanmar.”

This story was originally published by The Daily Star, Bangladesh

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WHO-SEARO Goodwill Ambassador for ASD Saima Wazed Hossain with the Honorable Prime Minister of Bhutan during a ‘Special Session’ featuring self-advocates. Credit: Rohit Vohra, APF

By Saima Wazed Hossain
DHAKA, Mar 28 2019 (IPS)

The Kingdom of Bhutan is a landlocked country surrounded by Bangladesh, India and the Tibetan region of China. It is a country that brought the term Gross National Happiness as a concept by which to measure a country’s progress. In April 2017 it celebrated WAAD by hosting the International Conference on Autism & Neurodevelopmental Disorders (ANDD2017) in Thimphu.

Not only did it bring together the senior most political leaders for both countries, Prime Minister H.E. Sheikh Hasina and H.E. Dasho Tshering Tobgay, but also Her Majesty the Druk Gyaltsuen, Jetsun Pema Wangchuk, wife of the King of Bhutan.

The 3-day conference, hosted by the Ministry of Health, Royal Government of Bhutan and co-organized with Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Bangladesh, WHO-SEARO, Shuchona Foundation, and Ability Bhutan Society, the event was organized without any external funding partners and by invitation only.

The theme, developing effective and sustainable multi-sectorial programs for individuals, families and communities living with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and other neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) was actively discussed through open ended discussions by panels that comprised of experts, care-givers, parents and self-advocates addressing the core challenges faced by families and still left largely unaddressed in the era of the SDGs.

The inaugural ceremony at the Royal Banquet Hall was honored by the presence of Her Majesty the Druk Gyaltsuen, who launched a book titled, Guideline for Differently Abled Friendly Construction published by the Royal Government of Bhutan.

 

Panelists speaking during the session on ‘Early Identification’. Credit: Rohit Vohra, APF

 

Followed by speeches by the honored guests, debut of a short film on inclusion produced by Shuchona Foundation and a powerful presentation by Dr. Yolanda Liliana Mayo Ortega, Founder/Executive Director of CASP on ‘The power of two’.

This was followed by a High-Level Discussion on Enabling countries to successfully address ASD and other NDDs as part of their SDGs featuring participation by regional directors and representatives of UNICEF, UNESCAP, UN Women, UNESCO, IOM, ILO and WHO, country representatives and experts. Chaired by H.E., Sheikh Hasina, Co-Chaired by Dr. Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director of WHO-SEARO and moderated by Saima Hossain the discussion focused on common aspirations and not only set the tone of the Conference but the powerful remarks by speakers paved the way for an effective way forward so that children and adults with NDDs can be included in the global development agenda.

The majority of the conference comprised of 5 thematic sessions on identification, intervention, education, employment and independent living. Each session comprised of 2 panels with 7 participants consisting of self-advocates, professionals and caregivers.

The first thematic session discussed community-based early identification systems, focusing on issues in understanding screening vs. diagnostic evaluation and how rigorous methods can be implemented within the health system. Although early identification is of utmost importance, ASD is difficult to identify conclusively before 5 years of age, and panellists recommended that recognizing developmental deficits with the help of parents and caregivers, will ensure that relevant intense interventions are provided and conducted at the community level at the earliest ages possible.

Day 2 sessions focused on issues surrounding Models for Intervention Services and Evidence-based Intervention Programs. Successful examples of various community-based models for intervention delivery was discussed. The panel on Education explored how individuals with ASD and other NDDs have varying levels of skills and benefit from maximum time with same age typically functioning peers. Self-advocate, Dr. Stephen Shore emphasized the need for various models for appropriate education and variety of resources required for inclusion in all settings.

 

The Honorable Prime Minister of Bhutan speaking at the inaugural ceremony. Credit: Rohit Vohra, APF

 

A Special Session, featured self-advocates, Dr. Stephen Shore (USA), Daniel Giles (Australia), and Qazi Fazli Azeem (Pakistan) and a special guest Prime Minister  Dasho Tshering Tobgay. While each one’s experience was starkly different, it was an opportunity to showcase the uniqueness of ASD and how no two persons on the spectrum are truly alike.

Despite their differences in experiences, each of them has supportive families, friends, and a sense of community and belongingness. They emphasized the importance of individualized customized approach, the family as the central focus of services, developing a sense of self, as a pathway to effective self-advocacy.

The final day’s panels on employment and independent living focused on human rights and emphasized that the right to employment, earning and self-care is an important but often overlooked aspect of disability; the panellists, shared their successful models for training and living independently with varying degrees of support.

A Round-Table Discussion followed by the launch of the Regional Collaborative Framework for Addressing Autism by the Advisor for Mental Health (WHO-SEARO).

Government, civil society, and international organizations, as well as professional bodies and academia discussed the existing challenges of the treatment gap, lack of awareness and policies, stigma, paucity of financial, institutional and human resources, and the need for a coordinated response and intergovernmental collaboration for inclusive development.

A call was made to ensure cost-effective systematic response that is structured, coordinated and feasible for low-resource countries. In addition to panels, 11 technical workshops on the latest diagnostic and intervention tools, posters, and a side event of the international Early Childhood Development Task Force were held concurrently.

The Conference of 300 stakeholders from 31 countries not only adopted the Thimphu Declaration and Regional Collaborative Framework, but also compiled essential recommendations to ensure international resolutions are effectively implemented in the era of the SDG’s.

Following ANDD2017, the Royal Government of Bhutan has requested Shuchona Foundation to develop a multisectoral national strategic plan for ASD.

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Excerpt:

Saima W. Hossain, a licensed school psychologist, is the WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Autism in the South East Asia Region, Chair of the National Advisory Committee on Autism and NDDs in Bangladesh, and Chairperson of Shuchona Foundation

The post Developing Effective and Sustainable Programmes for Those Living with and Affected by Autism Spectrum Disorder appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Social Protection and Financing Social Development

By Amina J. Mohammed
BANGKOK, Thailand, Mar 28 2019 (IPS)

2019 will be a defining year for the 2030 Agenda; and the regional forums will pave the way for our first stocktaking on the SDGs in the General Assembly in September.

Asia-Pacific is a region like no other. This is an incredibly diverse group of countries. From large economies to the small island states. From G20 economies to countries facing long-lasting crises and seeking a transition back into development. From middle to low income countries – this region is a microcosm of our global community.

Each face unique challenges, but all driven by the same ambition of a better future for all. Over recent years, I have watched with fascination the progress of nations of Asia and the Pacific in their road to sustainable development.

Your governments have taken on the challenge of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development with decisive leadership. You are making significant investments to enhance data and statistical coverage, take partnerships to scale and promote people-centered policies, strategies and programmes.

This region has also established strong foundations for cooperation and peer exchange. And here I want to acknowledge the leadership of our ESCAP Executive Secretary, for ensuring that you are well supported.

You have a regional roadmap for implementing the 2030 Agenda, which ensures clarity in the direction of travel. Your follow-up and review infrastructures re designed to allow you to understand the human stories behind the numbers and to exchange best practices to move forward.

Many of you are leaders in south-south cooperation and – as we were reminded in Buenos Aires last week – cooperation amongst countries from the south is an invaluable asset to advance sustainable development.

And you are taking steps, together, to leave no one behind – today’s focus on inclusion and equality speaks to that commitment.

This is a powerful message of the 2030: no matter where you are born, how marginalized your community is – the world is determined to carry everyone along in our journey to 2030.

I encourage you to take advantage of the discussions today to address a few fundamental questions: Who are the “no-ones” that we pledge to not leave behind? What determines their exclusion? What does it mean to feel included – or excluded? Are we doing enough, collective, to empower all individuals in our human family?

These are not theoretical questions voiced through microphones in meeting rooms of New York, Bangkok or other capitals of the world.

These are real-life dilemmas for billions around the world, who look at the 2030 Agenda as a life-changing possibility for a better future.

We must recognize that we are not on track to deliver on the ambitions we set for ourselves. The data starting to emerge indicates that the world is not on track to achieve the SDGs.

In Asia-Pacific, rising inequalities have become a major obstacle to accelerating progress. Inequality of wealth, of access to basic services and inequality in the ability to withstand setbacks and respond to the ravages wrought by climate change, are all on the rise. The numbers are clear.

The region’s combined income inequality has increased by over 5 percent in the past two decades, including in the region’s most populous countries – China, India and Indonesia.

As a result, 70 per cent of the population in this region lives in countries where inequality has grown over recent years.

Gender inequality continues to hinder progress. Close to two-thirds of all working women are in the informal sector, with insecure employment and little – if any – social protection.

And while the region is now home to the largest number of billionaires in the world, millions of people lack access to fundamental services. This erodes social and economic progress, but also undermines the social contract, with consequences for peace and stability.

Environmental degradation is also taking its toll. The average loss in productivity due to pollution is roughly 8 times higher in developing countries than in developed countries in the region.

I know I speak for all of us when I say that it is time to share the benefits of growth and globalization more widely. It is a matter of urgency to empower our women and girls; to leverage the immense potential of youth for positive change and innovation; to reverse the trend on inequalities; and to put people and planet at the center.

There is no need to look far. There are abundant examples in this region that point the way forward for empowerment and inclusion of everyone.

But the question we must all address is: how can we increase ambition and accelerate implementation of the 2030 Agenda?

Allow me to highlight three drivers. First, we need to break down the silos that constrain policy action across sectoral lines. The paradigm shift ushered in by the 2030 Agenda is not complete.

We have not yet fully transitioned from the Millennium Development Goals into the era of the SDGs. For example, addressing climate change is not only about preventing catastrophic events; reducing fossil fuels use has also direct and immediate benefits on health.

Second, we need to match intentions with finance – both public and private. There is growing private interest in SDG financing and a proliferation of impact investment in the region. This is great. But we are still far from the “trillions” that are required to achieve the SDGs everywhere, for everyone.

Third, we need to take action to scale to partnerships at a scale that we have not witnessed before. We will not achieve the 2030 Agenda – nor win the race against climate change – without involving all sectors of society towards our common goals.

You can count on the United Nations to continue to transform and better support your efforts. The Secretary-General is leading a deep reform of the United Nations, to place prevention at the center and ensure that the Organization is better positioned to support the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.

We now have a roadmap for change and clear and ambitious mandates by the UN General Assembly. And we are moving forward at full speed.

We know many of you are already engaged with our UN Country Teams to leverage these reforms and effect change on the ground. At the end of this process, you can expect to see more cohesive, effective and accountable UN Country Teams. We want to adapt more closely to the priorities and needs of each developing country, with an empowered leader for development, with much better coordination.

Resident Coordinators will be critical to leverage more systematically all the expertise ad assets that are scattered across the UN – including in our Regional Economic Commissions and specialized agencies.

We are currently working on the review of all our regional assets, to see how we can maximize our impact in support to country action. We need a architecture that responds to the heightened demands of the 2030 Agenda.

On 1 January, we have crossed a major milestone in this reform process with the creation of an independent and empower system to coordinate all development activities of the UN.

Resident Coordinators were also Representatives of the UN Development Programme. Now they dedicate full attention to the coordination, policy and partnerships needs of the SDGs.

And UNDP can fully focus on its important development mandate, and reassert its role as a though leader that is so deeply valued. Later today, I will meet with Resident Coordinators from the region, who are here to engage in these regional discussions and come back with new tools to support you.

Resident Coordinators are our leaders for development on the ground. And they work to support your efforts and make the 2030 Agenda a reality for all. I know they are excited to proceed in this journey with you.

The clock is ticking on the 2030 Agenda, and the true test of our reforms will be results in each country. It is our collective responsibility to show greater urgency.

I know that we have both the energy and the leadership in this conference room to make it happen. In that spirit of partnership and shared endeavor, I wish you all the best for a successful forum.

The post Rising Inequalities in Asia-Pacific have become a Major Obstacle to Accelerating Progress appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Amina J. Mohammed, the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, in a keynote address to the opening session of the Asia-Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development.

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By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 28 2019 (IPS)

The widespread political repression in countries such as the Philippines, Egypt and Saudi Arabia– and rising right-wing nationalism in the US, Brazil, Italy, India, Poland and Hungary– have increasingly triggered attacks on human rights and civil society organisations (CSOs).

The annual 2019 “State of Civil Society” report released March 27 details a “terrifying picture of fundamental freedoms under serious threat in 111 of the world’s countries”– well over half of all the countries globally.”

Only four per cent of the world’s population live in countries where fundamental freedoms of association, peaceful assembly and expression are respected and enabled.

Authored by the Johannesburg-based CIVICUS, a global alliance of CSOs and activists dedicated to strengthening citizen action and civil society worldwide, the study warns that the rise of right-wing populism and the influence of anti-rights extremist groups are helping to fuel these threats to democracy in so many nations.

But the report also outlines the various ways, in various countries, that civil society and citizens are fighting back, and claiming victories in defence of their rights.

As one of the “alarming examples,” it singles out the Italian government’s decision to impose a hefty fine on one of the world’s best known humanitarian organisations, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), while simultaneously freezing their assets, impounding their rescue vessel and investigating their staff for human trafficking…in retaliation for their efforts to save refugees from drowning in the Mediterranean Sea.

And there were also instances of activists being charged, tried and convicted in the United States for providing water supplies for migrants crossing the deadly Sonoran desert on the US/Mexico border.

Lysa John, CIVICUS Secretary General, says “civil society, acting on humanitarian impulses, confronts a rising tide of global mean spiritedness, challenging humanitarian values in a way unparalleled since the Second World War.”

“We need a new campaign, at both global and domestic levels, to reinforce humanitarian values and the rights of progressive civil society groups to act,” added John.

The theme of this year’s ICSW, which takes place in Belgrade April 8-12, is “The Power of Togetherness” focusing on harnessing the power of collective action to respond to rights restrictions and rightwing globalism.

According to the CIVICUS report, in Europe, the US and beyond – from Brazil to India – right wing populists, nationalists and extremist groups are mobilising dominant populations to attack the most vulnerable.

This has led to an attack on the values behind humanitarian response as people are being encouraged to blame minorities and vulnerable groups for their concerns about insecurity, inequality, economic hardship and isolation from power.

This means that civil society organisations that support the rights of excluded populations such as women and LGBTQI people and stand up for labour rights are being attacked.

As narrow notions of national sovereignty are being asserted, the report points out, the international system is being rewritten by powerful states, such as China, Russia and the USA, that refuse to play by the rules.

“Borders and walls are being reinforced by rogue leaders who are bringing their styles of personal rule into international affairs by ignoring existing institutions, agreements and norms”.

The report also points to a startling spike in protests relating to economic exclusion, inequality and poverty, which are often met with violent repression, and highlights a series of flawed and fake elections held in countries around the world in the last year.

“Democratic values are under strain around the globe from unaccountable strong men attacking civil society and the media in unprecedented – and often brutal – ways,” said Andrew Firmin, CIVICUS’ Editor-in-Chief and the report’s lead author.

And 2018 is being billed as a year in which regressive forces appeared to gain ground.

But the past year was also one in which committed civil society activists fought back against the rising repression of rights.

The report points out to the successes of the global #MeToo women’s rights movement to the March for Our Lives gun reform movement led by high school students in the US– to the growing school strike climate change movement, collective action gained ground to claim breakthroughs.

“Despite the negative trends, active citizens and civil society organisations have been able to achieve change in Armenia, where a new political dispensation is in place, and in Ethiopia, where scores of prisoners of conscience have been released,” said John.

The report makes several recommendations for civil society and citizen action. The report calls for new strategies to argue against right-wing populism while urging progressive civil society to engage citizens towards better, more positive alternatives.

These include developing and promoting new ideas on economic democracy for fairer economies that put people and rights at their centre. Notably, the report calls for reinforcing the spirit of internationalism, shared humanity and the central importance of compassion in everything we say and do.

Meanwhile, says the report, international institutions mostly struggled, hamstrung by the interests and alliances of powerful states, doing little to respond to the great challenges of the day, failing to fight overwhelming inequality, silent on the human rights abuses of states such as Saudi Arabia and Sudan, letting down the people of Syria and the Rohingya people of Myanmar, among many others.

Asked if the United Nations shouldn’t name and shame these countries where right wing extremism is on the rise, Mandeep Tiwana, Chief Programmes Officer at CIVICUS, told IPS the UN is facing serious funding challenges which make it dependent on the contributions of big countries for its operating budget.

“This might be leading to situations where ultra-nationalist leaders or those who subscribe to authoritarian precepts are getting a free pass for their actions that flagrantly violate the spirit of the UN Charter and also international law”.

He also pointed out that the funding situation is so dire that a number of UN bodies are courting private corporations to shore up their funding including with regards to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which could lead to undesirable policy influence in the fight against inequality, on labour rights and on efforts to reduce high level corruption.

Often restrictions on civil society are worsened when the increasingly close partnerships between governments and the private sector go unscrutinised.

It’s also important to remember, said Tiwana, that while the UN is increasingly turning to the private sector for assistance in achieving sustainable development, it is often civil society organisations that are working hand in hand with the UN in delivering humanitarian services on the frontlines, and risking their lives doing so.

“The divisive and selfish actions of nationalist leaders indicate that we might be heading towards a full-blown crisis of the multilateral system”.

“In the present situation where we are facing a crisis of compassion from the actions of meanspirited right wing populists, it’s important that the UN stands with civil society organisations and activists working towards just, equal and sustainable societies”.

He argued that public statements from senior UN officials across the institutions’ various pillars, followed by actions and willingness by UN officials on the ground to engage governments that attack human rights and civil society, are urgently needed in the present scenario.

The UN needs to make common cause with political leaders and governments committed to strengthening multilateralism and the international human rights framework in these testing times, he declared.

The writer can be contacted at thalifdeen@ips.org

The post Civil Society Organisations Under Attack by Rightwing Governments & Extremist Groups appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

This article is part of a series on the current state of civil society organisations (CSOs), which will be the focus of International Civil Society Week (ICSW), sponsored by CIVICUS, and scheduled to take place in Belgrade, April 8-12.

The post Civil Society Organisations Under Attack by Rightwing Governments & Extremist Groups appeared first on Inter Press Service.

In Bangladesh a large number of girls said they felt uncomfortable to go to school or travel during their period due to abdominal pain and the fear of leakage from rags. Credit: Shafiqul Alam Kiron/IPS

By Tharanga Yakupitiyage
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 28 2019 (IPS)

As menstruation continues to be shamed in many communities, one organisation is rising up to the challenge to ensure “safe menstruation for all women of Bangladesh.”

Half of the approximately four billion women around the world are of reproductive age. For these women and girls, menstruation is a natural monthly reality. However, a lack of awareness and access to basic health and hygiene products or facilities has turned this reality into a barrier in Bangladesh.

“Menstruation is not an openly discussed topic in Bangladeshi society due to cultural beliefs and social norms around the body and blood,” Executive Director of the Center for Research and Information (CRI) Sabbir Bin Shams told IPS.

“Lack of awareness, proper education, economic constraints lead to rising of ‘conservative’ behaviour which finally impedes lifestyle improvement among girls,” he added.

Approximately 95 percent of women in Bangladesh do not use sanitary napkins either because they are unavailable or unaffordable. Instead, women and girls often use old rags and husk sand which often cause severe reproductive health problems such as reproductive tract infections and cervical cancer.

According to the World Health Organization, cervical cancer is the second most common type of cancer in Bangladesh, with approximately 12,000 new cases detected every year and over 6,000 deaths due to the severity of the disease.

Kamrun Nesa Mira saw this firsthand after visiting a remote river island in Bangladesh. After suddenly getting her period, she could not find a shop to buy sanitary pads so turned to a local woman who gave her a piece of old cloth.

While Mira took the cloth as a temporary placeholder, she was shocked and concerned when the woman told her to cover the cloth with sand, realising that many rural women do not practice safe menstruation.

While visiting a nearby school, Mira also found that many girls don’t go to school while on their period.

In fact, 95 percent of girls said they felt uncomfortable to go to school or travel during their period due to abdominal pain and the fear of leakage from rags.

This prompted Mira to help establish the All for One Foundation which promotes positive hygiene practices and provide access to affordable sanitary products.

“A natural thing like menstruation cannot be the barrier towards female education and life expectancy. In this context, awareness activities by youth led organisation, All for One Foundation to educate girls and women of underprivileged communities about safe menstrual practices are important for the progress of Bangladesh,” Shams said.

The organisation provides menstrual hygiene education not only to girls to prepare them for their first period, but also to male students and parents in order to help break the taboo around menstruation.

“You cannot change the life of a person entirely, but at least you can guide her to the direction through which she can change her own,” Mira said.

In the fight to make sanitary napkins more affordable, All for One Foundation found that such products are deemed to be “luxury” products and have an imposed sales tax of 45 percent.

This means a pack of 8-10 sanitary napkins cost between 75 and 140 Bangladeshi Taka (BDT). However, a tea worker earns approximately 85 BDT per day, leaving many women unable to afford sanitary products.

The group has since raised awareness of the issue and has been pushing for a tax exemption at a national scale.

“Sanitary napkins ensure safe menstruation. Menstrual hygiene is a basic right. Menstruation is a health condition and not a disease. And thus, safe menstruation should be accessible to every woman,” said All for One Foundation on its website.

While the initiative is still small, it is growing and expanding its reach.

“If organisations and youths play more active and constructive roles in building awareness, social norms and practices can be altered gradually and which may lead Bangladesh to become an inclusive nation,” Shams told IPS.

Young Bangla, the largest youth platform in Bangladesh, recognised the outstanding contribution to society and awarded the All for One Foundation the Joy Bangla Youth Award in 2018.

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• Break the Menstrual Taboo
• Menstrual Hygiene Project Keeps Girls in School

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By Roberto Savio
ROME, Mar 28 2019 (IPS)

Since the powerful march of hundreds of thousands of students in 1,000 towns against climate change, an unexpected campaign of delegitimation, ”demystification” and demonisation has started against Greta Thunberg, the Swedish teenager who started the movement. After searching the media, social media and websites, this campaign can be divided into four different groups.

Roberto Savio

The first could be called the stupid. A writer reports pictures of Greta eating a banana, claiming that this proves she has double standards. She wants to reduce gas emissions, and then she eats banana which come from far away. Why does she not eat an apple, which are produced locally in Sweden? Another writer observes that Greta has two beautiful large dogs, but those dogs must be eating meat, and cows are the greatest source of emission of methane (much more damaging than C02) and a cow uses up 15,000 litres of water before reaching the age of slaughter. Then, a third observes that Greta may well skip planes, but by using trains she is clearly using electrical power, which is still basically generated by coal. Then there is another reader protesting strongly because she has bought a sandwich in the train, which comes with a plastic wrap, and she is thus contributing to the damage caused by plastic to the seas. We are clearly in the realm of stupidity, because is impossible for anybody to do anything in this world without contributing to its degradation. This will only change when the political system corrects our lifestyle (just note how, by the sound of it, this is improbable!) If Greta were to ask her parents to give the two dogs away, were not to move from Stockholm at all, and were to eat only local apples, would this make such a substantive contribution to a better climate? Or is it more constructive to campaign and mobilise hundreds of thousands of people?

The second group can be called the jealous. These are the climate scientists who have written everywhere that they started to fight climate change even before Greta (who is now 16) was born. How is it possible that they have been ignored and now a little girl with no preparation is able to mobilise people all over the world? No self-criticism of the fact that they have not been able to inspire and communicate with students. Besides, Greta did not campaign as an expert. Her message in Davos, in Brussels, everywhere, was: Please listen to the scientists. An old Chinese proverb goes: never fight your allies.

The third group is the purists. They have been redistributing reports by Swedish journalists everywhere which delve into Greta’s background, discovering that her parents are active ecologists, that her father has always supported her, and that she has been influenced by a famous activist who has been behind her every step. They claim that in order to believe Greta, it would therefore have been necessary for her parents to have been indifferent to climate issues, and that she should have been totally alien to ecological circles. And this campaign continues, even though all Swedish journalist are unanimous in declaring that Greta has not been an instrument of anyone, and that she is only following only her commitments. Also because, by grace of the gods, she has a mental condition called Asperger’s Syndrome, which makes her a very single-minded person, indifferent to recognitions, compliments and compromises. So, in a letter to Le Figaro, one of the purists asks if it is logical to put hundreds of thousands of students from all over the world “under the guide of a zombie”. This category also includes many complaining that Greta is not denouncing the fact that Sweden is making money by selling weapons. Greta has denounced no one, so those responsible are quite happy. Greta has not started any campaign against finance because she does not understand that only by subduing finance can you change climate. And so on, according to the lenses through which her critics look at her.

And of course, there is the most legitimate group, the paternalists. This is a physiological group comprising those who think that young people have no idea about real life, and nothing serious will come out of the students’ movement, unless they listen to their elders. Their place is in school, not on the streets, they do not have the maturity to understand themes which require a scientific preparation. Exemplary is a letter published in Corriere della Sera, in which somebody observes that young people hardly read books any longer, use smartphones all day long and ignore classical music or theatre – they lack the gravitas necessary for real change. An extreme example of how paternalism is the twin of patriarchalism was a comment made by a well-dressed adult in a group observing the students marching for climate change: “I wonder how many of those girls are still virgin.” Asked about the relationship between virginity and climate change, the answer was: ”Well, until a girl is virgin, she can still have illusions, but not after.”

Those various reactions against a young girl who is simply asking to grow up in a sustainable world is clearly representative of how much society has changed in the last decade. We have come a long way. The period after the Second World War was characterised by the need to reconstruct, to make sacrifices, to make Europe an island of peace, to believe that politics were a participatory tool for changing society for the better. Social elevator, the certainty of young people that they would be better off than their parents, was everybody’s belief. Political rallies saw millions of people on the streets, with hopes and commitments. We all know how that world of idealism collapsed. With the destruction of the Berlin Wall, ideologies were the first to go. The keyword was pragmatism. But it was a pragmatism prisoner of the neoliberalism philosophy which was untouchable. As Margaret Thatcher famously said, There Is No Alternative (TINA). Social costs were unproductive, and finance took on a life by itself, no longer linked to the word of production. The state was pared down to the minimum. We should remember that Reagan proposed the abolition of the Ministry of Education and full privatisation of healthcare. The United Nations was considered obsolete: trade, not aid. For three decades, from Reagan (1981) to the great financial crisis of 2008, the motto was: compete, become rich, at national and Individual level. Politics become a mere administrative activity, devoid of long-term vision. The arrival of Internet changed society from an interactive and connected thread of relations based on platforms to share, into a net of parallel virtual worlds in which to seek refuge and avoid public action. The media followed by downgrading the complexity of information, concentrating on events and ignoring processes. TV basically passed into the field of entertainment with programmes that were shaping popular culture, like Big Brother, or the L’Isola dei Famosi (Island of the Famous). Greed was considered good for society and praised by Hollywood. We were all living in a financial bubble that burst in 2008. It was then clear that politics no longer controlled finance, but vice versa. According Bloomberg, in order to bail out the banking system, the United States had to spend 12.8 trillion dollars, Europe spent 5 trillion dollars, 1.6 trillion just to stabilise the euro. China spent 156 billion, and Japan over 110 billion. Nobody knows for sure how much it cost the world to save its banking system, which was (and is), without any control or regulatory body. If the amount paid to bail out the banks had been distributed to the 7.5 billion people of the world, they would each have received 2,571 dollars. Enough to start a frenzy of acquisitions, especially in the South of the world, with an enormous leap in production. It would have practically solved all the world’s social problems indicated as the Millennium Goals by the United Nations in an agreement subscribed to by all countries. But, by then, the banks were more important than people … and for their illicit activities, the ungrateful banks have paid in fines totalling over 800 billion dollars since their bailout. Let us remember that greed was already being praised in Hollywood in 1987 by Gordon Gekko in the famous film ‘Wall Street’. Gekko famously says: “Greed, for lack of a better word, is good”. It is no coincidence that at the time of the financial crisis of 2008, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, said: ”It is perhaps time to admit that we did not learn the full lesson of the greed-is-good ideology.” And the following year, in a speech to the Italian Senate, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone said: We have gone from free market to free greed.” And many manifestations of global civil society, like the World Social Forum, have been denouncing the submission of politics to finance, and how greed has become a value.

But after the thirty years of greed-is good came the major financial crisis of 2008, due to the irresponsibility of the financial system. That crisis brought an additional negative social impact which was fear: fear of unemployment, fear for the future, fear of terrorism. It became clear that the social elevator that had worked since the end of the Second World War had stopped, with millions of young people from all over the world stuck in it. The American dream itself was in crisis. And a new decade came, one of fear. As usual in cases of fear, a new narrative emerges. After the thirty years of greed, we have now a decade of fear. Neoliberalism, TINA, have lost any credibility. All political parties have betrayed the hopes of their voters. The people have been left out by the elites, by those in the system. So, since 2008, nationalist populist parties that claimed to defend the people flourished all over Europe, where before the crisis they had been practically non-existent (except for Le Pen in France). They continue to flourish. In the last Dutch elections, a new populist party, The Forum for Democracy, won 16 seats in the Senate. Its leader, Thierry Baudet, has discarded the bewitched invention of climate change, idolatry of the sustainable, indoctrination of the left. This is a position common to all populist parties. Their success has been to direct the fear against the different: different religions, different customs, different cultures … in other words, immigrants. Xenophobia has joined nationalism and populism.

Every year there has been a decline in real revenue, in dignified jobs. Traditional political parties have lost credibility and electorates have switched to new politicians, not part of the elite, who speak on behalf of the people and look to the glorious past as the basis for the future, ignoring any technological development. The social divide, taken as the basis by the new political culture, went into full destructive speed: in just ten years, 28 people concentrated in their hands the same wealth as 2.3 billion people. This is money taken away from the general economy; it means that for every billionaire there are thousands of impoverished people. In just the last year, the 42.2 million people in the world with more than one million dollars in financial assets, grew by 2.3 million This is why Pope Francis says that behind every large property there is a social mortgage.

It took a long road to abandon the world which came out of the Second World War an arrive at the present one: a world where phenomena that are abnormalities, like war and poverty, are now considered normal by most young people. Corruption, which has of course always existed, has now become another natural fact. Democracy, which was considered the central foundation of society, is now considered a debatable possibility, with Orban, Salvini and company promoting illiberal democracy.

Fear and greed have changed our society. We are in the middle of a transition, to where nobody knows. What is clear is that the present system is no longer functional and requires very serious corrections. The tide of nationalism, populism and xenophobia is taking us backwards to miseries that we had forgotten, instead of forwards. Electoral campaigns are not based on programmes but on discrediting opponents. When Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, disagreed with Trump, the latter’s Trade Secretary said that there must be a special place in hell for the Canadian PM. TV debates have become a school of incivility. The question is: are we entering a new era based on incivility? For the first time in the history of the British parliament, the various opponents are unable to find a way out from a referendum based on facts that where all lies.

We must recognise that we are living in a world where positive things are few and apart. A political, cultural and social climate where nothing is accepted as legitimated, hiding the truth, and manipulated by the enemy. An era of transition, that should be called “the era of evil think”.

The reaction to Greta Thunberg and her mobilisation is a good example of “evil think”. Instead of raising sympathy and support, this young girl is being submitted to this new culture of “evil think”. And yet she is campaigning for survival of the planet, the only one we have, and where we must all live together, regardless of our myths, religions, parties and nationalities. She says: do not ask my generation to solve the problem of climate change, because when we have grown up, it will be already too late. When she reaches the age of 50, there will be 10 billion people, basically all living in towns. But in just ten years, when she will be 26, humankind will need 50 percent more energy and food, and 30 percent more water, an element which is already scarce in a great part of the world, and which is a source of income for private companies. No wonder she is trying to stimulate action!

Save the world NOW is a message that has been able to mobilise students from all over the world. In the era of “evil think”, instead of supporting her, there are those looking at what she eats, what her dogs eat, and what is behind her and manipulating her. In other words, we are in an era in which we are not able to think positively: an era shaped by greed and fear, and with what today’s culture has given us: evil thinking. It is a safe bet that if Greta had sold sportswear, she would have been accepted as a normal phenomenon, and nobody would look at whether she was eating bananas or apples. This is a good index of how we have lost the ability to dream and go forward.

Roberto Savio is publisher of OtherNews, Italian-Argentine Roberto Savio is an economist, journalist, communication expert, political commentator, activist for social and climate justice and advocate of an anti neoliberal global governance. Director for international relations of the European Center for Peace and Development.. He is co-founder of Inter Press Service (IPS) news agency and its President Emeritus.

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