Africa

Natasha Museveni's film charts her father's journey from rebel leader to Ugandan president.

An antelope caught on camera in Uganda for the first time sheds light on an unexplored rainforest.

The post Venezuela’s Surname Is Diaspora appeared first on Inter Press Service.

How artist Othello De'Souza-Hartley explores human skin and nudity through his work.

By GGGI
Sep 28 2018 (GGGI)

Being a greenpreneur goes beyond being part of an international competition, being a greenpreneur goes beyond getting mentorships from the best experts in sustainability issues, entrepreneurship, finance, clean technologies; being a greenpreneur is a matter of attitude, of innovating, of generating a true change to local problems with global solutions, it is not a question of competing with the other teams, but of collaborating for the same purpose that is to generate green growth for a sustainable development and collaborate in the fulfillment of the Sustainable Development Goals.

The Greenpreneurs competition has allowed to connect 10 teams from different countries with international expertise, which has demonstrated the ability of the Global Green Growth Institute (GGI), Student Energy and the Youth Climate Lab to achieve a 10-week online program that allows that we can improve from the approach and identification of the problem to the business model and its final presentation. This is a great contribution, since startups and ideas from all over the world in different stages of consolidation have been able to grow thanks to the mentoring of experts in the field, at the same time breaking down the barriers of language and distance, as is the case with the team that I am part of which is GREENfluidics®, which represents Mexico in this competition.

In addition, the networking we have been able to achieve through the Greenpreneurs program has been valuable in our performance, as part of the personalized mentoring of our Greenpreneurs’ mentor Chuy Cepeda, which despite having a different area of ​​application but linked to the solution energetic that we propose, has collaborated with high value advice related to the presentation of a disruptive technology, since the challenge of communication is vital to demonstrate the value we add with our solution.

We also had the fortune to coincide with the representative of our country of the GGGI, Pablo Martínez, with whom we were able to discuss the action plans in which he is focused at this moment, related to the green growth of the nation, which gave us a general view of where we are going within our region, but also the opportunities that we have with the global GGGI connection. This type of meetings has allowed us to develop both communication and sales skills, as well as having another point of view outside of our comfort zone, showing the areas of opportunity that will strengthen us in the local market, thus having a closeness of support in the GGGI Mexico.

In this way we can mention that the experience of the Greenpreneurs is unique in the world, for all the value that it adds through its panel of mentors, experts in the subject and exercises for the development of the teams, for which it is an honor to be able to demonstrate in this competition what GREENfluidics is capable of achieving in the energy transition, not only of Mexico but of the world towards the use of new energies, where we want to go beyond the competition and impact on the lives of people.

Energy is everywhere, GREENfluidics #wemakeitflow

 

The post Greenpreneurs: the experience appeared first on Inter Press Service.

By GGGI
Sep 28 2018 (GGGI)

The knowledge of some of the microorganisms with which we share the planet Earth has allowed us to have another perspective of the life, we have known how to take advantage of its characteristics to advance science and use them in technology.

Personally, I have fallen in love with some fascinating microorganisms called microalgae that seem to have superpowers, take advantage of solar radiation to feed themselves and adapt to any situation that life presents them as the Chloromonas reticulata that lives between low temperatures (8 ° to 14 ° C), high solar radiation and few nutrients or Isochrysis galbana that lives in high temperatures and is rich in lipid production, in other words they are so adaptable and flexible that they can be domesticated but careful, they have their physiological challenges, get control requires a 4.0 strategy, make them feel in optimal conditions with the minimum requirements to take full advantage, the amount of products that can be obtained from microalgae ranging from biofuels to food supplements, are rich in proteins and essential oils such as omega 9 and chlorophyll .

They generate components that the industry demands. Their ability to fix carbon dioxide makes them a powerful solution for the mitigation of greenhouse gases.All these skills make them worthy of being part of the future, I firmly believe that nature has the best designs that adapt evolutionarily to solve the most complex problems. What stops us from learning from nature? For this reason I want to continue learning from the microalgae, explore them, thoroughly know their strengths and weaknesses, their applications can be incomparable. I have studied Scenedesmus sp, I have seen them grow and change shape by the different ways of cultivation to which I submit them and they never stop surprising me.

The industry is recognizing the power of microalgae and demand is increasing, for example Buggy Power, a European company that recognizes that the future of nutrition lies in the oceans and bodies of water, they are interested in the nutritional and pharmaceutical value of microalgae, even in the energy industry are becoming popular. There is the case of BIQ algae house is “building with Bio-Intelligent Quotient” (BIQ) is the first algae powered building in the world, located in Hamburg, Germany; xtrae all the energy needed to generate electricity and heat from renewable sources. In addition to generating energy using the biomass of algae collected from its own facade.

GREENfluidics knows the potential of microalgae and trusts that the energy future lies in the combination of high-end technology with the adaptive abilities of microalgae, that’s why we have designed a bioenergetic system inspired by nature that mitigates the environmental impact of dioxide. carbon at the same time that electric power is decentralized. In a few words, it can not be denied that microalgae will be part of future bioenergetic 4.0

 

 

Being on trend is part of the new energies.

In the XXI century the use of fossil fuels still remains constant in many of the most developed countries. Only by the end of 2017 was it estimated that the global production of energy by fossil fuels increased by two percent!, according to the International Energy Agency. This is incredible, since at the critical point for climate change in which we find ourselves, it seems that carbon dioxide emissions are in the background, which is not cool.

However, despite continuing to use natural gas, oil, diesel, among others, I do not see myself proudly placing a hashtag in TW that says -My new #petrol car or my house is lit with #naturalgas-. It is well known that we are in the age of social networks, and that everything that is a trend we want to feel part of and in doing so, it produces well-being. But unconsciously we know that we do wrong by continuing to pollute and affect our planet, but we continue doing it because that is what our parents, grandparents and previous generations have done and it has worked.

It is time to make a change and get trendy, today’s are the new energies. As such, the term new energy refers to that which is generated from sources other than fossil fuels, which can create confusion with clean energies, however, they are associated, combining more than one type of clean energy will help to the generation of new energies.

Using new energy impacts beyond generating energy free of fossil fuels, the efficiency with which it is generated is sought to be greater, also that it can generate by-products for its use, such as biomass, oxygen, biofuels, among others. Not only will using new energy make you look like a person committed to the planet and reduce your expenses substantially, but also give a stylized touch where you apply, from houses or skyscrapers, to greenhouses or hotels. This type of energy is expected to reach even the most remote areas, where energy will allow human and economic development.

Some companies immersed in energy production have already joined this movement of new energies, including some multinational like Shell with its division of New Energies. Therefore, in GREENfluidics we have joined the change, and we want to contribute to the energy transition of the new energies, through bio-inspired technologies in nature that generate decentralized energy in a sustainable way.

 

 

We have witnessed how in communities of high poverty are marginalized by geographical areas of difficult access in which they are. So, the fashion to generate a change is not only in the cell phone, or in the construction of technological buildings, but promote change from the most affected areas such as poor communities to industries that generate a large amount of environmental pollution by dioxide of carbon. Let’s be promoters of green growth, where different social strata seek the same common good.

Let the new energies become a trend to create a real change in the population, in the economy and on the planet.

Energy is everywhere, GREENfluidics #wemakeitflow

 

 

Designing the future.

Even among the originality of man during his development and evolution there are designs inspired by the most natural for example the daggers were inspired by the shape of the claws of the big hunting cats. The human being has learned to observe and design from observation even to modify the errors that nature itself seems to forget.

Today is not different and tomorrow will be more noticeable than today. I mean that the past, the future and the present have a Constructional design, what does that mean? That adapt and evolve. This change is faithful to the Constructional Law generated in 1996 that states that for a finite system to be constant, it is necessary that its design be predictive.

Are there predictive designs? There are, because they have learned from the circumstances, for example, the branches and roots of the mangroves are designed to face the most aggressive wet seasons, capable of filtering and with very high leaves far from water reach or the prepared anatomy of the migratory birds, not all the time they are in the crossing of the migration even though they realize it for the first time these animals are prepared because lines of birds previous to theirs experienced it, adapted and evolved.

So must and can be the technology made by man. Ideally, systems in complex processes capable of learning from their current production states, to be finite systems need a fluidity of efficiency to be optimal.

 

 

 

Millennials: The generation that uses technology to combat climate change

In recent years, the concern due to the remarkable climatic changes that have occurred at a global level, the increasing impact due to natural disasters and the great impact that this has had on the economic and cultural development of societies, has prompted governments to work in global agendas to mitigate this problem (as is the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development), but above all to motivate new generations to take action to solve these major problems.

 

 

Millennials this generation that is criticized by many and respected by a few stands out for its impetus to get involved and have control in all processes that have an impact on their economy and lifestyle, almost nomadic lifestyle, that thanks to new technologies allows us to have control and communication of their activities anywhere in the world

 

Blockchain the chains that generate energy confidence

In the 90´s, this technology called blockchain arose, a development that would impact the world a short time later, changing the way in which transactions had been carried out so far, popularizing peer-to-peer transactions due to accessibility and feasibility. what they offer to users. Impact that energy transactions have reached.

Peer-to-Peer (P2P) energy trading represents direct energy trading between peers, where energy from small-scalen Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) in dwellings, offices, factories, etc, is traded among local energy prosumers (regular consumar that are able generate and distribuite its own energy) and consumers.

Recently studies shown that P2P energy trading is able to improve the local balance of energy generation and consumption. Moreover, the increased diversity of generation and load profiles of peers is able to further facilitate the balance and bring control to people to create new energy networks. Providing millennials with the control they now seek to have over the generation of energy.

 

Technological control over new energies

Existing electrical energy systems were designed and built to accommodate large- scale generating plants, with demand traditionally considered as uncontrollable and inflexible, and with centrally controlled operation and management. Recently, there has been a revival of interest in connecting Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) to distribution networks, and microgeneration and flexible loads at the premises of end users. DERs suffer from the issues of uncertain availability due to varying weather conditions. Power networks are undergoing a fundamental transition, with traditionally passive consumers becoming ‘prosumers’.

A key question that remains unresolved is: how can we incentivize coordination between vast numbers of distributed energy resources, each with different owners and characteristics? Virtual power plants and peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading offer different sources of value to prosumers and the power network, and have been proposed as different potential structures for future prosumer electricity markets.

This addresses social, institutional and economic issues faced by top-down strategies for coordinating virtual power plants, while unlocking additional value for P2P energy trading.

The post The future is green and … microscopic! appeared first on Inter Press Service.

By GGGI
Sep 28 2018 (GGGI)

Back in December 2017, Jonathan was staying for a two-month community service in Sidomulyo, a village under the administration of Batu, a famous tourist city in East Java, Indonesia. Despite its status, Sidomulyo did not fit the description of typical third-world village. They had wide roads, the streets were clean, and also, numerous, well-maintained attraction parks. In fact, one could find hotels and villas, many of which were styled to the taste of affluent population of Surabaya, a metropolitan within two-hour drive range.  

Although tourism drove a significant part of the economy, most villagers grew flowers for a living. With such relatively developed economy, it was not surprising to see that the farms were beautifully arranged and well-maintained, with colorful chrysanthemums and roses here and there. Everything seemed great until Jonathan saw local farmers were used to do unthinkable things in their farms, one of which was burning empty pesticide bottles, along with other municipal waste.

At first, he thought it was accidental and directly covered his mouth and nose with his right hand, but then they flipped the bottles to complete the burning. Out of curiosity, he asked a farmer nearby, whether it was a custom in the whole village. The farmer nodded. Later in that week, he was less surprised to find two farmers were hanging out in the sun while smoking cigarettes on one hand, and diluting pesticides with the other.

 

 

As an emerging economy, Indonesia has a lot of problems, many of which seems urgent enough that lack of safety awareness is easily overlooked. For a foreigner just arriving in the country, this problem is observable on so many occasions. From the first time landing at Soekarno-Hatta, its main airport, one could witness the chaotic Jakarta traffic, where cars move around like motorcycles in developed economy and motorcycles like no other. In the streets, it is also not uncommon to find motorcycle riders going at 50 mph while not wearing a helmet. When visiting local middle-class houses, fire alarm is hardly ever found although the people use portable liquefied gas tank to cook daily.

As an agricultural economy, the number of farmers, although decreasing, is still quite high, yet sparsely distributed in remote areas, even separated by seas, considering its archipelagic nature. This makes local government initiative to promote occupational safety, even if there is one, would be ineffective. In the case of farmers in Sidomulyo, local government’s department of agriculture actually had had many socialization on this matter, yet farmers’ adoption was proven uncertain.

 

 

BUMDest, consisting of Albertus, Jonathan, Natali, and Yohanes, were privileged to access a world-class education at Department of Chemical Engineering, Universitas Gadjah Mada. The undergraduate program, accredited by Institution of Chemical Engineers in UK, included significant portion of occupational safety in its curricula. We are passionate to translate our knowledge in chemical process and safety for our community, specifically farmers. Our initiative was supported by long-standing tradition of our university to prioritize applied over theoretical research, aiming to empower underprivileged communities.

Mentored by Dr. Wiratni, who was recently featured in Business Insider as one of ‘The Most Powerful Female Engineers of 2018’, BUMDest developed an organic pesticide to tackle the forementioned safety issues. We acknowledge that changing farmers’ habits and tradition is still a long way to go, therefore we aim to first find a substitute for the toxic chemicals they handle. Our product, CountrySide is mainly composed of clove leaf oil and lemongrass oil. Per our market survey, the most wanted feature in a pesticide is rainfastness, or the ability to withstand being washed away by rain. This feature is more urgent in areas with high precipitation like Indonesia.

We named our pesticide, CountrySide, to revive the imagery of old-fashioned farming, the good old days when the land was green and toxic chemicals were nowhere to be found. After a prototype had been made, we had it tested for viscosity and effectivity. Two commercial pesticides, one for organic and one for synthetic, were used as benchmark. Laboratory test result showed that CountrySide was twice as viscous as the other two. We conducted the effectivity test independently, against Tenebrio molitor, a common pest in Indonesia, and showed that qualitatively, there was no significant difference between the performances of CountrySide against of the synthetic benchmark. The viscosity test was to prove that CountrySide would be more rain-resistant and the effectivity was an attempt to debunk the common myth that organic pesticide could never beat its synthetic counterpart.

Thanks to Greenpreneurs, we dared to approach our target customers to test whether our products would suit the market. According to local farmers, if farmers in an area consisting of farms with same crops were to use different pesticides, the discrepancy of effectivity between each pesticide would make pests more likely to congregate in a farm whose pesticide is the least deadly. Therefore, we need more detailed tests for CountrySide against multiple types of pests to conclude its feasibility for widespread commercial use. We have our fingers crossed to snatch this opportunity to create a positive impact in our beloved homeland through Greepreneurs. Wish us luck!

The post BUMDEST: Providing Your Better Pesticide appeared first on Inter Press Service.

By GGGI
Sep 28 2018 (GGGI)

Like many African countries (Benin, Cameroon, Togo, Nigeria …), Morroco has had a rapid increase in its urban population (over 65%), with high demand for garden produce, such as fruits and vegetables. Large quantities of chemical fertilizer and inputs are used by the horticulture sector each year. The distribution system remains very traditional and lacking in modern agricultural technology. Also, there are huge post-harvest losses and food waste (up to 40% for fruits and vegetables according to the FAO) despite the productivity declines, the high vulnerability of small producers and family farms to climate change.

This causes significant water and soil pollution, biodiversity, high GHG emissions, price spikes and high poverty. Huge total losses of good quality soils for agricultural production are recorded each year with the scarcity of water resources.

Food insecurity affects a large part of the population and the various health consequences of thousands of urban households are worrying.

 

 

Innovation in greentech and agroecology

To solve this challenge, we reconcile ICTs, the circular and solidarity economy, and the applied management.

Awarded Best World “Innovations for Agroecology” by FAO, Winner of the ICAF AWARD (Climate Initiatives) 2017 at COP23, and distinguished as one of the top 10 most advanced Agritech startups in Africa at the Presidential Summit in AGRF 2018, PREMIUM HORTUS is the African greentech for scaling agroecology to achieve the SDGs, specializing in the e-commerce of agroecological products, organic production and farmers support.

Available as a Web, Mobile platform, Big data, blockchains and Payment solutions, ” Premium Hortus ” allows you to subscribe, order, pay online, so as to get home-delivered fruits, vegetables, and organic products safely. In this way, users can control their consumption, reduce waste, donate or transfer food, and receive a food insurance credit. Waste is limited and recycled for organic composting, biogas, and for the cosmetics industry.

With our organic farms, farmers benefit from adequate technologies that facilitate their responsible production and adaptations to climate change. They have easy access to natural seeds, technical support (informations, pest management, control of rainfall, seeds, water control techniques, planning, biological processing, recycling, diversification, marketing, and green management.), knowledge and sharing of experiences. They can easily monitor the evolution of stocks remotely by phone or PC.

 

 

In line with the SDGs (1,2,4,5,6,8,12,13,14,15), PREMIUM HORTUS has real socio-economic, cultural and ecological impacts verified by several international experts with reports.

PREMIUM HORTUS strengthens the resilience of family farmers, increasing access for all to healthy foods, in a healthy environment. Many young and women family farmers can access technical support, optimize their agricultural productivity and reduce postharvest losses of up to 50 percent. They benefit from a short circuit, and market their small quantities of products more easily. Thus, the population can enjoy low-cost organic food, at steady prices, and improve their nutritional security.

PREMIUM HORTUS enhances professionalization, facilitates climate change adaptation, and empowers farmers from all backgrounds. Through responsible production and consumption, PREMIUM HORTUS reduces greenhouse gas emissions, and preserves the soil, water, biodiversity and health of thousands of African households.

PREMIUM HORTUS has been initiated in Benin since January 2016 and is in the internationalization phase. It has, according to the Bilan Carbone, a reduction of 46.67% GREENHOUSE GAS over a total of 1681 Kg / ha / year emitted. It promotes the Saving 31.12% of direct energy out of a total of 3088 Kwh / ha / year used for transportation, tractors, irrigation, and self-propelled in-line farming. Our innovation therefore has a direct energy reduction of 6727 KWh / year, reduction of crop losses and reduction of at least 40% of GHG emissions generated.

Our team of co-founders have complementary expertise in management, corporate communication, computer engineering, agronomy and nutrition sciences. We all know each other, we respect each other, accept our differences to innovate and impact together. We share the same values ​​of innovation, professionalism, responsibility, leadership, excellence and eco-citizenship.

GREENPENEURS Program, a real implementation support of PREMIUM HORTUS in MOROCCO

The GREENPRENEURS Program organized by GGGI, Youth Climate Lab and Student Energy, is very important for the implementation of PREMIUM HORTUS in Morocco. Laureate of the 1st GREENPRENEURS Program, ou team have benefited from various expertise and mentors that have allowed us to deepen the study of needs and market, to increase accessibility to our green innovation, to improve our financial strategy and fundraising. The various modules and experience sharing are very edifying for better team performance.

The perpetuation of GREENPRENEURS will certainly allow the development of the green economy in Africa and in the world.

 

 

Let’s work together for green growth !

Local agroecological practices and innovations can be scaled up to achieve the SDGs. PREMIUM HORTUS is a profitable, replicable Green Technology based on the principles of agroecology, Which can be supported by organizations, state and nonstate actors, and investors

We are available for a lasting partnership with you and do not hesitate to contact us.

Agriculture has developed with imperfections, but thanks to GGGI, Youth Climate Lab, Study Energy and You, it is possible to scale up acgroecology to achieve SDGs.

The post Use ICTs for Scaling up agroecology to achieve the SDGs: PREMIUM HORTUS, the African greentech for Agroecology in implementation in Morocco appeared first on Inter Press Service.

By GGGI
Sep 28 2018 (GGGI)

Many Ugandans are not familiar with the SDGs, and those that have heard of them picture a complex, international project meant only for those in the United Nations or government to implement. This was the case too for the youth we work with before they became engaged in our Waste to Energy Youth Project. It is our aim to change this lack of knowledge and to deliver action at the community level.

WEYE stands for Waste to Energy Youth Enterprise because the company produces carbonized fuel briquettes from agricultural waste materials, and municipal organic waste from households and food markets. This company is not the first to make briquettes, but what is unique is that we produce our briquettes from organic waste materials and we supply our products to institutions.

Institutions use 80% of firewood harvested in Uganda, and with our new institutional briquette stove technology using our quality briquettes, these institutions can now use briquettes, thus reducing demand for firewood and consequently reducing deforestation in Uganda. I feel it is my duty to do anything in my ability to promote affordable and clean energy access for all (SDG 7) and these institutions make up the majority share of Uganda that had no access to clean energy.

These institutions, including schools, universities, vocational institutions, hospitals and many more, lacked the appropriate stove technology to enable them to use clean cooking briquettes as an alternative to firewood.

 

 

Despite the presence of solar, hydro power and gas as alternative sources of cooking energy, fuel briquettes are the most affordable and efficient alternatives for these institutions at this point in time. The new stove and our briquettes enable institutions to transition from firewood to clean smokeless briquettes, reducing deforestation for firewood and the respiratory complications faced by cooks from burning firewood.

Our solution guarantees our clients a 35% reduction in cost of cooking fuel,  50% reduction in cooking time and most importantly a smoke free cooking environment for the cooking staff.

During the pilot study, the results from St. Kizito High School – the first school to adopt our technology – were amazing. The school registered an annual financial saving of over US$2500, a 50% reduction in cooking time and increased job satisfaction among the cooking staff due to the healthy, clean and smokeless cooking conditions.

Our project uses organic waste from farmers and food markets such as maize combs, banana peelings and many others, which were considered useless. We offer the farmers and waste collectors monetary value for this organic waste and give them a new avenue to generate income, boosting the agricultural and waste management sectors.

 

 

If this business is expanded, it has a potential to open up new entrepreneurial opportunities in organic waste collection and sorting for briquette production. Apart from the profit to the owner, with a minimum of five customers, this business has the potential of directly and indirectly employing over 40 individuals in waste collection, sorting, production, marketing, distribution and finance.

With a potential market of over 30,000 institutions, the company runs a training program to train youth and women with the skills in briquette making to take advantage of the government youth fund to start up their own briquette companies, because the market is too big for one company to satisfy. This 30,000 institution potential market has the potential to create over 100,000 new jobs for youth and women. Apart from the income generation and employment benefits, we also have the environment (forests and shrubs) preservation aspect.

In the greenprenuers program, we have been able to get expert advice and mentorship on how to this green business can be taken to the next level. Our highlights so far have been;  the connection to the GGGI team in Uganda to discuss more in local context, how to improve our product. The new raw material sourcing approaches from Sanyal Palash, a subject matter expert in the program.

 

 

Our Mentor Zeleke Nahom has been very instrumental in the development of our business plan and new strategies to approach institutions owned by government bodies and NGOs. Overall, I can gladly say that this program has provided our team with the required knowledge and expertise to take our solution to a new level,  the kind of knowledge that would have taken us 3 years of challenges to gain.

The project is mainly aimed to contribute to achieving SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), but also greatly contributes to SDG 8 (Decent work and Economic growth) by providing an alternative economic activity and source of income for youth. SDG 5 (Gender Equality) is a key focus because our training programs have women as a key target market, as well as youth. SDG 15 (Life on Land) and SDG 13 (Climate Action) are also addressed, by providing an alternative to wood fuel, thus saving forests and their inhabitants.

We all can affect SDG implementation on not just one but multiple goals if we start with what we have. By focusing on our communities and the solutions that lie within, we can achieve the SDGs.

 

The post Climate Action through commercialization of grass root waste to energy solutions appeared first on Inter Press Service.

A student walks by a board displaying names of freedom fighters. The New Digital Security Act 2018 makes speaking against any freedom fighter leader a punishable offence. Credit: Stella Paul/IPS

By Stella Paul
HYDERBAD, Sep 28 2018 (IPS)

It has been six and half years since the killing of Bangladeshi journalists Meherun Runi and Sagar Sarwar in Dhaka. Runi, a senior reporter from the private TV channel ATN Bangla, and her husband Sarwar, news editor from Maasranga TV, were hacked to death at their home on Feb. 11, 2012.

Years later, with no official updates on the progress of the investigation, their families wait for justice as the fear of impunity looms large.

The atmosphere in Bangladesh’s journalism today is one of trepidation and caution.

It has witnessed a series of attacks against students and journalists in the capital city of Dhaka, followed by the passing of a cyber law that has come under scathing criticism.

The Digital Security Bill 2018, passed on Sept. 19 has been strongly criticised by journalists, who have called it a tool designed to gag the press and freedom of speech.

The draft bill had been actually introduced last year, and there had been strong demands for amending several provisions of the law. The government had publicly promised to consider the demands. However, on the advice of the law makers, the government decided to go ahead without any changes and passed it last week. IPS Journalists worldwide stand in solidarity for press freedom and join the Nobel Laureates and 17 eminent global citizens, and British MP Tulip Siddiq as they call for the immediate release of Shahidul Alam. IPS also calls for the release of journalists who have been detained in the course of duty across the globe, including those in the Congo, Turkey, and Myanmar.

IPS has noted with concern the increasingly repressive environment that our reporters are working in and call on governments to review their media laws and support press freedom. It is incredibly important for IPS that our reporters are safe as they do their work in holding governments and institutions to account.

One of the most worrying provisions of the law (section 43) is that it allows the police to arrest or search individuals without a warrant.

Other provisions of the law includes 14 years of imprisonment for anyone who commits any crime or assists anyone in committing crimes using a computer, digital device, computer network, digital network or any other electronic medium.

As expected, the new law has come under scathing criticism of the media.

“The act goes against the spirit of the Liberation War. Independent journalism will be under threat in the coming days. We thought the government would accept our [Sampadak Parishad’s] suggestions for the sake of independent journalism, freedom of expression and free thinking, but it did not,” said Naem Nizam, editor of Bengali news daily Bangladesh Pratidin, in a strongly-worded public statement.

The Editor’s Council, known as Shampadak Parishad, also was unanimous in labelling the law as a threat to press freedom and independent media in the country.

To protest against the law, the council has called all journalists and media bodies to join a human chain on Sept. 29 in Dhaka.

The legislation “would violate constitutional guarantees of freedom of the press, and would create extensive legal dangers for journalists in the normal course of carrying out their professional activities,” Steven Butler, the Asia programme coordinator of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), said in a statement.

Interestingly, the new law was originally developed in response to the media’s demand for scrapping Section 57 of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Act, 2006—a broad law against electronic communication.

Under Section 57, intentionally posting false, provocative, indecent or sensitive information on websites or any electronic platforms that was defamatory, and can disrupt the country’s law and order situation, or hurt religious sentiments, is a punishable offence, with a maximum penalty of 14 years imprisonment and a fine of USD120,000.

It was under this section 57 that Shahidul Alam, an award-winning independent photographer, was arrested.

Alam was arrested on Aug. 5 from his home in Dhaka and has been charged with inciting violence by making provocative statements in the media. He has been held without bail since the arrest, despite repeated appeals by the media, human rights groups and the international community for his release.

IPS contacted several local journalists and academics but everyone declined to comment on the issue of Alam’s arrest. However, last month, British MP Tulip Siddiq, and the niece of Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina, called on her aunt to release Alam saying the situation was “deeply distressing and should end immediately”.

Protestors demanded the unconditional release of Shahidul Alam, and for charges against him, and others held in similar circumstances, to be dropped. Courtesy: Salim Hasbini

Alam’s family organised a protest in New York on Sept. 27 to coincide with prime minister Hasina’s address to the United Nations General Assembly.

The protest was endorsed by human rights groups and journalist associations, rights activist Kerry Kennedy, actress/activist Sharon Stone, and attended by Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, among others.

At the demonstration, Columbia University professor Gayatri Spivak pointed out, “What is really important for the state is that if one silences the creative artists and intellectuals, then the conscience of the state is killed because its the role of the creatives artists and intellectuals to make constructive criticism so that the state can be a real democracy.”

According to Meenakshi Ganguly, Asia director of Human Rights Watch (HRW), the Bangladesh government wants to show that no one who dares criticise or challenge its actions will be spared.

“Newspaper editors face being charged with criminal defamation and sedition. Journalists and broadcasters are routinely under pressure from the authorities to restrain criticism of the government,” Ganguly said.

“As a photographer, Alam documents the truth; his work and his voice matter now more than ever,” she said. 

In Bangladesh, the media has been demanding the scrapping of Section 57, explains Afroja Shoma, an assistant professor of Media and Mass Communication at American International University of Bangladesh.

“However, the Digital Security Act left this untouched and so this new law is nothing but ‘old wine in a new bottle,’” Shoma told IPS.

“Section 57, in the past, has been misused several times. The media wanted the government to scrap this. The government then brought this whole new law [the Digital Security Bill 2018]. But it has retained the same old provisions of the section 57. As a result, the law has created an atmosphere of fear among the journalists of the country,” said Shoma.

Digital security breeding insecurity

However, digital laws are not just threatening press freedom in Bangladesh. Several countries in south Asia have had similar punitive laws passed.

India had its own “Section 57” known as the Section 66A of the Information Technology Act 2000.

Section 66A in the act made provisions for “punishment for sending offensive messages through communication service” and included information shared via a “computer resource or a communication device” known to be “false, but for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience, danger, obstruction, insult, injury, criminal intimidation, enmity, hatred or ill will.”

In March 2015, the Supreme Court of India struck it down, calling it “open ended, undefined, and vague.”

However, of late, India has also seen a spate of vicious attacks on journalists. These include the murder of journalists Gauri Lankesh and Shujat Bukhari as well as online attacks on investigative journalist Rana Ayyub who authored the book Gujarat Files. No arrests have been made in any of these cases so far.

Nepal, a country not known for attacks on the press, has just passed a new law  that makes sharing confidential information an offence resulting in a prison sentence. The code criminalises recording and listening to conversations between two or more people without the consent of the persons involved, as well as disclosing private information without permission, including private information on public figures.

Under the law, a journalist could face fines of up to 30,000 rupees (USD270) and imprisonment of up to three years, according to the CPJ. The CPJ has released a statement asking the government to repeal or amend the law.

Badri Sigdel, Nepal’s National Press Union president, said in a recent press statement: “The NPU condemns the Act with provisions that restrict journalists to report, write and take photographs. Such restrictions are against the democratic norms and values; and indicate towards authoritarianism. The NPU demands immediate amendment in the unacceptable provisions of the law.”

Pakistan, which ranks 139 in the Press Freedom Index (India ranks 138, while Bangladesh and Nepal rank 146 and 106 respectively), has witnessed the killings of five journalists while working between May 1, 2017 to Apr. 1, 2018.

Also, according to a study by local media watchdog the Freedom Network there have been:

• 11 cases of attempted kidnapping or abduction,

• 39 illegal detention and arrest,

• 58 physical assault and vandalism,

• and 23 occurrences of verbal and written threats.

The country has just, however, drafted the Journalists Welfare and Protection Bill, 2017, which aims to ensure safety and protection of journalists. The draft, once adopted, will be the first in the region to provide physical protection, justice and financial assistance for all working journalists—both permanent and contractual.

 

Related Articles

• The Shrinking Space for Media Freedom in Uganda
• When Being ‘Offensive’ or ‘Morally Improper’ Online Carries an Indeterminate Jail Sentence in East Africa
• Social Media – the New Testing Ground for Sri Lanka’s Freedom

The post Impunity, Harsh Laws Trouble Journalists in South Asia as Protesters March on the U.N. For Release of Bangladeshi Journalist appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb took credit for bombing of the United Nations headquarters in Algiers in December 2007, an act that claimed the lives of 17 U.N. personnel. Credit: UN Photo / Evan Schneider

By Abe Radkin
NEW YORK, Sep 28 2018 (IPS)

With the rise of violent extremism worldwide has come the stereotyping of an entire religion. In many countries and across many borders, Muslims have been vilified for events they are just as outraged at.

Yet instead of working together to foster a common understanding and mutual respect, we have seen otherwise liberal countries shut their borders and suppress culture. At a time of extreme intolerance, it is increasingly important that we recognize the importance of working together toward shared global interests of peace and prosperity.

As an increasing number of Muslim-majority nations take a stand against extremism practiced in the name of their faith, people around the world are working across borders to promote cross-cultural understanding and tolerance.

At a time when so much of what we hear is about the ill in the world, we have a duty to celebrate the critical work that happens every day to ensure the “battle of ideas” in the global fight against extremism is not lost to those who preach violence rather than peace.

This is the work of the Global Hope Coalition, which shines a light on both the governments and the everyday heroes standing up to violence and intolerance in their countries and around the world—and those who are joining with them in the fight. At this year’s annual dinner they recognize those who have taken a stand against extremists invoking religion for the purposes of perpetrating terror.

Take for example Niger, a majority Muslim country, which is increasingly at the center of a vast struggle for power in Africa’s Sahel region. After the retreat of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, Niger has seen a massive uptick in extremist threats as the Sahel region has become an active theater for ISIS and jihadi terrorists.

Niger’s government under the leadership of President Mahamadou Issoufou has been an outspoken critic of violent extremism in the name of Islam and has advocated a tolerant and peaceful vision of the religion. The country has worked hard to build regional alliances against terrorist groups in the Sahel region.

At a time of great challenge, when many would retrench, Niger has worked to strengthen the rule of law and the country’s constitutional institutions, while respecting the separation of powers. Perhaps most heartening was the more than $23 billion from donor countries pledged to Niger at a two-day “Niger Renaissance Conference” in Paris in December 2017.

Niger is not alone.

Muslim-majority countries are standing up to extremists and proving the actions of a select few do not define an entire religion. But the global community’s response has been inadequate. Largely fueled by stereotypes created and driven by ISIS and al-Qaeda, Muslims have been demonized, attacked, and shut out of a number of otherwise tolerant nations.

Many global efforts to lift up anti-extremism efforts have been nebulously structured at best and ineffectual at worst. And crucially, some wealthier western countries have failed to be shining beacons of tolerance and prosperity whose principles they were founded upon and have instead hid behind thinly veiled xenophobia. All that while continuing to expect fealty from Muslim allies.

This cowardice is not the answer – in any part of the world. Instead of turning a blind eye to good faith efforts to stand up to common enemies, the global community must rally around them like they did for Niger in 2017.

That’s why governments and heads of state are only one piece of the equation. Equally important, but far less public, are the thousands upon thousands of individuals in towns and cities throughout the world working every day to stand up to extremism, fight intolerance, and work towards peace in their communities.

Just as the international community must rally around natural allies in this fight, so too must it uplift and encourage the everyday heroes and on-the-ground change makers – like, for instance, this year’s Global Hope Heroes Sherin Khankan and Omer Al-Turabi. Khankan, a female imam and daughter of a Syrian refugee, has led the creation of a women-led mosque in Copenhagen to promote a tolerant, peaceful Islam true to its original precepts.

Al-Turabi is a prominent Sudanese author and academic who has become a leading voice among younger generations in the Arab world seeking peace and a liberal future for their countries.

Both Khankan and Al-Turabi have faced tremendous obstacles to their efforts – yet both have been unwavering in their efforts to win the battle for hearts and minds. There are countless more like them, and that is why Global Hope’s work is so important. By providing resources and valuable organization and networking opportunities to heroes just like these, progress can – and will – take shape.

The UN General Assembly gives us an annual opportunity to reflect on what can be accomplished by thoughtful and meaningful multilateral action. This year, under existential threats to our way of life and a global order built on cooperation, the takeaway couldn’t be clearer: We must choose peace, and we must stand with those who fight for it.

The post Muslim Allies In the Fight Against Extremism appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Abe Radkin is International Coordinator of the Global Hope Coalition.

The post Muslim Allies In the Fight Against Extremism appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Chiekh Mbacke Sow makes beautiful paintings using sand he imports from all over the world.

The suspects are accused of involvement in an attack at a rally for Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

Bobby John is a New Delhi based physician and global health advocate.

By Bobby John, MD
NEW DELHI, Sep 28 2018 (IPS)

In the early months of 1993, there was frenetic activity within the Geneva headquartered WHO’s Communicable Diseases program, to get Tuberculosis designated as a Global Emergency.

While countries like India had instituted TB Control programs as early as 1962, and Tanzania in the late 1970’s had shown field level evidence of programmatic innovations like directly observed treatment would reduce TB related mortality, the global reality was things were not going too well as far as reducing incidence and mortality for this age-old disease.

Frighteningly, for the western world at least, the disease had made a dramatic comeback, showing up in a drug resistant avatar in New York between 1991-92.

Fast forward 25 years – it is 2018: Tagged the world largest TB burden country, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has committed to India eliminating TB by 2025; and at last, TB had a special UN High Level Meeting on September 27th.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Delhi End TB Summit, March 13, 2018

The intervening 25 years since the declaration of the “Global TB Emergency” has seen robust growth of national TB control programs. The WHO expanded the list of 22 high burden countries of the late 1990s to include many more countries and three different categories of burden.

India, Indonesia, and Nigeria remain hosts to a large proportion of the global TB burden and represent the best opportunities for making the largest impact to it. Though Brazil, South Africa, and China also have sizeable TB burdens, they have remarkably responsive TB control programs in place already.

The toolkit to combat TB has changed somewhat too. There is a growing awareness that old diagnostic tools will not help. Newer technologies, available but still not entirely affordable by lower income countries at scale, need to be deployed extensively.

Advances in information technologies are also reshaping the use of old tools like chest X Rays, digitizing and transmitting them to cloud based servers where they are analyzed and reported back in minutes, without waiting on radiologists.

There is growing understanding that in the battle against bacilli, there will be the need to prevent the emergence of resistance, and where already present, manage with appropriate drug regimens. This is expensive, but no longer optional, and will require the same collective bargaining power that institutions like the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria brought to the fore to bring down anti-malarial drug prices in the mid 2000’s.

While the bio-medical toolkit to combat TB will change, and it will – with enough urgent support and resources directed towards research and development, the greatest change needs to be in focusing political capital to the elimination of this age-old disease.

Tuberculosis in the community, like the mycobacterium bacilli inside the human lung, is to be found where there is little chance of it being discovered and dislodged easily. In real terms, communities and individuals who are on the margins of society, geographically or socially, are most likely to be where the disease continues to find its long-term incubatory refuge.

Without adequate political capital to reach, diagnose and treat those at the social and geographical margins, even the best new toolkit and operational innovation to fight TB will fail. Which is why Prime Minister Modi’s public statement on March 13th this year at the Delhi EndTB Summit is both welcome, and necessary to be replicated at sub-national and local levels, and in every other country where TB currently takes a toll.

When a disease elimination program is politically led, resources are eventually found. The Global Polio Elimination Initiative over the past 20 years showed us that. Tuberculosis has that moment in 2018.

The technical and TB program community, ably marshalled by the Stop TB Partnership, needs to provide the required assurances to those whose careers are electorally determined, that TB is a winning proposition, both from a public health perspective and from the good that it does to restoring individual productivity.

It is estimated that a dollar invested on TB control in today’s terms returns over $43 in cumulative productivity gains. It is the technical and program implementers community, from the WHO at global, regional and national levels, national health programs, partners like the World Bank and the Global Fund, and the myriad civil society organizations and voluntary groups who need to provide robust encouragement to, and backstop, the commitments political leaders make to their communities.

Mycobacterium Tuberculosis bacilli are notoriously insidious growers, taking their own time to make dramatic, debilitating appearances. One hopes that the growth features of the bacilli is a metaphor for the global movement against TB –long in the making, but truly dramatic in the way things change to eliminate the epidemic.

The post A UN High-Level Meeting May See Hopes to End Tuberculosis appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Bobby John is a New Delhi based physician and global health advocate.

The post A UN High-Level Meeting May See Hopes to End Tuberculosis appeared first on Inter Press Service.

A selection of the best photos from across Africa and of Africans elsewhere this week.

Uganda Police Force manhandle a journalist covering a demonstration in Kampala, Uganda. Courtesy: Wambi Michael

By Wambi Michael
KAMPALA, Sep 27 2018 (IPS)

Last month, a horrifying video circulated on social media in Uganda. It shows Reuters photographer, James Akena, surrounded by Uganda Peoples Defence Force soldiers who beat him as he raised his hands in the air in surrender. He was unarmed and held only his camera. 

Akena suffered deep cuts to his head and injuries on his hands, neck and fingers for which he had to be hospitalised. He is yet to resume work.

But a month after Akena’s torture, there is no evidence that the soldiers who assaulted him have been punished, despite the Ugandan army issuing a statement against the soldiers’ unprofessional conduct, saying orders had been issued for their arrest and punishment.

Uganda’s Chief of Defence Forces General David Muhoozi insisted in an interview with IPS that action was being taken against his soldiers.

“We don’t need anyone to remind us that we need to [hold] those who commit torture to account. Those ones who assaulted the journalist, we are going to take action. They have been apprehended. So it is within in our DNA to fight mischief,” Muhoozi told IPS.

Akena was photographing protests against the arrest and torture of popular musician turned politician Robert Kyangulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine. He had been in the process of taking photographs that would expose the brutal conduct of the army and the police while they dispersed demonstrating crowds.

President Yoweri Museveni a week later told members of parliament from his ruling National Resistance Movement party that his security had told him that Akena had been mistaken for a petty thief taking advantage of the demonstration.

Human Rights Network For Journalists – Uganda (HRNJ) executive director Robert Sempala told IPS that that the abuse of journalists has continued despite assurances from the army and Uganda Police Force. He said about 30 journalists have been beaten by the army between Aug. 20 and Sept. 22, 2018.

“They insist that they arrested those soldiers but the army has not disclosed their identities. So we are still waiting to see that they are punished or else we shall seek other remedies, including legal action,” Sempala said.

Maria Burnett, an associate director at Human Rights Watch in charge of East Africa, expressed doubt whether the arrest of those who tortured Akena would mean that journalists would not be beaten in the future. 

“Security forces have beaten journalists with limited repercussions for years in Uganda. Other government bodies then censor coverage of army-orchestrated violence. 

“Beating journalists serves two purposes: It scares some journalists from covering politically-sensitive events, and, at times, it prevents evidence of soldiers beating or even killing civilians from reaching the public,” Burnett said in a statement.

She said threatening and intimidating journalists curtailed the public’s access to information – information they could use to question the government’s policies.

“With more and more cameras readily available, beating or censoring the messenger isn’t feasible in the long term. It will only lead to more fodder for citizen journalists and more questions about why the government resorts to violence in the face of criticism,” observed Burnett.

Dr. Peter Mwesige, a media scholar and head of the African Centre For Media Excellence, said: “This is unacceptable. We call upon the government to rein in members of the armed forces who are now presiding over this frightening erosion of press freedom and free expression in Uganda. As we have said before, press freedom and freedom of expression are not just about the rights of journalists and the media to receive and disseminate information.”

He said stopping journalists from covering political protests and violence denied citizens access to information about what was going on in their country.

“No degree of imperfections in our media ranks can justify the wanton abuse that security forces have visited on journalists,” said Mwesige.

Sarah Bireete, the deputy executive director at the Centre for Constitutional Governance, told IPS that the violence against journalists was part of the shrinking civic space in Uganda. 

She said there were efforts to silence civil society groups who worked in the areas of governance and accountability.

“Such abuses also continue to extend to other groups such as journalists and activists that play a key role in holding governments and their bodies to account,” said Bireete.

The Ugandan government uses its national laws to bring charges against journalists, revoke broadcasting licenses without due process of law, and practice other forms of repression.

The Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) has used ill-defined and unchecked powers to regulate the media. 

The UCC, for instance, issued on Sept. 19 a directive to radio and TV stations in Uganda restricting them from carrying live coverage of the return of Kyangulanyi to the country. The legislator was returning from the United States where he had gone for treatment after he had been tortured by the army. Most of the media outlets heeded to the directive.

The government has moved further to restrict press freedom by restricting the number of foreign correspondents in Uganda.

The Foreign Correspondent’s Association in Uganda (FCAU) on Sept. 12 issued a statement calling on the Uganda government to stop blocking journalists from accessing accreditation. 

It said at least 10 journalists wishing to report in Uganda had not been given government accreditation even after they had fulfilled all the requirements.

“Preventing international journalist from working in Uganda adds to a troubling recent pattern of intimidation and violence against journalists. Stopping a number of international media houses from reporting legally inside Uganda is another attempt to gag journalists,” read the statement. 

Section 29(1) of the Press and Journalists Act requires all foreign journalists who wish to report from Uganda to get accreditation from the Media Council of Uganda through the Uganda Media Centre. The journalists are required to pay non-refundable accreditation fees depending on their duration of stay in the country. 

IPS has learnt that a number of journalists have since returned home after failing to secure accreditation.

Uganda Media Centre director Ofwono Opondo told IPS that the government has not stopped the accreditation of foreign journalists but was reviewing the guidelines.

Magelah Peter Gwayaka, a human rights lawyer with Chapter Four, a non-profit dedicated to the protection of civil liberties and promotion of human rights, told IPS: “Not long ago we had a BBC reporter, Will Ross, who was deported. The implication is to force journalists to cow down, to stop demanding for accountability, to stop demanding for all those things that democracy brings about.”

“So if the army is going to stop demonstrators and it beats up journalists like we saw the other day, no civil society [can stand] up to say please can we account? Can we have these army men arrested?” Gwayaka said.

Related Articles

• When Being ‘Offensive’ or ‘Morally Improper’ Online Carries an Indeterminate Jail Sentence in East Africa
• Social Media – the New Testing Ground for Sri Lanka’s Freedom
• Confusion over U.S. Travel Ban Grounds Foreign Correspondents

The post The Shrinking Space for Media Freedom in Uganda appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Jeffrey Samba has been crowned the first Mr Congo UK 2018.

Kenya shows no signs of operating an "institutionalised" doping system, says a World Anti-Doping Agency report after a two-year study.

The German woman was trying to photograph a herd of elephants in Zimbabwe.

A new study suggests mothers in Kenya face widespread pressure to kill their disabled children.