Africa - INTER PRESS SERVICE

By GGGI
Oct 3 2018 (GGGI)

Plight of farmers in Pakistan is aggravated through the loss/wastage of fruit and vegetables which otherwise could have earned an income for the farmers, like Ali Baksh.

The Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency found that thirty percent of the fruits and vegetables produced in Pakistan are wasted in harvest. For an agrarian economy like Pakistan, wastage of fruits and vegetables in post-harvest periods could bereft the nation of the economic benefits. Almost 9.3 million of farming families earn their livelihood through fruits and vegetable produces. However, these families do not necessarily own agriculture land. Despite this, their three generations work on the same acres of land trying to make ends meet. Ali Baksh belongs to one of these families.

Our business, Mewa, stands to assist such farmers. Mewa is focused on helping farmers like Ali Baksh by limiting the fruits and vegetables wastage using the simple solution- solar dehydrators. Pakistan lacks behind the implementation of solar dehydrators technology, which has the potential to supersede the challenges faced by Ali. Given the success and potential fit with the conditions of our agriculture sector, we aim to implement Hohenheim solar dehydrator.

Firstly, Mewa will provide Ali with an incremental income by purchasing a share of his produce at market competitive rates. This will overcome the challenge of loss of income. Secondly, prolonging the shelf life will improve the salability of fruits and vegetables. Solar dehydrators will help in reducing the wastage by converting the fruits and vegetables to dehydrated form. Finally, through proper quality checks we will ensure the dehydrated products’ quality is up to the mark. Whereas the currently in place sun drying methods used by Ali and other farmers alike compromises the quality.

Beginning with crops indigenous to the region of Nawabshah, Sindh in Pakistan, we will process Dates, Chillis, Mangoes and Bananas. According to our estimate, we will earn a daily profit of US$4.5 per dehydrator and providing Ali and other farmers with a daily income of US$2.0.

Strength of our business model is dependent upon our partners. We have identified and consulted with our potential business partners. Pakistan Farmer’s Association will be our relationship partner helping us reach the farmers. Agility Logistics has widespread networks and will be transporting the produce to and from our facilities, SGS Pakistan will be our quality controllers ensuring that our products are up to consumption and export standards. The Sindh Enterprise Development Fund will be our consultants and advisers in this endeavor and as our customers we have identified food industries such as National Foods and Shan Foods as well as the Pakistan Army, all of whom accept SGS quality checks.

Our most vital stakeholders are the farmers from whom we will be buying our produce. We plan and hope to build lasting relationships with them, train members of farming communities to work at our facilities and have an impact on twelve million lives by 2025. We know that our idea that can truly make a difference, and I hope you can see it too.

The experience of participating in Greenpreneurs has been an incredible eye-opening experience for us. We have not only bonded better as business partners but gotten to see what a professional start up looks like. We have been able to delve deeper into the minds of our customers, break down our financials to the level that we can realistically gauge our costs and revenue streams and also see the over arching impact implementation of our idea can have.

The post Solar dehydrators fight food waste – MEWA, Pakistan appeared first on Inter Press Service.

The ‘Non-Violence’ (or ‘Knotted Gun’) sculpture by Swedish artist Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd on display at the UN Visitors’ Plaza. Credit: UN Photo

By International Organization for Migration
Oct 3 2018 (IOM)

Mobs chasing migrants through towns; migrant street vendors getting shot at by people passing by on scooters; and migrant-owned shops being attacked on a regular basis. These are just a few samples of the incidents against migrant communities reported around the world.

Yesterday (2 October) we celebrated the International Day of Non-violence; today we would like draw attention to the issue of xenophobic violence.

An increase in violent attacks and hate crimes against migrants has been reported in several countries the last few years.[1] Coupled with a political atmosphere that has become more influenced by anti-migrant rhetoric, it is important to highlight the obligations surrounding the protection of migrants from this sort of violence in international law.

International human rights law prohibit any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence[2].

Xenophobia against migrants has been recognized as one of the main sources of contemporary racism and human rights violations.[3] In order to respect migrants’ right to security, States are obliged to protect them against all forms violence and bodily harm — whether the perpetrators are officials or private individuals, groups or institutions.[4]

States must adopt and implement legislation prohibiting xenophobic acts. Then, the acts need to be duly investigated and the perpetrators prosecuted and punished with sufficiently severe penalties reflecting the gravity of the act.[5] No one, including public officials, should enjoy impunity for targeting migrants, therefore States should also monitor the conduct of State agents such as border and coast guards, etc.

To effectively fight all manifestations of racism, xenophobia or related intolerance against migrants in society (such as hate crimes, incitement to hatred and hate speech) States should take positive measures with respect to both politicians and the media to raise awareness about the criminal nature of xenophobic acts as well as the rights of migrants.[6]

Another issue to consider is that by taking repressive measures and criminalizing migrants in irregular situations, States risk fuelling negative attitudes towards migrants which often leads to xenophobia and violence.

Moreover, this can create major obstacles for irregular migrants’ access to justice as they will be reluctant to report acts of violence or abuse to the authorities for fear of detention and/or deportation. Violence against irregular migrants therefore often goes under-reported and the perpetrators go unpunished.

Violence and attacks against migrants, simply because they are not nationals of a given country, need to be labelled as per the correct terminology — xenophobic and racist.

In a harsher and more anti-migrant political climate, the international community needs to continue to advocate for a clear stance against these phenomena. Instead of focusing on controlling and criminalizing migrants, it is time to foster inclusiveness and protect their rights, while ensuring effective access to justice for the benefit of migrants and communities.

________________________________________
[1] See for example, The Report of the UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance (2018) A/HRC/38/52 (2018); EU’s Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) (2018) Periodic data collection on the migration situation in the EU; FRA (2016) Current migration situation in the EU: hate crime.

[2] Art. 20 (2) International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966).

[3] The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), General Recommendation no. 30 on discrimination against non-citizens (2005), p. 1; See also Durban Declaration and Plan of Action, Adopted at the World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Violence, 8 September 2001,

[4] Art. 16 (2) International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families; art. 5 (b) International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

[5] The Committee on Migrant Workers (CMW), General Recommendation, no. 2 on the rights of migrant workers in an irregular situation and members of their families (2013), para. 22; CERD, General Recommendation no. 30, supra. para. 11; CERD, General Recommendation no. 35 on combatting racist hate speech (2013), para. 13 ©, 17.

[6] CMW, General Recommendation no. 2, supra. para. 22.

The post International Day of Non-violence — How Can We Protect Migrants from Xenophobia? appeared first on Inter Press Service.

A view of the ravaged village of Vilufushi, on the southeastern Kolhumadulu Atoll, where 17 have died and 28 are still missing after the tsunami swept across their island. Credit: UN Photo/Evan Schneider

By Arul Louis
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 3 2018 (IPS)

Maldives is currently going through a peaceful transfer of power to opposition leader Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, who was elected president last month, the nation’s Permanent Representative Ali Naseer Mohamed assured the UN General Assembly (UNGA).

Speaking at the high-level General Debate of the UNGA Oct 1, he said that September 23, the day the presidential election took place, was an “extraordinary day for the country and it “was a moment that makes every Maldivian proud of how far we have come and the excellent progress the country has achieved.”

“Following the election, the Maldives is currently going through the process of transfer of power from one elected government to the other,” he said.

On Saturday, September 29, the country’s Election Commission declared Maldivian Democratic Party candidate Solih the winner of the presidential election, overruling the defeated President Abdulla Yameen’s efforts to delay the announcement of the results.

“The accelerated process of democracy in the Maldives is going in tandem with faster growth in social and economic development,” Mohamed said.

The elections came after a tumultuous period during which Yameen had imposed a state of emergency earlier this year and had arrested former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, as well as Supreme Court Chief Justice Abdulla Saeed and Judge Ali Hameed and charged them with treason.

Solih was also arrested along with scores of opposition leaders.

Maldives Foreign Minister Mohamed Asim was scheduled to address UNGA last Saturday, September 29, but after the president’s defeat he did not show up and Mohamed, who spoke in his stead, was the last speaker at the concluding session of the high-level General Debate.

Without naming any countries, Mohamed said “the principle of international law that governs the friendly relations and cooperation among states are being challenged at a fundamental level.”

“There is therefore a need for countries big and small to return to the right side of law,” he said.

During the country’s turmoil, the tug of war over the Maldives between the Asian giants, India and China came to the fore. As New Delhi insisted on Maldives adhering to democracy, Yameen began a drift towards Beijing and also reached out to Islamabad.

Unlike last year’s speech by Mohamed at the General Debate, Soli’s address this year hardly gave any importance to climate change, which the archipelago nation has presented to the world as a mortal danger to its very existence because of rising sea levels.

He mentioned in the passing that the UN should be the place where the “combined power of many ideas, many solutions, and many voices thrive to address challenges of climate change, ocean degradation, poverty, exclusion, and discrimination.”

Another mention of climate change came when he spoke of the construction of a bridge connecting the capital with its airport and the suburb of Hulhumalé and said it helped “better adaptation to climate change.”

The Maldivian envoy also gave a lot of importance to the value of the UN as “the engine room of multilateralism” and its role in helping the smaller nations.

“For the small islands developing States, such as the Maldives, the United Nations will always remain the indispensable partner in building our national resilience. We see the UN as the key in determining our place, and our voice, in the global discourse,” he said.

“Ensuring the relevance of the UN, must mean ensuring that everyone, from the biggest to the smallest, play their part,” he added. “It must mean, offering everyone a place, in finding shared solutions for our shared future.”

Mohamed spoke proudly of the nation’s strides in development and in ending poverty.

“From the humble beginning, as one of the poorest countries in the world at independence in 1965, to an upper middle-income country today, is a success story by any measure,” he said.

The per capita gross domestic product shot up from $1,470 in 1980 to $19,120 last, the International Monetary Fund data show, putting it firmly in the middle income countries category.

In per capita terms, Maldives is the richest nation in South Asia.

Mohamed gave his country’s scorecard: “The Maldives has one of the highest human development indicators in our region, with nearly universal literacy rates, universal immunization, and the lowest infant-mortality, and maternal-mortality rates. The country has eradicated diseases, such as polio, measles, malaria, and lymphatic filariasis, although various types of non-communicable diseases, are emerging as new challenges.”

He praised Yameen for what he said was the progress recorded by the Indian Ocean archipelago nation during the last five years under his rule.

He made an appeal for support to small island developing states like his for capacity building, through transfer of technology, and access to finance in order to achieve the UN’s sustainable development goals.

“The United Nations can assume a greater level of leadership in fostering such support,” he said.

The post Maldives Envoy tells UN About Peaceful Transfer of Power appeared first on Inter Press Service.

We are already witnessing the horrific consequences of decades and decades of encroachment upon wetlands, destruction of rivers and filling up of low-lying areas in the capital. Photo: Amran Hossain

By Nahela Nowshin
Oct 3 2018 (The Daily Star, Bangladesh)

A recent World Bank report—an environmental analysis of Bangladesh—should erase any remaining doubts about the critical level that environmental pollution has reached in the country.

The report titled “Enhancing Opportunities for Clean and Resilient Growth in Urban Bangladesh” should be an eye-opener for policymakers who seem to have had their eyes set on boosting economic growth alone without paying attention to the concomitant environmental costs. The data shows that deaths caused by pollution in 2015 in Bangladesh stand at 28 percent—the highest in South Asia. In the same year, there were around 234,000 deaths due to environmental pollution and related health risks, including 80,000 in urban areas. This is more than ten times the number of deaths resulting from road accidents in 2015.

That the environmental situation has come to this is hardly surprising. The filthy outside air that the average Dhaka dweller has become so accustomed to breathing is just one of the daily manifestations of the city’s worsening environmental conditions. This is a major reason behind Dhaka slipping down in the Economist Intelligence Unit’s liveability index. It went from being the fourth least liveable city in 2017 to being the second worst this year—now ranked only one notch above war-torn Damascus.

Despite there being more than 25 environment-related laws, policies and guidelines, pollution in the country has increased dramatically in the last few decades. While the list of factors responsible for the exponential rise in pollution is a long one, the underlying problems are a culture of non-implementation of existing laws and a general mindset of total disregard for the environment. In the absence of implementation of relevant laws, the effects of the dual threat of urbanisation and industrialisation to the environment have been far-reaching, particularly for the capital Dhaka. For urban planners and city engineers, modern-day Dhaka serves as a microcosm of urbanisation gone haywire.

As people from all over the country throng to the capital, Dhaka seems to have reached its saturation point in terms of provision of basic infrastructure and services. And the impact on the living conditions of Dhaka as a result has been devastating. Although urbanisation and increase in income levels are thought to be accompanied by a remarkable improvement in the standard of living—and this has been the case for a sizeable population of the country—the resulting environmental impact has now reached an unbearable level that threatens to undo much of what we have achieved.

It is the lower strata of society that is bearing the brunt of the consequences of the environmental havoc being wreaked by unplanned urbanisation. For instance, in Dhaka, heavy metal-contaminated sites are mostly located in poorer neighbourhoods—making the poor extremely vulnerable to lead contamination. This can lead to IQ loss in children and increases the risk of miscarriages and stillbirths for pregnant women. The fact that low-income groups are disproportionately faced with many such deadly health risks has repeatedly been highlighted by researchers over the years but sadly very little has been done to address these concerns. Urban slums—a modern-day paradox of cities’ growth—are mushrooming and so is their population. According to World Bank, the latter is growing at double the average urban rate, which means that the situation will only get worse if the myriad issues affecting slum dwellers’ living conditions continue to be neglected. Lack of basic hygiene and sanitation and clean drinking water, for instance, are some of the most pressing issues in Dhaka’s slums. A study conducted early last year came up with this startling finding: water samples collected by slum dwellers from the last delivery point had 99 percent faecal contamination. There are many reasons for this including a network of ageing damaged underground pipelines, lack of waste disposal mechanisms and a poorly managed sewerage system. This is perhaps what you’d call unplanned urbanisation at its worst.

The current trend of urbanisation in Bangladesh, if allowed to continue in the years to come, would spell death for its cities’ liveability. Estimates already show that the national urban population rate is expected to increase from 28 percent of the country’s entire population today to 40 percent by 2025 (World Bank, 2015). This means that almost half of Bangladesh’s population will be living in cities only seven years from now. We are already witnessing the horrific consequences of decades and decades of encroachment upon wetlands, destruction of rivers and filling up of low-lying areas in the capital—the worsening waterlogging situation every year after only minutes of rain being one of them.

Whereas countries around the world are increasingly prioritising proper urban planning—including green infrastructure and low-carbon solutions to urban mobility—urbanisation in Bangladesh is being led by thoughtless development. On paper, good plans do exist—but they are just not being properly implemented. For instance, most of the conservable flood flow zones earmarked in the detailed area plan (DAP) published in an official gazette in 2010 were filled up giving into demands of real estate developers. Not much progress has been made either with regard to making greater Dhaka pedestrian-friendly despite this being one of the focal points of the Strategic Transport Plan.

Environmental degradation is one of the unfortunate by-products of 21st-century urbanisation and industrialisation. And so aspirations of higher economic growth must be based on a smart urban development model that takes into account environmental concerns. In the context of Bangladesh, this would require empowering and reforming institutions at the national level. One of the many recommendations made in the World Bank report is reforming the Department of Environment and equipping it with adequate resources and skilled staff in order to respond effectively to environmental issues. Another oft-repeated point made in regard to urban planning and environmental management in Bangladesh is the need to decentralise. This cannot be highlighted enough. Decentralising to division and district levels is the need of the hour so that the areas with the highest levels of pollution can be prioritised. Similarly, a lack of local-level urban planning partially explains why unplanned urbanisation in the country has spiralled out of control. Departmental and ministerial coordination is yet another longstanding problem that just can’t seem to be solved. This not only hampers implementation of existing plans but also leads to confusion and gives leeway to departments and agencies to play the blame game and evade accountability—as is the case every time the city becomes inundated after minutes of rainfall and Wasa and Dhaka city corporations keep passing the buck to one another.

The severe environmental impact on Dhaka and other cities cannot simply be passed off as a result of rural-to-urban migration—it’s a direct consequence of thoughtless urbanisation. It is a result of the lack of an urban development model that puts people, their wellbeing and the environment first. The lack of accountability and transparency in the way many of the existing plans are being implemented—if at all—continues to be a major thorn in our side. It’s time policymakers understood that urbanisation and growth and the liveability of a city are not mutually exclusive, and thus environmental degradation cannot simply be swept aside or justified as an “inevitable” by-product of growth. The slow environmental destruction we are witnessing today is the consequence of a failure to plan for and execute a vision of a liveable city.

Nahela Nowshin is a member of the editorial team at The Daily Star.

This story was originally published by The Daily Star, Bangladesh

The post Killing the environment appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Ignoring environmental woes will have irreversible consequences for Bangladesh

The post Killing the environment appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Phumeza Tisile is a student at the University of Cape Town and an advocate working to help eradicate TB

By Phumeza Tisile
CAPE TOWN, Oct 3 2018 (IPS)

Like death, hearing loss is irreversible. I never imagined that I would have to choose between the two until seven years ago when I became infected with tuberculosis (TB), a contagious disease caused by an airborne bacterium.

TB is curable, but some strains are resistant to first line treatment, which can be the beginning of a nightmare for the infected person, as I found out in 2010. I was in the first year of undergraduate studies at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology in South Africa. Life was normal. I had normal conversations with people. I listened to music and watched TV shows with no subtitles. I could hear.

Things changed when I began losing weight, rapidly enough to raise questions in my mind, I went to a doctor. After several rounds of testing, all of which came up negative for any serious ailments, the doctor recommended a chest X-ray. It showed that I had TB.

I took the prescribed medications but over time, the doctors were concerned that I was getting worse instead of improving. Another test showed that I had MDR-TB. The doctors said I would need to take up to 25 tablets a day for two years, including an injection called Kanamycin. That I would take once a day for at least six months. My normal life turned into distant memories.

I was a willing patient immediately, taking the treatment exactly as the doctors instructed. Kanamycin is a powder, to which water is added before it is injected into the muscle through a syringe. The sharp pain when the needle makes contact is nothing compared to the fiery feel of the drug entering the body. I endured it every day for four months until they were stopped for the worst possible reason.

I woke up one morning and something felt different but I could not immediately put my finger on what it was. Then I went to the bathroom; there was no sound of flushing toilet or water running from the tap. I reported this to the nurse and, as she talked back to me, I realized I could not hear her. My confusion deepened as I could not hear what I was saying either – could not hear my own voice!

The nurses took me to the audiology department at Brooklyn Chest Hospital for a hearing test—the first one I had ever had. I talked; the audiologist wrote down everything. They put headphones over my ears and played sounds. I heard buzzing. In large letters, the audiologist wrote “DEAF” on my folder.

I subsequently learned that I had extensively drug-resistant (XDR) TB and that the kanamycin that had made me deaf did not work against the strain I had. I learned to lip read. I deleted the music on my phone. I found TV shows that had subtitles. This was my world for five years after I my TB was cured. When I became deaf my TB worsened. I was told I had Pre-XDR TB.

After an extended hospital stay and surgery, during which time I had suffered a broken rib and collapsed lung, I was discharged with directives to take my Pre-XDR tablets at home. Few months later I was told the medication was ineffective and that my chance of surviving was only 20 Percent.

I contemplated learning sign language but could not make myself do it. I was not ready to confront my deafness then. Research convinced me that my hear loss was permanent and irreversible and I discovered cochlear implants. I despaired at the expense at first but succeeded at fundraising to cover the cost- over US$42,000 with help from the TB advocacy community.

It is a tragedy to me that although TB is preventable and treatable, it is also the leading cause of death in South Africa, and often life altering condition for those who survive.

TB made nearly half a million South Africans sick in 2016 and caused more than 33,000 deaths. More attention from the government is needed to reduce ongoing transmission, ensure rapid testing for drug resistance in all patients being evaluated for TB, expand access to new drugs and identify and treat those infected with the TB bacteria before they become sick.

Although we can and must do more with the tools we have, investing in research for better drugs and diagnostic tools is essential to defeat TB.

I hope for these changes in 2018 and I am counting on our leaders to make them happen following their presence and their strong commitments at the United Nations High-Level meeting on TB, alongside the General Assembly in New York on September 26.

I am now back at the University of Cape Town. I can socialize, watch TV shows with no subtitles and listen to music again.

In a world of difficult choices, taking bold steps to end a preventable and curable disease like TB should be an easy one by far. Worldwide, it would prevent extreme suffering and financial ruin for hundreds of thousands like me.

The post Deaf or Dead? The Unbearable Choice for some TB Patients appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Phumeza Tisile is a student at the University of Cape Town and an advocate working to help eradicate TB

The post Deaf or Dead? The Unbearable Choice for some TB Patients appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Graziano da Silva with a group of women who are participating in a vegetable-growing project in Borno State, north-eastern Nigeria. Credit: FAO/Carlos Laorden

By José Graziano da Silva
ROME, Oct 3 2018 (IPS)

Everybody wants to end hunger. That is what all UN-member countries stated when signing the 2030 Agenda for a better world: the second of its 17 goals aims at eradicating all forms of malnutrition (which include overweight, obesity or micronutrient deficiencies) and ensuring that everybody has access to nutritious and healthy foods.

Along with these good intentions, we have in recent decades seen real efforts and concrete commitments that have led to steady progress in this battle. Recent reports produced by FAO and other UN agencies, however, give us little cause for celebration. In 2017, the world was home to 821 million hungry people, almost 2.2 billion overweight people and 670 million obese adults (and this number is rising). On top of that, at least 1.5 billion people suffer from micronutrient deficiencies that undermine their health and lives.

What do we really need to do to eradicate all forms of malnutrition?

Governments can’t do it on their own, nor can those with deep pockets acting alone. The same applies to international agencies, NGOs, civil society and/or the private sector working. We really need to combine and align our efforts.

In the first place, we need to acknowledge that this battle should receive high priority. The fight against hunger should not slip down in the list of global priorities such as climate change, migrations or population growth.

Addressing those challenges must in no way mean that we put aside our efforts to guarantee every human’s fundamental right to food, especially as the latter has a strong impact on the other challenges.

Secondly, we need more funds. It takes money to make things happen and Governments —the real game-changers— need resources to pave the way towards environmentally, economically and socially sustainable food systems. With so many priorities arising, though, funding is not enough. (Some $24.7 billion were needed to address humanitarian emergencies in 2017 alone, according to UN estimates.)

Nevertheless, just as it’s not enough to buy seeds to assure a good harvest, allocating funds will not suffice to eradicate all forms of malnutrition. Achieving that goal lies in making sure that the public policies and actions we take are truly effective.

Investment effectiveness requires several preconditions: reliable and strong data that allow policymakers to make informed decisions and assess if things are really going in the right direction; qualified staff to put plans in practice; technical assistance and expertise…

In short, what’s needed is an enabling environment where funds can flourish and lead to significant progress. In other words, we do not just need to buy seeds, but to find fertile soil, prepare the ground, water the fields and take good care of them so that we gather big returns.

In this interconnected world, that is no task for anyone to do alone. Governments can’t do it on their own, nor can those with deep pockets acting alone. The same applies to international agencies, NGOs, civil society and/or the private sector working. We really need to combine and align our efforts. That is the aim, for example, of the FIRST Programme, which assists Governments to design policies and create environments where food and nutrition security can flourish.

In FIRST, an important partner like the European Union and FAO, join forces side by side with Government officials in around 30 countries (from Cambodia to Chad and from Honduras to Afghanistan).

Food production should be done in a way that is sustainable and generates dividends in other areas. Policies towards eradicating hunger need to address every element of the food system. For example, boosting Nile perch production and exports in Lake Victoria will have little positive effect on food security if the benefits of those activities do not reach local communities.

Likewise, giving Guatemalan family farmers technical and financial support will not contribute to alleviate undernourishment if it does not include a gender perspective and considers the challenges that female rural farmers face and their key role in their households’ nourishment. Similarly, focusing too much on producing staple foods like rice or forgetting to promote the availability of diverse and nutritious fresh foods will unlikely result in a better nutritional status.

Even when priorities pile up on our agendas, we must not leave aside food and nutrition, which lie at the heart of life, health and development. To be sure, we are equally obliged to make the most out of every euro we spend on this front, and ensure that it leads to sustainable and long-term positive effects that reach everybody, especially the most vulnerable. There is no time —nor money— to be wasted.

The post Making Every Euro Count in the Fight Against Malnutrition appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

More money, and better spent, is what we need to end hunger and malnutrition

The post Making Every Euro Count in the Fight Against Malnutrition appeared first on Inter Press Service.

By GGGI
Oct 3 2018 (GGGI)

Plastic waste has become a major global problem, and one that must be addressed in order to solve the world’s resource and energy challenges. Millions of plastic items are improperly disposed of on a daily basis, creating piles of plastic waste everywhere. This has brought serious damages to local environments around the world in terms of water, air and soil pollution. It blocks drains, pollutes rivers and wreaks havoc on the environment.

I was watching a TV show, where Moroccan former interior minister, announced that Morocco has decided to take action to eliminate plastic bags through its campaign “Zero Plastic Bag”. “Zéro Plastic Bag” came into effect on July 1, 2016, to ban the manufacture, commercialization, and importation of plastic bags. Then I realized that the best solution for disposing of plastic waste is recycling it to produce new materials that are sustainable and recyclable. Which mean a product that can be recycled after being using to create added value and a real Circular Economy.

As social entrepreneur and change maker it was for us the right time to start doing an acting to address this issue and have a real impact on our community and worldwide. After 8 month of brainstorming, ideation and prototyping, we came up our idea.

 

 

As a first step we have developed, a new material based on 80% of plastic waste and 20% other additives that can be used such as cement in construction product and more.

Then we launched our first products are PAVECO eco-friendly paving stones and floor tiles made from our formula. They can be used in all the same ways as regular products in gardens, sidewalks, parking and more, but:

• use less energy and water in production,
• are cheaper to produce
• offer better insulation and are more durable than most alternatives.

Everybody wins! Zelij aims to eliminate more than 3000 tons of plastic waste every year, while reducing resources used in manufacture and energy use for customers.

Our engineers have developed an innovative and easy process we collect plastic wastes from NGO’s and suppliers, we put it in special machines with the additives and we have our final product in different shapes and colors.

We joined the Greenpreneurs program in order to scale up and get the tools to develop what we are doing. The first challenge was that in 10 weeks we have to move from a prototype to the real market. Each week we had exercises and courses, it was so challenging that in a very short time we have to do a big steps, starting from searching in internet moving to having real discussions with costumers and going out to market. And YES we did it!

Thanks to the Greenpreneurs program, we discovered several tools and we explored several new ways. We have also done a real big rotation on our branding and marketing strategy.

The post PAVECO – It’s Time to Start Treating Waste As a Resource appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Old taxi Park in Uganda's Capital Kampala. The Green Growth Strategy in Uganda seeks to introduce rapid bus transport and light railways to avoid this type of congestion. Credit Wambi Michael/IPS

By Wambi Michael
KAMPALA, Oct 3 2018 (IPS)

Locals in Kampala, Uganda’s capital, always have two or three things to say in a conversation about how the city is developing. Some say it is filthy because of the growing waste; others say it is a slum because of its unplanned settlements; and then there are those who say it is just plain inconvenient because of the traffic congestion created by the boda boda (motorcycle taxis) and commuter taxis that honk incessantly as they make their way along the streets.

But Juliana (not real name), a student from Seven Hills International School, has a solution to the capital’s urbanisation crisis.

“I’m praying that a hurricane hits Kampala so that we would have no choice but to re-organise it,” she says. She is part of a class team working on a project to turn Kampala into modern city.

“What would be the name of that hurricane? This was a big statement. Have our children given up?” asks Amanda Ngabirano, an Urban Planning lecturer from Makerere University.

Ngabirano, has been working in partnership with the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) on plans for a downtown car-free zone. She disagrees with Juliana on the suggestion that the entire city should be razed and says it can transition to a low carbon future based on the Global Green Growth Institute’s green cities model.

A green city is an urban area that moves toward long-term environmental protection, social inclusion, and economic sustainability. A green city, according to GGGI, is understood as an urban area that moves toward long-term environmental protection, social inclusion, and economic sustainability. GGGI is a treaty-based international organisation that promotes green growth.

Ngabirano tells IPS that there is still an opportunity to green Uganda’s urban settlements.

A city impacted by growth

Uganda is slowly urbanising with about 19 percent of its population living in urban centres. It is projected that 30 percent of Uganda’s almost 42 million people  will be urban dwellers by 2035.

Kampala, the country’s biggest city, is faced with a number of problems–which include the growth of informal settlements, encroachment on wetlands, and inadequate sewage and water treatment plants to service the city’s population of 1.5 million–all of which are exerting pressure on the natural environment.

Urban planners and environmentalists have concluded that Uganda’s current “grow dirty now, clean up later” style of urbanisation is not sustainable.

However, the government has embarked on reversing the damage to its natural resources. With support from development partners, the government is looking towards a green growth strategy that emphasises the need for a more harmonious relationship between development and the environment.

In partnership with GGGI, the government recently developed the Uganda Green Growth Development Strategy 2017/18 – 2030/31.

Launched last November, it will be implemented over the next 14 years and is estimated to cost USD11 billion.

Urban green growth model

The strategy suggests a new urban growth model that encourages a more compact, connected national transition by 2040. It projects to increase access to basic services by over 33 percent, reduce the aggregate infrastructure investment requirement by 11 percent, and reduce greenhouse gases by 27 percent.

Peter Okubal, the GGGI country representative to Uganda, tells IPS that his organisation has already embarked on policy changes and formulations to enable this East African nation to follow a green path to its development.

“Our analysis suggests that improved urban policy is not enough – correcting ongoing issues in the economy will be just as important for a successful urban transition,” Okubal says.

Uganda’s Vision 2040 suggests eight priority interventions to catalyse better urban growth. If implemented, they could boost GDP by USD4.3 billion by 2040, as well as provide new jobs and positive environmental benefits.

Okubal says that there is indeed an opportunity for Kampala and other cities in Africa to change the trajectory that they are on by adopting the green cities model of urbanisation.

“The population living in green cities is rapidly growing. So if the governments took advantage and developed cities that are competitive, then they are likely to reap the urban dividend rather than getting the confusion associated with urbanisation,” explains Okubal.

GGGI has supported Uganda’s ministry of lands and urban development complete the national urban policy through its green cites programme. It has also supported the process of development of a strategy to implement the green cities road map.

The road map provides a step-by-step process through which a city can be transitioned from an ordinary one to one that is competitive, compact and coordinated.

“That is the model that we promote. [For] cities in Uganda should be able to connect to each other, they must be competitive. That means that they should be able to generate businesses, they must be livable at the same time but also productive in nature,” Okubal says.

The Uganda Vision 2040 proposes four regional cities and five strategic cities in the course of Uganda’s urbanisation. These are the capital city Kampala, the regional cities of Gulu in Northern Uganda, Mbale in Eastern Uganda, Mbarara in Western Uganda, and Arua in West Nile region.

“Uganda is endowed with rich natural diversity that necessitates incorporation of sustainable and consumption practices into the economy to ensure the sustainability of natural resource capital,” Paul Mafabi, director for environment at Uganda’s ministry of water and environment, tells IPS.

He says well-planned urban settlements based on a green cities model could save the country’s natural resources.

“Most of these resources are non-renewable or in case of degradation, [result in] loss or extinction, their restoration demands a lot of financial, moral and physical input,” says Mafabi.

Chebet Maikut, Uganda’s commissioner for climate change, tells IPS that GGGI’s efforts towards a green growth model, especially in urban areas, cannot be underestimated.  “GGGI is currently helping government to work on the monitoring, verification framework for Uganda, which is quite essential under the transparency framework of the Paris Agreement which emphasises the need to track progress and report on the country’s progress on tackling climate change.”

Waste Management

In a related development, GGGI is taking steps towards addressing the increasing solid waste management crisis in the country. It recently completed the national urban solid waste policy. The document provides a framework in which the government of Uganda can manage solid waste nationally.

“The current waste management approach that the government has been using in Kampala is what we call pick and dump. Pick the waste from the household and dump it into land fill. Now GGGi proposes an alternative to that,” says Okubal.

“If we treated waste as a resource, and indeed waste is a resource, then we can leverage on the amount of waste generated to create 4 million jobs over the next 15 years,” he further explains.

According to Okubal, there are plans to develop a bankable project estimated at USD15 million to address the waste challenge in Uganda’s cities and urban authorities.

Financing Options For Green Growth in Uganda

Uganda’s government needs to mobilise USD11 billion over the next 15 years. It also needs USD2 billion dollars to be spent over the next five years. Some development actors have doubted whether the government can raise that funding from its budget or through development partners. But Okubal is of a different opinion.

“There is quite a lot of money out there. The money is out there but the governments are failing to tap the money,” he argues.

He explains that it is possible for governments to access those funds in different forms, either through routine budget cycle or through major players within the green economy.

“The EU [European Union] has, for example, allocated 60 million euro to be spent over the next two years to support the government of Uganda to implement the green growth strategy,” he explains.

Sweden, Norway and other individual EU countries are, according to Okubal, considering funding green growth efforts in Uganda.

“We have the Green Climate Fund, the Global Environment Facility and there are other international windows for funding for a green economy. All these are opportunities which the government of Uganda can tap into,” Okubal says.

The government plans to introduce the bus rapid transit and light rail which will either be run through a private/public partnership arrangement or by the a private sector led financing model.

The United Nations Development Programme country office in Uganda recently mobilised USD 24.1 million from the Green Climate Fund to implement the Presidential Initiative to restore the country’s degraded wetlands.

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Rev. Gabriel Odima is President & Director of Political Affairs- Africa Center for Peace & Democracy

By Rev. Gabriel Odima
MINNESOTA, USA, Oct 3 2018 (IPS)

Many scholars argue that democracy is not the answer to Africa’s problems. To certain degree, I agree with such statements that democracy alone cannot guarantee African nations’ happiness, prosperity, health, peace and stability. In fact, modern democracies also suffer greatly from many defects.

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

But in spite of the flaws, we must never lose sight of the benefits that make democracy more desirable than undemocratic regimes. The direct benefit of democracy is that it helps to prevent government from violating the rights of their people like the case of Uganda.

After observing the political development in Uganda for the last 33 years, I have come to the conclusion that human rights abuses, the lack of political freedom, corruption, poor leadership, greed and thirsty for power are the leading pillars of President Museveni ‘s rule in Uganda.

On becoming President in 1986, Museveni confirmed the massacres and the decapitations dramatically in two ways. The first was the exhibition of the male child soldiers. Museveni claimed that these soldiers found the children abandoned in villages and adopted them. The lie could not hide how only male children who were made child soldiers were found in villages allegedly abandoned by their inhabitants.

The second mocking order by Museveni that the remains of the dead be collected and exhibited on roadsides. In the collection, Museveni’s soldiers took journalists to scattered graves where only skulls were unearthed.

No one who had not participated in the burial of these skulls could have known of the sites of the graves. Despite this glaring evidence, the propaganda was that all the remains and skulls were of civilians killed by government troops of the late former President Milton Obote.

The message of the propaganda war that there had been no war in Luwero lunched by Museveni, in which his and government combatants died and were buried in Luwero, and that his army never killed anybody during that war and none of his men were killed or even died of other causes and was buried in Luwero.

This insult to human intelligence, knowledge and experience of war, any war, is still being preached 35 years later. The devastating war which Uganda’s present regime launched in February 1981 was not inevitable nor was it necessary. What many people in Uganda and the International community did not realize is that this kind of war was launched with one objective: to remove from Africa’s body politic the power of the citizen’s freedom of assembly and association.

This removal creates conflicts and suffering to millions of Africans whose lives are under constant fear. From Uganda, the same war spread to Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan.

By turning a blind eye not only to the deepening of dictatorship in Uganda, to the extent of even rejecting its very existence but also by ignoring the very extensive gruesome and widespread massacres and devastation committed in the process, governments, media, and human rights organizations in developed countries have cleansed, rewarded, and licensed Museveni to entrench the dictatorship in Uganda.

The International community should emphasize respect of territorial integrity of each nation. No country in Africa should have the power to invade another country for selfish interests. A civilized nation cannot engage in political assassinations and massive human rights violations.

The international community needs to come to terms with reality and help address the crucial crisis facing Uganda today.

1. The International community should encourage President Museveni to step down at the end of his current term in office.

2. Open up political space and call for Uganda national conference to deliberate on the political future of Uganda.

3. Formation of a transitional government to review the current constitution of Uganda and prepare for free and fair elections in Uganda.

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Excerpt:

Rev. Gabriel Odima is President & Director of Political Affairs- Africa Center for Peace & Democracy

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By WAM
VIENNA, Oct 3 2018 (WAM)

A high level delegation from the OPEC Fund for International Development, OFID, on Tuesday, attended the 11th Arab Energy Conference in Marrakech, Morocco, under the theme ‘Energy and Arab Cooperation’.

Suleiman J Al-Herbish, OFID Director-General, attended the conference on an invitation of Abbas Al-Naqi, Secretary-General of the Organisation of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries, OAPEC, who was a panellist on the session ‘Energy security as a global partnership’.

OFID’s delegation also included Faris Hasan, Director of Strategic Planning and Economic Services; Dr. Namat Alsoof, Consultant; and Iman Alshammari, Senior Officer.

Al-Herbish said that energy is the engine of economic growth and social progress and noted that the priority given by OFID to eradicating energy poverty in developing countries was inspired by OFID member countries themselves. That priority, he said, stems from the Riyadh Declaration – issued at the conclusion of the 3rd OPEC Summit in November 2007 – which established the eradication of energy poverty as an objective. “Our Ministerial Council has approved the allocation of a renewed US$1 billion to this end,” Al-Herbish added.

Since 2007, OFID has advocated tirelessly for energy poverty to be given the priority it deserves in the post-2015 Development Agenda. These efforts – alongside those of OFID’s friends in the international development arena – have culminated in access to energy for all being recognised as Sustainable Development Goal 7, SDG 7, a stand-alone goal in the United Nations Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development.

Al-Herbish noted that supporting development operations in the energy sector lies at the heart of OFID’s strategic plan to 2025. He stressed, however, that energy poverty remains a challenge that can only be overcome through strategic partnerships, highlighting that OFID has built strong and diverse partnership networks to expand geographic coverage and operational activities.

Al-Herbish reaffirmed OFID’s commitment to supporting sustainable development plans in Arab countries, particularly energy projects, and outlined various operation supported by OFID in the region, which include US$1.6 billion to finance 14 traditional and 15 renewable energy projects in a number of Arab countries.

Chaired by Aziz Rabah, Minister of Energy, Minerals and Sustainable Development of Morocco, the 11th Arab Energy Conference, which concludes tomorrow, brings together experts from the energy industry, led by ministers of Arab countries, as well as directors of Arab and other organisations.

 

WAM/Rola Alghoul/Rasha Abubaker

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Mexico, mother keeps a portrait of murdered daughter in a locket. 2014. Credit: UN Women/Ina Riaskov

By Antonio Molpeceres and Klaus Rudischhauser
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 2 2018 (IPS)

Violence against women and girls is one of the most serious, globally widespread, deep-rooted and normalized human rights violations. The statistics are shocking: at least one in three women worldwide has suffered physical or sexual violence, usually by a family member or an intimate partner.

The diverse types of violence levelled against women and girls are rooted in gender inequality. Violence against women and girls is regular and systematic, occurring in every context of their lives, both in private and out in the open. One such form of daily, systematic and public violence against women and girls is femicide.

Globally, 14 of the 25 countries with the highest rates of femicide are in Latin America. Ninety-eight per cent of the femicides in Latin America are not prosecuted. According to the World Bank, this problem is not only destructive for the victims, but it also carries important social and economic costs.

Violence against women and girls in Latin America consumes 3.7% of countries GDPs, more than twice their education budgets. Several studies have shown that boys and girls that witness or experience violence as children are more likely to become victims or perpetrators as adults.

In 2016, more than 2,700 female deaths with “homicide presumption” were registered in Mexico. An average of 7.5 women murdered every day . According to the Mexican Executive Secretariat of the National Public Security System, from January to July 2018, there have been 484 femicides, not counting the ‟black figure″ (crimes that are not reported).

Tragically, this kind of violence is very common. Recent registered incidents in Mexico have placed femicides in the public agenda, creating and encouraging social movements calling for more and better prevention, investigation, prosecution, punishment and reparation actions against violence. This social and public context has also been useful to push forward the definition and criminalization of femicide and to develop relevant tools and guidelines to sensitively prosecute these crimes.

It is time to break the cycle. As mentioned in the General Assembly Resolution ‟Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda of Sustainable Development″, it is impossible to achieve the full realization of human potential if half of humanity continues to be denied its full human rights.

We are aware that a world free of violence against women and girls can only be reached through meaningful political and social commitments, supported by appropriate resources. Actions are required at multiple levels to effect change, including to: 1) close political and legislative gaps: 2) strengthen institutions; 3) promote equal gender attitudes; 4) provide high quality services to survivors and reparation for victims and their families; 5) produce and provide disaggregated data; and 6) empower women´s movements, leaving no one behind.

On 27 September 2018, the European Union and the United Nations launched the Spotlight Initiative that will be implemented in Mexico, Argentina, El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala. It is a multi-year partnership that will substantively contribute to eradicating femicide and other forms of violence against women and girls.

Focused on the six pillars noted above, the Initiative positions the elimination of all forms of violence at the core of the efforts to achieve gender equality and empower women, in line with the 2030 Agenda of Sustainable Development.

Violence against women and girls is a complex phenomenon, deeply rooted in unequal power relationships between women and men and in ingrained social standards, practices and behaviors that promote discrimination at home, in the workplace and in society in general. Action is imperative, not only to ensure respect for human rights, but also to transform the lives of women and girls to attain sustainable development.

The Spotlight Initiative in Mexico will seek to address the problem of femicide from a holistic perspective. Thus, adding to ongoing efforts in the country, the Initiative will underscore the strengthening of the prevention strategies that will accomplish the reduction of risk margins, modify the social patriarchal structures, strengthen equality between women and men, and decrease impunity, all from the life cycle perspective. Sustainable solutions require that we work on a multi-level approach and bring diverse actors on board.

In collaboration with the Mexican authorities and the different branches of the state, civil society, women´s organizations, women, girls, men, young people, private sector and the media, we will join forces to end this pandemic.

(1)Female Deaths with Presumption of Homicide (DFPH, for its acronym in Spanish) are obtained from the vital statistics published by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI, for its acronym in Spanish) and have been used as a proxy for feminicide. See UN Women, SEGOB, INMUJERES. Feminicide violence in Mexico: approaches and trends 1985-2016, December 2017, in: http://bit.ly/2xGjNeC
(2)Because of the typification of feminicide as a crime in the states, the Executive Secretariat of the National Public Security System began to systematize information from the relevant justice authorities at state level. See http://bit.ly/2xBzZ0N

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Excerpt:

Antonio Molpeceres is the UN Resident Coordinator in Mexico and Klaus Rudischhauser is the EU Ambassador to Mexico.

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Workers stitch Hanes tee-shirts at a factory in the CODEVI free trade zone in Ouanaminthe, Haiti. Credit: Jude Stanley Roy/IPS

By Jomo Kwame Sundaram and Anis Chowdhury
KUALA LUMPUR and SYDNEY, Oct 2 2018 (IPS)

The world economy remains tepid and unstable a decade after the 2008 financial crisis, while growing trade conflicts are symptoms of deeper economic malaise, according to a new United Nations publication.

While the global economy has picked up since early 2017, growth remains hesitant, with many countries operating below potential. The year ahead is unlikely to see much improvement as the world economy is under stress again, with rising tariffs and volatile financial flows.

Underlying such threats to global economic stability is the failure to address fundamental weaknesses in global economic governance which have been fostering global economic inequities and imbalances.

Addressing new challenges
UNCTAD’s Trade and Development Report 2018: Power, Platforms and the Free Trade Delusion (TDR 2018) makes proposals to address recent economic trends and challenges.

Jomo Kwame Sundaram

The report examines how economic power is increasingly concentrated in fewer big international firms, its impact on the ability of developing countries to benefit from the international trading system, and the distribution of gains from new digital technologies.

TDR 2018 notes that since 2008, many advanced countries have shifted from domestic to external sources of growth, with the eurozone becoming a trade surplus region.

While advanced economies have not done enough to rebalance the global economy, ‘normalizing’ unconventional monetary policies could rile capital and currency markets, with potentially vicious economic consequences in the more vulnerable emerging market economies.

Among countries relying on domestic demand, too many depend on higher debt and asset price bubbles, instead of raising wages. Meanwhile, growth is constrained by the omnipresent threat of financial instability, although the bigger emerging market economies are doing better this year, and commodity exporters can benefit while prices are high.

Anis Chowdhury

While Brazil, India, China and South Africa depend heavily on domestic demand, many other developing economies do not. With downside, including financial risks rising in several countries, TDR 2018 warns of gathering economic storm clouds.

The current $250 trillion debt stock – 50 per cent higher than a decade ago – is thrice the size of annual global output. Private, particularly corporate debt has been mainly behind this borrowing spree, but without financing corresponding real investments. Meanwhile, growing indebtedness has increased inequality through the financial markets.

Horns of trade dilemma
International trade remains dominated by large firms through their control of global value chains, with the top one per cent of each country’s exporting firms accounting for more than half its exports.

The spread of such chains accelerated trade growth from the end of the 20th century until the 2008 financial crisis, with some developing countries growing fastest. But the ratio of trade to growth has been rising, with much more trade associated with the same output increase. This has mainly benefited large firms by increasing market concentration and intellectual property.

Meanwhile, except for China, manufacturing’s share of value added has generally declined as the shares of pre- and post-production activities have risen. Such rents captured at both ends of the value chain have affected income distribution more generally.

Recent tariff increases are disrupting a trading system increasingly involving such value chains, although trade growth in 2018 is likely to reach 2017 levels. However, heightened uncertainty and reduced investment could have more damaging medium term consequences, particularly threatening for countries already facing financial distress.

Distributional consequences
By changing the profitability of firms in tradeable sectors, tariff hikes have distributional consequences affecting demand. After decades of disruptive trade liberalization, tariff war will not restore the status quo ante, but could cause massive disruptions.

Instead, UNCTAD argues that through global policy coordination, governments could avert continuing deterioration of income distribution and employment, at the root of recent economic crises. Hence, while globalization has rarely produced ‘win-win’ outcomes, neither trade nationalism nor further trade liberalization are appropriate.

After all, free trade has limited policy space for developing countries and reduced protections for working people and small businesses, while further enriching big firms.

TDR 2018 deems trade wars symptomatic of the deteriorating economic system and multilateral architecture, due to corporate political capture and rising inequality, with money used to gain political power and political power used to make money. As inward-looking options do not offer a way forward for most, the challenge is to make multilateralism work for all.

To avoid the errors of the 1930s, UNCTAD urges addressing new challenges while referring to the 1948 Havana Charter, the first multilateral effort to create a managed international trading system.

This must involve trade promotion contributing to both full employment and rising wages, restricting rentier corporate behaviour, while ensuring sufficient policy space to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

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By WAM
ABU DHABI, Oct 2 2018 (WAM)

Rains fell on 29th September, have boosted the amount of water stored by reservoirs of dams in the counrry’s Central Region to 106,500 cubic metres, according to figures released by the Ministry of Energy and Industry.

The water collected in the lake of Wadi Buraq dam was considered the largest amount from the rains and accounted for 90,000 cubic metres. The dam has a store capacity of 500,000 cubic metres. Water levels in the dam rose to 1.6 metre, the ministry noted.

The ministry urged the public to take extra caution and observe safety measures for their own safety.

Water collected in the reservoirs of dams and barriers, as well as runoff water from valleys, have increased groundwater reserves.

According to the ministry, until 2017, the total number of dams and embankments in the country has reached 145, with an estimated design capacity of 131 million cubic metres.

The ministry manages 101 dams and embankments that contribute to the enhancement, improvement and development of water resources, replenish the underground water tables and the prevention of flood hazards.

 

WAM/Tariq alfaham/Hatem Mohamed

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By Geneva Centre
GENEVA, Oct 2 2018 (Geneva Centre)

The Chairman of the Geneva Centre for Human Rights Advancement and Global Dialogue, HE Dr. Hanif Hassan Ali Al Qassim, praised Mahatma Gandhi’s philosophy of non-violence in expressing concern about the current rise of extremist violence. Dr. Al Qassim made this statement to honour the legacy of the great Statesman of the Global South that is observed annually on 2 October on the occasion of the International Day of Non-Violence.

Dr. Hanif Hassan Ali Al Qassim

In the context of the Arab region, the Geneva Centre’s Chairman deplored in particular the rise of violence in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Libya and Palestine owing to extremist violence and foreign interventions. He said that the proliferation of crisis and conflict have the potential to divide religious and ethnic groups in multicultural societies fostering hate, intolerance and animosity between religions and denominations. With more than 10 million people forcibly displaced from their home societies, the Arab region is witnessing one of the world’s worst humanitarian calamities, he remarked.

To address these ominous trends, the Geneva Centre’s Chairman recalled that non-violence and lasting peace are key to secure the long-term stability of the Arab region. Dr. Al Qassim noted that military victory over extremist violence in the Arab region will only bring a “short-term solution as building lasting and sustainable peace requires addressing inter alia the root-causes of conflict, injustice, inequality, poverty and lack of social development.”

He therefore stated that societies in the Arab region gripped by violence must seek reconciliation, dialogue, respect for human rights and non-violence. “We must foster dialogue, strengthen empowerment, scale-up faith engagement involving religious leaders, enhance religious teaching, and include mediation and peace building in addressing intolerance and the rise of violence,” said Dr. Al Qassim.

In this connection, he quoted Mahatma Gandhi who said that “Power based on love is a thousand times more effective and permanent then the one derived from fear of punishment.” He therefore asserted that the commemoration of the International Day of Non-Violence is a timely opportunity for world society to commemorate the non-violent ideology of a world Statesman who believed in promoting peace and justice through acts of kindness and compassion. “Gandhi’s philosophy of non-violence Satyagraha remains a source of guidance for bringing peace to the Arab region,” Dr. Al Qassim concluded.

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A farmer harvests amaranth in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca. This grain, of which two of the varieties originated in Mexico, is part of the country's traditional diet and can help boost nutrition among Mexicans, who have been affected by skyrocketing consumption of junk food. Credit: Courtesy of Bridge to Community Health

By Emilio Godoy
MEXICO CITY, Oct 2 2018 (IPS)

Manuel Villegas is one of the peasant farmers who decided to start planting amaranth in Mexico, to complement their corn and bean crops and thus expand production for sale and self-consumption and, ultimately, contribute to improving the nutrition of their communities.

“Amaranth arrived in this part of the country in 2009, and some farmers were already growing it when I began to grow it in 2013. It’s growing, but slowly,” Villegas, who is coordinator of the non-governmental Amaranth Network in the Mixteca region, in the southern state of Oaxaca, told IPS.

This crop has produced benefits such as the organisation of farmers, processors and consumers, the obtaining of public funding, as well as improving the nutrition of both consumers and growers."There was an increase in availability and accessibility of overly-processed foods. The State failed to implement public prevention policies. Children live in an obesogenic environment (an environment that promotes gaining weight and is not conducive to weight loss). It's a vulnerable group and companies take advantage of that to increase their sales," -- Fiorella Espinosa

“We have made amaranth part of our daily diet. It improves the diet because of its nutritional qualities, combined with other high-protein seeds,” said Villegas, who lives in the rural area of the municipality of Tlaxiaco, with about 34,000 inhabitants.

The peasant farmers brought together by the network in their region plant some 40 hectares of amaranth, although the effects of climate change forced them to cut back production to 12 tons in 2017 and six this year, due to a drought affecting the area. To cover their self-consumption, they keep 10 percent of the annual harvest.

Native products such as amaranth, in addition to defending foods from the traditional Mexican diet, help to contain the advance of obesity, which has become an epidemic in this Latin American country of nearly 130 million people, with health, social and economic consequences.

The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) states in “The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2018,” published in August, that the prevalence of overweight among children under five fell from nine percent to 5.2 percent between 2012 and 2017. That means that the number of overweight children under that age fell from one million to 600,000.

On the other hand, the prevalence of obesity among the adult population (18 years and older) increased, from 26 percent to 28.4 percent. The number of obese adults went from 20.5 million to 24.3 million during the period.

The consequences of the phenomenon are also clear. One example is that mortality from diabetes type 2, the most common, climbed from 70.8 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants in 2013 to 84.7 in 2016, according to an update of indicators published in May by several institutions, including the health ministry.

Another impact reported in the same study is that deaths from high blood pressure went up from 16 per 100,000 inhabitants to 18.5.

Members of the Alliance for Food Health, a collective of organisations and academics, called in Mexico for better regulation of advertising of junk food aimed at children and of food and beverage labelling, during the launch of the report “A childhood hooked on obesity” in Mexico City in August. Credit: Emilio Godoy/IPS

But the most eloquent and worrying data is that one in three children is obese or overweight, according to a report published in August by the non-governmental Alliance for Food Health, a group of organisations and academics.

What lies behind

Specialists and activists agree that among the root causes of the phenomenon is the change in eating habits, where the traditional diet based on age-old products has gradually been replaced by junk food, high in sugar, salt, fats, artificial colorants and other ingredients, which is injected from childhood through exposure to poorly regulated advertising.Government strategy

In 2013, the government established the National Strategy for the Prevention and Control of Overweight, Obesity and Diabetes.

Its measures include the promotion of healthy habits, the creation of the Mexican Observatory on Non-Communicable Diseases (OMENT), the timely identification of people with risk factors, taxes on sugary beverages and the establishment of a voluntary seal of nutritional quality.

But the only progress made so far has been the creation of the observatory and the tax on soft drinks, since neither the regulation of food labels or advertising has come about.

In 2014, the state-run Federal Commission for Protection against Sanitary Risks created guidelines for front labeling of food and beverages, but did so without the participation of experts and civil society organisations and without complying with international World Health Organisation (WHO) standards.

For this reason, the non-governmental The Power of Consumers took legal action in 2015, and the following year a federal judge ruled that the measures violated consumers' rights to health and information. The Supreme Court is now debating the future of labelling.

For Simón Barquera, an authority in nutrition research in the country, the solution is "complex" and requires "multiple actions.” "Society is responsible for attacking the causes of disease. The industry cannot interfere in public policy," he said.

The latest National Health and Nutrition Survey found low proportions of regular consumption of most recommended food groups, such as vegetables, fruits and legumes, in all population groups. For example, 40 percent of the calories children ages one to five eat come from over-processed foods.

For Fiorella Espinosa, a researcher on dietary health at the civil association The Power of Consumers, the liberalisation of trade in Mexico since the 1990s, the lack of regulation of advertising and nutritional labels of products, the displacement of native foods and the prioritisation of extensive farming over traditional farming are factors that led to the crisis.

“There was an increase in availability and accessibility of overly-processed foods. The State failed to implement public prevention policies. Children live in an obesogenic environment (an environment that promotes gaining weight and is not conducive to weight loss). It’s a vulnerable group and companies take advantage of that to increase their sales,” she told IPS.

The 2017 Food Sustainability Index, produced by the Italian non-governmental Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition Foundation (BCFN), showed that this country, the second-largest in terms of population and economy in Latin America, has indicators reflecting a prevalence of over-eating, low physical activity and inadequate dietary patterns.

The index, which ranks France first, followed by Japan and Germany, analyses 34 nations with respect to sustainable agriculture, nutritional challenges and food loss and waste.

Obesity “is an epidemic that cannot be solved by nutrition education alone. It has structural determinants, such as the political environment, international trade, the environment and culture. It has social and economic barriers,” Simón Barquera, director of the Nutrition and Health Research Centre at the state-run National Institute of Public Health, told IPS.

Therefore, the Alliance for Food Health proposes a comprehensive strategy against overweight and obesity, which includes a law that incorporates increased taxes on unhealthy products, adequate labelling, better regulation of advertising and promotion of breastfeeding, among other measures.

The contribution of lifesaver crops such as amaranth

The organisations dedicated to the issue also highlight the recovery underway in communities in several states of traditional crops such as amaranth, a plant present in local food for 5,000 years and highly appreciated in the past because its grain contains twice the protein of corn and rice in addition to being rich in vitamins.

“We are looking for ways to generate changes at the community level in agriculture, food and family economy, focused on the cultivation of amaranth. We have realised that there has been a devaluation of the countryside and its role in adequate nutrition,” said Mauricio Villar, director of Social Economy for the non-governmental organisation Bridge to Nutritional Health.

Villar, also the coordinator of the Liaison Group for the Promotion of Amaranth in Mexico ,explained to IPS that “we are increasing our appreciation of peasant life and production, with impacts at different levels on nutrition,” to correct bad eating habits.

But according to Yatziri Zepeda, founder of the non-governmental AliMente Project, these local experiences, no matter how valuable their contribution, are limited in scope.

“These initiatives may generate changes at the local level and address some of the problems, but they are not sufficient to protect the right to health, among others. Obesity is not a matter of individual decisions, but of public policy. It is a political issue, there are very important corporate interests. It is multicausal and systemic,” she told IPS.

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GCF invests in adaptation and mitigation activities in developing countries, managing a project portfolio that is implemented by its partner organisations, known as Accredited Entities.

By Jacob Waslander and Patricia Quijano Vallejos
WASHINGTON DC, Oct 1 2018 (IPS)

The Green Climate Fund’s mandate couldn’t be more crucial: accelerating climate action in developing countries by supporting transformational investments in adaptation and emissions reduction.

Projects already financed by the GCF range from solar power in Mongolia and improved water management in Colombia, to climate-resilient agriculture in Ghana, Nigeria, and Uganda.

However, the GCF is facing a crisis of confidence.

Its most recent Board meeting, in July, was spectacularly unproductive, and its executive director left the organization. This is only the latest example of a broader problem—a GCF that in the eyes of many can be a lot more effective and efficient.

More resources and strengthened governance are fundamental to restoring confidence in the GCF, as we lay out in a new working paper, Setting the Stage for the GCF’s First Replenishment.

After speaking with 86 stakeholders—including board members from developing and developed countries—we have recommendations for strengthening key aspects of the GCF.

An Uncertain Future

In 2014, contributors pledged $10.3 billion to the GCF, making it the biggest multilateral climate fund. This money is used to stimulate environmentally sustainable economic growth in developing countries by funding projects like renewable energy facilities and storm shelters that reduce emissions and adapt a country to the changing climate.

Now, four years after the initial contributions were pledged, the GCF is getting close to allocating most of its resources and triggering a new round of funding (“replenishment”). However, given the GCF’s crisis of confidence, uncertainty looms over the process.

That is a problem, for the present as well as the future. Developing countries have prepared their nationally-determined contributions (NDCs, which are national climate plans) with the expectation that–in addition to their own domestic budget resources–they can count on financial support from developed countries, including through the GCF.

Given the longer-term objectives of the NDCs, good planning and timely implementation are key; this in turn requires predictable external financial support.

Hence, replenishing the fund and providing predictability to that funding is very important. The question is, how should contributing countries split the bill?

Splitting the Bill

How should the financial burden be allocated? The same way you might approach dividing up a dinner check among friends: agree on an objective, transparent, and fair way to determine who should pay for what.

In a similar manner, contributors might apply objective criteria to assess their contributions to the GCF. In our paper, to advance the conversation, we designed a formula that combines three objective criteria: gross national income (GNI), greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and GHG emissions per capita.

This is just one suggestion; the important thing is that any way of thinking through what countries contribute should remain based on objective data. You can interact with our methodology using our Contributions Calculator:

As expected, applying the formula will require most developed countries to increase their contributions. For leading countries—Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom—each of whom exercised exemplary global leadership in the initial round of funding, giving more than the minimum—we recommend they at least match their ambitious contributions in the replenishment.

More details on what our formula would imply for each of the contributing countries can be found in our GCF Contributions Calculator.

To be sure, the elephant in the room is the United States. The world’s second-largest GHG emitter has made no contributions to the GCF since 2016, at which point it had contributed a third of its pledge.

Stakeholders we interviewed stressed the need to stay engaged with the United States, the country that our model suggests should make the biggest contributions to the GCF.

Another feature of the Calculator relates to other countries, which might join the mix of contributors; you can experiment with the possibilities in our Calculator.

If developing countries decide to contribute, especially those that are already major emitters, it must be clear that these contributions will be voluntary and will not count towards the international finance goal of mobilizing $100 billion per year from 2020 onwards by developed countries.

Strengthening Governance to Deliver Results

The most recent GCF Board meeting in South Korea in July 2018 ended in gridlock. The Board had $1 billion in projects in the queue, and shockingly approved none. Project proposals from countries all around the world (like Tonga, India, Guatemala, South Africa and Cote d’Ivoire) are still waiting their turn. The Board also failed to advance preparations for the replenishment process.

This is just a recent example of deficiencies in the GCF’s governance system, which undermine confidence stakeholders’ confidence in the GCF – including developing and developed countries.

This loss of confidence will potentially restrain contributors from making new funds available to fill the coffers of GCF, subsequently affecting developing countries’ ambition to contribute to the timely implementation of the Paris Agreement.

This lack of progress corroborates concerns about the GCF’s governance interviewed stakeholders shared with us. We identified several shortcomings. We think three cross-cutting solutions can unlock the gridlock:

• Apply consensus, not unanimity, to decisions. The GCF has interpreted consensus to mean each and every one of the 24 members has to agree with a proposed decision. Consensus is important, but not at all costs: if some Board members have reservations with a proposed decision, the Board should still be able to move forward through a mechanism for decision-making in the absence of consensus (as provided for in the GCF’s governing document.) This is essential to remain a reliable partner and to be able to accelerate climate action in developing countries.

• Introduce a Board self-assessment mechanism. The Board needs to work in a collegial, structured and results-focused manner; it is important to assess from time to time whether deliberations are living up to these standards. Like many other institutions, we recommend both an external assessment and a self-assessment of Board performance.

• Strengthen the Board’s role as a representative body. Most stakeholders noted a lack of clarity on what role Board members have, which countries selected them, and what responsibilities the hold. A more transparent system for selecting Board members, accounting for their positions on policy issues and clarity about their mandate, would rectify these ambiguities, as would better efforts to connect Board members with the countries they represent.

For the GCF to work, it needs predictable funding and governance reform. Predictable funding and governance reform can only come from committed leaders, who support climate action and from that perspective are willing to support a dynamic and transparent GCF, which can take risks for the sake of promoting bold action.

Time is not on our side, leaders need to act to make sure that GCF can make up its promise to support transformational change in developing countries.

The post Fixing the Crisis of Confidence in the Green Climate Fund appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Jacob Waslander is a Senior Associate at World Resources Institute and a former board member of the Green Climate Fund & Patricia Quijano Vallejos is a lawyer and Research Analyst in the Finance Center at World Resources Institute.

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By Geneva Centre
GENEVA, Oct 1 2018 (Geneva Centre)

Dr. Hanif Hassan Al Qassim, Chairman of the Geneva Centre for Human Rights Advancement and Global Dialogue, recalled the Islamic teachings against the exclusion and rejection of elders in modern societies.

Dr. Hanif Hassan Ali Al Qassim

He referred to Surah 14, Verses 23-24, of the Holy Quran stating that elders must be treated with respect and compassion. This vision – he noted – is practiced in Arabic societies where elders gain more respect and admiration from other social components the older they get. “Elders are embraced for having contributed to the success and progressive development of Arab societies. Their legacy guides the present generation in their endeavours to promote a more hopeful future,” Dr. Al Qassim said.

The Geneva Centre’s Chairman made this statement on the occasion of the 2018 International Day of Older Persons which is observed annually on 1 October. Dr. Al Qassim appealed to decision-makers and role-models worldwide to likewise promote the respect of elders and pay tribute to their wisdom and contribution to society.

The Geneva Centre’s Chairman appealed more specifically to the international community to promote policies enhancing the social status of elders and promoting their human rights as envisioned in the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

“Elders must not be excluded from contributing to the economic and social well-being of societies owing to their age and social status. Isolation and social exclusion of elders will not enable the society to harness their wisdom and intellect,” Dr. Al Qassim said.

In conclusion, the Geneva Centre’s Chairman stated that society’s success lies on its “ability to recognise the rights of elders, enable them to have a voice in society and to embrace them as agents of sustainable development. A society that forgets the legacy of its elders, is a society headed towards failure and societal decline.“

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A scene from Stanley Kubrick's classic 1964 film “Dr. Strangelove.” Credit: Sony/Columbia Pictures

By Daryl G. Kimball
WASHINGTON DC, Oct 1 2018 (IPS)

Stanley Kubrick’s classic 1964 film “Dr. Strangelove” delivers an eerily accurate depiction of the absurd logic and catastrophic risks of U.S. and Russian Cold War nuclear deterrence strategy, but for one key detail: President Merkin Muffley was wrong when he said, “It is the avowed policy of our country never to strike first with nuclear weapons.” But it should be.

Fortunately, the nuclear “doomsday machine” has not yet been unleashed. Arms control agreements have led to significant, verifiable reductions in the U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals, the two countries have ceased nuclear testing, and they have tightened checks on nuclear command and control.

But the potential for a catastrophic nuclear war remains. The core elements of Cold War-era U.S. nuclear strategy are largely the same, including the option to use nuclear weapons first and the maintenance of prompt-launch policies that still give the president unchecked authority to order the use of nuclear weapons.

Today, the United States and Russia deploy massive strategic nuclear arsenals consisting of up to 1,550 warheads on each side, as allowed under the 2010 New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. These numbers greatly exceed what it would take to decimate the other side and are far larger than required to deter a nuclear attack.

Worse still, each side maintains the capability to fire a significant portion of its land- and sea-based missiles promptly and retains plans to launch these forces, particularly land-based missiles, under attack to guard against a “disarming” first strike. U.S. and Russian leaders also still reserve the option to use nuclear weapons first.

As a result, President Donald Trump, whom Defense Secretary Jim Mattis reportedly described as having the intellect of a “fifth- or sixth-grader,” has the authority to order the launch of some 800 nuclear warheads within about 15 minutes, with hundreds more weapons remaining in reserve. No other military or civilian official must approve the order. Congress currently has no say in the matter.

Continuing to vest such destructive power in the hands of one person is undemocratic, irresponsible, unnecessary and increasingly untenable. Cavalier and reckless statements from Trump about nuclear weapons use only underscore the folly of vesting such unchecked authority in one person.

Making matters worse, the Trump administration’s Nuclear Posture Review expands the range of contingencies and options for potential nuclear use and proposes the development of “more-usable” low-yield nuclear weapons in order to give the president the flexibility to respond quickly in a crisis, including by using nuclear weapons first in response to a non-nuclear attack.

The reality is that a launch-under-attack policy is unnecessary because U.S. nuclear forces and command-and-control systems could withstand even a massive attack. Given the size, accuracy, and diversity of U.S. forces, the remaining nuclear force would be more than sufficient to deliver a devastating blow to any nuclear aggressor.

In addition, keeping strategic forces on launch-under-attack mode increases the risk of miscalculation and misjudgment. Throughout the history of the nuclear age, there have been several incidents in which false signals of an attack have prompted U.S. and Russian officials to consider, in the dead of the night and under the pressure of time, launching nuclear weapons in retaliation. No U.S. leader should be put in a situation that could lead to the use of nuclear weapons based on false information.

Retaining the option to use nuclear weapons first is fraught with unnecessary peril. Given the overwhelming conventional military edge of the United States and its allies, there is no plausible circumstance that could justify legally, morally, or militarily the use of nuclear weapons to deal with a non-nuclear threat. Even in the event of a conventional military conflict with Russia, China, or North Korea, the first use of nuclear weapons would be counterproductive because it likely would trigger an uncontrollable, potentially suicidal all-out nuclear exchange.

Some in Washington and Brussels believe Moscow might use or threaten to use nuclear weapons first to try to deter NATO from pressing its conventional military advantage in a conflict. Clearly, a nuclear war cannot be won and should not be initiated by either side. The threat of first use, however, cannot overcome perceived or real conventional force imbalances and are not an effective substitute for prudently maintaining U.S. and NATO conventional forces in Europe.

As the major nuclear powers race to develop new nuclear capabilities and advanced conventional-strike weapons and consider using cyber capabilities to pre-empt nuclear attacks by adversaries, the risk that one leader may be tempted to use nuclear weapons first during a crisis likely will grow. A shift to a no-first-use posture, on the other hand, would increase strategic stability.

Although the Trump administration is not going to rethink nuclear old-think, leaders in Congress and the next administration must re-examine and revise outdated nuclear launch policies in ways that reduce the nuclear danger.

Shifting to a formal policy stating that the United States will not be the first to use nuclear weapons and that the sole purpose of nuclear weapons is to deter nuclear attack would be a significant and smart step in the right direction.

The post The Case for a U.S. No-First-Use Policy appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Daryl G. Kimball is Executive Director, Arms Control Association

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Hong Joo Hahm is Deputy Executive Secretary and Officer-in-Charge of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

By Hong Joo Hahm
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 1 2018 (IPS)

Asia and the Pacific needs more women entrepreneurs. Women’s economic empowerment and gender equality depend on it, as does the inclusive economic growth needed to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. This drives a new initiative by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, generously supported by Global Affairs Canada, focused on improving women entrepreneurs’ access to finance in our region.

Hong Joo Hahm

Establishing a business can be life-changing. Particularly for women in developing countries where it’s a passport to financial independence: a means of breaking out of poverty. More women in employment gives families financial security. It helps guarantee children a good diet, a solid education and reliable healthcare. And because women employ other women and spend more on their families, women entrepreneurs create more inclusive economies and prosperous communities. Potential GDP gains from gender equality in the workplace are enormous, up to 50 percent in parts of South Asia.

But for all this potential, businesswomen face considerable obstacles in Asia and the Pacific. Representation on company boards is lower than in any other region and women CEOs are precious few. Gender bias runs through inheritance, labour and social security laws. Many women work in the informal economy with no social protection and societal prejudice frustrates women’s entrepreneurial potential. Across Asia, women give up to six hours of unpaid care work a day: thwarting educational attainment and career prospects.

For women wanting to start or expand a business, access to finance is key. 70 percent of women-owned micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are underserved by financial institutions in developing countries. Women struggle to borrow in a region where land is required as collateral but where very few are landowners. So women-owned enterprises are consistently smaller and concentrated in less profitable sectors.

To overcome these challenges, the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) is launching a new initiative with generous financial support from Global Affairs Canada. Its goal: to support financing for women entrepreneurs and innovators, improve their access to information and communication technology (ICT), and create a policy environment in which their businesses can flourish. It will give twenty thousand women entrepreneurs greater access to ICT and finance.

ICT and innovative financing lie at the heart of the initiative. We want to support businesswomen mainstream ICT across business operations; to make their financial management more robust and their outlook more responsive to new technologies. We plan to launch “women bonds” for women entrepreneurs, channeling private sector investment from developed markets to support gender equality in the developing world. We will work with impact investment funds to target women-led investments. And encourage financial technology (fintech) solutions through advice on regulatory frameworks, training to help women access fintech services and new credit lines to support innovators.

Deeper gender analysis of the MSME sector will complement these activities. To inform policies which strengthen women’s rights and access to justice; reforms which update inheritance and property regimes; and legislation which stops credit being extended according to gender or marital status. For such a broad challenge, we will bring women entrepreneurs and policy makers together, to build a gender sensitive response across policy areas and governments.

The case for investing in women entrepreneurs is overwhelming. They are true agents of change whose innovation can lift communities, companies and countries. We are committed to improving their prospects, to unleashing women entrepreneurs’ full potential and putting gender equality squarely at the heart of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific.

The post Entrepreneurial about Gender Equality appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Hong Joo Hahm is Deputy Executive Secretary and Officer-in-Charge of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

The post Entrepreneurial about Gender Equality appeared first on Inter Press Service.

By WAM
DUBAI, Oct 1 2018 (WAM)

The issue of potable water scarcity around the world has led several companies operating in this sector to invest in research using new technologies for water production and storage, limiting water wastage and rationalising consumption. Global research and developmental efforts have led to a qualitative shift in water desalination, reducing costs, wastewater treatment, and introducing alternative clean energy sources to desalinate water, such as solar power and other innovative technologies.

The innovative solutions and advanced technologies relating to water issues are a priority of the 20th Water, Energy, Technology and Environment Exhibition, WETEX 2018.

Organised by the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, DEWA, under the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, and under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, UAE Minister of Finance and President of DEWA, the event will be held from 23rd to 25th October, 2018 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre under the theme ‘At the forefront of sustainability’, highlighting the latest developments and technologies in the fields of water, energy, and environment.

The region’s largest-of-its-kind exhibition coincides with the third Dubai Solar Show which highlights the latest innovations in the solar energy sector, especially in relation to desalination and water treatment using solar power. The exhibition will also focus on the region’s largest projects in this sector by providing participants with a unique platform to build partnerships with governmental and private sectors with the aim to develop innovative solutions.

This year, WETEX 2018 will bring together the world’s most proficient professionals in the water technology sector, showcasing water treatment and desalination plants, pipes, coolers, heaters, water purifiers, pumps and valves, state-of-the-art irrigation systems, agriculture and horticulture equipment, and dewatering equipment. The event will also focus on rationalisation of water consumption by highlighting products for leak detection and treatment products, lining tanks, and other materials used in the water sector.

WAM/سالمة الشامسي/MOHD AAMIR/Nour Salman

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