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In Khan Younis, thousands of people are fleeing for their lives again. Credit: UNRWA

By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Nov 8 2024 (IPS)

When the United Nations imposes sanctions or penalizes a member state – be it the General Assembly or the Human Rights Council – the resolutions are “non-binding” and often remain unimplemented.

But the Security Council resolutions are “binding” – and still openly violated by countries such as North Korea—because all these UN bodies have no means of implementing these resolutions, nor a standing army to forcibly enforce them. But they only carry moral weight.

The Council can also impose its own sanctions, mostly in economic, financial and trade sectors, against violators of its decisions.

And last week there was a move to impose arms sanctions against Israel – and rightly so, judging by the 43,000 plus, mostly Palestinian civilians, killed in Gaza largely with US-supplied weapons since October last year.

But how effective will this be since the strongest opposition will come from the US, an unyielding supporter of Israel, which will unhesitatingly use its veto power if the resolution comes before the Security Council?

Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury, a former UN Under-Secretary-General and one-time Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations, told IPS anything short of a real, permanent ceasefire would not create a pathway to end the perpetration of the ongoing genocidal aggression by Israel.

In this context, he said, the joint letter calling on all countries to stop the sale of arms and ammunition to Israel, signed by 52 countries and two UN-recognized multilateral organizations, is meaningfully forward-looking, and contains a purposeful objective of contributing to that “pathway”.

In fact, the Foreign Minister of Turkiye, whose country initiated the letter, asserted that “We must repeat at every opportunity that selling arms to Israel means participating in its genocide.”

“It would be argued rightfully that the United Nations and its apex body, the General Assembly have no powers to enforce such an arms embargo. The Security Council, the sole UN entity which can authorize an arms embargo and obligate the arms suppliers desist from sending arms to the areas of conflict, also becomes powerless if one of the P-5 uses the notorious veto”.

“However, I strongly believe that a General Assembly resolution following the call for the arms embargo to Israel would have a moral value which has its own merit. Despite the politics and power-play which is destroying the UN’s credibility and marginalizing its operational capacity to resolve conflicts, the arms embargo would highlight the principled position taken by the UN,” said Ambassador Chowdhury.

In a way, he pointed out, that would strengthen the Secretary-General’s efforts to promote the much-needed ceasefire.

In the aftermath of Israel’s declaration of the Secretary General as persona non-grata (PNG) and its extension of the attacks on UNIFIL in Lebanon, the General Assembly needs to show that its moral and normative role as envisaged in the UN Charter has not been cowed down by the politics of the frequently-used threat of veto, he declared.

Stephen Zunes, Professor of Politics and International Studies at the University of San Francisco, who has written extensively on the politics of the Security Council, told IPS: “This initiative reflects the view of the vast majority of the world’s governments and peoples and is consistent with imperatives of international humanitarian law, but given that the major arms supplier of Israel is a veto-wielding permanent member of the Security Council, it is unlikely to have much of an impact.”

Also problematic, he pointed out, is that some of the countries sponsoring the initiative, such as Russia and Saudi Arabia, have been guilty not only of similarly providing weapons to those engaging in war crimes but engaging in war crimes themselves.

Turkiye’s foreign minister Hakan Fidan said last week his country had submitted a letter to the United Nations, signed by 52 countries and two inter-governmental organizations, calling for a halt in arms deliveries to Israel.

“We have written a joint letter calling on all countries to stop the sale of arms and ammunition to Israel. We delivered this letter, which has 54 signatories, to the UN on November 1,” said Fidan, according to the Times of Israel.

“We must repeat at every opportunity that selling arms to Israel means participating in its genocide,” said Fidan, adding that the letter is “an initiative launched by Turkiye.”

Among the signatories were Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Algeria, China, Iran and Russia, plus the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC),

Elaborating further, Ambassador Chowdhury said the UN should not forget that the UN’s International Court of Justice which determined that Israel’s occupation of the Gaza Strip and West Bank is illegal under international law. The judgment was followed by a General Assembly resolution last September, demanding Israel leave the occupied territories within a year.

“I am encouraged by the UN’s own 45 Human Rights Experts and Special Rapporteurs, who, driven by their conscience, forcefully called for a ‘permanent ceasefire, … an ‘arms embargo on all warring parties,’ and ‘the deployment of an international protective presence in the occupied Palestinian territory under the supervision of the UN.’ All these well-thought-out measures would only promote dialogue and diplomacy over death and destruction”.

The UN Secretary-General needs to endorse and welcome this call by his in-house experts and recommend to the General Assembly to do the same without any delay, he declared.

Back in April 2024, in a resolution adopted by 28 votes in favour, six against and 13 abstentions, the 47-member Human Rights Council backed a call “to cease the sale, transfer and diversion of arms, munitions and other military equipment to Israel, the occupying Power…to prevent further violations of international humanitarian law and violations and abuses of human rights”.

Presented by Pakistan on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, delegates heard that the resolution had also been motivated by the need to stop “egregious” human rights violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

Co-sponsors of the text included Bolivia, Cuba and the State of Palestine, ahead of the vote which saw support from more than two dozen countries including Brazil, China, Luxembourg, Malaysia and South Africa, according to UN News.

Unlike the UN Security Council, Human Rights Council resolutions are not legally binding on States but carry significant moral weight, and in this instance is intended to increase diplomatic pressure on Israel as well as potentially influence national policy decisions.

Israel’s two largest arms sources, the United States and Germany, have resisted calls for an embargo on Israel, though each has been accused of withholding certain arms during the war.

In an October 2024 report, the Stockholm International Peace Institute (SIPRI) said in the past decade, Israel has greatly increased its imports of arms. SIPRI estimates that in the five-year period 2019–23, Israel was the world’s 15th largest importer of major arms, accounting for 2.1 per cent of global arms imports in the period. In 2009–13 it ranked only 47th.

Although only three countries supplied major arms to Israel in 2019–23, the United States, Germany and Italy, many others supplied military components, ammunition or services. The three other global major arms exporters among the top 10: the United Kingdom, France and Spain.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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A flood in Feni City, Bangladesh. Bangladesh, which is one of the most climate-sensitive regions in the world, is particularly vulnerable to climate shocks, such as rising sea levels. Credit: UNICEF/Alaa Seoudy

By Oritro Karim
UNITED NATIONS, Nov 7 2024 (IPS)

Cities are in a unique position, simultaneously the biggest emitters of greenhouse gasses and the most affected areas of the greenhouse effect. As a new UN report shows that rapid urbanization and industrialization have adverse effects on the environment, causing a rise in sea levels, prolonged rainfalls and flooding, and an increase in overall temperature. The coastal areas that cities most often inhabit face the brunt of these effects, with marginalized populations being the most vulnerable.

The United Nations Human Settlement Programme (UN-Habitat) World Cities Report 2024 details a comprehensive list of findings from studies that focused on the relationship between urban development, climate change, and the exacerbation of existing inequalities.

The report stresses the urgency of action to alleviate the climate crisis. 2023 was recorded as the hottest year in human history, making humanitarian organizations, climate groups and world leaders fear that the climate crisis could threaten “civilization collapse”.

“The global rise in temperatures continues unabated, leading to a recurring and escalating trend of extreme weather events—heatwaves, hurricanes, storms, floods, fires and other hazards—posing severe threats to lives, livelihoods and well-being, especially among marginalized populations. The vulnerabilities of these communities mean that routine weather events can become full blown humanitarian crises, with their attendant impacts: loss of lives, property destruction and displacement,” says the report.

According to figures from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the first two decades of the 21st century have been approximately 1°C hotter than the century preceding it. Key findings from the World Cities Report project that if the world follows its current global practices, more than 2 billion people would be exposed to hotter climates. 99 percent of all urban populations would be subjected to more arid climates.

Climate change in urban environments is projected to generate massive losses for the global economy. It is estimated that by 2030, annual losses from global heating and natural disasters could reach over 430 billion dollars. By 2050, it is estimated that extreme weather events associated with the greenhouse effect could destroy over 25 trillion dollars’ worth of housing.

In addition, the rising temperatures in cities create a host of problems for both civilians and urban infrastructure. It is estimated that over 180 million people in cities around the world would face water scarcity due to urban water reserves drying up or becoming compromised. Hotter temperatures also lead to a higher demand for cooling, which can exhaust local power grids, resulting in blackouts.

“When buildings, homes and vital infrastructure like water and transportation systems are poorly planned, built and managed, they are no match for climate-fueled disasters like rising seas, heatwaves, and other extreme weather impacts. This challenge disproportionately affects the poorest and most vulnerable people,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres.

Rising sea levels are of particular concern for urban developments. According to the IPCC, average worldwide sea level is projected to rise between 0.43 and 0.84 meters by 2100, in relation to the sea level in 1986-2005. The impacts of this will affect coastal communities the most. According to C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group Inc., a coalition of 96 cities around the world that amount to one twelfth of the world’s population, by the year 2050 over 800 million people from 570 cities will live in cities that are impacted by coastal inundation. Furthermore, estimates suggest that rising sea levels could cause over 1 trillion dollars in damages by the midpoint of the century.

In the United States, for instance, New York and Miami are projected to face a rise in global sea level that is three times faster than average. South Asian cities such as Kolkata, Mumbai, and Dhaka, are expected to have the highest number of civilians at risk of coastal inundation, between 11 and 14 million.

Flooding and natural disasters are also a concerning byproduct of climate change that will have adverse effects on urban environments. According to the report, exposure to flooding from climate change has grown significantly in urban areas from lower income countries. For urban communities, exposure to floods is expected to grow 20 percent by 2025 and another 20 percent by 2030.

In 2023, it was reported that 1,700 people were killed by climate driven flooding in Pakistan. In late October of this year, Spain’s residential province Valencia was struck with prolonged torrential rains and flooding that killed over 200 people and caused billions of dollars in damages. Hurricane Rafael, an ongoing tropical cyclone, is expected to cause significant flooding and hazardous weather conditions in cities along the Gulf of Mexico and the Bay County area.

Historically, marginalized communities have been disproportionately affected by climate driven disasters in urban environments. Facing systemic inequalities and limited access to basic services, vulnerable groups are having their issues greatly exacerbated by rising temperatures. According to UN-Habitat Executive Director Anacláudia Rossbach, women, children, people with disabilities, older people, migrants, minorities, indigenous people, and individuals living below the poverty line are typically situated in areas that are particularly environmentally sensitive and lack protective structures. Additionally, these groups are less likely to receive support.

According to the World Cities Report, communities in slums face an “unrelenting cycle of hardship”. Due to relying on agriculture or other climate-sensitive industries for income, certain urban communities are kept in a state of poverty. These communities often live in areas with low drainage or sanitation, few to no medical and educational facilities, and in low quality housing that is highly susceptible to destruction from extreme weather events.

This comes with a host of adverse health effects as well. Climate change exacerbates unsafe working conditions for lower income communities, with death and injury being frequent. Climate shocks, like storms, heatwaves, and floods cause large scale food system disruptions, leading to hunger and famine. Food security continues to be a major issue for marginalized groups in urban areas.

Furthermore, water reserves in slums are often compromised by extreme weather events and lack governmental support to rectify these issues. This leads to the spread of vector-borne diseases. Health complications, such as cancers, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases, and mental health issues, run rampant in these areas as well, with limited to no access to healthcare or medications.

In order to prevent a wide scale loss of human life in urban environments, it is crucial to address these systemic inequalities and begin adopting healthier global practices to mitigate the greenhouse effect. “City and local leaders must also continue to be at the forefront of the fight against climate change. In many cases, cities are going further and faster than national governments in limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius. The success or failure of new national climate plans will be realized at the community level, and local leaders must be involved every step of the way,” said Guterres.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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A flooded village in Matiari, in the Sindh province of Pakistan. Credit: UNICEF/Asad Zaidi

By Umar Manzoor Shah
NAIROBI, Nov 7 2024 (IPS)

The United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) 2024 Adaptation Gap Report has warned that adaptation actions are not keeping pace with the surging demands of a warming planet. Released ahead of the COP29 climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, the report—titled Come Hell and High Water—projected a bleak future where vulnerable communities bear the brunt of climate-induced hardships. 

It stresses that robust, well-funded adaptation strategies are vital to safeguarding those most at risk and calls for immediate, substantial global action in adaptation planning, finance, and implementation. With the surging demands of a warming planet. Released ahead of the COP 29 climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, the report—titled Come Hell and High Water—projects a bleak future where vulnerable communities bear the brunt of climate-induced hardships. 

It stresses that robust, well-funded adaptation strategies are vital to safeguarding those most at risk and calls for immediate, substantial global action in adaptation planning, finance, and implementation.

Wildfires, floods, and rising temperatures continue to inflict devastating impacts on people worldwide, especially the poor. UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen has underlined the urgency of scaling up adaptation efforts: “The world is failing to adapt to current climate impacts, let alone those that will come if we do not cut greenhouse gas emissions decisively.

“It is time to treat adaptation as one of humanity’s top priorities, alongside emissions reduction. Those already facing the consequences deserve effective, fair adaptation actions that address their unique needs.”

Furthermore, the report stresses that the scale of climate impacts is moving faster than the world’s response.

“Adaptation is no longer a distant option; it is now a priority,” says UNEP’s Chief Scientific Editor Henry Neufeldt, summarizing the report’s call for urgent action. The report arrives at a time when nations are expected to boost their financial commitments for adaptation as part of the Glasgow Climate Pact.

This Pact urges developed countries to double adaptation finance to developing nations by 2025, a goal that aligns with the need for a New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) on climate finance, slated for negotiation at COP29.

Also, UNEP notes that adaptation finance reached only USD 28 billion in 2022, up from USD 22 billion the previous year. While this is a notable increase, it remains far below what is needed to address the vast scale of climate change impacts. According to UNEP, estimated global adaptation needs range between USD 215 billion and USD 387 billion per year through 2030, leaving a significant financing shortfall. Even doubling current financing flows would close only a small fraction of the adaptation finance gap.

“We can’t rely on one source alone. The financial burden is too great,” says Neufeldt. “We must pursue creative financing models and mobilize both public and private sectors to ensure resources reach those who need them most.”

According to the report, 87 percent of the world’s countries have at least one adaptation plan in place, though the quality and coverage vary significantly.

Out of the 197 UN member countries, 171 have established at least one national adaptation instrument, yet 10 nations—most grappling with internal conflict or political instability—are yet to initiate formal adaptation planning. Furthermore, many adaptation plans lack specific timeframes and budgets, undermining their effectiveness.

Anne Hammill from the International Institute for Sustainable Development, who co-authored a chapter on adaptation planning, writes in the report, “There’s a noticeable increase in awareness and preparation for adaptation planning globally. However, for some nations, fragility and limited capacity present obstacles to formulating and executing these plans.”

Moreover, UNEP finds that only 68 percent of countries with national adaptation plans align these strategies with their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), the climate pledges under the Paris Agreement. This disconnect, as per the report, has resulted in overlapping efforts and inefficient resource use.

“When countries update their NDCs, they must ensure these are harmonized with adaptation plans,” Hammill notes. “This alignment is essential to avoid duplicated efforts and to streamline investments where they matter most.”

The uneven quality of adaptation plans means that even those countries with established strategies may struggle with execution. In many cases, adaptation projects—particularly those with international funding—don’t have long-lasting effects. For example, almost half of the projects evaluated were rated either unsatisfactory or unsustainable without continued external funding.

“Adaptation actions need long-term funding and local support to be effective. Temporary measures, while beneficial in the short run, often fail to address underlying vulnerabilities in the long term,” reads the report.

Slow Implementation Leaves Vulnerable Communities Exposed
The report reveals that implementation of adaptation measures lags significantly behind planning efforts, leaving at-risk communities dangerously exposed to climate impacts. An analysis of data shows that adaptation implementation has not kept pace with the accelerating rate of climate change. Floods, wildfires, and extreme weather events increasingly affect millions, yet financial and institutional barriers stymie progress in implementing effective adaptation measures.

The report elaborates, “The data on adaptation implementation is concerning. Many countries start strong with initial adaptation projects, but sustaining them has proven challenging. This gap between planning and action often leads to severe consequences for vulnerable communities.”

In addition to the need for more robust financing mechanisms, UNEP underlines the importance of inclusive adaptation measures that integrate the voices of marginalized communities. Many of the most impacted groups, including women, indigenous peoples, and economically disadvantaged populations, are frequently excluded from the planning process.

“Adaptation must be inclusive and equitable,” Hammill says. “Vulnerable groups often face the worst climate impacts, yet their voices remain underrepresented in the adaptation process.”

The Adaptation Finance Gap: A Call for New Approaches
A central focus of the report is the persistent adaptation finance gap. Although public adaptation finance flows to developing countries saw a record year-on-year increase, UNEP stresses that even substantial gains fall far short of what is required. “Current financing levels are simply inadequate. Doubling the finance might reduce the gap by about 5%, but we need much more ambitious targets to meet the needs.”

To bridge the finance gap, the report advocates a shift from reactive, project-based funding to a more proactive, transformative approach. This requires financing for anticipatory and systemic adaptation actions, such as building climate-resilient infrastructure and enhancing social protection. According to UNEP, innovative financing instruments, such as resilience bonds, risk insurance, and payments for ecosystem services, could mobilize new sources of adaptation funding.

The report points out that the private sector has a key role to play. “While public funds are essential, we need private investments to scale up adaptation,” it explains, adding that in sectors such as agriculture, water, and infrastructure, private finance can be instrumental if de-risking measures are implemented. However, private finance is often inaccessible to the most vulnerable; there is a need for public-private partnerships and targeted government support.

Capacity-Building and Technology Transfer for Effective Adaptation
Beyond finance, UNEP’s report also calls for stronger investments in capacity-building and technology transfer. These efforts are vital to empowering developing nations to manage climate impacts effectively. According to the report, developing countries require additional support for building local adaptation capacity in sectors like agriculture, water management, and public health.

The report also highlights the importance of a multifaceted approach. “Capacity-building must go beyond technical solutions. It requires investing in human resources, policy frameworks, and long-term community engagement. While we see capacity needs highlighted in many national plans, a strategic, coordinated approach is still missing.”

The report indicates that sectors such as food and agriculture receive the most technology-related development finance, yet other crucial areas like coastal protection and disaster preparedness need more support. For example, developing countries face obstacles in adopting technologies like solar-powered irrigation due to high installation and maintenance costs, making widespread use challenging. It suggests that bridging this technology gap will require both public investment and private sector involvement.

Path Forward at COP 29 and Beyond
As COP 29 approaches, the 2024 Adaptation Gap Report has pinned the need for decisive action in Baku to secure global adaptation commitments. At the heart of these discussions is the establishment of a New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) on climate finance, a successor to the USD 100 billion annual goal set in 2010. This new target, UNEP argues, must prioritize adaptation and recognize the unique challenges faced by developing nations.

Andersen, who will lead UNEP’s delegation to COP 29, expresses hope that the international community will rally around adaptation as a central theme.

In addition to setting an ambitious finance goal, COP 29 will discuss mechanisms for better tracking adaptation actions, establishing loss and damage funding, and addressing the debt burdens that restrict developing nations from prioritizing adaptation investments. UNEP advocates for debt relief and restructuring as a way to free up funds for climate adaptation, particularly in nations where high debt costs eclipse adaptation funding.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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By Srinivas Tata, Christine Arab and Channe Lindstrøm Oğuzhan
BANGKOK, Thailand, Nov 7 2024 (IPS)

The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, adopted in 1995 during the Fourth World Conference on Women, remains a cornerstone in the global pursuit of gender equality and women’s empowerment. With the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on the Beijing+30 Review fast approaching, now is the time to reflect on the progress made and the challenges that remain in Asia and the Pacific.

Despite significant strides in women’s education and health, and some progress made in women’s political representation in the past three decades, progress towards gender equality appears to be stagnating, and even regressing in some areas such as labour force participation. Women in all their diversity continue to face significant barriers.

Gender-based violence, discrimination, and women’s disproportionate responsibility for unpaid care work, persist across the region. Women continue to perform up to five times more care work than men. And in South Asia, projections show there will be 129 poor women for every 100 poor men by 2030. The level of political will to address these issues remains inadequate.

Moreover, women and girls have been disproportionately affected by multiple and inter-related crises. The socioeconomic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, the triple-planetary crisis (climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss), food insecurity, energy crises and growing digital divides disproportionately impact women, with vulnerable groups hit hardest.

Commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action

The upcoming Ministerial Conference in Bangkok from 19-21 November 2024 as well as the CSO Forum immediately preceding the conference will be a platform for enhanced cooperation among member States and key stakeholders. It will:

• Evaluate Progress: Assess the implementation of the Beijing Declaration across the region, identifying successes and areas for improvement.

• Heighten Ambitions: Encourage Member States to set more ambitious gender equality targets within the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

• Foster Collaboration: Promote regional cooperation and share good practices.

• Innovate Solutions: Highlight innovative approaches that can drive gender equality, such as digital inclusion and green economy initiatives.

In addressing these objectives, the series of deliberations will also consider the impact of megatrends, including poverty and inequality; demographic changes; urbanization; digitalization and AI. The importance of a just transition must be emphasized to ensure economic shifts benefit women equally, which will in turn benefit all of society.

As underscored during the Summit of the Future, taking decisive actions now is essential to safeguard the rights of future generations and ensure an inclusive, sustainable world.

While notable progress has been made across the Asia-Pacific region, further advancements will depend on how we address recurring challenges:

Megatrends Shaping Gender Equality

Climate change: A just transition to sustainable economies must consider the social implications for disadvantaged groups, including women in vulnerable situations. Women are disproportionately affected by job losses in traditional sectors and increased care responsibilities. Ensuring access to new opportunities, such as green jobs, is essential.

Additionally, policies must address gender-specific vulnerabilities, promote women’s leadership in climate action, and ensure that transitions are inclusive and equitable. Also, climate-induced disasters in the Asia-Pacific region disproportionately impact women and girls, highlighting the urgent need for increased attention to resilience-building initiatives and gender-responsive disaster risk reduction (DRR) strategies that empower and protect them in the face of escalating environmental risks.

Inequalities: Poverty and inequality often wear a woman’s face because women are disproportionately affected by economic disparities and lack access to opportunities for education, employment, and healthcare. Women are more likely to engage in unpaid care work and informal employment, which offers little social protection.

Cultural norms and discrimination further limit women’s access to resources. Targeted policies are critical to achieving gender equality. Women and girls facing intersecting forms of inequalities require greater partnerships and greater representation so that policies and services address their specific challenges, prevent further discrimination, and allow for all women to equally benfit from the region’s rapid growth and innovation.

Demographic shifts, particularly population aging: The Asia-Pacific region is experiencing both a youth bulge and rapid aging, each with significant gendered impacts. For countries experiencing a youth bulge, a demographic dividend is possible but is hindered by high unemployment and limited educational opportunities, disproportionately affecting young women and heightening risks of instability.

In aging populations, gaps in social protection and healthcare access particularly burden older women, who often lack retirement benefits due to informal, lower-paid work histories. Addressing these dual shifts requires policies that recognize unpaid care work and invest in the care economy, ensuring equitable support across age groups.

Urbanization: Rapid urbanization creates opportunities but also increases vulnerabilities, such as challenges in accessing services and exposure to violence. Gender-responsive urban planning can ensure women benefit from urban growth. This includes creating safe public spaces, accessible and affordable care services, safe transportation, and affordable housing that can accommodate women’s needs.

The emergence of digital technologies: The advancement of digital technologies and AI presents opportunities for empowering women through access to information, education, and economic opportunities. However, technology is widening inequalities in the region and increasingly being used to mete out violence against women and girls and gender biases in AI algorithms persist, perpetuating existing inequalities. Only 30% of the workforce in the renewable energy sector are women.

Looking forward to November!

The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action remains a vital framework for achieving gender equality in Asia and the Pacific. We look forward to discussing these issues with a broad range of stakeholders at the upcoming Ministerial Conference.

This conference represents a crucial moment to reflect on progress, address ongoing challenges, and seize new opportunities to empower women and girls. When coming together, we can foster innovative solutions and build a more equitable and prosperous future for all, ensuring that the aspirations of the Beijing Declaration are fully realized for generations to come.

Additional information is available on the ESCAP and UN Women dedicated websites for the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on the Beijing+30 Review:

https://www.unescap.org/events/2024/asia-pacific-ministerial-conference-beijing30-review In Focus: Beijing+30 in Asia Pacific

Srinivas Tata is Director, Social Development Division; Christine Arab, Regional Director, UNWOMEN and Channe Lindstrøm Oğuzhan, Social Affairs Officer, Social Development Division.

Source: ESCAP

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Christophe Aïnagnon dropped out science degree because he realized he would not be able to find a job with his degree. Credit: Megan Fahrney/IPS

By Megan Fahrney
COTONOU, Nov 7 2024 (IPS)

At just 11 years old, with a heavy heart, Louis  peered up at his parents and said goodbye. He was leaving his small village in northern Benin to live with his uncle in Parakou, where the schools were better. Ever since, Louis has continued to make sacrifices to pursue a strong education and a better life. 

Now, at 23 years old, Louis finds himself with an undergraduate degree in mathematics from Benin’s largest public university, speaking nearly perfect English, unable to find formalized employment. His response?

“Hustle,” he says.

“I’m an entrepreneur,” Louis said. “It won’t be easy for me to create a startup, but I have to tell myself in my mind that I can do it even if it is hard. I will [do] whatever I can to make it possible.”

Louis said he is currently launching a company providing computer programming services. He and his team hope to develop apps, create websites and solve technical problems for clients.

In Benin, college graduates struggle to find formalized work. Educated young people find themselves working odd jobs, creating their own companies or remaining entirely financially dependent on their parents.

Few in the country decide to pursue higher education at all. According to the UNESCO Institute of Statistics, only 15% of men and 8% of women in Benin enroll in tertiary education.

Of those who do enroll, the percentage of students who complete their degree is even lower. In the 2022-2023 school year, 58,456 undergraduate students enrolled in the University of Abomey-Calavi, Benin’s largest public university. That same academic year, only 6,614 received a diploma .

Christophe Aïnagnon, now an English student at the University of Abomey-Calavi, dropped out of the science department after two years because he recognized he would not be able to find a job with his degree.

Aïnagnon said he has many friends who drop out of college altogether because they do not think it is worth it to continue. Other friends of his have finished their degrees but cannot find work.

“They think that if they finish, they won’t find a job, [so] they vanish,” Aïnagnon said. “I even have many friends… they study, they work hard, they did everything to finish, but… they didn’t happen to find a job. It’s not that they didn’t know how, but a lot of them are at home now doing nothing.”

Aïnagnon, for his part, has launched his own business breeding rabbits to earn an income.

“It’s the kind of business [through which] I can become who I want and live my best life,” Aïnagnon said.

Last month, the Ichikowitz Family Foundation published a survey that found 60 percent of young Africans ages 18-24 want to emigrate in the next five years. The report surveyed 5,604 individuals and was conducted in 16 different countries.

Louis said it is his dream to immigrate to the United States and has applied for the visa lottery many times.

“That’s why I’m motivated to speak English: to immigrate, to go to the U.S.A.,” Louis said. “When I was a kid, I wanted to study at MIT.”

Others do not wish to emigrate, citing lack of connections abroad, the challenge of finding employment in a foreign country and the difficulty of the immigration process.

Mirabelle Awegnonde, an English student at the University of Abomey-Calavi, said she wants to be a teacher but has to start thinking of alternative self-employment options in case she cannot find a teaching job.

“It makes me afraid sometimes,” Awegnonde said. “I’m afraid. I tell myself, how can I get a job in the future? How can I make myself a job instead? Because I’m a shy person, so… it is hard for me.”

Note: Megan Fahrney is a Fulbright scholar currently living in Benin.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Forum of Arab Parliamentarians on Population and Development met in Bahrain to to address water scarcity. Credit: APDA

By Joyce Chimbi
MANAMA & NAIROBI, Nov 7 2024 (IPS)

The Arab region is among the most water-scarce areas globally, as nearly 392 million people live in countries facing water scarcity or absolute water scarcity. So dire is the situation that, of the 22 Arab countries, 19 fall below the annual threshold for water scarcity in renewable resources, defined as 1,000 cubic meters per person.

Worst still, 13 countries fall below the absolute water scarcity threshold of 500 cubic meters per person per year. Water scarcity in the Arab region poses a serious challenge, threatening the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals and the realization of the fundamental human right to access water and sanitation. 

It is within this context that the Forum of Arab Parliamentarians on Population and Development, in collaboration with the Asian Population and Development Association in Japan and with support from the United Nations Population Fund, held a meeting on October 26, 2024, in the Kingdom of Bahrain to address water scarcity as a development concern and promote coordinated action across different sectors.

Dr. Mohamed Al-Samadi, Secretary-General of the Forum of Arab Parliamentarians on Population and Development, stressed the need for coordinated governance and measures to close the gap between water security and the Sustainable Development Goals. The gathering that included Bahraini parliamentarians from committees focused on population and development, along with representatives from civil society organizations, experts, academics, and government officials.

The gathering reiterated that “researchers in the field of water science have set the water poverty line at 500 cubic meters per person annually, while 1,000 cubic meters of freshwater per person is considered the threshold for achieving water security. Reports also link this to food security, showing that producing an individual’s annual food supply requires over 2,000 cubic meters of water.

Lawmakers and experts stressed the need for coordinated governance and measures to close the gap between water security and the Sustainable Development Goals. Credit: APDA

Stressing that the “water security in the Arab world is now critically at stake as annual usable water resources fall below 40 billion cubic meters. A large portion of these resources is lost to evaporation and infiltration into the soil, and additional amounts are necessary to sustain river flows to their endpoints. Any country that uses 40 percent or more of its total annual water resources is considered to be facing severe water scarcity according to the Water Scarcity Index, also known as the Water Sustainability Index.”

Dr. Muneer Ibrahim, a Member of Parliament and member of the Committee on Water, Environment, and Public Utilities, spoke about water security and the SDGs, emphasizing that water is the fundamental pillar for achieving these global goals across their economic, social, and environmental dimensions, as water security is an essential requirement for their realization.

Further stressing that the relationship between water and sustainable development is reciprocal, and this interconnectedness poses significant challenges in the Arab region, especially given the current water situation. Necessitating the development and implementation of effective policies and solutions to ensure sustainable water resources for various uses.

Hassan Ibrahim, a Member of Parliament and the rapporteur for the Water Committee, spoke about innovation for sustainable water management, highlighting that resolving the water crisis is essential for a livable future on our planet. Noting that whether water is overly abundant, severely scarce, or highly polluted, it presents a triple threat exacerbated by climate change, depriving billions of people of access to clean, safe water and sanitation services.

He said that this then “threatens economies, encourages migration, and may fuel conflict. We need global action to establish water security to enable inclusive and resilient green growth while addressing the interconnected relationship between water, climate, and conflict. Despite the progress made, we are falling behind in achieving the SDGs related to water, which directly affect inclusive development.”

Current trends indicate that by 2030, 1.6 billion people will lack access to safe drinking water, 2.8 billion will be deprived of safe sanitation services, and 1.9 billion will be without basic hygiene facilities. Globally, the investment needs for the water sector exceed USD 1.37 trillion and must increase sixfold from current levels to meet the sixth SDG on ensuring availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all by 2030.

“Water accounts for less than 2 percent of public spending, and private investment levels in this sector are also low in low- and middle-income countries. Bahrain has adopted strategies and initiatives to improve the management of water resources, support the strategic water stock, and increase the area and sustainability of rainwater harvesting efficiency to enhance natural groundwater resources,” Ibrahim said.

Bahrain is implementing advanced technical solutions to utilize treated wastewater for irrigation needs, which also helps reduce environmental pollution, address the impacts of climate change, and minimize the depletion of natural water resources. Bahrain, through the Water Security Strategy 2030 launched by the Ministry of Energy and Environment, aims to ensure the sustainability and continuity of access to water under both normal conditions and extreme emergencies.

The key targets of the strategy include reducing total water resource demand by 21 percent, increasing the water productivity index to USD 110 per cubic meter, lowering the water scarcity index by three degrees, and raising the percentage of treated water reuse to 95 percent. Dr. Walid Zubari, a water resources expert and president of the Arab Water Association, presented on the vital role of civil society institutions in raising water awareness to achieve water sustainability and address the challenges facing the water sector in Bahrain.

Regarding civil society institutions, Dr. Zubari said, “It is important for them to play a role in water awareness. Once community members understand the implications of their behavior in dealing with water and there is a religious and moral incentive, it is likely that they will voluntarily rationalize their water usage. If this happens, the community and the executors will be in the same boat, enabling them to achieve water sustainability.”

Dr. Karim Rashid, Member of Parliament, delivered a comprehensive presentation on the importance of water and its essential role in supporting sustainable development, as water impacts all aspects of development and is closely linked to nearly every SDG, driving economic growth, supporting healthy ecosystems, and being essential for life itself.

Still, nearly two billion people worldwide lack access to safely managed drinking water services, while around 3.6 billion suffer from inadequate sanitation services. To enable effective climate change adaptation, he said activities should reflect the importance of water management in reducing vulnerability to risks and building resilience against climate change.

Further emphasizing the necessity of political commitment and leadership, technological innovations, and the advancement of service delivery models and financing to support governments in fulfilling their commitment to achieve Target 6.2 of the SDGs—”to ensure access for all to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene services by 2030.”

The expert and water sector advisor at the Ministry of Water in the Kingdom of Bahrain, Eng. Mohammed Sawar, called for adopting a model transformation in the management of water resources in the GCC countries, shifting from the current focus on “supply sustainability” to “consumption sustainability.” Emphasizing economic efficiency in water usage and financial sustainability of water services.

Note: This meeting was supported by the Asian Population and Development Association (APDA), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Japan Trust Fund (JTF).

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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By Jan Lundius
STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Nov 6 2024 (IPS)

 

More durable than bronze, higher than Pharaoh’s
pyramids is the monument I have made,
a shape that angry wind or hungry rain
cannot demolish, nor the innumerable ranks
of the years that march in centuries.
I shall not wholly die:
some part of me will cheat the goddess of death.

Thus wrote, not without reason, in 23 BCE the proud and self-conscious Horace. So far, he has been quite right – ancient monuments have crumbled, or disappeared completely, while his poetry still remains. However, you might ask – for how much longer? Latin is already dead, at least as a spoken language, while its connoisseurs are dwindling. Pessimists may contradict Horace’s optimism with Thomas à Kempis phrase from 1418: O quam cito transit gloria mundi, how quickly the glory of the world passes away. As a matter of fact, more and more people, in particular youngsters, have a diminishing interest in the written word, in particular in the form of longer texts like novels and newspaper editorials, preferring short messages and slogans that are easy to understand and preferably not longer than half a page.

Nevertheless, some human creations remain for a very long time. The most potent form of nuclear waste does, according to most scientists, need to be safely stored away for up to one million years, the time needed to ensure radioactive decay, i.e. actually a far longer stretch of time than the period that has passed since the first Neanderthals appeared on earth.

How may we be able to warn future generations about lethal dangers buried beneath Earth’s surface? Thousands of years from now, our descendants can probably not understand any of the writing systems currently in use. And how can we now adequately predict which future geological upheavals lay in store? Nuclear waste is drilled deep down into primeval rock, but can it really be guaranteed that cracks cannot occur, that atomic waste will not sip into underground water resources? Considering who little was expected from the effects of climate change just a few years ago, it makes you wonder about the safe future of our planet and the shortsighted damage we are doing to it.

In 2008, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault was inaugurated on the Norwegian island of Spitzbergen. It is intended to be a secure backup facility for the world’s crop diversity. More than 100 metres below earth, in the tunnels of an abandoned coal mine, the Seed Vault currently conserves 1,280,677 accessions, representing more than 13,000 years of agricultural history.

By the inauguration of this unique seed-bank it was said that the deep-frozen plant material would be safe from any temperature change and water damage, resting as it was under Arctic permafrost. However, already in 2016, an unusually large amount of water seeped in to the Vault’s entrance tunnel, 100 metres underground. The water flow was stopped just before it reached the precious plant material, though the incident indicated that the frozen permafrost no longer is a guarantee for safeguarding the Vault – Arctic temperatures are now rising four times faster than in the rest of the world making the permafrost melt at an unexpected speed. Improvements to the Vault have been made to prevent water intrusion, the tunnel walls have been made “waterproof” and above ground, draining ditches now surround the entrance to the Vault.

Filled with pride, hope and expectations Horace wrote that his poems would survive for thousands of years. Nevertheless, he could not have predicted how humans now are destroying our shared environment. Authors have for more than a hundred years warned us about what is currently happening. First it was mainly science fiction writers who produced terrifying dystopias about what could happen to our planet if we continue to abuse its natural resources, depleting its organic life, and destroying its life preserving beauty. This literary trend is still alive, particularly after the nuclear bombs that in 1945 wiped out Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as well as the melt down of the nuclear reactor in Tjernobyl. One disturbing and well written example of such dystopias is the Russian author Tatyana Tolstaya’s novel The Slynx from year 2000.

After some kind of nuclear disaster, disfigured people survive in what was once Moscow. They depend on mice for food and clothing, and know almost nothing about the past. Most of them cannot read and write, though a handful of people who live in this nightmarish reality remember how life was before the Blast, before civilization collapsed and brought culture down with it. These people occasionally quote poetry and dream of bringing about a cultural renaissance, though the reader understands they are a dying breed and there is almost nothing left to resurrect. Books still exist, but anyone found with one of them is hunted down and severely punished, while their books are confiscated, all in the name of stopping “freethinking.”

Is a nuclear catastrophe necessary for us all to end up in such misery? The author Amitav Ghosh was born in Calcutta. He grew up in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka and is currently living in New York. In his non-fiction book The Great Derangement, Gosh wonders why an extremely dangerous threat like climate change is not overshadowing cultural expressions. He emphasizes that the frightening effects of climate change are already with us. They are evident everywhere, though strangely enough people are still listening to dangerous climate change deniers, like the increasingly deranged Donald Trump. According to Gosh, depictions of the threat of climate change can no longer be banished to science fiction, but has to be convincingly expressed in all strands of art, literature, theatre, and movies. Gosh provides an example of this in his own novel Gun Island, which takes its starting point in Sunderbans, a huge West Bengali mangrove forest, currently threatened by polluting biochemical industries and rising sea levels. The novel deals with the vulnerability of climatological migrants and the ongoing, galloping destruction of human and animal habitats. As a story coloured by magic realism it ranges from Bangladesh, which climate change threatens with almost complete annihilation, to Venice, this dreamlike treasure house of amazing art that likewise appears to be doomed to disappear.

Gosh’s novel leads us back to Spitzbergen. Close to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault is another abandoned coal mine, even deeper than the one where the Seed Vault is accommodated. At the depth of 300 metres, we find the vaults of the Arctic World Archive (AWA), where governments, associations and private persons are welcomed, for a fee, to store what they assume to be world heritage. Down deep below, under permafrost (so far) we find copies and microfilm of a wide assortment of items that AWA is guaranteeing to safeguard for at least 2000 years. Here the Vatican has sent copies and microfilms of its vast collection of inestimable manuscripts, an organisation called Linga Aeterna is preserving recordings of 500 languages on the brink of extinction, the Polish Government has deposited copies of literary works and Chopin’s manuscripts. Here we find a wide collection of movies and rock music, as well as blueprints of architectural-, industrial, and car designs from the World’s biggest firms, etc., etc.

Thoughtful speculators and depositors are by AWA treated with advertising materials and movies reminding them of threats to the cultural heritage, like war and terrorism with footage showing the destruction of the immense Buddha in Bamiyan and how ISIS destroyed priceless cultural treasures in Palmyra and Mosul. Other disasters are highlighted, not the least those triggered off by climate change, which if nothing is done to stop it, will around 2050 have placed most of Florida, Bangladesh and the Maldives under water and completely inundated and destroyed Venice.

Spitzbergen is not the only place harbouring deposits of cultural heritage. In the salt mines of Hallstatt in Austria the so-called Memory of Mankind stores, within specifically designed, “indestructible” ceramic containers, huge amounts of microfilm and copies of valuable art and manuscripts. Libraries and archives around the world also shelter underground labyrinths, filled with books, magazines, and documents.

However, the question remains – for how long time will these enormous deposits be able to withstand the drastic changes that menace our Earth, and will future generations, if they now survive what threatens us all, be able to find these deposits of human endeavour, be interested in them, or even be able to understand them? Will our descendants be capable of benefitting from all that presumably has been preserved in these secluded places – or will they like the miserable creatures of Tolstoya’s depressing wasteland either despise all of it, or consider these items to be dangerous? Let us at least for the moment appreciate the written treasures left to us by poets like Horace and teach our children to appreciate what our ancestors have left behind, learn from it and also value, and enjoy what is written today.

Main sources: Gosh, Amitav (2016) The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable. University of Chicago Press. Gosh, Amitav (2019) Gun Island. London: John Murray. Horatius Flaccus, Quintus (1967) The Odes of Horace Translated by James Michie. Harmondsworth: Penguin Classics. Stagliano, Riccardo (2024) “A futura memoria”, Il Venerdi di Repubblica, 25 ottubre. Tolstaya, Tatyana (2016) The Slynx. New York Review of Books.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Submerged structure in Tubigon, Philippines. Credit: Greenpeace
 
In the Philippines, a group of islands is rapidly sinking due to an unprecedented rise in sea levels. This blog dives into how these coastal communities are utilizing marine resources and ecosystems to find solutions and build resilience against climate risks.

By Anne Cortez
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Nov 6 2024 (IPS)

Imagine living with water up to your knees for half of the year, where homes are flooded, and people constantly fear that the sea might one day engulf the town and everyone in it.

This is the reality for the sinking islands in the Philippines—a cluster of four island barangays in Tubigon located in the south-central region of Bohol. Here, the sea level is rising at an alarming rate of 10.8 millimeters per year, three times faster than the global average. If this continues, these islands could disappear by 2100.

Tubigon sank by one meter after being hit by a 7.2 magnitude earthquake over a decade ago. While still recovering, the islands were devastated by a super typhoon in 2021, unleashing four-meter-high tidal waves that destroyed over 1.7 million homes and displaced more than 3 million people. This year, the islands were declared inhabitable by the government.

Existential Climate Threats to Coastal Communities

Coastal communities like the Philippines are severely threatened by accelerating sea level rise compounded by extreme weather events. Similar to small island developing states, also known as SIDS, low-lying coastal areas are the most vulnerable to climate change.

Their geographic location leaves them highly-exposed to natural disasters and hazards like cyclones and tidal flooding. These vulnerabilities exacerbate coastal communities’ unique development challenges.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports that with the current 1.5 degree temperature increase, global sea levels will continue to rise and low-lying coastal regions are to experience extreme sea events such as storm surges and massive tides annually by 2050.

SIDS, including Tuvalu and the Maldives, along with the sinking islands of Tubigon, are proof of the existential threats of climate change. These communities are at risk of vanishing unless urgent action is taken.

Bouncing Back from Climate Risks

While island communities are under threat, they are not powerless. Many of them have shown commitment to addressing climate-related risks in their national climate action plans. Their goal is to build climate resilience.

The term “resilience” is often mentioned in climate change discussions, but what does it really mean? It comes from the Latin verb resilire, meaning “to bounce back.” Resilience refers to the ability to recover from risks, which, in the context of climate change, is determined by the degree of vulnerability and exposure to climate-related threats.

For coastal communities and low-lying islands, rising sea levels pose a significant risk, so they must build resilience to endure and recover from climate-related hazards and disasters.

Turning to Blue Carbon Ecosystems for Solutions

Many SIDS set a good example in piloting measures to build resilience and adapt to the impacts of climate change. Similarly, the residents of Tubigon, many of whom are fisherfolks, have learned to adapt to the rising tides.

The local community has developed resilience strategies and initiatives to help them sustain their lives on the islands. One promising solution involves utilizing the sea and its resources, part of what is called the blue carbon ecosystem.

Blue carbon ecosystem is a collective term for natural marine resources such as mangroves, seagrasses, and marshes known for their ability to capture and store carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Research shows that these coastal resources can transfer and store carbon ten times more effective than tropical forests.

These ecosystems also support fishery production, protect shorelines and reduce flooding, and provide habitats for wildlife and migratory species. Studies indicate that conserving blue carbon ecosystems is a timely and cost-effective strategy to help coastal communities adapt to climate change.

Harnessing Coastal Resources for Climate Change Adaptation

Tubigon and the Bohol region have long implemented measures to protect their blue carbon ecosystems, helping residents adapt to climate-related risks. Their strategy is two-fold: eliminating destructive fishing practices and conserving coastal resources particularly mangroves.

The local community has designated bantay dagat (which translates literally to sea protectors) to patrol its marine area spanning 156 hectares of coral reefs and 335 hectares of mangroves. These protectors report illegal fishing activities and safeguard the mangrove forests.

Over time, many locals have transitioned from destructive fishing methods, such as dynamite and cyanide use, to more sustainable aquaculture and alternative livelihoods, including crab and squid jigging, grouper farming, and ecotourism.

Moreover, particular focus is given to mangrove conservation. The vast mangrove area in Tubigon is considered a valuable blue ecosystem resource playing an important role in sequestering carbon. Experts estimate that a 4-decade mangrove plantation can store over 370 tons of carbon per hectare.

Additionally, mangroves act as natural seawalls, reducing wave energy and shielding residents from rising sea levels and tidal flooding. By investing in the preservation of blue carbon ecosystems, coastal communities like Tubigon tap into an essential resource that supports their livelihoods and enhances their resilience to the effects of climate change.

Turning the Tide

The islands of Tubigon stay afloat amidst the intensifying battle against climate threats. Most recently, the Philippines joined an alliance to build the resilience of coastal communities. It was also selected as the host of a fund dedicated to supporting countries to respond to loss and damage, enabling them to recover and rebuild from the adverse effects of the climate crisis.

Allowing islands to sink and entire communities to disappear is unimaginable, especially when we have the resources and tools to address the planet’s most significant crisis. Time is running out, but there is still hope to turn the tide.

This article is originally published in Global Dev as part of its Climate Resilience series.

Anne Cortez is a communications and knowledge management consultant with over a decade of experience working with governments, academic institutions, and international organizations including the UN, ADB, and The Asia Foundation. She has spearheaded and managed development programs and capacity building initiatives promoting climate action, digital inclusion, and health equity across Asia and the Pacific. Previously, she led the knowledge and communications team at the UN think tank for global health based in Malaysia, and the social mobilization division at the Department of Education in the Philippines. Anne has a master’s degree in international studies and an undergraduate degree in communications. Learn more about her work here.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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By Jomo Kwame Sundaram
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Nov 6 2024 (IPS)

Despite earlier income convergence among nations, many low-income countries (LICs) and people are falling further behind. Worse, the number of poor and hungry has been increasing again after declining for decades.

Jomo Kwame Sundaram

After the post-Second World War ‘Golden Age’ ended over half a century ago, the world has seen unequal and uneven economic growth, industrialisation, and poverty reduction. Income divergence and convergence have involved inequalities within and among countries.

While some national-level income inequalities have fallen, North-South disparities have trended unevenly, partly due to the quantitative influence of China’s and India’s large economies.

Dividing billions
Paul Collier’s original ‘Bottom Billion’ included 58 developing countries. By 2021, they had 1.4 billion people. Failing to grow sustainably, poverty in these nations has persisted.

Despite rejecting the World Bank’s LICs and the UN’s least-developed countries, Collier and his World Bank colleagues’ revival of his Bottom Billion notion offers a valuable review of recent distributional trends.

Without supporting evidence, the authors insist most developing nations were similar at independence, with little significant difference between the Bottom Billion and the “growing” Five Billion.

Per capita incomes of most Bottom Billion countries have not risen much. Although much of the world has grown since the 1960s, many of the poorest nations have fallen further behind, albeit unevenly.

Slow economic growth and rapid population increase have reduced per capita incomes. Most Bottom Billion countries have barely grown since and are now much worse off than the ‘Lucky Billion’ of 38 rich member nations of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Poverty is increasingly concentrated in Sub-Saharan Africa. Also, overall poverty is worsening as African populations continue to grow faster as the poor have more children to improve family circumstances.

Average output per capita of OECD member countries rose by half, from under $30,000 in 1990 to almost $45,000 in 2021. Even the poorest OECD nations are at least upper-middle-income countries.

Despite some convergence, world inequality continued to grow unevenly after 2000. The average per capita income gap between developing countries and prosperous economies has not narrowed since the turn of the century.

In recent decades, sustained high-growth episodes have mainly been in East and South Asia. Average output per capita in such ‘emerging markets’ almost tripled from under $5,000 in 1990 to nearly $15,000 by 2021.

Convergence?
Angus Maddison found divergence among world regions over the last two millennia but agreed that recent Asian growth has made convergence more plausible.

Since the Industrial Revolution two centuries ago, extended periods of divergence have been interrupted by brief episodes of convergence. Between 1870 and 1990, the ratio of the highest to the lowest incomes increased tenfold.

The remaining ‘Five Billion’ are between the Bottom and Lucky Billions. Successful ‘developing market economies’ include large, populous, rapidly growing economies like India and China, as well as small petroleum-rich states.

The Lucky Billion were already well ahead in 1990 and have remained better off since. The incomes of some of the Five Billion have risen rapidly to converge with the Lucky Billion, but the Bottom Billion are not much better off.

Some studies claim these Five Billion grew fast enough for incomes to converge worldwide. Rejecting counterclaims of divergence, the authors insist on ‘unconditional convergence’, regardless of countries’ starting positions.

Other research claims unconditional worldwide convergence as poor nations catch up. Income convergence in the 1990s and 2004-14 suggests higher primary commodity prices financed growth during the latter ‘Golden Decade’, enabling brief LIC progress, including in Africa.

This last brief growth acceleration collapsed with most commodity prices a decade ago. The Bottom Billion’s average income growth rate briefly exceeded the OECD’s during 2004-14

But the episode is wrongly seen as proof of longer-term convergence. Few developing nations have narrowed the average gap in per capita incomes with rich countries. Trends can mislead if not interpreted in context.

For years, China’s average income was below the world’s mean. This previously supported claims of worldwide convergence but will change as China’s mean income overtakes the world average.

But overall convergence can coexist with some countries and people slipping further behind while the number in ‘extreme poverty’ rises. However, data limitations and methodological disagreements make consensus unlikely.

Falling further behind
World output (in constant US dollars) more than doubled from $36 trillion in 1990 to $87 trillion by 2021. While a few developing economies have made rapid progress and more have made modest advances, many have been left behind.

As growth has been higher in East Asia and India, World Bank estimates of the poor fell from 1990 until the pandemic, although the number in ‘extreme poverty’ increased.

Despite continuing growth until the 2008 global financial crisis and declining poverty before the pandemic, many developing countries’ per capita incomes continue to fall further behind.

Hunger numbers have risen in the last decade, while the number of poor has increased since the pandemic. Ongoing economic stagnation has been worse for the Bottom Billion, who have struggled to cope with higher interest rates and capital flight since 2022.

Meanwhile, hunger numbers have been rising for a decade, while the number of poor has increased since the pandemic. Worse, higher interest rates recently have worsened the ongoing economic stagnation.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Cart laden with firewood in Gonzoma, Zimbabwe. Woodpoaching for household fuel is having an impact on forests in Zimbabwe. Credit: Jeffrey Moyo/IPS

By Jeffrey Moyo
CHIMANIMANI, Zimbabwe, Nov 6 2024 (IPS)

Linet Makwera (28) has a baby strapped on her back as she totters barefoot, picking tiny pieces of wood on both sides of a dusty and narrow road, peering fearfully at people passing by along the road in Chimanimani’s Mutambara area in Gonzoma village located in Zimbabwe’s Manicaland Province, east of the country.

Her fears, Makwera says, are the patrolling plain clothes police officers, who often target people, cutting down the few available trees in search of firewood.

In the midst of firewood shortages countrywide, more than 300,000 trees were destroyed between 2000 and 2010, according to Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Environment and Climate Change.

In fact, in 2011, the Forestry Commission of Zimbabwe found out that the country was losing about 330,000 hectares of forests per year. According to Global Forest Watch in 2010, Zimbabwe had 1.01 Mha of natural forest, extending over 2.7 percent of its land area. In 2023, it lost 4.67 kha of natural forest, equivalent to 3.27 Mt of CO₂ emissions.

A slight drop from the previous one, currently, Zimbabwe’s annual deforestation rate is estimated to be at 262,348.98 hectares per annum, the Forestry Commission says.

According to UNDP in 2022, the use of local forests for fuel wood has also been one of the many drivers of deforestation in the country.

UNDP has been on record, saying presently, fuel wood accounts for over 60 percent of the total energy supply in the country and almost 98 percent of rural people rely on fuel wood for cooking and heating.

The Forestry Commission says up to 11 million tons of firewood are needed for domestic cooking, heating and tobacco curing every year in Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe is ranked top of the United Nations-ranked Least Developed Countries (LDCs) that have battled the highest rate of deforestation in the world, as many rural dwellers here depend on firewood for cooking.

Yet still, even as the felling of trees for firewood gets worse and worse in Zimbabwe, it is a crime for anybody to be found cutting trees for any purpose without the authorities’ blessing.

If caught on the wrong side of the law, a wood poacher can be fined USD 200 to 5,000

Like many villagers domiciled in her remote area, Makwera has to battle with firewood deficits as the forests disappear under massive deforestation.

But the laws prohibiting people from cutting down trees have also meant hard times for many, like Makwera.

Yet despite her struggles to find firewood often in order to cook food for her family, she (Makwera) has had to soldier on, just like many other villagers in her area.

With even the hills and mountains now running out of firewood in Makwera’s village, life has never been the same for the villagers, as they do not have electricity, which, even though it might have been there, would not have saved any purpose amid daily power cuts gripping the Southern African nation.

“Finding firewood is now a huge challenge. Yes, we buy. We have no choice. We suffer to find the firewood. In the hills and mountains where we used to find firewood, there is now nothing,” Makwera told IPS.

Named using vernacular Shona, a tsotso stove typically is a tin with holes pricked into it, with a few tiny sticks stashed inside the home-made stove to produce some fire heat needed for cooking.

Stung by the growing firewood deficits, Zimbabwean villagers are even resorting to buying firewood from woodpoachers moving around in scotch carts touting for customers.

Such are many, like 33-year-old Tigere Mhike, also a resident of Gonzoma village, who said he has been for a long time earning his living through selling firewood to the desperate villagers.

He does this illegally, and in order to escape the wrath of law enforcers, Mhike said he and his assistant often operate under the cover of darkness in their search for the wooden gold.

“Where we live here, there are now too many people who are crowded. Some pieces of land that had plenty of firewood are now occupied by more and more people. We now have to travel very long distances, waking up very early in the mornings sometimes at 2am to go and search for firewood so that we deliver to the villagers wanting the firewood. We sell one scotch-cart full of firewood at 25 (US) dollars,” Mhike told IPS.

Amid incessant droughts actuated by climate change that have also led to the gradual disappearance of Zimbabwe’s forests, with the use of tsotso stoves requiring fewer wood sticks to produce the cooking heat, villagers here have said they are gradually adapting to the crisis.

Even to environmental experts like Batanai Mutasa, part of the panacea to surmount firewood deficits has turned out to be the now popular tsotso stoves in the face of Zimbabwe’s laws forbidding the cutting down of trees.

Mutasa is also the spokesman for the Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA), a non-governmental organization comprising of legal minds fighting for this country’s environment.

As the trees disappear amid firewood poaching in Zimbabwe’s villages like Gonzoma in Manicaland Province, Mutasa has a piece of advice.

“My advice to people struggling to find firewood in remote areas is that they should work together to find other means that protect our trees from being damaged, things like using biogas or stoves that don’t require much firewood like tsotso stoves,” he (Mutasa) told IPS.

In worst case scenarios, said Mutasa, to preserve forests as they search for firewood, people should resort to just plucking off branches from the surviving trees to use these to make fire, leaving the trees alive.

Mutasa said: “Mainly, people should make it their habit to plant and replant trees. People can team up with authorities in their villages to fight off woodpoachers in their areas.”

Another Gonzoma villager, Mzilikazi Rusawo, in his early sixties, said faced with desperate times in their search for firewood as the few forests are jealously guarded by law enforcers, they now have to seek permission from authorities before they cut selected trees for firewood.

“The law does not allow us to just cut down trees for firewood anyhow. We actually seek permission from authorities before cutting trees for firewood, which we do with care—sparsely cutting down the trees in order to leave many other trees standing,” Rusawo told IPS.

For the Zimbabwean government, the options are, however, fast running out as rural dwellers battle with firewood shortages.

Some of the options can not be afforded by many residents in rural areas in a country where more than 90 percent are jobless, according to the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU).

“Firewood shortages are a huge challenge for all people living in rural areas, but it is not only firewood that can be used for cooking. People can also use biogas,” Joyce Chapungu, spokesperson for the Environmental Management Agency (EMA), told IPS.

With the retail price of biogas in Zimbabwe going for approximately two dollars per kilogram, not many rural residents can afford buying the cooking gas.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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This G20 ministerial meeting, held in Rio de Janeiro on February 28 this year, discussed the global energy transition, with biofuels as a central issue. Credit: Paulo Pinto / Agência Brasil

By Mario Osava
RIO DE JANEIRO, Nov 5 2024 (IPS)

Holding this year’s presidency of the Group of 20 (G20) large industrial and emerging economies is allowing Brazil to push forward the dream of creating a global biofuels market without the current trade barriers.

Brazil is trying, at least since the beginning of this century, to free up global trade in ethanol, but so far without success. The scenario is more favourable now, with the worsening of the climate crisis and other countries joining the production and consumption of bioenergy.

Presiding the G20 this year, Brazil is in charge of the issues and projects to be discussed, creating working groups and promoting agreements, which will crystallise at the group’s annual summit to be held on 18-19 November in Rio de Janeiro.“There is a conflict of interests, of split personality. If Brazil wants to lead in biofuels, it must rule out new oil exploration”: Pedro de Camargo Neto.

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s government has promoted social issues and included biofuels as a central aspect of the energy transition. Several of its proposals were approved in sectoral working groups or meetings of ministers, experts and civil society throughout 2024.

“The current context, driven by Brazil’s more active leadership in the G20 and regulatory progress on alternative fuels, offers a more optimistic outlook for the country’s success in expanding its biofuels market,” summarised Rafaela Guedes, senior fellow at the Brazilian Centre for International Relations (Cebri).

“The focus is no longer limited to ethanol,” she said in an interview with IPS in Rio de Janeiro. New products, such as sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and bio-bunker for maritime transport, open up multiple markets and reduce the risk of dominant suppliers.

These are joined by biodiesel and green diesel, both derived from animal and vegetable inputs but different in their production process and properties, the latter being chemically identical to fossil diesel.

Then there is ethanol, already produced on a large scale, and biomethane, equivalent to natural gas and the product of refining biogas extracted from animal manure, and agricultural, urban and industrial waste.

All these products gained new regulations and incentives in Brazil through the so-called Future Fuels Law, passed by the legislative National Congress in September and effective from 8 October 2024.

The new legislation should attract investment and reduce trade barriers by defining rules and standards in a country that leads biofuel production and presents itself as “a supplier and also a strategic partner for innovation and energy security”, said Guedes, an economist specialising in energy transition.

The biogas and biomethane plant of Cocal, a company that produces ethanol and sugar from sugarcane and biogas, biomethane and other derivatives from waste, in Narandiba, in the southern Brazilian state of São Paulo. Credit: Mario Osava / IPS

Fear of dependence

Ethanol thrived as a free trade fuel partly out of fear of being held hostage by a few producers. Brazil and the US account for around 80% of its global production, with 35.4 billion litres and 58 billion litres respectively in 2023.

Brazil tried to encourage production in countries with high production or potential for increased sugar cane planting, such as India, Cuba and Mexico, in order to lower barriers to international ethanol trade.

In addition to the fear of dependency, environmental and food security concerns remain another stumbling block. It is argued, especially in Europe, that bioenergy takes land away from food production.

That was the claim of Cuba, which until the 1980s was the world’s largest exporter of sugar, but whose sugar cane production subsequently fell to the point where it is now practically limited to supplying the domestic market of 10 million inhabitants, who are suffering from a severe energy crisis.

But now India, previously reluctant, has joined ethanol production, as have other countries, since its consumption, blended with gasoline, has spread to more than 70 countries. Investment in biofuels has increased in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

“This diversification of producers reduces the possibility of monopolies” and thus the fears of dependency, according to Guedes, who says growth in the production capacity of emerging countries and the consequent expansion of global supply are favourable factors for a freer global market for biofuels.

“India has invested heavily in biofuels in its energy security and emissions reduction strategy. Its policies of using agricultural waste to produce ethanol and biodiesel contribute to increasing its productive capacity, as a potential exporter in the medium term,” she cited as an example.

Other Asian and Latin American countries are using their abundant biomass and organic waste resources to produce bioenergy, biomethane and green diesel, in what represents another model.

Rafaela Guedes, an economist specialized in energy transition, believes conditions are favourable for the creation of an international biofuels market, as Brazil desires. Credit: Cebri

Inputs are waste, not food

Restrictions based on food security were also relaxed because biofuels are largely made from waste, whether agricultural, urban or industrial.

Second-generation (2G) ethanol, made from waste such as bagasse, is another solution. The United States and Brazil have plants producing it, which are set for rapid expansion.

In Brazil, Raizen, a large sugar and bioenergy producer with the participation of the British oil consortium Shell, has been operating its first 2G ethanol plants since 2015 and estimates that this technology can produce 50% more ethanol than a similar area planted with sugarcane.

Guedes also adds that the International Energy Agency has defined sustainable agricultural practices, such as crop-livestock-forest integration, which is expanding in Brazil, traceability in production chains and criteria for defining sustainable energy, which strengthen confidence in biofuels that benefit the climate.

These are policies that promote so-called low-carbon agriculture, preserve soil quality and ensure that Brazil’s agricultural frontiers can expand sustainably and without affecting food security, she said.

Ambiguity

But Brazil’s decision to promote biofuels, even internationally, causes bewilderment according to Pedro de Camargo Neto, a cattle rancher who leads a movement of agribusiness, that of large farmers, that seeks to reconcile his sector with environmentalism, after decades of stubborn antagonism.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (center) visited Raizen’s bioenergy park in Guariba, a sugarcane-producing municipality located 340 kilometers from São Paulo in southern Brazil, in May. Credit: Ricardo Stuckert / PR

“There is a conflict of interests, of split personality. If Brazil wants to lead in biofuels, it must rule out new oil exploration,” he told IPS by telephone from Bandeirantes, a municipality in the central-western state of Mato Grosso do Sul, where he has a farm.

He criticizes the intention of Petrobras, the national oil company, to drill near the mouth of the Amazon River in search of oil deposits.

Large oil deposits are believed to exist in the Equatorial Margin in northern Brazil, an extension of the sea basin that already produces oil in Guyana and Suriname.

New and abundant stocks would make oil and gas cheaper, to the detriment of biofuels, argued Camargo, who has previously chaired the Brazilian Rural Society, a key farmers’ group, and held top positions in the agriculture ministry.

“Brazil does not know what it wants,” he said.

This is because it promotes a free and global market for biofuels, for economic and environmental reasons, and at the same time wants to become an oil producer, to the detriment of the climate and its own strategy.

The country currently ranks eighth in the world in oil production, with 4.3 million barrels (each holding 159 litres) per day on average in 2023.

The country should advocate international measures to make fossil fuels more expensive. This would enable a biofuels boom everywhere, with increased investment in a market in which Brazil is already a leader. Europe has already taken steps in this direction, Camargo said.

Oil exploration near the mouth of the Amazon is blocked by demands from the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources, which considered Petrobras’ evaluations and guarantees insufficient.

An authorisation or denial of exploratory drilling will be ‘technical’, based on local environmental impacts, according to Environment Minister Marina Silva.

This is a mistake, according to Camargo, who calls for a broader assessment, not because of the local consequences, but due to the global climatic effects, i.e. greenhouse gas emissions, and because of the economic strategy of prioritising biofuels, which also favours the country’s foreign policy.

Danny Danon, Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations, addresses the Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East. Credit: UN Photo/ Evan Schneider.

By Naureen Hossain
UNITED NATIONS, Nov 5 2024 (IPS)

The decision of Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, to adopt two laws that would severely limit or outright ban UNRWA has the potential to set a dangerous precedent, where countries can simply implement their own justification to ban the activity of the United Nations, even if it violates their obligations under international humanitarian law. Even with the rest of the world condemning this course of action, for Israel, this has been a long time coming and they are unlikely to back down.

Before the laws were adopted on October 28, fifty-two global humanitarian organizations, such as Human Rights Watch, Oxfam and ActionAid, released a joint statement calling on world leaders to protect UNRWA and to “use all diplomatic means” to prevent the legislation from going through. The organizations also condemned Israel’s course of action during the current war waged in Gaza since October 2023.

“These actions are part of the wider strategy of the government of Israel to delegitimise UNRWA, discredit its support for Palestine refugees, and undermine the international legal framework protecting their rights, including the right of return,” the statement reads.

What seems certain is that more than 2 million people in Gaza will face greater hardships than they do now if UNRWA is no longer able to provide aid and public services. While the Knesset’s new legislation only applies to UNRWA in Israel and the occupied territories, this raises the possibility of a wider impact on the Palestinian community.

UNRWA Commissioner-General Phillipe Lazzarini said in a statement issued on X (formerly Twitter) that these bills would only increase the suffering of Palestinians and that they are “nothing less than collective punishment.”

Michael Omer-Man, Director of Research for Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), says that it is “difficult to fathom the scope of the downstream consequences of Palestinian refugees everywhere.”

Speaking to IPS, Omer-Man warned that the new Knesset laws would likely be the first of many in the future that will come to shape the legislative framework of Israel-Palestine relations. Israel’s campaign against UNRWA has been in the making for decades now, as it has claimed repeatedly that UNRWA is a terrorist organization and too deeply under the influence of Hamas.  The current war in Gaza has been justified to the Israeli public as a method to starve out the Palestinian refugees in the region. Israel accused that at least a dozen UNRWA staff members were involved in the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7, 2023.

As an entity of the United Nations with a mandate from the General Assembly established in 1949, UNRWA has largely been funded by other member states, though it has been seeing a funding shortfall over the last decade. This is in spite of the agreement between Israel and UNRWA established in 1967, where Israel had committed to facilitating UNRWA’s work. Without the organization’s presence to meet the needs of the population in Gaza, it should fall on Israel, as the occupying power, to take that responsibility.

As was pointed out by Chris Sidoti, a commissioner of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, there is some irony in this ban on UNRWA, for the organization has saved Israel billions of dollars in taxpayer money that would have gone towards providing aid and essential services to the Palestinian community.

In reality, it is unlikely that Israel would assume that responsibility now. However, supposing that Israel were to cooperate and take a more direct hand in providing aid and services to Gaza and the West Bank, it would not be a popular move among its civilians. Omer-Man said that among some members of the government, there is a fear of severe backlash from its citizens, given that they have been fed this justification for the war, given the claims that Gaza would be forced to starve and thirst away. A reversal of that stance could be seen as betrayal. Any economic pressure put on Israel to abide by international law may not reverse the tide of war or sway public opinion.

This was only reinforced when Israel sent a letter addressed to the President of the General Assembly over the weekend, announcing its intention to withdraw from its 1967 agreement with UNRWA effectively immediately. UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told reporters on Monday that as of now UNRWA is continuing to operate.

In the wake of the new legislation coming to pass, several countries have condemned this action, with a coalition of 52 countries and two organizations, which included Türkiye, China, Russia, Brazil and Saudi Arabia, issuing an appeal to the Security Council to enact an arms embargo on Israel.

The UN Ambassador in New York, Danny Danon, has said that Israel would “continue to facilitate humanitarian aid in Gaza according to international law.” He added that other UN organizations, such as the World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Health Organization (WHO) would be able to take over in providing aid in the way that UNRWA has. Israel’s letter to the General Assembly also reiterates this claim, noting in it that they would continue to “ensure the facilitation of humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza in a way that does not undermine Israel’s security”.

This has been refuted by the UN and its agencies, who have stated on multiple occasions that there is no alternative to UNRWA. They and other humanitarian organizations have argued that few other groups have the knowledge to navigate the Palestinian territories like UNRWA. They warn that a ban on UNRWA would create further obstacles to addressing what is already a severe humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Despite assurances from Israeli officials, this raises the question of whether this should mean that other UN agencies and humanitarian groups will not be targeted or discredited, much in the same way that UNRWA has been since the start of the war last October.

Since the start of the war, nearly 200 UNRWA facilities have been damaged or destroyed entirely by repeated, targeted attacks and crossfire by the IDF. 237 UNRWA staff members have been killed. Separate from that, there have also been cases of aid convoys or vehicles bearing the sigil of groups such as WFP that have been shot at by Israel’s armed forces, forcing the targeted groups to temporarily suspend their activities out of safety concerns.

“What I would take from this… is that they’re looking for a piecemeal solution to keep people alive to ensure that they seem like they are doing just enough to abide by international humanitarian law,” said Omer-Man.

The laws that would ban UNRWA are set to come into effect in January 2025. The Israeli Foreign Ministry has stated that “UNRWA is part of the problem in Gaza—not part of the solution,” and that “claims that there is no alternative to UNRWA are unfounded.”

“Despite the substantial evidence we provided to the UN demonstrating Hamas’s influence over UNRWA, no measures were taken to acknowledge or alter the situation. As I have repeatedly emphasized, UNRWA is under Hamas’s control in Gaza. Israel will continue its cooperation with humanitarian organizations but not with those that serve terrorism against Israel,” Danon remarked.

Suffice to say, Israel’s actions go against its obligations under international law. To say nothing of Israel’s actions in the current war, as the IDF’s campaign in northern Gaza has devastated the area and left the humanitarian response on the ground scrambling. It also challenges the Palestinian question that has been in debate for decades and the two-state solution that the international community wants to work towards.

Israel’s actions in recent weeks only show, as Omer-Man warned, that rather than answer the question, they want instead to erase the question, to dismantle it.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Members of the Masehual Siumaje Mosenyolchicauani women's cooperative, who teach weaving and other crafts of the Nahua people, in Cuetzalan del Progreso, central Mexico. Credit: Courtesy of Taselotzin

By Emilio Godoy
MEXICO CITY, Nov 5 2024 (IPS)

What began as a search for fair prices for indigenous handicrafts in 1985 has evolved into a women’s organisation in Mexico that promotes climate justice while advocating for land and environmental rights.

“We set ourselves the very broad goal of achieving access for women to a more dignified life, and we did that through various activities,” Rufina Villa, an indigenous Nahua woman, told IPS.

“We thought we were only going to make handicrafts, but with the meetings we saw that it was important to do other things,” said the founder of the Masehual Siuamej Mosenyolchicauani (indigenous women who support each other, in the Náhualt language) cooperative.“We are constantly training to improve our services. We started learning about the problems of pollution in our environment, to see places with deforestation, damage caused by mass tourism”: Rufina Villa.

These initiatives include women’s literacy, human rights training, product quality improvement, economic autonomy and environmental protection in Cuetzalan del Progreso, in the central state of Puebla, some 297 kilometres south of Mexico City.

Nestled among mountains in the region known as the Sierra Norte, Cuetzalan is a rural municipality, called a ‘magical town’ because of its location, with cloud forests, waterfalls and caves, among other scenic beauties, and a majority indigenous population.

Founded by 25 women, in its first stage the cooperative focused on protecting the environment by separating waste, making compost for their crops and farming with agro-ecological practices. It has also always protected the springs that supply water to Cuetzalan and encouraged energy transition to less polluting alternatives.

“We were pioneers in supporting community tourism to protect the territory. We are constantly training to improve our services. We began to learn about the problems of pollution in our environment, to see places with deforestation, damage caused by mass tourism,” continued the 69-year-old activist and mother of four daughters and four sons.

Although the cooperative does not explicitly link its activities to the search for climate justice, they aim to solve, at least in their community, the environmental and climate problems that others have created.

Cuetzalan del Progreso, in the central state of Puebla. Credit: Secretary of Tourism

Climate justice revolves around economic equity, security and gender equality and seeks solutions to the inequalities created by the causes and consequences of the climate crisis among individuals and groups of people.

After building a hotel in 1997, whose caretaker is Villa’s husband, the organisation invested some USD 20,000 in 2022 in the installation of solar panels, an amount already recouped, in a push for energy transition in an area where hydroelectric and fossil plants supply most of the electricity.

To cut gas and electricity costs, they also installed solar water heaters the following year.

The Taselotzin (Nahuatl for ‘offshoot’) Hotel, set in a nurturing environment, offers private rooms, cabins and dormitories, as well as ecotourism services, highlighting the value of the forest and water sources. On the premises, members of the cooperative also teach how to make and appreciate Nahua weavings and other handicrafts.

It belongs to the Huitziki Tijit (Náhualth for ‘hummingbird’s path’) Tourism Network, which operates in five Puebla municipalities with a majority Nahua population and great ecological value, among them Cuetzelan.

In 1997, a cooperative of Nahua women founded the Taselotzin ecotourism hotel, in the indigenous municipality of Cuetzalan del Progreso, in the state of Puebla. Credit: Courtesy of Taselotzin

 

Growing risks

Like other regions of Mexico, a country vulnerable to the effects of the climate crisis, Cuetzalan, with some 50,000 people in 2020, is suffering from climate impacts.

Between March and June this year, the municipality experienced severe, extreme and exceptional droughts, which had not happened so far this century, according to the governmental National Meteorological System’s Drought Monitor.

In addition, it lost 1,000 hectares of tree cover from 2001 to 2023, equivalent to a 12 percent decrease since 2000, according to data from the international platform Global Forest Watch. In 2023, it lost 86 hectares, the highest figure since 2019 (108).

“The land is bountiful. We have been through a lot and we are still standing,” said Doña Rufi, as she is affectionately known in the area, which cultivates milpa, an ancestral system that combines the planting of corn, beans, squash and chili peppers, as well as coffee, bananas and medicinal plants.

This century, the communities of Cuetzalan have faced threats to water, such as mass tourism, mining and hydroelectric initiatives, as well as electricity and oil projects of the state-owned Petróleos Mexicanos and Federal Electricity Commission.

A woman weaves on a loom in the indigenous municipality of Cuetzalan del Progreso, central Mexico. Credit: Government of Puebla

The Cuetzalan Ecological Territorial Planning Program, created in 2010, regulates land use in the municipality.

Most of Cuetzalan’s water supply relies on springs. More than 80 community water committees operate and are responsible for water transfer infrastructure and maintenance, but the drought is affecting these sources.

“The drought has been hard, although now it is raining. We protect the springs and that is why we have opposed projects of death”, as the Nahua villagers call works that destroy the environment, said Villa.

The cooperative is made up of 100 Nahua women from six of the municipality’s communities. It is one of some 100 women’s cooperatives, out of a total of 8,000 operating in the country.

Two farmers check the flow of water coming from the springs, the main source of supply for the indigenous municipality of Cuetzalan del Progreso in the Mexican state of Puebla. Credit: Cupreder

Absent

Mexico’s public policies lack a climate justice perspective, which is reflected in the territory.

The latest update of Mexico’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), the set of voluntary climate policies that each country adopts as part of the Paris Agreement, mentions climate justice only once and does not link any of the measures to it.

The same is true of Puebla’s 2021-2030 State Climate Change Strategy.

Hilda Salazar, founder of the non-governmental organisation Mujer y Ambiente, believes the ‘powerful’ concept of climate justice has permeated little in Mexico’s municipalities and communities.

“There has been no vision of climate justice. In recent years, because of the severe impacts, they have begun to introduce the concept, but without much clarity about what we are talking about,” she told IPS in an interview in Mexico City.

“The state and municipal governments have a great lack of knowledge. When it comes to implementation, it is seen as an environmental issue, not as development, and it is divorced from the climate agenda”, she adds.

A banner rejecting megaprojects in the indigenous municipality of Cuetzalan del Progreso, in the central Mexican state of Puebla. Credit: Cupreder

In Mexico, the courts have received at least 23 lawsuits related to climate issues, a far cry from Brazil’s 89 cases. Few have been successful and fewer still were linked to climate justice.

In this scenario, processes such as those of the Cuetzalan cooperative could motivate more local communities to undertake their own.

Villa appreciated several lessons learned from the cooperative’s longstanding work.

“We know how to organize, which one person cannot achieve alone—to continue establishing networks, to know what is happening in other regions, it is important to take care of our environment and our culture, defend our collective rights, our autonomy as women, as people, as indigenous people,” she stressed.

And she believes it is important to pass this on to younger women. “Women used to work at home, but now they go out to sell their products, such as coffee, cinnamon, honey, or work in tourism,” she said.

According to Salazar, who is also a member of the non-governmental Gender and Environment Network, there is a lack of legislation, programmes and land policies. 

“It is a structural problem. It does not reach the dimension it should have because of the impacts, and policies divorce economic, technological, social and cultural aspects. There are disadvantages (for women) from access to information to participation and implementation,” she said.

In her opinion, the gender approach has the virtue, in environmental and climate issues, of putting asymmetries and inequalities at the centre. “It strikes at the heart,” she said.

IPS UN Bureau Report

This feature piece is published with the support of Open Society Foundations.

 

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Excerpt:

What started as a broad attempt to allow women to live a more dignified life, an indigenous women’s organization, Masehual Siuamej Mosenyolchicauani, now aims to solve environmental and climate problems that others have created.

Small-scale fishers play a fundamental role in feeding people—they use sustainable methods of catching and processing fish products and are a significant force in the employment and livelihoods of millions of people internationally—yet, until now, they have been excluded from climate and biodiversity conferences. For the first time at COP 16, which closed in Cali, […]

A Bangladeshi mother feeding her children nutrient-rich small fish, mola and leafy vegetables. Credit: Finn Thilsted / WorldFish

By Shakuntala Thilsted and Cargele Masso
CALI, Colombia, Nov 5 2024 (IPS)

It’s often said that we are what we eat. However, our diets are also a reflection on the health of our food systems, the environment and agricultural biodiversity.

In the same way that our bodies need a range of nutrients for optimum health, the environment also benefits from systems that produce a variety of foods, each of which makes different demands of, and contributions to, natural ecosystems.

Unfortunately, global diets are failing to strike a healthy balance of foods from both land and water systems. While more than 3,700 aquatic species offer a wide range of nutritional benefits, consumption is limited to a handful of fish, seafood and other aquatic species. Similarly, only six crops make up more than 75 per cent of total plant-derived energy intake.

Relying on the same few foods, whether crops, livestock or fish, not only limits the nutritional value provided, but it also erodes natural resources, from soil health to water quality. This hampers efforts to address global malnutrition and mounting pressure on the environment and farming systems.

After delegates gathered at the UN COP16 biodiversity talks to agree the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, this is a critical time to champion diverse diets for improved health and nutrition, agricultural biodiversity and data-informed decision-making within food systems.

From a human development perspective, diverse diets are essential to ensure that people get enough nutrients to meet their dietary needs. This means making full use of a wide variety of plant-based and animal-source foods from both land and water.

Inadequate diets are a leading driver of preventable deaths, contributing to 11 million deaths in 2017. At the same time, dietary diversity has been linked with a reduced risk of mortality as well as diet-related illnesses, including diabetes and heart disease.

Many under-utilised foods, including aquatic foods and especially indigenous small fish species, seaweeds and bivalves such as clams, scallops and mussels, can provide a rich variety of readily available nutrients, while improving health outcomes.

For example, in Bangladesh, micronutrient deficiencies such as anaemia pose significant public health challenges. To tackle this issue, researchers established community-based production of small fish chutney to supplement the diets of pregnant and breastfeeding women. The results showed that adding small fish chutney to meals reduced anaemia among these women by a third.

Integrating greater diversity across diets, including overlooked yet nutritious aquatic foods, is essential for improving global nutrition and health.

At the same time, diverse diets can also support the preservation of agricultural biodiversity and maintain healthy ecosystems by creating demand for a broad range of food types.

As a result of repeatedly growing genetically uniform crops, the world has lost 75 per cent of plant genetic diversity in the past century. This not only affects food system resilience but also increases crop vulnerability to pests, diseases, and climate-induced disasters.

Global reliance on rice, wheat and maize for energy intake means the world’s supply of food is significantly limited when these crops are adversely impacted by climate change such as drought or flooding. These cereal crops also place the same repeated demands on natural resources, which can impact soil and water quality and biodiversity. This ultimately results in supply vulnerability and compromises global food and nutrition security.

Instead, cultivating a range of foods that include indigenous crops, such as sorghum, millet and yams, and using principles of agroecology can better support food security goals. Initiatives such as the Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils (VACS), supported by CGIAR, are harnessing the potential of indigenous and locally adapted crops to support agricultural biodiversity. For example, legumes can turn nitrogen in soils into ammonia and other compounds, which benefit non-legume crops grown alongside them.

Science and evidence can help governments, policymakers and other stakeholders in food systems to identify gaps in agricultural biodiversity to promote diverse diets and food production, and support biodiversity strategies.

For example, tools such as the Periodic Table of Food and Agrobiodiversity Index can help map food quality and improve existing knowledge on agricultural biodiversity by collecting relevant data to quantify the sustainability of global food systems.

These tools can inform national priorities for guaranteeing healthy, diverse foods from healthy, diverse environments. They can also facilitate the tracking of global commitments to protecting biodiversity, supporting the implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework.

Meanwhile, the conservation of crop and animal genetic material in gene banks or biobanks is essential for safeguarding beneficial traits for future varieties better adapted to provide necessary nutrition and climate resilience.

Prioritising diverse diets can reap positive benefits for people and biodiversity, reducing reliance on foods that strain the environment and deliver limited nutritional value.

But this requires not only renewed commitments, but also effective actions, investment and targets for preserving genetic resources of all kinds of species needed for healthy, diverse diets.

Now that the UN biodiversity talks have concluded, we call on parties to commit to integrating nutrition-sensitive approaches in the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework to support global biodiversity, food and nutrition security and health.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Impacts of prolonged flooding and heavy torrential rains in a community along the Lake Chad Basin region. Credit: Seyba Keïta/UNICEF

By Oritro Karim
UNITED NATIONS, Nov 5 2024 (IPS)

Chad is currently in the midst of a dire humanitarian crisis due to persisting armed conflict, mass displacement, widespread hunger, natural disasters, and an overall lack of essential services. Due to security challenges from the Boko Haram militant group, millions of Chadians have faced decreased mobility as well as human rights violations including imprisonment, beatings, kidnappings, and killings.

According to estimates from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), approximately 32 percent of Chad’s population is dependent on humanitarian assistance for survival. Development in Chad has seen considerable setbacks due to armed violence and national disasters, with Chad ranking as one of the poorest countries in the world, according to the annual United Nations Human Development Report.

It is estimated that life expectancy in Chad is only 53 years. Only 22 percent of Chad’s population is literate, six percent have access to electricity, and eight percent have access to basic sanitation. Furthermore, around 75 percent of all births in Chad take place without the presence of healthcare personnel.

Boko Haram’s occupancy in Central Africa dates back to 2009, when the group launched an insurgency in Nigeria, leading to the deaths of over 300,000 as well as 2.3 million displacements. It then spread to neighbouring nations along the Lake Chad Basin. In June, the International Office for Migration (IOM) reported over 220,000 displacements due to attacks from armed groups along the Lake Chad Basin.

On October 27, Boko Haram targeted a military garrison near Lake Chad, resulting in the deaths of 40 Chadian security personnel. This surprise attack not only heightened the pervasive fear among civilians, but also raised concerns among humanitarian organizations and Chadian officials that conditions will continue to deteriorate due to the increasing brutality of the armed attacks.

The government of Chad has called upon the international community for aid in an effort to stabilize violence concentrated in the Lake Chad region. The Lake Chad basin is bordered by Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria, nations with which Chad forms the Multinational Joint Task Force, a coalition that is committed to eradicating armed groups in the region.

“Determined collective action is essential to eradicate this scourge which threatens the stability and the development of the entire region,” said Abderaman Koulamallah, spokesperson for the Chadian government.

On November 3, Chad’s President Mahamat Idriss Deby issued a statement announcing Chad’s possible withdrawal from the Multinational Joint Task Force, citing a lack of coordination in joint efforts against terrorist organizations. Deby expressed frustration at the coalition’s limited communications and streamlined operations.

Heavy flooding and torrential rain has caused considerable damage to critical infrastructures in Chad over the course of 2024, exacerbating the humanitarian crisis. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) confirmed in October that all 23 provinces of Chad have experienced prolonged rainfall, affecting over 1.9 million civilians.

Figures from ACAPS, a non-profit organization that analyzes international humanitarian crises, show that by October 18, there had been over 576 flood-related civilian casualties. Additionally, over 218,000 homes were destroyed and 342,000 were severely damaged.

Over 1.9 million hectares of land designated for agriculture have been flooded, killing over 72,000 heads of livestock. This has devastated Chad’s economy and significantly aggravated the hunger crisis it is facing. According to the World Food Programme (WFP), over 3.4 million Chadians face acute food insecurity, a notable increase of 240 percent from 2020.

Chad also has one of the fastest growing refugee populations in Africa, currently hosting over 1.2 million refugees, many of whom are Sudanese migrants who fled from the increasingly volatile conditions of the Sudanese Civil War. Due to the vast majority of resources and funding being allocated to alleviate the refugee crisis, internally displaced communities in Chad are facing a lack of humanitarian assistance.

The United Nations and its partners are currently on the frontlines of this crisis providing medical support, educational services, food, and clean drinking water. OCHA and its affiliates report that they have allocated over 148 million dollars to mitigate the humanitarian crises plaguing Chad and its neighbouring nations, focusing on “tackling hunger and malnutrition, averting famine, preventing disease outbreaks, and addressing climate-related shocks.”

Additionally, the 2024 Humanitarian Response Plan for the Lake Chad Basin region seeks to assist over 22 million people, requiring approximately 4.7 million dollars in funding. The UN continues to urge further donor contributions as conditions in the region deteriorate.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Credit: African Union
 
The African Union is committed to electing a visionary leader capable of transformative change including dramatically reducing extreme poverty and ending Africa's own "forever" wars.

By Olara A Otunnu and Salim Lone
KAMPALA, Uganda / NEW JERSEY, USA, Nov 5 2024 (IPS)

Africa has had a terrible record dealing with extreme poverty. The late Adebayo Adedeji, the legendary head of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), campaigned vigorously but unsuccessfully in the 1980s against the IMF and World Bank-imposed structural adjustment programmes, contending that these contributed to poverty’s increase.

The continent’s economic growth plummeted rapidly in that decade by an average of 2.5 per cent annually, hitting the already poor the hardest. Hard as it is to believe, things have gotten much worse since then for the poor.

In 1990, Sub-Saharan Africa accounted for 15 percent of the world’s extremely poor. By 2022 that figure had soared to 60 percent, while every other world region reduced poverty levels. The magnitude of the dramatic downward spiral has been felt by the extremely poor, with about 450 million scrambling every day to try to provide life’s basics for their families, not always successfully.

This extraordinary emergency mainly went unnoticed by the richer countries. The Carnegie Africa programme noted in its Fall Bulletin published last month that one of the notable global financial trends of 2024 seems to be a reduction by several of the richest in bilateral Official Development Assistance (ODA).

The African Union (AU) is determined to change this sorry tale by appointing as the next Chairperson of the Africa Union Commission a visionary leader capable of setting in motion the “transformative change” promised in the Commission’s historic “Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want.”

That Agenda has the unprecedented goal of achieving a “dignified standard of living” for all the continent’s people by its centenary year, or of course earlier. That goal would require, among other things, prioritizing the drastic reduction of the continent’s gaping inequality, which of course goes against the world’s prevailing market and ideological trends.

A simultaneous but more immediate goal is the Agenda’s flagship project, “Silencing The Guns in Africa,” which pledges to bring an end to the continent’s own forever wars and conflicts that have taken a toll of millions and continue to rage with no prospect of end in sight.

Somalia is the poster child of this crisis: there seems to be no effort under way to bring about peace, except the continuing use of force that has utterly failed to end the killing.

Africa’s heads of states have been emboldened in their commitment to a transformative campaign by some astonishing turn of economic and political events. Last year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecast that in 2024, the world’s seven fastest growing economies, and 12 of the top 15, would be African.

This is a result of many factors, but primarily because the continent’s vast natural and mineral resources have emerged as an indispensable engine of growth for the increasingly hi-tech orientation of industrialized economies.

The magazine Foreign Affairs captured these developments in a succinct headline: “The Global Economy’s Future Depends on Africa: As Others Slow, a Youthful Continent Can Drive Growth.” But on its own, such remarkable progress will not automatically make a major dent in extreme poverty.

Some of this new attention was in prominent evidence at the United Nations General Assembly’s high level “presidential” session which concluded in October. The United States announced it would push for two new permanent non-veto-wielding seats for Africa. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres emphasized that Africa should have veto power as well.

Africa’s youngest and newest leader, the dynamic prisoner turned president Diomaye Faye of Senegal, who is enjoying intense international attention, asserted that a New World Order is essential for global stability, and the UN Security Council needed to give Africa veto power, reflecting the radically changed global demographics.

Africa is also being paid high level political attention in other forums. A year ago, the Group of 20 (G20), the premier grouping of the Global South and industrialized countries, made the African Union a permanent regional member at its New Delhi Summit.

These are exceptional achievements for the AU Commission and have given Africa a seat at the table for the highest-level discussions where fateful decisions vital to Africa’s, and the world’s, future are made. The breakthroughs have also begun re-shaping the continent’s despairing image internally and internationally.

None of this, however, should in any way diminish the magnitude of the challenge ahead. Only a miniscule number of economically impoverished countries in our lifetime has managed to achieve exceptional growth as well as massive reductions in poverty and inequality. To strive for such an outcome for an entire continent, with 55 countries and 1.5 billion people at radically different levels of economic and social development, will be a daunting task.

That task will take on new life with the February 25 election at the AU summit of a new Commission chairperson. With this new transformative mandate, the Chairperson will become, or will need to become, a pivotal African and continental figure, the global face of the African Union and of the African people.

A loose comparison would be the UN Secretary General, who is the face of the United Nations as well as of all humanity. In that regard, with his well-known African and global profile, Mr Odinga will hit the ground running.

We two have worked at senior levels internationally, including at the United Nations under Secretary General Kofi Annan, on many of the goals that are also at the heart of Agenda 2063. We have also had the honour to work closely with Raila, as he is known universally by presidents and peasants and workers alike.

We have seen how effortlessly he moves from the highest levels of African and international leaderships, to spending time with street traders, women farmers and passionate young entrepreneurs and protesters.

This particular skill is one of his strongest suits for the Commission Chairmanship. In our view, one of the AU’s principal weaknesses is that it is not very well known in the grassroots and heartlands of the continent. That must change. The African Union should be seen as a beacon of hope and protection for the tens of millions caught up in strife, oppression or dislocation but feel forgotten by the rest of the continent.

Sometimes they think the outside world cares more. Raila Odinga is the kind of person who will travel to ravaged areas to talk to the afflicted and do whatever possible to try to ease and understand their pain and launch efforts for their immediate relief.

In addition, we believe Mr Odinga is uniquely qualified to serve as the new AU Commission Chair, given his long history as an instinctively transformative figure with the political and practical skills to translate visionary goals into successful policy.

Prime Minister of Kenya for five years as well as the enduring leader of the opposition for two decades till this year, Mr Odinga was also twice a Senior Envoy for the African Union on critical assignments.

One of these was his five years as AU High Representative for Infrastructure Development, an area he presciently promoted from the 1990s onwards as the crucible of economic growth and industrialization of African countries.

Raila Odinga has presented Africa’s leaders his ambitious, carefully thought-through agenda for this moment of historic transformation and transition. To achieve this agenda, it will require a leader who can mobilize and work seamlessly with the African leaders. It will require great political stature and moral authority to mobilize the global community and to form important strategic partnerships globally and within Africa.

Cometh the hour, cometh the man. Mr. Odinga is the man for this season—a man forged in the national and continental political cauldron for a time such as this. Africa would be very fortunate to have him at the helm of the African Union Commission at such a historic and an exciting moment.

Olara A. Otunnu has served as President of the UN Security Council, Chairman of the UN Commission on Human Rights, and UN Under-Secretary General and Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict.

Salim Lone, a widely published writer, was Spokesman for Mr Raila Odinga, Prime Minister of Kenya and opposition leader, 2005-2013, and a Director of Communications and Spokesman at the United Nations, 1997-2003.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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By External Source
Nov 4 2024 (IPS-Partners)

 
Matthias Schmale is the Assistant Secretary-General, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine. Schmale brings more than 30 years of experience in humanitarian and development work. He previously served as Senior Adviser to the UN Development Coordination Office’s regional team for Africa, as Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator (a.i) in Nigeria, and in several high-level positions with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNWRA), including Director for UNRWA Affairs in Lebanon, Gaza and New York, acting Chief of Staff and acting Deputy Commissioner General.

Before joining the United Nations, he held senior positions in the International Red Cross and Red Crescent movement, and non-government organizations at global, regional and country level, including in Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. He holds a PhD in development economics and a master’s degree in macroeconomics from Berlin’s Free University.

ECW: As the war in Ukraine stretches into its third year, the education of 4 million children has been disrupted, with 600,000 children unable to access in-person learning due to ongoing fighting and displacement. How can world leaders support access to quality education for children in Ukraine impacted by this war, as well as for Ukraine refugee children in neighboring states?

Matthias Schmale: The obvious answer to this question is that world leaders must work to the best of their abilities and in full respect of the UN Charter and the territorial integrity of Ukraine to help end the devastating full-scale invasion by the armed forces of the Russian Federation. Quality education requires a peaceful and stable environment and for refugee children to have the choice to return home with their parents. World leaders and we all should also not forget the many children struggling to have access to quality education under conditions of illegal occupation and annexation including in Crimea.

Since we unfortunately cannot predict when the war on Ukraine will end, world leaders are asked to ensure that the humanitarian and recovery aid provided by their respective governments is maintained to meet the enormous needs of children in Ukraine and that this support explicitly includes dedicated resources for what is often referred to as education in emergencies. International solidarity has to include funding work to create safe spaces in educational facilities and supporting the government and authorities at all levels in maintaining and strengthening education systems and capacities under very challenging conditions.

ECW: You are an economist by training. How can investments in education through multilateral funds such as Education Cannot Wait help us deliver on the promises made in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and why are such investments crucial for crisis-affected children in Ukraine?

Matthias Schmale: As an economist I would say that not all return on investments can be measured in the form of financial profit. Society at large profits when investments into education maintain the hopes of the young for a more dignified and profitable future!

Every child has a basic right to education and learning, and Education Cannot Wait investments help to realize this right for crisis affected children in Ukraine and elsewhere. Due to Covid followed by the impact of the full-scale invasion, hundreds of thousands of school children in Ukraine have not seen the inside of a classroom for at least five years. So, investments into online learning continue to be crucial. At the same time, we know that online learning can never replace meeting and interacting with other children in safe spaces, and Education Cannot Wait can help create such safe spaces.

I have seen some very impressive examples here in Ukraine, for example in Kharkiv, where portions of a number of metro stations have been converted into safe and fantastic underground classrooms. And when I recently met the Governor of Kherson – that is continuously attacked – he mentioned as one of his priorities creating safe spaces where children can meet, learn and receive mental health support. With public finances in Ukraine severely strained, international solidarity shown through multilateral funds like Education Cannot Wait make all the difference for children struggling to cope with the ongoing war.

ECW: The Global Business Coalition for Education pledged US$50 million from the private sector in support of ECW’s 4-year strategic plan, with 70,000 laptops already shared with schools in Ukraine and neighboring countries. How can, and why should, the private sector continue to provide even more support for education for crisis-impacted children in Ukraine and beyond?

Matthias Schmale: The private sector will be a key driver in building back better and recovery efforts that are already ongoing. This will require a dedicated and healthy workforce, which is why educating children and young people is so critical.

Successful business leaders I have met in the countries and places I have served often told me they are not only successful due to the formal education they received, but that vocational training and acquiring relevant skills often made the real difference. Business leaders must help ensure that curricula are adapted to ensure relevance in public and private schools, and sufficient business-oriented learning and vocational training opportunities are created and made available.

ECW: Two in three Ukraine children in the frontline areas are out of school. They are experiencing challenges in terms of safety, protection, mental health and well-being. How is the United Nations coordinating an integrated cross-sectoral response through its agencies, funds, and programmes to reach these children and ensure they receive holistic support?

Matthias Schmale: It is important to underline that in my understanding the UN’s primary role is to support governments in looking after the welfare and safety of its citizens and ensuring that all have access to the best education and learning possible. The UN team in Ukraine is preparing for lift off of the 5-year Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework agreed with government for the period 2025 to 2029, and we are identifying how we can ensure that the contributions of various agencies are well coordinated and make the maximum impact in the lives of vulnerable children.

At the risk of not mentioning a UN entity and its valuable contribution, this for example includes building on the professional expertise and knowledge of good practice that UNICEF brings around protection of children’s rights and quality learning in safe environments, UNESCO on modernizing curricula and teacher’s training, UNDP on supporting government on mobilizing adequate public financing, UNFPA on protecting children from sexual abuse and violence, UNHCR and IOM in helping ensure no child including internally displaced gets left behind, WHO’s primary and mental health capacities to ensure children are healthy to capitalize on learning opportunities as well as UNOPS in helping repair and eventually rebuild schools. To underline these are just illustrative examples, and as Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator it is my duty to ensure that all 22 UN entities with a presence in country as well as those without are respected for the specific contribution they can make and included in our joint effort to help Ukraine in reaching all vulnerable children.

ECW: We all know that ‘readers are leaders’ and that reading skills are key to every child’s education. What are three books that have most influenced you personally and/or professionally, and why would you recommend them to others?

Matthias Schmale: There are a lot of good writers who wrote excellent books that have influenced me, and it is hard to pick just three among them. J.M. Coutzee, William Darymple and Chimamanda Ngozie Achie continue to intrigue me for the combination of illuminating sensitive topics and encounters between different cultures through their fiction while being highly entertaining at the same time. Darymple’s 1993 City of Djinns is a fascinating travelogue of Dehli, which I devoured in preparation for staying and working there a couple of weeks myself in another life. Coutzee’s 1999 novel “Disgrace” is a rather bleak pre ‘Me-Too’ read about the desires and deficiencies of men. And Chimamanda Ngozie Achie’s acclaimed 2013 “Americanah” explores aspects of race, identity, love, and honesty through a young Nigerian woman’s journey to the United States in pursuit of higher education.

 

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On December 12, 2022, a group of Azerbaijani environmentalists blocked the only road connecting Armenia with the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave. The news went largely unnoticed by mainstream media, perhaps because it was difficult to understand. How could a group of so-called environmental activists block the free movement of people and basic supplies? And where, exactly, is […]

Artist's conception of Miss Sassy chilling at the day spa (Actually, our kitten Brinca chilling at the day spa). Photo: Peter Costantini

By Peter Costantini
TUCSON, Arizona, US, Nov 4 2024 (IPS)

A small incident in the mounting mayhem of the 2024 elections crystalized the state of the dark art of politics in these United States. In Springfield, Ohio, a small midwestern industrial city, a woman named Anna Kilgore noticed that her cat, Miss Sassy, had been missing for a few days. Kilgore notified the police that she feared her kitty might have been caught and eaten by the Haitian immigrants who lived next door.

A few days later, Miss Sassy showed up in Kilgore’s basement, uneaten. The woman, to her credit, apologized to her neighbors.

But before the prodigal feline’s return, false rumors began to circulate in Springfield and online that illegal Haitian immigrants were kidnapping and eating pets. The allegations were denied by the police, the Republican mayor, and the state of Ohio’s Republican governor.

Nevertheless, the tall tale was picked up and amplified by social media and right-wing news sources. Over 20 bomb threats were called in to public institutions. The governor stationed state police in schools, some of which were forced to close temporarily, and deployed bomb-sniffing dogs and surveillance cameras around the city. The large Haitian community was terrorized.

Beyond Springfield, a key strategy of the Trump – Vance campaign appears to be to repeat and refuse to retract a variety of big and small lies about immigrants that have already been discredited

The kicker came when ex-President and current Republican presidential candidate Donald J. Trump repeated the already debunked rumor during his nationally televised debate with Vice President and current Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris on September 10.

“In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs,” the ex-president said. “The people that came in, they’re eating the cats. They’re eating the pets of the people that live there. And this is what’s happening in this country.” [Botelho 9/20/2024] U.S. Senator from Ohio and current Republican vice-presidential candidate J.D. Vance also continued to recount the falsehood in public appearances. Both Trump and Vance have made racist and xenophobic tropes about Haitians and other immigrants signature themes of their campaign.

Springfield is a formerly deindustrialized factory town that has revived economically and has again attracted numerous manufacturing jobs. But during the period of stagnation, much of the previous working-class population apparently sought work elsewhere.

So when the city’s economy boomed again and manufacturing jobs returned, but workers were scarcer, word circulated on the grapevines of immigrants and other job seekers. Over the past four years, an estimated 12 to 15 thousand Haitians have moved to Clark County, of which Springfield is the seat, now making up roughly 10 percent of a county population of 136 thousand.

The City of Springfield itself has a population of a little under 60 thousand. But nobody sent the Haitians, as some of the rumors have suggested; they reportedly came on their own with encouragement from government and businesses. [City of Springfield Immigration FAQ] [US Census Bureau – Clark County and Springfield, OH]

According to the City web site, “Haitian immigrants are here legally” under temporary programs such as humanitarian parole and Temporary Protected Status. Regardless of their immigration status, the Haitian community has helped revitalize the local economy and opened 10 new businesses. [US Census Bureau, Springfield and Clark County] [City of Springfield Immigration FAQs] As with any sudden influx of people, the population increase has sometimes strained educational and medical services and housing. But this is a problem of economic growth, which would likely occur whether or not the newcomers were immigrants.

Despite criticism from across the political spectrum, neither Trump nor Vance has retracted their immigrants-eating-pets story. When challenged, their evidence includes “I read it on the Internet” and “My constituents wrote to me about it”. They are also propagating falsehoods that the Haitian immigrants are bringing diseases and crime.

Vance acknowledged backhandedly that he had known all along that the story was false. According to the Wall Street Journal, the city manager had told him that there was no evidence that the rumors were true. [Fowler 9/18/2024]

Yet the Senator persisted: “The American media totally ignored this stuff until Donald Trump and I started talking about cat memes,” he asserted. “If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that’s what I’m going to do.” [Garrett 9/15/2024]

The vice-presidential candidate also lied about the legal immigration statuses that have allowed most of the Haitians in Springfield to stay in the U.S. temporarily: “Well, if Kamala Harris waves a wand illegally, and says these people are now here legally, I’m still going to call them an illegal alien.”

But Harris had nothing to do with deciding the immigrants’ legal status.  They would have had to be approved by the Departments of Homeland Security and possibly Justice. And the asylum, TPS and other forms of relief they were granted are legal immigration statuses that have been around since well before the Biden administration. [Kreemer 10/2/2024]

Beyond Springfield, a key strategy of the Trump – Vance campaign appears to be to repeat and refuse to retract a variety of big and small lies about immigrants that have already been discredited.

At one of his rallies, Trump claimed that In Aurora, Colorado, a Venezuelan gang had taken over an apartment building and swathes of the state. Local police said there were problems in a building where some Venezuelan immigrants live, but that the issues were serious housing code violations, such as lack of heat or running water, not gangs. [Hu 9/11/2024]

After Hurricane Helene, Trump and other Republicans alleged that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) had diverted federal disaster relief money to undocumented immigrants. “They stole the FEMA money,” he said, “just like they stole it from a bank, so they could give it to their illegal immigrants that they want to have vote for them this season”.

FEMA said that Trump’s claims were untrue, and that undocumented immigrants are not eligible for cash assistance. Trump managed to piggyback another lie onto his first: undocumented immigrants cannot vote and there is no evidence that the Biden administration has tried to bribe them. [Strickler et all 10/4/2024]

Trump has also spearheaded a national Republican campaign that falsely claims, as in the FEMA story, that undocumented immigrants are voting illegally in large numbers. The idea has been thoroughly discredited. Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes told me that non-citizen voting is “at best vanishingly rare” and “is not an issue that has or will impact any election. That is a conspiracy theory and a mythology that is not true.” [AZ Sec of State press conference 10/31/2024]

It has long been illegal for non-citizens to vote, and everyone who registers to vote has to swear on penalty of perjury that they are a U.S. citizen 18 years old or older. But the Republican fearmongering is getting steadily louder. Republican legislatures are passing bills prohibiting what’s already prohibited, and some GOP politicians are calling all immigrants, even naturalized citizens who can legally vote, “illegals”.

Mike Johnson, the Republican speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, has offered no evidence that non-citizen voting is a problem. But he declared at a press conference, “We all know, intuitively, that a lot of illegals are voting in federal elections.” [Benen 7/19/2024]

In the mendacity derby, Trump, Vance and Johnson are shoo-ins for win, place and show.

I was curious how Miss Sassy felt about all the brouhaha, but her publicist was not taking my calls. I suspected the famous feline might have tired of her celebrity and gone dark. Still, since Vance admitted that he made up fictional stories to get the attention of the media, I decided to do the same for my interview with Miss Sassy. But unlike Vance, I will not lie about it – I’ll tell you what’s true and what I’m making up.

So here is an intuitive transcript of my imaginary interview with Miss Sassy. My comments are in parentheses.

 

Miss Sassy

I’m glad you asked that. I’m called Miss Sassy because I’m very outspoken and sometimes even impudent.

I hope you won’t think I’m species-ist, but honestly, you can’t get good human help anymore. You’ve probably heard the saying: “Dogs have masters, cats have staff.” Well, my staff in our house in Springfield, Ohio, is well-meaning, but … let’s just say she’s not one of the sharpest claws on the paws. (If you live with cats, you know they think like this.)

Despite what those crazy-ass MAGAheads are saying, when I wandered over to check out the Haitians next door, they were really nice to me. Dahling, it was like a day spa with a three-star restaurant. They gave my paws a pedicure, massaged my back and haunches, scratched my chin, and broke out the catnip. Then they poured me out the juice from the cans of tuna fish they opened for tuna salad.

Another day they made a Haitian dish they called lambi, some kind of seafood in a butter sauce, and they let me try it. It was to die for. (Completely invented. But I have lived in Haiti and I believe that Haitians generally love their pets. And I have had delectable lambi on an idyllic beach in Saint-Louis-du-Sud.)

So no, they didn’t try to eat me. Au contraire: they fed me some pretty tasty stuff. When I found out what my human accused them of, I got so mad that I peed on her favorite chair. (Can’t confirm this, but it sounds intuitive.)

As you may have heard, my human retracted her story when I showed up healthy and rested. She explained that that she found me in the basement of our house after a couple of days, acknowledged that the Haitian neighbors did not eat me, and apologized to them. So I forgave her. (Most of this has been widely reported, although forgiveness is hard to verify.)

What I don’t understand about some humans is how they can keep on repeating the same lie about the neighbors eating me when they know it’s not true. Yes, I’m talking about that politician who carries an orange-haired rodent around on his head – oh, sorry, I mean the combover – and that baby-faced guy who looks and sounds like his intern. Agent Orange, as the filmmaker Spike Lee calls him, repeated the lies about me and Springfield on TV during a national debate. What’s even harder to fathom is why a lot of people still believe them. Arrogant humans like to say they’re the most intelligent species. Well, these days, the evidence is scarce. (The rodent part is false. But it’s just insult comedy, and as Puerto Ricans know, the ex-president is a big fan.)

But hold on, I do have a theory about that. Nowadays everyone’s talking about Artificial Intelligence. And being a very intelligent cat, I’ve gotten curious about AI too. My human thinks I’m just walking on the keyboard of her computer and tries to shoo me off, and sometimes I type things like “xdr54tttttthjn” just to keep her in the dark. But actually I’m doing research and downloading articles nonstop. (Take everything about AI with a grain of salt.)

Now here’s the theory that I’m working on: I think Trump and Vance and the Republicans have come up with a new mutant form of Artificial Intelligence that I call Artificial Stupidity. AI tries to teach machines to talk like humans. AS teaches humans to talk like machines. (Of course this is made up, but doesn’t it explain a lot?)

Maybe you’ve noticed that the whole MAGA crowd, and their wholly owned subsidiary, the Republican Party, are constantly parroting the same keywords and talking points and memes. They all sound like they’ve been programmed to be mindless automatons.

Here’s my hypothesis: AI uses large language models to teach neural networks how to learn. AS uses yuge wordsalad models – starting with all the speeches and tweets of Beloved Leader – to inject anti-social venom that bypasses the frontal lobe, hijacks the amygdala, and teaches the MAGA faithful whom to hate and how. It sends a symphony of racist and sexist dog whistles into their vulnerable brains.

As it takes over their minds, AS seems to incubate a form of emotional vulnerability called Big Daddy Syndrome. It’s a condition that most dictators, demagogues and cult leaders know how to manipulate. Whatever the problem, Big Daddy’s answer is “Don’t worry your dependent little head about this. I’m the only one who can take care of it for you. I have a concept of a policy. Just leave it to me.”

Please excuse the New Age pop psychology, but would you believe I used to talk with Sigmund Freud’s ghost about problems like this? He told me, “This is a classic case of psychological displacement in two dimensions. The subjects are substituting Big Daddy for a missing or abusive father figure. And they’re attacking immigrants who have done nothing to harm them to displace the bosses or billionaires or politicians who have actually been hurting them.”

To assert Big Daddy’s dominance over his followers, Trump cultivates a brash rhetorical style. The late-night TV satirist Stephen Colbert compared it to a leaf blower. I think of Big Daddy spraying disinformation and bigotry all around him as a sort of senile tom cat obsessively marking his territory. Then Vance follows up, trying to spin everything and make excuses, like the poor clown in the circus parade sweeping up after the elephants.

But really, how do you know when Trump is lying? Here’s the tell just watch his lips. If they move, he’s probably lying. (Badabing badaboom)

I think it might have been Trump’s advisor Steve Bannon who said, “Before Truth can put on her shoes, my lies have gone halfway around the world. But, truth be told, the proceeds from my lies are in an attaché case full of unmarked bills in a bank in the Cayman Islands, and I’m on my second mojito.” (This is a total fabrication. Although in fact Bannon was convicted and serving time for embezzling a million bucks, but Trump pardoned him and got him out of jail.)

OK, so it’s clear that Trump is an inveterate liar. But is it really fair to call him a fascist? Well, at least two retired generals and a former Defense Secretary who had worked for Trump, and some of the most respected academic experts on fascism have all said publicly that they consider him a fascist. Many of his ex-cabinet members and advisors have chimed in that he is a dangerous authoritarian. The ex-President replied that he was “the opposite of a Nazi”, whatever that is, and called Harris “fascist” in return. His rhetorical strategy has been reduced to the old playground taunt, “I’m rubber, you’re glue. Whatever you say bounces off me and sticks to you.” (See a recent front page of the New York Times.) [Baker 11/2/2024] [Zerofsky 10/23/2024]

As you can see, I don’t understand why MAGA people can’t see through Trump. But I also don’t think most of them are bad or stupid. After all, my human may wear a Trump T-shirt, but I know she’s got a good heart. The problem is, a lot of them are what are being called “low-information” voters, meaning they don’t pay much attention to any news at all, and only take in random snatches of what’s actually going on. Then they vote without having much idea of whom or what they are voting for. (You did not hear this first here.)

Look, there’s no shame in being ignorant – we’re all ignorant about many things. And it surely takes a strong stomach to follow politics. But then Big Daddy comes along selling his snake oil about who’s responsible for all your problems, and the answer is always: it’s the f___ing immigrants. Not coincidentally, immigrants are mostly Brown and Black people like our neighbors.

Then, when Trump serves you a steaming bowl of bile, you slurp it all up and wash it down with an ivermectin chaser, and then maybe act it out in a fantasy state of confusion or fear or hate. But dawg, the truth is that you’re hurting real flesh-and-blood people like the Haitians, and shaming the rest of us, too. (About four out of five immigrants to the U.S. come from Latin America, Asia or Africa.) [Pew Research Center 9/28/2015]

P.T. Barnum, of Barnum and Bailey Circus fame, supposedly said: “There’s a sucker born every minute.” In J.D. Vance, Trump has brought in young grifter talent who’s a little smoother at scamming people. That’s why I call him J.D. Barnum, and he seems to have revved the production line up to a sucker every second. (There is no evidence that Barnum said this, but it’s usually attributed to him.)

Just imagine what your children and grandchildren will think of you if they learn you were one of the poor schlemiels who fell for Trump’s and Vance’s toxic hogwash. Do yourself and all of us a big favor: pull your head out of your hindquarters and just say no to the lies of Don the Con and J.D. Barnum.

~ ~ ~

At this point, Miss Sassy’s cell phone rang, and she’s like “Sorry, I have to take this.” It sounded like it might have been Oprah. Then without taking leave, she sashayed back down the stairs into the basement.

 

References

Peter Baker. “Amid Talk of Fascism, Trump’s Threats and Language Evoke a Grim Past”. New York Times, November 2, 2024.

Peter Baker. “Trump’s Wild Claims, Conspiracies and Falsehoods Redefine Presidential Bounds”. New York Times, November 3, 2024.

Avery Kreemer. “Federal policy that paved way for Springfield’s Haitian boom debated”. Dayton, OH: Dayton Daily News, October 2, 2024.

City of Springfield Ohio. “Immigration FAQs”. City of Springfield Ohio, accessed November 1, 2024.

Pew Research Center. “Modern Immigration Wave Brings 59 Million to U.S., Driving Population Growth and Change Through 2065”. Pew Research Center, September 28, 2015.

United States Census Bureau. “Springfield city, Ohio”. USCB, accessed November 1, 2024.

Elisabeth Zerofsky. “Is It Fascism? A Leading Historian Changes His Mind.” New York Times, October 23, 2024.