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MARTIN KARADZHOV, Global Youth Commitee speaking at ICPD25. Credit: Mantoe Phakathi / IPS

By Mantoe Phakathi
NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 13 2019 (IPS)

Governments across the world must ban all state-implemented harmful practices against the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex (LGBTQI) community delegates at the ICPD25 tells IPS.

Adding his voice in bridging the gap of Sexual Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR) among the youth, Martin Karadzhov, chair for Global Youth Steering Committee, told delegates at a youth event themed “our bodies, our lives, our world”, at the 25thInternational Conference on Population Development (ICDP25).

LGBTQI young people remain voiceless

Although there are 1.8 billion youths between the ages of 10 and 24 years, they continue to be marginalised when it comes to SRHR issues. Karadzhov said LGBTQI youth in many countries were subjected to harmful practices including pressure on them to convert, a practice with no scientific basis which is also unethical and, in most instances, a torture. “Justice for one is justice for all,” he said.

He urged governments to repeal discriminatory laws against the LGBTQI community, adding that they were denied access to Sexual Reproductive Health (SRH) services on the basis of their sexuality. “Our human rights are not controversial,” said Karadzhov.

Young people often only a statistic

Echoing his sentiments was Mavis Naa Korley Aryee, a youth programme national radio host at Curious Minds. She said although there are 1. 8 billion reasons why young people should be involved in decision-making process, they are only mentioned as statistics.“Being part of a minority should not be a reason for discrimination,” said Aryee.

Young people speak out at Nairobi Summit. Credit: Mantoe Phakathi / IPS

She advocated for access to SRH services to be made available to all young people, adding that they have a right to make choices about their bodies. She was, however, encouraged by the way the global youth had stood up to be counted despite the challenges they face. Aryeenoted that the youth contributed to the development agenda leading to ICPD25, adding that the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are also about them.

“We have then numbers. No one will ignore 1.8 billion reasons. The more we collaborate, the more we advance our agenda,” she said.

Fighting for a seat a the table

The global youth is fighting for a seat on the decision-making table where Marco Tsaradia, a Member of Parliament from Madagascar, said young people are told: “things have always been done like this”. He said the youth are keen to bring about new ideas because they are talented and innovative. However, he complained that the existing decision-making structure prevented them from achieving this objective.

It gets worse if young persons with disabilities want to enter the table because, said Leslie Tikolitikoca from the Fiji Disabled Peoples Federation, they tend to be “judged on their disabilities rather than their abilities”. For example, he said, instead of providing services to those who are unable to hear or see, those in power would rather make decisions on their behalf instead of helping them to contribute to the discussion.

“How are we going to ensure that we leave no one behind if we don’t involve all young people?” he wondered.

EU commits funding

Following the youth’s proposed solutions to their SRHR, Henriette Geiger, from the directorate of people and peace at the European Union Commission, said it was time to act. She said the EU has proposed that governments should consider reducing the voting age to 16 years.

Young people at ICPD25 youth session. Credit: Mantoe Phakathi / IPS

“That would make a huge impact in decision-making on youth policy,” she said, adding that the EU was funding key initiatives to change public perceptions about the LGBTQI community by using film.

Although she said the EU was involved in many SRHR programmes in Africa, she further pledged €29 million towards SRHR programmes for the youth, urging organisations to take advantage of this initiative.

Not all doom and gloom

During the opening address of the ICPD25, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) executive director, Natalia Kanem, told delegates “good progress is not good enough”, insisting that the promises made to girls, women and everyone should be kept.

Kanem paid special tribute to the youth, for bringing new ideas and resources to make rights and choices a reality.

“To the youth, you’re inspiring in pushing us to go further Thank you,” said Kanem.

It is not all sad and gloomy for the youth, said Ahmed Alhendawi, the secretary-general of the World Organisation of the Scouts Movement. The fact that the youth have formed themselves into a global youth movement should be celebrated because that is how they are going to win the fight to be part of decision-making processes.

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Teruhiko Mashiko, Japan Parliamentary Federation for Population

By Joyce Chimbi
NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 13 2019 (IPS)

The Japan Parliamentary Federation for Population represented by Mr Teruhiko Mashiko and its secretariat, the Asian Population and Development Association (APDA) has made a clear and concrete commitment to endorse the ICPD25 agenda. Mashiko tells IPS that Japan, as should every country driven by the well-being of its population, should create the best possible conditions to achieve the ICPD25 agenda.

Interview by Joyce Chimbi at the ICPD25 in Nairobi, Kenya

Q. What lessons are there for developing countries from Japan to accelerate the achievement of sustainable development?

A. The focus of the ICPD25 debate should be focused on how sexual and reproductive health and rights parallel to other development concerns such as food security and women empowerment. Gender equality and freedom for women to make their choices freely is a priority for Japan.

Q. Why are the twin issues of population and development so critical for Africa and for developing countries across the globe?

A. Population is a global issue for both developed and developing even for countries like Japan. This is despite Japan being the first country to achieve a successful demographic transition. Population and development issues are very important for us even though we are already enjoying demographic dividends.

Q. How did Japan achieve this very important demographic transition?

A. Post Cairo, many of the countries which are considered to be developed today prioritized population issues as a key development agenda. Africa must now focus on managing its population so that every pregnancy is wanted. Today, the continent has high unmet needs for family planning and unplanned pregnancies, especially among young people.

Investing in children and young people is critical for sustainable growth in Africa. Importantly, designing special sexual and reproductive health and rights services will prevent early and unplanned pregnancies among Africa’s young. Consequently, they will stay in school and acquire important skills to contribute to building the economy.

Q. High youth unemployment rates prevail across Africa, what lessons can Africa learn from Japan?

A. Economic development is critical because, without a healthy economy, job creation becomes an impossibility. Africa will need to address itself to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and develop sound economic policies.

This will require an in-depth analysis of the challenges facing each country respectively. Matching these needs to specially tailored economically sound policies is very important. An economically active society will accelerate the fulfilment of the ICPD25 agenda.

Q. Why is it so critical for parliamentarians to be involved in developing commitments around the ICPD25 agenda?

A. Parliamentarians are the backbone of legislation in every country. They are key in developing legislation that is progressive and that speaks to the needs of its people. Africa, for instance, will need sound legislation that responds to each country’s most pressing needs including food security, women empowerment, job creation and social security. Without this critical role, populations cannot be managed and provided with what they need to lead fulfilled lives.

Policy direction and planning is the role of parliament after which the government steps in to implement. It is a very clear and complementary relationship that will become even more critical as countries accelerate the ICPD Programme of Action (Poa).

Q. What happens when progressive laws remain unimplemented?

A. Political stability and the quality of politics itself will become increasingly critical for Africa and other developing countries. Democracy and political goodwill is the cornerstone on which Cairo promise will be delivered.

Educating old and new parliamentarians on the need to develop a legislative framework that speaks to the ICPD25 agenda is very important. It is through such initiatives that countries will be able to accelerate and achieve their targets as discussed at this Summit.

Q. How important is consensus around ICPD25 commitments for priority countries where many of the population and development challenges prevail?

A. Consensus on the inter-relationship between population growth and economic development is very important. The overwhelming consensus among stakeholders including governments, political leaders and the people they serve will ensure that these commitments are flagged as critical areas of sustainable development. This will ensure that resources will be mobilized to facilitate their achievement.

Q. How important is political transparency and accountability?

A. Political transparency and accountability must be encouraged at all levels of political representation. In their absence, people will lose trust in the leaders they have in place to represent them. We need more and more self-less politicians, state men and women.

Leaders must feel disturbed by the discomfort of their people. Having only a few of this kind of leaders will derail progress. People’s opinions, desires and aspirations must pass through parliament. Consequently, very country’s legislative framework must be the true reflection of these needs, aspirations and desires. It is the people that should decide what is most needed.

However, it is not all about politics, the goodwill of the people is also very important. Dialogue and inclusivity around these commitments must be encouraged and dissenting voices heard.

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Jeffrey Jordan/ President of the Population Reference Bureau with ICPD25 participants. Credit: Joyce Chimbi / IPS

By Joyce Chimbi
NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 13 2019 (IPS)

One in five women globally lives with a disability even as they have same needs and interests as women without disabilities, their access to sexual and reproductive health services and rights remains severely limited.

Delegates representing people living with disabilities at the ICPD25 Conference painted a grim picture of barriers and challenges they face.

“We are perceived to be asexual and therefore offering us reproductive health information is considered wasteful,” says Josephta Mukobe, principal secretary of the Kenya’s Ministry of Culture and Sports.

Motherhood remains taboo for differently abled women

Mukobe says motherhood for them is taboo, and that a pregnant woman with a disability is a phenomenon to be pitied, even ridiculed by society.

“We cannot enjoy pregnancy because people look at us and wonder what poor beast this is with a disability. They are even shocked that you even have sexual organs,” she expounds, and adds: “We desire love and active and healthy sexual life to raise a family.”

Under international law and multilateral agreements, governments have a responsibility to ensure equal respect, protection and access to sexual and reproductive health, as well as rights for people with disabilities. But this is policy – and a long way to practice.

Fighting Exclusions

Veronica Njuhi, chairperson of Women Challenged to Challenge, a movement that ensures women with disability develop a capacity to overcome barriers and discrimination, speaks of how she was continually excluded from training on HIV/Aids.

“My employer never included me in any training on HIV/Aids even though it was offered to all employees. When I confronted him, he was very shocked because he did not think I needed training on HIV/Aids,” she says.

Raising awareness

According to the Population and Reference Bureau, the ratio of people living with disabilities accounts for one in seven globally. Critically, 80 percent of them are living in developing countries where sexual and reproductive health and rights interventions are not only limited, but are most wanted.

Veronica Njuhi I’m conversation with ICPD25 participant. Credit: Joyce Chimbi / IPS

Raising awareness and strengthening protection for the rights of the one billion people with disability around the world has never been more urgent.

Girls and women are particularly vulnerable, and are more likely to experience violence. Young people with disabilities, under the age of 18, are especially vulnerable as they are nearly four times more likely than youth without disabilities, to be abused.

“When people with a disability overcome barriers, it is a representation of what is possible. The world is about all of us, no one should be left behind,” says Jeffrey Jordan, president of the Population Reference Bureau (PRB), told IPS.

Jordan argues that the ICPD25 commitment cannot be achieved when one in seven people in the world are left out of deliberations.

Reaching out to the most vulnerable

“As we strengthen sexual and reproductive health and rights globally, it is crucial that we reach out to the most vulnerable communities,” he says.

Given that they are the least likely to be educated about their sexual and reproductive health and rights, people with a disability are predisposed to greater risk of exploitation, unplanned pregnancy, and sexually transmitted infections.

“Sex is a private issue which we would also like to explore in private. This is not always possible because if we do not speak out, we will continue to be ignored,” Mukobe says.

She says that interventions must be tailored to suit their special needs, and that they need to be informed on what does not work for them. “A female condom cannot be used among those of us whose legs are crooked. A blind person cannot read without using braille to figure out if a male condom has expired because expiry dates are not written on the condoms,” she adds.

For women with a hearing impairment, the scenario is dire. When seeking health services, they often need to be accompanied by a person who understands sign language. Njuhi says this person is not always available.

“We are pushing for change and now public hospitals in Kenya have at least one person who can understand sign language,” she says.

“A person who is not deaf can easily be treated for a sexually transmitted infection in private. But those who are deaf are humiliated and shamed because they need someone who understands sign language,” Mukobe explains.

Njuhi further reveals that because of existing communication barriers, women with a hearing impairment have for a long time received the injectable even when it was not their primary or preferred contraceptive option.

“The health providers who did not want to struggle explaining various methods, their benefits and side effects, have found the injectable easy to administer. A woman will just be told to return after three months for their follow up dose,” Njuhi reveals.

We will not be silenced

Njuhi further notes the attitude that most health providers have towards pregnant women with disability has contributed to many of them delivering at home without a skilled attendant.

“Just because a woman with disability is pregnant does not mean she was raped. She deserves all the services that will help her travel the safe motherhood route without judgement,” Njuhi advises.

Mukobe decries the state of many health facilities, particularly public sector hospitals, for being extremely unfriendly to those with a disability. She says that beds are often not adjustable, adding on to the list of the many barriers they have to overcome.

Against this backdrop, delegates from this vulnerable community like Njuhi have vowed to take their rightfully place at ICPD25 “because it is not a global conference without us.”

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Another deal signed on second day of the Africa Investment Forum 2019

By African Development Bank
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, Nov 13 2019 (IPS-Partners)

The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and Thelo DB on Tuesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding at the Africa Investment Forum in Johannesburg. The agreement will give both parties an opportunity to develop, finance and operate railway projects across Africa.

Thelo and Afreximbank have agreed to collaborate to modernise the continent’s railways, thereby promoting trade, investment, and economic and skills development. Both see the urgent need for efficient and effective transportation and logistics on the continent, particularly in the freight railway sector.

African governments have long been discussing the importance of the regional integration of infrastructure projects as one of the ways to both free and speed up the movement of goods in order to stimulate intra-Africa trade.

Afreximbank President Prof. Benedict Oramah said the two companies were committed to supporting trade on the continent. “That includes creating capacity to deliver to the markets. With Thelo DB’s capacity to deliver and operate railway mobility systems and Afreximbank’s ability to finance projects, we have an incredibly strong team,” said Oramah

Thelo DB is looking at projects in Southern, East and West Africa, which the company believes are home to corridors that transcend country borders.

The MOU is part of the realisation that the African Continental Free Trade Agreement will face challenges without the logistical capacity to move goods.

“The MOU solves a very important part of the puzzle for us, which is, when we’re doing these big capital projects, how do we finance them? Rather than building our own expertise as Thelo DB, working in an integrated manner with Afreximbank magically gives us a solution to that challenge. So we can now sit down with our clients and say not only do we bring technical capacity of a global standard, we bring you unbelievable capital mobilisation in the MOU we signed this morning,” said Ronald Ntuli, Thelo Group Chairman.

Thelo DB is an incorporated partnership between the African industrial group, and leading European railway conglomerate, Deutsche Bahn Engineering & Consulting. Thelo DB brings unmatched capacity to the continent’s railway sector. Some of its expertise include construction supervision, rolling stock leasing capabilities, rehabilitation of existing infrastructure and transferring skills through training and development programmes.

Afreximbank is a multilateral African trade finance institution, with the mandate to facilitate, promote and develop intra- and extra-African trade.

Last year’s inaugural Africa Investment Forum “Market Days” secured record levels of investment interest in deals worth billions of dollars in just 3 days.

Investors, project sponsors and government representatives discussed 63 projects valued at $46.9 billion involving seven sectors in 24 countries. Investment interest worth $38.7billion was secured for 49 projects.

AIF 2019 hopes to better that figure between November 11 and 13.

Media contact: Gershwin Wanneburg, Communication and External Relations Department, African Development Bank, email: g.wanneburg@afdb.org

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Excerpt:

Another deal signed on second day of the Africa Investment Forum 2019

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South Sudanese refugee, Priscilla Nyamal

By Crystal Orderson
NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 13 2019 (IPS)

Young women and girls are still subjected to a range of harmful practices and violence, including early marriage. Every year, an estimated 12 million girls get married before the age of 18.

In an IPS exclusive from the ICPD25 summit one young brave woman from South Sudan tells us her story of how she had to fight her family and community from becoming a child bride. With the help of the UNFPA in Kenya, Priscilla Nyamal is now advocating for young girls and wants the world to know that child marriage should stop. Priscilla shares her story to IPS.

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By Jomo Kwame Sundaram and Anis Chowdhury
KUALA LUMPUR and SYDNEY, Nov 13 2019 (IPS)

Almost nine decades ago, newly elected US President Franklin Roosevelt introduced the New Deal in 1933 in response to the Great Depression. The New Deal consisted of a number of mutually supportive initiatives, of which the most prominent were: a public works programme financed by budget deficits; a new social contract to improve living standards for all working families, including creation of the US social security system; and financial regulation to protect citizens’ assets and channel financial resources into productive investments.

Jomo Kwame Sundaram

The New Deal was effectively a fiscal stimulus for recovery, employment, development and environment goals. The Citizens Conservation Corps (CCC) created two million jobs in environmental projects for young Americans aged 18-25 years when the US population was 125 million.

The best known public works project was the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), an integrated regional development programme for an underdeveloped region. It built infrastructure to generate hydroelectric energy to sustain industrial and agricultural growth in the US Southwest.

Thus, the New Deal helped ensure US economic recovery, but also successfully addressed unsustainable practices that had caused widespread ecological, social and economic crises in environmentally fragile regions, and helped usher in a new era of economic growth and expanding prosperity, especially in poorer regions.

Sustainable development crises
Today, the world is in protracted economic slowdown. This crisis needs a similarly bold response, as the United Nations urged following the 2008-2009 financial crisis. But its New Deal was to be more global and sustainable. Public works programmes should move countries to more sustainable development pathways to achieve the United Nations 2030 Agenda for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

First, it has to involve international solidarity, following decades of globalization, and inequalities among and within countries. Second, it has to be sustainable — economically, socially and ecologically. We face profound environmental crises, with global warming the greatest new threat with unprecedented ramifications.

Anis Chowdhury

While much attention has recently focused on climate change, sustainability is also threatened by air and water pollution, natural resource degradation, loss of forests and biodiversity, as well as socio-political instability due to growing inequalities, repression and resistance.

A new New Deal
A New Deal for our times should have key elements similar to Roosevelt’s, namely public works programmes and measures to encourage productive investments for output and job recovery, social protection and prudent financial regulation.

Most developing countries are vulnerable to the global financial system. While varied, they are generally less resilient and more susceptible to market volatility, often forced to pursue pro-cyclical macroeconomic policies, exacerbating economic instability and undermining long-term growth.

This New Deal should support counter-cyclical responses in three main ways. First, national stimulus packages in both developed and developing countries to revive and ‘green’ national economies. Second, international policy coordination to ensure that developed countries’ stimulus packages not only create good jobs in the North, but also have strong developmental impacts in the South.

Third, greater financial support for developing countries, as long promised, especially for development and climate change. The North should also enable the South to more effectively mobilize domestic resources, especially through taxation, and stemming illicit outflows of funds.

Setbacks
In light of the slowing world economy, and dim prospects for imminent recovery, resources are needed to strengthen social protection to contain poverty and hunger. Hundreds of millions in developing countries are at risk due to lower incomes, declining export earnings and other challenges.

A strong fiscal response should make long-term investments to accelerate ecologically sustainable and socially inclusive growth. Front-loading massive, multilaterally cross-subsidised public investments in developing countries in renewable energy and sustainable smallholder food agriculture should induce complementary private investments as spontaneous market forces alone will not generate the investments needed.

The Global Green New Deal (GGND) should include mutually beneficial collaborative initiatives between governments of rich and poor countries. Reforms of the international financial and trading systems should support sustainable development for all.

There was a glimmer of hope for such a bold coordinated multilateral initiative at the 2009 London Summit of G20, but cooperation and progress have been disappointing since, e.g., little meaningful progress on its Global Jobs Pact. With the mid-2010 G20 Toronto Summit U-turn, fiscal austerity became the new normal.

Meanwhile, creeping protectionism all around set recovery back further. Growing precariousness and declining living standards, blamed on imports and immigrants, have fuelled the ethno-populist backlash against Others, with multilateralism as collateral damage.

Global Green New Deal urgent
The urgency of an ambitious GGND has risen as most countries drift further off track in achieving Agenda 2030. After almost a decade of stagnation, countries must prioritize recovery, but not at the expense of others. Stimulus packages must lay the foundation for sustainable development.

Policy coordination among major economies should minimize adverse spill-over effects, especially on developing countries, which have become more vulnerable than ever, after decades of economic liberalization and globalization. Socially useful public works could contribute to climate adaptation and mitigation, and improve public goods provision.

To be sure, many other complementary interventions are needed. But such investments and government spending require significantly improved public finances. While revenue generation requires greater national incomes, tax collection can be greatly enhanced through fairer international tax cooperation.

Clearly, the agenda for a new New Deal requires not only bold new national developmental initiatives, but also far better and more equitable multilateral cooperation, through improvement of the inclusive multilateral United Nations system.

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A pro-Independence rally gets underway in Arawa, Central Bougainville, Papua New Guinea on 22 October 2019. Credit: Catherine Wilson/IPS

By Catherine Wilson
BUKA / ARAWA, Bougainville, Papua New Guinea, Nov 13 2019 (IPS)

The people of Bougainville, an autonomous region in eastern Papua New Guinea (PNG), have aspired to self-government for more than a century. Now their longed-for opportunity to vote on independence will occur on Nov. 23.  But, even with a clear majority in the vote count, the region’s future, which must be agreed and ratified by PNG, is far from certain.

The referendum is a provision of the peace agreement, signed in 2001, which ended a long civil war fought over indigenous rights to land and natural resources on Bougainville Island in the 1990s.  Yet the desire to manage their own affairs dates to Bougainville’s colonisation by Germany in the nineteenth century.

“I believe that independence for Bougainville is nothing new, it has been long overdue; 100 years. People already have chosen that Bougainville must one day be an independent nation and our governments, especially Papua New Guinea, must give us that freedom,” Philip Miriori, chair of the Special Mining Lease Osikaiyang Landowners Association (SMLOLA) in Panguna, Central Bougainville, told IPS.

In 1975 Bougainville leaders unilaterally declared the region independent shortly before PNG, administered by Australia after the Second World War, became a new nation state. However, talks with PNG’s first Prime Minister, Michael Somare, resulted in Bougainville remaining as a province.

But in 1989 conflict erupted when local landowners forced the closure of the Panguna copper mine in Central Bougainville, then majority-owned by mining multinational, Rio Tinto, and the PNG government, after their compensation demands for environmental damage and inequity were refused. PNG, a major beneficiary of the mine’s revenues, deployed the military and a guerrilla war, during which the death toll reached 15,000-20,000, then raged until peace was secured a decade later.

The main goals of the peace agreement are disarmament, establishing an Autonomous Bougainville Government, which occurred in 2005, and a referendum on the region’s future political status. The date of the ballot has changed twice this year to allow the Bougainville Referendum Commission, chaired by former Irish Prime Minister, Bertie Ahern, to verify the electoral roll.  Now more than 200,000 voters, about 67 percent of the population, will respond to the question: ‘Do you agree for Bougainville to have Greater Autonomy or Independence?’ during two weeks of polling to end on the Dec. 7.

Expectations will be high with predictions of an overwhelming outcome for independence. “Our people are excited because they have been waiting for this for a very long time. A lot of people have died. Our leaders, they have been talking about a referendum, so that the people can make a choice for what they want. Because if we don’t do it, another crisis will come back again,” Aloysius Laukai, manager of the local New Dawn FM radio station in Bougainville’s main town of Buka told IPS.

At Buka’s market, Ruth, a vendor from South Bougainville added: “I am really looking forward to the referendum, to voting for i678ndependence. I am voting for myself, but also for my children, my grandchildren and the generations that come after.”

Preparations have included completing disarmament after the United Nations reported in 2012 that ‘not much progress has been made in disposing of the weapons of war left over from the Bougainville Crisis.’  Several former rebel groups didn’t sign the peace agreement or surrender their guns. But, in a major development, all former combatant groups, including the Panguna-based Mekamui, held a summit in July, during which they signed a declaration to give up weapons and ensure peace during and after the referendum. 

“We have already completed the weapons disposal. Even if we are not part and parcel of the peace agreement, but we already participate. That’s on the ground, because we have one common goal…We are proud to go toward this destination, the preparation of the referendum and beyond. No more war in Bougainville, the war is over,” Moses Pipiro, General of the Mekamui Defence Force, told IPS.

Yet some women leaders remain concerned, even after the government declared the region weapons free and ‘referendum ready’ in late September. “The declaration on the weapons disposal was achieved, but the weapons are still there. The weapons are still with business people, for security reasons, and other people as well,” Celestine Tommy, Acting President of the Bougainville Women’s Federation claimed.

Security during the vote, to ensure people can cast their ballots freely, will be enhanced by a regional support team led by New Zealand.

But the greatest challenges will be after polling during intense negotiations between the PNG and Bougainville Governments. Many believe that PNG will be unwilling to see Bougainville secede, but Bougainville’s President, John Momis, emphasised in a speech to the PNG Parliament in August that: “The PNG government cannot just ignore the results of the referendum. It must take account of the wishes of the people as it engages with the Bougainville Government about the outcome.”

There is no deadline for the post-referendum discussions, which could be lengthy. And the process is likely to be interrupted if a decision hasn’t been reached when Bougainville is due to hold its next general election in early 2020.

Dennis Kuiai, Bougainville’s Acting Secretary for the Peace Agreement and Implementation, has said that prolonging the decision could provoke unrest. To address people’s expectations, the government will set up a forum for local stakeholders, such as churches, women, youths and ex-combatants, to strengthen grassroots participation in the high-level talks. 

If Bougainville achieves nationhood, experts estimate that building the region’s capacity to be self-sufficient could take from 5 to 20 years. Currently the government has no major source of income. Internal revenues have only covered 10 percent of annual expenditure in recent years, resulting in financial dependence on the national government and international donors.

Post-conflict reconstruction and restoration of services has, therefore, been slow. Dr Cyril Imako, Executive Director of Health Services in Central Bougainville, said that people today had a greater sense of freedom and new schools had opened since the civil war ended. But he added that maternal mortality, believed to be about 690 per 100,000 live births, and child mortality rates are very high and health centres regularly run out of basic medicines.

Bougainville’s leaders advocate redeveloping the Panguna mine to increase the region’s fiscal capacity. But this strategy, which carries risks for long term peace, is now on hold. In January last year the Bougainville Government placed an indefinite moratorium on mining after signs that disputes continued among local landowners about the mine’s future.

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Credit: WaterAid/ James Kiyimba

By Ruth Romer
LONDON, Nov 12 2019 (IPS)

Water underpins the global economy and agriculture is by far the world’s largest water consumer, accounting for 70% of freshwater withdrawals. Global water demands are projected to increase by 55% by 2050 and climate change will present further pressures on water accessibility.

Many agricultural supply chains, from the smallholder to large commercial farms, originate in countries where large proportions of the population have no access to safely managed water and sanitation services, such as in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, and this presents various social and environmental challenges.

Companies reliant upon the agricultural supply chain have a significant role to play in the management of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) as well as a stake in ensuring supply chain security.

A new booklet ‘Water, Sanitation and Hygiene: Three Essential Ingredients to Resilient Agricultural Supply Chains’ launches this week at the annual Alliance for Water Stewardship forum.

Co-authored by Alliance for Water Stewardship, Diageo, UN CEO Water Mandate, WaterAid and WASH4Work, it highlights why and how companies that rely on agricultural supply chains should invest in WASH management.

Having reliable access to these basic services would not only improve the health and welfare of the workers; it can support a resilient business whilst helping mitigate against the impacts of climate change.

Why do companies with an agricultural supply chain need to invest in WASH?

Access to adequate WASH services remains critical at every stage in agricultural supply chains. The following physical, financial, reputational and regulatory risks and opportunities need to be managed within an environmental and social lens to ensure long-term economic benefits:

• Physical – Projections show that more than 40% of people will live in areas of severe water stress by 2050. Together with declining water quality issues, this will exacerbate the challenges of water availability for households and crops. The lack of decent sanitation for agricultural workers can also have a detrimental effect on the quality of local water resources.

• Financial – At the macro-economic scale, it is estimated that every US $1 invested in WASH generates US$ 4.30 through increased productivity. In collaboration with partners, WaterAid is driving more work on the micro-economic business return on investment.

• Reputation – Responsible water management and adequate access to WASH for workers and surrounding communities not only benefits the health and dignity of staff and farmers, but also stakeholder relations. Companies with a good reputation can reap business benefits.

• Regulation and compliance –The United Nations mandates clean water and decent sanitation as a basic human right – and it is a state’s obligation and a company’s responsibility to respect human rights. Internal corporate policy or HR policy, which incorporates WASH elements or global targets, can also help drive internal compliance and alignment with business as usual practices.

How can companies prioritise WASH?

For many companies, the environmentally focused elements associated with access to water to produce the raw material, as well as water-use efficiency and discharge in processing, are often prioritised over the social elements.

However, WASH can be a risk to social license to operate and production capabilities, so water security for business operations requires a more holistic approach.

WASH management should integrate considerations of not only the workers, but also the broader supply chain and the communities in which the workers live.

Once fully embedded within a company’s corporate water stewardship plan with clear corporate policy commitments or targets, the local level implementation can be easier, especially if there is top-down endorsement.

The Alliance for Water Stewardship Standard provides a useful framework for a company to consider WASH management issues at site-level.

The booklet does not intend to provide detailed site-level guidance; however, it provides a primer to build the case for action. It
highlights, alongside associated guidance, the following recommended steps:

• Champion the integration of WASH into the company’s corporate water stewardship strategy.
• Assess WASH needs at the local level to understand the shared potential water challenges, risks, impacts and opportunities.
• Develop a local level WASH stewardship plan including targets.
• Engage with a third-party provider to support practical action and implementation if in-house resources do not exist.
• Engage with global initiatives to learn from the experience of others.

One in ten people lack clean water while one in four have no decent toilet. While many companies have provided access to these basic services at their workplaces, the real opportunity lies across supply chains, particularly agricultural ones.

Only then can business truly support universal access to WASH as well as working towards sustainable and resilient supply chains.

Find out more at https://washmatters.wateraid.org/publications/water-sanitation-hygiene-resilient-agriculture-supply-chains.

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Excerpt:

Ruth Romer is Private Sector Advisor, WaterAid

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By Joyce Chimbi
NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 12 2019 (IPS)

For each of the 830 women dying each day from pregnancy complications and childbirth, an estimated 20 others suffer serious injuries, infections or disabilities.

This is the reality that millions of women face, and informs the Nairobi Summit’s three critical commitments which are to bring preventable maternal deaths, gender-based violence and harmful practices, as well as unmet need for family planning, to zero. To achieve this objective money is needed.

Joyce Chimbi

Finding the money for commitments

Private sector organisations including the Ford Foundation, Johnson & Johnson, Philips and World Vision, announced that the world as envisioned in Cairo in 1994 will cost $264 billion to deliver.

“Building financial momentum and bridging existing resource gaps around these commitments will not be easy. While most countries have constitutionalised reproductive health and rights, mobilising domestic resources has not automatically followed,” says Nerima Were, programme manager of the Kenya Legal and Ethical Issues told IPS.

How much will it really cost to deal with family planning?

To bring maternal mortality to zero in the 120 countries that account for over 95 percent of maternal mortality will cost $115.5 billion in key maternal health interventions.

Ending the unmet need for family planning in the same number of priority countries will cost $68.5 billion. Ending gender-based violence will require investing 42 billion dollars in 132 priority countries.

Currently, only $42 billion in development assistance is expected to be spent on advancing these goals. It, therefore, means that an additional $222 billion in investments will be required over the next decade.

Who will really fund commitments?

Were says that envisioning and articulating what form and shape these investments will take, is critical. She argues that at the moment it is not clear whether these additional costs will be raised in foreign investments, domestic allocation or private spending.

“This discussion is not just about dollars and cents but values and choices. It is also about translating choices into practical ways of making decisions,” says Achim Steiner, of the United Nations Development Programme, UNDP.

Steiner says that financial decisions can be framed in different ways, and that analysing the cost and gaps in delivering the three commitments, is a way to advise the world on how to invest.

Making informed decisions

“It is about helping societies to be better informed and to make better choices. The issue is not what it will cost to bring them to zero, but the cost of not bringing them to zero,” he argues.

World Bank data has shown that family planning is the “best buy” for governments. For each additional dollar spent on contraceptive services in developing countries, the cost of maternal and newborn healthcare could be reduced by two dollars and twenty cents. Importantly, estimates also show that every dollar invested in family planning pays itself back $120 in saved costs.

Africa must and can find the money

Researchers at the African Population and Health Research Centre indicate that African countries will need to dig deeper.

Budget underspending in the health sector prevails across the continent. “Africa has the resources to achieve these three critical goals. The exponential growth of economies across the country is reflective of the continents financial muscle,” says Jackson Chekweko, executive director for Reproductive Health Uganda, the member association for International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF).

Chekweko argues that political will and commitments are more important, and that “there will always be resources for what the government, especially presidents, say is a priority. African presidents wield a lot of influence on resource allocation.”

He argues, for instance, that Uganda made a commitment at the recent London Summit “to allocate $5 million to family planning annually. This has been done because the president said so.”

Bold leadership from Kenya’s Uhuru Kenyatta

Chekweko adds that there’s also a new generation of leaders such as President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya who will not shy away from making ambitious commitments.

“President Kenyatta made several bold statements at the ICPD25 Summit. He has declared that East African countries will reduce FGM to zero by 2022 and confirmed gender-based violence will, without a doubt, be reduced to zero,” he says.

Chekweko says that a demonstrable political commitment will encourage partnerships to help meet existing resource gaps. “Once we agree that issues of sexual and reproductive health and rights are a priority, the money will follow this purpose. Even if it means raising taxes such as VAT(value-added taxes) and PAYE (pay as you earn) by just one percent, it will be done,” Chekweko says.

Were adds that within the context of limited domestic funding, a scale back by external donors, and ambitious health and health coverage targets and domestic resource mobilisation, has never been more critical.

“To reach zero in all three areas, governments will need to carefully decide what their priorities are, anything that falls within that priority framework must be achieved,” she says.

Related Articles

• Nairobi Summit to Redouble Efforts to Urgently Deal with Reproductive Rights for Women and Girls
• Call to Action as Thousands Breathe New Life to the Cairo Promise at ICPD 25 Summit in Nairobi This Week
• The Nairobi Summit Is about the Future of Humanity and Human Prosperity
• Abortion Remains an Unresolved Issue: ICPD25 Meeting next Month

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ICPD25 opening, Crown Princess Mary from Denmark with President Uhuru Kenyatta (middle ), and the key speakers. Credit: ICPD25

By Mantoe Phakathi
NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 12 2019 (IPS)

More than 6 000 delegates in the population development sector are gathering in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi this week to renew the promise made to girls and women 25 years ago in Cairo.

Giving them the renewed mandate were young girls from different African countries, in their firm voices, called upon delegates to ensure that they have access to sexual reproductive health rights, justice and equality.

“I want to be educated about sexual and reproductive rights,” said one of the girls to the applause of the packed conference room at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre.

A call to Action

In this conference, the girls aim to jolt the delegates to action following a commitment made in the Egyptian capital of Cairo in 1994. The commitment then was to create equality for all by placing women at the centre of global development strategies.

A quarter century later, and in commemorating the 25th anniversary of the International Conference on Population Development (ICPD25), the delegates from 179 countries are renewing the Cairo Promise in light of the fact that the 1994 vision is far from being a reality. The Nairobi Summit is therefore focusing on doubling efforts in the following key areas:

• • • Universal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights as a part of universal health coverage.

 

• • • Financing required to complete the ICPD Programme of Action and to sustain the gains made.

 

• • • Drawing on demographic diversity to drive economic growth and achieve sustainable development.

 

• • • Ending gender-based violence and harmful practices.

 

• • Upholding the right to sexual and reproductive healthcare even in humanitarian and fragile contexts.

There’s been progress, but…

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) executive director, Natalia Kanem, told delegates that despite the long journey ahead, progress has been made in the last 25 years.

UNFPA Executive Director, Natalia Kanem speaking at the Opening of the Nairobi Summit. Credit: ICPD25

“Maternal mortality is down 44 percent, worldwide,” said Kanem, adding: “This means four million women who would have otherwise died while pregnant, or at childbirth, are alive today.”

While she noted that there was a good reason to celebrate, she, however, noted that “good progress is not good enough”, insisting that the promises made to girls, women and everyone should be kept.

In illustrating the challenges, she said within the short space of time that she was standing at the podium, at least 46 under-age girls have been forced to marriage, and a countless number of girls have been sexually abused, hurt and traumatised.

“The victims and survivors are most likely to be shamed and blamed than the perpetrators who violated them,” Kanem said.

She paid tribute to governments, civil society organisations, UN agencies, the private sector and the youth, for bringing new ideas and resources to make rights and choices a reality.

“To the youth, you’re inspiring in pushing us to go further. Thank you,” she said.

Ending Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)

Also adding his voice to action against all practices, policies and laws that put women at a disadvantage, was the Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta.

He reminded the delegates that there were absent participants from the Nairobi Summit. In his statement, he was making reference to women of the world who would, this year alone, experience gender-based violence inflicted most likely by someone close to them. He was also referring to the 800 women and girls who die every day during pregnancy or childbirth, the four million girls who are forced to undergo Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), the more than 33 000 girls married every day before the age of 18 and millions of unemployed youths with limited hope for a better future.

Kenyatta urged delegates to let their deliberations “ be guided by the needs, the aspirations and the unrealised potential of those individuals who are not present here.”

He noted that significant progress in key areas, though uneven, has been made since 1994 when the Cairo Promise was first made. Kenyatta observed that today nearly one billion fewer people live in extreme poverty compared to 1990, life expectancy has increased by seven years, universal access to primary education has gone up and access to birth control has also increased, leading to a reduced global fertility rate.

“We’ve also seen a steady, though slow increase, in the number of women in leadership and decision-making positions in all sectors of society,” said Kenyatta.

In renewing the promise, Kenyatta said the packaging of priority actions will differ from country to country depending on their development needs, urging nations to at least commit to increasing secondary and tertiary education for both boys and girls. He also implored the nations to strive to reduce maternal deaths and to eliminate incidents of FGM.

Youth involvement non-negotiable

The United Nation’s (UN) deputy secretary-general, Amina Mohammed, called for the youth’s involvement in the decision-making table, adding that there must be data of support programmes.

“Millions of women and girls are still waiting for promises to be met, they’ve been waiting for a long time,” she said, and insisting that women and girls are the owners of their bodies.

Rasmus Prehn, Minister for Development Cooperation, Denmark addressing ICPD25 in Nairobi. Credit: ICPD25

Danish Minister for Development Cooperation Rasmus Prehn said women and girls are at the heart of sustainable development. He called upon delegates to maximise their effort in this endeavour, adding that he was looking forward to ICPD30 only if it is about celebrating success. “Women and girls are the true owners of their bodies,” he said.

Related Articles

• Call to Action as Thousands Breathe New Life to the Cairo Promise at ICPD 25 Summit in Nairobi This Week
• The Nairobi Summit Is about the Future of Humanity and Human Prosperity
• Abortion Remains an Unresolved Issue: ICPD25 Meeting next Month

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UNFPA-supported midwives ensured that this young woman gave birth safely in Bor Hospital, South Sudan. © UNFPA South Sudan

By Julitta Onabanjo
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, Nov 12 2019 (IPS)

This is a special year for all rights-based health advocates, as we celebrate 25 years of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD).

At the ICPD in Cairo in 1994, for the first time world leaders from 179 member states committed to the principles that underpin today’s Sustainable Development Goals: non-discrimination and universality; the centrality of health, including sexual and reproductive health and rights; education; women’s empowerment and gender equality; and the collective need to ensure environmental sustainability.

In the past 25 years, noteworthy progress has been made towards the realization of universal sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) in most parts of the world, including in East and Southern Africa.

The East and Southern Africa region is home to more than 600 million people, with a third of its population between 10 to 24 years of age.

In the East and Southern Africa region:

• Today, one in three women are using a modern family planning method, compared to less than one in ten in 1994. Higher use of modern family planning methods has enabled women to exercise their right to determine the timing and number of their children;
• A woman’s chance of dying due to pregnancy or childbirth has declined from a 1-in-20 risk during her lifetime to a 1-in-55 risk;
• Many countries have criminalized gender-based violence (GBV), and have outlawed child marriage and female genital mutilation;
• New HIV infections have declined by 20 per cent, while AIDS-related deaths have decreased by 44 per cent since 2010.

Considering the current pace of progress, it could be concluded that the East and Southern Africa region is unlikely to achieve universal access to SRHR and Universal Health Coverage (UHC) by 2030.


Despite good progress, the promise of the ICPD remains to be fulfilled for millions of people in the East and Southern Africa region. One in five women do not have their family planning needs met.

Lack of contraceptive choices is producing sub-optimal health and fertility benefits. Although care during pregnancy, delivery and post-delivery has improved, the quality and cost of these services remain a challenge.

More women appear to be dying due to poor quality care than lack of access to care. One in three girls are being married by age 18, and almost one in six young women aged 20 to 24 years continues to experience gender-based violence.

Legal systems still have difficulty convicting perpetrators of gender-based violence. Ninety-eight per cent of all new HIV infections are now occurring in just 15 countries, the majority of them in East and Southern Africa. These challenges are exacerbated in conflict, humanitarian and emergency settings.

Considering the current pace of progress, it could be concluded that the East and Southern Africa region is unlikely to achieve universal access to SRHR and Universal Health Coverage (UHC) by 2030.

In this context, the ICPD25 Nairobi Summit provides a great opportunity to recommit ourselves to redoubling our efforts to accelerate progress towards universal SRHR, and women’s empowerment and gender equality – the unfinished agendas of the ICPD.

The good news is that, along with the steady but noteworthy progress towards SRHR for all, leaving no one behind, the momentum around Universal Health Coverage is also growing in the East and Southern Africa region.

The Political Declaration of the High-Level Meeting on UHC by Heads of State and Government and representatives of States and Governments will further strengthen this momentum.

Through the high-level declaration, world leaders have committed to progressively achieve Universal Health Coverage, achieve universal access to SRHR, and stop the rise and reverse the trend of catastrophic out-of-pocket health expenditure by providing measures to ensure financial risk protection and eliminate impoverishment due to health-related expenses, by 2030.

Comprehensive SRHR services include:
Modern contraception
Pregnancy, delivery and post-delivery care including fistula
HIV/STI/RTI
Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE)
Safe abortion and post-abortion care
Reproductive cancers
Sub-fertility and infertility treatment
Gender-based violence (GBV) and other harmful practices such as female genital mutilation (FGM) and child marriage
Sexual health and well-being, including menstrual health management (MHM)
Under the unifying framework of UHC, countries are prioritizing the provision of a set of essential health services aligned to country needs (i.e. a minimum essential UHC Benefit Package) and developing roadmaps to progressively expand the number of services included under a minimum essential UHC Benefit Package, as the economy and/or financing for health increases.

To generate resources for Universal Health Coverage, many countries are initiating innovative financing arrangements (e.g. pool health financing and pre-payment mechanisms), and to ensure that the cost of using health services does not put people at risk of financial harm, many countries are strengthening their financial protection mechanisms.

However, the current and, for many, proposed minimum essential UHC benefit packages, financing and financial protection mechanisms do not include six out of the nine recommended essential SRH bundles of services (see Box 2, 4-9). In many countries, even if the remaining three essential SRHR bundles of services are part of UHC benefit packages, they are not fully covered under UHC financing and financial protection mechanisms.

The current momentum around UHC in the region should become a powerful framework for accelerating progress towards universal SRHR:

• When comprehensive SRHR services are progressively integrated into the UHC benefit packages, and financing and financial protection arrangements ensure that the use of SRHR services does not expose the user to financial hardship;
• When UHC policies and programmes prioritize integrated, people-centered delivery of primary promotive, preventive, curative, rehabilitative and palliative health care, including SRHR, by following a life-course approach;
• When UHC policies and programmes ensure that ‘no one is left behind’, with an endeavour to get essential health and SRHR services to those left furthest behind first, founded on the dignity of the human person and reflecting the principles of equality and non-discrimination;
• When the opportunities and risks associated with existing/proposed UHC financing, delivery and financial protection arrangements are better understood and evidence-based measures implemented to minimize undesirable outcomes, including development of evidence-driven country-specific policies on the role of the private sector in attaining universal SRHR and UHC;
• When UHC policies and programmes strengthen the capacity of national governments to exercise strategic leadership and coordination, focusing on intra as well as inter-sectoral coordination and integrated, people-centered delivery; as well as strengthen the capacity of local authorities, and encourage them to effectively engage with their respective communities and stakeholders to accelerate progress towards universal SRHR and UHC.

Universal Health Coverage (UHC) means that all people and communities can use the promotive, preventive, curative, rehabilitative and palliative health services they need, of sufficient quality to be effective, while also ensuring that the use of these services does not expose the user to financial hardship
In the lead up to the Nairobi Summit ICPD25, everyday people have joined advocates and activists to passionately express what they march for under the hashtag campaign #IMarchFor.

What will you march for? I march for the full, effective and accelerated implementation of the ICPD Programme of Action – an agenda still to be fully realized – an agenda that includes at its core universal SRHR.

Achieving this target would require us to take advantage of the momentum of Universal Health Coverage. SRHR and UHC will need to become more entwined. Simply put – there can be no UHC without universal SRHR and vice versa. Together, let’s march for the universal goal of UHC and SRHR for all, with no exceptions!

The post When is Universal Health Coverage Good for Attaining Universal Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights? appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Dr. Julitta Onabanjo is Regional Director, United Nations Population Fund, East and Southern Africa

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• $500 million equity closed for the Africa Infrastructure Investment Fund to speed up investments in agriculture
 
• Financial close for the Africa Guarantee Fund $175 Equity transaction to support Small and Medium Size Enterprises, and $350 million for South Africa’s beef agro-processing project

By African Development Bank
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, Nov 12 2019 (IPS-Partners)

The 2019 Africa Investment Forum opened on Monday living up to its promise to move from commitment to action.

A $500 million equity deal presented by the Africa Infrastructure Investment Fund last year, to speed up investments in agriculture, and a $175 million equity transaction from the Africa Guarantee Fund for investors to support Small and Medium Size Enterprises, are among the transactions that found financial close over the past year.

The opening ceremony was attended by President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa; President Nana Akufo Addo of Ghana; President Paul Kagame of Rwanda; and Prime Minister Agostinho do Rosario of Mozambique.

“The time is now to move with speed to ensure that we unlock our potential…Indeed our continent is ripe for investments, but more importantly, it is also brimming with enormous profitable opportunities,” President Ramaphosa said in his address, as he urged investors to move beyond pledges.

The Africa Investment Forum is an innovative, multi-stakeholder transactional marketplace conceived by the African Development Bank, aimed at raising capital, advancing projects to the bankable stage, and accelerating financial closure of deals.

“As the investor community, your presence here shows your unwavering will to help us and support us to succeed. I invite you, therefore, to join us as we pass the flickering torch of progress across every border of this great continent until the light of development and economic prosperity illuminates every African village, every African town, every African city, in every African household.” he said.

The inaugural Africa Investment Forum secured investment interests for deals valued at $38.7 billion in less than 72 hours. “A lot of progress has been made on these investment interests,” with a highly dedicated team of partners working around the clock to accelerate financial closure for transactions,” African Development Bank President Akinwuni Adesina said.

Another transaction tabled last year – a $600 million transaction for COCOBOD to help improve processing and value addition for cocoa – has also reached financial close, and will be signed during this edition of the Forum. Similarly, South Africa’s $350 million beef agro-processing project has reached financial close.

“Promise made, promise kept,” said Adesina. He noted that Mara Phones Ashish Takkhar made a commitment during the 2018 Forum. “In 2019, he delivered.”

“It is a new, more confident Africa. A continent now aware of its place in the world and determined to be a global investment haven. And Africa is harnessing investors’ interests and investments. Welcome to the Africa Investment Forum, the place to be for investors,” he said.

Several leading figures were in attendance including, the Premier of Gauteng province, David Makhura; Tito Mboweni, Minister of Finance and African Development Bank’s Governor for South Africa; Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, Minister of Cooperative Governance & Traditional Affairs and Ibrahim Mayaki representing the chairperson of the African Union Commission. Minister Philip Mpango from Tanzania; Minister Jean Jacques Bouya from the Republic of Congo; Mr. Vital Kamerhe from the Democratic Republic of Congo were among the high-level delegates who took part in the opening ceremony. Executive Governors from Nigeria, including Kayade Fayemi of Ekiti State; Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State, and Adulrahman Abdurazaq of Kwara State.

Shortly after the opening ceremony, Masai Ujuri, President of the Toronto Raptors; Ashish J. Thakkar, CEO of Mara Group and Tokunboh Ismael Managing Partner of Alitheaia IDF Fund shared their views on progress made since 2018.

The Africa Investment Forum inaugural edition was launched in 2018 in partnership with Africa50, Afrexim Bank, the Trade Development Bank, the Development Bank of South Africa, the Islamic Development Bank, the Africa Finance Corporation, the European Investment Bank.

The Forum runs from 11 to 13 November in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Contact: Nafissatou Diouf, Communication and External Relations Department, African Development Bank, email: n.diouf@afdb.org

The post 2019 Africa Investment Forum kicks off delivering on the promise to redefine and unpack the continent’s investment opportunities appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

• $500 million equity closed for the Africa Infrastructure Investment Fund to speed up investments in agriculture
 
• Financial close for the Africa Guarantee Fund $175 Equity transaction to support Small and Medium Size Enterprises, and $350 million for South Africa’s beef agro-processing project

The post 2019 Africa Investment Forum kicks off delivering on the promise to redefine and unpack the continent’s investment opportunities appeared first on Inter Press Service.

- For the first time, on average, Africans can travel to approximately 27 countries visa-free or with a visa on arrival - Ethiopia moves up a record 32 places on the Index, entering the top 20 most visa-open countries in Africa

By African Development Bank
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, Nov 12 2019 (IPS-Partners)

For the first time, African travellers have liberal access to over half the continent, the 2019 Africa Visa Openness Index published by the African Union Commission and African Development Bank, reveals. The report was launched on Monday on the sidelines of the Africa Investment Forum, which opened in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The progress on visa openness in Africa follows growing momentum for greater integration between countries and signals that policymakers across the continent are pushing reforms, making it easier for African businessmen and women, investors, students and tourists to travel.

This fourth edition of the Index shows that 47 countries improved or maintained their visa openness scores in 2019. African visitors no longer need a visa to travel to a quarter of other African countries, whereas visa-free travel was only possible to a fifth of the continent in 2016. Currently, 21 African countries also offer eVisas to make travel more accessible, up from up from 16 in 2018, 13 in 2017, and 9 in 2016).

The 2019 top performers on visa openness rank among the top countries for foreign direct investment in Africa, and benefit from strong levels of growth, including in tourism. The Index shows that Seychelles and Benin remain the top two countries on visa openness in Africa, with their visa-free policy for all African visitors. Ethiopia moved up a record 32 places on the Index and entered the top 20 most visa-open countries in Africa.

African Development Bank President Akinwumi A. Adesina said, “Our work on the Africa Visa Openness Index continues to monitor how Africa is doing on free movement of people. Progress is being made but much still needs to be done. To integrate Africa, we should bring down the walls. The free movement of people, and especially labour mobility, are crucial for promoting investments.”

The Visa Openness Index has inspired reforms in more than 10 African countries including Ghana, Benin, Tunisia, Ethiopia and Kenya, unlocking tremendous potential for the promotion of intra-regional tourism, trade and investments.

Despite the gains shown in the report, there is the need to move further. In 2019, only 26% of Africans are able to get visas on arrival in other African countries, up by only 1% compared to 2016.

Countries need to make more progress on visa regimes, including introducing visas-on-arrival. By breaking down borders, Africa will be able to capitalize on gains from regional integration initiatives such as the African Continental Free Trade Area, the Single African Air Transport Market, and the Protocol on the Free Movement of Persons.

“It cannot be stressed enough how crucial integration is for the development of the continent and the fulfilment of its people’s aspiration to well-being. I congratulate those member states that have taken measures to ease the procedures for the entry of African nationals into their territories, and urge those that have not yet done so to join this growing momentum,” said Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of the African Union Commission.

About the Africa Visa Openness Index

The Africa Visa Openness Index measures how open African countries are when it comes to visas by looking at what they ask of citizens from other countries in Africa when they travel. The Index is tracking changes in country scores over time to show which countries are making improvements that support freer movement of people across Africa.

Download the 2019 Africa Visa Openness Index and find out more here.

Contacts:
African Development Bank: Amba Mpoke-Bigg, Communication and External Relations Department, email: a.mpoke-bigg@afdb.org

Bureau of the Deputy Chairperson African Union Commission: Klenam Normanyo, Assistant to the Deputy Chairperson, e-mail NormanyoK@africa-union.org

The post 2019 Africa Visa Openness Index: African Union Commission, African Development Bank report shows wins in visa restrictions across Africa appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

- For the first time, on average, Africans can travel to approximately 27 countries visa-free or with a visa on arrival
- Ethiopia moves up a record 32 places on the Index, entering the top 20 most visa-open countries in Africa

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By African Development Bank
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, Nov 12 2019 (IPS-Partners)

The Africa Investment Forum is making phenomenal progress in attracting interest from all over the world since launching at the Sandton Convention Centre last year. The value of boardroom transactions which will be negotiated this year will be considerably higher compared to $43bn in 2018.

A hundred and nine countries are represented at this year’s conference, 61 of which are not African, indicating growing international interest in the annual gathering.

International financiers spoke at Monday morning’s press conference about the need for African countries to work together in order to speed up the continent’s international appeal as a lucrative investment destination.

Afreximbank President Prof. Benedict Oramah expressed concern over the fragmentation of 55 markets on the continent. “Until Africa forms a common platform for an economic and integrated continent, some countries will not survive. All around the world continents are working together. Multilateralism is becoming a challenge and unless the continent comes together we cannot negotiate with bigger economies,” said Oramah.

A growing number of companies attend investment conferences around the world, looking for opportunities. The Africa Investment Forum 2019 has 29 countries that are participating in deals on the table. Last year, the African Development Band invested $18bn in low-income countries and fragile states which many developed economies regard as too risky. The African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina said the bank is not scared of going into those countries. “It is my neighbourhood and my neighbourhood cannot be risky. That’s why the Bank has a facility that is called the private sector enhancement facility, which allows us to go into risky investments. We invest in places where people think we can never go and we don’t lose money there. We are going to make sure that investment continues to go into low-income and fragile states.”

One of the success stories following last year’s conference is the agreement the Bank signed with the Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank (TDB). TDB President Admassu Tadesse explains, “It helps if you find partners you can scale-up collectively. We have signed with the African Development Bank a risk participation agreement that amounts to $300m that allows us to move speedily into deals and have partners that will work alongside us.”

The TDB will also be signing an agreement with the European Union Bank.

The Africa Investment Forum is an innovative, multi-stakeholder transactional marketplace conceived by the African Development Bank, aimed at raising capital, advancing projects to the bankable stage, and accelerating financial closure of deals.

The 2018 inaugural Africa Investment Forum secured investment interests for deals valued at 38.7 billion — in less than 72 hours.

The 2019 Forum runs from 11 to 13 November in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Contact: Amba Mpoke-Bigg, Communication and External Relations Department, African Development Bank, email: a.mpokebiggg@afdb.org

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Kenya’s Lake Turkana Wind Power project opened in July is generates 300 MW of wind power. Credit: Isaiah Esipisu/IPS

By Nalisha Adams
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, Nov 11 2019 (IPS)

Africa, where close to half of its 1.2 billion people have access to electricity, is set to become a world leader in renewable energy. As global business and development leaders met in Johannesburg, South Africa, to attend the Africa Investment Forum (AIF), one of the key focuses of the deals being discussed was around sustainable, renewable energy.

Organised by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and its various partners, the forum is expected to see $68 billion in deals closed over the next few days.

Leaders are doing all they can to encourage investment

In attendance where heads of state from South Africa, Ghana, Rwanda and Mozambique. At an invitation-only discussion among the leaders, Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame said there was a lot of progress in Africa as a whole.

“I have always thought it was Africa’s time. We African’s have let ourselves down, we are now realising it has always been our time. And we are now seize every opportunity and be where we should be by now,” Kagame said.

• Kagame was the driver of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) during his time as chair of the African Union in 2018. The agreement had not been in existence during the first AIF last year.
• Established in March 2019, the AfCFTA has now been signed by 54 of the 55 African member states.

Alain Ebobisse, CEO of Africa 50, the Pan-African infrastructure investment platform capitalised by the AfDB, said that there was a consensus from African leaders that they needed to do whatever they could to attractive more private investment. He said that the AIF attendance showed that there was a changing narrative for investment on the continent.

• Earlier figures had been revealed by the South African premier of Gauteng Province, David Makhura, that over 2,000 delegates were in attendance from 109 countries. Of this, only 40 percent where from Africa with the majority of investors attending from Asia, Europe and the Americas.
• Gauteng is South Africa’s wealthiest province and includes the financial centres of Johannesburg and Sandton, as well as the seat of government in Pretoria. 

Renewable energy on a positive trajectory   

Ebobisse said that a lot was already happening on the continent and while the media focused on the challenges there were huge success stories too — like the 1.5 GW Benban Solar Park in Egypt, which is the world’s largest solar photovoltaic plant.

“I’m sure that people are not talking enough about this major achievement which is the Benban Solar Programmer, 1.5 GW of solar that was invested mostly by the private sector in a record time,” he said.

• Africa 50 invested in 400 MW in that project and completed it from design to commercial operations in two and a half years.

Ebobisse went on to highlight Kenya’s opening this July of the Lake Turkana Wind Power project, which at a generation capacity of 300 MW makes it the largest wind power project on the continent.

“It was funded by the private sector,” Ebobisse told the media. He also looked towards Senegal which was implementing many independent power producers or IPPs in the solar sector.

“So there is a lot that is happening. We need to also widely understand the challenges and understand what is happening on the ground. And people are actually making good money in this investment. And there is nothing wrong about that. Let’s celebrate those successes,” he said.

African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina said today the bank had doubled its investment in climate finance from $12 billion to $25 billion by 2020. Credit: Nalisha Adams/IPS

Making Africa a world leader in renewables

A few weeks ago, the Governors of the AfDB met in Cote d’Ivoire’s capital Abidjan, approving a historic $115 billion increase to the bank’s authorised capital base to $208 billion. “This is the highest capital increase in the history of the bank since its establishment in 1964,” AfDB president Akinwumi Adesina said today.

During the October announcement Adesina had said that a significant portion of funding would be invested in climate change.

Today, in response to a question from IPS, Adesina further explained that the bank had doubled its investment in climate finance from $12 billion to $25 billion by 2020.

“Almost 50 percent of our finance will be going to climate adaptation as opposed to climate mitigation. So we are the first multilateral development bank to actually reach that balance in terms of adaptation and mitigation,” he said.

• Climate mitigation is the actions taken to reduce or curb greenhouse gases, thereby addressing the causes of climate change to prevent future warming. However, climate adaptation addresses how to live with the impacts of climate change.

“I believe that coal is the past. I believe that renewable energy is the future and we as a bank are investing in not in the past, but in the future in making sure that we are investing in solar energy, in hydro energy, in wind, all types of renewable energy that Africa needs,” Adesina said.

“We want Africa to lead in renewable energy.”

He said one of the projects was the AfDB’s Green Baseload Facility, which according to the bank, aims “to accelerate the transition towards more sustainable baseload power generation options and prevent countries from locking themselves into environmentally damaging and potentially economically costly technologies”.

“It’s a $500-million facility that we have set up to support countries that want to shift out of fuel-based energy into renewable energy and providing access to finance at a cheaper rate to be able to make that transition,” Adesina said.

• The bank’s biggest investment is the Desert to Power project, which was announced in December at the United Nations’ Climate Conference in Katowice, Poland.
• The initiative plans to supply 10 GW of solar energy by 2025 to 250 million people across 11 Sahelian countries. 

“That would make it the largest solar zone in the world,” Adesian stated. The bank will work in partnership with various investors to also establish plants on the continent that will manufacture the solar panels for the project.

• The AfDB has always stated “a lack of energy remains a significant impediment to Africa’s economic and social development“.
• According to AfDB, energy poverty in Africa is estimated to cost the continent 2 to 4  percent  GDP annually.

Africa’s climate crisis

The continent is facing climate change impact with rising temperatures and reduced rainfall.

The Sahel, which lies between The Sahara and the Sudanian Savanna, offers a blaze of sunlight with little rain as it is the region where temperatures are rising faster than anywhere else on Earth, according to the Great Green Wall initiative, a project that aims to reverse desertification and land degradation in the area.   

Last month, IPS reported that as The Sahara desert continues to expand, it tears apart families, forces migration from rural areas to cities and has contributed to conflict for precious resources of water, land and food.  

In July, IPS reported that the parts of Kenya had already warmed to above 1.5˚C — a figure deemed acceptable by global leaders during the 2015 Paris Agreement. But at such high temperatures a study found that over the last four decades livestock some Kenyan counties had decline by almost a quarter because of the temperature increase over time.

• During the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Paris in 2015, all countries committed under the Paris Agreement to “holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C”.
• But last year the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a special report warning that the world would face the risk of extreme heat, drought, floods and poverty at a temperature rise of 1.5°C.

Siby Diabira, regional head for Southern Africa and the Indian Ocean for PROPARCO, a subsidiary of Agence Française de Développement (AFD) focused on private sector development, told IPS that last year the group did $1.76 billion in investment deals, half of which was in Africa. Credit: Nalisha Adams/IPS

However, the forum showed that there remain a number of investors looking to provide funding for renewables and other development project on the continent. 

Siby Diabira, regional head for Southern Africa and the Indian Ocean for PROPARCO, a subsidiary of Agence Française de Développement (AFD) focused on private sector development, told IPS that last year the group did $1.76 billion in investment deals, half of which was in Africa. The AIF was still in its early stages to make a pronouncement on the success of the deals, Diabira said, but “so far so good”.

Diabira said the French development agencies aimed to be 100 percent compliant with the Paris Agreement and hence were investing heavily in renewable energy.

• She explained that PROPARCO was involved in “all types of renewable energy from hydro to solar to wind”, adding that there was a need for a mix of both traditional and renewable energy generation.

“I have been attending some of the boardroom [discussions]. It is a quite interesting gathering to have for the second year and to have so many different types of investors and projects that are raising funds for these types of events,” she said.

“We have been present in financing the first few rounds of renewable energy projects in South Africa and our idea is also as a [Development Financial Institution] DFI to be able to contribute to create this market for the commercial banks to come with us on those types of projects,” Diabira said.

Admassu Tadesse, President of the Trade and Development Bank, also pointed out that partnership agreements among the various banks and partners had strengthen their position in deals.

“If you have smart partnerships you can scale up collectively. With the African Development Bank we have signed a risk participation agreement to the tune of $300 million, which will allow us to move speedily into fields and have partners coming into deals alongside us.”

He said they expected to soon sign a deal with the European Investment Bank (EIB) that will again strengthen their position.

EIB vice president Ambroise Fayolle said they were attending this year with great intentions to develop transactions. He said it came on the back of their 2018 record year of investments in the continent, which amounted to some $3.6 billion — more than 50 percent of which was in the private sector. The bank signed 3 partnerships already, he said, none of which would have been possible without the AIF.

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• “Our Choices Matter More Than Ever Before” To Limit Climate Change

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Credit: United Nations

By Maaike Beenes
UTRECHT, The Netherlands, Nov 11 2019 (IPS)

Would you trust an algorithm with your life? If that thought makes you uncomfortable, then you should be concerned about the artificial intelligence (AI) arms race that is secretly taking off, fueled by the arms industry.

Weapon systems that can select and attack targets autonomously, without real human control, are moving from science fiction to reality.

Take for example the Warmate 2. This Polish-made missile loiters over an area, controlled remotely by an operator, but can go into fully autonomous mode once a target has been identified.

Or the Dual-Mode Brimstone, a guided missile that can be assigned a target area after which it can find targets matching a predefined target type.

Right now these weapons are under human control, but the technology is designed to keep humans out of the picture. We are already well on our way down a very slippery slope.

For our new report* that we publish this week, we surveyed 50 weapons producers about their work on increasingly autonomous systems. The results show that although existing systems are still partly controlled, often remotely, by human operators, the industry is rapidly moving towards more and more autonomous systems.

In addition to asking the 50 companies to participate in the survey with questions about their policy and activities, the report analysed publicly available sources about the systems they are developing and military contracts they have already won.

Maaike Beenes

We found only four companies that we could classify as showing ‘best practice’ because they have in place a policy or statement to not develop lethal autonomous weapons. 30 companies, however, are of ‘high concern’.

These companies are all working on technologies most relevant to lethal autonomous weapons while not having clear policies on how they ensure meaningful human control over such weapons.

The group of high concern companies includes three of the world’s largest arms producers: Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Raytheon (all US), as well as AVIC and CASC (China), IAI, Elbit and Rafael (Israel), Rostec (Russia) and STM (Turkey).

Turkey’s state-owned weapons producer STM, for example, has developed the Kargu system. The Kargu is a kamikaze drone that flies to an area based on preselected coordinates and can then select targets based on facial recognition.

Some reports suggest the Kargu will soon be deployed on the Turkish-Syrian theater. This loitering munition may very soon cross the threshold to a weapon system without meaningful human control.

The results of this research are deeply concerning. Lethal autonomous weapon systems, which select and attack targets without meaningful human control, raise a host of legal, security and ethical concerns.

Crucially, removing the human from the ultimate kill-decision means delegating the decision to end a human being’s life to an algorithm-operated machine. This is fundamentally opposed to the right to life and human dignity.

An unarmed drone deployed to a UN peacekeeping mission. Credit: United Nations

But there are not just ethical concerns. Lethal autonomous weapons systems would be able to operate at speeds incomprehensible to humans.

Their high levels of autonomy would also make it very difficult to predict how they will react to unanticipated events, as we have already seen with accidents with self-driving cars. Any such unintended actions would significantly raise the risk of conflict escalation.

Lethal autonomous weapons are therefore not only unethical, but also pose a serious risk to international peace and security. It is also highly unlikely they would be able to comply with the key principles of International Humanitarian Law (IHL).

IHL requires distinguishing between civilians and combatants and to assess for each attack whether the civilian harm that would be caused by an attack is proportional to the expected military advantage. These are all highly context-dependent considerations, and that is exactly what algorithms are really bad at.

These concerns have sparked intense debates among states, which have discussed autonomous weapons at the UN Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) since 2013.

These discussions have been productive in the sense that it has become clear the large majority of states want to ensure meaningful human control over the use of force.

Currently 30 states have already called for a preventive treaty that prohibits lethal autonomous weapons and ensures such human control. However, the debate is being stalled by a handful of countries that are enabling a global AI-arms race.

It is urgent for states to take action now that the development of lethal autonomous weapons can still be prevented rather than cured. Adopting new international law is the most effective way to do that.

It is clear that most states are ready to take their responsibility but as they meet this week in Geneva for the annual Meeting of High Contracting Parties to the CCW, it will become clear whether they are capable of making sufficient progress to prevent the world from a disastrous revolution in warfare.

The link to the report: https://www.paxforpeace.nl/slippery-slope

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Excerpt:

Maaike Beenes is Senior Programme Officer Humanitarian Disarmament

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By Qadaruddin Shishir
Nov 9 2019 (IPS-Partners)

(The Daily Star) – Holding or expressing opinions that do not go along the lines of the State is criminalised by law in many countries including ours. And the State often translates here as “people in power”. So, having differences of opinion with “people in power” can land anyone in serious trouble. Not surprisingly, this has been happening for years and under different governments in Bangladesh. Numerous dissenting voices had to pay—of course with the help of laws that have earned the labels “draconian” and “repressive” from rights activists.

When the State promotes suppression of dissenting voices in such a systematic way, what would be its implication in the greater society? Obviously, this sentiment trickles down to the public. People, especially those who feel connected with power circles, can take this as an opportunity to assert themselves and score some extra points for further political gain. This also serves the cause of the State to muzzle dissent. In this game of gains Abrar Fahad, a young Buet student, had to sacrifice his precious life on October 7. He had committed a “crime”, at least in the eyes of the killers, by posting his personal opinion on Facebook that was deemed not in line with the ruling party narrative. Certainly, Abrar is not the only one in the list of victims of this kind, but the latest and one of the most unfortunate.

In the aftermath of Abrar’s gruesome killing by members of the ruling party’s student wing, top government minister and Awami League general secretary Obaidul Quader said, “You can’t just beat someone to death for having a different opinion.” He did not say, “You can’t deem someone to be criminal for having a different opinion.” The minister’s statement was rightly and cautiously worded. The laws of the land do not permit anyone to “just beat someone to death for having a different opinion”. But it permits incriminating anyone “for having a different opinion”.

In 2018, Amnesty International made a statement regarding the Digital Security Act (DSA)—a draconian law massively criticised by international bodies—“The new Act is deeply problematic for three major reasons: ambiguous formulation of multiple sections that are vague that they may lead to criminalising of legitimate expression of opinions or thoughts; broad powers granted to authorities which are not clearly defined; and provisions which allow for removal or blocking of content and the seizure/ search of devices without sufficient safeguards.”

So, possible criminalising of legitimate expression of opinions or thoughts is at the core of a law and it wasn’t changed despite waves of criticism by rights activists and journalists in the country and abroad. Rather, DSA was used indiscriminately to stifle critical voices.

During last year’s road safety movement by the school students, Amnesty International observed about the draconian Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Act, which has been replaced by DSA, “Section 57 has long been used as an instrument to criminalise people for freely expressing their views and opinions.”

At that time prominent photographer Shahidul Alam also became a victim of this law. PEN International then wrote, “Shahidul was taken away because in a few posts on social media, he has been vocal and critical of the government’s human rights record. For exercising those legitimate rights, he is being punished.”

There were recurrent reports of arresting people for their Facebook posts. University teachers, government employees, among others, have been punished for expressing personal opinion on social media that hurt the feelings of ruling party men. In recent years, a number of cases were filed centring social media posts critical of the government. Mostly filed by government loyalists against dissenters, currently there are hundreds of cases to deal with in the Cyber Tribunal. After three persons getting arrested in such cases in May this year, Human Rights Watch said, “The Bangladesh government should stop locking up its critics and review the law to ensure it upholds international standards on the right to peaceful expression.”

Suing against dissenting voices, including journalists, has become a subject of competition among the government devotees; 84 cases were filed against the editor of the leading English daily of the country.

Another dimension has been added to stifling dissent in Bangladesh in the last few years as the country saw a wave of killing of bloggers for writings that were deemed inappropriate by the conservative section of the society. However, those incidents were claimed by religious extremists.

Taking all this into consideration along with the existing culture of impunity enjoyed by criminals connected to the ruling party, and the government’s hunting of dissenters, there may be a growing sense in pro-government party cadres that targeting people with opposing ideologies or opinions can be a good way for showing off loyalty. To them, being in the opposite side of a debate is a “crime”, writing one’s views on Facebook is an “offence”, and that’s why they called Abrar Fahad into the “torture cell” to interrogate him and find out who else shared his thoughts and opinions.

Most importantly, this was not an isolated incident in Buet; as media reports revealed the practice was going on for some time and the victims were not served justice after they reported these incidents to the university authorities. Why were they silent? Why were the university authorities afraid to act against Chhatra League’s activities that went on for years?

So, who is to blame for Abrar’s killing? Those who killed him? Or those who did not take any action to save him despite knowing what was going on? Or is it the state to blame that formulated laws criminalising dissent and encouraging the muzzling of critical voices?

Qadaruddin Shishir is a Dhaka based journalist and co-founder of BD FactCheck.

This story was originally published by The Daily Star, Bangladesh

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An older woman panhandles on a street in San Salvador. Criminal trafficking groups take advantage of vulnerable people, such as the destitute, to force them to beg. But in Central America, 80 percent of the victims of trafficking are women and girls, for purposes of sexual exploitation. Credit: Edgardo Ayala/IPS

By Edgardo Ayala
SAN SALVADOR, Nov 8 2019 (IPS)

Central America is an impoverished region rife with gang violence and human trafficking – the third largest crime industry in the world – as a major source of migrants heading towards the United States.

Human trafficking has had deep roots in Central America, especially in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, for decades, and increasingly requires a concerted law enforcement effort by the region’s governments to dismantle trafficking networks, and to offer support programmes for the victims.

The phenomenon “has become more visible in recent years, but not much progress has been made in the area of more direct attention to victims,” Carmela Jibaja, a Catholic nun with the Ramá Network against Trafficking in Persons, told IPS."We know that El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala are countries with a heavy flow of undocumented migrants, which puts them at risk of becoming victims of trafficking." -- Carlos Morán

This Central American civil society organisation forms part of the Talita Kum International Network against Trafficking in Persons, based in Rome, which brings together 58 anti-trafficking organisations around the world.

Jibaja pointed out that “the biggest trafficking problem is at the borders, because El Salvador is a country that expels migrants,” as well as in tourism areas. The most recognised form of trafficking in the region is sexual exploitation, whose victims are women.

Carlos Morán, Interpol security officer and a member of the Honduran police Cybercrime Unit, concurs .

“We know that El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala are countries with a heavy flow of undocumented migrants, which puts them at risk of becoming victims of trafficking,” Morán told IPS while participating in a regional forum on the issue, hosted Nov. 4-8 by San Salvador.

The “Regional Seminar on Investigation Techniques and Protection of Victims of Trafficking in Persons” brought together officials from the office of the public prosecutor, police officers, legal experts and other key actors and experts from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, the countries that make up the so-called Northern Central American Triangle.

The objective is to strengthen capacities and good practices in the investigation of trafficking, especially when the crime is transnational in nature.

Morán and other participants in the meeting declined to talk about figures on the extent of trafficking in the region, due to the lack of reliable data.

Prosecutors, police officers, government officials, experts and representatives of social organisations from Central America are participating in a special seminar on human trafficking Nov. 4-8 to identify and coordinate joint efforts. Credit: Edgardo Ayala/IPS

Civil society supports victims

In the countries of the Northern Triangle there are government efforts to develop victim care programmes, but they are insufficient and civil society organisations have had to take up the challenge.

Mirna Argueta, executive director of the Association for the Self-Determination of Salvadoran Women (AS Mujeres), told IPS that “the problem is serious, because we are facing networks with great economic and political influence, and victims are not being protected,” and there are very few programmes to help with their reinsertion in society.

Her organisation has been working since 1996 with victims of trafficking, offering psychological and medical support, and is also an important ally of the Attorney-General’s Office in victim protection work.

AS Mujeres collaborates with the police and prosecutors when victims have to be moved from one place to another, in the most secretive way possible, especially when judicial cases against organised crime networks are underway.

In the past it has also offered shelter to women victims of trafficking, but now the prosecutor’s office does, said Argueta, who is also coordinator in El Salvador of the Latin American Observatory on Trafficking in Persons, which brings together 15 countries.

AS Mujeres’ victim care programme includes, in addition to psychological support, medical assistance which incorporates non-traditional techniques such as biomagnetism, performed by a physician specialising in this area, as well as massage and aromatherapy.

“Experience has shown us that with the combination of these three techniques, recovery is more effective, and care is more integral,” said Argueta.

She added that since the programme’s inception in 1996, it has served some 600 trafficking victims.

They currently offer support to five women, who IPS could not speak to because they are under legal protection, and providing their names or a telephone number for them has criminal consequences.

For the same reason, the public prosecutor’s office also vetoed conducting interviews with victims under its protection.

AS Mujeres also promotes a self-care network.

“When the victim has gone through different stages, we integrate her with other women and they can share their experiences, making it less painful, and helping them with their reinsertion in society,” Argueta added.

She said many victims feel they are “damaged,” or worthless, and they turn to prostitution.

Victims can spend anywhere from six months to two and a half years in the programme, depending on the complexity of each case. For example, there are women with acute problems of depression, suicidal thoughts and persecutory delusions.

According to figures from the United Nations office in Honduras, released in July, 80 percent of the victims of human trafficking in Central America are women and girls.

In El Salvador, 90 percent of cases involve sexual exploitation, according to official figures provided by the public prosecutor’s office during the regional forum in San Salvador.

However, other types of trafficking have been detected, such as labour exploitation, forced panhandling and others.

So far this year, the prosecution has reported 800 victims, cases that are still open.

Mirna Argueta (L), executive director of the Association for the Self-Determination of Salvadoran Women, and Catholic nun Carmela Jibaja, of the Central American Network against Trafficking in Persons, are two activists working to provide care for victims of trafficking, who are mostly women. Credit: Edgardo Ayala/IPS

In Guatemala, in 2018, the Public Prosecutor’s Office detected 478 possible victims of human trafficking, four percent more than the previous year. There were 276 reported cases, also an increase of four percent.

Children and adolescents continue to be vulnerable to trafficking, as 132 children and adolescents were detected as possible victims of human trafficking, 28 percent of the total, 111 of whom were rescued.

They were victims of illegal adoptions, labour exploitation, forced marriage, forced panhandling, sexual exploitation and forced labour or services. But the most invisible form of trafficking, according to the prosecutor’s office, is the recruitment of minors into organised crime.

Gangs involved in people trafficking

Experts consulted by IPS point out that many trafficking cases are the product of a relatively new phenomenon: involvement in trafficking by the gangs that are responsible for the crime wave in the three Northern Triangle countries.

The gangs have mutated into bona fide organised crime groups, with tentacles in the illicit drug trade, extortion rackets, “sicariato” or murder for hire and now human trafficking, among other criminal activities.

In El Salvador, it is common to hear stories in neighborhoods and towns controlled by gangs about young girls who gang leaders “ask for”, to be used as sex toys by the leaders and other members of the gang, and the families hand them over because they know that they could be killed if they don’t.

But the gangs go farther than that, forcing their victims to provide sexual services for profit, another aspect of trafficking.

Official figures from the National Council against Trafficking in Persons, which brings together government agencies to combat the phenomenon, indicate that in 2018 there were 46 confirmed victims, 43 police investigations and 38 judicial proceedings.

The trials led to four convictions and two acquittals. The rest are still winding their way through court, according to the Council’s Work Report 2018.

The document also reported that the attention to victims included programmes to help them launch small enterprises, as well as measures of integral reparations for families of children and adolescents in the shelters.

Emergency response teams were also coordinated to provide assistance to victims, whether the women are foreigners or nationals.

El Salvador is part of the Regional Coalition against Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants, along with Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama and the Dominican Republic.

Honduras has also provided support for economic reinsertion, offering seed capital to set up small jewelry businesses, among others, said Interpol’s Morán.

At least 337 people from Honduras have been rescued since 2018, including 13 in Belize and Guatemala, according to a report by the Inter-Institutional Commission Against Commercial Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking in Persons in Honduras.

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