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A nuclear test is carried out on an island in French Polynesia in 1971. In 2009 the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 29 August the International Day Against Nuclear Tests. Credit: CTBTO

By Dennis Francis
UNITED NATIONS, Sep 5 2024 (IPS)

Today, the General Assembly convenes – for the fifteenth consecutive occasion – to observe the International Day Against Nuclear Tests, which is commemorated annually on 29 August.

On this day, 33 years ago, the Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site in Kazakhstan – where the former Soviet Union conducted 456 nuclear tests – was permanently closed, marking a pivotal moment in the global effort to end unrestrained nuclear testing.

We observe this Day in honor and in remembrance of the victims, and in support of all the survivors – mindful of our collective responsibility to ensure that our moral compass stays attuned to the enduring impact of nuclear testing on people’s lives, livelihoods, health, and the environment.

Importantly, it is a day to reaffirm our commitment to ending nuclear testing – once and for all.

Despite the progress made to date – and the universal understanding of the existential dangers posed by nuclear weapons – the threat they pose still looms unacceptably large, exacerbated by a world once again torn apart by conflict and strife.

Geopolitical tensions are at their highest in decades – from Europe to the Middle East, from Africa to Asia. As a result, the global nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime faces significant setbacks.

In recent years, we have witnessed the return of dangerous, irresponsible, and reckless rhetoric – suggesting that the real risk of resort to nuclear arms may, once again, not be a far-fetched reality; be it intentionally or by accident.

We have also heard talk of maintaining the readiness of nuclear testing sites – with the possibility of resuming nuclear tests if deemed necessary.

We have even seen a nuclear-armed State revoke its ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. I am deeply concerned by these developments – as it seems that we have not yet learned from the painful lessons of the past.

I am deeply troubled by the message these actions send to all other nations – perhaps even emboldening some to reconsider their arms control commitments, thus further endangering global peace and security.

It is our collective responsibility to ensure that we do not turn back the clock and allow the same mistakes to occur once more – with even graver consequences. With even graver consequences.

The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) remains our best safety net to ensure that nuclear testing stays where it belongs – in the past. Since its adoption in 1996, the CTBT has garnered near-universal international support.

It is encouraging that, to date, 187 Member States have signed the treaty, and 178 have ratified it. I commend Papua New Guinea as the most recent Member State to ratify the treaty in 2023. The treaty’s benefits to international peace and security are evident in the numbers.

Before 1996, over two thousand nuclear weapons tests were conducted; and since then, there have been fewer than a dozen.

However – in the face of heightened geopolitical tensions – we cannot take anything for granted.

I take this opportunity to urge all Member States that have not yet signed or ratified the treaty to do so without delay – particularly the Annex 2 States, whose ratifications are essential for the treaty’s entry into force.

As I conclude, it is worth emphasizing that history reminds us of the horrors of war and the tragic misuse of human ingenuity to create even more lethal weapons.

And nuclear arms stand as the ultimate manifestation of this dark legacy.

Complacency in the face of these threats risk nothing less than the end of civilization as we know it. Now – more than ever – we must reaffirm our commitment to upholding and enforcing the norm against nuclear testing.

Any threats, preparations, or declarations of readiness to resume testing demand our united and unequivocal condemnation. And should any such tests occur, they must be met with swift and decisive collective action.

The time to end nuclear tests – once and for all – is now, not tomorrow, but NOW.

This article is based on remarks by the President of the General Assembly, Dennis Francis, at the High-level plenary meeting of the General Assembly to commemorate and promote the International Day against Nuclear Tests.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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By Anis Chowdhury, Khalilur Rahman and Ziauddin Hyder
SYDNEY, NEW YORK, WASHINGTON DC, Sep 4 2024 (IPS)

The White Paper on the state of Bangladesh’s economy will include a review of “smuggled money”, according to the head of the committee, Debapriya Bhattacharya, entrusted to prepare the White Paper.

Anis Chowdhury

We strongly endorse this initiative given the huge scale of stolen assets, but it must not end with a review. It should be accompanied and followed up by vigorous actions to bring back the assets stolen during the fifteen years of despotic rule of the deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Previously Bhattacharya referred to the issue of bringing back siphoned money as “a complex issue”; but this should not dampen the resolve to strongly pursue this important matter. It will likely take many years of sustained efforts to repatriate a significant portion of such assets and the current interim government led by Professor Muhammad Yunus should put in place an action plan supported by necessary mechanisms, including international cooperation arrangements, which would be continuously pursued over the coming years. Strong and sustained political will be critical to the success of these efforts.

Bangladesh can learn from other countries in in its pursuit of recovering stolen assets.

Success cases: A positive trend
It is encouraging that despite complexities and difficulties, there have been cases of significant success based on international cooperation. Over US$10 billion of stolen assets have been returned between 1997 and 2023. Since its inception in 2007, the UN-World Bank joint “Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative” (STaR), helped recover close to US$2 billion stolen assets.

Khalilur Rahman

There has been a significant increase in the value of corruption-related assets recovered since 2019, driven partly by large asset returns to Malaysia related to the 1MDB scandal. Increasingly countries are signing agreements and publishing information on corruption-related asset returns. Examples include:

• In January 2024, a court in the US ruled that stolIn 2020, the US and Jersey returned US$311 million to Nigeria, traced back to former president Sani Abacha
• By 2004 the Philippines was able to repatriate US$683 million of Ferdinand Marcos money held in Swiss Bank accounts;
• Between August 2001 and 2004, Peru recovered nearly over US$180 million stolen by Vladimiro Montesinos from several jurisdictions such as Switzerland, Cayman Islands and the US;
• Between 2005 and 2006, Nigeria recovered US$505 million of the Sani Abacha money frozen and forfeited by Swiss authorities;
• en assets worth £6.9m should be returned to Nigeria;
• In 2022, the US transferred over US$20.6 million to Nigeria, traceable to the kleptocracy of former Nigerian Dictator General Sani Abacha and his co-conspirators;
• In 2021, the UK returned £4.2 million to Nigeria related to former Governor of Delta State James Ibori and his associates;
• In 2021, the UK returned around £450,000 to Moldova, forfeited from the son of Moldova’s former prime minister, Vladimir Filat;
• In 2006, British authorities returned US$1.9 million to Nigeria illicitly gained by Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, governor of the oil-rich Bayelsa state in Nigeria.
• In 2007, the US and Switzerland repatriated US$84 million to Kazakhstan

As of year-end 2020, the Philippine government recovered P174.2 billion in Marcos ill-gotten wealth and as of 2021, 35 years since the people power revolution, the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) that Cory Aquino established, has been running after P125.9 billion more in ill-gotten wealth from the Marcos family.

Ziauddin Hyder

It took more than three decades for the Philippines to recover a significant amount of its assets stolen by Marcos and his family. Nevertheless, the Philippines case demonstrates the political will to persist and doggedness in pursuit of ill-gotten money. The PCGG is housed proudly in a building recovered from the Marcos family. In 2023, it received government budget of ₱166.47 million (US$2.95 million). Its staff have traced money through jurisdictions all over the world and fought their way through hundreds of court cases.

Nigeria and Peru have taken an average of five years to achieve successes. This reflects improvements in the processes and increased international efforts as well as cooperation in recent years.

Haiti cannot be Bangladesh’s role model
The main challenge is the weakening of political will to continue pursuing illicit assets as it happened in post-Jean Claude Duvalier Haiti. The Duvalier case has been a slow and laborious process taking decades to unfold.

Haiti’s lack of political will was highlighted in 1989 by an attorney working on Duvalier’s case on behalf of the Haitian government. According to The New York Times, despite sending twenty-five requests for assistance to Haitian officials regarding cases in New York, by September 1988, Haiti’s government had “inexplicably stopped cooperating—and, not so incidentally, stopped paying its legal bills.”

Renewed asset recovery efforts in the US by the Haitian government of President Aristide yielded only minimal results, with the most well-known being the recovery of US$350,000 from Duvalier’s wife’s account at the Bank of New York.

Some believe that, had Haiti not dropped the original Duvalier asset recovery, the Haitian government could have recovered between US$25 and US$75 million by 1990. However, the resulting debacle left Duvalier free and the majority of his assets untouched. Meanwhile, Haiti had to face a US$1.2 million legal bill and with justice denied.

Why Bangladesh must persist
Notwithstanding complexities, in recent years there have been significant successes due to enhanced law enforcement tools and improved international cooperation from well-meaning countries and financial centres. These help the fight against corruption and impunity.

Recovering stolen assets should not be focused simply on money. It must also be seen as a tool of deterrence as well as fighting the impunity. Stolen asset recovery serves three distinct purposes: (i) recovering monies to fund governments programmes, especially helping the victims of the fallen regime;(ii) providing a semblance of justice for victims of a political culture of impunity; and (iii) deterring officials and politically connected elites from engaging in corruption.

Therefore, the efforts to bring back lost assets should not be regarded as a stand-alone undertaking; but should become an integral part of the agenda of reforming the state so that incentives and opportunities of siphoning off scarce resources are effectively removed.

Anis Chowdhury, Emeritus Professor, Western Sydney University (Australia) & former Director of UN-ESCAP’s Macroeconomic Policy & Development Division.

Khalilur Rahman, former head of economic, social and development affairs at the Executive Office of the UN Secretary-General; former head of UNCTAD’s Technology Division and Trade Analysis Branch and its New York Office.

Ziauddin Hyder, Former Director Research BRAC and Adjunct Professor, University of the Philippines at Los Banos

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Mossoró prison, in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, in Brazil, is one of the five maximum security prisons in that country. Credit: Mjsp

By Humberto Márquez
CARACAS, Sep 4 2024 (IPS)

Invoking the fight against terrorists and sending those who can be charged with this crime to new maximum security prisons are increasingly emerging in the toolbox of Latin American leaders who want to show an iron fist against criminals and opponents.

Renata Segura, head of the regional programme of the Brussels-based think-tank International Crisis Group, wrote on her X-media account that “the fascination of Latin American presidents with maximum security prisons is spreading like wildfire.”

This attraction is present among presidents of opposing political persuasions, although most of them are united by the neo-populism of their policies and actions.

Venezuela is the most recent case, where president Nicolás Maduro, whose re-election in the 28 July elections sparked an outbreak of street protests, ordered two prisons to be set up as maximum security jails to hold some 2,000 protesters arrested and accused of terrorism.“The fascination of Latin American presidents with maximum security prisons is spreading like wildfire”: Renata Segura.

Argentine president Javier Milei accused opponents who recently demonstrated against him in Buenos Aires of the same offence, while Ecuador’s Daniel Noboa ordered the construction of a maximum security prison and a prison ship for criminals accused of terrorism.

The top regional reference is president Nayib Bukele of El Salvador, who under a state of emergency that has lasted more than two years has detained 80,000 people, mostly accused of terrorism as members of large criminal gangs or maras.

The Bukele government built a mega-prison, the Terrorism Containment Center (Cecot), with capacity for 40,000 inmates who are subjected to trial and detention conditions that violate human rights, according to international humanitarian organisations that observe the process.

Segura told IPS from New York that “the recent announcements of the construction of maximum security prisons are most likely inspired by the measures taken by president Bukele, who has been quite successful in reducing insecurity.”

She acknowledged that the Salvadoran ruler “has high levels of popularity, despite massive human rights violations in that country.”

Indeed, “he ended up putting two percent of El Salvador’s adult population behind bars, mostly without due process, and with serious human rights violations,” said Carolina Jiménez Sandoval, president of the non-governmental Washington Office on Latin America (Wola).

Under this state of emergency, “at least 261 people have already been killed, and we must remember that every person in state custody is the responsibility of the state,” Sandoval told IPS from Washington.

Construction work is underway at the dilapidated Tocuyito prison in north-central Venezuela, which is being quickly converted into a high-security prison for hundreds of detainees in protests against the proclaimed re-election of president Nicolás Maduro. Credit: RrSs

New fad, old recipe

On 21 June, Noboa started building a maximum-security prison on a 16-hectare site in the province of Santa Elena, on the Pacific coast of Ecuador, a country of 18 million people with 36 prisons. It is expected to cost US$52 million and will hold up to 800 inmates.

“Today we are marking one of the most important milestones in our fight against terrorism and the mafias that have hijacked our country’s momentum for decades,” said the president, who will seek re-election next year.

In Venezuela, while hundreds of young protesters against Maduro’s proclamation as winner were imprisoned in late July, the president ordered two prisons in the centre of the country, Tocorón and Tocuyito, to be remodelled as “maximum security prisons” to hold the new captives.

Not to be outdone, Milei announced he will sell prisons on valuable land in urban centres in Argentina, and use the money to build maximum security prisons far from the cities. In June he sent his Security minister, Patricia Bullrich, to learn about the Salvadoran experience.

“This is the way. Tough on criminals,” the minister said after the visit.

Ecuadorian president Daniel Noboa (in black) looks at a model of the new maximum security prison being built on his country’s Pacific coast. He presents it as part of the fight against criminal gangs he describes as terrorists. Credit: Presidencia de Ecuador

Maximum security prisons have always existed in the region, such as the Mexican Federal Rehabilitation Centre El Altiplano, in the central state of Mexico, where a group of former drug cartel leaders and serial killers are held.

Colombia has its most secure prisons in Combita (centre) and Valledupar (north), as well as maximum security wings in Bogota’s La Picota prison, where it has held guerrillas, convicted or accused terrorists, and drug cartel leaders for years.

Brazil, with 8.5 million square kilometres and 205 million people, has five maximum security prisons, in four of its 26 states and in the Federal District. Two prisoners escaped from Mossoro prison in the northeast last February, its first jailbreak since 2006.

Tragically famous are the prisons of Lurigancho, in Lima, and El Fronton Island, in the Pacific off the capital, for the massacre of hundreds of prisoners belonging to leftist guerrilla group Shining Path, following a riot in June 1986, in the context of the anti-terrorist struggle in Peru.

Argentina’s Security Minister Patricia Bullrich visited the Terrorism Confinement Center in El Salvador, which she considers a model to follow. Credit: Presidencia de El Salvador

These maximum security prisons were shut down after the massacre, but Peru maintains the Challapalca prison, in a desolate spot in the south of the country at 4,600 metres above sea level, the highest in the world, where it holds dozens of prisoners considered highly dangerous.

Commenting on the case of El Salvador, Jiménez Sandoval observed, “does it have lower homicide levels? True. Do people feel safer? True.”

“It is also true that these punitive models based on mass arrests and human rights violations tend to have immediate effects, but it is very difficult in the medium and long term for them to continue to be useful”, she said.

“You can’t put everyone behind bars”, but also “because many of the factors that influence and cause the inclusion of young people in violence remain, such as poverty, exclusion, lack of educational and employment opportunities and life plans”, Jiménez said.

“We are not terrorists,” reads a sign held by a protester in Caracas against the proclaimed re-election of president Nicolás Maduro. Nearly 2,000 people have been arrested in the protests and the Attorney General’s Office has announced terrorism charges against hundreds of them. Credit: Provea

Cultivating fear

Now, the option of maximum security prisons goes beyond the fight against terrorism and reaches political activism, threatening opponents or demonstrators who could be accused of this crime, and also as a show of strength and determination to hold on to power.

“When rulers in countries that also face high rates of insecurity due to organised crime, gangs or other phenomena announce these measures, they are undoubtedly making gestures that indicate that they too are adopting a tough-on-crime strategy,” Segura said.

In Venezuela, “where repression of the opposition has grown after the elections, I think there is another goal: sending a message to those who are considering joining the protests that they will be arrested and imprisoned as if they were high risk criminals,” she added.

The Venezuelan government “is making a very intense effort to mainstream that anyone who protests or dissents from the officially announced election results is a terrorist,” lawyer Gonzalo Himiob, vice-president of Foro Penal, an organisation advocating human rights, and in particular of prisoners, for 15 years, told IPS.

“There is a deliberate trivialisation of terrorism by those in power, and a technical incorrectness, because arrested demonstrators do not fit the internationally accepted definitions of terrorist agents, links or acts,” Himiob said.

Many of those arrested were just bystanders not even demonstrating, and among the 1,500 arrested in the weeks following the 28 July election there are at least 114 teenagers, which delegitimises the terrorism charges, he adds.

There were “doubly serious events”, such as the announcement by the Prosecutor’s Office that those arrested would be categorised as terrorists, “a prefabricated catalogue that inverts the law, which states that first the facts are individualised and then the people, and not the other way around,” continued Himiob.

In short, “they are acting with what is known as criminal law of the enemy, using it not to do justice but to capitalise on power,” he said.

And, thus, to rule with the impulse of the springs of fear.

Measles vaccinations alone prevented 57 million deaths since the year 2000. But this success does not just depend on developing effective vaccines; they need to be accessible to everyone. Credit: Shutterstock.

By Daniela Ramirez Schrempp
Sep 4 2024 (IPS)

Measles infections are surging right now, with epidemiologists reporting that the number of large or disruptive outbreaks has tripled over the past three years. It is one of the most infectious diseases that we know. The virus spreads through respiratory droplets; when an infected person coughs or sneezes, it can linger in the air for up to two hours and infect 10 others who are not immune.

Most of the estimated 136,000 people who died from measles infections in 2022 were children under the age of five. Every single death is a tragedy, but it hurts even more when those deaths could have been prevented with a safe and effective vaccine.

As a pediatrician, I am proud to be involved with vaccines because of their public health impact. Vaccination has accounted for 40% of the observed decline in global infant mortality; it is one of the most remarkable achievements in modern medicine.

Globally, just under three-quarters of all children under the age of two received both doses of a measles vaccine when at least 95% is needed to prevent outbreaks. Even worse, an estimated 14.5 million children haven’t received any doses of any vaccines

Measles vaccinations alone prevented 57 million deaths since the year 2000. But this success does not just depend on developing effective vaccines; they need to be accessible to everyone.

Having grown up in Colombia, at a time and place where vaccines were not as prevalent or accessible, and having attended medical school there, I unfortunately saw children sick and dying from diseases that vaccines could prevent. I even had some of these diseases in childhood. And so, every time my kids get vaccinated, I celebrate (although they don’t).

Not all parents have this background though, and I understand how decisions that impact the health of your child can be intimidating without it.

My work in vaccine safety also provides an understanding of the research behind these shots. Every vaccine goes through rigorous testing in clinical trials, continuous monitoring for adverse effects, and adherence to strict regulatory standards. There is also strict safety surveillance and data monitoring conducted not only by drug developers but also by national health authorities in each country.

For vaccines, we closely monitor for safety and reactogenicity — the property of a vaccine to produce common, short-term side effects that are typically mild, self-limited, and usually indicate an immune response, such as pain at the injection site, fever, or fatigue.

We ask participants in clinical trials to report daily if they experienced any of these symptoms, how long they lasted, and how severe they were. This information helps inform future vaccine recipients about what they can expect. If the reactogenicity is too high and unacceptable, it may be a reason to discontinue the clinical trial and reassess what needs to be changed to continue the development of that vaccine.

In terms of safety, all adverse events that happen to any participant during a trial are carefully evaluated and analyzed to identify which of these events could be associated with the vaccine. We ask participants to report all signs and symptoms they may have experienced during the trial, whether they think they are related to the vaccine or not.

Usually, a trial includes participants who receive the actual vaccine and others who receive a placebo. That means that the study is “blinded” and neither the participants nor the trial staff and researchers know who is receiving the vaccine or the placebo until the data is evaluated. This helps us better determine if adverse events are related to the vaccine.

Globally, just under three-quarters of all children under the age of two received both doses of a measles vaccine when at least 95% is needed to prevent outbreaks. Even worse, an estimated 14.5 million children haven’t received any doses of any vaccines.

There are many unfortunate reasons why, including impoverished communities not having access to adequate healthcare and displaced populations driven from their homes. It isn’t only caused by people who are skeptical of the value of vaccines; however, these individuals had the choice to protect their children and their communities and they chose not to.

The stakes are clear, and it is not just about measles. Wild polio virus infections have decreased 99% since 1988, from 350,000 cases to 6 in 2021.

The disease still lingers though, as vaccination rates, at an average of 83%, are good but not great with too many geographic disparities for a disease that is exceptionally contagious and can cause irreversible paralysis.

Pertussis, or whooping cough, is another contagious infection with a significant mortality rate among infants, yet it is not being tracked as diligently. The last year WHO has complete data is 2018, when more than 151,000 infections were catalogued. In 2023 an estimated 84% of infants around the world received the recommended three doses of the diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP3) vaccine, but low-income countries trailed wealthier countries in immunizing their children.

If you take care of a child’s health and wellbeing, you’re taking care of the future of an entire community. And if that child is able to grow and learn without the threat of disease, the future of both the child and the community improves considerably. This is our goal.

Every parent’s decision to vaccinate their child plays a role, along with every program and initiative that makes the decision accessible and effective. Achieving herd immunity is paramount, where diseases cannot take hold in a community because most everyone has been immunized. Only high vaccination rates make this future possible.

 

Daniela Ramirez Schrempp, MD, is the Pharmacovigilance Medical Leader at the Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute.

 

A Peruvian farming family shares a moment of leisure during their agricultural work. Credit: FAO

By Mario Lubetkin
Sep 4 2024 (IPS)

The latest publication of the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2024 (SOFI) report launched last July in the framework of the G20 meeting in Rio de Janeiro provides a detailed overview of progress and setbacks in the fight against hunger.

At the global level, although we have made some progress, significant inequalities persist: while Africa remains the most affected region, Latin America shows positive signs of recovery, reflecting the impact of concerted efforts to improve food security.

Despite the region's progress, the Caribbean and Central American subregions continue to experience challenges related to increasing hunger. We cannot afford to go backward. It is essential that we deepen our analysis of the visions and strategies that have shown positive results to continue this path

The road has not been easy. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, our region was one of the most affected by hunger, reaching its highest point in 2021 at 6.9 percent of the population, while 40.6 percent faced moderate or severe food insecurity. For several years, e observed how progress made in the early 2000s rapidly receded.

However, the last two years have seen a decline in hunger levels, with a rate of 6.2% of the population, representing a decrease of 4.3 million people, mainly driven by South America.

Investments in social protection programs in several countries in the region have been instrumental in driving this recovery. Social systems have enabled quick response and more effective allocation of available financial resources to the most vulnerable populations.

Despite the region’s progress, the Caribbean and Central American subregions continue to experience challenges related to increasing hunger. We cannot afford to go backward. It is essential that we deepen our analysis of the visions and strategies that have shown positive results to continue this path.

Six months after the FAO Regional Conference in Georgetown, Guyana, we are committed to providing tangible responses to the priorities established for countries to transform agrifood systems and achieve Better Production, Better Nutrition, Better Environment, and Better Life.

At FAO, we have initiated a process of high-level reflection with governments to share experiences of public policies aimed at guaranteeing food and nutritional security.

Like the rest of the world, our region must be prepared to face growing risks such as climate change, conflicts, economic crises, and other challenges.

Latin America and the Caribbean has shown that, with the right policies, we can move forward and offer concrete and sustainable responses. Only with a firm commitment can we put an end to hunger and malnutrition, leaving no one behind.

Excerpt:

Mario Lubetkin is FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Latin America and the Caribbean 

The Security Council meets at the United Nations Headquarters to discuss the escalating hostilities in Libya and the United Nations Support Mission in Libya. Credits: UN Photo/Manuel Elías

By Oritro Karim
UNITED NATIONS, Sep 4 2024 (IPS)

The situation in Libya continues to grow more dire every year since the emergence of the al-Kaniyat militant group. From 2013 to 2022, al-Kaniyat had been responsible for a multitude of human rights violations, including mass killings, kidnappings, forced displacements, torture, and sexual violence. The lack of accountability for these injustices has spurred renewed conflict, which threatens to destabilize Libya years later.

In 2011, al-Kaniyat seized control of Tarhuna, a Libyan village that fosters approximately 150,000 people. Originally, al-Kaniyat had served as a local organized militia that sided with the Government of National Accord (GNA), an interim government that oversaw Libyan affairs after 2015. However, al-Kaniyat would eventually side with the Libyan National Army (LNA).

A report by the Libyan American Alliance (LAA) details the transgressions committed by the al-Kaniyat militia during the 2019-2020 Tripoli conflict.

“By October (of 2020), more than 20 mass graves had been exhumed in Tarhuna, accounting for over 200 bodies. Many disappearances and executions were not well-recorded by relatives of the victims though, due to the fear ingrained in the Tarhuna population by the militias, therefore, it is impossible to know the true quantity of victims”, stated Kamal Abubaker, Head of Libya’s General Authority for Searching and Identifying Missing Persons (GASIMP).

The Human Rights Watch (HRW) estimates that at least 338 people were abducted or reported missing during the militia’s five year siege. Additionally, LAA states that there is evidence of civilians being buried alive, electrocuted, and subjected to intense beatings.

Years later, GASIMP continued to find the remains of hundreds of victims, disposed of in mass graves. Numerous bombs and landmines were also recorded in the Tarhuna-Tripoli region.

Abubaker stated that there were at least 17 other mass graves in the area, containing women and children as well. It is estimated that there could be over 100 more that have yet to be discovered. In addition, over 350 families have reported missing relatives.

Civilians that defied al-Kaniyat authorities were imprisoned in one of four detention camps. Living conditions in these facilities were dire and prisoners were routinely subjected to physical and psychological torture.

The HRW detailed these conditions in a 2022 report. Detainees were contained in small, box-like cells that were approximately 1.2 meters high and 1.2 meters wide. Detainees were often suspended and whipped with plastic hoses on the soles of their feet, a practice known as falaka.

The perpetrators of these cases are still in the lengthy process of being identified and held accountable. This is primarily due to Libya’s compromised criminal justice system.

“Libya’s criminal justice system remained weak with serious due process concerns. Judges, prosecutors, and lawyers remained at risk of harassment and attack by armed groups. Military courts continued to try civilians”, states the HRW.

Additionally, during al-Kaniyat’s occupancy in Tarhuna, they controlled the local police and militia, causing significant obstructions of justice. Furthermore, the Kaniyat militia controlled key passages to Tripoli, effectively isolating Tarhuna from accessing crucial resources and aid personnel.

Mohamed Al-Kosher, the mayor of Tarhuna, stated, “Unfortunately, successive governments in Libya did not interfere in the crimes of this militia. If they wanted to, they could have taken out the Kaniyat. But every government turned a blind eye toward the crimes, and in return, the Kaniyat did what the government asked it to do”.

As a result, future perpetrators of human rights violations believe they are afforded impunity and the cycle continues.The lack of due process for the perpetrators of these violations has led to the emergence of an increasingly unstable social climate in Tarhuna.

An August 2024 report by The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) states, “The lack of truth and justice, including accountability for the countless crimes committed, has in some instances led to renewed violence and repeated violations fomenting further grievances in Tarhuna and surrounding area”.

Stephanie Koury, the acting Head of the UN Support Mission in Libya, adds that “leaving the root causes and drivers of conflict unaddressed will only serve to keep fueling toxic cycles of violence and revenge between communities”. Therefore, it is crucial to expedite punitive processes for al-Kaniyat perpetrators to ensure the stability of Libya.

Currently, there are judicial processes in progress to identify and prosecute those involved in human rights violations in Tarhuna. According to OHCHR, in November 2022, numerous applications for arrest warrants were submitted.

Libyan Attorney-General, al-Siddiq al-Sur stated that judicial investigators had opened 280 criminal cases against al-Kaniyat members. However, only 10 of these cases had been referred to court, with no date given as to when these trials will take place.

OHCHR adds that the United Nations (UN) has urged Libyan authorities to allow for “effective reparations” for victims, including “legal aid and mental health support and guarantees of non-repetition, designed in consultation with those directly affected”.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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People in Gaza are living in increasingly unsanitary conditions, amid the looming threat of deadly diseases. Credit: UNRWA
 
"Apartheid Israel is targeting Gaza and the West Bank simultaneously, as part of an overall process of elimination, replacement, and territorial expansion," said United Nations special rapporteur Francesca Albanese.

By Jake Johnson
NEW YORK, Sep 4 2024 (IPS)

An independent United Nations expert has warned that “Israel’s genocidal violence risks leaking out of Gaza and into the occupied Palestinian territory as a whole” as Western governments, corporations, and other institutions keep up their support for the Israeli military, which stands accused of grave war crimes in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.

Francesca Albanese, the U.N. special rapporteur on the human rights situation in the illegally occupied Palestinian territories, said in a statement September 2 that “there is mounting evidence that no Palestinian is safe under Israel’s unfettered control.”

“The writing is on the wall, and we cannot continue to ignore it,” said Albanese, who released a detailed report in May concluding that there are “reasonable grounds to believe” Israel is guilty of genocide in Gaza.

Albanese’s new statement came as the Israeli military’s largest assault on the West Bank in decades continued into its second week. At least 29 Palestinians have been killed during the series of military raids, according to Al Jazeera, including at least five children.

“Apartheid Israel is targeting Gaza and the West Bank simultaneously, as part of an overall process of elimination, replacement, and territorial expansion,” Albanese said.

“The longstanding impunity granted to Israel is enabling the de-Palestinization of the occupied territory, leaving Palestinians at the mercy of the forces pursuing their elimination as a national group.”

“The international community, made of both states and non-state actors, including companies and financial institutions, must do everything it can to immediately end the risk of genocide against the Palestinian people under Israel’s occupation, ensure accountability, and ultimately end Israel’s colonization of Palestinian territory,” Albanese added.

Defense for Children International–Palestine noted that “dozens of Israeli military vehicles” have “stormed” the West Bank city of Jenin over the past week as “Israeli forces deployed across the targeted refugee camps, seizing Palestinian homes to use as military bases and stationing snipers on the roofs of buildings, subjecting their residents to field investigations.”

“The military bulldozers began destroying the civil infrastructure in Jenin city and camp, which led to the destruction of the main water networks and power outage in several neighborhoods in Jenin and surrounding villages,” the group said. “Israeli forces besieged several hospitals in Jenin and impeded the movement of ambulances and paramedics.”

Israeli soldiers and settlers have killed more than 620 people in the occupied West Bank since October 7, on top of the roughly 40,800 killed by the Israeli military in Gaza.

Unlawful Israeli land seizures have also surged in the West Bank as settlers and soldiers wipe out entire Palestinian communities. The BBC reported that, according to its own analysis, there are “currently at least 196 across the West Bank, and 29 were set up last year—more than in any previous year.”

Israel’s multi-day attack on the West Bank that began last week has intensified fears that unless there’s a permanent cease-fire, the assault on Gaza could expand to the rest of the occupied Palestinian territories and throughout the Middle East.

David Hearst, co-founder and editor-in-chief of Middle East Eye, wrote that “even with the obvious reluctance of Hezbollah and Iran to get involved, all the ingredients are there for. a much larger conflagration.”

“An Israel in the grip of an ultra-nationalist, religious, settler insurgency; a U.S. president who allows his signature policy to be flouted by his chief ally, even at the risk of losing a crucial election; resistance that will not surrender; Palestinians in Gaza who will not flee; Palestinians in the West Bank who are now stepping up to the front line; Jordan, the second country to recognize Israel, feeling under existential threat,” Hearst wrote on September 2

For U.S. President Joe Biden or Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, he added, “the message is so clear, it is flashing in neon lights: The regional costs of not standing up to Netanyahu could rapidly outweigh the domestic benefits of being dragged along by him.”

James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute, similarly argued that “the U.S. must reverse course—and do so dramatically.”

“A long-overdue cut-off of U.S. arms to Israel and recognition of the Palestinian right to self-determination would provide exactly the shock to the system that is needed,” Zogby wrote. “It would force an internal debate in Israel, empowering those who want peace. It might also serve to send a message to the Palestinian people that their plight and rights are understood.”

These actions, especially if followed up with determination and concrete steps, won’t end the conflict tomorrow,” Zogby continued, “but they would surely put the region on a more productive path towards peace than the one it is on now.”

Jake Johnson is a senior editor and staff writer for Common Dreams.

Source: Common Dreams

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An amendment to Bulgaria’s education law, passed last month, bans the "propaganda, promotion, or incitement in any way, directly or indirectly, in the education system of ideas and views related to non-traditional sexual orientation and/or gender identity other than the biological one."

By Ed Holt
BRATISLAVA, Sep 4 2024 (IPS)

A law banning the portrayal of LGBT+ identities in Bulgarian educational institutions is just the latest piece of repressive legislation in a wider assault on minorities and marginalized communities across parts of Europe and Central Asia, rights groups have warned.

The law, passed in a fast-track procedure last month, is similar to legislation passed or proposed in many countries across the region in recent years that restricts LGBT+ rights. 

And while the Bulgarian law is expected to have a harmful impact on children and adolescents in the country, it is also likely to be followed by legislation aimed at repressing other groups in society, following a pattern implemented by autocratic rulers across the region, activists say.

“Often anti-LGBT laws go hand in hand with other [repressive] legislation. One will come soon after the other. What this is all about is for certain political parties to concentrate and gain ultimate power for themselves. LGBT+ people and other marginalized groups are just scapegoats,” Belinda Dear, Senior Advocacy Officer at LGBT+ organisation ILGA Europe, told IPS.

An amendment to Bulgaria’s education law, passed on August 7, 2024 with a huge majority in parliament, bans the “propaganda, promotion, or incitement in any way, directly or indirectly, in the education system of ideas and views related to non-traditional sexual orientation and/or gender identity other than the biological one”.

Kostadin Kostadinov, chairman of the far-right Vazrazhdane (Revival) party that introduced the legislation, said that “LGBT propaganda is anti-human and won’t be accepted in Bulgaria.”

Critics say the law will have a terrible impact on LGBT+ children in a country where LGBT+ people already face struggles for their rights. In its most recent Rainbow Map, which analyses the state of LGBTQ+ rights and freedoms across the continent, ILGA Europe ranked Bulgaria 38 out of 48 countries.

“The teachers we have spoken to are really afraid of what is going to happen now. We are expecting to see a sharp increase in attacks and abuse of schoolchildren over gender and sexual orientation,” Denitsa Lyubenova, Legal Program & Projects Director at Deystvie, one of Bulgaria’s largest LGBT+ organizations, told IPS.

“The law has just been passed so we cannot be sure of its specific impacts just yet, but what we know from elsewhere is that laws like this in schools will impact children and adolescents, it will increase bullying and legitimize discrimination by other students, and even teachers,” added Dear.

Like other rights campaigners, Lyubenova pointed out the similarities between the Bulgarian law and similar legislation passed in other countries in Europe and Central Asia in recent years.

So-called ‘anti-LGBT+ propaganda’ laws were passed in Hungary in 2021 and Kyrgyzstan last year. These were in turn inspired by Russian legislation passed almost a decade earlier, which has since been expanded to the entire LGBT+ community and followed by laws essentially banning any positive expression of LGBT+ people.

Reports from rights groups have shown the harmful consequences of such legislation.

But while these laws have been roundly condemned by local and international rights bodies, political parties in some countries continue to attempt to push them through.

On the same day the Bulgarian law was passed, the far-right Slovak National Party (SNS) said it was planning to put forward a bill restricting discussion and teaching of LGBT+ themes in schools at the next parliamentary session in September.

Meanwhile, in June, the ruling Georgian Dream party in Georgia proposed legislation which would, among others, outlaw any LGBT+ gatherings, ban same-sex marriages, gender transition and the adoption of children by same-sex couples.

It will also prohibit LGBT+ ‘propaganda’ in schools and broadcasters and advertisers will have to remove any content featuring same-sex relationships before broadcast, regardless of the age of the intended audience.

In both countries, the proposed legislation comes soon after the implementation of so-called ‘foreign agent laws’ which put restrictions and onerous obligations on certain NGOs which receive foreign funding. Critics say such laws can have a devastating effect on civil society, pointing to a similar law introduced in Russia in 2012 as part of a Kremlin crackdown on civil society. The legislation, which led to affected NGOs being forced to declare themselves as ‘foreign agents’ has resulted in many civil society organisations in fields from human rights to healthcare being effectively shuttered.

Campaigners say it is no coincidence that anti-LGBT+ legislation and ‘foreign agent’ laws are being introduced closely together.

“[The anti-LGBT+ legislation] is likely to be the first in a series of laws that will discriminate against not just LGBT+ people, but other marginalized groups, which are seen as a ‘problem’ by far right organizations in Bulgaria,” said Lyubenova.

“This anti-LGBT+ law came from the Revival party, which has previously put forward bills for a ‘foreign agent law’ in Bulgaria. We are expecting a bill for foreign agent legislation to be introduced to Bulgaria’s parliament soon,” she added.

In Georgia, where legislation restricting LGBT+ rights will be debated in a final reading this month in parliament, civil society activists say the government is using one law to fuel support for the other.

“Both laws are part of the same, great evil [the government is pushing],” Paata Sabelashvili, a board member with the Equality Movement NGO in Georgia, told IPS.

Dear said the passing of ‘foreign agent’ laws was part of a template used by autocratic regimes to hold onto power “by dismantling civil society, which keeps a watch on politicians”.

The other parts of the template, she said, were to also “dismantle the independence of the judiciary, and the media”. Russia, Hungary, Georgia and Slovakia regularly score poorly in international press freedom indexes, and concerns have been raised about threats to media independence in Kyrgyzstan. Meanwhile, Russia is widely seen as no longer having an independent judiciary and concerns have been raised about government influence in the judicial systems in Slovakia, Georgia and Hungary.

Governments that have introduced these laws have said they are essential to preserve their countries’ traditional values and to limit foreign regimes—usually specifically western—influencing internal politics and destabilizing the country. These claims have been repeatedly rejected by the civil society and minority groups the laws are aimed at.

Some rights campaigners see the introduction of these laws as part of a coordinated international effort to not just spread specific ideologies but also entrench autocratic regimes.

While ostensibly the introduction of such legislation are the acts of independent sovereign regimes, campaigners say the politicians behind these laws are not necessarily acting entirely on their own initiative.

Activists in Slovakia and Georgia who have spoken to IPS highlight the strongly pro-Russian sentiments expressed by governing parties in their countries, while Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban has been heavily criticized even among European Union officials for his closeness to the Kremlin and criticism of help for Ukraine since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbour. Meanwhile, Russia—as it does with many other central Asian countries—and Kyrgyzstan have historic ties dating back to the Soviet Union.

“These parties [behind these laws] have links to Russia. [Pushing through this kind of legislation] is strategically coordinated; it’s very well-planned,” said Dear.

“I believe this is all part of a wider trend linked to far right governments and/or parties,” Tamar Jakeli, LGBT+ activist and Director of Tbilisi Pride in Tbilisi, Georgia, told IPS.

Forbidden Colours, a Brussels-based LGBT+ advocacy group, linked the Bulgarian law directly to the Kremlin’s repression of rights in Russia.

“It is deeply troubling to see Bulgaria adopting tactics from Russia’s anti-human rights playbook,” the group said in a statement.

Meanwhile, international and Bulgarian rights groups have called on the EU to act to force the Bulgarian government to repeal the anti-LGBT+ law, while Bulgarian civil society organisations are getting ready to fight its implementation. There have been street protests against it in the capital, Sofia, and Lyubenova said her organisation was also preparing legal challenges to the law.

“What these far-right groups are doing with this law is they are testing our ability to stand up to hateful actions. We have to challenge it,” said Lyubenova.

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A Latin American rural family. Credit: Santiago Billy / FAO

By Marco Knowles
ROME, Sep 3 2024 (IPS)

Urgent climate action is key to eradicating hunger and poverty, but climate mitigation policies can inadvertently exacerbate these issues in rural areas. Countries must design climate strategies that account for the impacts on the rural poor and that include social protection measures.

Last July, we were confronted with alarming statistics: 733 million people experienced hunger in 2023, equivalent to one in eleven people globally. In Africa it was even higher, with one in five people going hungry. Climate change is a significant driver of this crisis.

Paradoxically, well intentioned policies to combat global warming may also be a cause of hunger, particularly for small-scale farmers in poorer countries, unless these policies are accompanied by measures to curtail their socio-economic downsides.

Gradual changes in temperatures and rainfall patterns reduce returns to farming, on which poor people largely depend, and sudden events like floods and droughts devastate their crops and livestock. According to the World Bank, climate change could push as many as 135 million more people into poverty by 2030. Urgent action to curb climate change is therefore essential to the fight against poverty and hunger.

Paradoxically, well intentioned policies to combat global warming may also be a cause of hunger, particularly for small-scale farmers in poorer countries, unless these policies are accompanied by measures to curtail their socio-economic downsides

However, if we are not careful, climate mitigation efforts can undermine progress on eradicating poverty and hunger. A recent example is the European Union´s Regulation on Deforestation-free products that was introduced in June 2023. This regulation is intended to ensure that products bought and consumed in Europe do not contribute to deforestation through the expansion of agricultural land for the production of cattle, wood, cocoa, soy, palm oil or coffee.

On the one hand, reducing deforestation is essential to combating climate change and can benefit many of the 1 to 2 billion people who depend on forests for their livelihoods.

But on the other hand, the costs of these policies fall disproportionately on rural poor people that do not have the resources and capacities to comply, including those that currently rely on clearing new lands for their livelihoods – estimated to account for about a third of deforestation.

As governments of 17 countries across Latin America, Africa and Asia had forewarned, the EU’s Regulation is already having severe negative impacts among poorer people in poorer countries, in particular small-scale farmers.

Without support, they face huge challenges in complying with the complex, new procedures, and at the same time they often lack the capacities and resources to maintain or increase their agricultural production without expanding the land area under cultivation – this is even more true in a context of a changing climate change that reduces farming yields.

While progress on the climate agenda must continue at pace, the socio-economic trade-offs of climate policies for different population groups – especially the most vulnerable – need to be considered from the outset. Countries, especially those in which poverty and hunger are concentrated, need to be supported and encouraged to couple green policies with measures that enable smallholder farmers to meet new conditions or to transition to new and dignified livelihoods.

Social protection – which includes policies and programmes aimed at addressing poverty and vulnerability – can play a key role in easing these transitions. In the short-term, by providing regular cash income in compensation for any adverse social impacts of climate policies and, in the longer-term, by combining these payments with technical support, skills training and livelihood interventions that can help people to adjust to and thrive under new policy regimes.

This approach is already being implemented in several countries.

In China, a forest protection act affected approximately one million public forestry workers and 120 million rural households by reducing access to forest resources. To mitigate these impacts, public employees received assistance, such as job placement services, unemployment benefits and pension plans. As a result, two-thirds of the affected employees were either transferred to alternative jobs or retired, while 124 million households benefited from an income transfer.

In Brazil and Paraguay, social protection and complementary agricultural programmes are supporting rural households to adopt more sustainable and profitable farming practices. Paraguay’s Poverty, Reforestation, Energy and Climate Change (PROEZA) programme, provides households participating in the country’s flagship social protection scheme, Tekoporã, with technical support and additional cash. Thanks to this, small-scale farmers are adapting their agricultural practices to be more resilient to ever more frequent droughts while also increasing their production of native crops such as yerba mate.

Similarly, in Brazil, the Bolsa Verde programme provides cash payments to beneficiaries of the national social cash transfer programme, Bolsa Familia, in exchange for maintaining or restoring forests, protecting water sources, and promoting sustainable agriculture.

Governments should be encouraged and supported in introducing and scaling-up social protection measures to ensure the poorest and most vulnerable do not bear the burden of addressing the climate crisis and greening the consumption of people in wealthier parts of the world.

We must therefore prioritize an approach that pays close attention to the social as well as the environmental consequences of policies to address climate change. Social protection programmes have a critical role to play building a future that is mutually beneficial to People and Planet.

 

Marco Knowles leads the FAO´s Social Protection Team. His areas of expertise include increasing access to social protection in rural areas and in leveraging on social protection for climate action. He also has substantive experience in providing evidence-based food security policy assistance and capacity development support.

Excerpt:

Marco Knowles leads the FAO's Social Protection Team

By Jewel Fraser
PORT-of-SPAIN, Trinidad, Sep 3 2024 (IPS)

In this IPS podcast, Inter Press Service correspondent Jewel Fraser talks with a scientist from the International Livestock Research Institute in Nairobi, Kenya.

Dr. Jean-Baka Entfellner and his colleagues are doing work they hope will encourage Africans to make greater use of the continent’s indigenous crops. They hope Africa can be helped to forgo the imported foods that are popular globally and rely more heavily on foods native to the continent, thus boosting food self-sufficiency. 

Nearly 30% of the world’s population experience food insecurity, with Africa’s population being nearly twice as likely as the global average to do so, says a recent FAO report. Could turning to local crop varieties be a solution?

Kenyan journalist Chrystal Onkeo helped to arrange this interview recording.

Music credit: https://www.fesliyanstudios.com/

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Credit: UNRWA

By James E. Jennings
ATLANTA, Georgia, Sep 3 2024 (IPS)

Most people think that Israel’s main goal in Gaza is to recover the hostages seized by HAMAS on October 7, 2023 with an announced follow-up mission to eliminate HAMAS as a threat. If you thought that, you would be wrong. Substantial evidence reveals a different strategic aim—destroying every shred of Palestinian legitimacy as a nation.

Inspite of continual pleas from the weak Biden-Harris-Blinken White House to stop bombing civilians in Gaza, Israel refuses to end the carnage. What’s going on? As usual in the Middle East, the obvious plot has at least one hidden sub-plot.

Israel’s most important strategic goal throughout the more than ten months of its senseless, horrifically devastating campaign in Gaza has been, not only to kill HAMAS militants and tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, but instead to kill the widely trumpeted “Two-State Solution.”

The ongoing carnage on the West Bank aims to destroy, not just Palestinian infrastructure or hopeless young “Lions Den” resistance, but the very idea that the Palestinians have a right to self-determination, or any legitimacy at all as a state. With most of the world decrying the genocide in Gaza, the full-blown war on cities and civilians in the West Bank has escaped scrutiny.

The most obvious proof of that is the fact that Netanyahu’s extremist Likud government continues its gratuitous bombing campaign in Gaza, and continues to refuse HAMAS’ offers for releasing hostages in return for even a temporary cease-fire. Like most American intelligence experts, Israel’s own military leaders have admitted that HAMAS cannot be completely eliminated.

Sadly, the horrific loss of life in Gaza is not at this point really about Gaza. It’s a distraction from a land grab for the West Bank of the Jordan River, what the Israelis call their very own territories of “Judea and Samaria.” Netanyahu has echoed the settlers’ claim that Israel cannot be accused of being illegal military occupiers of what is “our own land.”

One of the first shibboleths from the mouth of President Biden following HAMAS’ obscene war crimes on October 7 and just before he got on Air Force One to make humiliating obeisance to the indicted war criminal Netanyahu, was to offer the meaningless words, “Two-State Solution.”

But surely the man who had for years been Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee must have known that the “Two-State Solution” was already on its last legs and unlikely to be revived. Now Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris is echoing “Genocide Joe,” not so much by offering a formula for peace as simply parroting an empty phrase.

Lesson number one in international diplomacy on the macro scale is that a regime must have legitimacy as a people group before it can achieve any kind of concrete reality as a nation. The birth of the United States is an example. The Boston Tea Party, Patrick Henry’s speech, and Paul Revere’s ride coalesced America’s popular identity.

Washington at Valley Forge and at Yorktown actually birthed the nation. Achieving legitimacy, the unquestionable right to exist as an organized political entity, is how a population or insurgent movement becomes a state.

By smashing peaceful West Bank towns with tanks and jet bombers, bulldozing their streets and tagging all Palestinians as terrorists, the native community is being robbed of its heritage as well as its current and future legitimacy. Any chance for statehood is being obliterated by Israel’s “over the top” ravages on civilian life and infrastructure in Gaza and throughout the West Bank.

Meanwhile, the political class’s pretense of being pro-peace is a sick charade. Let’s stop saying “Genocide is bad” and “Killing people is bad,” without also saying “Killing civil society is a positive evil as well,” because it kills the future of an entire people group.

James E. Jennings, PhD is President of Conscience International www.conscienceinternational.org and Executive Director of US Academics for Peace. He delivered aid to Gaza’s hospitals from 1987-2014, including during the 2009 “Cast Lead” bombing and periods of Israeli, PLO, and HAMAS control.

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Credit: United Nations

By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Sep 3 2024 (IPS)

When the high-level segment of the UN General Assembly took place last September, there were several key world leaders missing in action (MIAs)—including, most importantly, leaders of the four of the five permanent members of the Security Council, the most powerful political body at the United Nations.

Only US President Joe Biden was there –while Emmanuel Macron of France, Xi Jinping of China, Vladimir Putin of Russia and Rishi Sunak of UK skipped the UN sessions- either for personal or political reasons.

As an article in Le Monde pointed out: “Such notable absences reflect the crisis affecting UN bodies, against a backdrop of an international stage that is crumbling.”

A former diplomat Gérard Araud, a one-time French ambassador to the United Nations, said, “Multilateralism is seriously compromised in an increasingly multipolar world.”

“The absence of Security Council leaders is yet another symptom, but not the only one, of a powerless UN, caused by the war in Ukraine and the rivalry between the United States and China.”

Will history repeat itself this year when the high-level segment of the 79th session of the General Assembly begins mid-September?

With the UN remaining powerless in the context of a continuing Russian carnage in Ukraine and with over 40,000 mostly civilian killings in Gaza, is the world beginning to lose confidence in the United Nations as the world’s pre-eminent peace maker?

Asked for his comments, UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters last month: “We very much hope that every Member State will be represented at the highest possible level, especially given not only what’s going on in the world today, but the fact that we have the Summit of the Future, (scheduled for September 22-23) which is critical to how this organization will function in the decades ahead.”

And these are issues that often come up in the Secretary-General’s bilateral meetings, he pointed out.

Andreas Bummel, co-founder and Executive Director of Democracy Without Borders, told IPS the highest level of participation from Member States at the general debate of the United Nations each September sends a signal that the UN is valued as the world’s most important multilateral venue.

A presence this year at the Summit of the Future is crucial. “We hope that the summit will be an opportunity for world leaders to listen to ideas and proposals of civil society which has strongly engaged with the summit process.”

Among world leaders, he pointed out, are aggressors, autocrats, dictators and mass murderers. They are neither interested in strengthening the UN and even less in what civil society has to say. If they come, they should be confronted with their crimes, said Bummel.

Meanwhile, although Yasir Arafat, the leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) made it to the UN, some of the world’s authoritarian leaders, including Iraq’s Saddam Hussein, Syria’s Hafez al-Assad and his son Bashar al-Assad, and North Korea’s Kim il Sung and his grandson Kim Jong-un, never made it to the UN.

Dr Palitha Kohona, former Chief of the UN Treaty Section and one-time Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the Unted Nations told IPS: It is indeed a matter of serious concern that certain world leaders choose not to attend the Un General Assembly (UNGA).

It is understood that other matters may demand their attention at the same time, especially critical domestic issues. Some are facing elections or seeking to get reelected, he said.

“But at a time when the world, humanity itself– is confronted by a myriad of urgent challenges, many of them man-made or resulting from human actions, like the existential threat of climate change, the flood of over 160 million refugees, the indiscriminate slaughter that is happening in Gaza, the shaky progress with the SDGs, the worrying signs of an intensifying arms race, etc– the moral impact of the presence of world leaders, in particular the leaders of key powers, at the UNGA cannot be under estimated”.

The UNGA, he pointed out, is the only global forum that we have. Instead of contributing to the wishes of those who seek to denigrate this single world body that we have, and dilute its importance, which has many successes to justify its existence, we should exert ourselves to strengthen it.

This is certainly not the time to dismiss the value of the UN, declared Dr Kohona, who until recently was Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to China.

When global leaders meet at the UN, they will confront yet another year of complex crises and conflicts — as a deeply divided world watches, according to the UN Foundation.

“The UN is the only place on Earth where countries — whether big or small — have a say. The debates and conversations that will unfold during UNGA 79 will shape the solutions that can redefine our future”.

Progress hinges on leaders taking accountability and correcting course. But it also depends on people — especially young people — having a say in the decisions that will affect our future.

And the future depends on everyone’s participation — decision-makers and everyday citizens alike. It’s up to all of us to act now for people, for planet, and for our common future.

But one lingering question remains: how effective is the UN, where the 15-member Security Council, remains deadlocked reminiscent of the Cold War era?

When he addressed the UN Security Council via video-conferencing on April 2022, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine did not pull his punches when he told delegates the purposes of the UN Charter, especially Article I — to maintain international peace and security — are being blatantly violated by Vladimir Putin’s Russia.

“What is the point of all other Articles (in the UN charter)? Are you ready to close the United Nations? Do you think that the time for international law is gone?” If not, “you need to act immediately,” he told delegates.

To support peace in Ukraine, he argued, the Security Council must either remove the Russian Federation from the UN, both as an aggressor and a source of war, so it cannot block decisions made about its own war, or the Council can “dissolve yourselves altogether” if there is nothing it can do other than engage in conversation.

“Ukraine needs peace. Europe needs peace. The world needs peace,” he insisted.

Meanwhile, when the United Nations decided to locate its 39-storeyed Secretariat in New York city, the United States, as host nation, signed a “headquarters agreement” in 1947 not only ensuring diplomatic immunity to foreign diplomats but also pledging to facilitate the day-to-day activities of member states without any hindrance, including the issuance of US visas to enter the country.

But there were several instances of open violation of this agreement by successive US administrations.

The United States, which is legally obliged to respect international diplomatic norms as host country to the United Nations, has been accused of imposing unfair travel restrictions on U.N. diplomats in the country. Back in August 2000, the Russian Federation, Iraq and Cuba protested the “discriminatory” treatment, which they say targets countries that displease the U.S.

Pleading national security concerns, Washington has long placed tight restrictions on diplomats from several “unfriendly” nations, including those deemed “terrorist states,” particularly Cuba, Iraq, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Syria and Libya. U.N. diplomats from these countries have to obtain permission from the U.S. State Department to travel outside a 25-mile radius from New York City.

When former Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, accused of war crimes, was refused a US visa to attend the high-level segment of the General Assembly sessions in September 2013, Hassan Ali, a senior Sudanese diplomat, registered a strong protest with the UN’s Legal Committee.

“The democratically-elected president of Sudan had been deprived of the opportunity to participate in the General Assembly because the host country, the United States, had denied him a visa, in violation of the U.N.-U.S. Headquarters Agreement. It was a great and deliberate violation of the Headquarters Agreement,” he said.

The refusal of a visa for the Sudanese president was also a political landmine because al-Bashir had been indicted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

But one question remained unanswered: Does the United States have a right to implicitly act on an ICC ruling when Washington is not a party to the Rome Statute that created the ICC?

When Yasser Arafat was denied a US visa to visit New York to address the United Nations back in 1988, the General Assembly defied the United States by temporarily moving the UN’s highest policy making body to Geneva– perhaps for the first time in UN history– providing a less-hostile political environment for the leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

Arafat, who first addressed the UN in 1974, took a swipe at Washington when he prefaced his statement by saying “it never occurred to me that my second meeting with this honorable Assembly, since 1974, would take place in the hospitable city of Geneva”.

On his 1974 visit, he avoided the hundreds of pro and anti-Arafat demonstrators outside the UN building by arriving in a helicopter which landed on the North Lawn of the UN campus adjoining the East River.

When he addressed the General Assembly, there were confusing reports whether or not Arafat carried a gun in his holster—“in a house of peace” — which was apparently not visible to delegates.

One news story said Arafat was seen “wearing his gun belt and holster and reluctantly removing his pistol before mounting the rostrum.” “Today, I have come bearing an olive branch and a freedom-fighter’s gun. Do not let the olive branch fall from my hand,” he told the Assembly. But there were some delegates who denied Arafat carried a weapon.

Setting the record straight, Samir Sanbar, a former UN Assistant Secretary-General and head of the Department of Public Information told IPS it was discreetly agreed that Arafat would keep the holster while the gun was to be handed over to Abdelaziz Bouteflika, later Foreign Minister and President of Algeria (1999-2019).

The speech, drafted in Arabic by Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, stressed the spelling in formal Arabic of the “green branch” which the PLO Chairman still misspelled.

Incidentally, when anti-Arafat New York protesters on First Avenue shouted: “Arafat Go Home”, his supporters responded that was precisely what he wanted—a home for the Palestinians to go to.

But that dream has still not been realized—as thousands of Palestinians continue to be killed since last October by Israel, using largely American-supplied weapons.

This article contains excerpts from a book on the United Nations titled “No Comment –and Don’t Quote Me on That” authored by Thalif Deen, Senior Editor at the UN Bureau of Inter Press Service (IPS) news agency, and available on Amazon. The link to Amazon via the author’s website follows: https://www.rodericgrigson.com/no-comment-by-thalif-deen/

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Credit: Dave Lintott / AFP via Getty Images

By Andrew Firmin
LONDON, Sep 2 2024 (IPS)

A New Zealand bill that would roll back Indigenous rights is unlikely to pass – but it’s emblematic of a growing climate of hostility from governing politicians. A recent survey shows that almost half of New Zealanders believe racial tensions have worsened under the right-wing government in power since December 2023.

The Treaty Principles Bill reinterprets the principles of the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi. New Zealand’s founding text, this agreement between the British government and Indigenous Māori chiefs established British governorship over the islands in return for recognition of Māori ownership of land and other property.

The treaty was controversial from the start: its English and Māori versions differ in crucial clauses on sovereignty. Māori people lost much of their land, suffering the same marginalisation as Indigenous people in other places settled by Europeans. As a result, Māori people live with higher levels of poverty, unemployment and crime, and lower education and health standards, than the rest of the population.

From the 1950s, Māori people began to organise and demand their treaty rights. This led to the 1975 Treaty of Waitangi Act, which defined a set of principles derived from the treaty and established the Waitangi Tribunal to determine breaches of the principles and recommend remedies.

In recent years, right-wing politicians have criticised the tribunal, claiming it’s overstepping its mandate – most recently because it held a hearing that concluded the bill breaches treaty principles.

Change in direction

The bill resulted from a coalition agreement forged after the 2023 election. The centre-right National party came first and went into government with two parties to its right: the free-market and libertarian Act party and the nationalist and populist NZ First party. Act demanded the bill as a condition of joining the coalition.

The election was unusually toxic by New Zealand standards. Candidates were subjected to racial abuse and physical violence. A group of Māori leaders complained about unusually high levels of racism. Both Act and NZ First targeted Māori rights, promising to reverse Labour’s progressive policies, including experiments in ‘co-governance’: collaborative decision-making between government and Māori representatives. Act and NZ First characterised such arrangements as conferring racial privilege on Māori people, at odds with universal human rights.

NZ First leader Winston Peters – who’s long opposed what he characterises as special treatment for Māori people despite being Māori himself – pledged to remove Māori-language names from government buildings and withdraw New Zealand’s support for the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. He’s compared co-governance to apartheid and Nazi racial theory. He’s now New Zealand’s deputy prime minister.

New Zealand, though far from Europe and North America, has shown it isn’t immune from the same right-wing populist politics that seek to blame a visible minority for all a country’s problems. In the northern hemisphere the main targets are migrants and religious minorities; in New Zealand, it’s Indigenous people.

Bonfire of policies

If the bill did succeed, it would preclude any interpretation of the treaty as a partnership between the state and Māori people. It would impose a rigid understanding that all New Zealanders have the same rights and responsibilities, inhibiting measures to expand Māori rights. And without special attention, the economic, social and political exclusion of Māori people will only worsen.

The problems go beyond the bill. In February, the government abolished the Māori Health Authority, established in 2022 to tackle health inequalities. In July, a government directive ordered Pharmac, the agency that funds medicines, to stop taking treaty principles into account when making funding decisions. This is part of a broader attack on treaty principles, which the government has pledged to remove from most legislation.

Government departments have been ordered to prioritise their English-language names and communicate primarily in English, unless they’re specifically focused on Māori people. The government has pledged to review the school curriculum – revised last year to place more emphasis on Māori people – and university affirmative action programmes. It’s ceased work on He Puapua, its strategy to implement the UN Declaration.

The government has cut funding for most of its initiatives for Māori people. In all, over a dozen changes are planned, including in environmental management, health and housing.

What’s bad for Māori people is also bad for the climate. The intimate role the environment plays in Māori culture often puts them on the frontline of combating climate change. This year a Māori activist won a ruling allowing him to take seven companies to court over their greenhouse gas emissions, based in part on their impact on places of customary, cultural and spiritual significance to Māori people..

But the new government has cut funding for many projects aimed at meeting New Zealand’s Paris Agreement commitments. It plans to double mineral exports and introduce a law to fast-track large development projects, without having to navigate environmental safeguards. The draft law contains no provisions about treaty principles. Māori people will be disproportionately affected by any weakening of environmental standards.

Out in numbers

This is all shaping up to be a huge setback for Māori rights that can only fuel and normalise racism – but campaigners aren’t taking it quietly. The threat to rights has galvanised and united Māori campaigners.

Civil society groups are taking to the courts to try to halt the changes. And people are protesting in numbers. In December, when parliament met for the first time since the election, thousands gathered outside to condemn anti-Māori policies. At the swearing-in ceremony, Te Pāti Māori politicians broke with convention by dedicating their oaths to the Treaty of Waitangi and future generations.

That same month, 12 people were arrested following a protest in which they defaced an exhibition on the treaty at the national museum. Protesters accused the exhibition of lying about the treaty’s English version.

On 6 February, Waitangi Day, over a thousand people marched to the site where the treaty was agreed, calling for the bill to be rejected. At the official ceremony, people heckled Peters and Act leader Peter Seymour when they spoke.

Most recently, Māori people had a chance to show their discontent at a ceremony held in August to commemorate the coronation of the Māori King. Although normally all major party leaders attend, Seymour wasn’t invited, and a Māori leader told Prime Minister Christopher Luxon that the government had ‘turned its back on Māori’. The Māori King also called a rare national meeting in January, and the turnout – 10,000 people – further showed the extent of concern.

Wasted potential

At the same time, the Māori population is growing quickly – it recently passed the million mark – and is youthful. Compared to previous generations, people are more likely to embrace their Māori identity, culture and language. Māori people are showing their resilience, and activism has never been stronger. But this growing momentum has hit a political roadblock that threatens to throttle its potential – all for the sake of short-term political gain.

New Zealand’s positive international reputation is on the line – but it doesn’t have to be this way. The government should start acting like a responsible partner under the Treaty of Waitangi. It must abide by the treaty principles, as developed and elaborated over time, and stop scapegoating Māori people.

Andrew Firmin is CIVICUS Editor-in-Chief, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report.

 

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Kenya is yet to ratify the UN's International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. Credit: IPS

By Robert Kibet
NAIROBI, Sep 2 2024 (IPS)

As the world marked International Day of the Disappeared, Kenya grapples with a shadowy and persistent crisis—enforced disappearances. This harrowing violation of human rights has left countless families in anguish, searching for their loved ones while battling a wall of government denial and indifference.

Enforced disappearance is addressed in international law, specifically the UN’s International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. However, Kenya has yet to ratify this crucial convention, leaving a legal void that exacerbates the problem.

According to Kevin Mwangi, a program officer with the Independent Medico-Legal Unit (IMLU), the Kenyan government lacks a definition within national legislation, meaning Kenyans and civil society rely on UN international guidelines to hold authorities accountable.

One haunting instance occurred in 2021 when Kenya’s Yala River, once a peaceful and secluded area, became a site of horror. Over a few weeks, 26 bodies were discovered within a 50-meter stretch. The bodies, many male, were found far from where they had originally gone missing, most of whom were facing criminal charges.

Human rights activists were initially involved in the investigations, but they were soon pushed out by the police. Boniface Ogutu, one of the activists working on the case, told the press, “We found bodies with their hands tied with ropes. Some were wrapped in polythene bags. Many of the bodies showed signs of severe trauma, including scars similar to acid burns, and most appeared to have been tortured before being dumped into the water.”

Ogutu further reported that villagers had observed a black Subaru, often associated with security forces, speeding to the riverbank with four occupants who would hurriedly dispose of the bodies before driving away.

In the early 2010s, the Kenyan government granted sweeping powers to security agencies to combat terrorism, leading to a surge in kidnappings, torture, and extrajudicial killings, even for petty crimes.

Hit squads began targeting suspects, and during election seasons, when rallies and protests were frequent, reports of disappearances and killings skyrocketed. In 2021 alone, rights groups documented at least 170 extrajudicial killings and numerous disappearances attributed to the police.

One of the victims found in the Yala River was Philemon Chepkwony, a resident of Kipkelion in Kenya’s Rift Valley. He had been charged with car theft and was out on bail awaiting trial when he disappeared in December 2021.

“We are witnessing a disturbing trend of young people like Philemon disappearing without a trace, only to be found dead in rivers,” lamented Hillary Kosgey, the legislator for Kipkelion West, at Chepkwony’s burial. “No one has the right to take away these lives. If they are jailed, they can reform.”

In Kenya’s coastal counties like Mombasa, where much of the country’s Muslim population resides, young men have been recruited by terrorist groups, prompting the police to carry out frequent raids and profiling of these communities.

The recent discovery of mutilated bodies wrapped in polythene bags at an open quarry in Mukuru Kwa Njenga, one of Kenya’s slum residences, sparked public anger amid weeks of anti-government protests over a since-scrapped finance bill.

After assuming power, President William Ruto repeatedly stated in public rallies, there would be no cases of enforced disappearance or extrajudicial killings.

Mwangi outlines the chilling components of enforced disappearance: “It begins with the deprivation of the right to liberty, often without the victim’s consent or knowledge. This act is carried out by government officials, who then conceal or deny any knowledge of the person’s whereabouts.”

“Enforced disappearance is not a transient issue; it can span years, even decades. It is a permanent state of limbo for the victims and their families until the person is found,” Mwangi adds, stressing the long-lasting impact of such crimes.

The 2023 Missing Voices report indicated a slight reduction in extrajudicial killings between 2022 and 2023, from 130 to 118, and a decrease in enforced disappearances from 22 to 10.

“Men continue to be the primary victims, accounting for 94% of extrajudicial killings, with a notable concentration among men aged 19-35,” the report states.

In Africa, enforced disappearances, particularly in politically volatile regions, often occur within the context of state repression. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is a stark example, where a massacre led to the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights holding the government accountable for acts of enforced disappearance.

“For enforced disappearance to occur, government officials must be involved, and the state must have full knowledge of the whereabouts of the missing individuals,” Mwangi clarifies.

In Kenya, the situation is dire. Mwangi recalls a case handled by IMLU where two individuals, after being released from court, were allegedly abducted by security officials. “To this day, the government denies knowing their whereabouts,” he laments, highlighting the pervasive culture of impunity.

The infamous River Yala incident serves as a grim reminder of the scale of the problem. Mwangi points to the systemic failure of the judiciary, where a revolving door of bail releases perpetuates the cycle of crime and violence.

“There is a growing narrative that the courts are not doing their work, leading police to take matters into their own hands,” he notes.

Despite the gravity of the situation, Kenya lacks specific legislation on enforced disappearance. The country has not ratified the international convention, leaving victims and their families without a clear path to justice.

“One life is one too many,” Mwangi says, referencing the 32 cases documented by the Missing Voices coalition. “We are currently developing guidelines to ensure that each African country has a policy on enforced disappearance. The numbers may be higher than reported, but only a few cases come to light.”

After Kenya’s 2007-2008 general elections, there were significant human rights violations, leading to the formation of the Ransley Taskforce to address police reforms. The task force made strong recommendations, including the need to separate these entities, as at the time, the police were the perpetrators, prosecutors, and investigators. This flawed system prevented justice from being realized and emphasized the need for mechanisms to ensure justice and accountability.

In 2017, Kenya enacted the Coroner Service Act, which provided a framework for forensic documentation at crime scenes. However, implementation has been problematic. For instance, in a 2018 case in Eldoret, a police officer handled a murder weapon with bare hands, compromising the evidence.

Currently, forensic evidence collection in Kenya is substandard, failing to meet the requirements necessary to hold up in court. Although the Coroner Law was assented to by the President in 2017, it has not been operationalized, largely due to a lack of political will.

“Kenya has a history of passing laws that are then shelved. When questioned, the government claims that the delay is due to funding issues, stating that funds need to be allocated to create the Coroner’s office,” Mwangi says.

Moreover, the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) lacks its forensic lab and must rely on the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), which is part of the security forces. There is a pressing need for an independent forensic lab under IPOA to carry out forensic audits.

Despite these challenges, IPOA has succeeded in securing eight convictions in extrajudicial cases over the past 11 years. This entity was established to ensure accountability in such cases.

Roselyn Odede, chairperson of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, reported in 2023 that the commission received reports of 22 extrajudicial killings and nine cases of enforced disappearance between January 2022 and June 2023.

Peninah Koome, chairperson of Kenyan Champions for Justice, a community-based organization, recounted her harrowing experience. Her husband was arrested, brutally beaten by the officer in charge at Ruaraka police station, and later died at Kenyatta National Hospital.

“I had no money to pay for lawyers, but IPOA and International Justice Mission (IJM) stepped in. However, as a witness to my husband’s case, I became a target. They came after me the day after I testified. IPOA and IJM had to provide protection. After three years, we finally got justice.”

Houghton Irungu, the Executive Director at Amnesty International Kenya, expressed concern about the return of the same oppressive culture despite the Kenya Kwanza administration’s promise under Ruto to end enforced disappearances.

“They disbanded the Special Service Unit (SSU), revamped the National Police Service, changed the Director of Criminal Investigations, and restructured the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU). We hoped this would lead to respect for the rule of law, but the old habits seem to be resurfacing,” said Irungu.

Irungu emphasizes the importance of timely identification of missing persons and the need for human rights organizations and witness protection agencies to act quickly to protect witnesses and their families.

“As a country, we still haven’t ratified the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. It’s been five years since Parliament passed the Coroner Service Act, yet we still lack independent coroner forensic capacity to prosecute these cases. We don’t even have a national database on missing persons,” laments Irungu.

As the international community commemorates the victims of enforced disappearances, the call for justice in Kenya grows louder. The government’s failure to address this issue not only violates human rights but also erodes public trust in state institutions. For the families of the missing, the search for truth and accountability.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Digital technology has become an indispensable part of life and learning tool for children. Credit: Unsplash/Giu Vicente

By Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana and Zhaslan Madiyev
BANGKOK, Thailand, Sep 2 2024 (IPS)

The development paradigm has shifted to ‘digital by default’ as a norm, reshaping societies and economies. As a hub for digitally driven innovations, Asia and the Pacific is well positioned to leverage the transformative potential of digital technologies to accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals.

Emerging technologies are enabling smarter climate action, building more disaster-resilient cities and optimizing urban development. Artificial intelligence is helping improve the accuracy of early warning systems for disasters by providing the right information that reaches all the right people at the right time.

Digital finance is more inclusive – expanding access especially for marginalized groups – while digital government platforms likewise enable public services to reach all citizens more effectively and efficiently.

The Asia-Pacific Digital Transformation Report 2024, which will be launched this week, demonstrates how digital innovations have enabled more sophisticated climate mitigation and adaptation measures across infrastructure, governance, mobility, industry and trade, disaster risk reduction, and agricultural and biodiversity ecosystems.

Drawing from International Energy Agency data, the deployment of digital technologies and big data could save $80 billion per year or around 5 per cent of total world annual power generation costs, while digitalization can help the integration of renewables by enabling smart grids to better match energy demand.

However, the opportunities presented by digital innovations for sustainable development also face challenges and looming threats. The Asia-Pacific region is confronted with several barriers to the broad-scale adoption of digital solutions.

While 96 per cent of the population in Asia and the Pacific live in areas covered by mobile broadband networks, it is estimated that only one-third productively uses internet services and up to 40 per cent lacks basic digital skills.

Moreover, while four out of five people in urban areas use the Internet, in rural regions, this figure is only 52 per cent. Such gaps in meaningful access are due to digital divides that broadly follow age, income, education and geographic fault lines, with the gender divide underlying all these aspects.

With the use of artificial intelligence rapidly rising, the need and urgency to bridge the digital divides between and within countries remain critical to ensure the full enjoyment of the benefits of digital technologies for all, while minimizing their risks.

Deploying innovative breakthrough solutions in bridging the digital divide and leveraging digital transformation for sustainable development will require mobilizing investments at scale in new infrastructure and connectivity.

To this end, expanding affordable high-speed Internet coverage particularly among marginalized and underserved communities in rural areas, as well as offering digital skills training and lifelong learning, are critical for reducing digital disparities and connecting the unconnected.

By sharing knowledge, experiences and practices among countries, regional cooperation can create a conducive environment for innovation to flourish and steer us towards an inclusive digital future.

These holistic approaches require a high level of policy ambition. At the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Digital Inclusion and Transformation, which ESCAP is organizing in partnership with the Government of Kazakhstan in Astana this week, Ministers are expected to commit to a common vision, centred on innovative, collaborative digital solutions grounded in regional cooperation.

In this regard, the conference will consider the possibility of establishing a Digital Solutions Centre for Sustainable Development in Kazakhstan that aims to share practical digital solutions to advance the sustainable development agenda in the region.

Relatedly, the ESCAP Asia-Pacific Information Superhighway Initiative and its Action Plan 2022-2026 contributes to the collective push to extend meaningful connectivity to all, scale up digital technology applications and strengthen digital data, which form the foundations for an inclusive, sustainable digital future.

With Asia and the Pacific at the forefront of a global digital transformation, a sustainable future is within reach. Let us seize on the digital promise to accelerate sustainable development in our region.

https://www.youtube.com/unescap

Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana is Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of ESCAP.

Zhaslan Madiyev is Minister of Digital Development, Innovations and Aerospace Industry of Kazakhstan.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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US financial support of various UN organizations is critical not only for the fulfillment of their humanitarian causes but also to serve America’s best national interests. Such support bolsters its global leadership role and influence, enabling it to walk on high moral ground. Credit: United Nations, New York

By Alon Ben-Meir
NEW YORK, Sep 2 2024 (IPS)

During Donald Trump’s presidency, the United States withdrew from several international organizations. These include the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC).

Trump’s actions were partly motivated by a broader strategy, presumably prioritizing “America First” policies. Trump often cited perceived prejudices or inefficiencies within these organizations.

If Trump were to be reelected, he should be persuaded not to take similar actions as that would diminish rather than serve America’s leadership role and its influence on these organizations and prevent it from leading by example and walking the high moral ground.

Although Trump, if reelected, will more than likely withdraw from many of these organizations, when and how he will act would depend on several factors.

Strategic Interests

Trump’s foreign policy has often been transactional. He was guided by what he thought best served America’s interests. If staying in these organizations is inconsistent with his perceived strategic interests, however misguided that might be, he will undoubtedly consider withdrawing again from these and other UN organizations.

Political Climate

The domestic and international political climate could influence his decisions. For example, if Trump enjoyed solid domestic support for disengaging from international organizations or if geopolitical tensions required a reevaluation of alliances, he might pursue similar actions.

Policy Continuity

Trump’s previous withdrawals were propelled by his critiques of many of these organizations, such as suspected mismanagement, prejudice against specific states, or inadequacies in dealing with global issues. Similar actions could be expected if his views on these “concerns” remain unchanged.

That said, given what Trump has been saying and advocating as he campaigns for reelection, he remains committed to his misguided notion of “America First” when, in fact, America’s best interest is served by staying in rather than withdrawing from these international organizations.

Nevertheless, should he still take similar action, it could create significant financial gaps at these organizations, given the US’s role as the largest contributor to the UN.

In 2022, the US contributed over $18 billion, accounting for about one-third of the UN’s overall funding. This substantial financial support is crucial for various UN operations, including peacekeeping, humanitarian aid, and health initiatives.

In the event of a US withdrawal, the UN should be prepared to take several measures to mitigate the adverse impact on these organizations.

Bolstering Alliances

The UN Secretary-General should seek to build stronger coalitions with other countries to step up to fill the financial void and assist in mitigating the impact of a US withdrawal, including nurturing relationships with emerging economies and regional powers. These powers include:

• China: As the second-largest contributor to the UN, China has already increased its financial commitments in recent years. In 2022, China contributed approximately 16 percent of the UN peacekeeping budget and 15 percent to the UN’s regular budget, making it a significant player.

• Japan, Germany, and the United Kingdom: These countries are among the top contributors to the UN budget, with Japan contributing about 8 percent, Germany contributing around 6 percent, and the United Kingdom contributing around 4 percent. While these nations might struggle to fill the gap left by the US entirely, they could increase their contributions to mitigate the adverse impact.

• The EU: Given its commitment to multilateralism and global cooperation, the EU could collectively increase its contributions to the UN, which would offer the block an opportunity to assert its leadership on the world stage.

• Emerging Powers like India and Brazil, which are growing economically, might also be encouraged to increase their contributions. This could allow these nations to gain more influence in international affairs.

While these countries and groups might increase their contributions, it is important to note that the financial gap left by the US would be challenging to fill completely. The UN will have to prioritize its programs and seek efficiencies to cope with reduced funding. Additionally, the loss of US support could lead to strategic shifts within the UN, affecting its operations and influence.

Broadening of Funding Resources

Organizations such as UNRWA should diversify their funding sources to reduce their dependence on any single country, especially the US, which is the largest contributor. This could involve increasing contributions from other member UN states, private donors, and charitable organizations specifically concerned about the plight of the Palestinians.

Such countries may include Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and other oil-rich Arab states.

Involving US policymakers

The UN should engage privately with many US policymakers to address its concerns and demonstrate the benefits of membership in these organizations, which could avert future withdrawals by the new Trump administration. This could entail stressing the importance and the strategic advantages of multilateral collaboration in addressing international challenges.

Reform Initiatives

Addressing criticisms that led to previous withdrawals, such as perceived biases or inefficiencies, could help prevent future disengagements. Moreover, transparent reforms and accountability measures might reassure skeptical member states of the organizations’ importance and effectiveness.

US financial support of many UN organizations must remain unabated. Those who can exert any influence on Trump should point out to him, should he be reelected, how critical US support is for the functioning of these organizations, as well as for the US’s self-interest, which is consistent with Trump’s notion of “America First.”

Given, however, what we know about Trump, the likelihood is that he will not change his ways and may well pursue the same shortsighted policies.

Thus, by preparing and adopting the above strategic measures, the UN and its agencies will be in a much stronger position to survive potential shifts in the US treatment of these organizations and its foreign policy in general under Trump and proceed with their important missions efficiently.

Dr. Alon Ben-Meir is a retired professor of international relations, most recently at the Center for Global Affairs at New York University (NYU). He taught courses on international negotiation and Middle Eastern studies.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Secretary-General António Guterres (second from right) visits Tonga, where he attended the Pacific Islands Forum. Credit: UN Photo/Kiara Worth

By Catherine Wilson
SYDNEY & NUKU'ALOFA, Aug 30 2024 (IPS)

Three months ahead of the COP29 United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference, the United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, has called for an emergency response from the international community as new data from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reveals a critical deterioration in the state of the climate.

Scientists have called for limiting the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels to prevent overheating of the atmosphere and a damaging rise in sea levels. But, due to inaction on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, there is an 80 percent chance that the 1.5 degree threshold will be breached within the next five years, reports the WMO. 

“This is a crazy situation: rising seas are a crisis entirely of humanity’s making. A crisis that will soon swell to an almost unimaginable scale with no lifeboat to take us back to safety,” the UN Secretary-General declared in Nuku’alofa, the capital of Tonga, a Polynesian nation of about 106,000 people located southeast of Fiji, on Monday. He has been on the ground in the Pacific Islands, witnessing firsthand how people’s lives are hanging in the balance as they suffer a relentless battering of climate extremes, such as cyclones, floods, rising seas and hotter temperatures.

“Today’s reports confirm that relative sea levels in the southwestern Pacific have risen even more than the global average, in some locations by more than double the global increase in the past 30 years,” Guterres said. “If we save the Pacific, we also save ourselves. The world must act and answer the SOS before it is too late.”

According to a newly released UN report, Surging Seas in a Warming World, the increase in the global mean sea level was 9.4 cm, but in the southwest Pacific it was more than 15 cm between 1993 and 2023. Expanding oceans, due to melting Arctic and Antarctic ice, are projected “to cause a large increase in the frequency and severity of episodic flooding in almost all locations in the Pacific Small Island Developing States in the coming decades.” Ninety percent of Pacific Islanders live within 5 kilometres of coastlines, leaving them highly exposed to encroaching seas. Climate change impacts pose a serious threat to human life, livelihoods and food security, and the implications for increasing poverty and loss and damage are ‘profound and far-reaching,’ the report claims.

For years, Pacific Island leaders have led the way in calling for world leaders and industrialized nations to take rigorous action to halt the increasing carbon dioxide emissions destroying earth’s atmosphere.  In Tonga, the Secretary-General joined many of them at the 53rd Pacific Islands Forum Leaders’ summit on the 26-27 August, including the summit’s host and Prime Minister of Tonga, Hon. Siaosi Sovaleni, Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister, James Marape, Samoa’s leader, Fiame Naomi Mata’afa and Tuvalu’s PM, Feleti Teo.  And he took the opportunity to amplify their voices and their climate leadership. ‘Greenhouse gases are causing ocean heating, acidification and rising seas. But the Pacific Islands are showing the way to protect our climate, our planet and our ocean,’ he said.

The UN chief took time to listen to the voices of local communities and youth, gaining valuable insights into how the people of Tonga are responding to climate extremes and disasters.

In January 2022, a tsunami, triggered by the eruption of an undersea volcano known as Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai, descended on Tonga. It reached the main island of Tongatapu and others, affecting 80 percent of the country’s population, destroying livestock and agricultural land and causing damage of more than USD 125 million. Guterres met with people in the coastal villages of Kanokupolu and Ha’atafu, which were devastated when the tsunami swept through and surveyed the ruins of beach resorts and coastal infrastructure while witnessing the resilience and determination of those who have rebuilt their homes and lives.

Two years ago, the UN also launched ‘Early Warnings for All’, a project aimed at installing early warning systems in every country by 2027 in order to save lives and prevent damage.

“With the increase in the intensity of tropical cyclones and flooding [in the Pacific], simple weather forecasting is not enough for people to prepare for these natural disasters,” Arti Pratap, an expert on tropical cyclones who lectures in Geospatial Science at the University of the South Pacific in Fiji, told IPS. She said it was important to “focus on building the capacity of communities to make use of the information provided by national meteorological services in the Pacific on an hourly, daily and monthly basis for decision-making.”

UN Secretary-General António Guterres visits a house in Lalomanu that has been abandoned due to storm damage and flooding as a result of climate change during his trip to Samoa.
Credit: UN Photo/Kiara Worth

Many farmers, for instance, “tend to rely on readily available traditional knowledge on weather and climate and its interaction with the environment around them, which they are familiar with. However, traditional knowledge may not be sufficient in the background of global warming,” Pratap said.

The UN initiative involves the setting up of meteorological observation stations, ocean sensors and radars to better predict extreme weather and disaster events. According to the UN, providing 24 hours’ notice of an approaching disaster can reduce damage by 30 percent. As part of the project, Guterres launched a new weather radar at Tonga’s International Airport.

His week-long tour of the Pacific Islands, which also included time in Samoa, New Zealand and East Timor, was an opportune moment for Guterres to open conversations about the goals that will be on the table at COP29, to be held in Baku, Azerbaijan, on 11-22 November.

The key priorities of this year’s climate summit will be, among others, limiting the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius and achieving broad agreement on the scale and provision of climate finance. ‘The one thing that is very clear in my presence here is to be able to say loud and clear from the Pacific Islands to the big emitters that it is totally unacceptable, with devastating impacts of climate change, to go on increasing emissions,’ Guterres declared in Nuku’alofa on August 26, 2024.

And, for many Pacific Islanders, gaining better access to climate finance is vital. The development organization, Pacific Community, reports that the region will require at least USD 2 billion per year to implement climate resilience and adaptation projects and transition to renewable energy. This far exceeds what the Pacific is currently receiving in climate finance, which is about USD 220 million per annum.

“Despite the commendable pledges from the United Nations and world leaders, such as the Paris Agreement, the existing global finance mechanisms still hinder community-based and youth organizations from accessing critical support,” Mahoney Mori, Chairman of the Pacific Youth Council, told local media during a meeting between the UN Chief and Pacific youth leaders in Tonga’s capital.

‘As a first step, all developed countries must honor their commitment to double adaptation finance to at least USD 40 billion per year by 2025,’ the UN Secretary General said on World Environment Day on June 24.

Tonga’s Prime Minister, Hu’akavemeiliku Siaosi Sovaleni, summed up the views of many in the Pacific as world attention focused on his island nation with the visit of the UN Secretary-General: “We need a lot more action than just words,’ he said at the Pacific leaders meeting. Referring to a minor earthquake that shook the islands as leaders converged on Tonga, he added, “We put on a show with the rain and a bit of flooding and also shook you guys up a little bit by that earthquake, just to wake you up to the reality of what we have to face here in the Pacific.”

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Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed meets with Fatime Boukar Kossei, Minister of Social Action, National Solidarity and Humanitarian Affairs of the Republic of Chad to discuss the ongoing humanitarian crisis that has been aggravated by heavy rainfall. Credit: Loey Felipe/UN Photo

By Oritro Karim
UNITED NATIONS, Aug 30 2024 (IPS)

Since June of this year, Chad has been facing an extended period of heavy rainfall. Major flooding has triggered the onset of a significant humanitarian crisis, as all aspects of Chadian life, including health, food production, and community, have been negatively impacted. Additionally, response plans are severely compromised due to high levels of hostility taking place in neighboring nations.

Major floods have resulted in at least 145 deaths as well as an overall disruption of life. Severe flooding resulted in thousands of people losing their homes and all of their belongings. The UN briefing held on August 28, 2024, detailed the significant physical toll that flooding has had on Chad.

“All of Chad’s 23 provinces are now affected by floods following heavy rains that started earlier in the summer, in June. According to local authorities, 145 people have lost their lives. More than 960,000 people have been impacted, with some 70,000 homes destroyed,” says Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for the United Nations Secretary-General.

Additionally, it has been reported that certain regions have been more adversely affected than others, with some areas only accessible by canoe. Flooding has also led to the collapse of critical infrastructure, including bridges, roads, and buildings.

It is important to note that Chad’s economy is critically dependent on agriculture. Approximately 80 percent of the workforce is employed through jobs in farming and raising livestock, with crops accounting for about a quarter of the nation’s GDP.

Recent flooding has decimated arable land and made conditions for growing crops nearly impossible. This has led to Chad’s preexisting issues in food insecurity and famine to greatly worsen.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Human Affairs (OCHA) states, “The floods also severely impacted agriculture, with more than 250,000 hectares flooded and 30,000 heads of livestock washed away. With Chad’s malnutrition rates at a nine-year high, this will only aggravate an already dire food security situation.”

OCHA adds that prior to the floods that started this summer, Chadian authorities had declared a “national food security and nutrition emergency.” This indicates that a significant percentage of the population faces a risk of starvation and malnutrition.

“More than 964,000 people or 166,000 households, are affected by these floods as of August 25, 2024. There are 145 people dead, more than 251,000 hectares of fields submerged, more than 70,000 houses destroyed, and 29,000 heads of cattle swept away,” OCHA says.

Additionally, the World Food Programme (WFP) projects that approximately 3.4 million people are projected to face acute food insecurity for the lean season, which is happening right now. 2024 boasts the highest levels of food insecurity ever recorded for Chad, seeing a 240 percent increase since 2020.

In addition to widespread food insecurity, major flooding has raised concerns over the transmission of waterborne diseases.

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) states, “Four provinces and seven districts have been affected by a hepatitis E epidemic, which has a particularly high mortality rate amongst pregnant women. As of 15 July, there have been a cumulative total of 3,296 cases. 10 deaths have been confirmed, of which five were pregnant women.”

Additionally, flooding has worsened access to clean drinking water, leading to an increase in the contraction of cholera and diarrhea. Furthermore, flooding is also linked to a decrease in hygiene, leading to increased cases of malaria, meningitis, and respiratory illnesses.

Heavy flooding has also caused a significant increase in displacement levels. Due to the floods destroying thousands of homes across the country, many families have been forced to take refuge in schools and displacement camps.

”An estimated 1,778,138 people have been forcibly displaced in Chad, with the country hosting 1,388,104 refugees,” states the UNFPA.

Floods in Chad have also greatly obstructed the delivery of humanitarian aid due to high water levels in towns and villages obstructing the use of aid trucks. Additionally, pre-existing instabilities in national security have been exacerbated as armed conflict to the east of Chad prevents humanitarian aid from accessing those in need.

The Sudanese Civil War has led to armed groups pushing millions of civilians out of Sudan. Sudanese authorities have impeded aid through the Adre border crossing, which is the most efficient path for aid trucks to take through to Chad.

Dujarric adds, “Response capacity is already severely strained in Chad by the ongoing crisis in the country’s east, where large numbers of Sudanese refugees have fled to escape conflict in neighboring Sudan.”.

Currently, the UNFPA is supporting 73 healthcare facilities and is delivering supplies to help expecting mothers and families in the region. The WFP is also distributing food and nutritional supplements to families that have been most affected by hunger. In addition, the UN Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) is helping aid workers reach remote areas that were thought to be inaccessible due to flooding.

Furthermore, the UN has launched the 2024 Humanitarian Response Plan for Chad, which seeks USD 1.1 billion. However, it is only 35 percent funded as of the date of publication.

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The UN commemorated the International Day Against Nuclear Tests on August 29. It was established in 2009 by the UN General Assembly to recall the date of the official closing of the Semipalatinsk nuclear weapons testing site in today’s Kazakhstan on 29 August 1991. That one site alone saw 456 nuclear test explosions between 1949 and 1989. Credit: ICAN Darren Omitz

By Dennis Francis and Robert Floyd
UNITED NATIONS, Aug 30 2024 (IPS)

In 2009 the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 29 August the International Day Against Nuclear Tests. This date recalled the official closing of the Semipalatinsk nuclear weapons testing site in today’s Kazakhstan on 29 August 1991; that one site alone having seen 456 nuclear test explosions between 1949 and 1989.

Between 1954 and 1984 there was on average at least one nuclear weapons test somewhere in the world every week, most with a blast far exceeding the bombing of Hiroshima; nuclear weapons exploding in the air, on and under the ground and in the sea.

Radioactivity from these test explosions spread across the planet deep into the environment. It can still be traced and measured today, in elephant tusks, in the coral of the Great Barrier Reef and in the deepest ocean trenches.

Meanwhile nuclear weapons stockpiles have grown exponentially. By the early 1980s there were some 60,000 nuclear weapons, most far more powerful than the bombs used in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Public indignation grew. By the 1960s it was agreed in principle that ending explosive nuclear tests would be a vital brake on developing nuclear weapons and thereby promote nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament.

The preamble to the Non-Proliferation Treaty of 1968 talked boldly of achieving ‘the discontinuance of all test explosions of nuclear weapons for all time’. But then it took almost thirty more years and hundreds more nuclear test explosions before the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) was agreed in 1996. This is one of the world’s landmark treaties. What a difference it has made.

Between 1945 and 1996 there were more than two thousand nuclear weapons tests. In the 28 years since 1996, there have been fewer than a dozen. In this century only six tests have been conducted, all by North Korea. The Treaty relies on a network of over 300 scientific monitoring facilities around the world that can quickly detect a nuclear test notably smaller than the Hiroshima explosion and pinpoint its location. No state anywhere on Earth can conduct a nuclear weapons test in secret.

The CTBT has near universal international support. 187 States have signed it and 178 have ratified it. With ten new ratifications since 2021, there is global momentum against renewed nuclear testing with enthusiasm among smaller states especially high. Despite these gains, current international uncertainty challenges the global norm against nuclear testing created by the CTBT.

What if we see renewed nuclear testing, or even the use of a nuclear weapon in a conflict? We would face a disastrous collapse in international trust and solidarity. A return to the days of unrestrained nuclear testing would leave no state safe, no community safe, no-one on Earth unaffected. There’s always plenty of talk about learning from mistakes. In this case let’s learn from successes.

The CTBT brings together the best of diplomacy with the very latest technology for an unambiguous common global good. It builds transparency and trust, just when transparency and trust look to be in dwindling supply. On the International Day against Nuclear Tests, the United Nations General Assembly high-level meeting will be convened.

On this occasion, we call on all states to be open to the bold but principled decisions needed to reach a final global consensus under the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. To end nuclear testing once and for all. Enough is enough.

Ambassador Dennis Francis is the President of the UN General Assembly, at its seventy-eighth session; Dr Robert Floyd is the Executive Secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization.

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Rik Peeperkorn, the World Health Organization (WHO) representative for Palestine, briefs the media on the polio vaccination campaign in Gaza. Credit: Naureen Hossain/IPS

By Naureen Hossain
UNITED NATIONS, Aug 29 2024 (IPS)

The UN’s multi-agency polio vaccine campaign in Gaza is set to begin this weekend. It will do so under continued constraints on humanitarian operations and mobility, but with the assurance from Israel to pause fighting for the campaign to go ahead.

Rik Peeperkorn, the World Health Organization (WHO) Representative for Palestine, briefed reporters virtually on Thursday, August 29, 2024, on the upcoming polio vaccine campaign. The campaign will consist of two rounds, with the first round beginning on September 1.

There will be a four-week interval between the first and second doses. Over 1.26 million doses of the polio vaccine have arrived in Gaza, with room for an additional 400,000 doses. The campaign, coordinated with WHO, UNICEF, UNRWA and the Palestine Ministry of Health, will aim to administer two drops of novel oral polio vaccine type 2 (nOPV2) to at least 640,000 children under the age of ten.

“It’s critical that we reach 90 percent vaccination coverage during each round,” said Peeperkorn. “That is needed. Actually, you need 90 percent to stop the outbreak, the transmission within Gaza and to prevent the international spread of polio.”

The first round of the campaign will be carried out in three zones over three-day phases: starting in central Gaza, then in southern Gaza, and northern Gaza. Under constant monitoring of the situation, an additional one or two days may be added to extend each period in the zones, according to Peeperkorn. Even with this period, there is still pressure to carry out the campaign as soon as possible to ensure the highest coverage possible.

Health centers have been set up for families to gather to with their children. Ove 2180 outreach workers and volunteers have been trained to administer the vaccine, and mobile teams have been set up to travel to groups that may not be able to visit the centers.

“We want to make sure we have three days of the best access possible, that families bring their children to those fixed sites,” said Peeperkorn. “We will go out and reach out through mobile teams.”

Since the announcement of this campaign in early August, WHO has requested a humanitarian pause for operations to be carried out safely. According to Peeperkorn, an agreement has been reached with the Office of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), wherein a humanitarian pause would come into effect for nine hours from 6am to 3pm.

Under the agreement, the campaign is to be carried out within the timeframe. Peeperkorn stated that the humanitarian pause would be honored and was given assurance by Israeli authorities that evacuation orders would not be issued during the campaign.

“I want to stress that without a humanitarian pause, the campaign delivery—which is already implemented under constraints in a complex environment—will not be possible,” said Peeperkorn.

When asked how confident he was of the campaign’s success, Peeperkorn replied: “I think this is a way forward. I won’t say this is the ideal way forward, but this is a workable way forward. Not doing anything would be really bad. We have to stop this transmission in Gaza… We are reasonable with this approach and everyone is playing accordingly.”

“Of course, all parties will have to stick to this. We have to make sure that every day we can do this campaign in this humanitarian pause.”

Gaza and the West Bank have high immunization coverage across the population. Peeperkorn noted that the immunization rate of over 95 percent in recent years was much higher than in some high-income countries.

Yet since current hostilities broke out in October 2023, immunization for polio dropped from 99 percent in 2022 to less than 90 percent in the first quarter of 2024.

Over the last ten months, blockades of humanitarian aid, electricity and water sanitation resources has seen a breakdown of the healthcare and sanitation systems in Gaza. The lack of clean water and sanitation in Gaza has already seen an increase in respiratory diseases and infections.

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