Displacements in this Caribbean country have reached record levels, with nearly 600,000 people forced to leave their homes this year – double the number from last year. This makes Haiti the country with the highest number of displacements due to violence.
Support from the NGO TOYA
Louise and Chantal* both received support from the Haitian NGO TOYA, a partner of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the regional branch of the World Health Organization (WHO).
People continue to flee their homes in Port-au-Prince due to gang-related violence.
Louise, 47, is a single mother of five children. Currently, only one of her children, an 11-year-old, is with her, while the other four are scattered elsewhere in the country. “We were driven out by bandits; they burned our homes,” she recounts in a testimony collected by a PAHO official.
Her mother recently died due to hypertension and the stress resulting from repeated forced displacements. “My mother had to be forcibly displaced twice in a short time,” she laments.
‘I took a big step back in my life’
Chantal, 56, and a single mother of six children, shares Louise’s sufferings. Her house was also burned. “The bandits raped me and my daughter. I contracted HIV as a result. They beat me, and I lost four teeth. The father of my children is no longer able to care for them. I am now destitute. I took a big step back in my life and don’t know how to recover,” she explains.
A funeral procession passes through the Grand Cemetery in downtown Port-au-Prince.
“The insecurity took everything from me; I was half-crazy. I even thought about drinking bleach to commit suicide after the events,” she testifies.
Louise was at another displacement site before getting to Carl Brouard Square in Port-au-Prince. During this time, the TOYA Foundation helped her by providing kits with essential items and funds that allowed her to start a small business.
However, this respite was short-lived. One day, “the bandits” invaded the site at Carl Brouard Square, and once again, she lost everything. “My business, my belongings, I couldn’t take anything during the attack,” she says.
The insecurity took everything from me; I was half-crazy. I even thought about drinking bleach to commit suicide after the events. — Chantal
Chantal went to the TOYA Foundation’s premises, where she received psychosocial support, training sessions, and funds.
‘Life is not over’
“In the training sessions, TOYA’s psychologists taught me what life is and its importance. They showed me that life is not over for me, that I can become what I want, and that I still have value. I received considerable support from everyone at TOYA”, she emphasizes.
Currently, she lives with a relative and some of her children. Some of her offspring are in the provinces, including her teenage daughter, who was raped along with her.
“Thank God she was not infected with HIV. But she has been traumatized since. She doesn’t want to return to Port-au-Prince. She was supposed to graduate this year but stopped everything because of this incident,” Chantal recounts.
She says she has faced a lot of discrimination from her family due to her HIV-positive status. “They think I can infect them because I live under the same roof,” she states, noting that she continues to take her medication without issue.
Despite this difficult situation, she focuses on her life and how she can earn money to send to her children scattered in various places.
‘I want to see my children grow up’
For her part, Louise currently has no support because she lost her only source of income, which was her business.
“All I want is to live in peace,” she says. “Life in the sites is really difficult. The classrooms where we sleep flood every time it rains. We have to wait for the rain to stop to clean up and find a small space to rest and try to sleep.”
It’s been a long time since Louise has been able to visit some of her children whom she sent to the provinces. “I can’t go there due to the cost of living and the bandits who extort passengers on the roads,” she explains. “I’m tired of having to flee under the sound of gunfire. We are always at risk of being attacked at any moment.”
In this difficult context, Louise’s greatest goal “is to live.”
“All I want is to live,” Chantal echoes. She still suffers from hypertension “because the stress of the situation in Haiti is really unbearable.”
“But I still have to go about my business because I have mouths to feed. I want “to see my children grow up; I want to see them succeed in life,” she says.
*The names have been changed to protect their identities.
Seayeen Aum promotes ecotourism in the remote province of Ratanakiri, in Cambodia’s northeast. Credit: Kris Janssens/ IPS
by Kris Janssens (phnom penh)
Inter Press Service
PHNOM PENH, Jun 28 (IPS) – Modernity is arriving rapidly in Cambodia, observes journalist Kris Janssens (48), who has lived and worked in the country since 2016. The predominantly young population is eager to move forward, embracing technology over traditional agriculture or fishing. Can Cambodians unite their country’s authentic soul with their aspirations for progress?
Enormous changes throughout the years
I arrived in Cambodia in the winter of 2015, on January 7 to be precise. At the time, I was unaware of the significance of this date in Cambodian history, marking the official end of the Khmer Rouge regime in 1979. To be honest, I knew very little about Cambodia.
I planned to stay here briefly before returning to India, where I had just finished a series of radio reports. The unique Cambodian spirit changed my decision and my life course. This country immediately felt so familiar to me that I decided to move here permanently, about eighteen months later, in the fall of 2016. I’m still very happy that I can live in this magical kingdom.
But throughout the years, Cambodia has changed enormously. In the capital city of Phnom Penh, small shops and cozy coffee bars make way for tall bank buildings. And the picturesque airport will soon be replaced by a huge terminal, further away from the city center, and out of proportion compared to the human-scaled city that I love so much.
I have the feeling that the country is losing a part of its soul, and I want to try to capture and document this authentic spirit before it is too late.
Very young population
The fact that Cambodia is at a tipping point is primarily due to demography and history. More than one and a half million Cambodians died during the brutal Khmer Rouge era in the 1970s. The Pol Pot era was followed by a power vacuum and it took until the 1990s before peace and stability could return.
According to demographic forecasts, Phnom Penh will have more than 3 million inhabitants by 2035. More and more young Cambodians want to study in the city and switch from agriculture or fishing to technology or tourism.
Harsh economic reality
This shift is clearly visible in Kampong Khleang, a stilt village on the shore of the great Tonle Sap Lake, close to Siem Reap and the famous temples of Angkor Wat. Early in the morning, a rickety canoe takes me out to the open water, heading towards the rising sun. But what appears idyllic to me represents a harsh economic reality for the fishermen here. The catch is meager, and life is difficult.
“My son is going to work in the city, away from the water,” says Borei. It is the end of a tradition because his ancestors have lived as fishermen for generations. “But living along the water has become difficult, there are too many fishermen.” His shy ten-year-old son gazes ahead quietly. I ask him where he would like to work. After some hesitation, he responds “with the police”.
“That is a typical answer,” says Chhay Doeb. He is the Executive director of Cambodia Rural Students Trust, an NGO that provides scholarships to students from impoverished rural families.
“When young people arrive in the city, they want to become police officers, soldiers, doctors or teachers,” he says. “But they gradually discover that they can also work in the real estate sector or as a lawyer, for example.”
Noticeable distrust among parents
Doeb believes that the Cambodian economy will evolve and diversify even further. “But the economic level of neighboring countries like Thailand or Vietnam is not yet within reach,” he says.
At its founding in 2011, the organization had to go to villages and convince students of the NGO’s good intentions. Today, there are almost a thousand applications for twenty new places every year. The money for the scholarships comes from Australia.
Doeb still notices distrust among parents, wondering what their offspring is doing in the city.
I also experience this suspicion in Kratie, a small town on the bank of the Mekong River in the rural interior of Cambodia. The typical rural villagers look like characters sculpted from clay, with heads weathered by the sun and bodies wrinkled from hard work.
I meet Proum Veasna, who is about to take his cows back to the stable at dusk. During our conversation, his close neighbor passes by on his moped. He teasingly squeezes Veasna’s bare stomach. “We are friends, we all know each other here,” he says. His son works as a construction worker in Phnom Penh, but he has never been there himself. “It’s polluted, I would immediately get sick.”
Veasna has always worked as a farmer. “I had no choice because I have no education.” He wants a different future for his four children. “My daughter is learning English and Chinese.” The girl cycles by as we talk about her. “She can grow up to be whatever she wants, she is so smart,” says the proud dad.
Boosting economy
Upstream the Mekong River, in the neighboring province of Stung Treng, I meet Teap Chueng and Kom Leang, a retired couple living in a lonely house in a vast wooded landscape. “Covid never happened here”, they tell me with a big smile, “because we are never in touch with city dwellers”.
They do not need to go to the nearby town, as they are completely self-sufficient. “We have four hectares of land”, says Teap Chueng, while his wife proudly shows home-grown winter melon, a mild-tasting fruit related to the cucumber.
The region is also known for cashew nuts. “As we speak, new factories are being built, so the farmers will be able to scale up the production”. Although they realize that industrialization will change the landscape of their beloved home, the couple can’t wait for this development to happen. “It will boost our economy, which will benefit our children and grandchildren”.
A country with a lot of energy
Seayeen Aum is a typical example of someone who managed to work his way up. As a child, he learned how to survive in nature. “We didn’t always have enough money”, he says. “But if you know and understand the forest, you will always find something to eat.”
Today he promotes ecotourism in the remote province of Ratanakiri, in Cambodia’s northeast. And with success. During our trek through the jungle, he constantly receives calls and orders on one of his two mobile phones. “We are a country with a lot of energy,” he says, laughing.
This entrepreneur succeeded in marketing this region, with traditional ethnic minority groups, in a respectful manner to a Western audience. Authenticity and progress do go hand in hand here for the time being.
This is a country with a lot of challenges, providing all these graduating students with satisfying employment, to say the least. The drive for stability is important to Cambodians, but I also see ambitious people like Seayeen, who have a plan and are progressively working towards the result. In another five to eight years from now, this country will look completely different.
Organizers decided to cancel physical Pride events this year for fear of a repeat of violence that marred the 2023 event when far-right groups attacked festival goers. The organizers and Georgia’s president said anti-LGBT hate speech from government officials had incited violence ahead of the event in Tbilisi.
by Ed Holt (bratislava)
Inter Press Service
BRATISLAVA, Jun 26 (IPS) – “If this legislation passes, LGBT+ people simply aren’t going to be able to live here.” The warning from Tamar Jakeli, an LGBT+ activist and Director of Tbilisi Pride in Tbilisi, Georgia, is stark, but others in the country’s LGBT+ community agree, accurate.
Jakeli is talking to IPS in early June, soon after the ruling government party, Georgian Dream, proposed a bill in parliament that 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 also have to remove any content featuring same-sex relationships before broadcast, regardless of the age of the intended audience.
Strikingly similar to various legislation passed over the last decade in Russia, where the regime has looked to crack down on any open LGBT+ expression, critics say it could, if passed, have a devastating effect on Georgia’s queer community.
They fear it will lead to violent attacks on LGBT+ people and an increase in stigmatization, marginalization, and repression of the community.
“This legislation will give the green light to anyone who already has very conservative opinions to unleash violence on the LGBT community,” says Jakeli.
Experience from other countries where similar legislation has been introduced suggests this is a very likely outcome.
“The experiences of Russia and other countries that have passed such legislation show a clear pattern: state-sanctioned discrimination tends to foster an environment of hostility and violence against LGBTI communities,” Katrin Hugendubel, Advocacy Director at LGBT+ rights group ILGA-Europe, told IPS.
“This legislative move in Georgia could embolden extremist groups and individuals, leading to an increase in hate crimes and violence. The societal message that LGBTI people are less deserving of rights and protections can have severe and dangerous consequences,” she added.
Rights groups say that while the law would have an immediate negative effect on many aspects of LGBT+ people’s lives, it is also likely to reverse what has been a growing acceptance of the community in the country, albeit a slow one.
Although recent research suggests prejudice against LGBT+ people runs deep among what is a traditionally conservative population, activists say attitudes have become more tolerant towards the community in the last few years.
“There is still a conservative society here, and transphobia, homophobia and prejudice exist, in recent years, surveys have shown people being less homophobic, especially in big cities and among the young. The dynamic has been positive,” Beka Gabadadze, an LGBT+ activist and Chairperson of the Board at Queer Association Temida in Tbilisi, told IPS.
But this could now all be under threat.
“The introduction of this legislation has the potential to undo much of the progress that has been made in recent years,” Hugendubel warned.
“Improvements in the situation for LGBTI individuals in Georgia have been fragile and often driven by the efforts of activists and supportive segments of society. This law, by contrast, represents a significant setback that could negate the positive changes achieved. It could lead to increased fear, discourage public expressions of identity, and drive LGBTI people and their allies back into hiding,” she said.
The bill must pass three readings in parliament before it becomes law, and the last of those is expected for September, a few weeks before planned parliamentary elections.
Activists say they expect it to be passed, pointing to the government’s willingness to push through legislation regardless of how unpopular it might be. a law requiring civil society groups that receive a certain amount of funding from abroad to register as “pursuing the interests of a foreign power” was passed earlier this year, despite massive street protests and overwhelming public opposition to it.
Over the next few months as the Bill is debated, Jakeli says she is expecting rising repression against the community.
She says her organization’s offices have already been attacked—she believes by people connected to the government. A Georgian Dream MP appeared to claim responsibility for a series of attacks against the offices of civil society organizations in May this year.
She also expects many LGBT+ people to start, if they have not already, planning a new life abroad.
While Georgian Dream has said the bill has been introduced as a necessary measure to stop the spread of “pseudo-liberal” values that undermine traditional family relationships, critics see it as the latest cynical attempt by a government turning away from the West to increase stigmatisation of certain groups, particularly the LGBT+ community, for political gain ahead of elections.
Georgian Dream also linked its foreign influence legislation to protecting the country from NGOs promoting LGBT+ rights, among others.
“The timing and nature of these legislative moves suggest that they are part of a broader strategy to appeal to homophobic and anti-minority sentiments among certain voter bases,” said Hugendubel. “This tactic has been used in other countries to consolidate power by stoking fears and prejudices,” she added.
Following the implementation of the foreign agent law, the US slapped sanctions on Georgian officials and the EU is currently considering similar action. There have been calls for similar moves to deter the government from pursuing its anti-LGBT+ legislation.
“International pressure, such as sanctions or diplomatic measures, can be effective in signalling to the Georgian government that these actions have severe repercussions. Additionally, domestic protests and sustained public opposition can also play a crucial role in pushing back against these laws,” said Hugendubel.
But Jakeli said the government might try to use any mass protests to further push their own repressive political narrative.
“What Georgian Dream wants is for LGBT+ activists to go out on the streets now and protest and then they can turn around to voters and say, ‘Look, these are radicals trying to overthrow the government who want to spread their decadent western morals through Georgian society’,” she says.
Activists say they are holding out hope that the elections in October will bring about a change of government. Although Jakeli admits the “odds of that happening are not great” with opposition parties, she points out, “facing almost as much repression from the government as the LGBT+ community does.”
But even if Georgian Dream do remain in power after the October vote, Jakeli believes its efforts to further stigmatize the LGBT+ community may actually have already backfired.
“The protests against the ‘foreign agent’ law united different sections of society and more and more people see anti-LGBT+ laws as another ‘Russian’ method of polarizing and dividing society.
“When I was on the front lines of the foreign agent law protests, for the first time I felt as if I was part of the majority, not minority, in Georgia. I think that people have realized that everyone should have human rights, including LGBT+ people,” she says.
Credit: Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
Opinion by Azza Karam (new york)
Inter Press Service
NEW YORK, Jun 24 (IPS) – “Holy War” is how the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church referred to the Russian war on the Ukraine, and indeed, on “the West”1 . “Holy War”, aka “jihad” is a foundational principle of “the Base” or “al-Qaeda”, which has grown into a non-state hydra with too many names and atrocities to list here (but if you are curious, one of the hydra faces is ISIS).
In a recent opinion piece published in Foreign Policy, columnist Caroline de Gruyter noted that “Israel and Palestine Are Now in a Religious War”, in her attempt to argue why the Middle East conflict has been getting increasingly brutal, and increasingly hard to solve.
The intersection between holiness and war is even more nuanced in Zvi Bar’el’s Opinion piece in Haaretz, when he notes that “the war in Gaza is no longer about revenge for the murder of 1,200 Israelis or the hostages.
If they all die, along with hundreds of more soldiers, the price would still be justified for the Jewish Jihad waging a war for Gaza’s resettlement” . Hamas’ own name –the acronym for Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiya (Islamic Resistance Movement) – needs no elaboration. Neither does Lebanon’s Hizbullah (Party of God).
In India, a report by the Indian Citizens and Lawyers Initiative (in April of 2023), entitled “Routes of Wrath: Weaponising Religious Processions”, notes
Indian history is rife with instances of religious processions that led to communal strife, riots, inexcusable violence, arson, destruction of property and the tragic deaths of innocent residents of the riot-hit areas. There have been horrific riots and bloodletting caused by other factors too, most prominently the anti-Sikh pogrom of 1984 and the Gujarat pogrom of 2002, but no cause of interfaith riots has been as recurrent and widespread as the religious procession. This is as true of pre-Independence India as during the 75 years since we became a free nation…Post-Independence, we have faced numerous communal riots in diverse parts of India, under different political regimes, and the vast majority of these have been caused by the deliberate choice of communally-sensitive routes by processionists, and the pusillanimity of the Police in dealing with such demands, or even their collusion and connivance in licencing such routes.2
Already back in August of 1988, in an article entitled “Holy War Against India”, explicitly speaks of “Sikh terrorism” in the Punjab, noting that it “took about a thousand lives in 1987 and more than a thousand in the first five months of 1988.
If it continues at the present rate, Sikh terrorism in the Punjab will have cost more lives in two years than the IRA campaign in Northern Ireland has cost in twenty.” 3 Speaking of Northern Ireland, the marching season remains a flashpoint among Catholics and Protestants.
Politicised religion, or religionised politics – whence religious discourse is part of political verbiage, tactics, expedient alliances, sometimes informing foreign policy priorities, occasionally used to justify conflict – are not new phenomena. In fact, they may well be one of the oldest features of politics, governance – and warmaking.
The Crusades against Muslim expansion in the 11th century were recognized as a “holy war” or a bellum sacrum, by later writers in the 17th century. The early modern wars against the Ottoman Empire were seen as a seamless continuation of this conflict by contemporaries. Religion and politics are the oldest bedfellows known to humankind.
What is relatively new, is that after the 100-year war in Europe, and the subsequent moves towards secularisation or the so-called ‘separation of Church and State’ (again, really only in parts of Europe), provided a false sense of the dominance of secular governance in modern times.
Yet, even in the citadels of secular Western Europe, a relationship binding Church and State always existed, for the religious institutions and their affiliated social structures, remain critical social service providers – and humanitarian actors – till today. A reality now understood to be relevant in all parts of our world.
Nevertheless, what we are seeing today is a resurgence of religious politics, and the politics of religion, in almost all corners of the world. Before the Russian Orthodox Church proclaimed its “holy war” narrative, the reference to religion and politics almost always focused on Muslim-majority contexts, specifically on Iran, Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan.
Other realities would often go unnoticed, or somehow deemed as ‘odd’ or one-time phenomena – for instance the fact that the 2016 US elections delivered a Trump administration with full and public backing by a significant part of the Evangelical movement (many of whom are backing a potential comeback of him now); or the fact that related Evangelical counterparts backed Bolsenaro’s rise to power in Brazil; or the fact that religious arguments against abortion remain a key US electoral feature for decades; or the fact that a number of right-leaning anti-immigrant political discourses and blatant white supremacist politics have religious backing in parts of Europe and Latin America.
Was it perhaps that since these took place in ‘white’ and Christian-majority polities, somehow set these aside from being factored as part of the global resurgence of religious politics?
Whatever the case may be, it is time to smell that particularly strong brew of coffee, now. And as we do so, we are also obliged to note that it is no coincidence that this ‘brew’ is taking place at a time of remarkable social and political polarisation in many societies.
Indeed. we speak of multiple and simultaneous crisis (e.g. climate change, catastrophic governance, wars, famines, rampant inequalities, soaring human displacement, nuclear fears, systemic racism, rising multiple violence, drug wars, proliferation of arms and weapons, misogyny, etc.) and we also acknowledge the wilting multilateral influence to confront these. But as we acknowledge these, we must also recognise that social cohesion is a lasting and tragic victim.
Some governmental, non-governmental and intergovernmental entities have turned to religion(s) as a possible panacea. Religious leaders are being convened in multiple capitals (at significant cost) in almost all corners of the world.
Regularly touting the peacefulness and the unparalleled supremacy of their respective moral standpoints. Religious NGOs are being sought out, supported and partnered with more regularly to help address multiple crisis – especially humanitarian, educational, public health, sanitation, and child-focused efforts.
Interfaith initiatives are competing among each other, and with other secular ones, for grants from governments and philanthropists in the United States, Europe, Africa, many parts of Asia (with the notable exception of China), and the Middle East. Engaging, or partnering with religious entities is the new normal.
But just as the largely secular efforts we lived through (and some of us served for decades) in the 1960s to the 1990s, did not realise a brave new world, religious ones, on their own, cannot do so either. Especially not with the kind of historical baggage and contemporary narratives of holy war, we are living with now.
It is time we re-consider, re-engage and re-envision a poetics of solidarity rooted an abiding adherence to (and re-education about) all human rights for all peoples at all times. What would that entail?
Dr. Azza Karam is President and CEO of Lead Integrity; a Professor and Affiliate with the Ansari Institute of Religion and Global Affairs at Notre Dame University; and a member of the UN Secretary General’s High Level Advisory Board on Effective Multilateralism.
We need help illuminating the dark matter in food and charting the intricate interplay between food, ecosystems, climate and health, argue the authors. Credit: Shutterstock.
Opinion by Maya Rajasekharan, Selena Ahmed
Inter Press Service
Jun 20 (IPS) – This year, bee pollen has become a trendy superfood thanks to a wide range of potential benefits. Last year, sea moss led the superfood trends. Before that, it was turmeric.
Invariably, these newly celebrated superfoods are never new; they have long been consumed by non-Western cultures. The inadequate research on their nutritional composition and health attributes almost always leads to a list of exaggerated benefits, from preventing cancer to overall vitality and longevity. They become a fad for a few years and then often take a back seat to the next “superfood.”
Globally, half of all calories come from some form of wheat, rice or corn even though over 30,000 named edible species exist on our planet.
Yet the frequent emergence of trending superfoods demonstrate that food biodiversity persists in many communities and regions around the globe. In a recent publication in Nature Food, we joined 54 colleagues in beginning to capture and prioritize this diversity, with a curated list of 1,650 foods.
Strikingly, more than 1,000 of the foods on the curated food list are not included in national food composition databases — in other words, we don’t have easy access to what is in these foods, or science may not yet know what these foods contain. This suggests that dietary guidelines relying on national food composition databases miss the majority of humanity’s long and co-evolutionary history with food.
Moreover, even the foods that are commonly consumed and included in national food composition databases are barely understood. An estimated 95% of the biomolecules in food are unknown to science — this is the “dark matter” of food, diets and biodiversity. We don’t know what these biomolecules are, or how they function in ecosystems and in our bodies.
Mapping this dark matter is too large a task for any one laboratory, organization or country to achieve on its own. We need a united scientific movement, larger than the human genome project, with governments and researchers around the globe filling the gaps in our knowledge of the food we eat.
A suite of standardized tools, data and training is now available for this effort, which can build a centralized database based on standardized tools for researchers, practitioners and communities to share their wisdom and expertise on food and its diverse attributes to inform solutions to our pressing societal challenges.
Preliminary data from the first 500 foods analyzed reveals that many “whole foods” can be considered “superfoods,” with more unique than common biomolecules. Each fruit and vegetable, for example, has a unique composition of biomolecules that varies based on the environment, processing and preparation.
Broccoli, which achieved “superfood” status several years ago for its antioxidants and its connections to gut health, has over 900 biomolecules not found in other green vegetables.
We have identified the existence of these compounds through mass-spectrometry, but we have not determined the properties of these unique metabolites — we do not even have enough data to accurately name them, much less understand the roles that they play in our bodies and in ecosystems in the world at large.
And these 900+ biomolecules — broccoli’s dark matter — are in addition to the biomolecules that broccoli shares with other cruciferous vegetables, which may help prevent a wide variety of illnesses, from colon and other cancers to vascular disease.
Diet-related diseases such as diabetes, some cancers and heart disease are now the main cause of mortality globally. Yet the full scope of the links between diet and disease, soil microbes and gut microbes, climate change and nutrient content still remains shrouded in uncertainty.
Regulatory bodies are calling for more science to guide policy decisions even as scientists are finding new connections between diet and health for conditions as varied as macular degeneration and blood coagulation disorders.
The 20th century witnessed the simplification of agriculture, resulting in a narrow focus on yield and efficiency of a handful of cereal crops. Its successes were considerable, but they came at the expense of diversity, food quality and agricultural resilience. The superfoods — the trends, not the actual foods — are the collective poster child of this problem.
Now food systems are at a crossroads. The 21st century can become the century of diversity, as the new cornerstone of science on food. But we need help illuminating the dark matter in food and charting the intricate interplay between food, ecosystems, climate and health.
As we call for a globally coordinated effort to fill the gaps in the food we eat, we need to ensure these efforts do not create scientific disparities between countries and regions.
We need capacity-strengthening efforts so that all countries can equally and inclusively participate and benefit from the knowledge of what is in our food, how it varies, and implications for the health of people and the planet.
It is not enough to borrow superfoods from non-Westernized cultures and give them nothing in return. Today, it is time to start opening the black box of food and create more nourishing food systems for everyone.
Selena Ahmed is Professor at the University of Montana and Global Director of Periodic Table of Food Initiative (PTFI) at the American Heart Association
Maya Rajasekharan is PTFI Director of Strategy Integration and Engagement at Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, Jun 18 (IPS) – Today Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and the environmental threats they confront require our urgent attention —and the global spotlight needs to be trained deliberately and maintained consistently on their concerns, in particular, climate change, marine biological diversity loss and sustainable development goals (SDGs).
A world in which other pressing matters compete for attention, this challenge could easily be neglected.
There is a significant community of small island states in the world. The United Nations recognizes 39 of them. The aggregate population of all the SIDS is 65 million, slightly less than 1% of the world’s population but nevertheless a population that requires our attention.
They share similar sustainable development challenges, including small populations, limited local resources, including land, remoteness, susceptibility to frequent natural disasters, easy vulnerability to external shocks, excessive dependence on external trade and almost all are highly threatened by climate change.
SIDS were recognized as a special case both for their environment and development challenges at the?1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development? in Rio de Janeiro.?
High import and export costs will continue to be a factor in their economies, while their dependence on external markets due to the narrow resource bases make them particularly vulnerable. Since they control sea areas (in particularly the Exclusive Economic Zones),on average 28 times the size of their land mass, much of their natural resources come from the seas and oceans that surround them.
Therefore, the seas and oceans are critical from their perspective. Vulnerability to exogenous economic shocks and fragile land and marine ecosystems make SIDS particularly susceptible to biodiversity loss and climate change.
The Blue Economy, defined by World Bank as the “sustainable use of ocean resources to benefit economies, livelihoods and ocean ecosystem health” becomes particularly relevant to SIDS.
Over 40 percent of SIDS are affected by, or are on the edge of, unsustainable levels of debt, severely constraining their ability to invest in resilience, climate action and sustainable development. This is why they have been recognised as a special group that requires concentrated assistance.
The four main geographical regions in which SIDS are concentrated are the Caribbean, the Pacific, the Atlantic, and the Indian Ocean.?
4th International Conference on SIDS, 27 – 30 May, 2004
In his opening address as the President of the 4th International Conference on SIDS, Gaston Browne, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, forcefully underlined the importance of its theme — “Charting the Course Toward Resilient Prosperity”.
Stressing that such States are “on the front lines of a battlefield of a confluence of crises — none of which they have caused or created” — he said that the small size of such States, limited financial resources and constrained human capital, place them at a marked disadvantage on the global stage. Further, their journey towards development has been repeatedly disrupted by monumental crises, among them the financial meltdown of 2008 and the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic.
Reflecting the sentiments of many, he called for urgent, multilateral solutions, and he observed that those present are gathered “not only to reiterate challenges, but also to demand and enact solutions”. The Global North, in particular, must honour its commitments — including providing $1 billion in climate financing to assist with adaptation and mitigation.
Gaston Browne identified a clear gap in the oft expressed pious sentiments of the international community and actual action taken to implement these.
SIDS Dependency on the Seas and Oceans
Traditionally most small island states, surrounded by the seas and oceans, have been dependent on the oceans far more than bigger states for most of their needs. The seas provide a significant part of their food, including, fish, crustaceans, sea weed, etc, energy needs are imported across the seas, introduced and imported food, tourism which plays a considerable economic role, daily essentials and exports.
Sea food is a critical source of protein for SIDs. Today lobsters, prawns, scallops, mussels, etc are also a major income source for fishermen and a critical foreign exchange earner.
The income and protein source provided by the seas and oceans is threatened in some areas by overfishing, pollution, predatory and unregulated fishing by distant water fishers and, critically, by the impacts of climate change. The warming of the oceans is already having a devastating impact on coral reefs, so important as spawning grounds for myriads of fish and other economically important species.
Warming seas are likely to cause some fish species to migrate away from their traditional habitats and others to become extinct. Tuna migration habits in the Pacific Ocean, for example, are changing due to the heating of the ocean. This could have an enormous impact on Pacific small island states whose food supplies and economies depend on the tuna catch, and could cause an estimated $140 million loss in average government revenue per year.
Given the importance of the marine environment to small island states, it is vital that the exploitation of the resource takes place sustainably. Once a vital resource of this nature is lost, it is unlikely that it will recover in a short time, if ever. International agreements and arrangements in place at present with need to implemented with vigour and other arrangements may have to be put in place.
International Action and Options for SIDS
With their small economies, SIDS are at the mercy of the elements and with limited fall back options. A single hurricane could wipe out the economies of some small island states. Despite their minimal historical greenhouse gas emissions, SIDS face some of the most severe impacts of climate change, with serious loss and damage in the form of destroyed infrastructure, economic and cultural loss, loss of lives and livelihoods, loss of biodiversity and forced displacement.
It is now widely acknowledged that the depletion of the resource of the seas and oceans will result in numerable and unpredictable consequences including, massive unemployment, increased poverty, malnutrition, overall negative economic impacts, economic migration which will have repercussions for neighboring countries and possible community unrest.
Some international initiatives offer adaptation options to the SIDS.
The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) established the Regional Seas Programme in 1974. (The Programme now administers this regional mechanism for the conservation of the marine and coastal environment to address the accelerating marine pollution). 18 regions participate in the Programme, of which 14 Regional Seas programmes are underpinned by legally binding conventions. The participating regions include, South Asian Seas, South-East Pacific, Western Africa and the Wider Caribbean where many of the SIDS are located.
Following the adoption of Agenda 2030, the Regional Seas Programme seeks to assist Member States in achieving the ocean-related SDGs by coordinating national actions at the regional level. SIDS stand to benefit considerably from these programmes. Thus the Regional Seas programmes set the Regional Seas Strategic Directions (2017-2020) and decided to:
1. Reduce marine pollution of all kinds in line with the SDG Goal 14.1.
2. Create increased resilience of people, marine and coastal ecosystems, and their health and productivity, in line with the SDG Goal 13 and decisions made at the UNFCCC COP21.
3. Develop integrated, ecosystem-based regional ocean policies and strategies for sustainable use of marine and coastal resources, paying close attention to blue growth.
4. Enhance effectiveness of Regional Seas Conventions and Action Plans as regional platforms for supporting integrated ocean policies and management.
Under the Paris Accords of 2015, developed country Parties to the Accords agreed to provide financial resources to assist highly vulnerable country Parties with regard to both mitigation and adaptation consistent with their existing obligations under the Convention.
The UNEP Adaptation Finance GAP Report estimates that adaptation finance needs in developing countries will reach $140 billion – $300 billion per year by 2030, and $280 billion to $500 billion per year by 2050. SIDS, if they are proactive in the search for funding, are expected to be a major beneficiary under this commitment.
It is recalled that under the Paris Accords, developed countries reaffirmed the commitment to mobilize $100 billion a year in climate finance by 2020, and agreed to continue mobilising finance at this level until 2025. This commitment included finance for the Green Climate Fund, which is a part of the UNFCCC, and also for a variety of other public and private programmes. This amount has not been reached at all.
The Paris Accords also recognize loss and damage. Loss and damage can stem from extreme weather events, or from slow-onset events such as the loss of land to sea level rise for low-lying islands and the warming of the seas. Tuna migration habits in the Pacific Ocean, for example, are changing due to the heating of the ocean.
The push to address loss and damage as a distinct issue in the Paris Agreement came from the Alliance of Small Island States and the Least Developed Countries, whose economies and livelihoods are most vulnerable to the negative effects of climate change.
At Cop 27 in 2022 countries agreed to establish a Loss and Damage Fund, which would provide financial assistance to climate-vulnerable countries. The fund was officially operationalized at Cop 28 in November 2023. The major beneficiaries can be the SIDS.
In 2021, Tuvalu in the Pacific and Antigua and Barbuda in the Caribbean established a Commission for Small Island States on Climate Change and International Law. The intention is to take claims for loss and damage to international judicial tribunals.
Vanuatu is also leading a campaign to ask the International Court of Justice for an advisory opinion on climate change. This initiative had its beginnings in2014 under the sponsorship of Mauritius.
Now we have an additional development which should make us think deeper.
June 2023, the United Nations adopted a new treaty under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the Agreement on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (‘BBNJ’). Today, this is also known as the High Seas Biodiversity Treaty.
During the negotiations on this treaty, while the developed North focused more on Marine Protected Areas, and these are important, the South was equally interested in the equitable sharing of the benefits of exploiting the mega genetic pool of the oceans.
Properly managed, implemented in the right spirit, the sharing of benefits under this treaty could bring considerable material rewards to SIDS. They will benefit considerably if the sharing of benefits of the exploitation of BBNJ works well. It has been said that a single bucket of sea water could contain more genetic material than hectares of dry land.
Already major pharmaceutical companies are producing drugs developed from genetic material recovered from the high seas.
Dr Palitha Kohona is former Sri Lanka Ambassador to China and Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the UN and one-time Co-Chair of the UN ad hoc committee on BBNJ.
“The security, prosperity and health of billions of people rely on thriving lands supporting lives, livelihoods and ecosystems, but we’re vandalising the Earth that sustains us.”
Desertification, land degradation and drought are currently among the most pressing environmental challenges.
United for land
The Day’s theme is United for Land. Our Legacy. Our Future, spotlighting the future of land stewardship, which is the planet’s most precious resource to ensure the stability and prosperity of billions of people around the world.
Healthy land not only provides us with almost 95 per cent of food eaten around the world, but so much more. It clothes and shelters people, provides jobs and livelihoods and protects communities from the worsening droughts, floods and wildfires.
“As the focus of this year’s World Day reminds us, we must be ‘United for Land’,” he said. “Governments, businesses, academics, communities and more must come together and act.”
‘We know what we need to do’
Growing populations coupled with unsustainable production and consumption patterns fuel demand for natural resources, putting excessive pressure on land to the point of degradation.
At the same time, desertification and drought are driving forced migration, putting tens of millions of people each year at risk of displacement.
Of the world’s eight billion inhabitants, over one billion of young people under the age of 25 years live in developing countries, particularly in regions directly dependent on land and natural resources for sustenance. Creating job prospects for rural populations is a viable solution that gives young people access to eco-entrepreneurship opportunities and at the same time to scale up best practices.
“We know what we need to do,” the UN chief said. “It’s set out clearly in the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). As we mark the thirtieth anniversary of the Convention, the world must dramatically pick up the pace of implementation.”
To do this, he pointed to building momentum towards UNCCD Conference of States Parties (COP16) in Riyadh and ensuring young people are heard in the negotiations.
“Together, let’s sow the seeds for a thriving future for nature and humanity,” he said.
Fast facts
NOOR for FAO/Benedicte Kurzen
Women in Senegal work in tree nurseries created as part of the Great Green Wall initiative to improve living conditions, biodiversity conservation and the sustainability of the land in the Sahel region.
Every second, an equivalent of four football fields of healthy land becomes degraded, adding up to a total of 100 million hectares each year
Each dollar invested in land restoration can yield up to $30 in return
In many countries affected by desertification, land degradation and drought, agriculture represents a high share of economic revenue
Under UNCCD, over 130 countries have already pledged to achieve land degradation neutrality by 2030 towards a world where human activity has a neutral, or even positive, impact on the land
The UN supports innovative efforts worldwide, including the newly launched Great Green Wall Observatory, which tracks progress of Africa’s largest land restoration initiative to combat land degradation, desertification and the negative impacts of climate change in the Sahel region
The UN Educational. Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) established a growing national and global networks of “Geoparks” combining conservation and sustainable development, with 213 UNESCO Global Geoparks operating in 48 countries and counting
Osnir da Silva Rubez prepares the furrows that will take water from the São Francisco river to irrigate his crops in the Brazilian Semi-arid ecoregion. He refuses to join the local drip or micro-sprinkler irrigation system, which is more efficient in water use, fertilisation and soil protection. Credit: Mario Osava / IPS
by Mario Osava (juazeiro, brazil)
Inter Press Service
JUAZEIRO, Brazil, Jun 12 (IPS) – Osmir da Silva Rubez refuses to join the drip system, and is the only one among the 51 families living in the Mandacaru Public Irrigation Project in Juazeiro, a municipality in the state of Bahia, in the Northeast region of Brazil, to maintain the furrows that carry water to their crops.
The São Francisco River, which rises in the state of Minas Gerais, near the centre of Brazil, and flows northeast, has boosted irrigated agriculture in its 2,863 kilometres, much of it in semi-arid territory, with rainfall averaging between 200 and 800 millimetres per year.
It is a privileged basin, located in a region that suffers from water scarcity, especially in the increasingly recurrent droughts, when small rivers and streams dry up.
Water availability, immense due to the river’s large flow, was increased by the construction of two hydroelectric dams North and South of Juazeiro, a city of 238,000 people, which has developed a fruit-growing industry, mainly for export.
Mangoes and grapes are the main local crops, grown on large private farms and in the irrigation projects of the state-owned São Francisco and Parnaíba Valley Development Company (Codevasf). Export activity highlights the contrasts and inequalities of the so-called Semi-arid ecoregion.
Drip irrigation hoses on an Agrodan farm on an island in the São Francisco River, in Brazil’s arid Northeast. The company claims to be the country’s largest mango producer and exporter. Credit: Mario Osava / IPS
Flood irrigation
“The ditches that were initially used for irrigation are wasteful in their use of water. Drip irrigation is mostly used nowadays, since it uses only the necessary water, is monitored by computers and measures of soil humidity,” explained Humberto Miranda, chair of the Bahia Federation of Agriculture.
“Before, only 30 per cent of the water was used, today more than 90 per cent is used, which means that little is lost,” he said during an IPS tour of various localities in Juazeiro to visit farms and organisations involved in the irrigation project.
In Mandacaru, the system that enabled the switch to drip irrigation, with ponds and pumping, was implemented in 2011, explained Manoel Vicente dos Santos, one of the first settlers in the project launched in 1973. “Irrigation by furrows was unstable, bringing more water to one plant than to others, a waste,” he recalled.
But Rubez resists the change. In addition to the investment required in pumps and hoses, the drip system uses a lot of electricity, about 1,000 reais (200 dollars) a month. “And I have no heirs to leave the system to,” the 60-year-old single man joked with IPS.
Suemi Koshiyama, a Japanese immigrant who became a large producer of grapes and mangoes in the São Francisco river valley, in arid lands in the municipality of Juazeiro, in northeastern Brazil, shows the hose that irrigates his vineyard, drip-fed from above and not on the ground. Credit: Mario Osava / IPS
The drip system is a step forward in these irrigation projects. Apart from saving water, it improves soil management, reducing erosion and controlling chemical fertilisation by directing it to the roots through the water, says José Moacir dos Santos, general coordinator of the non-governmental Regional Institute for Appropriate Small Farming(Irpaa).
But irrigation projects, whether Codevasf or private, do not favour local development, concentrate income, nor offer seasonal jobs during harvests, and they promote inequality, Dos Santos criticised.
Prosperity for the few
The wealth amassed by export fruit farming stays in the hands of a few, but creates a perception of prosperity that attracts many poor people to Juazeiro and neighbouring Petrolina, a city of 387,000 people separated by the São Francisco river and linked by a bridge.
Migration to these two fruit-growing capitals of the Brazilian Northeast “swells their populations, especially their poor and infrastructure-poor peripheries, while emptying nearby cities,” said the activist, son of Manoel Vicente, one of the project’s settlers.
In his opinion, an “injustice” has been done, because the river supplies the fruit-growing industry that exports its water contained in the fruit to Europe, the United States and Japan. But it does not do the same for the entire riverside population, which also has to resort to other, more distant springs.
Water pumping station from the São Francisco river to irrigate fruit farming at a project near Juazeiro, a production and export hub for fruit, especially mangoes and grapes, in Brazil’s arid northeast. Credit: Mario Osava / IPS
In addition, most of the farmers have no irrigation. Communities encouraged by the government many years ago and traditional farmers in the basin have no access to water from the river, nor to the financing or other public project perks.
The dominant monoculture of fruit trees forces food imports. Juazeiro and Petrolina, with a combined population of 625,000, produce less food for local consumption than Campo Alegre de Lourdes, a municipality 350 kilometres away with only 31,000 inhabitants, compared Dos Santos, an agricultural technician.
The flow of goods, with fruits leaving and other products arriving from various parts of Brazil, has transformed the Juazeiro Producer Market into Brazil’s second largest agricultural trade hub, surpassed only by São Paulo, a metropolis of 12 million inhabitants – 22 million if its large metropolitan area is added.
“The fruit-growing hub is an artificial system that concentrates the best soils and water of São Francisco on islands and generates the illusion of growth in Greater Juazeiro and Petrolina, where only 5 per cent of the land is suitable for irrigation, with water for only 2 per cent,” said Roberto Malvezzi, an activist with the Catholic Pastoral Land Commission.
Maciela de Oliveira Silva in the shop where she sells products from the Mossoroca and Region Family Farming Cooperative, such as sweets, jellies and liqueurs made from native fruits from the so-called “grassland fund”, a collective area where farmers extract fruit, produce honey and raise goats and sheep. Credit: Mario Osava / IPS
Suitable alternatives
For Malvezzi, who has a degree in philosophy and theology, the Semi-arid region’s main economic and productive vocation is small livestock, such as goats and sheep, rather than agriculture.
A mistake that has cost it multiple crises and impoverishment, as well as the environmental destruction of the Semi-arid region, was the historical expansion of cattle in Northeastern Brazil, whose interior is mostly semi-arid.
The industrial and commercial chain for goats should be developed, including slaughterhouses and services such as technical assistance and health surveillance, said Malvezzi, who was born in the state of São Paulo, studied philosophy and theology there, but lives in the Northeast since 1979.
The Semi-arid is a region of family farming, and for nearly three decades has seen a transformation process seeking to adapt its development to local conditions, including the climate. “Living with the Semi-arid”, which means rejecting colonial influences and impositions of the past, is the goal.
Main canal supplying an irrigation project with water from the São Francisco river in the Semi-arid region. Secondary canals and local pumps in the fruit orchards complete the system that replaced irrigation by flood furrows, practically abolished because of the waste of water. Credit: Mario Osava/IPS
Small animal husbandry, instead of water-intensive cattle farming, and rainwater harvesting, both for human and animal consumption and for agricultural production, are some of the proven and effective ways.
In the state of Bahia, a traditional agrarian singularity has been institutionalised, the “grassland fund”, a large collective land, managed for the extraction of native products, such as fruits, and the raising of goats and sheep. Horticulture is expanding strongly throughout the Semi-arid region.
The Family Agricultural Cooperative of Massaroca and Region (Coofama), in the municipality of Juazeiro, is an example of a grassland fund, whose jellies, liqueurs and other native fruit products, such as umbu, and honey, are sold on the nearby highway and in cities.
‘Quiosco da Umbuzada’ is the name given to the roadside shop in the village of Massaroca, and ‘Central da Caatinga’, a shop in the city of Juazeiro, sell the products of Coofama and other family farming cooperatives.
“Goats survive better in prolonged droughts, they eat leaves even from tall trees,” Coofama farmer Maciela de Oliveira Silva, who runs the roadside shop, where she works from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on a minimum wage, equal to 280 dollars, told IPS.
Eggs are another viable and promising food production in the Semi-arid, according to the Association of Small Producers of Canoa and Oliveira, led by Gilmar Nogueira Lino, owner of some 1,000 hens, also in the south of Juazeiro.
The association’s 60 families produced 17,444 dozen eggs in 2023, said Lino. “The hens are faster than goats, start providing income in a few months and don’t require large spaces,” he told IPS.
On his half-hectare property, the farmer has chicken coops and a shop that sells food, drinks and cooking gas. He also donated the land for the association’s headquarters. He only had to overcome the prejudice that “raising chickens is a woman’s business.”
The distinctive boats used by fishworkers in Andhra Pradesh, India. Their unique design, with a curvy end and flat middle, enables stability in the waters of Andhra Pradesh, reflecting the ingenuity of local fishermen. Credit: Aishwarya Bajpai/IPS
by Aishwarya Bajpai (new delhi)
Inter Press Service
The coastal ecosystem protects us, feeds us, and could be the solution to mitigating climate change. In this explainer, published on World Ocean Day, IPS, looks at blue carbon and why it is so crucial.
NEW DELHI, Jun 08 (IPS) – The area where land meets the sea, known as coastal ecosystems, could be the key to reducing the effects of climate change.
What is blue carbon?
Blue carbon refers to the carbon dioxide (CO2) stored within marine or coastal ecosystems worldwide. These ecosystems include coastal plants such as mangroves, seagrasses, and salt marshes, which trap CO2 in their seabeds.
Why is it important?
The coastal ecosystem provides a protective shield, safeguarding communities from the adverse effects of natural disasters and climate change by maintaining cooler temperatures, even in summer.
How do we know this?
Research indicates that, despite covering less than 5 percent of the global land area and less than 2 percent of the ocean, coastal ecosystems store approximately 50 percent of all carbon buried in ocean sediments. Remarkably, they can store 5–10 times more carbon than land-based forest patches. These carbon stores can extend up to 6 meters deep, with layers dating back thousands of years. As the largest carbon sink (the ability to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere), they play a crucial role in reducing the effects of climate change by absorbing 90 percent of excess heat and 23 percent of man-made CO2 emissions.
What else do coastal ecosystems do?
Coastal ecosystems serve as a barrier against natural disasters like floods and storms and contribute to climate regulation in coastal regions. They provide habitat for coastal animals and support communities dependent on coastal resources for food and livelihoods, particularly ocean people and fishworkers globally.
In the Indian state of Goa, women traditionally perform the early morning ritual of drying fish. Credit: Aishwarya Bajpai/IPS
What happens if coastal ecosystems deteriorate?
More than one-third of the world’s population or about 1.4 million people resides in coastal areas and small islands, comprising a mere 4 percent of the Earth’s total land area. For example, mangrove loss has soared to 40 percent since 1970, while coral reefs have witnessed a 50 percent decline since 1870.
At the same time, the global coastal population has surged, from approximately 2 billion in 1990 to 2.2 billion by 1995, encompassing four out of every ten people on the planet.
What does the sea tell us about global warming?
Over the past five decades, more than 90 percent of the Earth’s warming has been observed in the ocean. Recent research suggests that approximately 63 percent of the total increase in stored heat within the climate system from 1971 to 2010 can be attributed to the warming of the upper oceans, while warming from depths of 700 meters to the ocean floor contributes an additional 30 percent.
What are the impacts of this global warming?
Specifically in the Indian context, between 1950 and 2020, the Indian Ocean experienced a temperature rise of 1.2°C. This warming trend has led to the rapid intensification of cyclones, with projections indicating a tenfold increase in cyclone formation, from the current average of 20 days per year to an estimated 220–250 days per year.
So, how can blue carbon combat climate change?
Blue carbon ecosystems are crucial to combating climate change because they are an effective carbon sink. For example, mangroves, renowned as one of the most carbon-rich forests in the tropics, boast an average annual carbon sequestration rate ranging from 6 to 8 Mg CO?e/ha, surpassing global rates observed in mature tropical forests.
Can we revive our coastal ecosystems?
Yes, there are several ways to do so, including carbon capture technologies and strategies like phytoplankton blooms, where fertilizing the ocean with nutrients can enhance carbon uptake. We could also use wave pumps to transport carbon-saturated surface waters down into the deep ocean, aiding carbon sequestration. Another method includes adding pulverized minerals to the ocean, which can absorb greater amounts of carbon dioxide, contributing to carbon capture efforts.
We should also ensure our policy frameworks reduce carbon footprints, including actions to conserve natural systems and reduce emissions.
There should be ongoing research and training for skilled carbon capture system experts.
Therefore, countries around the world can protect their future, biodiversity, and the planet by encouraging conservation of coastal ecosystems.
This feature is published with the support of Open Society Foundations.
Welcome to our live coverage of one of the most important speeches on climate change that António Guterres has made since becoming Secretary-General. We’re reporting live from the event in Manhattan, providing all the background information you need on the speech itself – and reaction to it inside the hall and around the world.
Member countries of the UN World Health Organization (WHO), on the final day of the seventy-seventh World Health Assembly, adopted important amendments to the International Health Regulations (IHR), including defining a “pandemic emergency” as well as pledging improved access to medical products and financing.
These steps will help ensure comprehensive, robust systems are in place in all countries to protect everyone everywhere from the risk of future outbreaks and pandemics, WHO said in a news release.
“The historic decisions taken today demonstrate a common desire by member States to protect their own people, and the world’s, from the shared risk of public health emergencies and future pandemics,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.
He highlighted that the amendments to the IHR will bolster countries’ ability to detect and respond to future outbreaks, strengthen national capacities and improve coordination between nations on disease surveillance, information sharing and response.
“This is built on a commitment to equity, an understanding that health threats do not recognize national borders and that preparedness is a collective endeavour,” Tedros added.
IHR amendments
The new amendments to the IHR include the introduction of a definition of a pandemic emergency to trigger more effective international collaboration for events at risk of becoming pandemics. This definition raises the alarm level by building on existing IHR mechanisms, such as the determination of a public health emergency of international concern.
A pandemic emergency is identified as a communicable disease that risks widespread geographical spread, overwhelms health systems, causes substantial social or economic disruption, and necessitates rapid, equitable, and coordinated international action through comprehensive government and societal approaches.
Additionally, the amendments emphasize solidarity and equity in accessing medical products and financing by establishing a Coordinating Financial Mechanism. This mechanism aims to support developing countries in identifying and obtaining the necessary financing to address their needs and priorities in pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response.
The amendments also establish a States Parties Committee to promote and support cooperation for effective IHR implementation and create National IHR Authorities to improve coordination of the Regulations within and among countries.
Finalizing the pandemic agreement
Countries also agreed to continue negotiating the proposed pandemic agreement to improve international coordination, collaboration and equity to prevent, prepare for and respond to future pandemics.
WHO’s member States decided to extend the mandate of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB), established in December 2021, to finish its work negotiating a pandemic agreement within a year, by the World Health Assembly in 2025, or earlier if possible.
Speaking at the closing of the World Health Assembly, Tedros applauded the delegates for their hard work.
“You have agreed on a path forward for the Pandemic Agreement, and I remain confident that you will bring it to conclusion,” he said.
The tradition started long before the UN’s inception in 1945, but it didn’t take long for the Organization and its growing membership to embrace designated days as a powerful advocacy tool.
One of the first designations came from the UN General Assembly’s declaration in 1947 that 24 October should be celebrated as United Nations Day, the anniversary of the adoption of the UN Charter that founded the Organization.
Since then, UN Member States have proposed more than 200 designations, presenting draft resolutions to the General Assembly so the entire membership, representing 193 nations, can vote.
UN Photo/Manuel Elías
UN Member States celebrate the first World Football Day at UN Headquarters in New York.
Other UN specialised agencies have also made designations, like World AIDS Day, declared by World Health Organization (WHO) members and marked annually on 1 December to bring people together around the world to demonstrate international solidarity in the face of the pandemic.
The Assembly has created the majority of global observances, declaring them with a two-thirds majority vote in favour of resolutions outlining the reasoning behind each day.
What are the newest days?
The world body declared its latest global day just last month. It unanimously adopted a resolution proclaiming 25 May World Football Day, as 2024 marks the 100th anniversary of the first international football tournament in history with the representation of all regions as part of the 1924 Summer Olympic Games, held in Paris.
Celebrations kicked off at UN Headquarters, where UN Member States held a special meeting on the occasion.
That took place a day after another new designation marked its first observance on 24 May 2024. International Day of the Markhor celebrates the iconic and ecologically significant species found across mountain ranges from Afghanistan to Turkmenistan.
Unsplash/Andrey Sokolov
On 24 May 2024, the world observed the first ever International Day of the Markhor.
There was also room on the calendar on 21 March for World Poetry Day, declared so by the UN Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) membership.
Watch this epic UN Video episode from its Stories from the UN Archivecollection, when United States poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou read The Human Family at the UN in 1996:
Spotlighting global issues
International days can mobilise political will and resources to address global problems while celebrating and reinforcing human achievement.
By creating special observances, the UN promotes global awareness and action on these issues.
Most importantly, governments, civil society, the public and private sectors, schools, universities and citizens can make an international day a springboard for awareness raising.
‘Make every day Mandela Day’
The UN sees international days as occasions to educate the general public on issues of concern or mark a significant day or figure in history.
That was the case with Nelson Mandela International Day. Celebrated annually on 18 July, the birthday of the late first democratically elected President of South Africa, who fought against apartheid and won after being jailed for 27 years for championing civil rights.
Watch the UN’s message on the first ever Mandela Day in 2010:
What year is this?
The UN also observes designated weeks, years and decades, each with a theme or topic.
We are now half way into the Year of the Camelids, those dependable dromedaries that the UN has counted on for decades to bring lifesaving assistance to remote communities and peacekeepers to their missions.
The UN General Assembly declared 2024 the year of these heroes of the deserts and highlands.
Why? From alpacas to Bactrian camels, dromedaries, guanacos, llamas, and vicuñas, camelids contribute to food security, nutrition and economic growth as well as holding strong cultural and social significance for communities across the world.
Camelids also play a key role in the culture, economy, food security and livelihoods of communities in Andean highlands and in the arid and semi-arid lands in Africa and Asia, including Indigenous peoples.
Plus, they are just simply adorable.
What’s the world commemorating this week?
Find out all the UN’s days and weeks observed through the year here.
Coral Reef Image Bank/Tracey Jen
A school of Trevally fish in the Solomon Islands.
Click on the links below to find out about each day’s origin and activities happening around the world this week and stay tuned to UN News:
“Humanitarian facilities in Rafah are forced to close one after another…The flow of humanitarian aid supplies into Gaza, already insufficient to meet the soaring needs, has dropped by 67 per cent since 7 May,” reported the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, amid reports that kitchens, clinics and hospitals are shutting down.
Until Israeli troops seized and closed the Rafah border crossing in the very south of the Strip, it had been the key entry point for food, water, fuel and medicine into Gaza as well as the route for sick and wounded people to leave for treatment.
Powerless to help against famine threat
Echoing those concerns, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned that there was little the agency “can currently do in Rafah, with stocks very low and mobility severely restricted”.
According to WFP, the West Erez crossing in northern Gaza “is functional, but not reliable”. Gate 96 further south and the Erez crossing are also “inaccessible” and access is so “constrained” to southern parts of Gaza that it risks causing the same catastrophic levels of hunger witnessed in the north.
Tactical gain
The development comes as the Israeli military said that it had secured “tactical control” of a narrow 13 kilometre (eight mile) stretch of land between Gaza and Egypt.
In a statement on Wednesday, an Israeli Defence Forces spokesperson reportedly claimed that rocket launchers had been used to attack Israel from the Philadelphi Corridor.
A senior Israeli official also reportedly told national radio Wednesday that fighting in Gaza could be expected to last until the end of the year, at least.
Dire humanitarian situation
After nearly eight months of war, the entire population of Gaza of 2.2 million people is almost exclusively dependent on humanitarian assistance, including food.
Although desperately needed supplies have been delivered on the Palestinian side of the Kerem Abu Salem, or Kerem Shalom, crossing located close to Rafah, UN humanitarians have repeatedly stressed that it is not safe to fetch them amid ongoing hostilities, impassable roads, unexploded weapons, fuel shortages and delays at checkpoints.
“Adults and children are beyond exhausted from constant displacement, hunger, and fear,” WFP said in its latest situation update. “They are desperate for the war to end, as are humanitarian workers on the ground, who are largely displaced and dispersed along with the people they are meant to serve.”
The UN food agency meanwhile confirmed that lifesaving aid relief and fuel from Egypt had crossed into Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing.
“This is an important step, but we need sustained access. We need all border crossings and crossing points within Gaza to be open,” it said, adding that although some commercial goods had reached the enclave, “people cannot afford the high prices”.
“We need more aid to enter through the south because people need dietary diversity, access to healthcare and water.”
In its latest update, the UN food agency said that in the north, aid teams are distributing food parcels, wheat flour, hot meals and supporting bakeries.
In central areas, WFP is prioritising hot meals to reach more people with fewer resources. It noted that faster assistance is now possible thanks to a recently introduced self-registration tool that allows people to update their location.
Just four bakeries now operate in Gaza City, and one recently opened in Jabalia, providing bread in the north. Out of the 17 bakeries WFP operates in Gaza, only 11 are functioning owing to the lack of fuel and other essentials.
In Rafah the healthcare situation remains perilous, with only one hospital still functional, the World Health Organization said, referring to Al Emirati Maternity Hospital. This compares with three partially functional hospitals earlier this month. “An Najjar Hospital was evacuated on 7 May and Al Kuwaiti Hospital in Rafah ceased operations on 27 May,” WHO said, following reports quoting the hospital’s director that this happened after two medical staff were killed when the hospital’s gate was hit.
Other aid operations that have closed this week in Rafah reportedly include a field hospital and kitchen run by UN partners the Palestinian Red Crescent and World Central Kitchen.
Al Mawasi strike
To date, at least 36,171 Palestinians have been killed and 81,420 injured in Gaza, OCHA said, citing Gazan health authorities, since Hamas-led terror attacks in southern Israel on 7 October prompted intense Israeli bombardment across the enclave.
“Mass casualties” were also reported on Tuesday after an unconfirmed airstrike on a site for forcibly displaced people in the coastal Al Mawasi area, southwest of Rafah. The UN aid office cited the Gazan ministry of health, which reported 21 fatalities and 21 injuries.
Opinion by Carolina Galvani, Monique Mikhail (washington dc)
Inter Press Service
WASHINGTON DC, May 29 (IPS) – Last week, the World Bank Group released a new report that highlights the urgent need to drastically reduce GHG emissions to address the climate crisis and calls on countries to act. However, while the World Bank’s acknowledgment of the damaging climate impacts of industrial agriculture is a crucial step forward, it’s simply not enough.
To address the climate emergency, the World Bank must walk the talk and take action on its own portfolio – which currently has billions invested in livestock production – by halting all financing for the global expansion of factory farming.
First, the climate consequences of industrial livestock are staggering. As the World Bank’s report points out, the global agrifood system accounts for approximately one-third of all global greenhouse gas emissions, and industrial livestock production accounts for the lion’s share of these.
Research has shown that livestock production alone will consume nearly half of the world’s 1.5°C emissions budget by 2030 and a staggering 80% by 2050. The World Bank’s report aptly states that “the system that feeds us is also feeding the planet’s climate crisis.”
The World Bank cannot effectively tackle the climate crisis without a significant shift in lending away from high-polluting industrial livestock and toward a more sustainable food system.
Second, the World Bank’s continued financing for industrial livestock starkly contradicts its own commitments, spanning from the Paris Agreement targets to the Sustainable Development Goals to the Bank’s biodiversity policies, and even its own mission statement.
The World Bank itself says that “the world cannot achieve the Paris Agreement targets without achieving net zero emissions in the agrifood system.” Yet, the Bank continues to finance the expansion of industrial livestock – putting the Bank’s financing at odds with its commitment to align its strategies, activities, and investments with the climate goals of the Paris Agreement.
The Bank’s financial support for industrial livestock goes against other obligations as well, including the Bank’s commitment to support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
A 2019 report from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Development highlights the adverse human health and environmental impacts of industrial agriculture, including livestock and feed production, and the ways in which it undermines several SDGs, including poverty eradication (1), zero hunger (2), good health (3), clean water (6), decent work (8), responsible consumption and production (12), and climate action (13).
Adding to this, despite the World Bank’s claim that it is “putting nature at the core of development efforts”, the Bank is continuing to undermine biodiversity by supporting the expansion of industrial livestock production when this sector, according to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), is the primary threat to over 85% of the 28,000 species at risk of extinction.
Beyond global commitments, financing industrial livestock is also at odds with the World Bank’s own mission statement. World Bank President Ajay Banga took the reins at the World Bank a year ago with a mandate to help countries mitigate the climate crisis.
As part of that mandate, the World Bank updated its mission statement, stating it will work “to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity on a livable planet.” To achieve this mission, the World Bank must reassess its investments and immediately cease financing the expansion of industrial livestock.
Finally, like all development institutions, the World Bank has limited resources and must carefully choose the best projects to achieve its overall mission. In practice, this means that every dollar spent on industrial livestock is a dollar not invested in what the World Bank itself has acknowledged is the necessary just transition to a sustainable agrifood system. The Bank must redirect its support toward transitioning to a just and sustainable global food system.
As the Bank rightly points out in its recent report, “he world has avoided confronting agrifood system emissions for as long as it could because of the scope and complexity of the task…now is the time to put agriculture and food at the top of the mitigation agenda. If not, the world will be unable to ensure a livable planet for future generations.”
It’s past time for the Bank to heed its own warning.
The World Bank must immediately cease its support for industrial livestock — a primary driver of climate change, biodiversity loss, public health crises, and food insecurity — and direct the Bank’s resources and considerable influence toward reforming and reshaping agriculture and food systems.
Our future on a livable planet depends on it.
Carolina Galvani is the executive director of Sinergia Animal, an international animal protection organization working in the Global South to end the worst practices of industrial animal agriculture. Monique Mikhail is the Agriculture and Climate Finance Campaigns Director at Friends of the Earth U.S. Sinergia Animal and Friends of the Earth are members of the Stop Financing Factory Farming coalition.
Kenya is home to the world’s first-ever blue carbon initiative that sold carbon credits from mangrove conservation along its vast coastline. Credit: Joyce Chimbi/IPS
by Joyce Chimbi (nairobi)
Inter Press Service
NAIROBI, May 27 (IPS) – Carbon trading has gained growing popularity on the African continent and is considered by many governments as a viable way to achieve their climate targets while building communities. IPS takes a look at what’s behind the carbon market.
What is carbon trading and where did it come from?
During the United Nations Climate Change Conference in 2015, 196 nations agreed to an internationally binding treaty on climate change known as the Paris Agreement. The agreement was a commitment to limit global warming to 1.5°C by the end of this century.
A significant rise in global temperatures is a significant threat as it increases the effects of climate change, such as prolonged and severe droughts and deadly floods, like those experienced in Kenya recently, killing people and animals and destroying crops and critical infrastructure.
One of the biggest contributors to global warming or a dangerous rise in temperatures are greenhouse gas emissions, which include carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. Carbon emissions are particularly dangerous. These gases are emitted as human beings go about their day-to-day living and business activities, such as driving a vehicle or running factory machines using coal-generated electricity.
The Paris Agreement, therefore, requires that nations make significant efforts to reduce carbon emissions. One of the solutions laid out was carbon emissions trading—those who reduce emissions would receive a financial reward and those that emit would bear a financial responsibility.
Simply put, carbon emissions trading allows you—who is unable to reduce carbon emissions to the required limits—to pay someone who is not only successfully limiting their own carbon emissions but has also gone a step further to remove additional carbon from the atmosphere. A similar approach was deployed in the 1990s to successfully remove sulphur from the atmosphere.
How does carbon trading work?
One of the best ways of removing carbon from the atmosphere is by mangrove trees, as they capture 3–5 times more carbon from the atmosphere compared to other types of trees.
Kenya has various projects that remove carbon from the atmosphere and receive money for doing so through projects such as the Mikoko Pamoja (Swahili for Mangroves Together) and the Vanga Blue Forest. Mikoko Pamoja project was the first in the world to trade in carbon from planting mangroves.
The Mikoko community plants mangroves and successfully removes at least 3,000 metric tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere per year. The project started in 2013 and it will continue to capture carbon for trading until 2033, generating an annual revenue of about USD 130,000 from selling all the carbon captured annually.
Internationally recognized scientific methods exist to calculate how much carbon a certain business, activity or project emits and how much carbon a project, like the Mikoko Pamoja, captures in a year.
One tonne of carbon dioxide emitted into the environment is equivalent to one carbon credit. A carbon credit is a permit to emit carbon dioxide. For example, in line with the Paris Agreement, when company X in Europe is unable to reduce their emissions by say 3,000 metric tons, they can ‘artificially’ reduce them by paying for carbon credits from a community in Kenya that is able to reduce emissions and go a step further and remove an additional 3,000 metric tonnes from the atmosphere.
The community is allowed to sell the excess amount of carbon captured, in this case, 3,000 metric tonnes. The principle of selling and buying carbon credits is that the Kenyan community is already living below their emissions, have no obligation to make additional carbon emission reductions, but have been incentivized to remove more carbon from the atmosphere for money.
Company X is therefore punished by having to pay for the carbon they are releasing but at the same time rewarded by having their own carbon emissions wiped off by the carbon removal activities conducted by the Kenyan community.
What is a carbon market?
There are many carbon markets around the world. The kind of exchange of carbon emitted for money described above is conducted through a carbon market called the Voluntary Carbon Market. The community in Kenya planting mangroves to capture carbon uses a middleman or broker to find a market for their carbon and negotiate the best price on their behalf.
The money is deposited into the community’s bank accounts for the community’s development projects. For example, Kenya’s Vanga Blue Forest spans over 460 hectares and is expected to avoid emissions of over 100,379tCO2-eq over a 20-year period.
In sub-Saharan Africa, an estimated 65 percent of carbon credits issued are in the Voluntary Carbon Market, concentrated in just five countries: Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The government of Kenya can enter into a carbon trading arrangement with another government and this bilateral approach is much more lucrative compared to the voluntary approach. The World Bank estimates that one ton of carbon dioxide or one carbon credit would cost between 40 and 80 USD, in line with the Paris Agreement.
Remember, if you—from anywhere in the world—pay for one carbon credit from the Mikoko Pamoja project, you are essentially buying a permit to emit one ton of carbon dioxide.
In 2020, the Vanga Blue Forest received USD 48,713 in exchange for the carbon captured that year.
The voluntary carbon trading sector has grown exponentially and was valued at USD 2 billion in 2022. The players in the voluntary market gathered in Kenya in June 2023 for the world’s largest carbon credit auction event where more than 2.2 million tonnes of carbon credits were sold.
This auction worked the same way as say a painting auction works only that carbon is an intangible commodity. Emitters haggle for the best prices to buy carbon credits or permits to help them wipe off their own emission—they pay for the permit to emit.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of carbon trading?
Heavy carbon emitters are in the global North. Africa for instance emits about 3.8 percent of global carbon emissions. Kenya’s alone accounts for less than 1 percent of the global carbon emissions.
Some say carbon trading systems are fraudulent—the global North buys the permission to continue polluting and the global South receives financial crumbs to wipe off the former’s harmful emissions. They also say carbon markets are a new form of colonialism and a distraction as heavy emitters continue to emit without making strides to reduce their own emissions. Human Rights Watch has also expressed a concern about the rights of an Indigenous community in Cambodia as carbon trading continues.
For others, carbon markets are increasing carbon removal projects while providing the money that developing countries need to accelerate growth and development.
“I am appalled and shocked by the terrifying news arriving from Kharkiv”, said Ms. Brown in a statement. “This afternoon, in broad daylight as people – despite all the horrors they endure every day in this city – were trying to go about their day, their lives were shattered by yet another attack by the Russian Armed Forces. The strike hit a busy shopping centre with scores of civilian casualties and massive damage to civilian facilities”.
The senior UN official added that attacks by Russian forces hitting civilians and civilian infrastructure must stop, and noted that intentionally directing an attack against civilian infrastructure is strictly prohibited under international humanitarian law.
The strike is reported to have hit the Epicentr K home improvement store in the north of the city. In a social media post, the mayor of Kharkiv, Ihor Terekhov, described it as “pure terrorism”. According to UN sources, a second attack on Saturday is believed to have caused some 12 casualties.
Following Russian advances, the northeastern Kharkiv region is now on the frontline of the war in Ukraine. According to a spokesperson for the UN Human Rights Office, about 35 civilians in the region have been killed and 137 injured since Russian armed forces launched cross-border attacks on 10 May; more than half of those killed and injured were over 60 years old and were unable or unwilling to leave their homes.
NEW YORK, May 24 (IPS) – It is ironic how Prime Minister Netanyahu, who vehemently opposed the establishment of a Palestinian state, made it all but irreversible because of his misguided policies and extreme ideological bent.
The way he conducted the Gaza war has not only sealed the prospect of a Palestinian state but his political demise
The recent recognition of a Palestinian state by Spain, Ireland, and Norway is the latest blow to Netanyahu’s horribly misguided policy toward the Palestinians, which he pursued throughout his political career to prevent them from ever establishing their own state under his watch, as he stated time and gain.
This recognition is in addition to the overwhelming majority of United Nations General Assembly member states that have recognized Palestinian statehood. In truth, none of the above should come as a surprise, as the writing was on the wall for decades, and it was only a question of time before this inevitability unfolded.
The recent decision of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue an arrest warrant against Netanyahu, charging him with war crimes, was another degrading rebuke of Netanyahu for his ruthlessness in the way he is conducting the Gaza war.
The horrific death and destruction that has been inflicted on Israel and the Palestinians in Gaza as a result of Hamas’ October 2023 attack that resulted in the slaughter of 1,200 Israelis and the ongoing and unprecedented war against Hamas that killed 35,000 Palestinians, and the unspeakable human suffering has created a new paradigm.
The establishment of a Palestinian state, which has been particularly resisted by Netanyahu for the past 16 years, has become front and center in the search for a permanent solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide could not have put it clearer when he stated: “The fact that this Israeli government, led by Netanyahu, has been so clear that it has no intention to negotiate with the Palestinian side and has been so accepting and even supportive of new illegal settlements, all that has contributed to the recognition decision. In some sense, it’s a reaction to that.”
The tragic dimension of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is that a majority of Israelis bought into Netanyahu’s false argument that a Palestinian state will pose an existential danger to Israel, and hence, the continuing occupation is necessary to prevent the Palestinians from realizing their aspiration for statehood. But what is the alternative to a two-state solution? After 57 years of occupation, even a fool would have concluded that the occupation is not sustainable.
How much more death and destruction must both peoples endure before Netanyahu and his blindly misguided followers come to understand that if it takes a hundred more years and the deaths of a million Palestinians, they will never give up or give in on establishing a state of their own.
What is further baffling is that the multitude of right-wing Israelis keep complaining about Palestinian violence. They ignore the elementary understanding that any people who have been living in servitude for decades under the harshest conditions would rise against the occupier, especially when they have a legitimate right to have their own state, enshrined by the same 1947 UNSC Resolution 194 that granted the Jews the right to establish their independent state.
For 80 percent of all Israelis (those born after 1967), the occupation is a normal state of existence irrespective of the daily suffering and often inhumane mistreatment of the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, to which they have been and continue to be subjected.
On January 10, 2024, I wrote: “Sadly, it took the Israel-Hamas war to awaken both sides to their tragic reality. They must now realize there will be no return to the status quo ante. The circumstances that led to the Israel-Hamas war only reinforced the inescapable requirement for a two-state solution. Simply put, there is no other viable option other than continuing the bloody conflict for decades to come.”
But then, what would it take for Netanyahu and his messianic ministers, especially Ben-Gvir and Smotrich, to wake up and realize that every day that passes without a solution, not only will more Israelis and Palestinians be killed in vain, but the conflict will become ever more intractable.
It will exact a mounting price in blood and treasure from both sides without any prospect of changing the inescapable requirement for a Palestinian state to reach a sustainable, peaceful coexistence.
The hurdles to reaching this noble goal are massive; there is the psychological dimension to the conflict that must be mitigated, territorial claims and counterclaims, the dispute over the administration of the Temple Mount (Haram al-Sharif), mutual concerns over security, the final status of Jerusalem, and more. But then, regardless of how obdurate these conflicting issues may be, they will become far more daunting and perilous short of peace based on a two-state solution.
US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby recently stated: “The president still believes in the promise and the possibility of a two-state solution. He recognizes that it’s going to take a lot of hard work. It’s going to take a lot of leadership there in the region, particularly on both sides of the issue, and the United States stands firmly committed to eventually seeing that outcome.”
Whereas I applaud President Biden’s position and sentiment regarding the requisite of a Palestinian state, he needs to move the needle further and warn Netanyahu that he can no longer take for granted the US position that the creation of a Palestinian state must emerge from direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.
While Biden may choose, for political reasons, not to follow the footsteps of the prime ministers of Spain, Ireland, and Norway by recognizing the Palestinian state, he should, at a minimum, permit the Palestinian Authority to reestablish its mission in DC, and reopen the American consulate in East Jerusalem.
That is, if Biden is truly committed to that outcome, then he must demonstrate that by taking real action on the ground. This is the time when leadership is truly needed, and no head of state worldwide can demonstrate that more at this crucial hour than President Biden to bring closer the two-state solution to reality.
Surely, Biden believes in what Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez stated: “This recognition is not against anyone; it is not against the Israeli people. It is an act in favor of peace, justice and moral consistency.” And I might add, it is a moral imperative on which Israel itself was founded.
It is time for Netanyahu to pay the price for dragging Israel into this perilous morass. But then again, he who has resisted the creation of a Palestinian state with all his might made it now more likely than ever before.
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.
Opinion by Achim Steiner, Carlos Manuel Rodriguez (united nations)
Inter Press Service
UNITED NATIONS, May 22 (IPS) – Small island developing states (SIDS) are scattered across the globe, dotting the Pacific Ocean, the Caribbean, the west and east coasts of Africa and the Indian Ocean.
These low-lying highly indebted countries are on the frontlines of climate change and natural resource scarcity, already facing the extremes of sea level rise, unpredictable weather events, and environmental degradation that millions more will face tomorrow.
Yet they also are pioneers, innovating and demonstrating what is possible in a shift to a nature-positive future. Emerging technologies and solutions are re-setting economic and societal priorities to value and optimize natural resources and setting forth a path of thriving resilience.
In three decades of working together supporting small islands states, these are the three critical success factors we see emerging from these trailblazing island states as the world looks to transition to a nature-positive future.
One: Nature sits at the heart of this effort.
Nature is the most effective solution to our interconnected planetary crisis and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. It can unlock new and quickly felt benefits of sustainable development.
Ecosystem services underpin key economic sectors in all vulnerable small island states, from fisheries to agriculture to tourism, but these same sectors have historically imposed serious environmental costs. Transitioning these sectors from ‘highly damaging’ to ‘sustainable’, in ways that are investable and profitable while benefiting communities, sits at the heart of our work together.
The new Blue and Green Islands Programme, for example, mainstreams the central role of nature and scales nature-based solutions to address environmental degradation across three target sectors—urban, food, and tourism—for nature-positive shifts in fifteen island states.
Small islands are especially well positioned to benefit from nature-positive economies, counting among them some of the most diverse and unique ecosystems in the world. For them, a nature-positive economy is important not just to stabilize the security of their natural resources and ensure resilient and thriving futures; it assures their role as irreplaceable hosts to many of the world’s migratory and endemic species that make up our global planetary safety net.
Two: Successful solutions touch all aspects of life and livelihoods.
Tackling sea level rise isn’t separate from restoring protective coastal ecosystems, which isn’t separate from rapidly expanding new opportunities in sustainable tourism and sustainable fishing. These expanding opportunities drive sustainable development, bringing jobs, economic prosperity, and resilience.
‘Whole of island’ approaches are now tackling the conservation of land, water, and ocean resources as interconnected issues. These approaches are championing decarbonization and sustainable livelihoods, increasing access to sustainable energy, increasing the ability of communities to adapt to unpredictable or extreme weather, creating jobs, improving opportunities and wellbeing, and achieving sustainable development goals.
The logic of integrated approaches is clear: our lives are deeply interconnected with our environment and our opportunities the world over. The challenge is adapting and shifting systemic norms that are out of step and out of date for the collective future we want. Whole of island issues demands ‘whole-of-society’ inclusion and coordination, across ministries and sectors, building on locally owned and existing structures and initiatives, and seeking private sector engagement and community empowerment at every level.
Today, all our projects undertaken with island states promote integration and inclusion and are designed to ensure that multiple challenges can be addressed at scale and pace simultaneously.
Successful projects demonstrate the disproportionate importance of innovation to turn our most urgent challenges into opportunities for sustainable development. Representing nearly 20% of the world’s exclusive economic zones, many of these islands are incubating new and investable nature-based solutions that can be scaled up to support successful transitions to nature-positive economic sectors and centres of excellence, both in the islands themselves and to the benefit of countries beyond.
For example, with UNDP and GEF support, Seychelles issued the world’s first ‘blue bond’; Cuba mainstreamed nature into policies and practices to reverse degradation of the Sabana-Camagüey ecosystem driven by agriculture, livestock, fisheries, and tourism; and the GEF’s Small Grants Programme supported local communities to ban single-use plastics in the Maldives.
New initiatives with innovative partners such as the Global Fund for Coral Reefs also seek to attract and de-risk private sector investment into local businesses to protect and restore important coral reef ecosystems. These initiatives offer opportunities for integration that are now inspiring similar examples across other islands.
Nothing without partnerships.
A broad and inclusive coalition of government, private sector, civil society, Indigenous Peoples, local communities, and other partners is critical to further accelerate nature-positive transformation and increase impact.
New partnerships with the private sector to identify and deploy new business models and instruments to support nature-positive outcomes are also a major part of this effort.
Small Island Developing States have in front of them an opportunity to scale and replicate their successes and make outsized contributions to the implementation of environmental conventions including the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (The Biodiversity Plan), the Paris Agreement and the UNCCD Strategic Framework, as well as progress towards their sustainable development goals.
In responding to the most pressing development needs of small island states, the nature-positive economic transitions that are emerging, sector by sector, taking an integrated, innovative and community-informed approach, offer answers to development challenges with applications far beyond their precarious and precious coastlines.
Achim Steiner is Administrator, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); Carlos Manuel Rodriguez is CEO and Chairperson, Global Environment Facility (GEF)
“Once again, nearly half of the population of Rafah or 800,000 people are on the road,” Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini wrote in post on the social media platform X. formerly Twitter.
He said that following evacuation orders demanding people to flee to so-called safe zones, people mainly went to the middle areas in Gaza and Khan Younis, including to destroyed buildings.
No safe passage or protection
“When people move, they are exposed, without safe passage or protection,” he said. “Every time, they have to start from scratch, all over again.”
Mr. Lazzarini said the areas that people have escaped to do not have safe water supplies or sanitation facilities.
He cited the example of Al-Mawassi, describing it as “a sandy 14 square kilometre agricultural land, where people are left out in the open with little to no buildings or roads.”
The town, located on Gaza’s southern coast, “lacks the minimal conditions to provide emergency humanitarian assistance in a safe and dignified manner.”
He said that more than 400,000 lived in Al-Mawassi before the recent escalation, but now it is “crammed and cannot absorb more people”, which is also the same in Deir al Balah.
‘No place is safe’
“The claim that people in Gaza can move to ‘safe’ or ‘humanitarian’ zones is false. Each time, it puts the lives of civilians at serious risk,” Mr. Lazzarini stated.
“Gaza does not have any safe zones,” he added. “No place is safe. No one is safe.”
The situation is again being made far worse by the lack of aid and basic humanitarian supplies, he continued, noting that humanitarians do not have any more supplies to give out, including food and other basic items.
Meanwhile, key crossings into Gaza remain closed or are unsafe to access as they are located near or in combat zones. Mr. Lazzarini also highlighted the critical need for fuel, which is essential for aid distribution.
Land routes crucial
He said only 33 aid trucks have made it to southern Gaza since 6 May – “a small trickle amid the growing humanitarian needs and mass displacement.”
“While we welcome reports on first shipments arriving at the new floating dock, land routes remain the most viable, effective, efficient and safest aid delivery method,” he said.
Earlier on Saturday, the UN Spokesperson’s Office said the World Food Programme (WFP) confirmed that 10 truckloads of food were transported to its warehouse the previous day via the floating dock, which was installed by the United States military.
“Some of the shipment included high-energy biscuits for WFP to distribute, but there were also commodities for other humanitarian partners to distribute, which included rice, pasta, and lentils,” the note said.
Mr. Lazzarini emphasized that the land crossings into Gaza must re-open and be safe to access. ”Without the re-opening of these routes, the deprivation of assistance and catastrophic humanitarian conditions will persist,” he said.
Ceasefire now
He underlined the obligations of the parties to the conflict, starting with rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief for all civilians in need, wherever they are located.
“The displaced population must have access to basic survival items, including food, water, and shelter, as well as hygiene, health, assistance and above all safety,” he said.
Humanitarian relief teams also need safe and free movement to access people in need, and protection wherever they may be, and the parties are also obligated to protect civilians and civilian objects everywhere.
“Above all, it is time to agree on a ceasefire,” he concluded.
“Any further escalation in the fighting will only wreak more havoc on civilians and make it impossible to finally have the peace and stability that Israelis and Palestinians desperately need and deserve.”
Since the Taliban’s return to Afghanistan in 2021, numerous women grapple with profound mental health challenges, often in silence, fearing repercussions for speaking out. Credit: Learning Together
Inter Press Service
May 16 (IPS) – The author is an Afghanistan-based female journalist, trained with Finnish support before the Taliban take-over. Her identity is withheld for security reasonsAfghanistan is grappling with a growing crisis of mental illness, particularly among its women, as highlighted in a United Nations report. Officials from the mental health department at Herat regional hospital have observed a concerning uptick in the number of women afflicted by psychological disorders in the province.
According to these officials, nearly eighty percent of individuals seeking treatment for depression are women and girls. The medical center witnesses a daily influx of one hundred patients seeking assistance.
“Every day, 100 people come for treatment, and more than two-thirds of them are women”, according to one of the doctors of the Association of Clinical Psychologists in Herat, who did not want to be named in the report due to security issues.
Nearly 400 people have been sent to further treatment within one month and the numbers continue to increase daily. Most patients are given psychological counseling but those with severe illness are referred to the regional mental hospital in Herat.
Several factors contribute to the surge in mental illness among women. Economic hardships have intensified, while the oppressive rule of the Taliban has cast a shadow over their future prospects. Additionally, a widespread increase in domestic violence against women, coupled with restrictions on female education and employment, compounds the issue.
“I often experience sudden panic attacks,” shared Marjan, a patient at the hospital. “My heart feels weak, and I constantly battle lethargy. The ban on my education has plunged me into depression,” she lamented.
With tears in her eyes and pain in her voice, she complained how long she and other women would continue to be imprisoned within the four walls of their homes and live with uncertainty of the future.
Marjan continues, “I am the third wife of my husband, and I am always subjected to violence and beatings by my husband or my husband’s wives.”
In some regions, such as Herat, polygamous marriages are common, leading to intra-family conflicts where women bear the brunt of the repercussions.
Marjan, a victim of such a marriage, disclosed her failed suicide attempts and attributed her plight to the Taliban. Forced into marriage by her father during the Taliban regime, she was compelled to relinquish her role as a civil activist and former employee of a human rights organization under the previous government.
“Now, I am left with mere memories of a life that no longer exists,” she lamented bitterly.
Nafas Gul, a mother of five also in Herat Province narrates her story. Her daughter, sixteen-year-old Shirin Gul, is severely depressed, judging from her regular cries and calling her home prison, her mother explains. Shirin no longer attends school.
Memories have made most girls and women depressed. A large number of them have stayed at home, unable to work or acquire education.
In Afghanistan, many victims of domestic violence struggle to find assistance in overstretched healthcare systems. Credit: Learning Together
With the return of the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2021, women have been deprived of their rights, especially the right to work and education. The majority of women in Herat are against recognizing the legitimacy of the Taliban government, rather they say that recognition should be given in return for improving the status of women.
Doctors caution that without intervention, the number of individuals suffering from depression, particularly in Herat province, will continue to escalate.
