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  • Media Freedom is Vital but have we Passed Peak Press?

    Media Freedom is Vital but have we Passed Peak Press?

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    • Opinion by Farhana Haque Rahman (toronto, canada)
    • Inter Press Service

    TORONTO, Canada, Apr 30 (IPS) – Peak oil was first up, followed by peak gas, gold and others, as if the world was draining natural resources like toilet roll panic buying in a lockdown supermarket. But should we now be worried about Peak Press?

    Farhana Haque RahmanShifting and even intangible is it possible that we are already sliding downhill, and that moment of peak media freedom is disappearing in the rear-view mirror?

    World Press Freedom Day, child of the UN General Assembly, marks its 30th birthday on May 3 – still relatively young, but definitely showing signs of wear and tear.

    Measuring the state of its vital organs is not an exact science. The Paris-based non-profit media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) compiles an annual and thorough medical bulletin, and the latest check-up, country-by-country, makes for mostly alarming reading.

    There are common denominators in all the ailments afflicting press freedom around the world, but with each region or continent seeming to specialise in certain characteristics.

    Asia is particularly worrying, with the common theme of muscle-flexing autocrats vying for absolute control of information and exercising what RSF calls a dramatic deterioration of press freedom. Post-coup Myanmar and China are the world’s biggest jailers of journalists. Afghanistan back under the Taliban is brutally repressive. North Korea brings up the rear of the rankings, again.

    Hong Kong, under China’s imposition of the draconian national security law, fell 68 places in the RSF league table. Vietnam and Singapore also tightened their grip on the media.

    Anuradha Bhasin, executive editor of The Kashmir Times recently wrote in The New York Times that his newspaper “may not survive Mr. Modi. His repressive media policies are destroying Kashmiri journalism, intimidating media outlets into serving as government mouthpieces and creating an information vacuum in our region of about 13 million people.”

    This year Pakistan was placed at 157 among 180 countries on RSF’s World Press Freedom Index list. The country has been ruled by the military for more than half of it’s 75 years of independence since 1947. In a report last year, along with a list of global leaders who suppressed opposing voices, RSF named former Prime Minister Imran Khan as one of the “predators of press freedom”.

    Repression is dressed up in legislation as seen in Bangladesh’s Digital Security Act, passed in 2018 and applied to journalists, activists and others.Two days after a journalist with Prothom Alo was detained, the UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk called on Bangladesh to suspend application of the DSA immediately.

    Where Asia can be ruthless and draconian, it is lawlessness and societal fragmentation that make parts of Latin America the most dangerous place for journalists. Mexico and Haiti lead the way. At least 67 journalists and media workers were killed in 2022, an increase of almost 50 percent on 2021, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Research published by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism found that 30 to 42 media workers were killed in Latin America in the line of duty.

    Rocío Gallegos, a journalist and co-founder of La Verdad Juárez, an investigative journalism outlet in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, was quoted as saying the situation is desperate and complex, not just due to growing conditions for violence, but because there is “less and less support from society towards journalists and journalism.”

    Courageous reporters like Gallegos and the underground citizen journalists covering Myanmar’s horrific civil war inspire us, and lend hope to the survival of the ideals of a free press.

    But it is in the West, the cradle of a free media, that we can feel most cynicism over the frightening erosion of media credibility led by its very own moguls and conglomerates.

    The wanton and deliberate peddling of conspiracy theories over the 2020 US election results by Fox News (among others) was laid bare by the defamation case brought by Dominion Voting Systems. Fox settled out of court for $787 million in damages. Its lies were not trivial as we know. Five people died as a result of the January 2021 storming of the US Capitol by a mob of Donald Trump’s supporters.

    Democracies need truth-telling media to flourish, and it was telling that much of the media coverage focused instead on 92-year-old Rupert Murdoch and his family succession machinations.

    Fox News was – and quite possibly will remain — the ultimate mainstream player in the theatre of performance media, where facts don’t get in the way of a good conspiracy.

    The recent demise of BuzzFeed News and its Pulitzer-prize winning department can also be seen as marking the end of an era. The suggestion by its founder, Jonah Peretti, that there may not be a sustainable business model for high-quality online news should be ringing alarm bells everywhere.

    To add to this potentially toxic mix, where social media platforms become a blurry cauldron of conspiracy theories and state-sponsored disinformation, we now have to contend with the new disruptive age of ChatGPT.

    The polarisation of the press in the West and its weaponisation in superpower conflicts are highly damaging trends. Russia’s arrest of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and China’s detention of Taiwan publisher Li Yanhe are the most recent examples. A possible Biden-Trump rematch in the 2024 US elections, and the dangerous deterioration in Sino-US relations threaten to exacerbate both polarisation and weaponisation of the media.

    As for Peak Oil – the world may have passed that point already, and economists are debating whether 2019 was when overall fossil fuel demand reached its zenith. There are many reasons for this historic shift, not least that the alternatives, such as renewable energy, are becoming cheaper.

    But what is the substitute for a free and healthy press – the lifeblood of free and healthy societies? The alternatives are clearly on view all around us and they don’t look good.

    Farhana Haque Rahman is Senior Vice President of IPS Inter Press Service; a journalist and communications expert, she is a former senior official of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and the International Fund for Agricultural Development.

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    © Inter Press Service (2023) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service

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  • Fiji: Deeper Democracy or Continuing Danger?

    Fiji: Deeper Democracy or Continuing Danger?

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    Credit: Pita Simpson/Getty Images
    • Opinion by Andrew Firmin (london)
    • Inter Press Service

    LONDON, Apr 28 (IPS) – It’s been a time of significant change in Fiji following the country’s December 2022 election. A close vote was followed by the formation of a new coalition government. Frank Bainimarama was out as prime minister after 16 years, replaced by Sitiveni Rabuka.

    Rabuka was hardly a new face, having been prime minister in the 1990s, and both Bainimarama and Rabuka had previously led military coups. For Fiji’s civil society, the question was whether this political shift would bring improvements in civic and democratic freedoms. Bainimarama’s government had shown itself increasingly intolerant of dissent.

    People who criticised the government were subjected to harassment and arrest. In July 2021, nine opposition politicians were arrested, questioned and accused of inciting unrest. In 2020, opposition party offices were raided by police in response to social media posts critical of the government.

    The outgoing government used the Public Order Act to restrict protests, including by opposition parties. The Fiji Trade Union Congress was repeatedly denied permission to march and its leader charged with public order offences. Police often used excessive force against protests, with impunity. There was, in short, much room for improvement.

    Positive steps on media freedom

    The most encouraging move so far is the repeal of the Media Industry Development Act. This law, passed under the Bainimarama government, established a highly interventionist government-controlled media regulator. Journalists could be jailed for two years and media outlets slapped with heavy fines if their reporting was judged to go against the national or public interest – vague terms open to broad interpretation. This encouraged self-censorship.

    The law was one of the main reasons Fiji was the lowest-ranking Pacific Island nation on Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index. Media freedom constraints came from the top, with the government favouring state-aligned media, including by withholding advertising from more critical outlets.

    Now the media and civil society will be looking for the government to go further. A sedition law that can bring extensive jail sentences remains in need of reform. And beyond this, the government needs to actively support the development of independent Fijian media, including through the fairer distribution of ad spending.

    The new government has also moved to rebuild relationships with trade unions. In February it confirmed it would re-establish an effective tripartite forum that brings together government, trade unions and employers; its predecessor was accused of not taking this seriously. The new government has said it will bring to an end the harassment, intimidation and arrest of union leaders. Unions will work to hold the government to these promises.

    A fall from grace

    These changes have come against a backdrop of continuing political polarisation. It’s been quite the journey for Bainimarama since losing power. In February he was suspended from parliament. This came after he used his first speech as leader of the opposition to deliver a stinging critique of Fiji’s president, Ratu Wiliame Katonivere.

    In his speech, Bainimarama appealed to the military to ‘not forsake their constitutional role’. This seemed a coded plea for military intervention: the 2013 constitution, introduced by Bainimarama, gives the military the power to intervene to ensure the ‘safety and security of the country’. When he was still prime minister, as post-electoral negotiations were taking place, Bainimarama had ordered the military onto the streets.

    Bainimarama’s response to his suspension was to resign from parliament. But he made clear his intent to stay politically active and remains party leader.

    Last month Bainimarama was charged with abuse of office while prime minister. He was granted bail after pleading not guilty. He’s alleged to have intervened to stop a police investigation into alleged corruption at the University of the South Pacific. Police Commissioner Sitiveni Tukaituraga Qiliho, currently suspended, is also charged with abuse of office for the same case and has also pleaded not guilty.

    Dangers ahead

    The obvious danger is that Bainimarama, no longer confined by parliamentary niceties, could seek to stir unrest through sensationalism and disinformation, which could offer a pretext for his supporters in the military to intervene. The spectre of military rule is never far away in Fiji. There have been four coups since independence in 1970. Rabuka led two in 1987 and then Bainimarama headed coups in 2000 and 2006. In this context, it’s ominous that in January the head of the army expressed concern about ‘sweeping changes’ being introduced by the new government.

    On all occasions the pretext for coups has been ethnic unrest, with Fiji’s population broadly divided between Indigenous Fijians and people of Asian heritage. Civil society and the international community will need to stay alert to any attempts to foster division and mobilise one population group against the other.

    At the same time the new government needs to beware of fuelling narratives that it’s being vindictive towards Bainimarama and his party. There’s a need to ensure that diverse points of view can be aired – including from the new opposition. As a former coup leader, Rabuka needs to keep proving his commitment to democracy.

    What happens next in Fiji is of concern not just for Fijians but for the region, since the country is a major hub and host of key regional institutions. China and the USA, along with Australia, are trying to build closer relations with Fiji as they compete for influence among Pacific Island nations. So whether Fiji becomes more democratic and opens up civic space matters.

    In these early days of the new government there can be no room for complacency. Fiji’s civil society must be supported and enabled as a vital democratic force. And it must keep on engaging constructively to ensure that government promises are followed by deeds that advance rights.

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

    © Inter Press Service (2023) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service

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  • Americans’ personal savings just hit $1 trillion. What’s the best place to store your cash — I-bonds, CDs or online savings accounts?

    Americans’ personal savings just hit $1 trillion. What’s the best place to store your cash — I-bonds, CDs or online savings accounts?

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    People are saving more these days. Where’s the best place to put your cash?

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  • Afghanistan Special Envoys Should Hold Firm Line on Rights

    Afghanistan Special Envoys Should Hold Firm Line on Rights

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    • Opinion by Patricia Gossman (brussels, belgium)
    • Inter Press Service

    BRUSSELS, Belgium, Apr 28 (IPS) – On May 1, United Nations member states’ special envoys on Afghanistan will meet in Doha, Qatar to discuss how to address the Taliban’s latest restrictions on humanitarian operations.

    The two-day meeting follows a week of confused messaging from the UN that could directly affect next steps for helping Afghans in need of aid.

    On April 18, the UN Development Programme Administrator (UNDP) Achim Steiner warned that unless the Taliban revoked their ban on Afghan women working for the UN, the UN was “ready to take the heartbreaking decision to pull out of the country.”

    The next day, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed suggested member states use what little leverage they have to explore “baby steps” that could put the Taliban “on the path to recognition.”

    Surely there is a solution between the threat of total UN withdrawal and the dangled carrot of recognition. And it seems the special envoys are expected to find it.

    Unfortunately, divisions among the special envoys on approaches to the Taliban mirror those on the UN Security Council. China, Russia, and Japan want the UN to focus on aid and Afghanistan’s economic crisis. The United States, United Kingdom, and France have pushed a hard line with the Taliban on human rights.

    In March, when the Security Council passed a resolution extending the mandate of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, it passed a second resolution calling for an independent assessment of the UN’s operations aimed at finding “an integrated and coherent approach … to address the current challenges.”

    While China and Russia had sought a broader assessment, the US and UK signaled skepticism with the one that emerged.

    Meanwhile, the Taliban’s latest restrictions have been catastrophic for the Afghan people, two-thirds of whom are dependent on food aid, most of them women and girls.

    The Taliban’s increasingly repressive stand banning women from working for humanitarian organizations (except in health and primary education) and the UN, has forced aid agencies and organizations to have to choose between ending their programs or negotiating ways to provide life-saving assistance without compromising principles. This is not a choice they should have to make.

    The special envoys should make this clear in Doha and maintain a firm line that only a reversal of the Taliban’s oppressive policies will open the door to further engagement.

    Patricia Gossman is an associate director for the Asia division of Human Rights Watch. Prior to joining HRW, Dr. Gossman was Director of the Afghanistan Program at the International Center for Transitional Justice on Afghanistan, and was the founder and director of the Afghanistan Justice Project, an OSI-funded project to document war crimes committed during the Afghan conflict, 1978-2001.

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    © Inter Press Service (2023) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service

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  • ‘Sell’ signals are flashing across the stock market now. But bulls still have one chance.

    ‘Sell’ signals are flashing across the stock market now. But bulls still have one chance.

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    The stock market, as measured by the S&P 500 Index SPX, has struggled to maintain the rally that began in mid-March, and now we are getting new sell signals from some of our internal indicators.

    SPX was turned back by resistance near 4200 for the third time since last August. That is an extremely strong resistance area now. Moreover, there is further resistance at 4300. On the downside for SPX, there is technically support at 3970, where the small gaps exist on the SPX chart. A close below 3950 would be extremely bearish and…

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  • Rising to the Challenge: The UN Road Safety Fund in a Polycrises World

    Rising to the Challenge: The UN Road Safety Fund in a Polycrises World

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    An aerial photograph of a busy roundabout in Lusaka Zambia. Credit: UNRSF.
    • Opinion by Nneka Henry (geneva)
    • Inter Press Service

    GENEVA, Apr 27 (IPS) – Nneka Henry is Head of UN Road Safety FundCrises may be a centuries-old phenomenon, but so too is human resilience.

    The high number of road deaths and life-changing injuries in the global south is a crisis that affects millions of people every year. In 2018 alone – the year that the UN Road Safety Fund was established – 1.3 million people died on the world’s roads, and another 50 million were injured or disabled.

    These numbers are even more sobering against the backdrop of multiple global crises that range from the coronavirus pandemic to the climate emergency, the cost of living crisis to geopolitical conflicts. As daunting as the mounting crises facing the world may be, the millions of lives and livelihoods lost to road crashes has made the Fund as resolute as ever to continue to mobilize and coordinate effective responses to very real road safety needs.

    Recognizing the world’s state of increasing complexities, the Fund has been meeting the global road safety challenge head-on. It has done this through a coordinated and multi-faceted approach that addresses the underlying cause of unsafe roads whilst also addressing interconnections with other global development crises.

    As the only United Nations body solely dedicated to channelling resources and expertise to tackling the root cause of the crisis, preventing further loss of life is, and will always be, our ultimate goal.

    How could it not be – considering that road traffic crashes take the lives of around 3,700 people each day; the equivalent of losing a large cruise ship of passengers at maximum capacity. Through annual Calls for Proposals, the Fund coordinates and finances projects that help ensure road safety is treated as the significant public health issue that it is.

    In Brazil, our project partner, the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, worked with the Department of Transport to correct and improve speed control operations including with the use of portable equipment on all of the Pará State highways. The project resulted in a doubling breathalyzer tests to over 78,000 carried out in 2022 and contributed to decreasing the rate of traffic deaths by a third, down from 6.13 per 10,000 vehicles in 2021 to 4.13 in 2022.

    Underpinning the Fund’s ability to effectively address the road safety crisis is our comparative advantage of encouraging international collaboration and cooperation through pooled financial resources and technical knowledge. The more financial and technical partners that participate in the Fund the more comprehensive our response has been, spanning road safety-related legislation, enforcement, education, use of technology and implementation of international regulations and standards.

    In the case of West Africa – led by our project partners the UN Environment Programme and UN Economic Commission for Europe – the Fund collaborated on an initiative with the UN Economic Commission for Africa, FIA, and the International Motor Vehicles Inspection Committee.

    This has supported the 15 ECOWAS members states to adopt and roll out a regionally-harmonized vehicle directive and technical inspection system, which sets a common standard to safeguard the safety and environmental-friendliness of used vehicles on West African roads. It is now helping to decrease the number of vehicles involved in fatal crashes due to technical defects by 50%, saving thousands of lives.

    Recognizing the world’s state of increasing complexities, the Fund has been meeting the global road safety challenge head-on. It has done this through a coordinated and multi-faceted approach that addresses the underlying cause of unsafe roads whilst also addressing interconnections with other global development crises
    Nneka Henry, Head of UN Road Safety Fund

    Key to strengthening the Fund’s global outreach and engagement is our commitment to communicate clearly and effectively with the public, stakeholders, and decision-makers to ensure that everyone is up-to-date and engaged in the response efforts.

    In addition to project planning information sessions which encourage knowledge exchange, and building synergies and complementary financing opportunities before projects are finalized; the Fund also delivers three main flagship events. These include the virtual Open Day for project partners to share project results, the launch of the Annual Impact Report, which takes place on the margins of the International Transport Forum Summit, and the Highlights Country Visit for stakeholders to deep dive into projects that the Fund is supporting.

    As global citizens we are all facing a crossroads of crises. The Fund’s response has been to invest in supporting interconnections with other development priorities as a way to build resilience and preparedness for future crises.

    Mindful of economic crises, the Fund’s investment in safe transport and road infrastructure is vital. This is what we have been doing in support of the Tanzanian government – with project partners the International Road Assessment Programme, International Road Federation and the UN Economic Commission for Africa.

    This initiative has been helping to reduce traffic crashes that place a heavy additional economic burden on families, governments and employers – spanning medical expenses, lost income, and reduced productivity – all of which costs the global economy US$ 1.85 trillion each year.

    Low- and middle-income countries devote considerable public personnel and other resources to the treatment and rehabilitation of people injured in road crashes. There is, therefore, a compelling need to reduce the road crash burden on national healthcare systems freeing up critical resources to address other pressing health issues.

    Considering ongoing health crises, the Fund is investing in effective post-crash responses – a focus area for the 2023 Call for Proposals and an issue we address in countries like Bangladesh and Azerbaijan, which suffer high rates of road casualties.

    Mitigating the effects of climate change, the Fund also invests in cleaner ways of moving safely, including through the Reclaiming the Streets project across Africa to prioritize safe walking and cycling lanes for pedestrians and cyclists who also happen to be our most vulnerable road users.

    During these years of polycrises, the Fund has relied on the global solutions approach to rise to the global road safety challenge. And, this month, as the Fund celebrates five years, I challenge more nations, companies and individuals to invest in the only global response comprehensively addressing the root causes of poor national road safety systems across the world. Join us in our sustained effort and rise to meet the serious and interconnected challenges that is the global road safety crisis today.

    © Inter Press Service (2023) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service

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  • Defending Human Rights Is a Crime in Some Countries and a Deadly Activity in Others

    Defending Human Rights Is a Crime in Some Countries and a Deadly Activity in Others

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    • Opinion by Bibbi Abruzzini, Clarisse Sih – Forus (brussels)
    • Inter Press Service

    BRUSSELS, Apr 27 (IPS) – In today’s world, human rights defenders face immense challenges, with threats, attacks, and repression being rampant in many countries. According to the latest report by Front Line Defenders, killings of rights defenders increased in 2022, with a total of 401 deaths across 26 different countries. Despite the adoption of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders 25 years ago, the threats faced by defenders persist globally.

    One striking example of the dire situation is in Bolivia, where violations of freedoms of expression, association, peaceful assembly, and the right to defend rights have been recorded by the Observatory of Rights Defenders of UNITAS, with the Permanent Assembly of Human Rights of Bolivia (APDHB) being a longstanding victim of attacks and delegitimization. A total of 725 violations of the freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly, democratic institutions and the right to defend rights have been recorded by the Observatory of Rights Defenders.

    Gladys Sandova, a human rights and environmental defender in the Tariquía Flora and Fauna National Reserve in Bolivia, reveals how the state often aligns with oil businesses instead of protecting communities. “Tariquía is the lung of Tarija,” Gladys explains, yet this vital source of water for southern Bolivia and home to over 3,000 people, is at risk due to the state-owned Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales Bolivianos (YPFB) seeking to revive oil exploration in the reserve.

    “Oil companies are here, we are going to lose our natural richness, they are going to affect the lives of families, and contaminate our water and our air,” says Gladys, reflecting the urgent need to defend human rights and the environment.

    Her story is similar to that of several other human rights defenders across the globe : they are victims of hostilities, interference, threats, and harassment. The campaign, ReImagina La Defensa de Derechos, by UNITAS collects the testimonies of human rights defenders and indigenous leaders across Bolivia raising awareness about the challenges they face.

    Stories from human rights defenders from across the globe are also featured in the #AlternativeNarratives campaign, which seeks to amplify the voices of civil society organizations and grassroots movements that work towards social justice, human rights, and sustainable development. The campaign encourages the use of storytelling, multimedia tools, and creative expression to highlight alternative perspectives, challenge stereotypes, and advocate for positive chang while fostering a more inclusive and equitable narrative space that reflects the diversity of human experiences and promotes solidarity, empathy, and mutual understanding.

    Human rights defenders, including women defenders, continue to mobilize against repressive regimes and occupying forces in countries like Afghanistan, the DRC, El Salvador, Iran, Myanmar, Sudan, and Ukraine. Mary Lawlor, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, highlights the underreporting of human rights violations against defenders, particularly women, and outlines “disturbing trends” in relation to civic space worldwide.

    Repongac, representing over 1,200 NGOs in Central Africa, states that “human rights in Central Africa are no longer guaranteed,” with civil society actors, journalists, and defenders facing repression, prosecution, and arrests. Recent campaigns organized by Repongac in Central Africa and Repaoc in West Africa, supported by Forus and the French Development Agency, brought together diverse stakeholders, including human rights defenders, political parties, parliamentarians, journalists, and security personnel, to initiate a dialogue and protect civic space amnd fundametnal freedoms in the region.

    To support activists and defenders globally, the Danish Institute for Human Rights has launched a monitoring tool that assesses whether an enabling environment for human rights defenders exists across five critical areas. Developed in collaboration with 24 institutions and organizations, including the United Nations and civil society networks, the tool not only tracks the number of killings of human rights defenders but also analyzes the presence of appropriate legislation and practices to protect defenders.

    As Carol Rask, a representative of the Danish Institute for Human Rights, explains, defending human rights is a crime in some countries and a deadly activity in others. It is a call to action for change, urging individuals, organizations, and governments to prioritize and protect the crucial work of human rights defenders worldwide.

    Griselda Sillerico, human rights defender in Bolivia for over 30 years, quotes Ana María Romero and says “human rights are seeds that we continue to plant and that over the years we harvest.” Griselda Sillerico’s quote echoes the enduring spirit of human rights advocacy, where the work of human rights defenders like her is a constant effort to sow the seeds of justice, equality, and dignity for all. Despite the challenges and setbacks, human rights defenders across the world continue to plant these seeds, often at great personal risk, with the hope of reaping a future where human rights are universally respected and protected.

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    © Inter Press Service (2023) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service

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  • Fed ‘accident’ could slice 20% off the S&P 500, stock market strategist David Rosenberg warns. Here are 3 ways to protect your money now.

    Fed ‘accident’ could slice 20% off the S&P 500, stock market strategist David Rosenberg warns. Here are 3 ways to protect your money now.

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    David Rosenberg honestly doesn’t want to be bearish on stocks or bash the Federal Reserve. The veteran market strategist will get no satisfaction if he’s right about Americans having to slog through recession and consequently endure deflation, job losses and a wallop to the stock market.

    “As I play the role of economic detective, I can see the smoking gun,” says Rosenberg, a former chief North American economist at Merrill Lynch and now president of Toronto-based Rosenberg Research.

    Who’s…

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  • Mercury Project Puts Great UNEP Treaty at Risk

    Mercury Project Puts Great UNEP Treaty at Risk

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    Charlie Brown
    • Opinion by Charlie Brown (lome, togo)
    • Inter Press Service

    LOME, Togo, Apr 26 (IPS) – The writer is President, World Alliance for Mercury-Free DentistryThe Minamata Convention on Mercury, a stellar success story to date, has been favorably compared to the prototype success story for a treaty on toxins: the Montreal Protocol. Both had a single focused mission; both gained universal support across the globe; both matched technological innovation with environmental science to discard old polluting methods.

    But emerging after hidden negotiations with the mercury lobby is a GEF project with UNEP endorsement which ignores, if not outright defies, the will of the Parties. As COP5 approaches, here is the test case on whether Minamata continues to move our small planet toward an end to anthropogenic mercury—or become mired in corporate capture.

    For the past decade, the Parties repeatedly rejected the agenda of the dental mercury lobby—the dentists who still cling to the 19th century tooth-unfriendly pollutant amalgam, despite it being 50% mercury and a health risk to their own dental nurses; and the waste industry, whose obvious self-interest is to keep amalgam going into perpetuity to sell their equipment.

    Charlie BrownThe mercury lobby wanted a treaty focused on amalgam waste; the Parties said NO, this treaty is about use, not about waste. The mercury lobby wanted access to implant mercury fillings in all children, especially those in Africa, Asia, and Latin America; the Parties said NO, and adopted the Children’s Amendment at COP 4—which enters into legal force on 28 September 2023.

    So, the dental mercury lobby met repeatedly with GEF and UNEP staff in sessions closed to the Parties . . . closed to the Minamata Secretariat . . . closed to the Minamata Bureau . . . closed to the dozens of CSOs who have actively pushed for a treaty to phase out anthropogenic mercury.

    Violating their own standards, GEF and UNEP constructed (or allowed without objection) a project that bypasses the Children’s Amendment entirely in favor of trying to redirect the mission of the treaty from use to waste—the very position repeatedly rejected by the Parties since 2013.

    Separators do not sell well because they do not and cannot eliminate mercury waste; they only catch the mercury in the dentist office—not the mercury implanted in people—and they require a massive infrastructure to ensure that even that partial waste, from dental offices, is properly disposed of. Only one solution ends mercury waste from amalgam: the switch to mercury-free dentistry.

    The #1 beneficiary of this Greenwashing is the world’s only major publicly traded dental products maker expanding sales of amalgam: Southern Dental Industries (SDI) of Melbourne. While its competitors exited or scaled back amalgam—or never made it in the first place—SDI seized their exits as its opportunity to corner the amalgam market.

    Just six weeks ago, in a call to its shareholders, SDI’s CEO boasted about its huge increases in amalgam sales, detailed its entry into new markets to sell amalgam, and affirmed her personal goal of ‘maximizing’ amalgam sales! Wriggling into a GEF-UNEP amalgam “reduction” project while increasing amalgam sales, SDI is the sole dental products company in a project partnership role—hence given market access denied to their mercury-free competitors in nations on three continents. Here is a classic case of Corporate Capture!

    GEF’s requirement of stakeholder participation at the earliest stage was papered over via a legerdemain: a false claim that the NGOs are participating. Falsely listed as participants are the World Alliance for Mercury-Free Dentistry, Bangladesh-based Environment and Social Development Organization, Germany-based European Network for Environmental Medicine, Philippines-based BAN Toxics, Nepal-based Center for Public Health and Environmental Development, Cameroun-based Centre de Recherche et d’Education pour le Développement, and U.S.-based Consumers for Dental Choice.

    Equally troubling, RAP-AL Uruguay, who leads the campaign for mercury-free dentistry for Latin America, is preliminarily assigned to promote separator sales—a goal anathema to its very mission.

    UNEP top brass in Nairobi and GEF top brass in Washington need to act:

      • First, to determine who on their staffs submitted the plethora of false claims of CSO participation;
      • Second, to kill this project, so that the Minamata Convention on Mercury does not become the treaty about corporate capture and greenwashing;
      • Third, to use GEF funding to enact the will of the Parties as stated unequivocally in its 2022 Amendment: stop placing mercury fillings, for all time and all regions, in children and women who are pregnant or breastfeeding.

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  • The Last Mile to Malaria Elimination: Confronting Gender Inequalities & Power Dynamics

    The Last Mile to Malaria Elimination: Confronting Gender Inequalities & Power Dynamics

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    • Opinion by Kipkemoi Saitabau, Arthur Ngetich Kipkemoi Saitabau (kuala lumpur, malaysia)
    • Inter Press Service

    Women are at higher risk of malaria due to biological, social, economic, and gender factors. They have limited access to healthcare, less decision-making power and control over household resources, which increases their susceptibility.

    Gender-based economic disparities further worsen the situation by limiting women’s access to malaria prevention and treatment.

    While significant progress has been made in the past decades in combatting malaria through the development of life-saving treatment regimens and the implementation of cutting-edge technologies to accelerate the discovery and development of new malaria vaccines, deaths due to malaria remain high.

    In 2021 alone, an estimated 619,000 deaths were caused by malaria, highlighting the need for continued efforts to combat this disease.

    In addition, COVID-related disruptions in the delivery of malaria curative and preventive services during the two peak years of the pandemic (2020-2021), led to approximately 13 million more cases of malaria and an additional 63,000 deaths caused by the disease compared to the pre-COVID-19 year of 2019.

    To date, malaria cases and deaths have primarily been reduced through disease-focused approaches that tend to be reactive rather than proactive often initiated in response to malaria outbreaks.

    This narrow focus on treating individual cases of malaria overlooks broader social, economic, environmental risk factors including gender-based inequalities.

    As Member States work towards ambitious goals set during the 2015 World Health Assembly of reducing the global malaria burden by 90% by 2030, efforts need to prioritise the underlying factors that drive transmission through a multifaceted approach, particularly recognising the social determinants like gender inequalities.

    The concept of people-centred health care is based on fundamental principles that prioritize human rights, dignity, participation, equity, and partnerships.

    This approach aims to create a health care system where individuals, families, and communities receive humane and holistic care, while also having the opportunity to actively engage with the health care system.

    As we work towards leaving no one behind and achieving the last mile, developing and adopting more people-centred approaches, that address gender and intersectionality concerns through an analysis of power dynamics, will be critical to make significant strides towards eradicating malaria for good.

    This can involve engaging with communities and stakeholders to identify their needs and develop evidence-based malaria control strategies that promote equity and inclusion.

    Additionally, promoting participation of marginalized groups in decision-making and ensuring malaria interventions respect human rights and promote social justice.

    Not only will this help advance Sustainable Development Goals towards gender equality but importantly will also contribute to decolonising global health and empowering communities that remain most impacted by the disease.

    Unpacking the Gendered Dimensions

    A people-centred approach to malaria prevention aims to prioritize the well-being of individuals and communities by establishing reliable health systems. However, power dynamics must be taken into account to prevent the perpetuation of power imbalances, hierarchies, and inequalities.

    This means engaging with communities and other stakeholders to identify their needs and priorities and working together to develop evidence-based malaria control strategies.

    The Community Directed Intervention (CDI) approach exemplifies the importance of extensive community engagement to identify local needs and priorities for malaria control. This includes community meetings, involving leaders and women groups, and conducting surveys on malaria burden and risk factors.

    Developing evidence-based strategies through community engagement results in increased community ownership and participation, leading to higher uptake of interventions and reducing malaria transmission.

    Addressing the power dynamics associated with malaria prevention requires acknowledging and tackling gendered dimensions linked with malaria prevention.

    Women in some communities may lack access to education, employment, and decision-making power, which can limit their ability to protect themselves from malaria.

    Additionally, cultural beliefs and practices may contribute to the unequal distribution of resources for malaria prevention and control, with men accessing more resources than women.

    This underscores the importance of addressing gender roles in malaria control initiatives and empowering women to take an active role in protecting themselves and their families.

    Intersectionality also has important implications for malaria control as gender intersects with other social categories to create specific vulnerabilities and challenges. For instance, women from lowest income groups are least likely to get access to healthcare.

    To address these challenges, it is important for more malaria control programs to conduct systematic social and gender analysis, hearing from those affected, to better understand the subtle nuances of gendered and intersectional dimensions of power both within households and communities.

    This approach can then help to identify the specific barriers and opportunities for women’s participation in malaria control initiatives. By unpacking the gendered dimensions in communities, public health officials can design targeted interventions that promote women’s empowerment, address gender inequalities, and increase women’s involvement in malaria control programs.

    Confronting not Reinforcing Power Dynamics

    A people-centred approach to malaria control can empower individuals by providing education and training on malaria prevention and control. It can emphasize inclusivity and centre the experiences and knowledge of those who have been historically excluded or marginalized due to factors such as racism, sexism, classism, and other systems of power.

    To avoid reinforcing power dynamics in malaria control, it is crucial to involve and empower marginalized groups in decision-making. This involves consulting communities to identify their needs and priorities, promoting participation of women and marginalized groups, and designing interventions that promote equity and inclusion.

    The foundation for improving community dialogue and community-led actions towards malaria elimination has been established over the years.

    A case in point is the successful elimination of malaria in Cambodia’s last mile, which relied on communities in high-risk areas agreeing to increased testing, regular fever screening, and in some cases, taking preventive antimalarial medication.

    A people-centred approach recognizes the significance of communities in designing and implementing malaria control programs, considering their unique social, cultural, and environmental contexts that can impact malaria transmission and control.

    One illustration is the use of local languages and cultural practices to build trust and improve communication on malaria prevention and control measures through empowerment of community health workers who understand and can tailor interventions to their specific contexts.

    On the other hand, a people-centred approach, which does not consider power dynamics, can unintentionally reinforce social hierarchies and exclude vulnerable populations from accessing preventative and curative treatment for malaria.

    For instance, a malaria control program that only involves male community leaders and village chiefs in decision-making when distributing bed nets reinforces patriarchal power and favour wealthier households, while excluding marginalized groups such as women and those from lower socio-economic backgrounds.

    In conclusion, achieving malaria elimination through people-centred approaches requires a holistic approach that actively considers issues of gender, intersectionality, and balance of power. It is crucial to ensure that these approaches do not perpetuate existing inequalities, but instead centre the experiences and knowledge of marginalized groups.

    By acknowledging and addressing the ways in which different forms of oppression intersect and compound to create experiences of marginalization and exclusion, we can make meaningful strides towards malaria elimination.

    To achieve this, sustaining a commitment to inclusivity, equity, and social justice is imperative in all efforts aimed at eradicating malaria and improving the health and well-being of communities affected by this disease.

    This includes actively involving marginalized groups in decision-making processes, addressing social determinants of health, tailoring interventions to specific cultural and contextual factors, and promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment.

    By taking a proactive and inclusive approach, we can ensure that malaria control efforts are effective, equitable, and sustainable, leading to more just and healthier communities.

    Arthur Ng’etich Kipkemoi Saitabau is Post-Doctoral Fellow of the United Nations University – International Institute for Global Health.

    IPS UN Bureau


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  • 8 value stocks that look like bargains for long-term investors

    8 value stocks that look like bargains for long-term investors

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    When is it a good time to buy stocks? Some investors would say the current negativity dominating the financial media means you are better off sitting on the sidelines. Others would say it is always a good time to buy stocks, provided you can get them for good prices.

    Count John Buckingham, editor of the Prudent Speculator, in the latter camp. He is a value investor with decades of experience. During an interview, he emphasized the importance of remaining disciplined through all market conditions. While he favors the value…

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  • The Financial System’s New Vulnerability to Accidents Will Rattle Investors

    The Financial System’s New Vulnerability to Accidents Will Rattle Investors

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  • Sudan Conflict Marks Failure of Transition Plan

    Sudan Conflict Marks Failure of Transition Plan

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    • Opinion by Andrew Firmin (london)
    • Inter Press Service

    LONDON, Apr 21 (IPS) – The current fighting in Sudan marks the failure of supposed processes for transition to democratic rule. The international community needs to learn the lessons of this catastrophe and work with civil society.

    Democracy betrayed

    On one side is the army, headed by Sudan’s current leader, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. On the other are the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group led by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, commonly known as Hemedti. Both sides blame the other and say they will refuse to negotiate.

    The two worked together in the October 2021 coup that overthrew a transitional government, put in place in August 2019 after long-time dictator Omar al-Bashir was ousted following a popular uprising. They were never committed to democracy. Military forces initially tried to suppress democracy protests with lethal violence. The grimmest day came on 3 June 2019, when the RSF ended a sit-in with indiscriminate gunfire, killing over 100 people. There has been no accountability for the violence.

    The October 2021 military coup, which brought mass protests and civil disobedience, was followed by a short-lived and palpably insincere attempt at a civilian-military power-sharing deal that only lasted from November 2021 to January 2022. Protests, and military violence against them, continued. December 2022 saw the signing of a deal between the military and some civilian groups.

    This deal was supposed to kickstart a two-year transition to democracy. Some pro-democracy groups and political parties rejected the plan, but the international community urged all sides to get behind it.

    The army was already seeking to backtrack on its commitments before the fighting began. Now those who doubted the sincerity of the two forces’ intentions and willingness to hand over power have been proved right.

    Civilians in the firing line

    Relations between the two military leaders had become increasingly strained, and fighting finally broke out on 15 April. Attempts at a humanitarian ceasefire have so far come to nothing.

    Civilians are in the firing line. There’s much confusion on the ground, making it hard to get accurate numbers of casualties, but currently over 300 civilians are reported killed, with thousands injured.

    Khartoum’s major sites of contestation, such as the airport and military bases, nestle side by side with civilian housing, leaving people vulnerable to airstrikes. People are stuck in their homes and at workplaces with limited supplies of food, and water and electricity have been cut. Some have had their homes seized by RSF soldiers. Thousands have fled.

    Many hospitals have been forced to evacuate or are running out of vital supplies, and there are reports of attacks on health facilities. There are also reports that UN staff and other aid workers are being targeted and offices of humanitarian organisations have been looted.

    A battle for power

    The origins of the current crisis lie in al-Bashir’s deployment of paramilitary forces, the Janjaweed, to brutally crush a rebellion in Darfur in 2003. The violence was such that al-Bashir remains subject to an International Criminal Court arrest warrant on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

    In recognition of its brutal effectiveness, al-Bashir formally reorganised the Janjaweed into the RSF. It suited him to have two forces he could play off against each other, although ultimately they worked together to oust him. The tensions that have built since partly reflect a clash of cultures between the two leaders and Hemedti’s evident ambition for the top job.

    But mostly it’s a competition for political and economic supremacy. The army has always been the power behind the presidency, and it’s said to control major companies, having taken over many businesses once owned by al-Bashir and his inner circle.

    Hemedti has his own sources of wealth, including illegal gold mining – something that connects him with Russia, with mercenary forces from the shadowy Wagner Group reportedly guarding goldmines in return for gold exports to Russia. Now Wagner is allegedly supplying the RSF with missiles.

    Hemedti had positioned himself as supportive of transitional processes, a ruse that enabled him to dispute the army’s power. Al-Burhan was always a compromised figure, supposedly leading Sudan through transition while also defending the army’s extensive interests. Proposals to integrate the two forces appear to have been the final straw, threatening to erode Hemedti’s power base, making this an existential struggle.

    International failure

    Democratic states that backed the transition plan wanted to believe in it and basically hoped for the best.

    Self-interest has never been far away from the calculations of outside forces either. In recent years, EU funding indirectly found its way to the RSF for its border control role, helping prevent people making their way to Europe; the EU’s preoccupation with controlling migration trumped democracy and human rights concerns.

    The Egyptian government, an influential player in Sudan, is meanwhile squarely behind al-Burhan: it wants its domestic model of repressive government by a military strongman applied in its southern neighbour. Russia strongly backs Hemedti, while Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates might have no strong preference between the two as long as the outcome isn’t democracy.

    What all the approaches taken have in common is that they’re largely top-down, investing faith in leaders while failing to address the tensions that led to violence. Now the limitations of that approach should be evident.

    Sudan’s democracy movement has been consistently ignored. But people don’t want their futures to come down to a dismal choice of two warlords. This conflict must put an end to any notion that either military head can be expected to lead a transition to democracy.

    Democratic states need to hold a stronger line on demanding not only that the conflict ends but that a genuine, civilian-led transition follows. With this must come accountability for violence.

    From now on, the outside world must listen to and be guided by Sudanese civil society voices – in restoring peace, and in bringing about democracy.

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

    © Inter Press Service (2023) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service

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  • Where do Bangladeshs New Poor Fit in?

    Where do Bangladeshs New Poor Fit in?

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    • Opinion by Nuzhat Fatima (dhaka, bangladesh)
    • Inter Press Service

    DHAKA, Bangladesh, Apr 21 (IPS) – The world is becoming increasingly coexistent with crises. A pandemic, the Ukraine-Russia war, and cost-of-living crisis are only a few of the ordeals we’ve seen in just the last two years.

    As is characteristic of such crisis settings, those already marginalized are further pushed back, augmenting existing barriers to accessing services, resources and opportunities.

    The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals centered around leaving no-one behind become all the more difficult to achieve.

    Crisis settings are now leading to a worrying trend where those not categorically marginalized are becoming increasingly vulnerable. The World Bank estimates that the COVID-19 pandemic pushed 71-100 million people into extreme poverty, giving rise to the “new poor”, those above the poverty line pre-pandemic who fell below the marker during it.

    Against this backdrop, identifying vulnerabilities for development assistance becomes an exponentially more difficult – yet necessary process.

    In Bangladesh, around 20 percent of the population was below the poverty line before 2020. This figure has increased substantially since, and is becoming a phenomenon less temporary than expected. In accurately identifying the vulnerabilities of such groups, conventional, income-centred measures of poverty may fall short.

    Policy measures must therefore be dispensed using tools that can effectively deal with a range of vulnerabilities, beyond income.

    One is the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), which captures deprivations in non-monetary dimensions of wellbeing, utilizing a range of indicators in calculating poverty levels for a particular population. Poverty levels are then represented by an MPI score. The higher the figure, the greater the level of poverty.

    To see whether multidimensional approaches to addressing vulnerability could potentially be more helpful during crises the Research Facility at the UNDP Bangladesh country office analyzed data from its “Livelihoods Improvement of Urban Poor Communities” (LIUPC) project.

    This is a poverty reduction programme covering four million urban poor in 19 Bangladeshi cities, and employs the MPI metric to identify deprivation levels of potential beneficiaries. Conditional cash grants are provided to help eligible MPI-poor households start a business or expand an existing one.

    These households also received COVID-19 relief in the form of cash, food, or preventive materials as unconditional support, separate from grants intrinsically part of the project.

    A study presented in a recent UNDP Development Futures Series brief compared the before-and-during COVID MPI figures of the beneficiary group with two other household categories – MPI-poor non-grantee households, and vulnerable MPI non-poor households. The detailed methodology and results of the study can be seen here.

    Some of the findings from the study were intuitive, business grants disbursed by the project generally helped poor households reduce their multidimensional poverty levels, despite the pandemic.

    Far more interesting however were the rather less intuitive policy insights from the analysis:

    Consider vulnerable non-poor groups in development programming.

    The study’s findings corroborated the emergence of the “new poor”. Households with MPI scores not high enough to be eligible for grants (but still vulnerable, just below the MPI poverty threshold) experienced on average an increase in their multidimensional poverty levels during the pandemic.

    People in these categories usually remain outside the purview of emergency policy measures, having not met eligibility requirements of being “poor” under normal circumstances. As such, their vulnerabilities remain unaddressed and are exacerbated during crises.

    Cash support helps vulnerable groups during crises.

    Findings suggest that the improvement in MPI levels was concentrated amongst the poor groups, including non-grant receivers, while the vulnerable group, who did not receive grants, saw poverty levels deteriorating.

    The latter group barely received cash support even in the form of COVID-19 relief, unlike the poor groups. This suggests that in crisis situations, households that receive unconditional cash support may be able to use it to improve living conditions in the immediate term, including households that are not the neediest judging solely by MPI score, but are still vulnerable and at-risk during crises.

    Context-specific MPI can complement income-based poverty measures.

    Increases or decreases in a household’s MPI score may obscure changes in households with specific vulnerabilities, such as members with disabilities, members belonging to a particular age group, or geographical and regional characteristics.

    Despite an overall decline in MPI scores amongst poor households who received grants, the improvement in multidimensional poverty was not reflected for grantee households with disabled members.

    Thus, the use of a uniform MPI metric in programming, irrespective of variations in local contexts, also risks overlooking specific needs of vulnerable communities.

    Understanding multidimensional poverty would greatly benefit from dynamic data.

    The study used static data which cannot account for real-time changes occurring after collection. In this case, if the data had been dynamic and could be updated during the pandemic, the project may have been able to identify beneficiaries and discern the nature of relief needed more appropriately.

    Nuzhat Fatima is a Research assistant at UNDP Bangladesh.

    IPS UN Bureau


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  • What Local Food Challenges and Choices Across Vietnam Reveal About a Global Push for Food Systems Transformation

    What Local Food Challenges and Choices Across Vietnam Reveal About a Global Push for Food Systems Transformation

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    Fruit stalls at a local market in Hanoi, Vietnam. Credit: Shutterstock.
    • Opinion by Tuyen Huynh (hanoi)
    • Inter Press Service

    HANOI, Apr 20 (IPS) – This month Nature spotlighted three insightful new studies chronicling food-related challenges from a global perspective. One presented worrisome new data on the global rise in the prevalence of diabetes, high blood pressure and liver disease, all linked to obesity. Another presented a new assessment revealing that half of the greenhouse emissions generated by food systems globally are caused by food waste. Finally, the third study found that food consumption could add “nearly 1 degree Celsius to warming by 2100,” with most of that attributed to global methane emissions from meat, dairy and rice production.

    Studies like these are valuable for focusing attention on the need for a fundamental reset from farm to fork in the way food is produced and consumed around the world. But we also must recognize their limits.

    Chiefly, that solutions to the problems they skillfully document will fail unless adapted to specific social, political and economic contexts on the ground.

    We recently spent two years studying food systems across Northern Vietnam. Our work reveals how much food-related challenges can change even over relatively narrow distances—and how solutions must be tailored accordingly.

    The contrasts we documented can be instructive for other countries as well. As a fast-growing, rapidly urbanizing middle-income country that still has a large rural population, Vietnam is an ideal living laboratory for studying the essential role of local food environments in shaping solutions to global food challenges.

    In our work, we roamed the colorful, richly stocked open-air markets and modern retail outlets of urban Hanoi. We traveled just outside the city to study the food landscape in the populous peri-urban area of Dong Anh.

    We visited the rural highlands of the Moc Chau district in Son La Province, where people rely on agriculture for their livelihoods. Along the way, we surveyed thousands of people to learn about where they purchased food and what they ate. Here are a few key lessons that emerged.

    • Food-related issues are linked to both what you eat and where you eat it. With their bounty of choices and relatively high incomes, people in urban Hanoi tend to eat very diverse diets, including more meat, dairy and fish, than people in other areas in Northern Vietnam. It’s the opposite in rural Moc Chau: a dearth of food outlets and a reliance on subsistence farming leads to a narrower menu of options—and diets that are heavy in starchy staples. This difference produces a sharp contrast in food-related health problems. In rural areas, the issue is stunting and wasting in poorly fed children, which is three to four times higher than in urban or peri-urban areas. In urban areas, an abundance of food choices contributes to childhood obesity rates that are 6 to 10 times higher than in the other regions we studied.
    • Problems are clear; solutions are complex—especially in local contexts: We know that addressing malnutrition requires improving food choices, but that also requires considering trade-offs that can be highly political. For example, there is evidence that consistent access to nutrient-dense meat, fish and dairy products can reduce malnutrition in low-income communities like those we studied in rural Vietnam. But a lack of these products in local diets is a key reason rural food systems in Vietnam produce much lower emissions than those in urban areas. The solution is two-fold. First, we must acknowledge the different realities of people in high-income regions globally who have an abundance of nutritious food choices and those in low-income regions who have few. Second, supporting efforts in low-income communities to adopt environmentally sustainable, climate-positive approaches to livestock production—while encouraging more modest consumption in wealthy regions–can capture their benefits in fighting malnutrition while mitigating risks.
    • Promoting healthy diets requires probing local factors behind consumer behavior. Compared to other regions in Vietnam, a significantly higher percentage of rural consumers are relying on cheap and highly processed instant noodles to meet their dietary needs. But encouraging a shift to healthier diets requires engaging the broader constellation of local issues driving this choice. For example, economic policies that drive inflation can negatively affect household food budgets. Also, we found the neglect local road systems in rural areas we studied was a factor in limiting access to food stores and food selection relative to urban and peri-urban areas.

     

    Two years ago, 51,000 people from 193 countries participated in the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit—with many likely to return for this summer’s eagerly anticipated follow-up.

    They are committed to a transformation of a global food system many view as fundamentally broken. The latest scientific studies chronicling food-related impacts to human and planetary health—alongside the recent shocks to the global food system caused by Covid pandemic—certainly support this view.

    Our work reveals that food system challenges vary considerably depending on where you live—and that developing effective solutions requires a focused effort to detect these differences. It means if we want to achieve a more sustainable food system transformation, we must think globally but act locally.

    Tuyen Huynh is a leading food systems expert and senior researcher at the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT

    © Inter Press Service (2023) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service

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  • Global Solidarity Needed to Address Talibans Attacks on Womens Rights

    Global Solidarity Needed to Address Talibans Attacks on Womens Rights

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    • Opinion by David Kode (johannesburg)
    • Inter Press Service

    JOHANNESBURG, Apr 19 (IPS) – Matiullah Wesa’s crime was to try to ensure young people got an education in Afghanistan. His recent forceful abduction by the Taliban offers the latest stark reminder that global solidarity and coherent action from the international community are needed to prevent the complete loss of the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan.

    Matiullah has been at the forefront of advocating for access to education as a co-founder and leader of Pen Path. For more than a decade, Pen Path has worked with community and tribal leaders in remote areas in Afghanistan to advocate for education and bring learning closer to communities. It works to enlighten communities about the importance of education, particularly girl’s and women’s education, organises book donations, runs mobile libraries in remote areas and reopens schools closed by years of conflict and insecurity. Pen Path has reopened over 100 schools, distributed more than 1.5 million items of stationery and provided education facilities for 110,000 children – 66,000 of them girls. This is what Matiullah is being punished for.

    The abduction of Matiullah and many others advocating for the rights of education point to a concerted effort by the Taliban to try to restrict women’s and girls’ access to education and silence those advocating for education and an inclusive society.

    There are sadly many other instances. In November 2022 around 60 Taliban members stormed a press conference organised to announce the formation of Afghan Women Movement for Equality. They arrested conference participants and deleted all images from their phones.

    Immediately after taking power in August 2021, the Taliban instructed women to stay at home and avoid travelling. In December 2022, the Ministry of Higher Education announced it had suspended university education for women until further notice. Taliban officials argued that female students did not wear proper clothing on campus and announced it was enforcing gender segregation in schools. These decisions have been accompanied by others that force thousands of female workers to stay at home and prevent women and girls entering public spaces such as parks.

    In December 2022 the Taliban banned women from working for international and national civil society organisations. This was a move that could only be counter-productive, since women play a vital role in providing essential services that people need. Banning women from working for civil society organisations affects millions in dire need of humanitarian assistance and services to women and children, as well as further increasing unemployment. The Taliban urged organisations to suspend female staff under the pretence that workers did not adhere to the regime’s strict dress code.

    Most recently, women have been banned from working for United Nations agencies that are operating in Afghanistan. The United Nations may have to pull out.

    It has taken just months for the Taliban to reverse the gains made over the years before their return that saw Afghan women claim visibility in public life and work such roles as broadcasters, doctors and judges.

    Women in Afghanistan are fighting but can’t succeed alone

    These restrictions on women’s rights should be seen in the context of the closing of civic space and attacks on other fundamental rights. As a result, Afghanistan’s civic space rating was recently downgraded to closed, the worst category, by the CIVICUS Monitor, a research partnership that tracks civic space conditions in 197 countries.

    Despite the ongoing restrictions against women, the brave women of Afghanistan refuse to back down. They continue to organise what protests they can against restrictions and women human rights defenders continue to advocate for the rights of all women and girls to access education and participate in decision-making processes.

    When women protest against restrictions, they risk harassment, physical and psychological torture and detentions. Some have been forcefully abducted from their homes. In January 2022, Taliban gunmen raided the homes of women human rights defenders Parwana Ibrahimkhel and Tamana Zaryab and abducted them.

    No society can reach its real potential without the participation of women. The international community must double its efforts to support women and girls in Afghanistan. States should respond proactively to the United Nations 2023 appeal for Afghanistan. Aid should however be made conditional on guarantees to uphold the fundamental rights of women and girls. The international community should accompany aid with a strategy to build a more inclusive and open society.

    Not to do so would be to abandon the likes of Matiullah Wesa, the many others like him penalised for standing up for education and rights, and the women of girls of Afghanistan being forced into silence.

    David Kode is the Advocacy and Campaigns Lead at CIVICUS, the global civil society alliance.


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  • Localizing SDGs Means Truly Empowering Citizens

    Localizing SDGs Means Truly Empowering Citizens

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    • Opinion by Simone Galimberti (kathmandu, nepal)
    • Inter Press Service

    KATHMANDU, Nepal, Apr 18 (IPS) – The Future We Want was the groundbreaking outcome of the Rio+20 Summit, the summit, held in 2012, where the idea of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) was first conceptualized.

    Amid the unfolding of several global crises, where geopolitics mixes with structural unbalances that are putting at risk the long-term viability of planet Earth, isn’t really high time we got serious about our future?

    Can the SDGs be turned not just in a tool for global pressure and advocacy but also a planning tool that involves, mobilizes and empower the people? There is still so much to be done and the levels of urgency can’t be greater.

    According to the recently released Asia and the Pacific SDG Progress Report 2023, “the region will miss all or most of the targets of every goal unless efforts are accelerated between now and 2030”.Can localizing the SDGs in the Asia Pacific region and also elsewhere, change the status quo?

    In theory, localizing the goals can make a huge difference but we need to ensure that such process means the truly involvement and engagement of the citizens.

    A recent online workshop tried to assess where we stand following the Rio+20 Summit whose ultimate scope was, twenty years after the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, to relaunch humanity’s commitment towards a different model of development.

    One of the key points that emerged in the event, which also saw the participation of Paula Caballero, one of key architects of the SDGs, is the fact that these goals still remain a powerful but mostly unleveraged tool for change.

    While it is essential to mobilize more funding for their implementation, the Secretary General is rightly pushing with the idea of an SDG Stimulus— a missed goal to see the SDGs as a tool to radically re-think the way governance works.

    The best intentions and the many, often overlapping efforts now at play in terms of localizing the SDGs, do not even aim at such scope of ambition. At the best, localizing the SDGs is about planning local actions rather than new ways of governance.

    Moreover, the UN is struggling to come up with anything effective at operational level. For example, the Local 2030 Platform remains still an unfinished job despite its ambitious objectives.

    A December 2021 analysis about ways to strengthen it, authored by the Stockholm Environment Institute, did indeed confirm the need to an all-encompassing platform that brings the SDGs closer to the people.

    Still, there is so much to be done to ensure that Local2030 Platform can become a catalyst for change. Unfortunately, we are still far from a global mechanism capable of turning the goals in a such a way that the people can use them as a tool of participation and genuine deliberation. The scattered, fragmented and often ineffectual way the UN System works certainly does not help the cause.

    A similar initiative, the SDG Acceleration Actions, is supposed to be an accelerator of SDG implementation that is “voluntarily undertaken by governments and any other non-state actors – individually or in partnership”.

    In the Asia Pacific region, we can find also a new partnership, ESCAP-ADB-UNDP Asia-Pacific SDG Partnership mostly focused on research creation and knowledge delivery.

    As important as they are, such initiatives lack linkages and risk becoming not only overlapping but also a duplication to each other. Could local bodies do the job and truly democratize the SDGs?

    Such entities, both local and regional governments (LRGs) have a huge role. For example, the United Cities and Local Governments, a powerful advocacy group based in Barcelona, is undoubtedly breaking ground in this direction.

    With now a much user-friendly web site and with a new catchy messaging, UCLG is a global force pushing strong towards empowering local governments and cities so that they can truly take the lead in matter of localizing the SDGs. UCLG also runs the most updated database on local efforts to implement the SDGs, the Global Observatory on Local Democracy and Decentralization or GOLD.

    For example there are the “Voluntary Subnational Reviews (VSRs), considered as “country-wide, bottom-up subnational reporting processes that provide both comprehensive and in-depth analyses of the corresponding national environments for SDG localization”.

    In addition, the Voluntary Local Reviews could be even more impactful tools as they assess how municipalities, small and big alike, are implementing the SDGs. In Japan, the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, IGES, is doing a great deal of work to also track the implementation of the SDGs locally with its online Voluntary Local Review Lab.

    Still there is a disconnection among all these initiatives despite the fact that UCLG has been championing the Global Task Force of Local and Regional Governments. As an attempt at bringing together a myriad of like-minded groups run by mayors and local governments around the world, it is a praiseworthy undertaking.

    While it is essential to create coherence and better synergies between what the UN is trying to do and the actions taken by mayors and governors globally in the area of SDGs localization. But it is not enough. There is even one bigger and more worrying disconnection.

    Even if local authorities are truly given the resources and powers to shape the conversation about the implementation of the SDGs and back it up with actions on the grounds, we are at risk of forgetting those who should be truly at the center of the debate: the people.

    Localizing the SDGs should mean truly giving the people the voice and the agency to express their opinions and ideas rather than become an exclusive fiefdom of local politicians.

    Finding ways to truly allowing and enabling people to take central stage in implementing the SDGs implies a rethinking of old assumptions where local officials, elected or not, have the sole prerogative of the decision making. This is fundamentally a question of reinventing local governance and make it work for and by the people.

    But it is easier saying it than doing it!

    It is a real conundrum because, if it is certainly possible to come up with symbolic initiatives, all tainted by forms of fake empowerment, a totally different thing is to devise new forms of genuine bottom up, inclusive governance indispensable to achieve the SDGs.

    The Global Platform in its Vision 2045 refers to genuine and better democracy practices leading the planning of local governments.What are they going to do to translate these words into real deeds?

    There are other ways to involve people in the global discussions but they are just tokenistic. For example, UNESCAP recently organized in Bangkok its 10th Asia-Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development (APFSD).

    It is an important event and the regional commission has been striving to be more inclusive and each year the summit also counts with a People’s Forum and even a Youth Forum. The problem is that, while integral part of the discussions, they are officially considered just as “associated and pre- events”.

    Changing the protocol and the way the UN works is not easy but why should we keep holding such important engagements as just nice “add-ons”?

    Even with the release of comprehensive Call to Action by the youths of the region before the APFSD summit, what real difference are their opinions and voice making? As simplistic as it sounds, much more should be done in making these conclaves really inclusive even though the real game won’t happen in these fora but at grassroots levels.

    It is there where the challenge of localizing the SDGs must be won. It is where citizens really need to be listened to and where their power should be exercised.

    In imaging the future, we really want, is to put citizens at the center of it. And it is high time we truly democratized the SDGs. After all, there is no, better form of localizing them.

    Simone Galimberti is the co-founder of ENGAGE and of the Good Leadership, Good for You & Good for the Society.

    The opinions expressed in this article are personal.

    IPS UN Bureau

    © Inter Press Service (2023) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service

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  • 10 dividend stocks yielding at least 4.5% that are rated ‘buy’ by most analysts

    10 dividend stocks yielding at least 4.5% that are rated ‘buy’ by most analysts

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    During a period of high interest rates, it might be more difficult to impress investors with dividend stocks. But the stocks can have an important advantage over the long term. The dividend payouts can increase over the years, helping to push share prices higher over time.

    When considering stocks for dividend income, yield shouldn’t be the only thing you consider. If a stock’s price has tumbled because investors are worried about the company’s business prospects, the dividend yield might be very high. A double-digit yield might mean investors expect to see a cut to the dividend soon.

    There are many ways to look at companies’ expected ability to maintain or raise their dividend payouts. But one can also take a simple approach to begin researching stock choices.

    At the moment, you can get a bank CD with a yield of close to 5% pretty easily. Here’s a look at current yields for CDs and U.S. Treasury securities and an approach for laddering them not only to protect your cash but to hedge against interest-rate risk.

    For investors who would rather aim for long-term growth to go along with dividend income, or take a relatively conservative approach to growth while reinvesting dividends, a screen of stocks in the S&P 500
    SPX,
    +0.33%
    produces only 10 stocks with dividend yields of 4.5% or higher with majority “buy” or equivalent ratings among analysts polled by FactSet. Here they are, sorted by dividend yield:

    Company

    		 Ticker

    		 Dividend Yield

    		 Expected payout increase through 2025

    		 Share “buy” ratings

    		 April 16 price

    		 Consensus price target

    		 implied 12-month upside potential
    Comerica Inc.

    		 CMA,
    +4.00%         		6.56%

    		 10%

    		 58%

    		 $43.30

    		 $60.53

    		 40%
    Citizens Financial Group Inc.

    		 CFG,
    +4.19%         		5.77%

    		 12%

    		 74%

    		 $29.10

    		 $39.29

    		 35%
    Healthpeak Properties Inc.

    		 PEAK,
    +2.33%         		5.71%

    		 9%

    		 60%

    		 $21.01

    		 $27.69

    		 32%
    Hasbro Inc.

    		 HAS,
    +1.28%         		5.34%

    		 8%

    		 69%

    		 $52.40

    		 $69.27

    		 32%
    Philip Morris International Inc.

    		 PM,
    +0.46%         		5.11%

    		 11%

    		 67%

    		 $99.48

    		 $113.56

    		 14%
    Realty Income Corp.

    		 O,
    +1.30%         		5.04%

    		 7%

    		 56%

    		 $60.77

    		 $70.00

    		 15%
    Fifth Third Bancorp

    		 FITB,
    +3.33%         		4.99%

    		 3%

    		 72%

    		 $26.44

    		 $34.55

    		 31%
    VICI Properties Inc.

    		 VICI,
    +1.58%         		4.82%

    		 12%

    		 95%

    		 $32.35

    		 $37.73

    		 17%
    Organon & Co.

    		 OGN,
    +1.01%         		4.71%

    		 5%

    		 55%

    		 $23.80

    		 $31.89

    		 34%
    Iron Mountain Inc.

    		 IRM,
    +0.82%         		4.69%

    		 15%

    		 78%

    		 $52.76

    		 $56.00

    		 6%
    Source: FactSet

    Click on the ticker for more about each company.

    Click here for Tomi Kilgore’s detailed guide to the wealth of information available for free on the MarketWatch quote page.

    The dividend yields for this group of 10 companies are based on current annual regular payout rates, with all paying quarterly except for Realty Income Corp.
    O,
    +1.30%    ,
    which pays monthly.

    These two oil and natural gas producers would have passed the above screen based on their most recent dividend payments and analysts’ sentiment, however, they pay a combined fixed-plus-variable dividend every quarter, with the fixed portion relatively low:

    • Shares of Pioneer Natural Resources Co.
      PXD,
      -0.77%
      closed at $230 on April 14. Among analysts polled by FactSet, 59% rate the stock a “buy” or the equivalent, and the consensus price target is $257.42. The company pays a fixed quarterly dividend of $1.10 a share, which would make for a dividend yield of only 1.91%. However, the most recent variable quarterly dividend was $4.48 a share, for a combined quarterly dividend of $5.58, which would translate to an annualized dividend yield of 9.70%. The consensus estimate for dividends in 2025 is $4.63 — the analysts are only estimating the fixed portion of the dividend. Pioneer has held preliminary merger discussions with Exxon Corp.
      XOM,
      -1.16%      ,
      according to a Wall Street Journal report.

    • Devon Energy Corp.’s
      DVN,
      -0.72%
      stock closed at $55.70 on April 14. The shares are rated “buy” or the equivalent by 55% of analysts and the consensus price target is $67.66. The fixed portion of Devon’s quarterly dividend is 20 cents a share, for an annualized dividend yield of 1.44%. The variable portion of the most recent quarterly dividend was 69 cents a share. The total payout of 89 cents would make for an annual dividend yield of 6.39%. Analysts expect the fixed portion of annual dividends to total $3.61 in 2025, according to FactSet.

    Don’t miss: Buffett is buying in Japan. This overseas value-stock fund is also making bets there. Is it a good way to diversify?

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  • We can Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals but it will take Courage & Urgent Transformations

    We can Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals but it will take Courage & Urgent Transformations

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    Navid Hanif
    • Opinion by Navid Hanif (united nations)
    • Inter Press Service

    UNITED NATIONS, Apr 17 (IPS) – The world is at a crossroads. This week, the United Nations Secretary-General, government ministers and senior leaders are gathered in New York at the ECOSOC Financing for Development Forum. (scheduled to take place April17-20).

    This follows the recent World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings of heads of international financial institutions leaders, finance ministers, and other leaders. These discussions are a timely chance to decide on urgent action to address the global crises we face.

    Among others, the war in Ukraine, the resultant food and energy crisis, the effects of COVID-19, climate change impacts and rising global interest rates – all have contributed to increased hunger and poverty.

    Many hard-hit developing countries have slow growth, high inflation, and unsustainable debt, which undermine development prospects and prevent them from investing in health, education, infrastructure, and the energy transition.

    We recently released the Financing for Sustainable Development Report 2023: Financing Sustainable Transformation, the 8th report from the Inter-Agency Task Force on Financing for Development.

    Given the scale and number of crises, it won’t be a surprise to learn that financing needs for the Sustainable Development Goals are growing. Unfortunately, development financing is not keeping pace.

    Navid HanifWe estimate that by 2027 LDCs and other low-income countries will need US$220 billion in external financing, 30% higher than the US$172 billion they needed in 2021. Many countries are falling behind, or even going backwards on the SDGs.

    Faced with food and energy shocks, there may be a temptation to concentrate resources on urgent short-term problems. But FSDR 2023 emphasizes that delaying long-term investment in sustainable transformations would put the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and climate targets out of reach and further exacerbate financing challenges down the line.

    The Financing for Sustainable Development Report 2023 calls for: (i) a new generation of sustainable industrial policies to chart national green transformations; (ii) immediate international action to scale up development cooperation and SDG investments to support this investment boost, the SDGs, and climate action; and (iii) reforms to the international financial architecture that are needed to support this boost in investment, and to make the system more equitable and fit for purpose.

    The possibilities of green industrialization

    There is hope.

    We have seen in recent years a sharp and swift uptake in new technology and in the transition to green solutions. Energy transition investments rose to US$1.11 trillion in 2022, surpassing fossil fuel system investments for the first time. The green economy became the fifth largest industrial sector, totalling US $7.2 trillion in 2021.

    A new green industrial age is not only possible, but it can be the breakthrough needed to bring the SDGs back on track. Industrialization has historically been an engine for progress. Sustainable industrialization—which would include low-carbon transitions—can lead to growth, job creation, technological advancement, and lay the foundation for poverty reduction and enhanced resilience. Industrialization must also be made equitable and sustainable, aligned with the SDGs, and deliver climate action.

    Unfortunately, most developing countries are not yet able to benefit from the new technological advances. Many, especially least developed countries, have insufficient resources to invest in the needed transformations, including green energy and sustainable agriculture. Developing countries cannot make the necessary progress on their own, though their advancement would benefit all countries.

    An SDG investment push

    The international community must scale up investment to support sustainable transformations, the SDGs, and climate action. The push for greater investment is in line with the UN Secretary-General’s call for an SDG Stimulus, aimed at scaling up affordable long-term financing for countries in need by at least US$500 billion a year.

    The SDG Stimulus calls on the World Bank and other multilateral development banks (MDBs) to massively expand lending and offer it on better terms. Development banks can do this through both increased capital bases and better leveraging of existing paid-in capital.

    This includes urgently rechanneling special drawing rights through the MDBs, which can then leverage the impact by borrowing on capital markets, building on the model developed by the African Development Bank.

    Debt challenges faced by developing countries are among the obstacles to progress. Already, about 60% of poorer countries are in or at a high risk of debt distress, twice the level from 2015. The international community must work together to urgently develop an improved multilateral debt relief initiative.

    Reforms to the international financial architecture

    Fixing the debt architecture is just one element of needed architecture reforms. The international financial architecture system, which guides how global funds are invested, is in a state of flux, with multiple reform processes taking place simultaneously.

    We are undergoing the biggest rethink of our international systems since the Bretton Woods Conference in 1944. But unlike Bretton Woods, which was done as one under the UN umbrella, the current multiple reform processes are piecemeal, fragmented, and lack inter-institutional coherence.

    From debt architecture to international tax norms, to trade rules, to revamping investment agreements, the reform processes must aim for a coherent international system that takes the Sustainable Development Goals and climate action fully into account. We must have targeted action to make the architecture fit for purpose to serve the needs of the world, and developing countries in particular.

    Failure is not an option

    Given current trends, 574 million people – nearly 7% of the world’s population – will still be living in extreme poverty in 2030. Without urgent and scaled up action on sustainable development financing, the prospects for achieving the SDGs grow dimmer.

    In fact, the already great gulf between developed and developing countries could widen to become a permanent sustainable development divide. It will take deliberate and coordinated action to ensure that reforms serve the needs of developing countries – and thus help deliver the SDGs. But it must be done.

    There must be a recognition that we all share a common future as we share a common earth. With global financial assets of almost $500 trillion, there is no shortage of money. The world has the means: all that is lacking is the will.

    Navid Hanif is a United Nations Assistant Secretary-General, and Acting Director, Financing for Sustainable Development Office, Department of Economic and Social Affairs. He is also the UN sous Sherpa to the G20 finance and main tracks.

    The 2023 Financing for Sustainable Development Report: Financing Sustainable Transformations is a joint product of the Inter-agency Task Force on Financing for Development, which is comprised of more than 60 United Nations Agencies and international organizations.

    The Financing for Sustainable Development Office of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs serves as the substantive editor and coordinator of the Task Force, in close cooperation the World Bank Group, the IMF, World Trade Organization, UNCTAD, UNDP and UNIDO. The Task Force was mandated by the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and is chaired by Mr. Li Junhua, United Nations Under-Secretary General for Economic and Social Affairs.

    A copy of the report is available at https://developmentfinance.un.org/fsdr2023.

    IPS UN Bureau


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    © Inter Press Service (2023) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service

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  • Guest Column: Are Young People Influenced to Use Marijuana During 4/20 Celebrations? | Opinion – Medical Marijuana Program Connection

    Guest Column: Are Young People Influenced to Use Marijuana During 4/20 Celebrations? | Opinion – Medical Marijuana Program Connection

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    Some of the most prominent 4/20 celebrations happen in California. Hippie Hill, for example, is one of the oldest long-running events.

    Legal marijuana is big business in the state. These businesses leverage 4/20 Day as another opportunity to promote the industry and its products, much like alcohol companies and St. Patrick’s Day or the holiday season.

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    MMP News Author

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