Shame on You: Drought, Famine & the Failure of International Aid! (PERSPECTIVE)

by Rachel Zedeck 

At a UNICEF-supported feeding centre in East Africa, a weary mother pauses after her baby received emergency therapeutic food. CREDT: M Bociurkiw(HN, August 31, 2011) During this weeks’ hash a Director at the German Red Cross said to me, “The drought was so inconvenient this year.  We were all on annual leave.  Do people expect me to give up my holiday.”  After swallowing some vomit, I started to reflect on exactly how this humanitarian disaster has been allowed to escalate to such an extreme.  More and more, my nausea has been induced by the world of international aid; in particular the inaction of the Red Cross coupled with the pandering of World Food Programme, Catholic Relief Services, World Vision, Oxfam and the list goes on.  These organizations (whether non-profit or UN agency) literally have every means available to understand impending drought and insidious threat of famine.   I focus on three. 

First, weather is predictable. That’s right. In Kenya and in many regions of Sub Saharan Africa we have historic and predictive weather mapping. Even in darkest Arica, rain isn’t magic.  Second, how long have NGOs been operating here?  What happened to common sense? Every year this region suffers through a drought of varying intensity and subsequent adversity.  2010 was the first break from drought in 7 years while Kenya experienced more than a billion dollars in economic loss in 2009.  So while this may be the worst drought in the last 60 years, this is not a new story! Finally, why was no one talking about preventative measures?  I was in Nairobi and can’t remember one campaign speaking publically about impending drought.   Mr. Abbas Gulet, the Head of Kenya’s Red Cross, head of the region’s only non-profit Superbrand should be most ashamed.  Not only responsible for one of the largest humanitarian missions in the world, he is ethnically Kenyan theoretically giving him even greater insight into how is organization’s $30+ million annual budget. Instead of answering what they should have been doing, I can tell you what the community as a whole isn’t doing.   It’s actually worse than the mismanagement following Katrina. 

First, neither the public, private, or NGO sectors are educating Kenyans about drought, better water management or irrigated crops. Ironic because irrigation is a key component in Kenya’s 2030 Vision for the country’s strategic development.  With the unprecedented use of mobile phones and content (ICT for Development) in Africa, educating and supporting millions of people in rural Kenyan isn’t just a fantasy. Considering the UN seeks $16.9 Billion USD for emergency relief let alone campaigns like Kenyans for Kenya, raising funds to purchase food that doesn’t exist.  Instead we could have sent a series of 10 sms’ to every Kenyan citizen for less than $6 million.   Another $100 million (or much more) could have been allocated to low interest loans to help farmers purchase drip (gravity fed) irrigation and trained them on how to install, maintenance and store excess crops for drought season.  Guess what, food aid is still food and needs to be grown which means farming.  

There isn’t a simple answer to food security and we can’t end drought.  Instead, Kenya and its neighbors need to grow and store more food while eliminating crop losses. This translates into a combination of hard work complimented by agriculture innovation, affordable agriculture finance, community outreach and expansion of existing road networks. NO overnight solutions but practical, sustainable and scalable.   It is time for an evolution; the UN and NGOs must recognize their chronic failures and share leadership with the commercial sector able to offer proactive and practical strategies for the future of humanitarian disaster.  

- Rachel Zedeck is Managing Director of the Backpack Farm Agriculture Program, an internationally recognized social enterprise in Nairobi, Kenya exclusively supporting smallholder farmers with access to ecologically friendly training and packages of green agri-tech believing “Africans can feed Africa”  thru the power of multi-functional farming impacting social, economic and ecological domains.

Sudan Complains to UNSC Against Republic of South Sudan (NEWS BRIEF)

(HN, August 30, 2011) Sudanese Foreign Minister Ali Ahmed Karti has sent a message of complaint to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), accusing the South Sudan government of violating the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), the official SUNA news agency reported Tuesday.

"I'm committed to send you a complaint concerning violations by South Sudan's government during the past period. The Republic of South Sudan has adopted hostile stances towards the mother state ( the Republic of Sudan), starting from the negative signals embodied in the speech of Salva Kiir Mayardit, president of South Sudan, on the day South Sudan was declared independent," SUNA quoted Karti as saying in the message to the UNSC chairman.

The South Sudan president's "negative signals" included his reiteration to support the Darfur rebel movements, together with his remarks about the South Kordofan and Blue Nile areas, which belong to north Sudan, Karti said.

 The complaint came shortly after Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch released a joint statement saying that their researchers led a week-long mission to the area in late August and were able to establish that SAF had carried out 13 air strikes in Kauda, Delami and Kurchi areas where at least 26 civilians were killed and more than 45 others injured since mid-June.

“The relentless bombing campaign is killing and maiming civilian men, women and children, displacing tens of thousands, putting them in desperate need of aid, and preventing entire communities from planting crops and feeding their children,” said Daniel Bekele, Africa director at Human Rights Watch.

“The Sudanese government is literally getting away with murder and trying to keep the outside world from finding out” said Donatella Rovera, Amnesty International’s Senior Crisis Response Advisor. “The international community, and particularly the UN Security Council, must stop looking the other way and act to address the situation”.

Karti went on to say that South Sudan has hosted the Darfur armed movements and provided them with shelter, training and arms, and it is still supporting them.

 Martin Majut, an official with South Sudan’s ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, told Bloomberg News, that the Sudanese charges were “baseless.”

The Sudanese minister went on to  reiterate commitment of the Republic of Sudan and its keenness to achieve a political settlement and stability, saying that the government's commitment to peace was represented in its signing and implementation of the CPA, including its recognition of the referendum results as well as of the newly-born South Sudan state.

Despite the violations by the government of South Sudan and its continuing support of the Darfur rebel movements to undermine security in Sudan, the Sudanese government has initiated a unilateral ceasefire for two weeks, Karti said, adding that the South Sudan government was still instigating the SPLM/northern sector to launch a war in South Kordofan.

The minister urged the UNSC to use its powers and means to push the government of South Sudan to commit to the agreements signed between the two countries and to immediately stop training, supporting and instigating the armed groups, whether in South Kordofan or Darfur.

He also called on the UNSC to urge the rebel groups in Darfur and South Kordofan to respond to the ceasefire declared by the government and sit directly with it to reach a peaceful solution through dialogue and negotiations.

Southern Kordofan is Sudan’s only oil-producing state, accounting for 115,000 barrels a day, according to the energy ministry. South Sudan assumed control of 75 percent of the country’s former daily crude output of 490,000 barrels a day.

 - HUMNews Staff

New Travel Guide Re-Brands Cuba as 'Seductive,' Stirs Controversy (REPORT)

(HN, August 29, 2011) - My Seductive Cuba, published by Vancouver-based Chen Lizra, hits book stores tomorrow.

Part travel guide, part personal journey, Lizra's intense passion for the island country - and her valiant and creative attempts to resist seduction from a Cuban dance instructor - bursts forth. "I don't think that you have ever seen a travel guide like this before," says Lizra.

The author started traveling to Cuba in 2005 in order to train with the island’s best professional dancers.  On subsequent visits, she turned to discovering the culture from within, and hanging out with her close friends. 

Lizra grew up in Israel and later moved to Canada. She holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a major in marketing, which allowed her to turn her passion — Cuban dance and music — into an inspiring lifestyle for others through her company, Latidos Productions®. 

In 2009, Lizra was nominated as one of the “Women of Distinction in Vancouver,” and in 2010, she was named “Woman of the Month” by Modern Working Woman Magazine. She’s also been featured in numerous newspaper articles and TV shows. 

In this exclusive interview with Lizra, HUMNEWS discovers what sets the book apart from other travel guides, the motivation behind the project, and what type of reaction it might generate in certain circles.

What inspired you to write this book?

Traveling back and forth to Cuba and experiencing every year how much we take things for granted. Every year I'd come back and notice how material things didn't matter and how much Cubans seemed a lot happier with a lot less, because of the deep human connection they have. Something that is very typical in places where there are a lot of struggles and people have to lean on each other more. Also, seeing and hearing the experiences of tourists in Cuba. I've felt like many times things passed them by and they were not able to enter the culture and understand it, or get to what they really wanted. I just had to tell these great adventures. I have a feeling that people will be fascinated by them and drawn even more to Cuba. 

What do you think sets this travel guide apart from most other travel books, such as Lonely Planet?

My Seductive Cuba is a new way of doing travel guides. It's a hybrid book. It's not just a guide that tells you what to see and where things are, but it tells personal and engaging stories, like Eat, Pray, Love, that draw you in. On top of that the book teaches you how Cubans think, showing you their mentality so that if things change, you can figure them out on your own. It has QR codes for smartphons which enhances the whole lifestyle experience. It involves more senses directing you to sites, videos and photos. It's full colour and very high quality, and it uses different styles of fonts to separate between personal stories and travel guide parts. Bottom line, I have never sat down to read a travel guide, I'd always use it as a source of information through the index. This travel guide you'd want to read from start till end, and by the end of it you'd want to visit Cuba!

Was it difficult to self publish this book?

Extremely difficult. I had to do it all myself. Barely any publishers today touch the book of an unknown first time author, and if they do, they will release it in two years. The book will be old news by then. So I had to build the whole distribution system, plan the marketing and PR, and figure out what the top three percent of most successful authors do. Then follow their steps but do it my way. Self publishing the way I did it, doing every step by myself, is not for everyone. I am an entrepreneur and I thrive on these kind of challenges. Most people would have given up considering the amount of challenges that came up, and also from the amount of risk involved. 

Many people regard Cuban food as uninspiring, with little variety. Are they wrong?

Yes, ask anyone that had ever gone on a tour with me and see what they say. They are still licking their fingers. You have to understand why things are the way they are and then understand how to work the system. I explain many of these things in My Seductive Cuba. When I organize tours, I take people to great restaurants, to eat in houses where the grandmother cooks - best food in Cuba!, or off the beaten track. Sometimes I'll ask the driver, who knows me by now, to tell villagers to fish for us and we stop on the way back the next day. Delicious! The thing in Cuba is that things are not organized like in other cities - you can't go to online guides and find a local city paper that tells you what is hot and what is not. So it's hard for people to find what they are looking for, and there is a lot of trial and error. But in any city you won't just enter a restaurant and expect the food to be great for sure. You'd ask for recommendations from people you trust. 

Are there any similarities between Cuba and Israel?

Yes, so many. People don't know this but Israel was founded based on socialist values, you see this for example in the Kibbutzim - communal living. And as such I grew up with many socialist values, but in a democratic country. Therefore I found in Cuba a feeling that is so similar to Israel, yet different in some ways. Israel has many financial challenges and because of it people stick together as a community. Cuba has a very strong sense of solidarity as well. But the interesting thing is that Cuba reminds me more of Israel when I was a kid rather than today. It's almost like a longing for what was so special that changed in the world as we lost our simplicity. Cuba stayed behind and didn't advance with the world, and with it there is a certain magical charm of being in the moment and enjoying human connections more. There are so many similarities between the two countries, it's unreal. An iconic American car in Cuba. CREDIT: Cuban Tourism Board, Canada

Once the American tourists come flooding into Cuba might its charm be eroded?

I think that you have to separate the American tourists from the American companies. Americans will not change the culture by visiting as tourists. On the contrary. They will be exposed to a complete different system and way of being than what they know. It's an eye opener. Being in a place where there is no advertising on the streets, where you pretty much shut your phone and enjoy the moment, is very different than saying that Starbucks will be on every corner. I think that Americans coming to Cuba is a great thing for the Cuban people who need the opportunities to survive. A tour guide who will get more tips because he is doing more tours, will be able to take care of his family better. When there are no tourists, there are no opportunities. 

What do you anticipate the reaction of the Cuban Diaspora to be to your book?

I expect a mixed reaction. Cuba is controversial place and it comes down to whether people look at Cuba in a fun way or a political way. The ones who love the country and miss it, will probably get home sick reading My Seductive Cuba, because it highlights the things they love about their country. Those who see it in a political way might get upset that I am focusing on one part - which by the way for me is the half that is full.

What are some of the post-book plans? Custom tours?

I am designing new tours which will simply blow your mind away because they will immerse people inside the culture in a way that no other tour does, and looking to get approval for Americans as well. People will travel personally with the author of My Seductive Cuba for a once in a lifetime adventure. I want to run three tours a year - January, April, and July for 7-10 people, and later on design a few different types of tours. The tours will be launched around end of September together with a new site which will become a portal with so much excitement. The site will be the continuation of the book. We will have contests, videos, photos, book tour updates, calendar of international event. you name it! Then I want to spread the word about the book worldwide and form partnerships with companies that are doing business in Cuba. Then the plan is for two more books and the TV show that I have developed. It's an intriguing concept and I want to find a way to make it happen. 

Finally, in the book you speak of your valiant and creative attempts to resist seduction by your Cuban dance instructors, Giordano. Have you ever succumbed to seduction in Cuba?

Well, I guess everyone will have to wait for my next book to find out.. :-)

Click here to visit the website of My Seductive Cuba.

Suicide Car Bomber Attacks UN Headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria (REPORT)

Victims being evacuated from UN House in Abuja, CREDIT: Vanguard Newspaper

Latest Developments

• UN revises death toll to 23, including 9 UN staff members; fears more bodies under rubble
• 73 people injured, 26 of whom remain in intensive care; eight evacuated to South Africa for treatment
• 50 suspects reportedly arrested, according to Nigerian Inspector General of Police Hafiz Ringim 
• Vast majority of the dead Nigerians; 30-year-old Norwegian woman has also been confirmed among the dead.
• Nigeria asks FBI for assistance in investigation
• Deputy UN Secretary General Asha-Rose Migiro and UN Security Chief Gregory Starr visit victims in Abuja
• UN promises care of staff and continuity of operations; UN and Nigerian security officials rapped for lax precautions.
• Embassies demand extra police protection in aftermath of the blast; French Foreign Affairs Minister Alain Juppé describes attack as a “heinous and cowardly act."

(HN, August 30, 2011 - UPDATED 0300GMT) - A suspected suicide bomber detonated a car bomb inside the United Nations headquarters in the Nigerian capital of Abuja Friday, killing as many as 23 people and injuring 73 others.

The UN confirmed Saturday that nine of its staff members are confirmed dead and several others injured. Of the injured, 26 are in intensive care - some of whom have been evacuated to South Africa.

The vehicle - reportedly a white SUV - roared past security guards Friday morning and rammed through two gates before stopping inside the entrance to the enormous building, inflicting maximum damage.

Known as UN House, the facility has four floors and is designed as an atrium-like structure. Since the vehicle entered inside the building it was able to inflict tremendous human and structural damage.

One source in Abuja told HUMNEWS that one UN agency - the World Health Organization (WHO) - has had two staffers confirmed killed. At the time of the attack, a WHO staff association meeting was taking place on the 1st floor, above the reception area. "That is apparently where many injuries and deaths occurred," the source said.

Migiro said the bombing was "a shocking incident, an attack on global peace and communities".

"I have looked at the ripped-up gate. It is amazing how this happened and we are grappling with that, now ... an investigation is under way ... We will see what we have to do better," Migiro, who was accompanied by UN Security Chief Gregory Starr, said.

"We are working as a team to ensure that the injured do get all the treatment that they require," Migiro said after visiting the hospital, where many of the injured were receiving treatment.

Starr said the UN had no previous warnings or intelligence about threats against its Nigeria headquarters.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called the attack "an assault on those who devote their lives to helping others."

Aside from WHO, the building houses the offices of UNICEF, UNDP, UNIFEM and many other UN agencies. It also houses a travel agency and a branch of the UK-based Standard Chartered bank. In all 26 UN agencies are in the building, employing about 400 people.

The 23 death toll figure would strike many people as eery as it is the same number of people that died in the 2003 attack on the UN headquarters in Iraq, including  including the United Nations' Special Representative in Iraq Sérgio Vieira de Mello.

Said UNDP Chief Helen Clark: "I deplore this brutal attack against our unarmed colleagues who dedicated their lives to helping the people of Nigeria."

The bomb would have made a direct hit on a security desk at the front, the bank and travel agency and ground-floor UN security offices. It would appear the attackers had knowledge of the facility: Fridays are half-days at the UN in Nigeria and since the attack occurred at 1030am local time it was well before workers began to pack up their belongings for the weekend.

The attack would have come as a surprise to UN security personnel as Abuja has one of the lowest security phases in the UN system.

According to one source, a security clamp-down on Abuja took effect soon after the attack, snarling traffic to and from the airport.

The building is protected by a private security firm hired by the UN; unlike the nearby US Embassy there is no Nigerian security presence. A security building at the front screens all visitors and has x-ray machines to monitor bags and other items. It is a 10 minute walk from several embassies, included the heavily protected US Embassy.

One former UN employee at the building told HUMNEWS that he disliked working at the complex for two reasons: "Number one it is a natural target as all UN agencies are housed in one building, and second the security is rarely at the top of their game from what I have seen."

Soon after the attack, militants from the shadowy group, Boko Haram, the Muslim sect with reported links to al-Qaida that wants to implement a strict version of Shariah law in the nation, took credit for the bombing in a phone call to British broadcaster BBC.

Jennifer Cooke, Director of the Africa Programme at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies described the Boko Haram attack as "a major escalation."

"There's going to be a security reaction from Nigeria which has been fairly lax so far," Cooke told BBC News.

A UN official in Nigeria told the BBC that the UN had stepped up security at all its buildings in Nigeria in the past month after receiving information that the UN could be targeted by Boko Haram.

UN House in Abuja. Observers say the lack of protective, concrete security barriers on the approach road left the building vulnerable to high-speed vehicles. CREDT: HUMNEWSThe attack follows a period of relative calm. However, early this year, there were bombings connected with the local, state and national elections, including one in late 2010 during Nigeria's 50th independence anniversary ceremony, killing at least 12 at a market in Abuja.

"I saw scattered bodies," said Michael Ofilaje, a UNICEF worker at the building, which he said shook with the explosion. "Many people are dead."

"We condemn this terrible act, utterly," secretary-general Ban told reporters at U.N. headquarters. 

Ban reportedly told a Security Council meeting that the attack was "evidence that the UN premises are increasingly being viewed as a soft target by extremist elements around the world".

The explosion punched a huge hole in the building. Workers brought three large cranes to the site within hours of the attack, trying to pull away the concrete and rubble to find survivors. Others at the site stood around, stunned, as medical workers began carrying out what appeared to be the dead.

"This is getting out of hand," said a U.N. staffer who identified himself as Bodunrin. "If they can get into the U.N. House, they can reach anywhere."

Ali Tikko, who was in a building 100 yards (meters) from the site of the blast when it occurred told the AP, "I see a number of people lying on the floor - at least four or five. I cannot see if they are dead. There are a lot of security around."A wide view of the Security Council as Members observe a moment of silence for those who lost their lives in today’s tragic attack on the UN House in Abuja. CREDIT: UN

Ordinary Nigerians were quick to register the shock and disgust in postings on Twitter, Facebook and elsewhere. "Please pray for Nigeria in this turbulent time. The government has failed us in its entirety," wrote a Twitter user, Toni, from Benin City in Nigeria.

Tweeted MusaT from Nigeria: "When will our President stand up to the call of governance. Maybe he needs to be reminded that the Primary function of government is SECURITY.  Our president is not proactive on the issues of security facing this country, rather he is busy pock-nosing in the judiciary."

In a statement, US President Barack Obama called the attack a "heinous action."

"I strongly condemn today’s horrific and cowardly attack on the United Nations headquarters building in Abuja, Nigeria, which killed and wounded many innocent civilians from Nigeria and around the world.  I extend the deepest sympathies of the American people to the victims and their families, colleagues, and friends, whom we will keep in our thoughts and prayers.

"The people who serve the United Nations do so with a simple purpose: to try to improve the lives of their neighbors and promote the values on which the UN was founded -- dignity, freedom, security, and peace.  The UN has been working in partnership with the people of Nigeria for more than five decades.  An attack on Nigerian and international public servants demonstrates the bankruptcy of the ideology that led to this heinous action."

Many Nigerians and outside observers were upset that Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan took a full five hours to comment on the attack, which he described as a "barbaric, senseless and cowardly." The statement also promised to increase security in the nation's capital, and indeed, the diplomatic copmmunity this week demanded more protection in a meeting with government officials.

Jonathan visited the blast site Sunday.

Ban dispatched Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro and the UN security chief, Gregory Starr.

The Security Council observed a minute's silence before the start of a meeting Friday on UN peace keeping operations.

The Director-General of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Prof. Bola Akinterinwa, described the attack as a sad development and a wake-up call for security agencies in Nigeria.

- HUMNEWS staff, agencies, Twitter

Three Questions on Libya (COMMENTARY)

Libya's 1951 Independence FlagBy Marwan Bishara 

A six month NATO-aided rebellion in Libya has advanced on the capital, Tripoli, in an effort to oust 42-year leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Marwan Bishara, Al Jazeera's senior political analyst, comments on three key issues.

What's next for Libya and the national council?

It is time for the Libyan people to celebrate the end of a four-decade dictatorship. Once they sober up from the jubilations of their well-deserved victory, however, they will discover this is only the beginning.

Gaddafi has undermined, marginalised or obliterated many of the state institutions, including the military, and destroyed the political parties - indeed, political life in the country. There is much to restore and more to build from scratch.

Security, reconstruction and political transition are only a few of the challenges they will face sooner rather than later. More importantly, they will need to manage expectations of those who have given their all for liberty, freedom and prosperity.

Having said that, there is no need for alarm. Not yet any way. It's easy, even clichéd, to be pessimistic, even negative, about the post-revolutionary challenge. What is needed is optimism anchored in reality.

And judging from what we have seen over the past five months, there is much to celebrate in terms of building a steering council and creating locally based revolutionary groups from the bottom up that have been well coordinated and largely disciplined.

There have been disagreements and suspicion over the past several weeks, and the full story of the assassination of Abdul Fatah Younis is yet to emerge. And yes, there have been certain violations and acts of revenge, but considering the pent-up tensions and violence after decades of dictatorship and its terribly criminal behaviour throughout the past few months, these have been the exceptions to the rule.

The revolution has been a pluralistic, all-encompassing coalition of people from all walks of life. They paid attention to local and tribal sensitivities and established an excellent coordination strategy between the local revolutionaries and the national steering committee.

Unlike in Egypt and Tunisia where pillars of the regime, notably the military, remain in power, the Libyan revolution is set to wipe the slate clean and begin anew. Democracy is its only way to success.

The transitional council must remember its role is just that – transitional - and avoid all tactics that prolong its unchecked authority.

You mentioned Egypt and Tunisia. What do the Libyan developments mean for the Arab Spring?

Libya is much smaller and relatively less developed than its neighbours Egypt and Tunisia. It also has much on its plate and will be preoccupied with its own internal affairs for years, even decades, to come. That's why one doesn't expect the new leaders in Tripoli to play any major regional role in the near future.

However, the revolutionary contagion will only accelerate after the success of the revolution in Libya. The Assad and Saleh regimes should have much more to worry about today than last week as the latest revolutionary domino falls.

Under pressure from their people, the Arab regimes are going to have to act. Yemen is next, and Syria, while more complicated, will have to follow suit.

The same is true for the rest of North Africa. As a necessary bridge between Egypt and Tunisia, oil-rich Libya could play an important role in coordinating the three countries' future reconstruction strategies and their relations with the rest of the region and with the West.

What about the Western powers - notably France, Britain and the US - where does the 'success' in Libya take them?

First and foremost Western leaders need to wipe that smug look from their faces and make sure not to gloat about doing the Arabs any favours.

Certainly the NATO aerial bombardment did help, but this was a revolutionaries' victory par excellence. The battle was won first and foremost in the hearts of the Libyans, just as with the Egyptians and Tunisians before them.

Besides, after decades of complicity with Arab dictators, Western powers have much to make up for: They inserted themselves in the Libyan revolution after Gaddafi made genocidal threats against his people, but their interference was not necessarily motivated by humanitarian ends, rather more of the same geopolitics that led to befriending Gaddafi, Ben Ali and Mubarak in the first place.

Syria is far more complicated and Britain and France will need to keep out of it militarily.

That's not to say that the Libyans should be unappreciative for the extended helping hand. Better to have Western powers on the right side of Arab history for a change. And there is much room for cooperation and coordination in the future, but it should be done on the basis of mutual respect and mutual interest, especially that of the Arabs who are in every need of affirmative action.

Western leaders must also steer away from driving a wedge between those whom they consider moderates and others deemed "Islamists", as Libya will need cooperation among all its citizens.

- Marwan Bishara is Al Jazeera's senior political analyst. He was previously a professor of International Relations at the American University of Paris. An author who writes extensively on global politics, he is widely regarded as a leading authority on the Middle East and international affairs.

Originally published by Al Jazeera under Creative Commons Licensing 

As Many as 12 Million in World Stateless - UN (REPORT)

In Search of Identity: An ailing 75-year-old Bihari sits alone in his room in a camp in Bangladesh. Credit: UNHCR(HN, August 25, 2011) - As many as 12 million people in the world are stateless and are being denied basic human rights, according to a new report issued by the UN refugee agency.

The problem is particularly acute in Southeast Asia, Central Asia, Eastern Europe and the Middle East. 

Countries with the most number of people without citizenship include: Estonia, Iraq, Kenya, Latvia, Burma, Nepal, Syria and Thailand.

"These people are in desperate need of help because they live in a nightmarish legal limbo," High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres said. "This makes them some of the most excluded people in the world. Apart from the misery caused to the people themselves, the effect of marginalizing whole groups of people across generations creates great stress in the societies they live in and is sometimes a source of conflict," he added in a message to launch a new campaign, which comes ahead of the 50th anniversary on Tuesday of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.

Defining exact numbers of stateless people is problematic, says UNHCR. Inconsistent reporting combined with different definitions of statelessness means the true scale of the problem remains elusive.

To overcome this, UNHCR is raising awareness about the international legal definition while improve its own methods for gathering data on stateless populations. Pockets of statelessness exist throughout the world and it is a problem that crosses all borders and walks of life.

There are numerous causes of statelessness, many of them entrenched in legalities, but the human consequences can be dramatic. Because stateless people are technically not citizens of any country, they are often denied basic rights and access to employment, housing, education, and health care. They may not be able to own property, open a bank account, get married legally, or register the birth of a child. Some face long periods of detention, because they cannot prove who they are or where they come from.

State succession carries a risk that some people will be excluded from citizenship if these issues are not considered early on in the process of separation. The world welcomed the birth of South Sudan in July, but it remains to be seen how new citizenship laws in both the north and south will be implemented.

"The dissolution of states, formation of new states, transfer of territories and redrawing of boundaries were major causes of statelessness over the past two decades. Unless new laws were carefully drafted, many people were left out," said Mark Manly, head of the statelessness unit at UNHCR.

In the 1990s the break-up of the Soviet Union, the Yugoslav federation and Czechoslovakia left hundreds of thousands of people in Eastern Europe and Central Asia stateless. While most cases have been resolved in these regions, tens of thousands remain stateless or at risk of statelessness.

An unfortunate consequence of statelessness is that it can be self-perpetuating. In most cases where the parents are stateless, their children are stateless from the moment they are born. Without a nationality, it is extremely difficult for children to get a formal education or other basic services.

Discrimination against women compounds the problem. UNHCR analysis reveals that at least 30 countries maintain citizenship laws that discriminate against women. And in some countries, women run a risk of becoming stateless if they marry foreigners. Many states also do not allow a mother to pass her nationality on to her children.

But, there is a growing trend for states to take action to remedy gender inequality in citizenship laws. Egypt, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Kenya and Tunisia have all in recent years amended their laws to grant women the same rights as men to retain their nationality and pass it on to their children. Changing gender discriminatory citizenship laws is a UNHCR goal this year.

An underlying theme of most stateless situations is ethnic and racial discrimination that leads to exclusion, where political will is often lacking to resolve the problem. Groups excluded from citizenship since states gained independence or were established include the Muslim Rohingya of Myanmar, some hill tribes in Thailand and the Bidoon in the Persian Gulf States. In Europe, thousands of Roma continue to be stateless in various countries.

Meanwhile, Croatia, the Philippines, Turkmenistan and Panama have all decided in recent months to become party to one or both of the international treaties on statelessness. Yet the issue remains a low priority in many countries due to political sensitivities.

The number of states party to the 1961 Convention and the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons is low. As of today, only 66 states are parties to the 1954 Convention, which defines who is considered to be a stateless person and establishes minimum standards of treatment. Only 38 are parties to the 1961 Convention, which provides principles and a legal framework to help states prevent statelessness.

"After 50 years, these Conventions have attracted only a small number of states,'' said Guterres. "It's shameful that millions of people are living without a nationality – a fundamental human right. The scope of the problem and the dire effects it has on those concerned goes almost unnoticed. We must change that. Governments must act to reduce the overall numbers of stateless."

- HUMNEWS staff, UNHCR

A People's Hero (REPORT)

By Prerna Suri

(UPDATE: August 29, 2011) WHAT NEXT FOR INDIA? 

"We the people of India ...." is how India's preamble reads. It's giving force and voice to a nation and not just a polity. But in recent decades this line by India's founding fathers has somehow lost its relevance. Instead of respecting one's lawmakers, Indians have had to put up with their political bickering, their personal quests for power and, yes, rampant corruption amongst them.

But the last 24 hours have changed this perception.

On August 28, 2011, Anna Hazare put an end to his hunger strike. Parliament accepted his demand for a strong new anti-corruption watchdog. This, after eight hours of some of the most scintillating speeches we've heard from MPs in a long time. And it took a 74-year-old man who refused to eat to come to this.

Victory?

So, has the faith of the people been restored? It's not quite clear yet. Yes, Hazare and his team of associates have managed to push a piece of legislation, which has largely been in cold storage for the past four decades.

Yes, they've managed to mobilise tens of thousands of Indians, including the middle class, to come out on the streets against what they thought was a general way of life - corruption. And, yes, they've managed to bring popular dissent from the streets and into India's parliament. So, why does this victory suddenly feel hollow?

Perhaps because Indians who've been supporting Hazare's crusade against corruption will now ask: "What next?" India's parliament, while conceding to Hazare's three key demands - bringing the lower bureaucracy within the Lokpal Bill, having a citizens charter in every government institution and having separate state anti corruption watchdog - will still need to debate and pass a new law.

With the kind of scrutiny on India's lawmakers right now, it's unlikely this law will be pushed down among the many others. But for it to metamorphose into change will take a much longer time, perhaps even decades.

So, as the celebratory dust settles down, the real work now begins. Anna Hazare also concedes to that. After he is discharged from hospital, he's going to undertake a nationwide march against corrupt officials.

And then he'll tackle electoral reforms. He's guaranteed the support of many in this nation, but will he be able to deliver a strong law? It's hard to say.

For now, Indians know their voices can - and do - matter. That if they come together and stay united in the face of a hegemonic polity, they have the power to change their own destinies. The trick will be to ensure this momentum and wave of euphoria doesn't fade out anytime soon. Something which is more difficult to achieve.

END

As far as the eye can see, the streets are lined with rows of tricolored flags. They’re fluttering in whatever monsoon winds are left. A group of women students from New Delhi walk with construction workers from Bihar. Their voices rise in curious unison: "Long live the revolution".

The "India" of the elite, and the "Bharat" of the masses, seamlessly coming together in one eclectic moment.

It’s almost a carnivalesque atmosphere at Delhi's Ramlila grounds. One could be forgiven for thinking this is another one of India’s colourful festivals. But this time, the young, the old, men, women and even children are speaking in one voice, all for one 74-year-old man. And all against corruption. A bit much you'd think?

The Anna phenomenon

Not so for these Indians. Two words. Anna Hazare. It’s become a synonym for everything that's gone wrong with India - and everything that people now want to do to make it right. Hazare is a social activist who, at the time of this writing, is on his 6th day of a hunger strike, fighting for a strong anti-corruption law for Indians.

And his support is enormous. It seems this is no longer the India filled with an apathetic middle class. The India that sits by the sidelines and watches its corrupt leaders make money off its own people. It’s the beginning of something new, yet strangely nostalgic of a yesteryear struggle for freedom.

"From making an identity card to getting a drivers license, I've got to pay bribes to get my work done. This isn't the India I signed up for,” says Rajiv, who carries a miniature snail on his head, symbolic of the government’s pace to tackle corruption.

In another corner, a young student holds up a poster. It stars (surprise, surprise) superhero Anna Hazare fighting the evils of a corrupt India, freeing the country from all its shackles.

Why are they there?

But as the romanticism dies down, a deeper question arises. How many people actually know why they’re here? I ask nearly a dozen people at Ramlila whether they know about the Hazare version of the Lokpal (Ombudsman) bill, called the Janlokpal (peoples ombudsman). Whether they understand that only nine or 11 people will make up a committee to look after not just the prime minister’s deeds but also corrupt local officials at the village level. I have to admit, much to my own chagrin, more than half have no idea.

Yet, all these people have real convictions on corruption. Ravi travelled for two days to reach Delhi from his home district of Hardoi, Uttar Pradesh. It’s a state notorious for the levels of corruption of its public servants. He tells me he's here to have "darshan" (pay homage) of Anna Hazare, a privilege usually afforded for gods and goddesses. He’s fed up of having to pay off the policeman, the local bureaucrat and even the local district collector for his identity papers.

Such is the frustration of ordinary Indians at their system that any person who embodies a larger fight beyond the individual is instantly embraced with both arms.

Undemocratic?

While Anna's methods at rallying up public support are noteworthy, almost revolutionary as some would say, his means to achieve a strong anti corruption law are being questioned.

"Its undemocratic. You can't force one person's vision for a law that needs serious discussion in parliament,” says Aruna Roy, one of the architects of the revolutionary right to information act in the country.  Activists say they fear a centralisation of Anna’s power. He’s demanding the government pass a law by August 30. He’s also demanding that one ombudsman committee looks after corruption at the highest and the lowest levels. Something that is not just unreasonable but impossible to achieve in this country.

On the ground though, it’s a different sentiment. I’ve been covering Anna’s movement since he began his first fast in favour of a strong anti-corruption law in April this year. Since then, the movement and the feelings have grown stronger. But I also realize there’s a bigger danger of ignorance. More people need to know about the Janlokpal bill - what its provisions are and how will it exactly tackle corruption.

Anna Hazare and his camp have united the country like never before. Their challenge will be to give this nation’s people, an anti-corruption law they think they’re fighting for.

Originally published by Al Jazeera on under Creative Commons Licensing 

Rebel Advancement on Tripoli Good News for Migrants (NEWS BRIEF)

A migrant prays while awaiting evacuation from Libya. Credit: UN(HN, August 22, 2011) - Thousands of stranded migrants, mostly from impoverished Africa countries, may now have a chance of being evacuated now that the Libyan capital appears to be slipping from the control of Colonel Muamar Gaddafi.

As soon as his fortunes started to turn for the worse Sunday, the UN dispatched a chartered boat, which is currently en route to Tripoli to carry out an initial sea evacuation of migrants stranded in the city.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) chartered boat, which has a capacity to carry 300 people, left the eastern city of Benghazi Monday morning after completing a mission late Sunday to evacuate 124 migrants from Misrata. 

The boat, the Tasucu, is due to arrive in Tripoli on Tuesday and will leave for Benghazi as soon as IOM is able to successfully board the migrants. 

From there, IOM will use an on-going operation to take rescued migrants to the Egyptian border at Salloum by road before assisting them to return to their home countries.

On board are several IOM operational and medical staff. 

The situation in and around Tripoli is remains dangerous. Separately, a Maltese ship which was due to rescue foreign nationals - nine of them British - from Tripoli came under fire on Sunday and was forced to retreat and get towed to open water by a British naval ship.

With a rapidly evolving situation in the Libyan capital, it is unclear how many foreign nationals working in the country would still wish to leave. More than 5,000 Bangladeshis, Filipinos and Egyptians alone have registered their desire to leave. Many more, including Sub-Saharan Africans who live on the outskirts of Tripoli and who have not been able to reach their embassies, might also require assistance.

IOM had been made aware of many thousands of migrants of several nationalities wanting to leave Tripoli but who had been unable to do so as fighting on the western front had cut off the road route to the Tunisian border. 

"The situation is extremely fluid, not only in terms of how many people may have changed their minds about leaving, but also in terms of changing counter-parts on the ground," says Pasquale Lupoli, IOM Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa. "We hope the IOM boat will be able to dock on Tuesday on time and that the Organization will be able to safely carry out its mission."

With migrants scattered around Tripoli and fighting still reported in some parts of the city, IOM is calling for both parties to ensure migrants are allowed to safely make their way to the port for evacuation. 

IOM will evacuate more stranded migrants by sea if there is a humanitarian need.

Earlier this year, the UN and other aid agencies evacuated tens of thousands of stranded migrants, mostly from border areas and Bengazi.

- HUMNEWS staff, UN

Employing the Poor: What Can South Africa Learn from India? (PERSPECTIVE)

A construction site near Cape Town. Job growth is slowing in most sectors in South Africa. CREDIT: M Bociurkiw/HUMNEWSBy Saliem Fakir

(HN, August 20, 2011) One can take a cynical view of the world. In the absence of a fundamental restructuring of the economy, all we end up doing is tinkering with the art of state philanthropy both on the side of social safety nets and as far as job creation goes.

If the market is unresponsive to job creation due to its interest in rent seeking, then our government will have to continue doing what it has been doing for the last 10 years: escalate the level of public sector employment. This is more than the private sector is willing to commit to.

The public sector in South Africa is witnessing the largest growth in jobs relative to other sectors. According to the Labour Force Survey for the first quarter of 2011, the state, at all three tiers of government, employs about 1.9 million people or 14.1% of the working population. This is up from 1.7 million in 2008 or 12.6% of the working population.  

As job growth is slow in other sectors, it appears that the state is, by default, becoming the employer of last resort.

So serious is the situation that the state has had to, as of this year, create a special jobs fund to incentivise the private sector to employ more people who are mainly young black job seekers.

Whether it will work remains to be seen.

If South Africa is to go in the direction of the state being the employer of last resort and extend this beyond the professional class, we should be mindful of the lessons being learnt in India at present.

India has similar challenges to South Africa. It is also a country where a minority cashes in on economic growth while the majority trails behind barely making it from one day to the next. India’s problems are structural. Ownership and economic power is one-sided.

Close to 300 million people are excluded from the benefits derived from the country’s booming economic growth. 

Structural problems such land ownership, inequality, the inability of the poor to gain access to credit, wage disparities and barriers to entry into the job market still persist.

India’s problems are also exacerbated by its history of religious conflict, ethnic, caste and class divisions that reinforce the structural patterns, which continue to plague the country’s ability to create an economy that includes its poor in a meaningful way.

India has faced high growth but a slow down in employment growth.  For instance, at average growth rates of 6.7% in India in the 1990s, the rate of growth of employment was only 2.7%. Moreover, this still doesn’t tell us whether employment creation was permanent or not.

This gap between economic growth and the number of jobs created is an ongoing challenge for both India and South Africa, as it perpetuates the “growth with no jobs” scenario. Or to put it more starkly: growth accompanied by the destruction of jobs.

Where South Africa has used various grants and public works programmes and Brazil the Bolsa Familia, India has crafted a macro-intervention that is not too far off, yet somewhat different.

India came up with what is called an employment guarantee scheme or the employer of last resort. An explicit admission, at least, that capitalist industrial economies are unable to ensure total inclusivity into the mainstream economy.

Full employment schemes have been worked out before. One of the early pioneers was the economist John Pierson. In the 1940s, Pierson designed the US government’s employment of last resort scheme. Thus, India’s scheme was tailored using an old idea, but within an emerging economy context.

In 2005, India enacted the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). The law guarantees 100 days of employment per year to a member of a household on a rural public works project. The scheme was initially targeted at 200 of India’s 600 districts, but was later expanded.

The cost to the Indian government was estimated to be about 1.3% of GDP. The wages set under the MGNREGA are according to the minimum wage standards of the country.

The main areas of target have been labour intensive work in environmental programmes like watershed management (similar to South Africa’s Working for Water programme), soil erosion prevention and similar initiatives.

India opted for the MGNREGA as it found that non-guaranteed public works wage schemes did not create a sustainable situation for individual or family oriented economic progress. Neither did it create greater inclusion into the mainstream economy. Its successes with regard to this were, at best, minimal.

Under India’s MGNREGA, the work secured on public works programmes is casual and manual. In rural areas, it is meant to fill a seasonal unemployment problem.

Work has to be provided within 15 days of a person requesting employment and it should be located within 5km of the distance from the project. If the work is beyond the 5km zone, the employee is given a travel and living allowance.

If no work is provided, the job seeker qualifies for an unemployment allowance, which is usually set at a third of the minimum wage.

The introduction of such a scheme has led to policy shifts in several areas. The first is creating the political demand for the right to work. Secondly, it forces state allocations to be made in the right place and with the correct audience because of legal obligation. Thirdly, the scheme allows some transition into the mainstream economy as those covered by it can borrow from banks or micro-finance institutions. Fourthly, the scheme expands household enterprises and builds assets. And finally, the right to work, in a sense, also forces more rapid deployment of funds and the building of infrastructure, which acts as a positive stimulus on the economy of rural areas.

This is the case because the state is in one way or another legally obligated to provide employment.

However, there are also challenges and problems that come with such macro-economic interventions, as India currently runs the largest programme in the world.

India’s employment guarantee scheme faces the same constraints as our proposed Basic Income Grant, which other centrally managed grant systems also face.

These programmes require good co-ordination and planning. Local demand from recipients has to be persistent and organized. And, local authorities have to be capable and properly governed.

Thirty years of prior experience in the State of Maharashtra has shown that while such schemes provide relief for the poor they have not led to fundamental shifts in the economy.

The level of poverty in the State of Maharashtra, compared to other states, remains persistent. Demand for unskilled wage work under the scheme has not subsided but rather increased, which further points to systemic problems within the economy.

The design of such a scheme has to answer two fundamental questions: Does it provide relief during difficult times or does it push people further behind the poverty line?

Given the complexities of implementing such a scheme without a fundamental restructuring of the economy, it is likely that such schemes will serve more as state welfare rather than a bridge into the mainstream economy.

One can tell a lot about whether a MGNREGA-like scheme will succeed by looking at what the poor are able to own in terms of land and other assets as well as the quality of educational and health services they have access to. In this respect, the MGNREGA and similar schemes are no silver bullet solution. 

Thus, in all this there is a crucial dilemma that cannot overlooked: this is the general problem of boxing poverty as a welfare issue, as well as the settling in of policy complacency and not doing enough to change the structure of the economy. If MGNREGA-like schemes are to succeed as transition tools, then economic restructuring must also happen simultaneously.

Fakir an independent writer based in Cape Town. This article is republished with permission from the South Africa Civil Society Information Service (SACSIS).

WORLD HUMANITARIAN DAY 2011 – `People Helping People’

-- Since 2009 the world’s community of nations has celebrated World Humanitarian Day on August 19, as a day dedicated to recognizing humanitarian personnel and those who have lost their lives working in service for humanitarian causes.

This year, the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs is focusing its attention on the devastating famine crisis in the Horn of Africa; but is also asking the global public for their ideas on how to change the world.  

The day is celebrated in honor of the tireless efforts of former UN diplomat Sergio Vieira de Mello, who died August 19, 2003 along with 21 other colleagues in a bombing of the UN compound in Baghdad, Iraq.  A national of Brazil, Sérgio Vieira de Mello died at age 55 after dedicating 34 years to the United Nations, international cause issues and bringing peace and comfort to the world’s citizens.  He served fearlessly in some of the most challenging humanitarian situations, and died at age 55 leaving a legacy of peaceful co-existence and awareness of the need for people to help people.

The Sérgio Vieira de Mello Foundation works to remind the world every day that the sacrifice and tragic loss of Vieira de Mello, and all humanitarian personnel who have made the ultimate effort to relieve the suffering of victims of war and inequity, have not been in vain.

Since 2006 the Vieira de Mello family and a group of close friends have dedicated their lives to continue his unfinished mission by supporting initiatives to promote dialogue for peaceful reconciliation of communities divided by conflict through an annual Sergio Vieira Mello Award, an Annual Sergio Vieira Mello Memorial Lecture, a Sergio Vieira de Mello Fellowship and advocating for the security and independence of humanitarians worldwide.

People helping people, Sergio Vieira de Mello would be proud.

On this day, the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon offers this message:

“There is never a year without humanitarian crises.  And wherever there are people in need, there are people who help them – men and women coming together to ease suffering and bring hope.  From Japan to Sudan, from Pakistan to the Horn of Africa, aid workers help people who have lost their homes, loved ones and sources of income.  These humanitarians often brave great danger, far from home.  They work long hours, in the most difficult conditions.  Their efforts save lives in conflict and natural disaster.  They also draw the world closer together by reminding us that we are one family, sharing the same dreams for a peaceful planet, where all people can live in safety, and with dignity.

On World Humanitarian Day, we honour these aid workers and thank them for their dedication.  And we pay tribute to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice – in Afghanistan, Haiti and beyond.  Too many have died, or suffered their own loss, in the course of duty.  We pledge to do all we can to ensure the world’s humanitarians are kept safe to do their essential work.   This is also a day to examine our own lives and consider what more we can do to help -- to reach out to people enduring conflict, disaster and hardship.  Let those we honour today inspire us to start our own journey to make the world a better place and bring our human family more closely together.”

--HUMNEWS staff

New Fund to Boost Emerging East African Economies (NEWS BRIEF)

Small and medium-sized enterprises are the engine of growth in East Africa. In Burundi, beer companies account for the vast bulk of tax revenues. CREDIT: M Bociurkiw/HUMNEWS(HN, August 18, 2011) - Exotic is almost an understatement to describe the portfolio of investments targeted by the UK-based Fusion African Access Fund.

A private cemetery in Kenya, a Rwandan manufacturer and financial services firms in Rwanda and Uganda are among the small and medium-sized enterprises across East Africa targeted for the $150 million private equity fund. It will invest between $250,000 and $5 million in each project.

Fusion Investments is based in Manchester and Nairobi.

A Nairobi-based western diplomat who monitors the region told HUMNEWS recently that emerging regional integration into the East African Community (EAC) is boosting the economies of Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya.

Together, they represent a common market of 133 million people and combined GDP of $75 billion.

According to the UK's Department for International Development (DFID), successful integration of the EAC "has the potential to open export markets and increase inward investment, as well as reduce the cost of trade and improve transport links."

"We began investing in March and expect to invest all this money by the end of the year. The first term will be a five-year pay back period with at least 25 percent rate of return," Fusion Capital Chief Executive Luke Kinoti told Reuters.

Small and medium-sized enterprises are the engines of growth in East Africa and, in the case of Kenya, contribute about 40 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP).

The World Bank says that in the past five years, all East African Community economies made it easier to do business. In a report released this week, it says Kenya has some of the most business-friendly regulations for dealing with construction permits. Ugandan courts resolve insolvency relatively efficiently. And Rwanda is among the fastest places to start a business.

Still, the risk for investors looking at the region is considerable. Rampant corruption in countries like Kenya and Burundi, under-developed infrastructure, red tape (i.e. securing bank loans and registering land titles) and security threats can scuttle the best intentions of investors.

Kenya Airways is one of the region's best-run companies, and is key to regional integration. CREDIT: M Bociurkiw/HUMNEWSPhil Godwin, Fusion Capital's chairman and its largest shareholder, acknowledged this fact.

"Country risk, politics and currency volatility are a fact of life in frontier markets," Godwin told a launch ceremony.

"Our approach is not at all about making predictions of what will happen but ensuring that, whatever happens, we have made good long-term investments for our investors."

He said the weaker shilling currencies in the region offered a good opportunity to invest into a region which has had stable economic growth of 5-6 percent in the last five years.

But even countries such as landlocked Burundi, which is emerging from a 12 year civil war that killed 300,000 people and left the country devastated, is attracting foreign investment - including from a Toronto-based gold mining company.

A Wall Street analyst told HUMNEWS that, for many investors eyeing Africa, sitting on the sidelines of the action could be a costly play in the long-term.

"To many public and private equity investors Africa has emerged as a 'China play' in that much of the capital flowing into Africa is from Chinese companies desperate to mine the region’s rich cache of metal commodities used to fuel China’s huge economic growth engine. The Chinese have to a large extend jump started much of the region’s  economy, creating jobs and disposable income, and in many cases for the first time.”

For its part, the EAC said it wants to see a more vigorous business environment in its member countries. "We are serious in our role in the creation of an environment which is attractive to increasing private sector activity within and across our borders," said Enos Bukuku, EAC deputy secretary-general.

- HUMNEWS staff, agencies

Celebrations Turn to Cautious Optimism in South Sudan (REPORT)

A welcome carpet at independence celebrations in Juba. CREDIT: Simon Ingram(HN, August 17, 2011) - As the smiles and celebrations fade from the tumultuous entry of South Sudan as Africa's newest state, concerns are rising about security issues and developmental issues.

South Sudan became independent from Sudan on 9 July, following a referendum in January when the overwhelming majority of southerners elected to become independent, six years after a landmark peace agreement ended decades of war between the north and the south.

But tensions with the North over border areas and resources, a chronic health crisis and the knock-on impact of the global economic crisis are all conspiring to make for a difficult birth of the nation.

South Sudan has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world and almost half of the children in the country are malnourished.

Just today, South Sudan President Salva Kiir sacked his central bank governor and chief justice, about a month after the country launched a new currency. The currency has suffered a serious slide against the US dollar in recent weeks.

According to the UN, nearly 330,000 have returned to South Sudan since the end of October last year from Sudan, arriving by bus, train or river barge.

Nobel laureate Wangari Maathai wrote in South Africa's Mail & Guardian that the new government and international community must not abandon South Sudan as it takes its first steps as an independent nation.

Wrote Maathai: "A priority for the government and the international community must be, as promised, to serve the interests of a population devastated by decades of civil war. And as the slow and painful process of development begins, leaders must also help to navigate the new-found role of statehood. It is a role that will come under increasing strain as the threat of a new war escalates along the still-contested border with the north."

South Sudan President Salva Kiir delivers a speech at independence celebrations. CREDIT: Simon IngramThe UN says it is doing what it can to assist returnees. Since the end of July, some 7,200 returnees have received 15-day food rations, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in an update. Shortages of non-food items, such as mosquito nets, have eased with the arrival of additional supplies, it added.

Aid agencies are rehabilitating latrines and supporting vaccination for some 3,000 new returnees who have arrives at the Juba river port on transit to Eastern and Western Equatoria states. Food, water and health services are also being supplied in Juba before those returning continue their journey to their areas of origin.

Reports of interference with relief efforts continue to be received in Warrab state, the UN says. Soldiers have forced UN and NGO vehicles to stop, often at gunpoint, and give lifts to armed and uniformed men on at least five occasions over the past week.

Writes Maathai: "We should share in the new hopes and dreams of the population of South Sudan as the people revel in the freedom to guide their own path. But as images of celebratory smiles and tears of joy fade from the television screens, let us not forget about the brewing crisis that threatens this hard-won independence.

"It is up to South Sudan's leaders and other heads of state in the region to ensure that these hopes and dreams do not fall into despair and further bloodshed."

- HUMNEWS staff, UN

Legalising drugs a solution to the violence? (REPORT/VIDEO)

By Lucia Newman

Almost five years ago, Mexicans watched their President Felipe Calderon send soldiers out onto the streets of cities like Ciudad Juarez, announcing an unprecedented frontal attack on the country’s drug cartels.

Then, they saw the death toll rise year by year, from around under 3,000 in 2007 to almost 20, 000 in 2010. This year could be even higher.

When I went to Cancun for the Climate Summit in late November, a taxi driver told me that the leve of violence was seriously disrupting the economy - especially tourism - and that he hoped the PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party) , which ruled Mexico for 70 years, would be brought back to power in the next presidential elections.

“Before, during the PRI governments , we didn’t have this problem with the drug traffickers . They minded their business and we minded ours. Why should we do the dirty work for the Americans, who are the ones who consume the drugs?“ the man asked point blank.

I was amazed that anyone could articulate what seemed like such a short-sighted point of view. Didn’t he realise that sooner or later the traffickers would become so powerful that they would become everyone’s problem in Mexico?

Eight months later, I find that it is not just the taxi driver who believes that it is time to go back to a policy of peaceful co-existence with the cartels, but also some politicians and opinion makers, including former Foreign Minister Jorge Castaneda, who served under previous President Vicente Fox.

“Call off the war. Take the army back to the barracks and say enough of this business. Let’s concentrate our efforts, our army and navy on reducing violence against society, kidnapping, extortion, etc," he said.

"And frankly, let the cartels do pretty much what they want as long as they don’t get involved in these things. Now since we don’t want to encourage a culture of illegality, we’re going to try to begin the process of legalisation." 

What legalisation? I asked.

"In a perfect world, all drugs, all over, everywhere,” Castaneda told me.

Was he really proposing an accommodation with the cartels, I enquired.

“Isn’t that what the Americans are doing in Afghanistan with the poppy growers who are producing heroin? Nobody complains about that!”

Even Castaneda recognises that what he suggests is politically incorrect, but with drug trafficking violence getting worse, and the amount of drugs crossing the border into the United States undiminished, many Mexicans I talked to are demanding a Plan B, which some say should include less confrontation with the traffickers.

The Mayor of Ciudad Juarez, from the opposition PRI , supports Calderon’s policy and insists that the government must keep the pressure on.

But many people I spoke to - including a respected community leader, Protestant Pastor Alfonso Murguia, say that “it is time for the army to leave. They had already been corrupted by traffickers and they are committing abuses against the population. We need to do something else. “

Everyone agrees that if Mexico is serious about dealing with the cartels, it needs to dramatically reduce poverty , corruption and impunity, an elusive goal since independence.

And as long as millions of Mexicans cannot make a decent living legally, the cartels will always have an army of willing foot soldiers.

“So many young people tell me they would rather have a couple of good years on the street, than a lifetime on their knees living in poverty,” Pastor Murguia told me, shrugging his shoulders.

Originally published by Al Jazeera on August 17, 2011 under Creative Commons Licensing 

Foreign Migrant Labour Being Exploited - in Iraq (NEWS BRIEF)

In 2007, migrant workers from developing countries sent home through formal channels more than US$240 billion. International migrants could number 405 million by 2050 if migration continues to grow at the same pace as during the last 20 years, CREDIT: IOM(HN, August 16, 2011) - As western nations withdraw from Iraq amid a flurry of reconstruction projects, shocking tales are emerging of abuse of foreign migrant workers.

In some cases the situation is so dire that the UN's International Organization for Migration (IOM) has been forced to step in to assist the victims.

In the latest case, the IOM provided humanitarian assistance to a group of 35 Ukrainian and Bulgarian workers left in desperate straits by their employer in Iraq.

In another case this month, more than two dozen boys from Punjab approached the Indian mission in Baghdad for help, saying they were trafficked into Iraq and forced to clear defused and live ammunition for preparing fields for agriculture. The young victims were promised $800 every month, but were not paid any money for months and forced to live in inhumane conditions, India Today reported.

Earlier today, at a media briefing in Geneva monitored by HUMNEWS, the IOM appealed to private companies to honour their obligations to take care of their workers and follow national immigration, labour and human rights norms.

IOM staff found the abuse during several visits a day to a construction site where the migrants are living in crowded, dark, dirty and unventilated conditions. Staff brought food, water and medical assistance. 

The Ukrainians and Bulgarians being assisted by IOM are part of an original group of 217 migrants, including Nepalese, recruited to work on a construction project inside the international zone in Baghdad in December 2010. 

According to IOM, the men, who had been promised salaries of US$2,500 when hired, have so far only received a few hundred dollars despite having worked very long hours for months. When a sub-contractor absconded, work on the construction site stopped, leaving the migrants without money or clean water and little access to food. 

With their employer also having failed to get them the necessary residency permits as promised, the migrants automatically became undocumented workers. 

Some of the 217 migrants have been moved to work on another site while others have succumbed to pressure by the employer and agreed to leave the country for a one-time payment of US$1,000. However, after being forced to pay their transport home and charges for overstaying a 10-day visa, the migrants were left with little money. 
 
The 35 migrant still at the site are living in unsanitary conditions and without electricity. Some of the migrants have health problems related to poor food intake and drinking unsafe water. Having borrowed money to pay recruitment agents to get the job in Iraq in the first place, the migrants are in debt which they are unlikely to pay off unless they are paid their salaries.

"As an immediate step, their salaries need to be paid, for the employer to stop threatening them to leave the country without due remuneration and for the migrants to eventually be assisted home in a safe and dignified way," says Livia Styp-Rekowska, from IOM Baghdad. "In this particular case we are fortunate that the migrants are in the International Zone and we have direct access to them. This is not true of the vast majority of the migrant exploitation cases we know about."

IOM says the case highlights the need for more long-term responses to foreign labour exploitation in Iraq as contractors, many of them foreign, take advantage of reconstruction efforts. 

While many are aware of the problem of internal displacement in Iraq, the same cannot be said of human trafficking for labour or for migrant exploitation. 

"This is a very serious problem in the country. Many if not most of the foreign workers in Iraq are undocumented through no fault of their own, leaving them in an extremely vulnerable position," Styp-Rekowska adds. "We are talking of many tens of thousands of foreign workers. What is needed to stop this kind of exploitation is a comprehensive labour migration policy in Iraq and for the new counter-trafficking law to be passed by parliament combined with an effective system that protects trafficked or stranded migrants."

Labour mobility, says IOM, is a key feature of globalization with a significant impact on the global economy. In 2007, migrant workers from developing countries sent home through formal channels more than US$240 billion.

International migrants could number 405 million by 2050 if migration continues to grow at the same pace as during the last 20 years, IOM says.

- HUMNEWS staff, IOM

Malawi Makes, Africa Takes? (COMMENTARY)

Farmer Grace Malaitcha, from Zidyana, near Nkhotakota, Malawi, pictured in 2009 on her maize plot, which she cultivates using conservation agriculture (CA) practices (PHOTO CREDIT: CIMMYI)

by Simone D'Arbreu

In 2005, President Bingu Wu Mutharika of Malawi embarked on an innovative five-year solution to promote Malawi’s agriculture sector by increasing farm subsidies and allocating 10 percent of the national budget to the agriculture sector to help promote infrastructure and farm training. Despite concerns from the World Bank and the UN, President Mutharika promoted Malawi’s agriculture sector and decreased poverty from 52 percent to 40 percent while turning Malawi into a food basket not only for its people but also for export. Malawi produced 1.1 million more ton of maize than the country requires annually and now exports this excess to neighboring countries. Malawi was also able to provide over 200 metric tons of rice to Haiti during the disaster relief.

In 2004 Malawi experienced a famine that threatened one third of the country’s 13 million people -- half of whom live in poverty. Malawi found the solution to its own problem by ignoring pro-privatization advice from experts from the World Bank, the World Food Program, and other international aid organizations. The World Bank also advised Malawi’s farmers to shift to growing cash crops for export and to use the foreign exchange earnings to import food. Starting in 2004, Malawi launched the nationwide Agricultural Inputs Subsidy Program that has provided coupons to roughly half of Malawi’s small farmers to buy fertilizer and seed at a rate below-market prices. Because of its subsidy program, Malawi managed to put aside a supply of food in case of emergency while boosting crop yields and decreasing the cost of food.

Malawi showed the world that it too, like Europe and North America, can effectively subsidize agriculture. Joshua Kurlantzick, author of "The Malawi Model," says Malawi’s approach is worth imitating as a model for agricultural development because it has actually worked compared to the failed privatization models upheld by international aid economists trying to find a “universal response” for a diverse range of countries.

Malawi’s subsidy program has potential drawbacks. Farm subsidy programs have the potential to force farmers to leave the agriculture sector because of decreasing crop prices. On average, Sub-Saharan countries lose 10-15 percent of total agricultural incomes due to farm subsidies. Mutharika’s plan might just be focusing on the short-term impact rather than the long-term. Then there are the political criticisms of Mutharika's authoritarian tendencies. Finally, even if the Malawi model has worked for Malawi, can it work for the many diverse countries of Africa and in such a short time frame?

Exporting the Model

President Mutharika has now proposed a five-year plan to make Africa independent of foreign food assistance. This five-year plan, also known as the African Food Basket project, focuses participating African countries and all cooperating partners on improving agriculture and food security through subsidies, increased budgetary allocations, and affordable information and communications technology. In Africa, only one-third of arable land is cultivated. Mutharika believes that increasing the land cultivation and government spending in the agricultural sector can reduce hunger and poverty by half by the year 2015.

Mutharika’s plan also promotes social development along with infrastructure building. Investments in women, youth, education, and infrastructure development can help build the agriculture sector. In Africa, women provide over 70 percent of agriculture labor, particularly in the production of crops. Yet, women lack the access to information and markets, which can provide them with land, resources, fertilizers, farming technology, and financial support. Because of the influence of traditional cultural roles, men still make the majority of decisions. As a result, women, who do the majority of agriculture labor, do not have say in the decision making despite being more involved in the production.

The African Food Basket project plans to resolve this disparity by empowering women to have control over land, what crops to grow, what farming systems to follow and how to use the income that accrues from farming. This plan relies heavily on education. By educating women, especially in the rural areas, literacy rates will increase, which will directly improve women’s access to information and to markets that promote an increased production of crops. Even though Malawi did not initially use women empowerment during the earlier years of agriculture reform, research has shown that by developing farming skills in women will directly promote sustainable growth. Women generally control the agriculture market and contribute significantly to the informal sector, which is the most booming and vibrant economic sector. 

Young people, too, are a key to agricultural success. According to the African Food Basket project, youth will undergo structured non-formal training on model farms, with graduate students linked to micro-finance institutions through funds like the Youth Enterprise Development Fund (YEDF) in Malawi. YEDF attracts and facilitates investment in enterprises from market stalls to industrial parks beneficial to youth. An increase in farms will lead to an opening in the labor market, which will attract the young and the old to the agricultural sector while increasing the food supply.

Transportation is a third element in improving food security. Approximately 20 percent of crops are spoiled during transport. By improving methods of national and cross border transportation, like roads, railways, ports, harbors, and air transportation, African countries can ship food more effectively and avoid a significant loss in crops. Mutharika is strongly promoting the building of a greenbelt along the Nile River, the Niger River, Lake Chad and the Shebelli-Juba basin in northeast Africa to promote irrigation. Only 7 percent of arable land is irrigated compared to 29 percent in South America and 41 percent in Asia. A Grand Green Belt, connected throughout the continent, could raise the level of irrigation and, by extension, agricultural productivity.

A Feasible Plan?

Livestock farmer Jinny Lemson with her bean harvest in central Malawi (PHOTO CREDIT ILRI) Malawi’s success and Mutharika’s ambition to solve hunger and poverty show the world that Africa has the potential and ability to improve its own food situation. But not all African countries are alike. Some countries are in massive debt. Somalia’s deficit of $3 billion in 2001, for instance, made it difficult for the country to allocate additional funds for agricultural development and continued budget shortfalls continue to plague the country. But outside actors could help countries in deficit. Even Malawi received substantial financial assistance for its agricultural turnaround. Britain’s Department for International Development in Britain contributed $8 million to the subsidy program in 2006.

More challenging, perhaps, are the countries that are not motivated to increase government spending on agriculture. The government of Teodoro Obiang in Equatorial Guinea, for instance, is infamous for corruption and government mismanagement. It recently spent more than $830 million to construct a luxury complex for an upcoming African Union summit to be held outside the nation’s capital in hopes of attracting foreign investment. This sum could have gone a long way toward creating food security in the country.

Even for countries that are willing and able, the five-year timetable of the African Food Basket will be challenging. It took Malawi approximately a decade to establish food independence. Achieving even a measure of that success for the continent as a whole in five years is simply unrealistic.

Daniel Gustafson of the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) Liaison Office for North American say that the FAO supports the idea of the African Food Basket Project. A 10 percent increase in African countries’ national budget allocations to the agriculture sector is a wonderful idea and there is no reason why Africa would not be able to see advancement on a larger scale. Countries like Ghana, Nigeria, and Malawi have done exceptionally well at becoming independent and investing in food production.

The political situation in Malawi, meanwhile, has become considerably murkier. The government cracked down on anti-government protests in July, killing 19 protestors. The Millennium Challenge Corporation, a U.S. government agency that provides countries that practice good governance with developmental assistance, has placed a hold on its five-year agreement to provided $350 million, among other things, to improve Malawi's agricultural productivity. Despite its agricultural success, Malawi continues to face poverty, illiteracy, and governance issues.

The African Food Basket, in other words, requires not only investments in the agricultural sector but good governance as well. If Malawi can achieve both these goals, then it can really show the way for the rest of the continent.  

- Simone D'Arbreu is a contributor to Foreign Policy In Focus.

- This article was originally published by Washington, DC: Foreign Policy In Focus and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License.