By Saima Wazed
DHAKA, Bangladesh, Oct 9 2023 – This year, three of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) six regions elect new Regional Directors (RD). The South-East Asia Region (SEARO) is composed of only 11 Member States, yet is home to over a quarter of the world’s population. Two SEARO Member States, Nepal and Bangladesh, have nominated their candidates to contest for RD.

I have the privilege of being Bangladesh’s nominated candidate.

The SEARO RD election has generated a surprising amount of attention and news coverage, and several prominent regional & international publications have published pieces expressing alarm at my candidacy, and doubts about my suitability for the role.

In building their argument these articles rely on damaging biases, and perpetuate harmful stigmas and stereotypes.

The first contention is that because my mother is the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, my nomination must be fuelled by nepotism.

While I accept it is inevitable that there will be greater scrutiny of me due to my mother’s position, what is unfortunate is the erasure of my years of work, study and accomplishments.

Despite being in the public domain, the articles avoid mentioning my work with Chatham House’s Global Health Program or their Commission for Universal Health.

They ignore that I have been an advisor to WHO’s DG on Mental Health & Autism, or that I have been a member of the WHO’s Expert Advisory Panel on Mental Health for almost a decade.

They do not mention that I am Chief Advisor to Bangladesh’s National Mental Health Strategic Plan, or that I was a Technical Expert for Bangladesh’s National Mental Health Act of 2018.

They ignore any of my teaching engagements, and do not inform their readers that the WHO awarded me in 2014 for Excellence in Public Health.

The articles also neglect to mention that I am currently finishing my Doctorate in Education (EdD) in Organisational Leadership. This is a practitioner-doctorate for complex problem solving to improve the performance of organisations and individuals.

As countless women around the world will attest, we are sadly used to differing standards when being compared professionally to men. The overt and intentional erasure of my experience, and the attendant reduction of me to being simply my mother’s daughter, is sexism and must be called out as such.

The articles proceed to cast doubt as to whether my chosen area of study and work – psychology – is a suitable specialisation for one vying for the role of RD.

When I started my career, I knew that a lot of work needed to be done to mainstream matters of mental health. The persistent stigma which dogged mental health was dangerous and damaging, and I set about to try right this. In the context of South Asian cultures, open and honest discussions about mental health were unfortunately taboo. Over many years of hard work, we have been able to change this somewhat – but I acknowledge that there is still much work to be done.

This stigma is what commentators feed in to when they insinuate that other aspects of medical science are preferable over mental health specialists in this election.

The WHO itself reminds us that it “continues to work with its partners to ensure mental health is valued, promoted, and protected,” and that “one in eight people globally are living with mental health conditions.”

Given this reality, it is highly irresponsible of these articles to continue to minimise the work of psychologists and other related specialists.

On behalf of my broader profession I would like to state loudly and unequivocally – mental health specialists are in no way inferior or unsuited for leadership roles in public health. In fact, I contend that it is desirable for one with such a background to have a seat at the leadership table alongside the existing technocrats and bureaucrats in the WHO.

Finally, some of the reporting on the SEARO RD election makes unfounded claims that Bangladesh is waging a political campaign of arm-twisting and coercion to ensure victory for its candidate.

Quite frankly, the lack of faith that these commentators have in the SEARO Member States is appalling. Each Member State has the agency and independence to assess the candidates and make an informed choice. No amount of scaremongering will change that.

Instead of political pieces focusing on individuals, a responsible writer would correctly frame the choice in this election as that of a policy choice between Bangladesh and Nepal’s candidates.

This would lead to a more reasonable consideration about which of these two countries has better public health outcomes, and therefore more likely to make better choices for the public health of the region. I am proud of the many public health successes of my country, and I am proud to be nominated by Bangladesh for Regional Director of WHO SEARO.

The reaction we are seeing in this campaign reaffirms two unfortunate truths. The first is that challenging the status quo in large established global networks and organisations always generates a partisan pushback. The second is that women competing for positions of power in major institutions face opposition laced with a vicious strain of sexism. In this campaign we have a toxic cocktail of both.

But I will not back down. I will continue advocating for the most vulnerable amongst us, I will continue telling my regional neighbours my vision for our shared future, and I will continue fighting for what I think is right.

My message to fear-mongering commentators is simple: do not be afraid of a woman or her experience, do not be afraid of mental health specialists, and trust the Member States to make the best decision for themselves.

Saima Wazed wears multiple hats including being the Chairperson of the National Advisory Committee for Autism and NDDs, Bangladesh, Chairperson of Shuchona Foundation, and Thematic Ambassador for Vulnerability for the Climate Vulnerable Forum. For more information, please visit www.saimawazed.info and www.shuchona.org.

IPS UN Bureau

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By Amy West and Aysel Madra
WASHINGTON DC, Oct 9 2023 – In a year that is rapidly becoming the costliest on record for climate-related disasters, the International Day of the Girl Child appeals to the global community for greater investments for and with adolescent girls.

https://www.un.org/en/observances/girl-child-day

Mounting evidence continues to show that the wellbeing of our households, our communities, and our world, especially amidst climate change, hinges on how seriously we take this call-to-action for half of the world’s population.

Protecting the rights of girls is key to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. The Coalition for Adolescent Girls believes this prioritization of girls’ rights is all the more urgent among those who live in underserved and traditionally marginalized communities, many of which sit at the crossroads of poverty and climate fragility.

It is estimated that 80 percent of those displaced by climate-related disasters are women and girls. In the wake of cyclones, wildfires, floods, and earthquakes, adolescent girls have an even harder time accessing services and are often forced to forage for basic needs.

A direct correlation exists between natural disaster (climate-related or otherwise), girls’ inequitable access to education, skills training, and health and wellbeing supports, and increased exposure to sexual and gender-based violence.

Credit: UN Women/Ruhani Kaur

Further, the breakdown in family and community, as well as the loss of a key information and knowledge resources – namely, school or other learning centers – exposes girls to exploitative behaviors and multidimensional and intersecting vulnerabilities.

Thus, the notion of disaster preparedness and disaster response must evolve to include girl-centered protection solutions to reduce these increased risks and their ripple effect on larger social and economic development goals.

The recent earthquakes in Turkey, Syria, and Morocco have seen unprecedented levels of devastation, both in terms of human life and the infrastructure necessary for accessing public services and ensuring protection from sexual exploitation, abuse, and violence.

In the southeastern provinces of Turkey alone, 9.1 million people were affected by the earthquake there, 3 million displaced, and nearly 300,000 buildings were destroyed. Among this wreckage, an estimated 320,000 people or more continue to live in temporary shelters.

Initial reports observe that for adolescent girls there has been significant increases in domestic care and responsibilities, domestic abuse, sexual and gender-based violence, and child marriage along with reduced enrollment rates in school.

Committing to Girl-Centered Design

Girl-centered design is one protective and pro-active approach to finding new solutions to the challenges that international humanitarian and development sector practitioners struggle to address at scale.

This process thinks about how spaces, programs, and activities can be developed for and with girls based on child safety protocols and girl-led participation. It is applied to ensure that all girls, especially the most underserved, are recognized and engaged.

In Pazarcık, and Antakya, Turkey—areas hardest hit by the February earthquake—adolescent girls, and their families, still live in temporary shelters. Several of these girls were asked recently, “if you oversaw international aid, what would you do differently?”

“I would have done something to meet the self-care and clothing needs of the girls here. Then, [when] the girls were cared for, I would send them to school,” said one 14-year-old from Pazarcık. Adds a 13-year-old from the same area, “There could have been classes. There could have been information for us. There is nothing here.”

Their counterparts in Antakya talk about music, painting, dance, and sports. One 13-year-old says these creative activities would not only occupy girls, but also make them “happy.” One 14-year-old girl states, “I would make girls feel valuable. I would find out what girls are interested in and organize activities to engage them.”

Recent targeted research by Suna’nın Kızları cites that girls spend the majority of their waking hours “pacing” and “waiting,” or else occupied with minding younger siblings or helping their mothers with household chores. Many girls yearn for and remark on the absence of “fun.”

Creating the Spaces for Girls to Occupy

With additional evidence on the intersection of wellbeing with outdoor activities, or the powerful learning and healing that occurs with ensuring girls’ right to play, there is a collective cry for doing better by them. Shelters should be constructed to include safe outdoor spaces for girls to play, strengthen the availability of the kinds of information they need, and provide access to basic services that support healthier prospects for their immediate and future needs.

To date, when such spaces or services are available, they are used predominantly by boys and men.

Adolescent girls inherently understand what it means to be a girl, to feel safe (or not), and to be valued as equals (or not). For the girls in Pazarcık and Antakya, investing for and with them means not only applying girl-centered design to expand the physical safe and green spaces in which they can learn, play and grow, but also the decision-making spaces where their voices and ideas can be heard and taken seriously.

And while there are some welcome signs in this direction, it is not enough. If prioritized, girl-centered design and girl-led solutions before, during and after disaster may reap the results that have heretofore eluded us.

Amy West is co-lead of the Adolescent Girls and Young Women Initiative and principal international technical advisor at Education Development Center and Aysel Madra is a research coordinator at Suna’nın Kızları (Suna’s Daughters). EDC. They are both active members in the Coalition for Adolescent Girls (CAG), a member-led and-driven organization dedicated to supporting, investing in, and improving the lives of adolescent girls.

IPS UN Bureau

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By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 9 2023 – The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are returning to Africa, for the first time in decades, with the “same old failed message”.

“Cut your spending, sack public service workers, and pay your debts– despite the huge human costs” says Oxfam International’s interim Executive Director Amitabh Behar, following the release of new Oxfam report.

“They must show they can genuinely change to reverse the tide of widening inequality within and between countries,” he said.

The two Washington-based international financial institutions (IFIs) are holding their annual meetings October 9-15, this time in Marrakesh, Morocco, in north Africa.

In a new analysis released October 9, Oxfam says more than half (57 percent) of the world’s poorest countries, home to 2.4 billion people, are having to cut public spending by a combined $229 billion over the next five years.

On current terms, low- and lower-middle income countries will be forced to pay nearly half a billion dollars every day in interest and debt repayments between now and 2029. Entire countries are facing bankruptcy, with the poorest countries now spending four times more repaying debts to rich creditors than on healthcare.

“The World Bank says we are likely seeing the biggest increase in global inequality and poverty since World War 2, yet the Bank has no clear goal to reduce inequality.,” Behar said

For its part, the IMF claims to mitigate the worst effects of its austerity-driven loan programs through ‘social spending floors’ that ring-fence government spending on public services.

Credit: Glasgow Actions Team

However, Oxfam’s analysis of 27 loan programs negotiated with low- and middle-income countries since 2020 found that these floors are a smokescreen for more austerity: for every $1 the IMF encouraged governments to spend on public services, it has told them to cut six times more than that through austerity measures.

“The IMF is forcing poorer countries into a starvation diet of spending cuts, driving up inequality and suffering,” said Behar.

Anuradha Mittal, Executive Director of the Oakland Institute, told IPS Oxfam’s report demonstrates the urgent need for governments in the Global South to prioritize raising taxes on the wealthiest to ensure the financing of healthy economies, the provision of basic essential services to the population, and decisive action on climate.

“Instead, the World Bank and the IMF are orchestrating yet once again an ill-driven race to the bottom that favors wealth accumulation while punishing the poor and most vulnerable and making economies less and less sustainable,” she said.

Looking at the debt and climate crisis, the only sensible move is for coordinated global action to tax wealth and financial flows, Mittal declared

Meanwhile, the Glasgow Actions Team (GAT) formed around the UN Climate Conference in 2021 in Glasgow, said it is committed to pushing the world’s climate champions to go farther, calling out the blockers, and exposing the deniers.

“It’s all eyes on (the new World Bank President) Ajay Banga and Marrakesh,” said Andrew Nazdin, Director of the Glasgow Actions Team.

“We applaud President Banga’s words on transforming the Bank into a powerful force for good. Now’s his chance for those words to become actions, which start with phasing out fossil fuel funding and issuing debt relief.”

“As a Tunisian activist from the Global South, at the forefront of those affected by the policies of financial funds and the least responsible for climate change, I am here to express my anger at what is happening and protest to achieve justice,” said Raouf Ben Mohamed of Debt for Climate.

Meanwhile, going into these annual meetings, Oxfam said, two big issues are at the forefront: the debt crisis and the urgent need to generate more resources for sustainable development, climate adaptation and tackling poverty in low- and middle-income countries.

However, the solutions being discussed by the World Bank, IMF and their biggest shareholders are only going to turn the vicious circle into a vortex.

“Rather than cancelling unpayable debts, rich countries want to use the Annual Meetings to fiddle with the Bank’s balance sheet to squeeze out money for yet more loans,” said Behar.

“In the next room, poorer countries are still being told to slash spending on public services and social programs critical to fighting poverty, reducing inequality, and realizing the rights of women and girls. Their answer to the debt crisis is more austerity, and their answer to the financing gulf is more loans. True win-wins, like fairly taxing the rich, are being left on the table.” He pointed out.

While people living in poverty bear the brunt of public spending cuts and the cost-of-living crisis, the wealthy are thriving. In the Middle East and North Africa, where the annual meetings are taking place:

–The richest 0.05 percent saw their wealth surge by 75 percent from $1.7 trillion in 2019 to nearly $3 trillion by the end of 2022. The region’s 23 billionaires have accumulated more wealth in the last three years than in the entire decade that preceded them.

–A five percent wealth tax on fortunes over $5 million would allow Egypt to double its spending on healthcare, Jordan to double its education budget and Lebanon to increase its spending on both healthcare and education seven times over. Morocco alone could raise $1.22 billion at a time it is facing an $11.7 billion repair bill from the recent devastating earthquake there.

“Austerity is an ideological fiction that has wrought incalculable damage,” said Behar.
“Who will deliver babies and save lives later when nurses and doctors in public hospitals lose their jobs now? “

“The IMF and the World Bank must enable governments to pursue economic policies that redistribute income and invest in public goods to dramatically reduce the chasm between the rich and the rest.”

Footnote:

In 2021, low- and middle-income countries spent 27.5 percent of their budgets on debt service, which was twice their education spending, four times health spending and nearly 12 times social protection spending.

Link to Oxfam’s report “The MENA Gap: Prosperity for the Rich, Austerity for the Rest” and methodology note.

In July, more than 230 economists and inequality leaders, including Joseph Stiglitz, Jayati Ghosh, Thomas Piketty and four former World Bank Chief Economists, wrote to new World Bank President Ajay Banga, to adopt new goals and indicators to redouble efforts to address rising inequality.

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