By Farai Shawn Matiashe
KAKUMA, Kenya, Jun 6 2025 – Char Tito is hammering nails into wood at Kakuma Arid Zone Secondary School in Turkana County, northern Kenya. The 16-year-old is making a traditional chair under the scorching sun outside one of the classroom blocks.

The wood she is using is from an unpopular source in this community. It is from a species of mesquite named Prosopis juliflora, which is native to Central and South America and is known in Kenya as mathenge.

Many locals hate mathenge in Turkana County due to its invasiveness and its thorns that are harsh to humans and can cause injuries to livestock. Locals say rivers and dams dry fast in areas with mathenge, and it dominates other plants.

Over the years, the residents have found it an easy source of firewood and charcoal, fuel for many in this community.

But youths, including girls, are now repurposing the mathenge tree to make furniture, particularly chairs.

Char Tito, a learner at Kakuma Arid Zone Secondary School in Kakuma, is seated on a chair made from mathenge wood. Credit: Farai Shawn Matiashe/IPS

“Plastic chairs are expensive. This is why I started making chairs from mathenge earlier this month,” says Tito, who fled the war in South Sudan to seek refuge in Kakuma Refugee Camp in 2017.

“I was taught here at school. Mathenge is abundant. We have been using it for firewood for years. I did not know that it could be used to make chairs.”

Income-Generating Scheme

The land in Kakuma is barren with sparse vegetation and the soils are so poor that they do not support agriculture. Turkana County receives little or no rain and can go for five years without experiencing a single drop of rain.

Acacia trees and mathenge, which are always green despite the high temperatures and water scarcity, make up most of the trees in this community.

Government statistics indicate that the mathenge trees spread at a rate of 15 percent yearly and have so far colonized a million acres of land in Kenya.

Some use mathenge to fence their homes and to make livestock shelters.

Locals survive on livestock production and trading charcoal and firewood.

Dennis Mutiso, a deputy director at Girl Child Network (GCN), a grassroots non-governmental organization supporting Tito and hundreds of other refugees, says the project is equipping learners with green skills.

Magdalene Ngimoe, a learner at Kakuma Arid Zone Secondary School, is making chairs from mathenge wood in Kakuma. Credit: Farai Shawn Matiashe/IPS

“It is contributing to national climate plans. It aligns with the school curriculum,” he says.

Mutiso says those youths who have been trained in making chairs partner with those untrained to pass the knowledge to the community.

Tito, who lives with her mother and her three siblings, is so far making chairs for household use but is planning to make some for sale to her neighbors.

“This is a skill that I can use for my entire life. I am looking forward to earning a living out of carpentry,” she says, smiling.

Mathenge was introduced in the 1970s in the East African country to restore degraded dry lands. It is drought resistant, with its deep roots making it ideal for afforestation in areas like Turkana. The mathenge restored the area and blocked wind erosion in some areas, but at a cost to the locals.

Invasive mathenge tree in Kakuma, northern Kenya. Credit: Farai Shawn Matiashe/IPS

Despite the massive cutting down of this tree for firewood and charcoal, the mathenge regenerates fast, unlike other trees like Acacia.

Lewis Obam, a conservator at the Forestry Commission under Turkana County, says there was a negative perception of the mathenge in the community.

“Communities lost their goats after consuming the tree. Its thorns were affecting the community,” he says.

Obam says mathenge is a colonizer and spreads so fast.

“It was meant to counter desertification. The intention was good,” he says.

Obam says its hardwood is ideal for making chairs.

“It has more opportunities than we knew. It has the second hardest wood in this area. We need maximum use of the mathenge.”

Protecting Environment 

To restore other trees in this semi-arid land, Tito and other girls are planting trees at school and in their homes. She has planted five trees at home and many at school, but water is a challenge amid temperatures that can go as high as 47 degrees Celsius.

Magdalene Ngimoe, a learner at Kakuma Arid Zone Secondary School in Kakuma, planting a tree. Credit: Farai Shawn Matiashe/IPS

“I am proud that I am contributing to measures that reduce the effects of climate change,” she says.

Sometimes, the girls bring water from home to school to ensure that the trees survive.

Trees help mitigate climate change by absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Kenya is targeting to plant at least 15 billion trees by 2032 through its National Tree Growing Restoration campaign launched in December 2022.

Magdalene Ngimoe, another learner at Kakuma Arid Zone Secondary School, says she has so far planted two trees at her home in Kiwandege village in Kakuma.

“I hate mathenge. It makes our lives difficult. But I am happy that I am using it to make chairs. I am also planting trees at school, which will provide shade to other students,” says the 16-year-old Kenyan Ngimoe, the firstborn in a family of seven.

Her family survives on selling meat and she hopes she will earn some money from her newly acquired craft.

Edwin Chabari, a manager at Kakuma Refugee Camp under the Department of Refugee Services, says Mathenge has been a menace not only within the camp but also in the area.

“The local youths can get cash from a tree that we thought was a menace,” he says.

GCN, with funding from Education Above All, a global education foundation based in Qatar, has so far planted 896,000 trees in Kakuma and Dadaab and is targeting 2.4 million trees by next year.

Ngimoe’s favorite subject is science and she wants to be a lawyer representing vulnerable children.

Established in 1992, Kakuma Refugee Camp is home to 304,000 people from more than 10 countries, like South Sudan, Burundi, Somalia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Joseph Ochura, sub-county director in Turkana County under the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), says the tree-planting initiative has enhanced the learning environment.

“When you visit most of the schools that have been supported, you will see big shades of trees. Whenever there is a break time, learners sit there, including the teachers. Sometimes, some lessons are even carried out under that shade,” Ochura says.

He says that of the 15 billion trees set by the government, TSC was allocated 200 million trees.

Some schools also have their tree nurseries.

When ready, they plant the seedlings at the school and supply others to the community.

“Some of the girls are at the forefront in tree planting. That is a plus. That is what we are telling the girls—outside school, you can still do this in the community,” Ochura says.

Tito, whose favorite subject is English and who wants to be a doctor, is happy to be part of the green jobs being created in Kakuma.

“As a girl, I am proud of myself. I am contributing to environmental protection,” she says.
IPS UN Bureau Report

By Edgardo Ayala
EL MOZOTE, El Salvador , Jun 6 2025 – The worst massacre of civilians in Latin America occurred in the Salvadoran village of El Mozote, where environmental projects are beginning to emerge, slowly fostering awareness about protecting the natural resources of this deeply symbolic site, embedded in the country’s historical memory.

Since early 2024, a small photovoltaic plant has been operating in El Mozote, in the district of Meanguera, eastern El Salvador, powering a municipal water system designed to supply around 360 families in the village and nearby areas.“We used to wash clothes in those communal wells, which were built after the war, in ’94.” — Otilia Chicas

“The project’s goal was to minimize environmental impacts in the area by seeking cleaner energy sources, and with that in mind, the solar panel system was implemented,” Rosendo Ramos, the Morazán representative of the Salvadoran Health Promotion Association (ASPS), the NGO behind the project, explained to IPS.

The Spanish organization Solidaridad Internacional Andalucía also participated in launching the initiative.

El Mozote is located in the department of Morazán, a mountainous region in eastern El Salvador. During the civil war (1980-1992), the area was the scene of brutal clashes between leftist guerrillas and the army.

In December 1981, over several days, military units massacred around 1,000 peasants in the village and neighboring communities—including pregnant women and children—accusing them of being a support base for the rebels.

The conflict is estimated to have left more than 75,000 dead and 8,000 disappeared.

The photovoltaic system installed in El Mozote, eastern El Salvador, operates alongside the national distribution grid, so on cloudy days with low solar generation, the conventional power grid is activated. Credit: Courtesy of ASPS

Sunlight to Distribute Water

The solar project consists of 32 panels capable of generating a total of 15 kilowatts—enough to power the equipment, primarily the 60-horsepower pump that pushes water up to the tank installed atop La Cruz mountain. From there, water flows down to households by gravity.

The photovoltaic system operates alongside the national power grid, so on cloudy days with low solar output, the conventional grid kicks in—though the goal is obviously to reduce reliance on it.

The project, costing US$28,000, was funded by the European Union as part of a larger environmental initiative that also included two nearby municipalities, Arambala and Jocoaitique, focusing on protecting the La Joya Pueblo micro-watershed.

Key aspects of the broader program include reducing the use of agrochemicals, plastic, and other disposable materials; and promoting rainwater harvesting.

The overall program reached 1,317 people (706 women and 611 men) across three municipalities and six communities, involving NGOs, schools, and local governments.

“The aim is to consume less energy from the national grid, thereby lowering pumping costs,” explained Ramos.

However, this cost reduction doesn’t necessarily translate into lower water bills for families in El Mozote and surrounding areas. That’s because the water system is municipally managed, and tariffs are set by local ordinances, making adjustments difficult—unlike community-run projects where residents and leaders can more easily agree on changes.

One benefit of the new system is that lower energy costs for the municipality free up funds to expand and improve other basic services—not just in Meanguera but also in places like El Mozote, Dennis Morel, the district director, told IPS.

The plaza of El Mozote, the iconic village in eastern El Salvador, was renovated, but local residents complain that the government-led construction work was not agreed upon with the community. Credit: Edgardo Ayala / IPS

Water in the postwar era

Otilia Chicas, a native of El Mozote, recalled what life was like in the village when there was no piped water service—back in the days following the end of the civil war in 1992, when people began returning to the area.

“We used to wash clothes in those communal wells. They were built after the war, in ’94,” said Chicas, pointing toward one of those now-empty wells, about 20 meters away from where she stood, inside a kiosk selling handicrafts, books, and T-shirts in El Mozote’s central plaza.

Next to the plaza is the mural bearing the names of the hundreds of people killed by the army—specifically, by units of the Atlacatl Battalion, trained in counterinsurgency by the United States.

“We used to fetch water from there and bathe there, but since these wells weren’t enough, we’d go to a spring, to ‘El Zanjo,’ as we called it,” she recounted.

She added that the drinking water project arrived between 2005 and 2006, finally bringing the resource directly into people’s homes.

“The community had to pitch in, and the hours people worked were counted as payment, as their contribution,” she noted while weaving colorful thread bracelets.

There is uncertainty over whether the kiosk in the village plaza will be removed. Several women from the El Mozote Historical Committee sell handicrafts and work as tour guides there. Credit: Edgardo Ayala / IPS

 Almost No One Was Spared 

Chicas, 45, was born in 1980, a year before the massacre. Now, she helps run the kiosk and works as a tour guide alongside other local women from the El Mozote Historical Committee, explaining to visitors the horrific events that took place in December 1981.

The artisan shared that her family lost several relatives in the 1981 massacre, as did nearly everyone here. The victims’ mural is filled with dozens of people bearing the last names Chicas, Márquez, Claros, and Argueta, among many others.

“My grandmother lost four of her children and 17 grandchildren,” she recalled.

Chicas’ father, in an attempt to save their lives, moved his family out of El Mozote before the massacre and resettled in Lourdes Colón, in the western part of the country. But the military ended up killing him in 1983 after discovering he was originally from Morazán and linking him to rebel groups.

“The National Guard came for him and two uncles—they saw they were from Morazán, a guerrilla zone,” she emphasized. “Before killing them, they forced them to dig their own graves. They were left by the roadside, in a place called El Tigre,” she explained.

The military operation that culminated in the massacre was planned and executed by the Salvadoran Army’s High Command, with support from Honduran soldiers and covered up by United States government officials, revealed Stanford University scholar Terry Karl in April 2021.

Karl testified as an expert witness during a hearing on the case held that April in San Francisco Gotera, the capital of Morazán.

Dormant in El Salvador’s judicial system since 1993, the case was reopened in September 2016. Among the accused are 15 soldiers—seven of them high-ranking Salvadoran officers—,the only surviving defendants from the original list of 33 military personnel.

The trial is currently in the investigative phase, where evidence is being gathered and examined before the judge decides whether to proceed to a full public trial.

A mural on the side of El Mozote’s plaza displays the names of the hundreds of people killed by the Salvadoran army in December 1981, marking the largest massacre of civilians in Latin America. Credit: Edgardo Ayala / IPS

Times of Uncertainty 

El Mozote’s central plaza has been renovated over the past three years as part of the government’s effort to give it a more orderly and modern appearance—a promise made by President Nayib Bukele when he visited the site in February 2021.

The town is also nearing completion of a Urban Center for Well-being and Opportunities (CUBO)—a government-sponsored community center designed to provide youth with access to reading materials, art, culture, and information and communication technologies.

However, some residents told IPS that these projects are being carried out without prior consultation or agreement with the community, in violation of the 2012 ruling by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which called for justice, truth, and reparations for the victims.

The reconstruction work demolished the bandstand, a space highly valued by the community as a gathering place for meetings and collective organizing.

Despite this, Chicas said she supports the plaza’s renovations, as they have made it more inviting for young people to spend time there. Still, she noted that the remodeling affected her personally.

The construction forced her to dismantle her small food stall, made of corrugated metal sheets, where she used to make and sell pupusas—El Salvador’s most iconic dish, made of corn and stuffed with beans, cheese, or pork.

Chicas also mentioned the ongoing uncertainty about whether the kiosk where she and other women craft and sell their handicrafts will be removed.

“We’re left in limbo—we don’t know what’s going to happen,” she said.

By Maximilian Malawista
UNITED NATIONS, Jun 6 2025 – While Asia and the Pacific seem to be booming in employment and GDP growth, reports reveal a possible volatile and fragile market pegged to U.S. consumerism.

The World Employment and Social Outlook for May 2025 from the International Labour Organization (ILO) reveals reductions of projections about the global job market in large percentages, reflecting an increasingly dependent and fragile job market.

According to the report, global GDP growth projections were lowered from 3.2 percent to 2.8 percent, correlating to a slowdown in economic growth, which is linked to a decrease in employment growth from 1.7 percent to 1.5 percent, a difference of 7 million jobs. The root cause of this decrease seems to be based in U.S. consumerism, linking trade disruptions due to high tariffs directly to lower outcomes.

A reliance of the global market on a single country’s consumerism reflects a weakening job market, one which relies on trade from high-income countries. Additionally, the labour income share — the percentage of money from a country’s GDP which goes directly into the laborers pockets — has fallen from 53 percent in 2014 to 52.4 percent in 2024, reflecting a global decrease in purchasing power parity (PPP).

Employment is also seeing a shift, with high- and middle-income countries experiencing market shifts from lower- to medium- skill occupations to high-skill occupations. Between 2013 and 2023, under-educated or qualified workers relative to their occupation dropped from 37.9 percent to 33.4 percent. Overeducated or overqualified workers rose from 15.5 percent to 18.9 percent.

The report also indicates shifts from generative AI, reflecting that nearly 1 in 4 workers have some level of exposure in their tasks, which could be automated by AI. Additionally, 16.3 percent of workers are experiencing medium exposure while 7.5 percent are in high exposure, especially in high-skill occupations.

Uncertainty rewriting employment projections

An estimated 407 million people are in want of a job but do not have one, leading to more people taking positions they may be overqualified for due to the lack of options. Credit: Unsplash/Alex Kotliarskyi

Uncertainty has become the biggest contender for slowed job growth. Even in a time where global market outputs continue to expand and inflationary pressures ease, employers are becoming more cautious in hiring more workers, while still retaining their current employees. Geo-political disturbances combined with systematic transitions have altered the job landscape, creating unprecedented and unconsulted scenarios for enterprises globally.

Inflation is projected to fall across most countries, dropping to 4.4 percent in 2025 compared to 5.8 percent in 2024. This could be due to an overall contraction in economic expansion globally. The U.S. reciprocal tariffs in April have been deemed to have profoundly shifted global trading landscapes, leading to a synchronized slowdown multilaterally across all regions. These changes influence businesses to create new strategies to either combat against the new landscape, or bend to the set demands.

407 million people in 2025 are estimated to want a job, but currently do not have one, resulting in a greater occupancy of people taking lower quality or more vulnerable positions due to a lack of options.

The Asia-Pacific region accounts for the world’s fastest-growing economies, projecting a growth of 3.8 percent, compared to the Americas at 1.8 percent, and Europe and Central Asia at 1.5 percent. Yet from a 2023 estimate, 56 million jobs in Asia and the Pacific were found to be directly or indirectly linked through supply chains to final demand, the highest share out of any other region, creating the most volatility out of any other market in face of new tariffs: leaving employment in the hands of US demand for imports.

Employment growth sees its highest rates in Asia and the Pacific growing at 1.7 percent or 34 million, followed by Africa, with much lower projections seen by the Americas at 1.2 percent, and then Europe and central Asia at a mere 0.6 percent.

Economic growth and productivity amidst global setbacks

From 2014 to 2024, the global GDP grew by 33.5 percent, with the Asia-Pacific GDP growing up to 55 percent. This would reflect fast recoveries even amidst the economic downturns brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. The ILO report finds that economic growth in the Asia-Pacific region is found in productivity improvements rather than the creation of new jobs. Contrasting this, Africa and Arab states accompanied their economic growth by increased employment opportunities.

Informal employment remains slightly above formal employment, with a difference in growth rate by 1.1 percent, informal employment representing 2 billion people, 57.8 percent of all workers globally. Countries with high informal employment still saw large amounts of economic growth, with 85 percent of workers in Africa to be informally employed, expanding at 29.3 percent in the recent decade. However, in Asia and the Pacific, informal employment has been in decline of 11.3 percent over the past decade, reflecting on similar economic outcomes whether it be from formal or informal employment.

Labour income shares decline in Africa, the Americas, Europe, and Central Asia, and yet increase in Asia and the Pacific along with the Arab states across the same period of time. This suggests occupational dynamic changes in technology and market structures fractioned regionally across the globe. Due to this, the occupation composition – the type of jobs which flood the market – have changed throughout the years, mainly driven by different technological needs and the use of different skill sets.

Employment shares per country tend to look very different, usually depicted by GDP, as higher income countries will be less invested into markets like elementary occupations and agriculture, and more into professional, technical, and managerial sectors, reflecting greater interest in technology, business, and higher education.

Globally, more than half of workers are mismatched to their job, either being undereducated or overeducated, with the deficit being the largest in low-income countries, but this has been decreasing significantly over the past decade. Rising education levels seem to contribute to the share of appropriate qualifications for jobs.

An ever-changing landscape

Faster than any other time in human history, dynamics are changing. This report reflects on the volatility of the employment market globally, and how certain factors might correlate to a decrease or increase in one sector but could be completely different regionally: overall reflecting on a difference of technology and focus. Economies which are still agricultural, garment-based, and high-labor low-education see opposite methods to similar economic outcomes to countries which are prioritizing productivity, education, and technical skills, meaning there is no perfect formula to a stable global economic balance.

“The findings of this report on the employment landscape are sobering, but they can also act as a roadmap for the creation of decent jobs,” said ILO Director-General Gilbert Houngbo. “We can make a difference, and we can do so by strengthening social protection, investing in skills development, promoting social dialogue, and building inclusive labor markets to ensure that technological change benefits all. And we must do so with urgency, ambition, and solidarity.”

Mentioning the “need for inclusivity” is perhaps the most important factor when looking to expand the global economy. If each country is not going to tilt increasing in the same manner, each region needs to be addressed according to their needs and economic focus.

In February, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgieva, said that governments were “shifting policy priorities”. “There are significant policy changes in the United States, in areas such as trade policy, taxation, public spending, immigration, and deregulation, with implications for the U.S. economy and the rest of the world…The combined impacts of possible policy changes are complex and still difficult to assess but will come into clearer view in the months ahead.” The acting director reflected on the current era of “uncertainty”, viewing the United States’ role in global trade to only be adding to that level of uncertainty, also displaying that each country’s policy creates different economic outcomes based on their own economic focuses.

IPS UN Bureau