South Asian Network on Human Rights Calls on Bhutan to Free Political Prisoners

By Roshmi Goswami and P. Saravanamuttu
THIMPHU, Bhutan, Mar 26 2024 – South Asians for Human Rights (SAHR), a regional network of human rights defenders, has called on the Government of Bhutan to release the political prisoners it has detained for decades.

SAHR made the call on the occasion of the 16th World Social Forum (WSF) held in Nepal recently, where a session was organised on ‘Bhutan’s Prisoners of Conscience’.

The session drew attention to the expulsion of Bhutanese citizens of Nepali origin, also known as Lhotshampas, which started in the late 1980’s into the early 1990’s. While the situation of the Lhotshampa refugees was relatively well known, the reality of political prisoners, many of whom have spent more than 30 years in Chamjang Jail, has only recently been reported. Further, there are also significant numbers of disappeared citizens of Bhutan about whom not much is known.

While at present Bhutan puts up a front of a country high on the Gross National Happiness index, it hides the sufferings of the Lhotshampas who were strategically expelled, made stateless, and also detained as prisoners categorised as ‘non-nationals’ or ‘anti-nationals’.

These Prisoners of Conscience are held in prison for their expressions of political beliefs or identity assertion, while others have been framed. Different international human rights organisations have recognised 50-100 people still held as political prisoners in Bhutan, without trials or cases being brought, with 37 kept in Chamgang Jail.

Bhutan as a country moved towards democracy from absolute monarchy in 2008 with the promulgation of the Constitution. However, in many respects the country has remained autocratic, and successive kings have held ultimate power even as the state security establishment cracked down on Lhotshampa activists who demanded democracy and an end to discriminatory policies, including that of Driglam Namza, which called for cultural purity tied to the ‘Drukpa’ community.

Some of the incarcerated Lhotshampa were arrested in the early 1990s and have been detained for nearly 43 years. Different human rights organisations at various times have made efforts for the release of the political prisoners, without success.

The ultimate power for release of the political prisoners lies at present with King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and SAHR believes that he should personally be held accountable for the continued incarcerations.

SAHR believes that Bhutan’s progression towards a democratic state, where the citizenry is truly ‘happy’ and content, requires the release of the prisoners of conscience. SAHR further calls on the international community, including Nepal as the host country of refugees and India as a country that has not done its bit on the refugee issue being the land neighbour of Bhutan and with deep links to the Bhutanese state, to work to persuade Bhutan to take back the refugees who have refused to take the option of third-country settlement. These Lhotshampa refugees languish in the camps of Southeast Nepal, maintaining a principled stand on their ‘right of return’.

SAHR is also concerned that the remaining several thousand refugees in southeast Nepal are now without support of international organisations such as UNHCR and WFP. Similarly, the Government of Nepal has disbanded the refugee camps, and it has also become difficult for the refugees to move about and lead normal lives.

SAHR demands that the Government of Nepal as well as international organisations re-engage with Bhutanese refugees and provide support and security to the refugees still in Nepal.

SAHR notes that the lives of the refugees have been made more complicated by the scam involving top-level Nepali politicians and officials involved in providing Nepali citizens with fake certificates as Bhutanese refugees to make fraudulent income with the promise to get them settled in third countries.

The exposure of this scam has, through no fault of their own, made the refugees in Nepal more vulnerable to neglect and delays on the hands of the host country’s officialdom.

Further, SAHR demands the following of and on behalf of Bhutan’s prisoners of conscience as well as refugees:

    • While the majority of the Lhotshampa refugees have been provided a third country resettlement, this does not undermine their entitlement to right of return to Bhutan, which they consider as their homeland.
    • The Government of Nepal should provide for the needs of the refugees who are currently restricted to live in camps, including the issuance of travel documentation, birth certificates, marriage certificates, death certificates and refugee ID card renewals which facilitate their rights and entitlements within Nepal.
    • The Lhotshampa refugees in Nepal have the right to decent living and quality of life, for which they should have the right to work.
    • The scam in Nepal regarding the creation of fake refugees of Nepali citizens should be impartially investigated and the perpetrators duly brought to justice, while the refugees themselves should not be made subject to further discrimination as a result of the racket.

Dr. Roshmi Goswami is Co-Chairperson, South Asians for Human Rights (SAHR); Dr. P. Saravanamuttu is Bureau Member, SAHR

IPS UN Bureau

 


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Governments Worldwide Prioritize School Feeding for Its Multiple Benefits

By Marty Logan
KATHMANDU, Mar 26 2024 – Before COVID-19 hit, in January 2020, 388 million children worldwide were being fed every day at school. Soon after lockdowns began, that number plummeted to 18 million, but just two years later, in 2022, it had recovered, and more — school feeding had reached 420 million children.

Labelled the world’s largest social security net by the United Nations World Food Programme, school meals have become essential tools for governments rich and poor globally. Not only does school feeding allow once-hungry students to focus on learning, in many cases the schemes also help to improve nutrition and eating habits, ensure regular attendance, and through buying ingredients locally or in-country, help to boost local and national economies.

Today’s guest, Donald Bundy, is Director of the Global Research Consortium for School Health and Nutrition. He told me that he is not surprised at the swift recovery of school meals after COVID-19 — he says it was politically expedient for many governments to bring them back quickly. What he didn’t predict was that the recovery would surpass pre-pandemic numbers, even as governments north and south struggled to overcome barriers such as broken supply chains, growing inequality, and persistent inflation.

Bundy points out that school feeding is not an initiative of aid agencies or donor governments. In fact, 98% of the programmes are financed by national governments as investments in their people and future workforce.

We also discuss how countries in the global south, such as Brazil, India and Rwanda, are breaking ground for innovative school feeding while outlier northern countries, such as Canada and Norway, are starting to discuss whether it’s time to adopt national programmes. Bundy also explains how fallout from the pandemic pushed lawmakers in the United States to adopt school meals schemes which led to universal initiatives that feed all students in some of the country’s largest cities, like Houston, New York and Washington, DC.

Resources

 

Building Resilience and Mental Health Capacity of Youth

Youth mental health in Sri Lanka was the focus of an APDA-supported two-day workshop. Credit: ILO

Youth mental health in Sri Lanka was the focus of an APDA-supported two-day workshop. Credit: ILO

By Cecilia Russell
SRI JAYAWARDENEPURA KOTTE & ATHENS, Mar 25 2024 – Sri Lankan lawmaker Hector Appuhamy, in conversation with IPS ahead of a two-day conference aimed at educating  and involving university students in mental health issues, said parliamentarians were concerned about gaps in the programmes and financing for youth mental health. They were looking beyond the country’s health budget for support in ensuring that youth were able to access mental health facilities in a supportive environment.

IPS: According to my research, Sri Lanka has one of the highest suicide rates in the world. While the revised mental health policy for 2020–2030 identifies the needs of adolescents and youth, it would seem there are few policies and programmes that deal specifically with the issue for youth. How are parliamentarians addressing this issue?

Hon. Hector Appuhamy, MP Sri Lanka

Hon. Hector Appuhamy, MP Sri Lanka

Hector Appuhamy: Suicide rates in Sri Lanka have indeed been a concerning issue, with the country historically having one of the highest rates globally. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Sri Lanka’s suicide rate was estimated at 14.6 per 100,000 population in 2016. While addressing this issue, it’s imperative to recognize that mental health policies and programs tailored specifically for youth are crucial in mitigating such challenges.

As parliamentarians, we understand the urgency of addressing mental health issues among youth, including the risk of suicide.

Even though the mental health policy for 2020–2030 recognizes the needs of young people, there aren’t enough programs in place to help them properly. In response, parliamentarians are working on different ways to tackle this issue.

The new statistics have made government officials and parliamentarians take a closer look at mental health services in Sri Lanka, especially for young people. They’ve realized that there aren’t enough programs or resources to help young people with their mental health. So, parliamentarians are trying to find out why this is happening and what needs to change. They’re doing assessments to find the gaps and come up with new policies and programs to help young people with their mental health.

Parliamentarians are also working with different groups, like the government, charities, and mental health experts, to find solutions. They’re trying to develop programs that specifically address the needs of young people. By working together, they hope to make sure that young people’s mental health is a priority and that they get the help they need.

The proposed program isn’t just about fixing things now—it’s about planning for the future too. Parliamentarians want to make sure that young people in Sri Lanka have the support they need for their mental health, both now and in the years to come.

IPS: Only a small proportion of the 5% of national expenditure that is spent on health, is used for mental health. One of the shortcomings is the resource gap. What ways, including involving the private sector, are parliamentarians working on to ensure that the funds and programmes become available for youth mental health?

Appuhamy: Addressing the resource gap in mental health services, particularly for youth, necessitates a multi-faceted approach involving collaboration with both public and private sectors.

Organizations including APDA, UNDP, and UNICEF always support Sri Lanka through diverse programs. Recognizing this imperative, we are to initiate discussions aimed at devising strategies to secure funding and attract support from these and many other organizations. This novel initiative seeks to garner their attention and enlist their support in fortifying the resilience of our youth, given their established track record of extending aid where it is most needed.

By underscoring the pivotal role of mental health services for young people, we endeavor to ensure a substantial allocation of the health budget towards mental health initiatives. In line with these efforts, discussions are underway to implement the following initiatives:

Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs): Promote partnerships between the government and private sector entities, such as corporate organizations and philanthropic foundations, to support youth mental health programs. These partnerships can involve financial contributions, in-kind donations, or expertise sharing to enhance the effectiveness and reach of mental health services.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Initiatives: Parliamentarians will collaborate with private sector companies to develop CSR initiatives focused on youth mental health. Through CSR programs, companies can allocate resources, including funding, employee volunteering, and in-kind support, towards addressing mental health challenges among young people in their communities.

Incentives for Private Sector Investment: Parliamentarians may propose incentives, such as grants, subsidies, or preferential access to government contracts, to encourage private sector investment in youth mental health programs. These incentives can attract private sector participation and stimulate innovation in mental health service delivery.

By employing these strategies and fostering collaboration between the public and private sectors, parliamentarians aim to bridge the resource gap and ensure that funds and programs are available for youth mental health initiatives in Sri Lanka.

IPS: WHO suggests that supportive environments, education and awareness, the involvement of youths in policy development, peer support with trained peers, and the collection of reliable data are all crucial to assisting with youth mental health How are lawmakers ensuring that a comprehensive social package is available to address mental health in youth?

We acknowledge the significance of a comprehensive approach to addressing mental health issues among youth, a stance echoed by the World Health Organization (WHO). In Sri Lanka, the existence of a youth parliament comprising young participants endowed with diverse insights and innovative ideas underscores the potential reservoir of knowledge within this demographic. As parliamentarians, we are committed to adapting our strategies by actively involving youth in decision-making processes.

In our capacity as parliamentarians, we are strategizing to actively engage young individuals in the formulation of mental health policies and programs. By integrating youth voices and perspectives into policymaking endeavors, we endeavor to ensure that mental health initiatives are contextually relevant, responsive, and inclusive of the unique needs and preferences of young people.

We are trying to push for more education and awareness campaigns to increase understanding of mental health issues among youth, families, educators, and communities. These campaigns aim to destigmatize mental illness, promote early intervention, and provide information about available resources and support services.

As parliament members, we prioritize the collection of reliable data on youth mental health to inform evidence-based policies and programs. This includes monitoring mental health indicators, prevalence rates, service utilization, and outcomes to assess the effectiveness of interventions and identify areas for improvement.

By implementing these strategies and collaborating with stakeholders, lawmakers strive to create a supportive and inclusive environment that promotes the mental health and well-being of youth in Sri Lanka. Through ongoing efforts and investments, they aim to build a sustainable framework that addresses the complex and evolving mental health needs of young people.

IPS: What outcomes do you expect from your two-day conference aimed at educating university students about mental health issues?

Appuhamy: Our strategy entails convening approximately 40 students from diverse universities across the nation for a comprehensive two-day conference, structured as a residential program. This initiative, aimed at educating university students about mental health issues, is anticipated to yield numerous beneficial outcomes:

Firstly, the conference aims to enhance awareness and deepen understanding among university students regarding various facets of mental health. Topics to be covered include identifying mental health issues, coping mechanisms, triggers for such issues, relevant laws and regulations, avenues for seeking assistance, and contact information for relevant authorities. These crucial insights will be imparted to students through interactive sessions facilitated by esteemed resource persons, including university professors, a consultant psychiatrist, a chief inspector of police, a deputy solicitor general, and motivational speakers.

Furthermore, the program seeks to achieve several objectives, including:

Reduced Stigma: By providing accurate information and fostering open discussions, the conference aims to reduce the stigma surrounding mental issues. This can help create a more supportive and accepting environment where students feel comfortable discussing their mental health concerns and seeking assistance when needed.

Improved Help-Seeking Behaviors: The conference will equip students with knowledge about available mental health resources and support services, empowering them to seek help proactively for themselves or their peers who may be struggling with mental health challenges.

Enhanced Coping Skills: Through workshops, presentations, and interactive sessions, students will learn practical strategies for managing stress, building resilience, and promoting mental well-being. These skills can empower students to navigate the pressures of university life more effectively.

Inspiration for Advocacy and Action: By hearing from experts, advocates, and individuals with lived experience, students may be inspired to become mental health champions within their university community and beyond. This can lead to increased advocacy efforts, initiatives to improve campus mental health services, and broader societal change.

Long-term Impact: The knowledge and skills gained during the conference have the potential to have a lasting impact on students’ mental health and well-being throughout their academic journey and beyond. By investing in mental health education and awareness at the university level, we aim to create a culture of support and resilience that benefits students for years to come.

IPS: How are parliamentarians encouraging universities’ leadership (both academic and student) to ensure that mental health programs are available to students?

Appuhamy: We are cognizant of the fact that our current engagement with universities may not be sufficient to address mental health issues among students. Consequently, we are planning to open discussions with higher-ranking officials to elevate the prominence of this matter. Through these dialogues, we aim to shed more light on the challenges faced by students regarding mental health and identify priority areas for intervention. By fostering open communication with university authorities, we seek to enhance our understanding of the specific needs and concerns of students, thus enabling us to tailor our approach more effectively and address mental health issues comprehensively within the university setting.

As parliamentarians, we are proposing to engage directly with university leadership, including academic administrators, deans, and student affairs officials, to discuss the importance of mental health and encourage proactive measures to support student well-being. This may involve meetings, forums, and consultations to share best practices and identify areas for improvement.

It is a plan to exercise legislative oversight to ensure that universities are fulfilling their responsibilities in addressing mental health issues among students. They may conduct hearings, inquiries, or audits to assess the effectiveness of mental health programs and hold universities accountable for meeting established standards. So that they can manage the issues arising due to harassment happening with the universities, which leads to problems in student’s mental health capacity.

Overall, parliamentarians play a vital role in advocating for the availability of mental health programs at universities by engaging with university leadership, allocating resources, fostering collaboration, and promoting student involvement. By working together, they can create supportive environments where students have access to the resources and support, they need to thrive academically and emotionally.

IPS: Is there anything else you would like to add?

In closing, I would like to emphasize the critical importance of prioritizing mental health at all levels of society, including within educational institutions like universities. Mental health issues among students not only impact academic performance but also have profound implications for overall well-being and future success.

As parliamentarians, educators, healthcare professionals, and community leaders, we have a collective responsibility to ensure that mental health programs and support services are accessible, inclusive, and effective. By investing in mental health education, destigmatization efforts, and proactive intervention strategies, we can create environments where students feel valued, supported, and empowered to prioritize their mental well-being.

Additionally, it’s essential to recognize that addressing mental health requires a holistic and multi-sectoral approach. Collaboration between government agencies, academic institutions, healthcare providers, NGOs, and community organizations is essential to creating comprehensive solutions that address the diverse needs of students and promote a culture of mental well-being.

I encourage continued dialogue, collaboration, and advocacy to advance mental health initiatives in Sri Lanka and beyond. Together, we can make meaningful strides towards creating a society where mental health is valued, supported, and prioritized for all individuals, including our youth.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 


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Grassroots Venezuelan Initiative Aims to Combat Electricity Crisis with Solar Energy

Maracaibo, next to the lake of the same name and the capital of Zulia, one of the regions hardest hit by the electricity crisis in Venezuela, is incubating a citizen initiative so that homes could be equipped with solar panels. Its example has spread to other regions of the country. CREDIT: Uria

Maracaibo, next to the lake of the same name and the capital of Zulia, one of the regions hardest hit by the electricity crisis in Venezuela, is incubating a citizen initiative so that homes could be equipped with solar panels. Its example has spread to other regions of the country. CREDIT: Uria

By Humberto Márquez
MARACAIBO, Venezuela , Mar 25 2024 – Sweating profusely, unable to sleep because of the heat, fed up with years of blackouts several times a day, many residents of Venezuela’s torrid northwest want to cover the roofs and balconies of their homes with solar panels, and are asking the government to import them massively and cheaply from China.

“It is a proposal to break out of the quagmire immediately, to close the gap between supply and demand for electricity, 60 percent of which in Venezuela goes to residential consumption,” engineer Lenin Cardozo, one of the main promoters of the Zulia Solar and Venezuela Solar citizen initiatives, told IPS.”The solution to the electricity problem no longer lies in thermal plants, which in Venezuela we continue to repair while they are being closed down in other parts of the world, but in new sources and technologies, such as solar power.” — Lenin Cardozo

The northwestern state of Zulia, of which Maracaibo is the capital, produced Venezuela’s great oil wealth throughout the 20th century but has become, along with the neighboring Andes region, the Cinderella of the grid that supplies electricity, generated mainly in the distant southeast of the country, bordering Brazil.

Zulia Solar emerged last year as an association to foment solutions to the lack of electricity suffered by millions of inhabitants of the region. And so far in 2024, replicas have emerged in twenty other states, with aspirations of becoming a national movement: Venezuela Solar.

Its president, lawyer Vileana Meleán, said that “the novelty is that this time the citizens are organized and we are coordinating among ourselves to present the government with this solution that arises from civil society, with a three-point proposal.”

The first point is for the government to massively import solar panels from China, the world’s leading producer – with which Caracas has developed strong commercial and political ties – in order to obtain advantageous prices, and for it to organize a distribution system that makes them affordable to households interested in installing them.

The second is that, in order to lower prices, panels, batteries and other components of solar energy systems should be made exempt from various taxes, such as customs duties and the value added tax.

And the third point calls for the creation of a public and private financing policy, with soft loans, so that families of modest means can purchase the panels and other materials required for the new installation.

Power outages, in the form of sudden blackouts, surprise sectors of the cities of western Venezuela, such as the torrid city of Maracaibo. Local residents are fed up with suffering heat without the possibility of air conditioning or fans, the spoilage of food and damage to their household appliances. CREDIT: Transparencia Venezuela

Power outages, in the form of sudden blackouts, surprise sectors of the cities of western Venezuela, such as the torrid city of Maracaibo. Local residents are fed up with suffering heat without the possibility of air conditioning or fans, the spoilage of food and damage to their household appliances. CREDIT: Transparencia Venezuela

The reason for the desperation

“When the electricity cuts off, the water goes out, the pumps don’t work. The food in the refrigerator spoils. During the day it is 40 or 42 degrees Celsius, but the thermal sensation reaches 47 degrees,” teacher Rita Zarate told IPS one afternoon in the hallway of her home in the working-class La Pomona neighborhood of Maracaibo.

In the last 24 hours the electricity had been cut three times, lasting between three and four hours each time.

For her family – mother, siblings, children, nieces and nephews – “the worst thing is not being able to sleep when the blackouts happen at night and in the early morning hours. In the bedroom, the heat is unbearable; outside, there are clouds of mosquitoes,” which swarm people in the house when the air conditioning or electric fans are turned off.

A sleepless night, trying to sleep when a breeze blows in the courtyard, keeping the elderly and little ones hydrated, and trying to get transportation to work at daybreak, which might not be available because the blackouts paralyze the fuel pumps and the owners of private vehicles spend hours waiting for the power to come back on so they can fill their tanks.

Zárate said that “it is the same for the children at school: classes two or three days a week, half a day, if they can run the fans. Or in the playground. Sometimes their parents leave them at home, other times the heat gets so bad that we have to send them back.”

Internet to study or to do work, to get administrative procedures done in offices, to operate ATMs in banks, to walk at night under street lights? These are options that are vanishing for those who live on the shores of Lake Maracaibo.

“In the last century Maracaibo was jokingly called ‘the coldest city in Venezuela’ because there was air conditioning everywhere. That’s not true anymore, they only work off and on now,” Luis Ramírez, director of the graduate program in quality systems at the private Andrés Bello Catholic University (Ucab), based in Caracas, told IPS.

He said that many homes in Zulia and the other 22 states outside Caracas have small gasoline-powered generators, but due to the scarcity of fuel – paradoxically, in the country that boasts the largest oil reserves on the planet – they are used less and less.

Zárate remains hopeful that change will come. But with regard to solar panels, he said that “I’ve heard about them, but it sounds like a distant solution,” and added that “one thing is for sure: with our income (every adult in his family earns less than 60 dollars a month) we won’t be able to afford them.”

Workers in a solar panel factory in China, by far the world's largest producer. The Zulia and Venezuela Solar associations are asking the government to use its political and commercial ties with Beijing to negotiate a massive import of solar panels, and to make them affordable by eliminating taxes and granting soft loans. CREDIT: Xataka

Workers in a solar panel factory in China, by far the world’s largest producer. The Zulia and Venezuela Solar associations are asking the government to use its political and commercial ties with Beijing to negotiate a massive import of solar panels, and to make them affordable by eliminating taxes and granting soft loans. CREDIT: Xataka

Problems and hopes

Meleán proposed to her supporters in Zulia Solar and Venezuela Solar “to hold on now more tightly to the hope” that the acquisition and installation of solar panels will become widespread, based on a speech by President Nicolás Maduro, who is seeking reelection on Jul. 28 to a third six-year term.

At a Mar. 13 campaign rally, Maduro said that “the social movements have proposed a 2025-2030 plan for solar energy to reach the communal councils, the homes, the urban developments. It is one of the great solutions for the 21st century.”

At the end of the 20th century, Venezuela had a nominal installed generation capacity of 34,000 megawatt hours (MWh), including 18,000 MWh in thermal plants and 16,000 MWh in hydroelectric plants, and the peak demand of 18,000 MWh was reached in 1982.

From that year on, economic crises followed one after the other, reducing demand and the operability of the facilities. In the second decade of the 21st century, the country experienced a recession that cut GDP by four-fifths, while power plants and grids deteriorated until they generated no more than 10,000 MWh.

Experts put current demand at about 12,000 MWh, and the gap between supply and demand has led to energy rationing based on outages that affect almost the entire country – with the exception of Caracas – but especially the west, the region most distant from the southeastern Guri hydroelectric power plant, which generates two-thirds of the electricity consumed.

Zulia is barely surviving on what it receives from the Guri power plant and a dozen thermal power plants, which have deteriorated after being designed to be gas-fired and instead use diesel, contributing to their inefficiency and decline.

Cardozo said “the solution to the electricity problem no longer lies in thermal plants, which in Venezuela we continue to repair while they are being closed down in other parts of the world, but in new sources and technologies, such as solar power.”

Two thirds of Venezuela's electricity depends on the Guri hydroelectric power plant in the southeast of the country. The distance and the poor state of the transmission and distribution networks result in supply failures in the western part of the country, fueling the search for alternatives such as solar panels in homes. CREDIT: Corpoelec

Two thirds of Venezuela’s electricity depends on the Guri hydroelectric power plant in the southeast of the country. The distance and the poor state of the transmission and distribution networks result in supply failures in the western part of the country, fueling the search for alternatives such as solar panels in homes. CREDIT: Corpoelec

Venezuela “needs to incorporate technologies such as solar power, as an alternative to cover the gap between supply and demand in the short term, and with decentralized initiatives until large projects can move forward,” he said.

He added that a solar panel that costs 30 or 50 dollars in China, for example, depending on its capacity, sells for 10 times that in Venezuela, due to the costs and taxes along the supply chain.

Hence Venezuela Solar’s proposal for the government to intervene with massive purchases from its giant Asian partner, to abolish the taxes on their import and commercialization, and to facilitate financing for households.

Cardozo stressed that constant technological advances will make it possible not only to reduce the cost but also the size and complexity of domestic solar installations.

He estimated that a household could produce enough power for essential consumption with two 500-watt panels, and could run an air conditioner with four more, at a cost of about 1,000 dollars.

That would be the result if the government fully embraces Venezuela Solar’s proposals. The Zulia Solar group is preparing a pilot test in Maracaibo, with 400 houses that would have panels on their roofs and 100 apartments that would have panels on their balconies.

Solar panels supply energy to a health center in El Cruce, a remote village in the state of Zulia, in the far western part of the country, bordering Colombia. In the recent past, small hybrid wind and solar systems have been installed in isolated communities, but most have been lost due to lack of maintenance. CREDIT: ICRC

Solar panels supply energy to a health center in El Cruce, a remote village in the state of Zulia, in the far western part of the country, bordering Colombia. In the recent past, small hybrid wind and solar systems have been installed in isolated communities, but most have been lost due to lack of maintenance. CREDIT: ICRC

Not everything is positive

Representatives of companies that in the last three years have installed solar panels in homes and businesses in Venezuelan cities estimate costs of 4,000 dollars or more for an installation that meets the basic needs of a home.

In this country of 29 million inhabitants, the average salary is around 130 dollars per month, according to consulting firms. Measured by income level, 82 percent of households live in poverty and more than 50 percent in critical poverty, according to the Ucab Living Conditions Survey, released this month.

Ramírez pointed out that Maracaibo was not only the artificially coldest city in the country, but also the one with the highest electricity consumption per person, “and that is why aiming at a mass solution with solar panels on roofs and balconies requires a kind of prior census to estimate the real amount of equipment needed.”

Another expert, Alejandro López-González, told IPS that “Venezuela’s electricity problem will not be solved with solar panels on the roofs of homes in its big cities. It is not possible, because of our climate, which demands a high level of air conditioning.”

“If we turn to a complementary development of renewable energies, the ideal would be large solar and wind farms, because they provide higher energy intensity, for a greater capacity of use, and with a moderately centralized distribution system,” said López-González.

He argued that while the installation of panels in homes also complements local or regional grids, it falls short of solving the electricity crisis.

On the other hand, he noted that the assembly of solar panels began 14 years ago in Venezuela, in a state-owned plant that has worked intermittently but which could be reopened, while other factories could be built, if an agreement is reached with China for production and not only for imports.

In his book “Renewable Energíes in Venezuela. Experiences and lessons for a sustainable future”, López-González compares the country’s solar and wind potential.

This country’s solar power potential is among the highest in Latin America, with an average of 5.35 kilowatt hours per square meter per day (5.35 kWh/m2), close to the highest, in Chile (5.75) and Bolivia (5.42), according to studies by the Venezuelan University of Los Andes, based in the western Andean state of Mérida.

With respect to wind energy, in the northwest of the country alone, the potential reaches 12,000 MWh – similar to the capacity of Guri -, favored by trade winds with high levels of constancy, direction and speed, up to eight meters per second.

Venezuela also has the potential to develop solar farms and wind farms on its Caribbean islands and northeastern mainland coast to add thousands of MWh, which could limit thermal plants to a complementary status.

Between 10 and 15 years ago, the government installed up to 50 MWh of wind power generation and more than 2,000 small hybrid systems – solar and wind – through the “Sembrando luz” program, mainly in remote indigenous and peasant communities, which has been abandoned for the past decade.

Currently there are some isolated installations in several cities – mainly businesses – and small hybrid systems on livestock farms or large plantations, to ensure the refrigeration of products or to operate water wells.

Against this backdrop, with constant blackouts and as the country heads towards a new presidential election on Jul. 28, Venezuela and Zulia Solar activists are betting that their proposals will prosper.

“The country is beginning to rethink other ways to address its electricity security problem. The value and strategic use of solar energy has been incorporated into the public agenda as an immediate solution to overcome the current electricity crisis,” said Cardozo.

Defending Human Rights is Increasingly Dangerous: US Congress & Companies Must Act

Desmond D’Sa (center) has been fighting the environmental and human rights abuses of South Africa’s oil and gas industries for more than 20 years. “They’ve tried to kill us, petrol-bomb us, but they will not win, because we are standing firm.” Credit: Andrew Bogrand/Oxfam

By Andrew Bogrand and Sarah Gardiner
WASHINGTON DC, Mar 25 2024 – Human rights defenders are under fire. At a time when the climate crisis is deepening and threats to democracy are on the rise, activists working to protect people and the environment are facing deadly threats. Front Line Defenders documented more than 400 murders of defenders in 2022—the highest number ever recorded.

New legislation introduced by U.S. Senator Ben Cardin, Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, might help reverse this alarming trend.

The Human Rights Defenders Protection Act of 2024 would strengthen the U.S. government’s ability to protect individuals abroad who are attacked for peacefully defending human rights.

“At a time when human rights defenders are under attack all over the world, it is encouraging to see such a strong bill being introduced to the floor of the Senate,” said Mary Lawlor, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders.

Last year marked 25 years since passage of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders (HRDs), but activists continue to experience violence, torture, arbitrary detention, surveillance, harassment, and threats to their families and friends—and assassinations. Communities and defenders in the path of mining, oil, and other extractive companies face the biggest threats.

“They are scaring me 24/7. I can’t sleep,” said South African human rights defender Nonhle Mbuthuma in Oxfam in a new film from Oxfam—Hold the Line—that documents the struggles and successes of activists around the world. Many of her colleagues have met untimely deaths.

“They died in different ways. Some have been poisoned, some have been assassinated.” For women, there’s also the risk of sexual violence as explained by Magaly Belalcazár Ortega, an environmental defender from Colombia also featured in the film.

Attacks on defenders reflect broader threats to fundamental freedoms and are emblematic of shrinking civic space everywhere. Authoritarians who intentionally cultivate closed systems of governance to hide acts of corruption, stifle dissenting voices, and cover up human rights abuses view a strong and vibrant civil society as a threat—and often see defenders as embodiments of that threat.

Repressive governments and their enablers have grown bolder in recent years. In January 2023, South African human rights advocate and lawyer Thulani Maseko was murdered in his home in front of his family.

And despite international attention and outcry, high-profile activists like Noé Gómez Barrera, pro-democracy leader of the Indigenous Xinka Parliament of Guatemala, have become targets for assassination.

Oxfam network of partners around the world report that typical diplomatic responses are not having the desired impact. Strongly worded statements, calls for independent investigations, and one-off visa bans and targeted financial sanctions are critical first steps toward accountability for rights abuses. However, ad hoc approaches do not result in sufficient justice, nor do they deter future attacks.

The Human Rights Defenders Protection Act would address these shortcomings by requiring the U.S. government to adopt a strategic approach to supporting human rights defenders—one where the defense and protection of defenders is recognized as a core national security interest and fundamental moral obligation of the United States.

Specifically, the bill requires creation of a new visa category for at-risk defenders; increases protections for defenders testifying at multilateral forums; and expands the resources available to U.S. diplomatic missions to support defenders and strengthen their work.

Protecting and resourcing the work of defenders is critical to achieving a just energy transition, safeguarding the environment, upholding the rights of minority communities, countering democratic backsliding, and creating accountable and transparent systems of government.

The international community must move beyond reacting to attacks and toward forward-looking strategies. President Biden has called on the U.S. government to put human rights at the center of America’s foreign policy. It’s not possible to do that without protecting the rights defenders themselves.

“We need to be supported by our own governments,” said Mbuthuma, “but also by the international community.” And, while governments, UN agencies, and multilaterals have the primary responsibility to protect human rights, companies have substantial obligations, too.

A common thread in all the stories featured in Hold the Line are communities and activists pushing back on multinational extractive companies backed by local governments; , the transition to a clean energy future requires a human rights agenda with serious protections for defenders and civic space. When it comes to human rights defenders, businesses can – and must – do better.

This starts with shoring up lagging public policies. Oxfam recently analyzed the policies of the largest transition-mineral mining companies on several intersecting issues related to community consent, human rights due diligence, and the protection of human rights defenders. Only eight of the 43 surveyed companies publicly recognized the legitimacy of human rights defenders and had zero tolerance for any form of retaliation against them.

Stronger corporate policies coupled with more ambitious government action will strengthen our shared civic space and support defenders at risk everywhere.

Andrew Bogrand is a senior policy advisor for extractive industries at Oxfam, where he focuses on civic space, inequality, and corruption.

Sarah Gardiner is policy lead for governance at Oxfam America.

IPS UN Bureau

 


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World’s Democracies Threatened by Disinformation Generated by Artificial Intelligence

Credit: UN Photo/Loey Felipe

 
On March 21, the 193-member UN General Assembly adopted a landmark resolution—the first ever — on the promotion of “safe, secure and trustworthy” artificial intelligence (AI) systems that will also benefit “sustainable development for all”. Adopting a United States-led draft resolution, without a vote, the Assembly also highlighted the respect, protection and promotion of human rights in the design, development, deployment and the use of AI. The text was “co-sponsored” or backed by more than 120 other Member States

By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 25 2024 – Speaking at the third Summit for Democracy in South Korea last week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned that a malicious “flood” of disinformation is threatening the world’s democracies—triggered in part by the rise of artificial intelligence (AI).

But AI is also a critical arena in which democracy is being challenged. “So, while we seek to harness the power of AI and other digital technologies for good, some governments are abusing those same technologies to do just the opposite,” he said.

They’re using AI tools, like facial recognition and bots, to surveil their own citizens, harass journalists, human rights defenders, and political dissidents. They are also spreading mis- and disinformation that undermines free and fair elections, or sets one segment of our societies against another, Blinken said.

A Washington Post article in January titled ‘AI is destabilizing ‘the concept of truth itself’ focuses on the upcoming US Congressional and presidential elections while pointing out that experts in artificial intelligence have long warned that AI-generated content could muddy the waters of perceived reality.

“Weeks into a pivotal election year, AI confusion is on the rise.”

“Politicians around the globe have been swatting away potentially damning pieces of evidence — grainy video footage of hotel trysts, voice recordings criticizing political opponents — by dismissing them as AI-generated fakes. At the same time, AI deepfakes are being used to spread misinformation.”

In the US last month, the New Hampshire Justice Department said it was investigating robocalls featuring what appeared to be an AI-generated voice that sounded like President Biden telling voters to skip the Tuesday primary — the first notable use of AI for voter suppression this campaign cycle.

Mark Coeckelbergh, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Vienna and author of ‘Why AI Undermines Democracy And What To Do About It’ (Polity Press, 2024), told IPS: “As we will see in the many elections that will be held this year all over the world, AI in combination with social media plays an increasing role in manipulation of elections and spreading misinformation”.

“This is an imminent issue that needs to be addressed by policy makers. But as I show in my new book Why AI undermines democracy and what to do about it https://www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?book_slug=why-ai-undermines-democracy-and-what-to-do-about-it–9781509560929 democracy is not only about elections.”

Democracy, he argued, is also undermined in its foundational principles due to, for example, bias and surveillance, which threatens basic democratic principles of justice and freedom.

In addition, he said, a knowledge basis is needed for democracy, but AI can lead to polarization and epistemic bubbles, in other words to a climate in which people are not interested in different opinions and where others are seen as enemies.

In such a climate, he pointed out, deliberative and communicative ideals of democracy cannot flourish, but are on the contrary undermined.

“We urgently need more binding agreements at national and global level to deal with these issues in order to safeguard and develop democracy. Democracy is very vulnerable, it can easily erode. If we leave things as they are, the desert of totalitarianism is waiting to emerge.”

Nipuna Kumbalathara, Communications Lead at CIVICUS, a global alliance of civil society organizations, told IPS: “Indeed, a serious threat to democratic rights and values is emanating from right wing media channels and online portals who are adept at spreading disinformation and reinforcing prejudice against minorities and excluded people”.

Politicians too, he said, are contributing to the growing epidemic of deliberate spread of half-truths and misleading information. Such trends were accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic when authoritarians and populists attempted to suppress the truth about the impact of the disease on affected people and sought to play up the effectiveness of their responses.

This promoted UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to call for a code of conduct on the integrity of public information in his Our Common Agenda report. It is unclear how much progress has been made on the code of conduct.

Moreover, in times when civic space conditions are at a historic low around the world, he argued, “technology is being weaponised by repressive state apparatuses to illicitly surveil, malign and persecute civil society activists and journalists engaged in exposing lies and uncovering the truth.”

Asked for a response, AI-Generated Microsoft Copilot said:

Efforts to address this threat include promoting digital and media literacy, urging social media platforms to label A.I.-generated content, and raising awareness about the risks1. Vigilance and collaboration are essential to safeguarding democratic institutions from A.I.-driven disinformation.

Elaborating further, Blinken told the Seoul summit: “Our democracies are hardly immune to the harms from AI misuse and failure, including impacts from the choices that tech companies make in deploying their innovations – from our citizens being able to access fewer and less diverse media sources because of the failures of AI-enabled search engines, to discrimination and bias that disproportionately affect racial and ethnic minorities.

“The United States is determined to shape the terms of our technological future in a way that’s inclusive, rights-respecting, that sustains democratic values and democratic institutions. We’ve made historic investments in our technological capabilities and those of our democratic partners,” he declared.

“We can see, we can feel the tremendous excitement about AI around the world, and in fact, nowhere more so than in the vast global majority countries. There’s a sense that this is a tool, a means by which to genuinely accelerate progress. And we’re already seeing some of that”.

Kenya, for example, has deployed a new AI-enabled bot that enables women and girls to access comprehensive and accurate reproductive health information.

Chile developed “Creamos,” an AI-supported tool that encourages young people to contribute their ideas to foster social change and to advance sustainable development.

In Ukraine, an anti-corruption organization and tech companies came together on an AI-enabled system to accurately document attacks on cultural heritage and civilian infrastructure, which is strengthening Ukraine’s prosecution of war crimes.

“We also know that AI has tremendous power to drive development that directly improves people’s lives – and in doing so, earn the confidence of our people, people around the world, in our democratic model,” Blinken said.

“But here’s the reality. Right now, the world is on track to achieve just 12 percent – just 12 percent – of the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. So, we are way behind.”

But AI could accelerate progress on 80 percent of the goals – from improving agricultural productivity to combatting hunger, to detecting and preventing outbreaks of disease, to accelerating our clean energy transition that creates jobs and protects our planet at the same time.

Meanwhile, on March 21, the 193-member UN General Assembly adopted by consensus a U.S.-led resolution on “Seizing the opportunities of safe, secure and trustworthy artificial intelligence systems for sustainable development”— the first-ever stand-alone resolution negotiated at the UN General Assembly to establish a global consensus approach to AI governance.

The resolution encourages Member States to promote safe, secure, and trustworthy AI systems by:

    • Cooperating with and providing capacity building and technical and financial assistance to developing countries;
    • Closing the AI divides and other digital divides that exist between and within countries;
    • Promoting equitable access to the benefits of AI systems;
    • Respecting, protecting, and promoting human rights and fundamental freedoms throughout the life cycle of AI systems;
    • Protecting individuals from all forms of discrimination, bias, misuse, or other harm from AI systems;
    • Developing regulatory and governance approaches and frameworks related to AI systems;
    • Testing AI systems prior to deployment and use;
    • Raising public awareness of the appropriate civil use of AI systems;
    • Encouraging the development of tools that identify AI-generated digital content and their origin;
    • Safeguarding privacy and the protection of personal data;
    • Respecting intellectual property rights;
    • Mitigating the potential negative consequences for workforces; and
    • Encouraging the private sector to adhere to applicable international and domestic laws.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 


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Taliban Rule Exacerbates Malnutrition Crisis: Afghan Women and Children Hardest Hit

Millions of children are suffering from malnutrition in Afghanistan. Credit: Learning Together

Millions of children are suffering from malnutrition in Afghanistan. Credit: Learning Together

By External Source
KABUL, Mar 22 2024 – Malnutrition in Afghanistan has reached an unprecedented level, according to United Nations humanitarian organizations. It is estimated that half of the country’s population grapples with severe hunger year-round, placing Afghanistan among the top ten nations globally with the highest rates of maternal and infant mortality due to malnutrition.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is experiencing a budget shortfall, and without additional funding support thousands of Afghan children may die from acute malnutrition, the organization sounded out in a recent tweet.

The World Food Programme (WFP) estimates that between May and October 2023, 15.5 million people faced severe food insecurity, with 2.8 million in emergency situations.

According to WFP, four million people, including 3.2 million children under five years are suffering from acute malnutrition in Afghanistan.

It largely stems from the worsening economic situation that has gripped the war-torn country within the last few years. Pregnant women do not have adequate access to proper nutrition both before and after birth, which cascades down to affect their infants.

The widespread hunger and malnutrition among the most vulnerable population groups in the country is also exacerbated by the rule of Taliban who returned to power in 2021.

The hard-line Islamists have banned women from engaging in salaried employment, which in turn has decreased the level of humanitarian assistance reaching women most in need.

For instance, Soheila, the mother of a malnourished child, gave a moving narrative of how the death of her husband has deepened poverty in the family. She became the sole breadwinner of the family, even though her earnings from working in a hairdressing salon could barely meet their needs, all of which dried up when the Taliban assumed power and she was no longer allowed to work.

Soheila and her two small children no longer have enough food and have resorted to begging in front of bakeries and around neighbours’ houses just to eat once a day.

Even though the Taliban Ministry of Health does not provide any statistics on the deaths of mothers and children due to malnutrition, international organizations and doctors working in the country provide a grim picture facing women and children in the country.

Last year, the United Nations Population Fund reported that Afghanistan is one of the countries with the highest maternal mortality rate in Asia and the Pacific, with 638 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births.

Jan Egeland, head of the Norwegian Refugee Council, recently raised concerns about the worsening situation of malnutrition in Afghanistan. According to him, a significant number of children and women in 25 of Afghanistan’s 36 provinces are suffering from malnutrition.

Dr. Hamidullah Ahmadi, physician at the nutrition department of Kabul Children’s Health Hospital, says that the number of malnourished patients has increased compared to previous years due to poverty and the economic crisis.

He added that dozens of malnourished children are registered every day, in serious need of medical attention. Some of them suffer from moderate to acute malnutrition with imminent risk of severe health complications and death.

Dr. Soraya (pseudonym), an official of the nutrition department at the Children’s Health Hospital in Kabul, says the number of malnourished patients attending the facility has increased threefold in the last year, far below the medicines and material they receive from international organizations to treat them.

Soraya requests that aid organizations and the World Food Program address the issue of famine and hunger among Afghan children as soon as possible to avoid the occurrence mass starvation of children.

Excerpt:

The author is an Afghanistan-based female journalist, trained with Finnish support before the Taliban take-over. Her identity is withheld for security reasons

Conservation Efforts by Ethnic Communities in Bangladesh Bolster Water Security

Ethnic women in Bangladesh had to traverse a long hilly path to fetch water for their households, but now they can easily collect water from newly-revived springs after the village common forests conservation project. Credit: Rafiqul Islam/IPS

Ethnic women in Bangladesh had to traverse a long hilly path to fetch water for their households, but now they can easily collect water from newly-revived springs after the village common forests conservation project. Credit: Rafiqul Islam/IPS

By Rafiqul Islam
RANGAMATI , Mar 22 2024 – Just a few years ago, Sudarshana Chakma (35), a resident of the remote Digholchari Debarmatha village under Bilaichari upazila in the Rangamati Hill District, had to traverse a long hilly path to fetch water for her household because there were no local water sources.

“Unchecked deforestation and degradation of village common forests (VCFs) led to the drying up of all-natural water sources in our village. We struggled to collect drinking and household water,” Chakma explained to IPS. 

Ethnic communities in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) rely significantly on forests for their lives and livelihoods. They gather water from natural sources like streams and practice jhum (shifting cultivation) in nearby forests. However, indiscriminate deforestation of the natural resources had dried up springs and streams, causing water scarcity in many areas.

The tide turned when the USAID-funded Chittagong Hill Tracts Watershed Co-Management Activity (CHTWCA) engaged surrounding communities, including those living in Digholchari Debarmatha village, as conservation volunteers to protect Village Common Forests (VCFs) in 2020. This initiative successfully revived springs, ensuring a year-round water supply.

The Strengthening Inclusive Development in Chittagong Hill Tracts Project, which the Ministry of Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs implemented, has transformed many lives, including Chakmas’.

“Now we can easily fetch water from nearby springs, bringing peace to our lives. Due to the arduous journey ethnic women had to make to fetch water, quarrels over who was going to fetch the water were common in the village and among families. Now, we live in harmony,” said Sudarshana, a mother of four.

Silica Chakma of Digholchari Hajachara village echoed her sentiments, highlighting the voluntary conservation efforts by ethnic communities to ensure an adequate water supply during the dry season.

“Before the restoration of our forests, we faced water scarcity. Now, we have no water crisis, as we collect water four to five times a day from the springs revived in the forests,” she said.

Silica emphasised that village common forests are conserved voluntarily, with strict regulations against harvesting forest resources without the approval of VCF management committees.

Barun Chakma, President of the Digholchari Debarmatha VCF Management Committee, emphasised the shift in mindset, stating that locals now protect the forests voluntarily, contrasting with past practices where trees were felled indiscriminately.

Enhancing Small Agriculture Sustainability

The CHT faces aggravated water crises during the dry season, impacting agriculture and homesteads.

To address this, local ethnic farmers in Digholchari Debarmatha have constructed bamboo-made dams on streams, creating water reservoirs fed by springs from the village common forest.

Pujikka Chakma, a 45-year-old female farmer, is grateful for the progress.

“After conserving the local forests, farmers do not face water scarcity for their agriculture and homesteads. We store spring water in the reservoir to irrigate cropland during the dry season.”

Thirty-seven-year-old Lika Chakma also acknowledged the benefits of the expanded use of spring water in agriculture, including cultivating various crops and ensuring food security for the community.

Conserving Medicinal Plants

In addition to addressing water security, ethnic communities in the Rangamati Hill District have been actively conserving medicinal plants for healthcare and treatments.

Lika Chakma explained, “We conserve medicinal plants in our local forests for use when we fall sick.”

Poitharam Chakma emphasised the importance of these efforts, given limited access to healthcare facilities in remote hilly areas. “Once our forests were degraded, we faced problems collecting medicinal plants. Now, we are conserving those in our forests.”

Barun Chakma provided details of the planting, a few years ago, of various medicinal plants, including Haritaki (myrobalan), Bohera (Terminalia bellirica), and Amloki (Indian gooseberry), in the Digholchari Debarmatha VCF. While acknowledging that it will take time for these plants to yield herbal medicines, he expressed confidence in the community’s ability to support health treatments in the future.

The conservation initiatives run by ethnic communities in Bangladesh address issues with water security, support agricultural sustainability, and protect priceless medicinal plants.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 


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Fall-out from Ecuador’s Crises Highlights Need to Invest in Grassroots Resilience

Staff from the Popular Arts Collective “La Changa” on the delivery of agro-ecological baskets on bike in southern Quito in 2020. Heifer supports this group with equipment. Credit: Isadora Romero for Heifer International

By Surita Sandosham
LITTLE ROCK, AR, Mar 22 2024 – Shocking and ongoing levels of violence in Ecuador since the New Year followed by flooding caused by El Niño landed a double blow for those in the country who live day to day and are most vulnerable to instability.

Farming families and communities, already struggling to earn a living income, saw the entire food market disrupted. Escalating crime and violence made it more dangerous and challenging to get crops, fish and meat to market, while growing insecurity also dampened consumer demand. Reports reached us of women sleeping in their shops to protect their agri-food businesses while migration levels continued to climb.

Yet against the odds, many communities are keeping local food supplies moving thanks to ongoing collaboration with local development groups that has strengthened their resilience to shocks, offering a blueprint for cost-effective, community-led economic development elsewhere.

Many rural communities in Ecuador were able to adapt to the effects of recent events with the support of organizations on the ground, including Heifer Ecuador, the Global FoodBanking Network and others. Grassroots efforts to minimize the impact of such crises have reduced the scale of losses and the cost of rebuilding as well as the imperative to migrate, making long-term resilience a strategic investment for the humanitarian and development sectors.

This picture of hope in Ecuador should inspire the international community to invest more funding and resources into strengthening local and rural economies in Latin America and around the world so that similar shocks do not set back development gains elsewhere.

Core to building long-term resilience is learning and applying lessons from previous shocks or stressors.

For example, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, farmers in Ecuador united to pool their produce at dedicated and sanitized collection centers and create food baskets for home delivery, targeting low-income families. Meanwhile, communities established open-air marketplaces with the help of the Heifer Ecuador team to provide farmers with a safe place to sell their produce during periods of restricted movement. This meant farming families could continue to make a living, while also supporting local food security.

Clemente Cáceres shows a crab collected. Fishermen are permitted to harvest only male crabs that reach the pre-established size. Those who do not comply with this regulation will be sanctioned.

Today, farmers are applying the same flexibility and creativity to keep food markets functioning despite criminal gangs controlling key roads and ports. This includes adapting schedules to get key commodities like coffee and cocoa to ports safely.

A second element of long-term resilience is anticipating and preparing for shocks as much as possible.

The 1997-98 El Niño brought extreme rainfall to Ecuador, resulting in agricultural losses of more than $300 million by February 1998 alone. But this year, ahead of a forecasted El Niño, Heifer Ecuador worked with partners to carry out an innovative study of the areas at most risk to help take preventative measures to reduce agricultural losses and damage.

The data analyzed the potential threat to 500,000 farmers and producers in the provinces of El Oro, Esmeraldas, Manabí, Santa Elena and Guayas, and recommended measures such as reinforced flood walls and barriers, improved soil drainage, and storage and processing for crops harvested early.

The result was that communities were better prepared this time with more information about what to expect. Some simple but key prevention actions were implemented to protect food collection centers’ post-harvest equipment, among others, minimizing the impact on food systems and local economies.

One such preventative action in El Oro province involved the co-financing of a canopy for a farmer-run association to cover and protect harvested cacao as it dried — an intervention that helped prevent the product from getting wet and losing its quality during the winter season. Similarly, in Santa Elena, Heifer Ecuador and local partners reinforced the soil around a meat processing center, channeling rainwater away from the center’s perimeter to reduce the risk of flooding and prevent the deterioration of the site’s infrastructure.

With more empowered, resilient communities, humanitarian aid can therefore be better allocated for moments of unprecedented, urgent need.

In the meantime, vulnerabilities that exacerbate the impact of shocks — like the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Ecuador in 2016, which killed hundreds and displaced thousands more — must be addressed through long-term disaster risk reduction, including improvements to infrastructure and early warning systems.

The effectiveness of responding to shocks like the recent violent conflict and climate extremes depends as much on the decisions taken in preceding years as it does those taken in the moment. And with climate extremes becoming increasingly frequent, investing in long-term resilience is even more critical.

By investing in local teams and working to strengthen the resilience of rural and agricultural communities at the bottom of the pyramid, the whole fabric of society is stronger and more stable as a result. This has benefitted Ecuador when it most needed it, and by replicating this model elsewhere, it can help protect the most vulnerable around the world.

IPS UN Bureau

 


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Excerpt:

Surita Sandosham is President and CEO of Heifer International

Written in Memory of Alexei Navalny and Osip Mandelstam

By Jan Lundius
STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Mar 22 2024 – The devastation of Ukraine and Gaza might seem to be beyond belief. Let us thus turn to fairy tales to find descriptions of the stony indifference of warlords.

Since ancient times lies the cottage of the mighty witch Baba Yaga close to the heart of Russia’s vast forests. It is no gingerbread house built to attract hungry children lost in the woods, although its owner more often than not has a ravenous hunger for human flesh. On the contrary, her lodge seems to have a will of its own, appearing to fence off people, rather than attracting them. Its surrounding palisade is made of human bones, which fence poles are adorned with skulls. One sharpened pole is empty, in anticipation of becoming adorned with an unfortunate visitor’s skull. Baba Yaga attaches it to her fence after feasting on the roasted body of her victim and gnawing its skull clean from flesh.

Baba Yaga

Baba Yaga broods on a great wealth and she is the ruler of all forest beings. Predators and birds are governed by her, as well as wayward cattle and coveted wild horses. It has been said that Baba Yaga is the mother of all mankind, that she is identical to Mother Earth. That she can transform herself into a cloud, that even the sun and the moon are governed by her, in addition to draught and tempests. Her abode stands close to the gates of Hell; maybe she is Death. In any case, demons and dragons obey her.

Her house rests on chicken legs. From whatever direction you approach it, the cottage turns its front towards you. To enter you have to command the moving house: “Little house, little cottage, set your face towards me and your butt against the forest”, then it bends forward like a chicken picking up a grain and the front door opens. Entering the untidy kitchen, it is difficult to discern the old crone. Either she is curled up like a cat on the slab above her oven, or she has extended her gawky body along one of the hut’s walls. The visitor may mistake her for a log, gnarled and craggy as she is. Sooner or later the witch’s scratchy, dry voice can be heard as she angrily sputters something about russkim dukhom “stench of a Russian”. With her pointed nose she sniffs up into the stale air, lifts her head, looks around until she drills the sharp stare of her luminous red, eyes deep into her visitor.

Baba Yaga is possibly not bad to the bone, not entirely evil, rather injured or poisoned by too much power. She might reluctantly develop a liking to a visitor and declines to slay him/her and instead put her reckless visitor to difficult tests to ascertain that s/he may be worthy of her trust. Her house is mined territory – each thought, every step must be carefully calculated. You must be respectful and let the witch speak before you say anything. Powerful creatures hate being contradicted, taught or admonished. Reply if asked, but watch your words. Witches can sniff out a mistake and hurl themselves on it as if they were starving wolves.

You cannot escape Baba Yaga. If you rush out of the door, she throws herself on top of a huge wooden mortar, using it to pursue her intended victim, rushing forward like a blizzard, punting her vehicle with a pestle, while she uses a broom to sweep away her tracks. Finally, the pursued victim cannot keep up the speed, staggers and falls to the ground. The witch leans over her prey and opens her huge mouth, which can be extended from earth to heaven. It is Hell opening up to devour the hapless loser, obliterating all traces of her/him.

Koščéj the Deathless

Baba Yaga has many servants, vilest of them all is Koščéj the Deathless. He may be Baba Yaga´s male manifestation, though Koščéj appears to have a life of his own. Koščéj is a powerful Tsar, with a vast kingdom of his own and an almost invincible army. It might be Hell he rules over, the name Koščéj sounds much like the old Slavic name for the place – Koshchnoye. Koščéj does not die, but he’s aging. Far back in time Koščéj found that he could separate his body from his soul. At that time, Koščéj was a handsome warrior who wanted to hide his soul so he could remain undefeated in every battle. No one dies if body and soul go on living, each on their own. However, the price was high. He now looks like a cadaver. Koščéj can through magical tricks hide his true appearance by perverting the perception of his victims. Using power and wealth he flatters and pampers his minions and if assured he is admired, or even loved, Koščéj believes the lie. Legends may offer scenes where a captured maiden allows the old monster to rest his head in her lap, while she quietly sings and asks him questions, untangling his matted hair. Koščéj becomes dazzled by what he perceives as his own excellence, a weak spot that eventually might cause his annihilation.

Koščéjs body can only be damaged by age and killed if someone finds his soul – his vulnerable humanity – and crushes it. It was by denying and hiding what he assumed to be his fragility – love and compassion – that Koščéj succeeded in transforming himself into a powerful and invulnerable being. However, that does not impede his constant search for love, a feeling that nevertheless is unavailable for a soulless man. Koščéj can neither give, nor receive love, possibly admiration, but such an emotion is based on fear, mixed with submissiveness. As a powerful being Koščéj does not hesitate to exploit his minions, among other things, he forces them to create armies and feed the evil demons that serve him like docile doves.

Maybe due to his advanced age Koščéj constantly has to prove his vigour and does every morning ride out for an exhaustive hunt in his forests. His steeds are wild and famous, some of them have three or seven legs and they can all speak. Koščéj is a bon vivant constantly on the look-out for exclusive conveniences, among other things he has a fur-lined mantle, which is warm in winter and cool in summer. His age sometimes takes its toll and he may become so tired that a servant is forced to stand behind his throne and occasionally lift up his heavy eyelids. It happens that Koščéj´s melancholy engulfs his entire court; the demons and people surrounding him then run the risk of being turned into stone and can only be awakened by the sound of a gusli, a kind of zither. In all his authoritarianism Koščéj is a lonely, insecure and thus dangerous beast.

If anyone would find Koščéj´s soul and unravel him in all his human nakedness and vulnerability, he instantly loses all his powers. Accordingly, he has made his soul inaccessible. He has impaled it on the top of a needle, placed inside an egg. This contraption is encased by an iron coffin, over which a mighty oak has grown. Koščéj’s immortality has made the oak old and strong and it encloses the coffin with its tenacious roots.

Like any kind of power, Koščéj´s strength is maintained through confirmation. The old demon has committed all imaginable sins and crimes, but his final error will be to succumb to vanity. As the Devil himself has noted: “Vanity is my favourite sin, through vanity I can manipulate anyone.”

Stories about Koščéj are an integral part of Russian lore. Aleksandr Afanasiev (1826-1871) was Russia’s greatest collector and publisher of folktales. He worked as a librarian at the Imperial Archives in Moscow and thus came in contact with folk tales. Afanasiev published a collection of more than 600 Russian folktales and proceeded to write an analysis of them, Slavs’ Poetic View of Nature, published in three volumes, each with more than 700 pages. He did not hesitate to publish stories that irritated Russia’s rulers. When the powerful Vasily Drozdov, Metropolitan of the Moscow Patriarchate, attacked Afanasiev for his publication of “obscene stories”, the librarian answered him back in a newspaper article and thus brought upon himself the unbridled hatred of Church and State. Afanasiev wrote: “There is a million times more morality, truth, and human love in my folk legends than in the sanctimonious sermons delivered by Your Holiness.”

Afanasiev could not refrain from keeping contact with his good friend, the renowned freethinker and exiled Russian, Alexander Herzen, and while visiting him in London he presented him with his collection of fairy tales. The dreaded Ohkranan, “Division of Patronage of Public Safety and Order”, found out where and when the visit had taken place. After Afanasiev´s return from his trip the Ohkranan turned his apartment upside down, until they found a manuscript with Russkie zavetnye shazki, Russian Secret Folk Tales. Afanasiev was immediately removed from his post, blacklisted and unable to find a new employment. To get money for food for himself and his family the degraded librarian sold his extensive library. He lived out his last days like a poor wretch, got tuberculosis and died destitute, only 45 years old. Ivan Turgenev wrote to a friend: “Afanasiev died recently, from hunger, but his literary merits will, my dear friend, be remembered long after both yours and mine are covered by the dark of oblivion.”

Afanasiev was far from being the only victim of ruthless Russian rulers and many great authors and philosophers have been inspired by his tales about Baba Yaga and Koščéj, while trying to tell the truth about cruel dictators. Stalin did not want to be connected with demonic doppelgängers from Russian folklore. The great poet Osip Mandelstam’s poem about the Kremlin Mountaineer might be connected with the fearsome Koščéj, the demon without a soul who reigns over a realm of death filled with smirking sycophants, who suddenly may be ossified by the demon’s remarks or bad moods.

Mandelstam was in November 1933 reading his Stalin Epigram to a select group. One of the listeners wrote down the poem and brought it to OGPU, the secret police.

Our lives no longer feel ground under them.
At ten paces you can’t hear our words.
But whenever there’s a snatch of talk
it reaches the Kremlin mountaineer.
Ten thick worms are his fingers,
his words like measures of weight,
laughing cockroaches rest above his lips,
his boot-rims glitter.

Ringed with a scum of chicken-necked bosses
he toys with the tributes of half-men.
One whistles, another meows, a third snivels.
He pokes out his finger and he alone is talking.
He forges decrees like horseshoes, throwing
one for the groin, one for the forehead, temple, eye.
He rolls executions on his tongue like berries.
He wishes he could hug them like great friends from home.

The sick and weak Mandelstam, broken by merciless interrogations, was finally sentenced to five years in correction camps. On 27th of December 1938 he died in a transit camp, just before his 48th birthday. On the 16th of February 2024, the 48 years old Russian opposition leader, lawyer, anti-corruption activist, and political prisoner Alexei Navalny died at the Yamalo-Nenets prison in Western Siberia.

Throughout history, power has in Russia been linked to make-believe and fairytale. Russian Tsars assumed superhuman, heroic attributes. Myth and ceremonies turned them into distant and mysterious sovereigns, elevated above human comprehension and Stalin followed suit. In spite of killing his enemies and jailing opponents, Vladimir Putin continues to be venerated as if he was an incarnation of the Tsars and Stalin. On 17 March he claimed a landslide victory in Russia’s presidential election, winning 87 percent of the votes in what other nations called a “pseudo-election”.

Main source: Russian Magic Tales from Pushkin to Platonov. London: Penguin Classics.

IPS UN Bureau

 


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