Tag: Asia Pacific

Bangladesh Coastal People Turn to Digital Devices to Succeed against the Odds — Global Issues

Laboni Akhter works on a laptop in front of the digital service centre at Bawalkar village in Badarkhali, Barguna district, southern Bangladesh, in September 2022. Credit: Farid Ahmed/IPS
  • by Farid Ahmed (badarkhali, bangladesh)
  • Inter Press Service

BADARKHALI, Bangladesh, Oct 17 (IPS) – A barefoot young man in rolled-up jeans clutches a laptop as he slogs through a narrow muddy aisle between rice fields on a drizzling late September afternoon. He’s rushing to help a farm couple who are facing trouble with their ducks in a coastal village in southern Bangladesh.

The middle-aged couple, Rafiq Mridha and Nupur Akhter, run a small farm of 0.5 hectares in a district adjoining the Bay of Bengal. In the past year they made a hefty profit and overcame the losses of recent years caused by natural calamities, including the mighty cyclone Sidr, which ripped through the country devastating many districts 15 years ago.

Like Mridha and Akhter, hundreds of villagers in Badarkhali, an area comprising three villages that is extremely exposed to climate change, were made paupers overnight by Sidr but are living an astonishing turnaround thanks to the arrival of digital technology.

In the face of any unsolvable problem, the villagers can now call a local digital service centre, which responds with useful information on a vast range of topics, from farming and selling their crops to getting the local weather forecast.

Co-operative members prepare fish feeds for their farms at the digital service centre in Badarkhali, Barguna district, southern Bangladesh, in September 2022. Credit: Farid Ahmed/IPS
Co-operative members prepare fish feeds for their farms at the digital service centre in Badarkhali, Barguna district, southern Bangladesh, in September 2022. Credit: Farid Ahmed/IPS

“For any problem, first we try to find a solution using our smartphones hooked to the internet, and in case of failure, we call people at the digital centre,” Akhter told IPS, adding that the centre taught them how to use technology to get support via mobile phone apps. “The digital centre has eased our life and made our business profitable,” she added.

Akhter said she called the digital centre about her ducks when she couldn’t discover a reason for a decrease in eggs production among some of the fowl. The young man crossing the rice field with his laptop, HM Ranju, was dispatched from the digital centre. He searched online to discover common causes for a decrease in laying eggs and advised the farmer to observe if the ducks were eating properly and to change their feed if they were otherwise healthy.

The problem was potentially serious – every morning year-round the couple earns 700-800 taka (US$7-8) selling duck eggs. “We’re trying to expand the farm regularly,” said Mridha. “We already have over 100 ducks and we’ve ordered more ducklings to be raised for eggs,” adding they had earned $14,800 from the farm last year.

The couple also rears fish and cows on the farm along with growing a variety of vegetables. “As business is going well, we are planning to construct a brick house for ourselves next year,” noted Mridha.

Co-operative members prepare fish feeds for their farms at the digital service centre in Badarkhali, Barguna district, southern Bangladesh, in September 2022. Credit: Farid Ahmed/IPS

At a call centre run by the digital service centre, worker Laboni Akhter said that most inquiries concern animal feeds and fertilizers or how to control pests and diseases. “We use different types of apps to provide solutions to people’s queries,” she added.

When a village woman arrives at the centre with a photo of a mottled spinach leaf infected with fungal disease, Laboni consults some apps and identifies it as a type of blight. She tells the woman to use fungicides to control it. “If the case is serious, we refer people to the district agriculture or veterinary officers,” Laboni said.

In recent years, most of Badarkhali’s villagers, who earlier made their living by fishing in the Bay of Bengal or nearby rivers, found it difficult and risky to continue the ancestral profession because of changing climate patterns. They opted to start farming fish in ponds in their villages.

Bent on growing the fish farming business together, the fishermen initiated a co-operative in 2005 with the help of a Danish government project. The arrival of digital information technology with the support of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) boosted business further.

The locals have expanded their livelihoods and now almost every household also grows crops and raises animals while Badarkhali is now known as a digital village.

“We’ve developed our digital service centres… we’re connected among ourselves and also with the farmers in other districts across the country,” said co-operative chairman Mohammad Gafur Mia, also a public representative of Badarkhali. “We share information to grow our businesses and maximize profits.”

The co-operative runs two digital service centres, one in a village and another in the market where people can pay to learn to operate computers and common digital technologies. The centres are equipped with three desktop computers, one laptop, three tablet computers, one printer and one scanner.

The FAO introduced the global 1,000 Digital Villages Initiative in Bangladesh to promote digital technology to support inclusive, gender-sensitive rural development and sustainable agri-food transformation to meet Agenda 2030 goals.

A global initiative inspired by FAO’s Director-General, QU Dongyu, the DVI is being piloted in the Asia-Pacific region. Badarkhali is one of nearly 60 villages in Bangladesh being showcased and sharing its advancements with other villages and areas in Asia and the Pacific as well as other regions of the world.

The UN organization works closely with the government and Sara Bangla Krishak Society, a farmers’ network across the country. “FAO is providing the villagers with technological support,” said FAO’s coordinator Mohammad Abu Hanif.

Recalling the horror of Sidr in 2007, Badarkhali villagers said all of their farms were utterly destroyed as tidal waves washed everything away. “Most of the people in the area even couldn’t save a pot for cooking food,” said Mohammad Ali Hossain. In the following years, the village faced more cyclones albeit not as severe as Sidr.

“Now we use our digital devices to follow the weather forecast and know what to do to survive against all odds,” said Ali Hossain.

Many villagers told IPS that there had been a sea change in the area after the arrival of digital technologies, and that they looked forward to other positive changes, such as improved rural governance and improved services. They also believed the FAO initiative would narrow the digital divide among people in the rural and urban areas.

Mosammat Mahmuda catches fish with a net from her pond where she raises different kinds of fishes for commercial purposes in Badarkhali, Barguna district, southern Bangladesh, in September 2022. Credit: Farid Ahmed/IPS

Mosammat Mahmuda said she had recently replaced her shabby thatched house with a brick one thanks to the profits from her work raising fish and poultry. The co-operative provided her with a loan to start the business. “The chances of loss are very slim as the digital service centre provides support to keep fishes and poultry safe from diseases and also to find a market where we can sell the products at a competitive price,” she said.

Once, noticing her fish were not growing at the usual speed, she sought advice from the centre. It told her she was raising too many fish in a small area, so she quickly shifted some to other nearby ponds. Problem solved.

The digital service centre was crucial during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic as the entire country was under lockdown, said another villager, Mohammad Shah Alam. “Our traditional market was closed and we were unfamiliar with virtual marketing, but our digital service centre arranged buyers for our products,” he said.

Many of the villagers felt that they would have faced huge losses without the arrangement.

Osim Roy, general secretary of the co-operative, said only members were allowed to get loans from the organization but any villager could access all the other services from the digital centres by paying a small charge. “Apart from farm-related advice, people at the digital centre can also pay electricity and other bills and fill in any government online forms, mainly for birth or death registration or for a job,” he said.

Before the centre opened, people had to travel four kilometres to go to a market to get these services. “Sometimes, we even go to the people’s houses to deliver the service,” Roy said.

© Inter Press Service (2022) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service

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Farmers in Bhutan Turn To Asparagus and Strawberries To Boost Incomes — Global Issues

Om, a homestay owner in Paro, is hoping to value add after growing strawberries in her small greenhouse. Credit: Chhimi Dema/IPS
  • by Chhimi Dema (paro, bhutan)
  • Inter Press Service

PARO, Bhutan, Oct 14 (IPS) – Zam, 57, sits at her kitchen table looking out the window at her orchard of four dozen apple trees. In the past eight years she has sold only two crates (100 kilogrammes) of the fruit because of poor harvests. She turned her attention to vegetables instead but the production was low because of a water shortage.

Zam (who uses one name only) lives in the village of Jukha in Paro district, near Bhutan’s international airport. She is now pinning her hopes on growing strawberries. “It’s my only hope for better earnings, although it is a niche product,” she tells IPS.

The farmer is optimistic after seeing her neighbours grow the fruit, and increase their income. “I am inspired by that, and hope that I earn better from strawberries. I would like to save money for emergencies and spend on maintenance of my house.”

The two-storey, mud home is perched alone atop a hill, looking onto a small valley bisected by a river. Other similar houses dot the landscape. But part of the roof of Zam’s house was blown away in high winds last winter.

She is among the country’s farmers who have registered with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forests (MoAF) to grow a selection of crops identified for their potential to improve nutrition, withstand impacts of climate change and improve export earnings: strawberry, quinoa, black pepper and asparagus.

The agriculture ministry will support these farmers through the Hand-in-Hand Initiative (HiH) of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Hand-in-Hand (HiH) is an evidence-based, country-owned and led initiative to accelerate agricultural transformation, with the goal of eradicating poverty, ending hunger and malnutrition, and reducing inequalities. The initiative was supporting 52 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East as of May 2022.

Bhutan joined the HiH in June 2021. Through it, the agriculture ministry has since carried out baseline studies on food security and nutrition and agri-food systems. Results from the food security study showed “production gaps and nutrition gaps in current food systems,” according to the ministry’s records. The agri-food systems study identified entry points for diversifying and improving food systems.

Farmers in Paro district are shifting their cash crop from apples to asparagus due to high earnings from asparagus. Credit: Chhimi Dema/IPS

The value addition of strawberries is another opportunity that some farmers are waiting to explore. According to the finance ministry, a total of 2,477 kg of strawberries in preserved, fresh or canned form, were imported from 2019 to 2021. No records of exports were noted in those years.

Thinley Yangzom and her family run a homestay on their farm in Paro, just west of the capital Thimphu. Established in 2002, it was among the first homestays in Bhutan and grows all the food needed for the family and their guests.

The 37-year-old says that she is aiming to make strawberry jams, juice and smoothies for guests, and to sell any surplus in the market. “Growing strawberries on our farm will save us the cost of buying imported food. We hope to be able to export after some years,” adds Yangzom.

Kinley Tshering grows asparagus on 0.4 hectares of land along with paddy and apples. Credit: Chhimi Dema/IPS

Some farmers are already successfully growing the HiH-identified crops.

Kinley Tshering has been raising asparagus for more than one decade. Nestled between two ridges and among a vast paddy field, he has cultivated an acre of asparagus. “I was growing potatoes before but what I earn from asparagus farming is more profitable,” says Tshering, 51, who supplies the vegetable to hotels and restaurants in the district.

The farmer earns US$2,500 to $3,000 a year from selling the crop. “My hard work on growing asparagus is rewarded with the earnings,” he says.

In 2021, 177.7 metric tonnes of asparagus were produced in the country, according to the MoAF. That compares to 126.6 MT in 2020, and 79.1 MT in 2019.

Many farmers throughout the country were hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. The shock became a lesson for them to diversify their sources of income.

Tenzin Choden, 27, from Jangsa-Jooka in Paro, was supporting her family by rearing mules to carry the belongings of tourists trekking from her village. But in the past two years her income dropped 60 to 70 percent, leaving them with barely $200 a month.

In the kitchen garden at the back of her two-storey house is a small greenhouse where Choden grows chillies, but with little demand she sells only small amounts.

The farmer explains that Bhutan’s high altitude in the Himalayas does not allow the family to successfully grow other vegetables and that human-wildlife conflict is a major threat to their crops and livestock. Wild boars dig up their potatoes and bears break the apple trees.

But having heard about asparagus, Choden borrowed a few seedlings from a neighbour and they grew well, in part because wild animals ignored the crop. “The trial was a success and this encouraged me to seek further support from the ministry,” she says. “We are hoping that asparagus will improve our earnings.”

Jambay Dorji grows strawberries in his farm at Paro. With the Hand In Hand Initiative, he hopes to grow on a commercial scale. Credit: Chhimi Dema/IPS

There is some concern that if farmers succeed in growing the HiH crops, they will lack access to a large enough market. According to Bhutan Alpine Seeds’ chief executive officer, Jambay Dorji, himself a farmer, while the local market for vegetables such as asparagus is growing, “if we are going on a commercial scale then we will need a market to countries such as Thailand, India and others.”

A private company, Bhutan Alpine Seeds supplies seeds to government agencies and the private sector.

“If the export route is fixed, then production within the country isn’t an issue,” adds Dorji. “People will make the effort to grow the vegetable because they can earn well from it.”

© Inter Press Service (2022) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service

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Myanmar’s Crisis Since the Coup– in a Nutshell — Global Issues

Protesters attend a march against the military coup in Myanmar. Credit: Unsplash/Pyae Sone Htun
  • Opinion by Jan Servaes (brussels)
  • Inter Press Service

BRUSSELS, Oct 14 (IPS) – The update on September 26, 2022, of the human rights situation in Myanmar to the UN Human Rights Council says it all: “The people of Myanmar have been caught in a rapid downward spiral, with growing suffering, fear, and insecurity. Urgent action is needed to reverse this catastrophic situation and to restore peace, democracy, and sustainable development”.

Since the military overthrew an elected government on February 1, 2021, and took power in a country ruled by generals for five of the past six decades, the situation for the majority of the population has become increasingly desperate.

The coup, which ended 10 years of provisional democracy initiated by the previous junta, has devastated Myanmar’s economy, leading to mass displacement of people as a result of fighting between armed groups and the military, and relentless bombing on civilian targets of the Burmese Air Force.

Below are the key data, compiled primarily by UN News, Reuters, Frontier, and Human Rights Watch, from the years-long crisis:

  • According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), a non-profit organization that tracks military action and is frequently cited by the United Nations, 2,343 is the number of opponents of the junta that have been killed since the coup. Killed.
  • 1,5,821 opponents of the coup have been arrested by the junta, the AAPP says.
  • 160 people were killed in one day on March 27, 2021, as the junta celebrated the annual Armed Forces Day, the bloodiest day in its crackdown on democracy activists.
  • According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), 1,320,000 people have been displaced by fighting. It is estimated that about 14.4 million people—about a quarter of Myanmar’s population—have been displaced from their homes and are in need of humanitarian assistance.
  • 30 is the percentage by which Myanmar’s economy has shrunk as a direct result of the coup, the World Bank says. According to the World Bank, 1 million jobs were lost in Myanmar in 2021.
  • Potentially $2.8 billion in economic losses from internet shutdowns in Myanmar by 2021.
  • More than 60 is the percentage of the value of the kyat currency that has been lost against the dollar since the coup. Capital flight and a decline in foreign investment & aid, and money transfers have led to a shortage of foreign currency. The military regime’s attempts to restrict imports and ration foreign currencies have boosted illegal border trade with China and Thailand. A widening disparity between Thailand’s and Myanmar’s trade figures suggests that smuggling from Thailand has not only recovered to pre-coup levels, but also appears to have reached an all-time high. This boom questions the junta’s claim of a trade surplus. Moreover, it has been fueled by the regime’s own heavy-handed efforts to control trade.
  • Compared to March 2020, poverty is estimated to have tripled. With about 40 percent of the population living below the national poverty line by 2022, nearly a decade of progress in poverty reduction has been undone.
  • 18 was the percentage contraction the World Bank predicted for Myanmar’s economy in the fiscal year starting April 1, 2021. Failure to see a substantial rebound in economic growth – with GDP estimated to remain in 2022 at around 13 percent lower than in 2019 – continues to test the resilience of the Myanmar population. Food insecurity is on the rise and households are increasingly resorting to negative coping mechanisms – including reducing consumption and asset sales – in the face of uncertainty.
  • The suicide rate has continued to rise since the coup as financial hardship, political repression and the collapse of the health care system are negatively impacting mental health.
  • 26 is the total number of years in prison that deposed 77-year-old Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi will face if given the maximum sentences in the remaining lawsuits against her.
  • Press freedom regresses fast. The country has become a worse jailer of journalists than China. Since the coup, military authorities have arrested about 142 journalists and media workers, an estimated 57 of whom are still in prison in Myanmar, six more than are believed to be imprisoned in China. The junta has forced at least 12 media outlets to shut down, pushing hundreds of media workers to flee the country and revive the exiled media outlets that reported on the country under the last military junta prior to 2011.
  • ASEAN is increasingly frustrated with the lack of progress on the Five Point Consensus – a non-binding agreement drafted in April 2021. While many countries have criticized the junta’s lack of “willingness” to comply with the framework, Malaysia has gone a step further and put forward the idea of suspending Myanmar.

Jan Servaes was UNESCO-Chair in Communication for Sustainable Social Change at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He taught ‘international communication’ in Australia, Belgium, China, Hong Kong, the US, Netherlands and Thailand, in addition to short-term projects at about 120 universities in 55 countries. He is editor of the 2020 Handbook on Communication for Development and Social Change.
https://link.springer.com/referencework/10.1007/978-981-10-7035-8

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Persons with Disabilities Integral Players in Determining Innovative Solutions to Fully Inclusive Societies — Global Issues

  • Opinion by Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana (bangkok, thailand)
  • Inter Press Service

BANGKOK, Thailand, Oct 14 (IPS) – Ten years ago, the Asia-Pacific region came together and designed the world’s first set of disability-specific development goals: the Incheon Strategy to “Make the Right Real” for Persons with Disabilities. This week, we meet again to assess how the governments have delivered on their commitments, to secure those gains and develop the innovative solutions needed to achieve fully inclusive societies.

Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana

Ministers, government officials, persons with disabilities, civil society and private sector allies from across Asia and the Pacific will gather from 19 to 21 October in Jakarta to mark the birth of a new era for 700 million persons with disabilities and proclaim a fourth Asian and Pacific Decade of Persons with Disabilities.

Our region is unique, having already declared three decades to protect and uphold the rights of persons with disabilities; 44 Asian and Pacific governments have ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; and we celebrate achievements in the development of disability laws, policies, strategies and programmes.

Today, we have more parliamentarians and policymakers with disabilities. Their everyday business is national decision-making. They also monitor policy implementation. We find them active across the Asia-Pacific region: Australia, Bangladesh, China, Japan, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, the Marshall Islands, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Thailand and Türkiye. They have promoted inclusive public procurement to support disability-inclusive businesses and accessible facilities, advanced sign language interpretation in media programmes and parliamentary sessions, focused policy attention on overlooked groups, and directed numerous policy initiatives towards inclusion.

Less visible but no less important are local-level elected politicians with disabilities in India, Japan and the Republic of Korea. Indonesia witnessed 42 candidates with disabilities standing in the last election. Grassroot disability organizations have emerged as rapid responders to emerging issues such as COVID-19 and other crises. Organizations of and for persons with disabilities in Bangladesh have distinguished themselves in disability-inclusive COVID-19 responses, and created programmes to support persons with psychosocial disabilities and autism.

The past decade saw the emergence of private sector leadership in disability-inclusive business. Wipro, headquartered in India, pioneers disability inclusion in its multinational growth strategy. This is a pillar of Wipro’s diversity and inclusion initiatives. Employees with disabilities are at the core of designing and delivering Wipro digital services.

Yet, there is always more unfinished business to address.

Even though we applaud the increasing participation of persons with disabilities in policymaking, there are still only eight persons with disabilities for every 1,000 parliamentarians in the region.

On the right to work, 3 in 4 persons with disabilities are not employed, while 7 in 10 persons with disabilities do not enjoy any form of social protection.

This sobering picture points to the need for disability-specific and disability-inclusive policies and their sustained implementation in partnership with women and men with disabilities.

One of the first steps to inclusion is recognizing the rights of persons with disabilities. This model focuses on the person and their dignity, aspirations, individuality and value as a human being. As such, government offices, banks and public transportation and spaces must be made accessible for persons with diverse disabilities. To this end, governments in the region have conducted accessibility audits of government buildings and public transportation stations. Partnerships with the private sector have led to reasonable accommodations at work, promoting employment in a variety of sectors.

Despite the thrust of the Incheon Strategy on data collection and analysis, persons with disabilities still are often left out of official data because the questions that allow for disaggregation are excluded from surveys and accommodations are not made to ensure their participation. This reflects a continued lack of policy priority and budgetary allocations. To create evidence-based policies, we need reliable and comparable data disaggregated by disability status, sex and geographic location.

There is hope in the technology leap to 5G in the Asia-Pacific region. The implications for the empowerment of persons are limitless: from digital access, e-health care and assistive devices at affordable prices to remote learning and working, and exercising the right to vote. This is a critical moment to ensure disability-inclusive digitalization.

We live in a world of volatile change. A disability-inclusive approach to shape this world would benefit everyone, particularly in a rapidly ageing Asia-Pacific region where everyone’s contributions will matter. As we stand on the precipice of a fourth Asian and Pacific Decade of Persons with Disabilities it remains our duty to insist on a paradigm shift to celebrate diversity and disability inclusion. When we dismantle barriers and persons with disabilities surge ahead, everyone benefits.

Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana is an Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)

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His Zest For Mandarins Soured, Pakistani Producer Turns To Mushrooms — Global Issues

Clearing ground to grow vegetables-Sultan’s Kinnow orchard. Credit: Alefia Hussain/IPS
  • by Alefia Hussain (lahore, pakistan)
  • Inter Press Service

LAHORE, Pakistan, Oct 11 (IPS) – The zesty citrus whiff from the rows of trees boasting unripe kinnow (mandarins) freshens the autumn air in late September. Two deeply tanned men clear the ground under and between the trees to plant vegetables.

Opposite the orchard, and divided by a narrow dirt path, are rows of small greenhouses cloaked in white plastic. Inside, plants from small to large, possibly the entire variety of citrus fruit grown in Pakistan – including the ambitious seedless and rouge varieties – stand in glory. It’s an experiment in growing environment-friendly oranges without fertilizers or pesticides on the expansive farm owned by Shahid Sultan, one of the country’s largest citrus processors and exporters, in Bhalwal, Sargodha district, Punjab province.

Shahid Sultan. Credit: Alefia Hussain/IPS

Sargodha is the land of the citrus in Pakistan. Most of the country’s oranges, grown over thousands of hectares of farmland and exported across the world, come from here. Sargodha is also the district where most kinnow, a sweet and tangy thirst quencher and a good source of vitamin C, are grown and processed. The fruit is the product of experimentation conducted in California way back in the 1950s.

Once considered Pakistan’s fabled export product, kinnow’s market abroad is in decline. The country exported roughly 177,000 tonnes of the fruit in 2022 as opposed to 455,000 tonnes in 2021, according to figures provided by the Sargodha Chamber of Commerce. Sultan has also soured on the fruit.

‘I will not export kinnow anymore’

“I have decided I will not export kinnow anymore. I will grow and, Inshallah, export mushrooms but not kinnow, says Sultan, director of the Zahid Kinnow Grading and Waxing Plant, during a visit to his orchard. “It’s impossible to control kinnow’s shelf life. By the time it reaches markets abroad, it has perished.”

Sultan has been exporting oranges since 1996. “Between 2004 and 2016, I was the top orange exporter in the country. I was the first to enter the Russian market,” he claims. He exported to Persian Gulf, Central Asian and Far Eastern states some 1,000-1,200 refrigerator containers full of fruit every season.

Though agriculture experts cite climate change, rising power prices, shortage of water and outdated farming techniques as reasons for decline in the fruit’s quality, Sultan holds excessive use of fertilisers and pesticides as the only factor responsible. “We have used too many inorganic methods and products that have rendered the soil infertile.”

After incurring a loss of 80-100 million Pakistani rupees (US$36,000-46,000) in the last two years, the farmer is clear about his decision to switch from kinnow to mushrooms, reasoning that if China can grow and export mushrooms the world over, “so can I.” Launching production of mushrooms of the genus Agaricus, commonly called button or champagne mushrooms, is likely to cost $10 million. Sultan predicts the yield to be four times greater than the country’s consumption requirements. He is expecting his first crop to be ready by November this year.

Standing in the orchard it is hard to imagine the citrus-scented air replaced by the stink of compost and the rows of trees usurped by bunker-like ‘tunnels’ growing champagne mushrooms. Sultan has converted old cold storage rooms into the temperature and moisture-controlled spaces to raise the soft, round, white mushrooms. All processes will be carried out indoors on the company’s existing premises.

New machines imported

“My team and I have ensured that we are totally protected from the weather. The entire production – from spawn to compost to canning of the produce will be done under a controlled environment.” Brand new machinery required for his venture has been imported from China. The spotless machines await production.

The market for mushrooms is growing rapidly in Pakistan, as Chinese and Thai foods, as well as pizzas, are becoming popular among food enthusiasts. Leading hotels and gourmet restaurants are the main buyers of the product, in canned as well as fresh form. Larger supermarkets are selling a variety of mushrooms but they are too pricey for the average person.

Small farmers are growing and selling fresh mushrooms in local markets. The canned ones available in supermarkets are mostly imported from China.

With mushroom growing still in the inception stage, little technical knowledge and expertise is available to growers about commercial scale production and value chain development. They can either seek assistance from private companies involved in agriculture research and trade or approach international agencies that focus on hunger, malnutrition and poverty.

Having collected data on canning mushrooms from all over the world, Sultan decided to approach the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to gain insight into best management practices for commercial production, improving business performance and developing market linkages for export. He was also eager to connect with international experts in commercial production and processing of mushrooms.

“Although it has been Zahid Kinnow’s own decision to venture into mushroom cultivation, the FAO may consider supporting the private sector enterprise by providing technical assistance,” says Asad Zahoor, FAO consultant.

Smelly but healthy plant food-A mixture of spawn and compost. Credit: Alefia Hussain/IPS

Mushrooms get FAO nod

Zahoor told IPS that FAO, through its Hand in Hand Initiative (HiH), seeks to empower countries and their agricultural partners through data sharing and model-based analytics. Seeing reasonable potential for investment, the organization in Pakistan has decided to include mushroom in HiH as an emerging commodity that could add to the country’s export earnings.

Globally, HiH seeks to accelerate agricultural transformation, with the goal of eradicating poverty, ending hunger and malnutrition, and reducing inequalities. The initiative was supporting 52 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East as of May 2022.

The demand for canned mushrooms is rising fast in Pakistan. According to Karachi customs officials, in July 2021, 93,877 kg of canned mushrooms were imported from China via the sea route alone. That grew to 284,553 kg in June 2022.

In addition, the country imported nearly 17 million kg of fresh or chilled Agaricus mushrooms from China in 2021, according to International Trade Centre calculations based on figures provided by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.

Asif Ali, an agriculture expert associated with leading fertiliser manufacturer Engro Fertilisers, thinks that with the trend of consuming plant-based proteins increasing worldwide, investing in mushroom could capture the high value local and international export markets. “Mushrooms are considered to be a good source of protein and consumption is increasing among people at home and abroad,” he said in an interview.

Time will tell if Pakistan is well positioned to enter the international market for mushrooms. But, Sultan says, “I feel, with mushrooms, I have given birth to a new kid in town.”

© Inter Press Service (2022) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service

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Bangladesh Reaching Out To Global Partners To Transform Agriculture — Global Issues

Experts from the Netherlands and Bangladesh visit the Rupsha River in Khulna, southern Bangladesh, the planned site of future fish farms. Credit: IPS/Gemcon
  • by Mosabber Hossain (dhaka)
  • Inter Press Service

DHAKA, Oct 10 (IPS) – Bangladeshi businessman Kazi Inam Ahmed is building his dream in a village near Rupsha River in Khulna, southern Bangladesh—to develop fish farming in the region, where climate change is reducing the ocean’s catch. He envisions creating small ponds, which would employ local climate affected fisherfolk, then exporting the international quality harvest to the Netherlands.

Inam, director of Gemcon Group, a conglomerate that includes Gemcon Food & Agricultural Products Ltd, is preparing his project thanks to advice from experts who visited recently from the Netherlands. “The Dutch co-partner of this project, Viqon Water Solutions, shared the preliminary design with us on 29 September. They will provide us with the final design in December. We will start our civil works after getting the final design.”

“For the first one or two years we’ll start fishing to gain experience,” adds the businessman in an interview. “We’ll see which types yield better harvests. After that, we’ll focus on some species that are very popular in different countries and can earn export dollars. I’d like to start with shrimp.”

How did Inam find his dream? In November 2021, he was included as one of the private-sector representatives on a Bangladesh Government mission to the Netherlands, organized to develop the capacity of the Ministry of Agriculture and foster matchmaking to strengthen the country’s food exports, agro-processing, food safety, and laboratory capacity.

Organized through the Hand in Hand Initiative (HiH) of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the delegation, which included five other agro-food companies, was led by Bangladesh Minister of Agriculture Dr Abdur Razzaque. It visited locations including the World Horticulture Centre, Wageningen University and Research, one of the world’s biggest onion exporting companies, and a range of other agricultural companies that grow and process produce that is exported globally.

Hand-in-Hand to improve agriculture

According to Robert D Simpson, FAO Representative in the country, “Bangladesh is a key country for HiH. Working with the government and private sector,” Simpson told IPS, “FAO develops value chains for profitable commodities, builds agro-industries, efficient water management systems, and digital services. The initiative also helps to reduce food loss and waste, and address climate challenges and weather risks.”

Bangladesh’s mission to the Netherlands, organized via the UN FAO’s Hand-in-Hand Initiative, visited various facilities in November 2021 to gather information on food exports, agro processing, and food safety. The delegation was led by Bangladesh Minister of Agriculture Dr Abdur Razzaque.

“The results will be raised incomes, improved nutrition and well-being of poor and vulnerable populations, and strengthened resilience to climate change,” added Simpson.

HiH is an evidence-based, country-owned and led initiative of the FAO to accelerate agricultural transformation, which also aims to eradicate poverty, end hunger and malnutrition, and reduce inequalities. The initiative was supporting 52 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East as of May 2022.

Speaking at the end of the November 2021 official trip, Razzaque said that Bangladesh will benefit from Dutch technology and know-how. “To be competitive in the global market in terms of price, quality, and safety, I think it’s important to keep updated with the latest technology in order to increase productivity.”

“We are looking forward to seeing the outcome of this project,” added the minister. “Hopefully it will be one of the successful initiatives by the government and private sector. The technologies that are coming to Bangladesh will help cope with the impact of climate change on agriculture.”

In addition, potato and onion experts from the Netherlands will train officials from the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), who will then train local farmers.

FAO Bangladesh has also organized several workshops and meetings with private sector and government officials to identify gaps and challenges for agricultural transformation.

Bangladesh’s mission to the Netherlands, organized via the UN FAO’s Hand-in-Hand Initiative, visited various facilities in November 2021 to gather information on food exports, agro processing, and food safety. Potato and onion experts from the Netherlands will train officials from the Department of Agriculture Extension, who will then train local farmers.

French fries on the menu

ACI Agro was another private-sector member of November’s delegation. “It was a magnificent learning platform,” the firm’s managing director and CEO, Dr FH Ansarey, told IPS. “We were searching for a good potato variant. In Bangladesh there is a big market for French fries but no variant to produce them. Luckily we found a company to help with that.”

“We spoke with Schaap Holland, one of the prominent potato seeds companies of the Netherlands. They agreed to send six different variant potato seeds to our company. Their potato variants are perfect for making good French fries.”

Ansarey said ACI Agro has already located a farming area near the capital Dhaka. “If everything is OK we’ll start farming soon. Their seeds are next generation potatoes, which can grow within 60-65 days. The cost of cultivation is less than three-four percent of other variants due to low infestation of diseases. Seventy percent of the potatoes are above 80 grams so they can be easily exported.”

“So I must say it’s a very good opportunity for Bangladesh to move into the next generation of farming as well as become a global exporter.”

© Inter Press Service (2022) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service

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Delivering Quality Education in Small Island Developing States — Global Issues

Poverty, lack of nutrition, domestic violence and teen pregnancy are some of the key drivers of low learning performances and early school dropout racing across Samoa and the Pacific. Credit: Simona Marinescu, United Nations
  • Opinion by Simona Marinescu (apia, samoa)
  • Inter Press Service

APIA, Samoa, Oct 10 (IPS) – With 147 million children around the world missing half of their in-person instruction over the last two years and around 24 million never returning to school, humanity is experiencing a deep learning crisis.

There is no substitute for good education.

As the challenges of our time continue to grow, it is impossible to imagine a future of prosperity and peace on a healthy planet without a functional, forward-looking and highly performing education system.

In recognition of the importance of investing in human capital to help overcome the impact of recent crises and restore growth and development, world leaders have gathered last month at the ‘Transforming Education Summit’ (TES), during the 77th UN General Assembly in New York.

The Summit, convened by the UN Secretary-General António Guterres, was aimed at mobilizing political ambition, joint action, and solutions for a forward looking and adequately financed quality education system.

In preparation for the TES, UN Country Teams, including our UN multi-country office covering the Cook Islands, Niue, Samoa and Tokelau, have supported governments conduct nation-wide consultations on the urgent need to reimagine education systems and find long-term solutions to the global learning crisis.

Convened in partnership with civil society, academia and the private sector, these consultations discussed ways of transforming education systems to ensure younger generations have the knowledge and skills necessary to respond to current and future crises.

According to our Multidimension Vulnerability Index, which I helped develop last year with fellow Resident Coordinators across the region, Small Island Developing States (SIDS) like Samoa, are particularly vulnerable to the effects of global shocks and crises including the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine.

The resulting disruption to supply chains and spikes in energy and food prices have had a significant impact on Samoa and other SIDS, placing them under high debt distress and deepening their need for development-based support.

The decline in tourism during the pandemic has also severely constrained the fiscal space of these Small Island Developing States, reducing the capacity of SIDS governments to reform education systems and provide viable solutions for remote learning. SIDS are among the countries with the highest number of days without any online teaching during the pandemic.

Small Island Developing States are also experiencing some of the highest rates of young people Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET). Poverty, lack of nutrition, domestic violence and teen pregnancy are some of the key drivers of low learning performances and early school dropout racing across Samoa and the Pacific.

In the island of Nauru 51 % of young people are not in education, employment or training: the highest across the region. Samoa’s NEET stands at 38 %.

The lack of income opportunities in domestic markets means that labour migration has become a common solution to filling shortages and tackling joblessness. As a result, reliance on remittance inflows and imported goods and fuels continues to grow.

According to our recent joint policy brief on the structural vulnerabilities impeding progress towards SDG4 in Small Island Developing States, there is a strong positive correlation between increased public investment in education and improved youth NEET rates and overall education outcomes.

It is clear that in order to deliver this much needed economic diversification and enable a digital transformation across the region, we need to support governments of the Small Island Developing States reimagine their education systems.

To address the complex root causes of this learning crisis, as UN Resident Coordinator in Samoa, Cook Islands, Niue and Tokelau, I led a joint UN Country Team effort to mobilize resources from the Joint SDG Fund and other instruments to implement a series of key strategic interventions.

Through these coordinated efforts, we have introduced new social protection measures, implemented programmes through the Spotlight Initiative to end domestic violence, including violence against children and developed an Integrated National Financing Framework to improve management of development financing.

Enhancing learning outcomes and transforming Samoa into a knowledge society has been at the heart of our joint interventions over the last few years.

The Samoa-Knowledge Society Initiative (SKS-I) funded by the Government of India through the UN – India Development Partnership Fund has been jointly implemented by UNDP and UNESCO in 2020-2022 with the aim of enhancing digital development and promoting lifelong learning opportunities across the country.

Since its launch, the initiative has helped generate more digital resources throughout Samoa, including a free-access digital library and a lifelong learning platform to facilitate online open learning.

Through our new Cooperation Framework (2023-2027) – the joint five-year roadmap for development planning between the UN and the Governments of the 14 Pacific Countries and Territories we assist in the region, we are working to incentivize more young people to continue their education and acquire the professional skills necessary for better paying and more secure jobs.

Our Cooperation Framework therefore places a greater emphasis on expanding investment in blue, green and circular economies, accelerating the digital transformation and improving natural capital conservation.

With resources I mobilized from the Joint SDG Fund, UNEP, UNESCAP, and UNESCO are working on enhancing ecosystem services to diversify sources of growth and improve debt sustainability.

Aside from these efforts to strengthen the green economy, we are mobilizing resources from the Joint SDG fund to expand access to more nutritious sources of food in order to improve health outcomes and educational performance across Samoa. To help reach this goal, we have supported a range of national dialogues on reimagining food systems and are currently implementing a joint FAO–WFP programme to strengthen food value chains and change consumption patterns.

Although considerable work is underway, Samoa’s progress towards achieving the SDGs will remain slow unless access to more sustainable sources of development financing for mid-income Small Island Developing States is made available.

Redesigning social contracts and expanding access to adequately financed quality education is a prerequisite for building long term resilience in SIDS; and one which our UN team in Samoa is working hard to deliver.

Simona Marinescu, Ph.D. is UN Resident Coordinator for Samoa, Cook Islands, Niue, Tokelau. This article was written with editorial support from the Development Coordination Office (DCO).

To learn more visit: https://samoa.un.org/.

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Australian surfers ride climate action wave — Global Issues

The image of the typical, laid-back surfer does not sit easily with the stereotype of earnest environmental campaigners. But elite bodyboarder Chris Kirkman is proof that surfers have a part to play in fighting the climate emergency.

He has competed everywhere from Portugal and Chile to Tahiti and Brazil, and it was through surfing that he first started considering humans’ effect on the climate.

In 2019, Mr. Kirkman, along with champion longboarder Belinda Baggs, co-founded Surfers for Climate. The organization has four key goals: to mobilize and empower an alliance of surfers to care about the climate; take climate action; help the surfing community play a role in stopping coastal and offshore fossil fuel developments; and make politicians who represent surfing communities take climate action.

Australia, which has suffered drought, wildfires and flooding across the country in recent years, is at the frontlines of the climate crisis, sparking increased concern amongst all sectors of the population, including surfers.

“A lot of Aussies had taken their heads out of the sand when it came to the climate, but then the fires and the floods really stepped up the urgency of the issue,” says Mr. Kirkman. “It still a difficult pathway for people, as they don’t know where to start, or where to go”.

Part of Surfers for Climate’s remit is to reach out to surfers and point them in the right direction. “We are still learning about our audience and how to engage them,” explains Mr. Kirkman, “figuring out how we take every surfer on a journey of climate action. We refer to it as a wave of engagement with multiple take-off points on that wave”.

UNDP

Singer-songwriter Cody Simpson is a UN Development Programme Ocean Ambassador

Casting a wide net

The non-profit has done everything from hosting climate-themed pub trivia nights to producing environmentally friendly consumption guides. Last month, they launched a new initiative called Trade Up, aimed at surfers who are also tradespeople, such as builders, carpenters, and electricians.

“We ran a one-day seminar, where we brought in different suppliers of materials and builders who were embracing best practice on their job sites in terms of materials and carbon neutrality,” Kirkman says.

“They had never had anyone engage with them on the environment during their whole working lives. We know there are huge emissions from construction, yet we are not talking to the tradespeople. They haven’t been engaged in the climate movement, but they just needed someone to talk to them and give them examples of best practice,” he adds.

Mr. Kirkman also points out the discussion has been quite intellectual for a long time, with “people in suits in big meetings talking about frameworks and emissions, and we have forgotten that there are everyday people who can be involved if you take the time to engage with them, and that’s what we try to do with Surfers for Climate.”

Communication is vital, as is knowing who your audience is and what they are going to respond to, and Mr. Kirkman argues that people who aren’t scientists but are passionate about the issue, need to work out how to get their message across. 

As the climate crisis gets more intense, more and more people are experiencing the devastating reality of a changing climate. In 2021, Australia experienced disastrous floods in the northern rivers of New South Wales, and many surfers took the initiative to help with the rescue efforts, using jet-skis to rescue people stranded in their homes, and delivering vital supplies.

Mr. Kirkman hopes Surfers for Climate can scale up its Trade Up initiative, engage with politicians ahead of upcoming elections and – like many non-profits – raise money so it can continue to do its work. “It’s the toughest yet most enjoyable job I’ve had,” he says. “There’s definitely nothing else I would rather be doing.”

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Pakistan’s ‘climate carnage beyond imagination’, UN chief tells General Assembly — Global Issues

During a full session of the UN’s most representative body on the country’s devastating floods, he recalled last month’s visit where he saw “a level of climate carnage beyond imagination”.

He described flood waters covering a landmass three times the total area of his own country, Portugal, saying that many lost their homes, livestock, crops and “their futures”.

“Lives were washed away”, he spelled out.

Worse to come

While the rains have ceased and water is beginning to recede, many areas in the south remain inundated and, with winter approaching, the situation is going from bad to worse.

“Pakistan is on the verge of a public health disaster”, warned the top UN official, pointing to threats of cholera, malaria and dengue fever claiming “far more lives than the floods”.

He painted a picture of nearly 1,500 devastated health facilities, two million damaged or destroyed homes and more than two million families without their possessions.

“Many have no shelter as winter approaches”.

Cascading calamities

At the same time, the scale of crop and livestock destruction is “creating a food crisis today and putting the planting season in jeopardy tomorrow”, continued Mr. Guterres.

“Severe hunger is spiking. Malnutrition among children and pregnant lactating women is rising. The number of children out of school is growing. Heartache and hardship – especially for women and girls – is mounting,” he elaborated.

Moreover, more than 15 million people could be pushed into poverty.

The effects of the floods will be felt not just for days or months but will linger in Pakistan for years to come. 

Massive support needed

Working with the Pakistan Government to convene a pledging conference to provide rehabilitation and reconstruction support, the UN chief urged donor countries, international organizations, the private sector and civil society to fully support these efforts.

Meanwhile, the Organization launched the Pakistan Floods Response Plan calling for $816 million – a surge of $656 million from the initial appeal – to respond to the most urgent needs through next May.

“But this pales in comparison to what is needed on every front – including food, water, sanitation…and health support”, said the Secretary-General.

G20’s ‘Moral responsibility’

As the calendar moves quickly to next UN climate conference (COP27) in November, he said “the world is moving backwards [as] greenhouse gas emissions are rising along with climate calamities”. 

The UN chief stressed that COP 27 must be the place where these trends are reversed, serious action on loss and damage taken, and vital funding found for adaptation and resilience. 

Reminding that the G20 leading industrialized nations drive 80 per cent of climate-destroying emissions, he called it their “moral responsibility” to help Pakistan recover, adapt and build resilience to disasters “supercharged by the climate crisis”.

© UNICEF/Loulou d’Aki

Young boys and a man using crutches pass through the flooded streets of Nowshera Kalan, one of the worst affected area in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan.

‘We must act now’

Noting that a third of Pakistan had been deluged, Mr. Guterres said that many island States face “the very real prospect of their entire homeland going under”. 

“Communities everywhere are looking down the barrel of climate-driven destruction,” he said. “We must act – and we must act now”. 

While this time it was Pakistan, the Secretary-General warned that tomorrow, “it could be any of our countries and our communities”.

“Climate chaos is knocking on everyone’s door, right now,” he concluded. “This global crisis demands global solidarity and a global response”.

‘Litmus test of solidarity’

General Assembly President Csaba Kőrösi, underscored the importance of time, as “the price we are paying for delays rises each day”.

He said that today, the world faced a “litmus test of solidarity” in how Member States react to Pakistan’s plight.

“This is a tragedy of epic proportions” that requires “immediate interventions,” to prevent a “permanent emergency”.

Rebuilding together

The Assembly President highlighted the need to be better prepared as droughts and rains return.

More than ever, international relief efforts must focus on transformative solutions, he said. “Adaptation and resilience are the seeds of sustainability”.

Mr. Kőrösi urged the ambassadors to “make use of science and solidarity…to enhance our crisis management capacities…[to] rebuild together”.

© UNICEF/Asad Zaidi

Floodwaters in Umerkot district, Sindh Province, Pakistan.

Appealing for help

Meanwhile the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, is urgently seeking to help more than 650,000 refugees and members of their host communities affected by Pakistan’s calamitous flooding.

Noting that the scale of devastation is “hard to comprehend,” spokesperson Matthew Saltmarsh told a press briefing in Geneva on Friday that as Pakistan faces “a colossal challenge” to respond to the climate disaster, more support is need “for the country and its people, who have generously hosted Afghan refugees for over four decades”.

He reported on the latest estimates of the unprecedented rainfall and flooding, recorded at least 1,700 deaths; 12,800 injured, including at least 4,000 children; some 7.9 million displacements; and nearly 600,000 living in relief sites.

On ‘the frontlines’

“Pakistan is on the frontlines of the climate emergency,” said Mr. Saltmarsh.

UNHCR seeks additional funds to address immediate needs and assist in early recovery processes.

“It could take months for flood waters to recede in the hardest-hit areas, as fears rise over threats of waterborne diseases and the safety of millions of affected people, 70 per cent of whom are women and children,” he said, reminding that “environmental sustainability will remain central to the response”.

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Pakistans Transgender Legislation in the Line of Fire — Global Issues

Bindya Rana, a Karachi-based transgender activist and founder and president of Gender Interactive Alliance (GIA), and Shahzadi Rai, a Karachi-based transgender person, believe that the debate over the law protecting the rights of transgender persons is problematic. Credit: Zofeen Ebrahim/IPS
  • by Zofeen Ebrahim (karachi)
  • Inter Press Service

Karachi, Oct 06 (IPS) – It has taken four years for some politicians to oppose a landmark law protecting the rights of transgender persons, saying it’s against Islam and the country’s constitution.

“This is an imposed, imported, anti-Islam, anti-Quran legislation,” said Senator Mushtaq Ahmed, a Pakistani politician belonging to the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), spearheading the campaign. “The West is hitting at the two strongest institutions of the Muslim Ummah – the family and marriage; they want to weaken us,” he told IPS from Peshawar, adding that this will “open the road” for homosexuality and same-sex marriage. 

According to Ahmed, for the last four years, the government, with support from non-governmental organizations, was “shamelessly pushing the agenda of Europe and America,” terming it “cultural terrorism.”

Other politicians have also joined in voicing their concerns. For instance, PTI senator, Mohsin Aziz, said transgender people were homosexuals, and “Qaum-e Loot” referred to homosexuality introduced by the people of Sodom. “The longer we take in making amends, the longer the wrath of God will be upon us,” he added. He is among those who have recently presented amendments to the law.

“Using religion to stoke people’s sentiments sets a very dangerous precedence,” warned Shahzadi Rai, a Karachi-based transgender person. “Spare us; our community cannot fight back.” 

Rai asked that the issue not be seen through the “prism of religion,” adding, “even we do not accept homosexuality.”

Physician Dr Sana Yasir, who has a special interest in gender variance and bodily diversity and offers gender-affirming healthcare services, said there was no mention of homosexuality in the Act.

“The right-wing politicians need such issues to keep their politics alive,” said Anis Haroon, commissioner for the National Commission for Human Rights, which was part of consultations on the Act and fully supported it.

Ahmed had presented certain amendments to the Act last year, and earlier this month, he introduced a brand-new bill for the protection of khunsa, an Arabic word he said was for people “born with birth defects in the genitalia.” If passed, the Act will apply to the entire country and come into force immediately. 

In the proposed bill, khunsa is defined as a person who has a “mixture of male and female genital features or congenital ambiguities.” The person will have the right to register as a male or female based on certification from a medical board.

“I studied the old law for a good two years after it was enacted; held discussions with many jurists, even international ones, medical doctors, religious scholars. Based on the information gathered, I came up with amendments to the 2018 law,” Ahmed said, defending his stance and explaining why it took four years to oppose a law passed by a two-thirds majority in the Senate and the Parliament. He has also filed a petition in the Federal Shariat Court against the 2018 Act.

The right-wing Jamiat Ulema Islam (JUI-Fazl) and parliamentarians belonging to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) have also voiced their concern and opposed the 2018 act. 

“Allah has just mentioned sons and daughters in the Quran; there is no mention of another gender,” said PTI’s senator, Fauzia Arshad, speaking to IPS. He has also presented amendments to the Senate’s standing committee on human rights.

The country’s top religious advisory body, the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), has also termed it unIslamic law.

“We respect the rights of the transgenders given in the 2018 Act, but when it transgresses beyond biology, and psychology and sociology come into play, we have reservations,” said Dr Qibla Ayaz, chairman of the Council of Islamic Ideology, talking to IPS from Islamabad. He also said the council was never approached when the bill was debated.   

The law, instead of defining gender, has defined gender identity: A person’s innermost and individual sense of self as male, female, or a blend of both or neither, that can correspond or not to the sex assigned at birth. It also refers to gender expression: A person’s presentation of their gender identity and/or the one others perceive.

 JI, meanwhile, has defined gender as a “person’s expression as per his or her sex which is not different than the sex assigned to him or her at the time of birth or as per the advice of a medical board.”

“We do not believe in self-perceived gender identity of a person and are asking for a medical board to be constituted to ascertain that,” said Ahmed.

Arshad endorsed this: “The sex of a person is determined from where the person urinates and should be determined by a medical board.”

“Self-perception of who you think you want to be, and not what you are born as is not in the Quran.”

“CII has some reservations about the self-perceived identity,” said Ayaz.

To rule out “real from fake” transgender people, Ahmed’s bill has recommended constituting a gender reassignment medical board in every district, which would include a professor doctor, a male and a female general surgeon, a psychologist, and a chief medical officer. 

“Any sex reassignment surgery to change the genitalia will be prohibited if the person is diagnosed with a psychological disorder or gender dysphoria,” he said. Arshad agreed with this view.

“A medical board can help people figure out their gender identity by offering them personality tests and blood works. They can help decrease the intensity of gender dysphoria by offering non-medical and medical interventions,” said Yasir. 

But the board cannot reject someone’s “experienced gender,” she asserted.

Yasir added there was no mention of a geneticist, a psychiatrist, or those trained in transgender health on the board.

Healthcare professionals argue that constituting medical boards in Pakistan’s 160 districts is nearly impossible. The complex issue requires genetic testing (from abroad), which is expensive for a resource-stretched country like Pakistan, and meticulous diagnosis by scarce experts. 

The trans community has rejected the option of the constitution of a medical board outright. 

“We will never allow anyone to examine us,” said Bindya Rana, a Karachi-based transgender activist and founder and president of Gender Interactive Alliance (GIA). “We know, who we are, just like the men and women in this country know who they are!” 

If this debate has done one thing, it is to validate and increase transphobia.

“Harassment, discrimination, and violence have increased due to the negative propaganda led by Jamat-e-Islami,” said Reem Sharif, a trans activist based in Islamabad.

“A week ago, one transgender was murdered. The alleged murderer is behind bars, but during interrogation, he told the police that he was on jihad as killing transgenders would take him straight to heaven. He is sure he will be released and will finish off the job,” said Rai.

She also recalled the horrific attack on three well-known transwomen in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Swabi two weeks back. “They received several bullets, but fortunately, all survived,” she said. The attack spread panic and fear among the community. Rai said the transphobia was “contained, but now it is out in the open.”

“There is a definite backlash,” agreed Lahore-based Moon Chaudhary. “Ten days ago, in Lahore, a few trans persons were publicly harassed at a posh locality. They were forcefully disrobed, asked about their gender, and then raped,” she said.

According to Mughal, the “more visible trans activists” like her, are increasingly feeling vulnerable. “Bullying is going on, and people are openly threatening. She gets scores of text messages from unknown numbers referring to her as a “man,” causing “mental torment.”

Rai said she feared for her life since she was actively participating in defending the law on various TV channels, and participating in debates organized by clerics. “I’m worried and have told my flatmates to be vigilant and take extra precautions in letting in their friends.” 

Transgender activists are also fighting on another front – cyberspace. 

“I am being misgendered on national television; then the same clips are shared on social media, which go viral. I am accused of being a man and feigning as a woman,” said Mughal. She said some are provoking people to go on a jihad against them and setting a “dangerous precedent.”

“I thought I was strong and would be able to handle online abuse, but it is taking a toll and affecting my mental health,” Rai admitted. For instance, of the 900 comments on a video clip on social media, 600 were abusive. There were some that were downright violent in nature, calling for her murder or burning her to death. “My photos are being circulated with vulgar messages attached,” she added.

Although Rana admitted the campaign against the 2018 law has brought “irreparable damage” to the transgender cause, she is confident the newly-presented bill by JI was just to create a storm in a teacup and will not see the light of day. 

“All that we worked for, for years, has come to naught,” she lamented. While the law prohibited discrimination against transgender persons seeking education, healthcare, employment, or trade, Rana said, “we never benefitted on any score” except the right to change the name and gender on the national identity card, the driving license, and the passport. For us, even that was a big win,” she said. About 28,000 transgender persons had their gender corrected. But now, even that right is in danger. 

Ahmed said his struggle would continue. “If the khunsa bill finds no takers, we will take it to the Supreme Court of Pakistan and start street protests,” he warned, adding: “It’s a ticking time bomb!” 

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