Tag: Humanitarian Emergencies

Record-Breaking Global Migration — Global Issues

On Monday 15 May 2023, the Member States of IOM elected Ms. Amy Pope as its new Director General.
  • Opinion by Lansana Gberie (geneva, switzerland)
  • Inter Press Service

GENEVA, Switzerland, Oct 03 (IPS) – On 14 June, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) issued his flagship annual report, Global Trends: Forced Displacement 2022. It states that by the end of 2022, the number of people displaced by war, persecution, violence and human rights abuse had dramatically increased by 19.1 million — the biggest increase on record — reaching a total of 108.4 million.

This record-breaking displacement resulted mainly from the war in Ukraine and the eruption of conflict in Sudan. Ongoing conflicts in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, in Africa’s Sahel region and elsewhere also contributed, as did prominent natural disasters related to climate change.

Rush to conflict, slow to solution

In the report, High Commissioner Filippo Grandi was right to blame this tragedy on people who “are far too quick to rush to conflict, and way too slow to find solutions,” leading to such “devastation, displacement and anguish for each of the millions of people forcibly uprooted from their homes.”

On Monday 15 May 2023, the Member States of IOM elected Ms. Amy Pope as its new Director General.

Yet, to blame the perpetrators of such conflicts is not to absolve the rest of the world for responding so appallingly to such displacements. This is inevitably irregular or illegal migration. On the day that the UN report was released, as many as 600 men, women and children perished needlessly when a human smuggler’s boat, Adriana, capsized off the coast of Greece.

In the following month of July, news photographs showed 27 bodies of African migrants along with dozens of inebriated figures stranded along the Libya-Tunisia border. A few weeks later on 21 August, Human Rights Watch reported that border guards of an important Middle Eastern country had carried out “widespread and systematic” abuse of hundreds of African migrants and asylum seekers trying to cross its border between March 2022 and June 2023.

That country has rejected the allegation as false. If the evidence proves otherwise, then we could consider this an extreme example of “a kind of grim and tragic monotony,” the phrase used by the American Quaker humanitarian Louis W. Schneider in 1954 to characterize the world’s aggressive attitude toward unwanted migrants.

Lansana GberieSecure borders, safe passages

Perhaps more pernicious, because more subtle and more easily replicable elsewhere, is the growing practice by wealthy countries of providing training, logistical coordination and other high-tech support to poorer countries so that those poorer countries can forcibly prevent migration to the rich ones.

Linked to such pernicious support and coordination is the recent migrant boat tragedy off the coast of West Africa, after patrol boats chased a fishing boat carrying migrants. Maneuvering in pitch darkness to escape, the migrant boat lost its way and struck rocks off a popular beachfront in Dakar, Senegal, killing at least 16 people.

No doubt those countries have legitimate, and probably even humane, reasons for their robust efforts to stop this kind of irregular and dangerous migration: thousands of young Africans have died over the years trying this perilous route. And state sovereignty requires secure borders.

Still, it is hard to shake off the impression that staunching illegal migrant flows is a greater priority than helping desperate young people — often displaced by conflict and ecological disasters — to more secure and prosperous destinations.

The issue is not just a matter of moral consideration. It is a hugely complex problem, clearly one of the great global challenges of our unequal world, and one without an easy fix. Even so, the world must find a more humane and effective way of addressing it.

Humane management of migration

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) was founded in 1951 to “help ensure the orderly and humane management of migration, to promote international cooperation on migration issues, to assist in the search for practical solutions to migration problems and to provide humanitarian assistance to migrants in need, including refugees and internally displaced people.”

The vision is ennobling, and IOM takes its mission seriously. The organization is currently made up of 175 member states, operating in 180 countries around the world (including my own, Sierra Leone). It employs thousands of people from diverse backgrounds in fulfilling this mission.

In March this year, as chair of the governing council of IOM, I visited two African countries where IOM has a significant presence. My first stop was Morocco — Rabat and Casablanca — where, during two days in March this year, I met with migrants, staff of IOM, senior government officials, diplomats and civil society organizations working with migrants.

Morocco is a critical migration hub — a source country, a transit point, and increasingly, a destination country for migrants. It combines border security arrangements with richer countries to its north with its own efforts to accommodate migrants, though perhaps with a lopsided provision of resources between the two.

Because of Morocco’s strategic location, the African Union in 2020 established the African Migration Observatory (AMO) in Rabat. Headed by an Egyptian diplomat, Ambassador Amira Elfadi, the observatory could potentially assist in monitoring events such as the tragedy at the Tunisia-Libya border. But when I met Ms. Elfadi, she had no staff yet. The AMO needs support for operations as extensive and energetic as those in Kenya.

The most effective combination

I had wide-ranging conversations with IOM staff in both countries, in town halls organised by local IOM leaders. Passion for the work of the organisation was very strong. Passion combined with strong technical knowledge and an eagerness to engage with migrant communities and local authorities at all levels — which I found stronger in Kenya — makes for greater effectiveness.

In May, by resounding vote and unanimous acclamation, IOM elected Amy Pope as its director general. She is a resourceful and energetic American who embodies this combination of passion, knowledge, and enthusiasm for engaging with staff at all levels, with all governments and local authorities, and with migrant communities.

A veteran migrant defender, Ms. Pope is the first woman to head this important organization since its founding 72 years ago. In her vision statement, she committed to a “people-centred” approach, defining this as a commitment to “the migrants, vulnerable people, and the communities IOM serves, IOM’s member states and its workforce.”

Since becoming deputy director of IOM over two years ago, Ms. Pope has consistently pursued this vision with a passion rare in the staid corridors of Geneva power offices. She is now one of a handful of pioneering women to lead important international organizations in Geneva, which hosts a few dozen. All of them assumed their positions within the past four years. It has been a refreshing change.

A novel leadership of a global organization grappling with a large global challenge tends to come with high expectations. It is both the attraction and a pitfall of progressive change. Either way, it will not detract from Ms. Pope’s commitment to posit that she will be as successful only in so far as the world wants her to succeed.

With the extraordinarily grim developments heralding her tenure, the world must embrace her “people-centred” approach. A failure to do so could mean unending calamities like the ones described above.

Dr. Lansana Gberie is Sierra Leone’s Permanent Representative in Geneva. He is Chair of the Governing Council of International Organization for Migration.

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Wrecked by Climate Change, Farmers in Kashmir Shift to Lavender Cultivation — Global Issues

Mohammad Subhan Dar decided to abandon farming forever as changes in climate affected his traditional crops, but a project introducing lavender farming saved his farm. Credit: Umer Asif/IPS
  • by Umar Manzoor Shah (bijbehara, india)
  • Inter Press Service

BIJBEHARA, INDIA, Sep 29 (IPS) – Creating resilience is crucial to climate change justice. In Bijbehara, a hamlet south of Kashmir’s capital, Srinagar, lavender farming has meant farmers grappling with unseasonal rains, prolonged heat waves, and severe water scarcity have found a new means of survival.
 Mohammad Subhan Dar diligently tends to some bright purple plants on a four-acre farm in Bijbehara, a hamlet south of Kashmir’s capital, Srinagar. As you draw nearer, you’ll be mesmerized by the sight of sprawling lavender fields, where about 10 to 15 farmers, including Dar, prepare for a promising harvest.

Smiles grace the faces of these hardworking individuals as the harvest season draws near.

However, this hasn’t always been the case. The farmers in this village were deeply troubled by the significant shifts in weather patterns. Unseasonal rains, prolonged heat waves, and severe water scarcity have become constant sources of concern for them.

Kashmir Valley – a northern Indian state bordering Pakistan – has agriculture as its primary source of livelihood. Farmers comprise 80 percent of the state’s population, and agriculture and horticulture are the backbone of the state’s economy. The unique climate in the foothills of the Himalayas allows for the growing of exotic fruits and vegetables not usually found in India.

According to government records, an estimated 60 percent of Kashmir’s agriculture is dependent on rainwater for irrigation. However, during the past few years, Kashmir Valley has witnessed the worst-ever dry seasons. Meteorological Department shows that instead of an average of 622 mm of snow, the mountain ranges in Valley during the past three years witnessed a mere 172 mm – indicating a problematic change in the weather pattern. This has directly affected the region’s agriculture sector, with farmers incurring devastating losses.

Farmers cooperate and now benefit from lavender which is a valuable source of essential oils that find their way into soaps, cosmetics, fragrances, air fresheners and medicinal items. Credit: Umer Asif/IPS

Mohammad Subhan Dar is one such farmer who, in 2018, decided to abandon farming forever.

“My huge chunk of land gave me no income. It was like working round the year and getting nothing in the end. While we sowed the paddies, hoping for profitable yields, the dry weather would leave us wrecked. We would not be able even to get basic costs mitigated, let alone earn anything out of it,” Dar told IPS.

Around this time, the government’s Department of Agriculture asked farmers if they could switch to alternate farming methods that could provide them profitable harvests owing to indications of climate change in the region. Lavender farming was provided as a viable alternative.

Lavender is a valuable source for extracting essential oils, which finds its way into creating various products, including soap, cosmetics, fragrances, air fresheners, and medicinal items. Notably, lavender plants are not particularly water-thirsty and tend to resist pests and other crop-damaging creatures. A single lavender plant can start being harvested after just two years from planting, continues to bloom for up to fifteen years, and demands minimal maintenance.

An estimated 1,000 farming families are engaged in lavender cultivation across more than 200 acres in various regions of Jammu and Kashmir. Credit: Umer Asif/IPS

Lavender farming was initiated as part of the ‘Aroma Mission,’ a collaborative effort between the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and the Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine under the Ministry of Science and Technology.

Following the successful completion of Phase I, CSIR has embarked on Phase II, a larger endeavour that aims to involve more than 45,000 skilled individuals and benefit over 75,000 families. According to officials, the climate in Jammu and Kashmir is exceptionally well-suited for lavender cultivation, given its ability to thrive in cold temperatures and moderate summer conditions.

The Kashmir region within the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir is widely recognized as a significant centre for medicinal plants. Lavender holds excellent promise as a therapeutic and aromatic herb that can positively impact India’s economic and healthcare prospects. The lavender produced in Kashmir has garnered attention from both domestic and international markets. Research findings have indicated that lavender farming can be lucrative for farmers, provided there is sustained demand and well-organized farmer activities.

Dar says he had a chunk of land adjacent to his paddy field, and other villagers had pockets of cultivable lands there.

Lavender is resilient and doesn’t need lots of water; it is also resistant to pests and has a 15-year lifespan. Credit: Umer Asif/IPS

“We joined hands, got training from the government, and began the cultivation of lavender. It needs meagre care, and climate change doesn’t affect its production in any manner. It was a win-win situation for us. The hopes were high from the very beginning. As we slowly ventured into it, we found its importance,” Dar says.

Another farmer, Imtiyaz Ahmad, says the profit from Lavender farming is far greater than rice cultivation and that the farmers are a little worried about losses if the weather remains bad.

“There is nothing like dry weather or heavy rainfalls here that could affect the lavender cultivation. The research done at the government level has revealed how suitable this place is for lavender crops. Farmers in large numbers are switching to lavender cultivation and abandoning the traditional methods that used to provide them nothing except anxiety and losses,” Ahmad said.

Farmers claim that selling at least one litre of its oil fetches them Rs 30,000 (500 USD). The farmers say that lavender grown over one hectare of land gives them a minimum of 50 litres of lavender oil.

As per the government estimates, over 1,000 farming families are currently engaged in lavender cultivation across more than 200 acres in various regions of Jammu and Kashmir. Each of these farmers has provided employment opportunities to at least five additional individuals, resulting in the mission already benefiting over 6,000 families.

“Farmers in the districts of Anantnag, Pulwama, Budgam, Ganderbal, and Kupwara have begun to shift away from traditional crops and are increasingly embracing lavender cultivation,” a senior government official told IPS.

Dar believes that it has secured his future.

“It proved to be the best alternative to traditional farming in times of the drastic changes occurring at a frantic pace in Kashmir.”

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Peru Faces Challenge of Climate Change-Driven Internal Migration — Global Issues

  • by Mariela Jara (lima)
  • Inter Press Service

LIMA, Sep 28 (IPS) – Nearly 700,000 people have migrated internally in Peru due to the effects of climate change. This mass displacement is a clear problem in this South American country, one of the most vulnerable to the global climate crisis due to its biodiversity, geography and 28 different types of climates.

“We recognize migration due to climate change as a very tangible issue that needs to be addressed,” Pablo Peña, a geographer who is coordinator of the Emergency and Humanitarian Assistance Unit of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Peru, told IPS.

In an interview with IPS at the UN agency’s headquarters in Lima, Peña reported that according to the international Internal Displacement Monitoring Center, the number of people displaced within Peru’s borders by disasters between 2008 and 2022 is estimated at 659,000, most of them floods related to climate disturbances.

In this Andean country of 33 million inhabitants, there is a lack of specific and centralized data to determine the characteristics of migration caused by environmental and climate change factors.

Peña said that through a specific project, the IOM has collaborated with the Peruvian government in drafting an action plan aimed at preventing and addressing climate-related forced migration, on the basis of which a pilot project will begin in October to systematize information from different sources on displacement in order to incorporate the environmental and climate component.

“We aim to be able to define climate migrants and incorporate them into all regulations,” said the expert. The project, which includes gender, rights and intergenerational approaches, is being worked on with the Ministries of the Environment and of Women and Vulnerable Populations.

He added that this type of migration is multidimensional. “People can say that they left their homes in the Andes highlands because they had nothing to eat due to the loss of their crops, and that could be interpreted, superficially, as forming part of economic migration because they have no means of livelihood. But that cause can be associated with climatic variables,” Peña said.

In a 2022 report, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) identified Peru as the country with the highest level of food insecurity in South America.

Pablo Peña, coordinator of the Emergency and Humanitarian Assistance Unit of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Peru, stands in front of the headquarters of this United Nations agency in Lima. He highlights the need to address the situation of internal migration driven by the impacts of climate change. CREDIT: Mariela Jara / IPS

The Central Reserve Bank, in charge of preserving monetary stability and managing international reserves, lowered in its September monthly report Peru’s economic growth projection to 0.9 percent for this year, partly due to the varied impacts of climate change on agriculture and fishing.

This would affect efforts to reduce the poverty rate, which stands at around 30 percent in the country, where seven out of every 10 workers work in the informal sector, and would drive up migration of the population in search of food and livelihoods.

“The World Bank estimates that by 2050 there will be more than 10 million climate migrants in Latin America,” said Peña.

The same multilateral institution, in its June publication Peru Strategic Actions Toward Water Security, points out that people without economic problems are 10 times more resistant than those living in poverty to climatic impacts such as floods and droughts, which are increasing at the national level.

The country is currently experiencing the Coastal El Niño climate phenomenon, which in March caused floods in northern cities and droughts in the south. The official National Service of Meteorology and Hydrology warned that in January 2024 it could converge with the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) global phenomenon, accentuating its impacts.

El Niño usually occurs in December, causing the sea temperature to rise and altering the rainfall pattern, which increases in the north of the country and decreases in the south.

The manager of Natural Resources of the Piura regional government, Juan Aguilar, described the vulnerability to climate change of this northern coastal region of Peru at a September meeting organized by the IOM in Lima. The official explained that the El Niño climate phenomenon has become more intense and frequent due to the effects of climate change, which aggravates its impacts on the population, such as severe flooding this year. CREDIT: Mariela Jara / IPS

Reluctance to migrate to safer areas

Piura, a northern coastal department with an estimated population of just over two million inhabitants, has been hit by every El Niño episode, including this year’s, which left more than 46,000 homes damaged, even in areas that had been rebuilt.

Juan Aguilar, manager of Natural Resources of the Piura regional government, maintains that the high vulnerability to ENSO is worsening with climate change and is affecting the population, communication routes and staple crops.

At an IOM workshop on Sept. 5 in Lima, the official stressed that Piura is caught up in both floods and droughts, in a complex context for the implementation of spending on prevention, adaptation and mitigation.

Aguilar spoke to IPS about the situation of people who, despite having lost their homes for climatic reasons, choose not to migrate, in what he considers to be a majority trend.

“People are not willing overall to move to safer areas, even during El Niño 2017 when there were initiatives to relocate them to other places; they prefer to wait for the phenomenon to pass and return to their homes,” he added.

View of the Rimac River as it passes through the municipality of Lurigancho-Chosica, in the Peruvian province of Lima. In this town, many families are still living in housing in areas at high risk, which is exacerbated during the rainy season that begins in December and has intensified due to climate change and the increased recurrence of the El Niño climate phenomenon. CREDIT: Mariela Jara / IPS

He explained that this attitude is due to the fact that they see the climatic events as recurrent. “They say, I already experienced this in such and such a year, and there is a resignation in the sense of saying that we are in a highly vulnerable area, it is what we have to live with, God and nature have put us in these conditions,” Aguilar said.

He acknowledged that with regard to this question, public policies have not made much progress. “For example after 2017 a law was passed to identify non-mitigable risk zones, and that has not been enforced despite the fact that it would help us to implement plans to relocate local residents to safer areas,” he added.

The regional official pointed out that “we do not have an experience in which the State says ‘I have already identified this area, there is so much housing available here for those who want to relocate’ , because the social cost would be so high.”

“We have not seen this, and the populace has the feeling that if they are going to start somewhere else, the place they abandon will be taken by someone else, and they say: ‘what is the point of me moving, if the others will be left here’,” Aguilar said.

Paulina Vílchez, 72, has always lived in the Peruvian municipality of Lurigancho-Chosica. Despite the fear every year that the Rimac River might flood and that mudslides could occur in one of the 21 ravines in the area, she has never thought of moving away. “I’m not going to go to an empty plot to start all over again, that’s why I’ve stayed. I leave everything in the hands of God,” she said. CREDIT: Mariela Jara / IPS

The fear of starting over

Some 40 km from the Peruvian capital, in Lurigancho-Chosica, one of the 43 municipalities of the province of Lima, the local population is getting nervous about the start of the rainy season in December, which threatens mudslides in some of its 21 ravines. The most notorious due to their catastrophic impact occurred in 1987, 2017, 2018 and March of this year.

Landslides, known in Peru by the Quechua indigenous term “huaycos”, have been part of the country’s history, due to the combination of the special characteristics of the rugged geography of the Andes highlands and the ENSO phenomenon.

In an IPS tour of the Chosica area of Pedregal, one of the areas vulnerable to landslides and mudslides due to the rains, there was concern in the municipality about the risks they face, but also a distrust of moving to a safer place to start over.

“I came here to Pedregal as a child when this was all fields where cotton and sugar cane were planted. I have been here for more than sixty years and we have progressed, we no longer live in shacks,” said 72-year-old Paulina Vílchez, who lives in a nicely painted two-story house built of cement and brick.

On the first floor she set up a bodega, which she manages herself, where she sells food and other products. She did not marry or have children, but she helped raise two nieces, with whom she still lives in a house that is the fruit of her parents’ and then her own efforts and which represents decades of hard work.

Vílchez admits that she would like to move to a place where she could be free of the fear that builds up every year. But she said it would have to be a house with the same conditions as the one she has managed to build with so much effort. “I’m not going to go to an empty plot to start all over again, that’s why I’ve stayed. I leave everything in the hands of God,” she told IPS.

Maribel Zavaleta’s home in the Peruvian municipality of Chosica is built of wood, near the Rimac River and just a meter from the train tracks. She arrived there in 1989, relocated after a mud, water and rock slide two years earlier in another part of the town. She constantly worries that another catastrophe will happen again, and says she would relocate if she were guaranteed safer land and materials to build a new house. CREDIT: Mariela Jara / IPS

Very close to the Rimac River and next to the railway tracks that shake her little wooden house each time the train passes by lives Maribel Zavaleta, 50, born in Chosica, and her family of two daughters, a son, and three granddaughters.

“I came here in 1989 with my mom, she was a survivor of the 1987 huayco, and we lived in tents until we were relocated here. But it’s not safe; in 2017 the river overflowed and the house was completely flooded,” she told IPS.

Zavaleta started her own family at the age of 21, but is now separated from her husband. Her eldest son lives with his girlfriend on the same property, and her older daughter, who works and helps support the household, has given her three granddaughters. The youngest of her daughters is 13 and attends a local municipal school.

“I work as a cleaner and what I earn is only enough to cover our basic needs,” she said. She added that if she were relocated again it would have to be to a plot of land with a title deed and materials to build her house, which is now made of wood and has a tin roof, while her plot of land is fenced off with metal sheets.

“I can’t afford to improve my little house or leave here. I would like the authorities to at least work to prevent the river from overflowing while we are here,” she said, pointing to the rocks left by the 2017 landslide that have not been removed.

© Inter Press Service (2023) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service

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Zimbabwes Food Security Ambitions in El Ni񯒳 Crosshairs — Global Issues

Wildfires under dry conditions have been cited as contributing to the El Nino phenomenon. Credit: Ignatius Banda/IPS
  • by Ignatius Banda (bulawayo, zimbabwe)
  • Inter Press Service

BULAWAYO, ZIMBABWE, Sep 27 (IPS) – Zimbabwe is riding a wave of food security assurances after what officials said was last year’s bumper grain harvest, but recent El Niño forecasts could test the country’s agriculture production ambitions.

The devastating phenomenon could further bring the spotlight on Zimbabwe’s disaster preparedness as the country has, over the years, received early warnings of impending climate-induced humanitarian crises but found wanting.

While the landlocked southern African country has invested heavily in farm mechanisation and irrigation, there are concerns that the looming El Niño could test if these interventions will help sustain food production at a time when aid agencies say more people will require assistance into the coming year.

During the 2022/23 season, Zimbabwe recorded its highest grain harvest in years, with the agriculture ministry declaring that the country will not be importing any food in the short term.

However, fresh climate uncertainty concerns have brought back worries about the country’s ability to feed itself, where thousands of smallholder farmers – the primary growers of the staple maize – rely on rain for their agriculture activities.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), up to 70 percent of Zimbabwe’s population subsists on rainfed agriculture, effectively exposing the vulnerability of food security as El Niño looms.

In a July update, FAO’s Global Information and Early Warning Systems listed Zimbabwe as one of the southern African countries where the UN agency had prepared what it called “anticipatory protocols for drought” ahead of El Niño.

“El Niño is likely to result in a mixed start to the 2023/24 rainy season in Zimbabwe. Precipitation from December to March, during the height of the rainy season, is likely to be below average, negatively impacting the 2023/24 agricultural season,” the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS-NET) said in a June update.

Climate ministry officials say El Niño has previously affected agricultural production, noting that more remains to be done to counter its devastating effects.

“The combination of drought and water scarcity results in decreased agricultural productivity, leading to reduced food production, and this subsequently impacts food security and increases food prices,” said Washington Zhakata, a director of the Environment Ministry’s Climate Change Management Department.

He noted that the country could still have more to worry about in the aftermath of El Niño.

“El Niño conditions create conducive conditions for the outbreak of crop diseases and pests. When the crops are weakened, they become more susceptible to infestations and diseases, further affecting agricultural yields,” Zhakata told IPS.

While Zimbabwe has committed to building a multi-billion-dollar agriculture sector, climate uncertainty could derail those plans as the country has been slow in setting up infrastructure such as irrigation and new dams.

According to Zhakata, countermeasures such as escalated investment in the sector could cushion the country against future climate shocks.

“Investment in irrigation infrastructure, such as dams, weirs, boreholes and water conveyancing systems to where the water will be required, to provide alternative water sources during drought periods, enhance farmers’ access to irrigation systems, and promote efficient water management practices,” Zhakata said.

This comes as the World Food Programme (WFP) says more people will require food assistance during the traditional lean season early next year, already worsened by El Niño.

“Nutritional vulnerability is highest at the peak of the lean season (January – March) when food stocks from the previous growing season run low and prices in the market increase,” said Mary Gallar, WFP-Zimbabwe spokesperson.

“Recognising the challenges experienced by communities in some poor performing areas, it is expected that a large number of people will rely on food assistance at the beginning of next year,” Gallar said.

According to FAO, El Niño last hit Zimbabwe in 2016 and left 40 million people in southern Africa needing food assistance.

It is yet to be seen what preparations the country’s grain reserves will be enough in the event of another El Niño-induced drought.

According to agencies, the 2016 El Niño “severely reduced seasonal rains and higher-than-normal temperatures linked to El Niño caused an anticipated 12 percent drop in aggregate cereal production.”

Amid such anticipated reduced food production, Zimbabwe’s 2023 bumper grain harvest will provide a litmus test of the country’s grain statistics, which some analysts have questioned.

According to climate ministry officials, Zimbabwe is one of many countries bearing the brunt of climate uncertainty yet to benefit from loss and damage pledges by rich nations, further compounding efforts to address climate-related emergencies adequately.

“The 27th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27) acknowledged that existing funding arrangements fall short of responding to current and future impacts of climate change and are not sufficient to addressing loss and damage associated with the adverse impacts of climate change,” Zhakata said.

“So far, no Parties have benefitted from this facility; it is a prerequisite to have clearly defined operational modalities and initial resources being deposited into the fund before it can be accessed. It is expected that the modalities will be agreed in December to pave the way for the operationalisation of the Fund,” he added.

For now, as potentially devastating El Niño drought approaches, smallholders could find themselves none the wiser as they count their losses in the absence of measures to mitigate the impact of climate change.

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Skyrocketing Inflation Puts Food Security in Pakistan at Risk — Global Issues

Jamaat-i-Islami party stage protest in Peshawar against price-hikes. Credit: Ashfaq Yusufzai/IPS
  • by Ashfaq Yusufzai (peshawar, pakistan)
  • Inter Press Service

PESHAWAR, PAKISTAN, Sep 26 (IPS) – “We are under extreme stress about skyrocketing prices of essential edible commodities and the cost of gas and electricity. The situation is becoming worse because every day. We must pay more for wheat flour, sugar, tea, milk, oil, etc.,” Azizullah Khan, a civil servant, says.

Khan draws a monthly salary of 30,000 rupees (USD100), but the cost of living is increasing daily, making it hard for his family of eight to survive.

The electricity bill for August was 20,000 rupees (USD67), and two-thirds of his salary went into paying that, while the remaining 10,000 rupees (USD33) is meant to pay for gas and other family expenses, which, he says, is next to impossible.

“Now, we are seriously thinking of selling the small house we inherited from our parents because we have to repay loans to the shopkeepers and pay the school fees of three children,” says Khan, 30. He lives on the outskirts of Peshawar, the provincial capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, one of Pakistan’s four provinces.

Pakistan’s leading economy and business analyst, Khurram Hussain, told IPS that the country has been seeing relentless and unending pressure on the exchange rate and price levels for more than two and a half years.

“The present bout of exchange rate volatility began in May 2021 and has continued unabated since then,” Hussain says. The dollar had from around 150 rupees to the dollar to about 300 to the dollar, he says.

Quoted in Dawn, a newspaper in Pakistan, he noted: “It took ten years for the dollar to double in value from 75 to 150 rupees, from 2008 till 2019. It took less than two and a half years to double again from May 2021 till today.

At the same time, inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index, started to skyrocket a few months after May 2021 and has risen relentlessly until now, with a few interruptions.

Muhammad Raees, 28, a daily wager, is severely hit by the cost of living.

“One year back, the price of 20 kg wheat four was Rs1300, which has now increased to Rs3000. I don’t find work every day because the construction activities have nosedived due to cement, iron, marble, and tile prices, and most of the contractors have stopped work,” Raees, a father of two, says.

“Many times, I have thought of committing suicide, but then I think of my children and wife,” he says.

At least ten people have committed suicide in the past two months.

“They were unable to pay electricity bills. Now, the government is mulling about jacking up the gas price by 50 percent. The poor population is the worst hit,” he says.

Javid Shah, a vegetable seller in Nowshera city adjacent to Peshawar, is fed up with life. “Cost of transportation has increased, and so the prices of vegetables and, as a result, sales have declined. Many who bought 1 kg of tomatoes, lady fingers, and potatoes daily are now taking half a kg,” he says. “I have to discard rotten vegetables daily for lack of sales.”

Akram Ali, a fruit seller in a tiny shop, also constantly complains of high inflation and devaluation of rupees. Ali says his business has reached a standstill as people no longer buy fruits due to high prices.

“As a result, I am going to close shop and start the business in a hand pushcart to save on rent.”

“My two sons are going to school, but the last one and half years have been tough, and I cannot pay their fees. Both have quit schools and sit at home,” he complained.

Saleem Ahmed, a local economist, tells IPS that pulses, considered poor men’s diet, are so expensive they are out of reach of many.

“All pulses are imported in dollars, so their prices have increased. The people are struck by inflation, and they cannot buy items, like pulses, which used to be cheap,” he said.

Prices were stable until former Prime Minister Imran Khan was removed in April 2022 in a no-confidence vote at the National Assembly.

“People have been running from pillar to post for two square meals. As if inflation wasn’t enough, huge smuggling of sugar, wheat flour, pulses, oil, etc. to neighboring Afghanistan have hammered the last nail in the coffin of the poverty-stricken masses,” he said.

Ahmed says the government is taking loans from the IMF, the World Bank, and other lenders with high interest rates, impacting the cost of living.

In such a scenario, Afghan refugees living in Pakistan are jubilant over the rising Afghan economy under the Taliban, and many are weighing options to return to their country.

“In Pakistan, the US dollar is equal to 300 rupees while it is traded for 75 Afghani back home,” Muhammad Mustafa, an Afghan with a sanitary business in Peshawar, says.

Mustafa says he had sent his elder son to Kabul to search for the rented shop so he could shift his business there.

“All my family live in Kabul, and we want to be there. The time is ripe for us to shift (back) there,” he says.

Petrol is being sold at 312 rupees (USD1.5) per liter in Pakistan, while its rate was 80 Afghani (USD1.02) in Kabul.


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Why Floods Beyond Our Imagination Hit Nepalese Himalayan Town — Global Issues

Kagbeni village in September 2022. This year’s flood swept away houses and infrastructure and destroyed livestock and crops. Photo: Tanka Dhakal/IPS
  • by Tanka Dhakal (kathmandu)
  • Inter Press Service

KATHMANDU, Sep 26 (IPS) – After heavy rains caused a flash flooding in the high mountains in the trans-Himalayan Mustang district of Nepal, residents and scientists have called for additional research and risk reduction measures in a region now considered vulnerable to climate-change-related disasters.
 When a flash flood descended on a Himalayan community in the Mustang district in Nepal, it shocked the residents, climate change experts, and disaster risk management.

Anil Pokharel described it as “beyond our imagination.” He has experienced many disasters as the Chief Executive at the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority for the Government of Nepal.

“The extreme events in Mustang this year surprised us because it was unusual and beyond our imagination,” says Pokharel. “Now we are trying to comprehend what actually happened and what we can do to avoid such events in the future, but we are certain that the risk of unexpected disasters is increasing.”

On August 13, 2023, Kagbeni village in Varagung Muktichhetra Rural Municipality-4, Mustang, experienced a flash flood where mud and water caused approximately USD 7.4 million worth of destruction.

The mountain range in Mustang, which attracts thousands of tourists yearly, faces an increased risk of disaster due to climate change. This affects the majestic mountains and the people living in the foothills. Photo: Tanka Dhakal/IPS

The torrential rainfall in the mountain district, which is popular with tourists, some 450km west of Kathmandu, caused the Tiri River, which snakes through the area, to burst its banks, resulting in an unprecedented flash flood in the Kagkhola River. As a result, 50 houses were damaged, a motorable bridge and three temporary bridges were destroyed, and more than 31 indigenous and endangered Lulu cows died. It also caused damage to other livestock and agriculture. Lives were spared because the community was warned to move to safety before the mud and sludge hit the town.

Mustang, known for its majestic mountain terrain and beautiful Himalayan range, was surprised to experience the wrath of this extreme event.

“We were not ready for this type of incident,” said Hom Bahadur Thapa Magar, the Chief Administrative Officer of Varagung Muktichhetra Rural Municipality.

“In fact, that flash flood exceeded our worst possible imagination.”

What Caused the Flood?

Diki Gurung, a resident and vice-chair of the Municipality, stated that she had never seen a flood like this in her lifetime.

“We don’t know what caused it, but it was not like this before.”

Gurung’s family has lived in the region for generations.

“My mother didn’t go through this type of incident, and I remember my grandmother saying that in her time, there were floods, but not like this one.”

She believes villages in mountain regions are experiencing changes in rainfall patterns, and the intensity of the rain has increased, putting them at risk of new types of disasters such as floods and debris flows. These have been increasing each year.

“Maybe it is because of the changing climate,” Gurung speculates.

In June 2021, another mountain region, Manang, experienced unusually intense rainfall and destructive flooding. In the same year, the upper area of Shindhupalchwok also went through heavy rainfall-caused flood-related disasters. In recent years, mountain areas have witnessed changes in precipitation patterns, with unusually intense weather events becoming more frequent, and there is data to prove it.

Graphic: Tanka Dhakal Source: The Department of Hydrology and Meteorology (DHM) Created with Datawrapper

On August 13, the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology (DHM) ‘s weather station at Jomsom Airport, Mustang, recorded 25.4 mm of rainfall in one day, unusual for that area where the average August rainfall is 43.9 mm. Mustang received above-normal rain in just three days, from 12 to August 14. On August 12, the area received 9.2 mm, 25.4mm on August 13, and 18 mm on August 14. According to the data from Jomsom Weather Station, August recorded 217.3 mm of rainfall, which is 495 percent more than the average rainfall for the area. In recent years, mountain districts like Mustang and Manang have received more rain than usual, and this year is following the trend.

Scientists say climate change-induced extreme weather events cause the heightened risk of floods and disasters in Himalayan villages like Kagbeni.

“It feels like heavy rainfall over a short period and flash-flood-like disasters are becoming a trend in the mountain regions,” says scientist Dr Arun Bhakta Shrestha. “It’s not only in Mustang this year; there were similar cases in Manang and the upper hills of Shindhupalchwok in 2021. The root of these disasters is connected to the upper streams, and changed precipitation patterns are one of the main causes.”

Shrestha, who leads the Strategic Group for Reducing Climate and Environmental Risk at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), a regional intergovernmental learning and knowledge center for countries in the Hindu Kush Himalaya region, including Nepal, conducted research after the Melamchi flood in June 2021.

The study concluded that multiple factors contributed to that significant disaster, including intense rainfall in high mountain areas. While no such research exists on the Mustang flood, there are similarities with past events in Manang and Shindhupalchwok.

Recent IPCC reports also suggest extreme weather events and their intensity increase due to human-induced climate change.

“Climate change-induced changes in weather patterns could be one of many reasons for the Mustang flood, but we need to conduct research to understand it better,” Shrestha noted. He signaled that climate change could be one of several causes.

Demand for Special Risk Reduction and Disaster Plans

High mountain areas and the communities living there were already at risk due to the growing threat of glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) caused by rising temperatures and their diverse and rapid impacts on the region.

Shrestha added: “In our observations, precipitation is becoming more frequent in high mountain regions, increasing the possibility of disasters other than GLOFs, too.”

That’s why, after the Mustang flood this year, there is a growing demand for specialized disaster risk reduction and management plans from local governments to experts in the field.

Kagbeni village after the August 13, 2023, flash flood. Photo: RSS

“A place like Mustang is not only known for its beautiful mountain ranges but also its vulnerability to disasters,” said Chief District Officer (CDO) Anup KC. “This region requires tailored and geography-aware development and disaster risk management plans.”

According to CDO KC, the recent flood is a wake-up call for disaster management officials at the provincial and federal levels, highlighting the increased vulnerability to disasters in Himalayan regions like Mustang.

Scientists like Shrestha agree.

“We are aware that our overall disaster preparedness is not strong, and this is even weaker in mountain regions due to their challenging geography and incomplete understanding of the risks,” he says. “Flash floods in high mountains are entirely new to us, and we need to understand and prepare for them with the specific needs of these areas in mind. We must adopt a multi-hazard risk management and preparedness approach.”

What Will Be the Next Step for Preparedness?

Officials at the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) are aware of the growing demand for a comprehensive and specialized plan for the mountain region that addresses the unique needs of the Himalayas. Two geo-engineers from NDRRMA visited the flood-affected area to observe and better understand the event.

“However, we recognize that we cannot do this on our own,” added NDRRMA’s Chief Executive, Anil Pokhrel. “We are open to collaborating on research and need additional resources to address the increasing risks in the Himalayas.”

According to him, complex hazard systems are becoming more apparent in the mountains, leading to cascading impacts.

“That’s why we need global cooperation and collaboration to understand these complex hazards, which will help us create suitable plans that do justice to the Himalayas and its communities.”

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Barriers to Movement are the Never Ending Normal for Palestinians — Global Issues

72-year-old Kawthar Ajlouni stands alone in her yard in H2, Hebron, the occupied Palestinian territory. The backdrop reveals a fortified Israeli checkpoint. Amid 645 documented movement obstacles in the West Bank, 80 are here in H2 as of 2023. Isolated due to strict Israeli policies, she is one of 7,000 Palestinians enduring heavy restrictions, while many others have left. The Israeli-declared ‘principle of separation’ (between Palestinians and Israeli settlers) limits their life, generating a coercive environment that risks forcible transfers. Kawthar stays, fearing her home’s conversion into a military post. Credit: OCHA/2023
  • by Abigail Van Neely (united nations)
  • Inter Press Service

UNITED NATIONS, Sep 21 (IPS) – Sundus Azza scans the news before she heads home, checking for signs that her 30-minute commute could turn into a four-hour-long slog. Any incident could make travel difficult.

Sometimes Azza waits for her father to call and tell her if the checkpoints around their home are open. After living in Hebron, a city in the West Bank, for the last 20 years, she is used to planning her day around unpredictability.

Obstacles to movement in the West Bank have increased in the last two years, preventing Palestinians from accessing hospitals, urban centers, and agricultural areas. Restrictions and delays are the new normal.

In a recent review, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports an 8 percent increase in the overall recorded number of physical barriers, from 593 in 2020 to 645 in 2023. They range in scale from elaborate checkpoints guarded by military towers to a pile of rocks in the middle of the road.

The number of barriers has fluctuated over the past years. However, OCHA finds a notable 35 percent increase, especially in the number of constantly staffed checkpoints in strategic areas. Zone C, the area still under Israeli administrative and police control, is home to most roads and most obstacles to movement. It covers 60% of the West Bank.

Under international law, Israel must facilitate the free movement of Palestinians in the occupied territories. Cities’ entry points and main roads are often shut down without warning for arbitrary “security reasons.”

“The objective of the occupying forces is to make sure that they can isolate entire areas if security requires to do so,” Andrea De Domenico, the deputy head of OCHA’s office for the Occupied Palestinian Territory in Jerusalem, explains. “It’s always a little bit of an unknown- when you get out, you don’t know when you will be able to come back.”

As a result, most activities require extensive coordination- whether it’s getting a firetruck past checkpoints in time, filtering passengers off and on a bus during an ID check or planning a trip to visit relatives.

Guarded Life in Hebron

The H2 area of Hebron is one of the most restricted in the West Bank. Facial recognition cameras, metal detectors, and detention and interrogation facilities fortify 77 checkpoints that separate the Israeli-controlled parts of the city.

To get to her house in the H2, Azza knows she must pass through at least two checkpoints. But planning is difficult. There aren’t specific times when the checkpoints will be open. If they are closed, there aren’t waiting areas. Azza says when that happens, she hopes there’s a nice guard – and that he speaks Arabic or English – and explains that she’s just trying to get home.

The checkpoint near Azza’s university was closed for three months following a stabbing incident in 2016. She remembers the streets being crowded with soldiers as she was walking one chilly winter. Azza put her hands in her jacket pockets to warm them, 100 meters away, a guard she recognized yelled at her to remove her hands. Now, Azza says she is cautious about even buying a kitchen knife she may get in trouble for carrying home.

There are other challenges to navigating the historic Palestinian city littered with checkpoints. De Domenico tells stories of an elderly woman who stopped going out to avoid being harassed by soldiers. “If settlers are in the streets, they can attack me anytime they want,” Azza says.

De Domenico says Palestinians often don’t report incidents to the Israeli police for fear of having their permits taken away in retaliation. Besides, just getting to a police station in an Israeli settlement is a challenge. Because their cars are not permitted to drive through, Palestinians must walk behind Israeli cars sent to escort them.

When soldiers ask for her ID, Azza says they want her ID number, not her name: “They consider us as a number.”

Permits as Power

Permits control life across the occupied Palestinian territories.

Musaab, a university student in Nablus, submitted six permit applications for travel to receive cancer treatment. All were denied. He was finally forced to travel to Jordan twice, without his father, for care.

“This is so inhumane. How can this happen in any place in the world? Why are they blocking me from accompanying my son? I just want to hold his hand when he goes for surgery,” Musaab’s father told WHO.

Stories like Musaab’s are common as patients across the West Bank and Gaza are kept from seeking healthcare by permit restrictions. According to OCHA, in 2022, 15 percent of patients’ applications to visit Israeli health facilities in East Jerusalem were not approved in time for their appointments. 93 percent of ambulances were delayed because patients were required to transfer to Israeli-licensed vehicles.

The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that 160,000 physical restrictions in Zone C have led many communities to depend on mobile clinics funded by humanitarian aid. This year, OCHA’s humanitarian response plan was only 33% funded.

“ warns that humanitarian needs are deepening because of restrictions of movements of Palestinians inside the West Bank. This undermines their access to livelihoods and essential services such as healthcare and education,” Florencia Soto Nino, associate spokesperson of the Secretary-General, told reporters.

Putting up Walls

Walls aggravate these humanitarian issues.

A now 65 percent constructed barrier runs along the border of the West Bank and inside the territory, often carving out Israeli settlements, dividing communities, and sometimes even literally running through houses.

To enter East Jerusalem, women under 50 and men under 55 with West Bank IDs are required to show permits from Israeli authorities. Even then, they can only use three of the 13 checkpoints.

Palestinian farmers have also been separated from their land- and livelihoods.

According to OCHA, many private farms have been trapped inside areas Israeli military forces established as “firing zones.” As a result, they are sometimes only accessible twice a year. The UN Food and Agricultural Organization reports that the region’s agricultural yield has been reduced by almost 70% because Palestinians have had to abandon their land.

The size of a farmer’s plot determines when and for how long it can be tended. Farmers must coordinate times when soldiers will open the gates that allow them onto their land. Harvest days are especially tricky. In some cases, De Domenico says, an agricultural permit is only given to the owner of the land and none of their laborers.

Meanwhile, De Domenico describes Gaza, a territory separated from Israel by a 12-meter-high wall, as a “gigantic prison” for 2.3 million Palestinians. Here, less physical obstacles are required to limit movement.

“It is the only place on the planet where, when a war starts… people cannot flee,” De Domenico said.

Living with Tension

Riyad Mansour, permanent observer of Palestine to the United Nations, expressed disappointment at the “paralysis of the international community” when it came to protecting Palestinian people from discrimination during a meeting of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of Palestinian People at the end of August.

At the same time, OCHA is working to facilitate “humanitarian corridors to ensure that basic services are delivered,” De Domenico says. For instance, the office has helped teachers reach communities where students would have had to walk for miles.

De Domenico adds that reports can facilitate important discussions. Israeli authorities, who have contested materials OCHA produced in the past, have been invited to ride along while UN agents map new barriers.

Still, “there is always the potential of tension flying in the air,” even for UN agents, De Domenico says. “You constantly live with this tension.”

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Multilingual #AfghanGirlsVoices Campaign to Return Millions Back to School — Global Issues

Education Cannot Wait’s #AfghanGirlsVoices shines a light on young Afghan girls deprived of their basic right to education and learning.
Credit: ECW
  • by Joyce Chimbi (nairobi)
  • Inter Press Service

NAIROBI, Sep 18 (IPS) – A Taliban edict is rolling back time in Afghanistan after access to education for all Afghan girls over the age of 12 was indefinitely suspended on September 18, 2021. Afghanistan is the only country in the world where girls are forbidden from attending school beyond the primary level, leaving more than 1.1 million girls and young women without access to formal education.

With an estimated 80 percent of school-aged Afghan girls and young women now out of school – in the blink of an eye – Afghanistan has gone back 20 years. As gains made over the last two decades go up in smoke, Afghan girls are bravely breaking through the frightening dark cloud of misogyny and gender persecution to tell the world about the injustice of being denied an education and their burning desire to return to school.

“It is hard to think of anyone further left behind than the girls in Afghanistan who are being denied their most basic human rights, including their right to education, based solely on their gender,” said Education Cannot Wait (ECW) Executive Director Yasmine Sherif.

“We will continue to steadfastly advocate for the full resumption of their right to education in Afghanistan and to work with our partners to deliver crucial learning opportunities to Afghan children through the community-based education programmes we support.”

To mark the tragic anniversary of the de facto authorities’ unacceptable ban on secondary school girls’ education in Afghanistan, ECW – the UN global fund for education in emergencies – has updated its compelling #AfghanGirlsVoices Campaign with new multilingual content to include English, French, Spanish and Arabic.

To mark the anniversary of the Taliban authorities’ unacceptable ban on secondary school girls’ education in Afghanistan, ECW has updated its compelling #AfghanGirlsVoices Campaign with new multilingual content. Credit: ECW

The multilingual #AfghanGirlsVoices Campaign intends to break through language barriers so that more people in the global community can read inspiring, resilient, and heartbreaking testimonies conveyed through moving artwork by a young Afghan female artist.

The girls want the world to know that they are at risk of missing a lifetime of learning and earning opportunities – never acquiring the skills needed to prosper and contribute to building the stable and prosperous future that they, their families and the people of Afghanistan deserve.

An entire generation of girls and young women could be lost – as they are being pushed out of public life, not to be seen or heard. Prospects of a bleak future have compromised their mental health.

First launched on August 15, 2023 – two years after the de facto Taliban authorities took power in Afghanistan and subsequently banned girls’ access to secondary and tertiary education – the campaign was developed in collaboration with ECW Global Champion Somaya Faruqi, former Captain of the Afghan Girls’ Robotic Team.

The Taliban have implemented over 20 written and verbal decrees on girls’ education. With each new edict, restrictions on Afghan girls and young women’s right to education have gotten even more serious and severe. Today, girls over the age of 10 years are not allowed to go to school.

Prior to the indefinite suspension of university education for female students, they were not allowed to undertake certain majors in areas such as journalism, law, agriculture, veterinary science, and economics.

#AfghanGirlsVoices Campaign seeks to bring to the attention of the global community what is at stake and why urgent action is much needed to end a brutal clampdown on education. Between 2001 and 2018, the country saw a tenfold increase in enrolment at all education levels, from around 1 million students in 2001 to around 10 million in 2018.

#AfghanGirlsVoices Campaign seeks to bring to the attention of the global community what is at stake and why urgent action is needed to end a brutal clampdown on education. Credit: ECW

“The number of girls in primary school increased from almost zero in 2001 to 2.5 million in 2018.  By August 2021, 4 out of 10 students in primary education were girls. Women’s presence in Afghan higher education increased almost 20 times, from 5,000 female students in 2001 to over 100,000 in 2021. Literacy rates for women doubled during the period, from 17 percent of women being able to read and write in 2001 to 30 percent for all age groups combined,” according to a recent UN report.

The girls’ powerful words are conveyed together with striking illustrations depicting both the profound despair experienced by these Afghan girls and young women, along with their incredible resilience and strength in the face of this unacceptable ban on their education.

The timing of the campaign will lift the voices of Afghan girls on the global stage as world leaders convene at the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Summit on 18-19 September at the UN General Assembly in New York. The Summit aims to mark the beginning of a new phase of accelerated progress towards the SDGs with high-level political guidance on transformative and accelerated actions leading up to 2030 – progress that cannot be achieved with Afghan girls left behind.

ECW has been supporting education in Afghanistan since 2017, first through a mix of formal and non-formal education and now exclusively through programming outside the formal education system. The ECW-supported extended Multi-Year Resilience Programme (MYRP) in Afghanistan aims to support more than 250,000 children and adolescents across some of the most remote and underserved areas of the country.

The programme delivers community-based education, organised at the local level with support from local communities, and is critical to keep education going. Girls account for well over half of all the children and adolescents reached by the MYRP. To access ECW’s social media kit to support the #AfghanGirlsVoices campaign, click here.

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Women Lured by Promise of Jobs, Sold as Brides — Global Issues

Women walk in a village in Indian-administered Kashmir. Women here often find themselves lured by the promise of a job into unsuitable marriages. Credit: Athar Parvaiz/IPS
  • by Athar Parvaiz (budgam, india)
  • Inter Press Service

BUDGAM, INDIA, Sep 13 (IPS) – It has been over a decade since 32-year-old Rafiqa (not her real name) was sold to a villager after being lured by the promise that she would be employed in the handicrafts industry of Indian-administered Kashmir.

But, instead of getting a job, she was sold to a Kashmiri man in central Kashmir’s Budgam district for a paltry sum of 50,000 Indian rupees (USD 605). Before the traffickers lured her, Rafiqa lived with her parents and three siblings in a poor Muslim family in West Bengal, a state in eastern India.

Ranging from Rohingya refugees – there are an estimated 40,000 Rohingya refugees in India – to women in other states of the country, such as West Bengal and Assam, women are trafficked and sold as brides to men who find it hard to find brides within their communities. Such grooms often include aged, physically challenged, and men with mental health issues.

Rafiqa’s husband, who drives a horse-cart for a living and lives in a one-room wooden shed, had to sell the only cow he possessed to pay the sum to the human traffickers.

She has now come to terms with “what I was destined to face in my life.” Embracing the reality, she says, was the only option left with her.

“I could have either tried to escape or taken some extreme step, but I decided to apply myself positively to make some kind of life out of what I ended up with,” Rafiqa told IPS while sitting at the base of the small wooden staircase of her house. “My husband’s simplicity and kind nature were also helpful in taking this decision – even though I didn’t like his appearance.”

“Now I have three kids for whom I have to live,” Rafiqa said. “I miss my parents and siblings. But it is very difficult to visit them. Even if I convince my husband, we can’t afford to visit them as it takes a lot of money to pay for the travel,” she added, saying her husband hardly provides two square meals for the family.

Rafiqa is not the only trafficked woman in that village. Over a dozen women have ended up getting married in similar circumstances. Elsewhere in the region, hundreds of other women from the Indian states of West Bengal and Assam are married to divorced and physically challenged men.

When 23-year-old Zarina (name changed), a woman from a poor family in West Bengal, got ensnared in a human trafficker’s trap, she had no idea that she would end up marrying a man whom she had never seen and was almost double her age. Zarina also fell for the false promise that a job in a carpet manufacturing unit in north Kashmir’s Patan area would be arranged for her. But, to her shock, she was sold into marriage.

“Now, how will my situation change after talking to you if it has not changed in the last five years? This is where I must be all my life,” an annoyed Zarina told IPS and then refused to elaborate.

Some women who encounter human traffickers are far unluckier. In a village of southern Kashmir’s Anantnag district, a young Rohingya woman was sold to a family by traffickers for their son with mental health issues after she was trafficked from a Rohingya refugee makeshift camp in the adjacent Jammu province.

“We were surprised when we discovered that the family has got a bride for their son who we knew was not mentally sound since his childhood,” said a neighbour of the family. “We would hear her screaming when her husband used to beat her almost every day. But fortunately for her, the young Rohingya woman was somehow able to escape after a few months.”

There are not any accurate official figures about sold brides, but some estimates say that thousands of girls and women are sold annually. The media sometimes reports the arrest of human traffickers, but such reports are not that common.

On July 26, India’s Minister of State for Home Affairs, Ajay Kumar Mishra, told the Indian parliament that 1,061,648 women above 18 years and 251,430 girls below 18 years went missing between 2019 and 2021 across different states in the country.

Mishra, however, said that most of the victims have been found and added that the Indian government has taken several initiatives for the safety of women.

Last year in April, India’s National Commission for Women launched an Anti-Human Trafficking Cell “to improve effectiveness in tackling cases of human trafficking, raising awareness among women and girls, capacity building and training of Anti Trafficking Units, and to increase the responsiveness of law enforcement agencies.”

In its 2023 Trafficking in Persons Report, the US Department of State identifies India as a Tier 2 country.

“The Government of India does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated overall increasing efforts compared with the previous reporting period, considering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, if any, on its anti-trafficking capacity; therefore, India remained on Tier 2,” the report says.

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ECWs New Report Shows Successful Education Funding Model for Crises-Impacted Children — Global Issues

With Hope and Courage: 2022 Annual Results Report
  • by Joyce Chimbi (united nations & nairobi)
  • Inter Press Service

UNITED NATIONS & NAIROBI, Sep 08 (IPS) – In a world set on fire by climate change and brutal conflict, millions of children in emergencies and protracted crises need educational support. Children in 48 out of 49 African countries are at high or extremely high risk of the impacts of climate change, particularly in the Central African Republic, Chad, Nigeria, Guinea, Somalia, and Guinea Bissau.

“We have reached catastrophic proportions of 224 million children today in conflict and other humanitarian crises in need of education support. Financial needs for education in emergencies within humanitarian appeals have nearly tripled over the last three years – from US$1.1 billion in 2019 to almost US$3 billion at the end of 2022. In 2022, only 30 percent of education requirements were funded, indicating a widening gap,” Education Cannot Wait (ECW) Executive Director Yasmine Sherif tells IPS.

Released today ahead of this month’s UN General Assembly and SDG Summit in New York, ECW’s ‘With Hope and Courage: 2022 Annual Results Report’ is a deep dive into the challenges, opportunities, key trends, and vast potential that “education for all” offers as nations across the globe race to deliver on the promises outlined in the SDG’s, Paris Agreement and other international accords.

Sherif stresses that as nations worldwide celebrate International Literacy Day – and the power of education to build sustainable and peaceful societies- ECW calls on world leaders to scale up financial support to reach vulnerable children in need, especially those furthest left behind. As more and more children are plunged into humanitarian crises, there is a widening funding gap as the needs have skyrocketed over recent years.

The report sends an urgent appeal for additional financing – featuring the latest trends in education in emergencies. It also shows the fund’s progress with UN and civil society partners in advancing quality education, particularly Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 for vulnerable girls and boys in humanitarian crises worldwide to access inclusive, quality, safe education.

“While the number of out-of-school children in situations of conflict, climate-induced disasters, and as refugees is skyrocketing – funding is not keeping up with the snowballing crisis. But even in these unfortunate circumstances, the report has a positive message. ECW and its global strategic partners have reached 8.8 million children with quality, holistic education since its 2016 inception and more than 4.2 million in 2022 alone. The only reason we have not reached more children is insufficient funding. We have mobilized over $1.5 billion to date, and we need another $670 million to reach 20 million children by the end of our 2023-2026 strategic plan,” she observes.

Sherif emphasizes that the global community must ensure that girls and boys impacted by armed conflicts, climate-induced disasters, and forced displacement are not left behind but rather placed at the forefront for an inclusive and continued quality education. Education is the foundation for sustainable and peaceful societies.

“Our annual report demonstrates that it is possible to deliver safe, inclusive, quality education with proven positive learning outcomes in countries affected by conflict and to refugees. ECW has done it through strategic partnerships with host governments, government donors, the private sector, philanthropic foundations, UN agencies, civil society, local organizations, and other key stakeholders,” she explains.

“Together, we have delivered quality education to 9 million children and adolescents impacted by crises. The systems are in place, including a coordination structure; with more funding, we can reach more girls and boys in humanitarian crises around the world in places such as the Sahel, South Sudan, Yemen, Syria, and Latin America and enable girls to access community-based secondary education in Afghanistan. We have a proven efficient and effective funding model of delivering the promise of education.”

ECW has thus far financed education programmes across 44 countries and crisis settings. Of the 4.2 million children reached in 2022, 21 percent were refugees, and 14 percent were internally displaced. When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down schools across the globe, ECW repositioned its programming and supported distance learning, life-saving access to water and sanitation facilities, and other integrated supports – reaching an additional 32.2 million children.

ECW’s commitment to gender equality and tackling the gender gap in education is bearing fruit. Towards the fund’s goal of 60 percent girls reached in all its investments, girls represent over 50 percent of all children reached in 2022.

In 2022, ECW’s rapid First Emergency Responses to new or escalating crises included a strong focus on the climate crisis through grants for the drought in Eastern Africa and floods in Pakistan and Sudan. ECW also approved new funding in response to the war in Ukraine and renewed violence in the Lake Chad Region and Ethiopia.

“On scaling up funding for education, the report shows funding for education in emergencies was higher than ever before in 2022, and that total available funding has grown by more than 57 percent over just three years – from US$699 million in 2019 to more than US$1.1 billion in 2022,” Sherif explains.

With support from ECW’s key strategic donor partners – including Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States, as the top-three contributors among 25 in total, and visionary private sector partners like The LEGO Foundation – US$826 million was announced at the ECW High-Level Financing Conference in early 2023.

In addition, collective resource mobilization efforts from all partners and stakeholders at global, regional, and country levels helped unlock an additional US$842 million of funding for education in emergencies and protracted crises, which contributed to alignment with ECW’s Multi-Year Resilience Programmes in 22 countries.

To date, some of ECW’s largest and prospective bilateral and multilateral donors have not yet committed funding for the full 2023–2026 period, and there remains a gap in funding from the private sector, foundations, and philanthropic donors. In the first half of 2023, ECW faces a funding gap of approximately US$670 million to fully finance results under the Strategic Plan 2023–2026, which will reach 20 million children over the next three years.
IPS UN Bureau Report


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