A Regional Agreement for Healthy Eco-Systems in Latin America & the Caribbean

Posted on by admin

Civil Society, Development & Aid, Editors’ Choice, Environment, Featured, Headlines, Latin America & the Caribbean, Poverty & SDGs, Regional Categories, TerraViva United Nations

Opinion

Community-led environmental monitors actively protecting the Amazon Rainforest’s biodiversity as well as their livelihoods in Ushpayacu, Pastaza River basin, Peru. Credit: UNDP Peru/Susan Bernuy

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Sep 8 2021 (IPS) – In August 31st 2021, five Nations including Costa Rica – the country where the Escazú Agreement was adopted – announced publicly working towards a proposal for UN Human Rights Council to recognize globally the right to a clean, safe, healthy and sustainable environment at its 48th session in September.

In a world where social-ecological crises are all too prevalent, do we need a broader human rights frame where also empathy and hope through legal innovation have a prevalent place? Can we imagine a world in which everyone can effectively engage in public participation and have access information and justice?

Latin America and Caribbean (LAC), like other parts of the world, face significant social-ecological challenges. In 2018, the UN Economic Commission of LAC estimated that around 185 million people lived in situation of poverty.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, these already high numbers are rising with more than one third of its 650 million population now living in poverty.

The pressures for healthy ecosystems in LAC range from climate change to pollution in land and water, and conversion of tropical forests to monoculture plantations. The LAC region presents a rising trend in major pressures on biodiversity with the highest proportion of threatened species on Earth.

Latin America – my home for many years – consistently tops the dire statistics of dangerous places to be an environmental human rights defender since Global Witness began to publish data in 2012.

Yet, there is also another story. A story of ordinary and courageous women and men, girls and boys. A story of empowered right-holders and responsible duty-bearers that day-to-day contribute to legal advances with a regional scope.

Vibrant grass-roots and civil society pushed and pulled in the negotiations of the Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean (Escazú Agreement).

Their continued energy and collective action together with the legislative, executive and judiciary in their respective countries, will be vital for the Agreement’s implementation.

The Escazú Agreement – that weaves together human rights law and environment law – entered into force on Earth Day in 2021, and has a been ratified by half of its 24 signatory countries.

In the words of the Secretary-General of the United Nations “…this landmark agreement has the potential to unlock structural change and address key challenges of our times.”

Human rights are legally binding obligations that have contributed to precipitate societal transformations such as the recognition of indigenous peoples, peasants and local communities individual and rights across many Latin America and Caribbean countries.

In my work – which for the past twenty years has focused on human rights and environment – I have seen how degradation of healthy ecosystems afflicts specially the rights of people in vulnerable situations.

However, I have also witnessed first-hand how people in vulnerable situations including women environmental rights defenders are often those triggering change to safeguard the rich biological and cultural diversity in the region. This biocultural diversity provides essential contributions to the economy and livelihoods.

I believe that is just as important to place a spotlight in innovations and people’s agency in LAC countries as it is to report on catastrophic environmental and social events affecting the region.

While reading international media, I often find a single narrative of catastrophe associated with the LAC region or certain countries. In my view, this narrative risks creating distance rather than bringing people together, emphasising differences rather than our equal human dignity that is at the core of human rights.

Leaving no-one behind involves recognizing the agency of all and supporting everyone’s participation in caring for our planet.

Rather than a narrative of fear and despair of the global scale of environmental challenges, action implementing the Escazú Agreement connecting local and global instruments can generate positive change.

The Escazú Agreement can build on innovative governance instruments such as participatory environmental monitoring schemes – in which people not only access but also generate environmental information.

Transnational collaboration can also help, for example the 2021 EU Parliament Resolution which calls the EU Commission and EU member states to support countries to implement the Escazú Agreement.

The Escazú Agreement can also synergize with the post-2020 global biodiversity framework and National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans required by the Convention on Biological Diversity. Other instruments include National Action Plans aiming to implement the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs).

Having already recognised the right to a healthy environment, the signatory Escazú Agreement countries have a historic opportunity to champion the global recognition of this right.

Already sixty nine States have endorsed a statement in favour of its by the Human Rights Council. Fifteen UN Agencies declared that “the time for global recognition, implementation, and protection of the human right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment is now”.

Complementary to the legal obligations that the Escazú Agreement generates, I consider that this agreement also provides an opportunity for right-holders and duty-bearers to place human rights narratives within a broader frame encompassing empathy and hope for present and future generations.

Strategically using legal innovations from the local to the global level can contribute to planetary stewardship and good quality of life in harmony with nature, leaving no-one behind.

Claudia Ituarte-Lima is a public international lawyer and scholar. She is researcher on international environmental law at Stockholm University, senior researcher at the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law and visiting scholar at School of Public Policy and Global Affairs at the University of British Columbia. Ituarte-Lima holds a PhD from the University College London and a MPhil from the University of Cambridge. Twitter: CItuarteLima

  Source

“Time Is A-Wasting”: Making the Case for CEDAW Ratification by the United States

Posted on by admin

Civil Society, Featured, Gender, Global, Headlines, Human Rights, IPS UN: Inside the Glasshouse, TerraViva United Nations

Opinion

Credit: UN Women

NEW YORK, Sep 7 2021 (IPS) – The U.S. is one of only a handful of countries that has yet to ratify the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), rendering it “strange bedfellows” with Sudan, Somalia, Iran, Tonga, and Palau.

Twenty years ago, after Harold Koh*, made a clear foreign policy case for ratification, we develop three more reasons as to why now—during the Biden Administration— the U.S. is at a critical moment to finally ratify the CEDAW.

1) A New Public Reckoning: Advancing our Domestic Policy on Gender and Race Intersectionality

For four decades, Congress failed to rally enough votes to ratify the CEDAW, but today, social justice movements are building new momentum like never before.

At a time of a public reckoning spawned by the Black Lives Matter (BLM) and #MeToo Movements, the Convention represents an important vehicle to address institutional and structural sexism through an intersectional lens.

As Harold Koh argued in 2002, “a country’s ratification of the CEDAW is one of the surest indicators of the strength of its commitment to internalize the universal norm of gender equality into its domestic laws.”

The potential for the CEDAW to inspire necessary change in the US directly relates to some of the United States’ current policy objectives.

The National Strategy for the COVID-19 Response and Pandemic Preparedness (2021) illustrates the Administration’s commitment to place women and girls at the center of global recovery. The Rescue Plan recognizes that COVID-19 has exacerbated domestic violence and sexual assault, thereby creating a “shadow pandemic.”

As the Biden Administration looks toward the reauthorization of the Violence against Women Act (VAWA), it must now look to the horizon—to the ratification of the CEDAW. Ratifying the Convention will give the Biden Administration significantly more legitimacy in its effort to end violence against women and would demonstrate the solidarity needed to achieve this goal.

As President Biden himself stated, the renewal of the VAWA “should not be a Democratic or Republican issue—it’s about standing up against the abuse of power and preventing violence.”

Our data analysis of the State Party Reports to the CEDAW Committee from 2016 to 2020 reveals a significant focus by the CEDAW Committee on two issues that are central to the Biden Administration and to the United States’ national security and foreign policy in general: (1) violence against women; and (2) an intersectional focus on gender.

In every Concluding Observation across all five years between 2016 and 2020 (107 countries reported to the CEDAW Committee during this period), the CEDAW Committee mentioned intersectionality and gender-based violence 100 percent of the time.

2) Ratification of the CEDAW is part of the U.S.’s Transformative Power Arsenal: From Soft Power, Smart Power, to Transformative Power

In response to global challenges, CEDAW continues to be one of the standard-setting policy tools to advance gender and intersectional equality and we address this in our analysis of CEDAW’s impact on drafting domestic legislation, national constitutions, judicial decision making and in changing the national conversations and public discourse in countries in the Arab region.

As Ambassador Melanne Verveer, one of the authors, testified before Congress in 2010: “[I]t is true many countries do not live up to that treaty, but we know how effectively that lever is for rights advocates to seize and to use effectively to bring about the kind of consistent application of the principles of the treaty to their own lives.”

3) The Women Peace and Security and its Linkages to CEDAW

The Women, Peace, and Security (“WPS”) agenda is one gender issue that has near total bipartisan support, as demonstrated by over a decade of concerted legislative efforts by both Democrats and Republicans.

We explore how the United States’ strong bipartisan commitment to the WPS agenda and how its global security goals can be advanced by ratifying the CEDAW. From the United Kingdom to Afghanistan, the CEDAW has played a role in strengthening commitments to the WPS agenda.

The United States has emerged as a global leader in WPS, both by spearheading U.N. Security Council Resolutions to condemn sexual violence against women and girls in armed conflict, and by codifying its commitment to pursuing the WPS agenda in domestic law.

Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice introduced what later became Security Council Resolution 1820 (2008). In proposing this Resolution, Secretary Rice confirmed that sexual violence against women in conflict was an imperative which the U.N. Security Council was charged to address.

A year later, Security Council Resolution (SCR) 1888, introduced by then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, reaffirmed Secretary Rice’s premise, acknowledged that the CEDAW is inextricably connected to women’s security.

The U.S. needs to leverage the bipartisan support for the WPS agenda to piggyback support for the Convention. After all, global security is in our best national interest.

In 2020, during the 75th Anniversary of the U.N., the CEDAW Concluding Observations for Afghanistan, the Congo, and Zimbabwe had sections dedicated specifically to WPS, providing substantial suggestions for improvement in state action in this issue area.

For instance, the CEDAW Committee observed in detail that “Afghan women are systematically excluded from formal peace negotiations, such as the 2018 Kabul Process and the negotiations that followed the conference held in Geneva in 2018.”

Today as we bear witness to the fall of Afghanistan, history will judge us on how we protect the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan.

As we fight the forces of a pandemic, the global and domestic recovery will be measured by whether it created greater gender and racial equity.

Ultimately, the arc of American engagement, both in foreign and domestic policy, must bend toward ratifying the CEDAW. After decades of lawmakers failing to muster the political will for ratification, the demand for change has now reached a fever pitch both nationally and globally.

The Biden administration must rally bipartisan support to ratify the CEDAW as a tool to advancing the human rights of women around the world. In then- Senator Biden’s words in 2002, “Time is a Wasting” for the U.S. ratification of the CEDAW.

This summary is excerpted from the article by Rangita de Silva de Alwis, faculty at Penn Law and Hillary Rodham Clinton Fellow on Gender Equity at GIWPS, Georgetown (2020-2021); and Ambassador Melanne Verveer, the first U.S. Ambassador for Global Women’s Issues. Rangita thanks Dean Theodore Ruger, Dean of Penn Law for his support in writing the paper.

*Footnote: On September 10th, Columbia Law School’s Journal of Transnational Law will convene a High Level Roundtable highlighting “Time Is A-Wasting”: Making the Case for CEDAW Ratification by the United States by Professor Rangita de Silva de Alwis and Ambassador Melanne Verveer to be published in Volume 60 of the Columbia Law School’s Journal of Transnational Law. The goal of the High-Level Roundtable is to raise national attention to elevate the importance of the CEDAW ratification ahead of the 76th Session of the UN General Assembly.

Commentators will be led by Harold Hongju Koh– former Dean of Yale Law School, Sterling Professor of Law, former Legal Adviser and Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, currently Senior Advisor in the Office of the Legal Adviser, U.S. State Department for the Biden Administration and repeat witness before Congress on behalf of the CEDAW.

The Roundtable will be opened with a welcome by Dean Gillian Lester, Dean of Columbia Law School. More information on remote participation in the Roundtable can be found here: Roundtable landing page

  Source

Civil Society Must Build on Protest Movements – Podcast

Posted on by admin

Civil Society, Featured, Gender, Global, Headlines, Human Rights, Multimedia, Podcast, TerraViva United Nations

Civil Society

In these tumultuous times, what civil society must do better is channel the energy of the movements on the streets into medium and long-term projects to build alternatives to existing structures, says Lysa John, Secretary General of CIVICUS

KATHMANDU, Sep 6 2021 (IPS) – 2020 was a year of tremendous upheaval. The murder of George Floyd, followed by global Black Lives Matter protests, Covid-19 and the stark light that the pandemic shone on inequality within countries and between the global north and south, protests and brutal repression after elections in Belarus, ongoing demonstrations for climate action led by youth around the world, to name just a few.

Civil society, that is all sectors of our lives that are not family, government or for-profit, played a central role in all of these movements. But are those actions leading to positive results that will change people’s lives for the better?

Today’s guest, Lysa John, Secretary General of CIVICUS, a global alliance of civil society groups, responds unequivocally yes. She points to past examples like the campaigns to recognize women’s right to vote and for legal recognition of gay rights.

In these tumultuous times, she argues, what civil society must do better is channel the energy of the movements on the streets into medium and long-term projects to build alternatives to existing structures.

In these tumultuous times, what civil society must do better is channel the energy of the movements on the streets into medium and long-term projects to build alternatives to existing structures, says Lysa John, Secretary General of CIVICUS

  Source

The Future of Food & Water Systems in Pakistan & Central Asia?

Posted on by admin

Asia-Pacific, Civil Society, Development & Aid, Editors’ Choice, Environment, Featured, Food and Agriculture, Headlines, Poverty & SDGs, Regional Categories, TerraViva United Nations, Water & Sanitation

Opinion

Clara Colton Symmes, Princeton-in-Asia Fellow, International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Sri Lanka

 
In an Interview with Dr Mohsin Hafeez, Country Representative – Pakistan, Regional Representative – Central Asia

Farmer working in a paddy field in Pakistan. Credit: Faseeh Shams / IWMI

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, Sep 3 2021 (IPS) – An intense monsoon season in Pakistan means the country’s food system faces the challenge of both extreme floods and extended droughts.

In an effort to address these challenges through cross-sectoral collaboration, Dr. Mohsin Hafeez, IWMI’s Country Representative for Pakistan and Regional Representative for Central Asia, convened a regional dialogue in advance of the UN Food Systems Summit (which is scheduled to take place at the United Nations, September 23) .

Human actions are at the root of much water scarcity, but these international dialogues are an opportunity for humans to be a part of the solution by working to reconcile our damages through transforming how we approach food systems.

Pakistan ranks 88th out of 107 countries on the Global Hunger Index and extreme weather, intensified by climate change, has made farming a challenging venture there. Much of Pakistan’s food is now imported from overseas.

Dr. Hafeez’s work centers around improving the resiliency and efficiency of Pakistan’s water systems. This includes innovating water capture and storage systems in Islamabad and Rawalpindi, where he is working to introduce nature-based solutions like recharging groundwater with rainfall runoff.

By convening April’s regional dialogue and organizing four provincial dialogues in the time since, Dr. Hafeez provided the collaborative platforms necessary for reaching sustainably-managed water sources in his region. It is only through cross-sectoral dialogues and work that Pakistan will achieve sustainable food systems management.

“There is an urgent need for promoting inter-sectoral cooperation through evidence-based information to ensure water-food-energy security and environmental sustainability for food system transformation in Pakistan,” Dr. Hafeez said.

The pre-summit hosted in Italy was another opportunity to bring together diverse stakeholders in food systems in the leadup to the UNFSS. On the IWMI blog, we will be exploring what country managers in Uzbekistan and Pakistan hope to achieve through the UNFSS process.

A Q&A with Dr Hafeez:

How are water and food systems connected?

Water supply systems are first and fundamental in food systems. In Pakistan more than 90 to 95% of our total water resources is used for irrigating crops. It’s a water system intrinsically linked with the food system.

When there is a water shortage, we see a direct impact on food production because this is an arid environment, and farmers are not able to do agriculture without the artificial applying of water.

What are the most pressing challenges facing food and water systems in your region?

Pakistan is a food insecure country. We don’t even have food to eat, let alone nutritious options. Around 45% of the children have stunted growth. People don’t have enough food to meet their caloric needs. We’re importing all the other major crops in the last 4 to 5 years from overseas.

And the food system is dependent on water. When we don’t have enough water, the farmers are not able to grow anything, which impacts the lives and livelihoods of everyone.

If you’re talking about even the linkages between the water system and food system: the current water storage systems are only able to cope for 30 days of water supply.

Then there is also the issue of water quality. There is a lot of wastewater and effluents that mix directly into the into the water supply system including the canals and water networks. This also impacts the food system, so that what we grow may not have a same nutritious value.

Why is water storage so essential in Pakistan?

80% of annual rainfall happens during the monsoon season, which is around 60 to 90 days between July and September. The remaining nine months we receive only 16-20% of the water supply.

Water systems here are not resilient, so water storage capacity is quite low. And when we face extreme climate shocks like droughts, this stresses the water and food systems. Either we are facing three months of floods, or nine months without enough water.

What would a water secure world look like for Pakistan and what needs to happen in order to achieve that?

We need to make water systems more efficient, and that will only happen if we improve the efficiency of the irrigation system, which would make water more available for the other sectors. We also need to make water systems more resilient.

There has been a lot of focus on building large dams, but they require a lot of capital resources. I believe we should also focus on improving water resilience through nature-based solutions like rainwater harvesting and groundwater recharging at the localized level.

We need local, nature-based solutions and the government of Pakistan is planning to introduce 3000 small ponds across Pakistan so farmers will have more water available.

A holistic approach and reliable database on water resources and their usage across Pakistan is key to achieving food, water, and energy security. We are the fifth most climate-vulnerable country in the world and there is an urgent need for promoting inter-sectoral cooperation through evidence-based information.

We also need groundwater management policy. Even though we have a national water policy and provincial water acts, we don’t have a comprehensive groundwater plan. Ministries, like those for climate change and food security policy, must stop working in silos and collaborate.

The regional dialogue we convened did this. It brought ministries together and made them talk about how each could help the other in the water, food, energy (WEF) nexus.

How were you able to give voice during the dialogue to historically underrepresented groups like smallholder farmers, women, children, and rural communities?

We invited people from various government and private sectors and farmers. But because they were held in English, we faced the challenge of a language barrier. Many rural farmers do not speak English. So, we invited some and did what we could to help them with translators.

Another challenge is that this dialogue was conducted virtually, and many smallholder farmers did not have access to that. So, we had only two or three farmers participate.

But we had many government agencies that are directly involved in the farmers community. They were able to represent the farmers and a group called the Farmer’s Federation was also able to attend.

Woman working in a paddy field. Credit: Faseeh Shams / IWMI

How do events like the regional dialogues and then the larger UNFSS affect water systems in your region? And what would you like to see as a result of the UNFSS?

When people talk about the food systems, they talk about production, the food value chain, and consumption. And they often ignore the importance of water. This is really the first time in 10 years when we’re talking holistically about food in a way that includes every aspect of the system.

At a recent provincial dialogue, part of the Member State Dialogue, we had people working on nutrition, agriculture, the value supply chain, traditional agriculture, water, and policy. It provided a platform where people worked together and thought beyond their own specialty: identifying real issues and how they could be improved in the future together.

Pakistan joined a UNFSS coalition for developing countries facing food insecurity. The Pakistani government is emphasizing the need to build resilient societies and improve food accessibility. There will be actions and pledges made to invest more into food systems areas which have been typically ignored.

What upcoming IWMI projects do you think will affect the kind of food system transformation desired by the UNFSS?

IWMI and International Food Policy Research Institute are designing a CGIAR Initiative to scale up the integrated management of water, energy, food, land, biodiversity, and forests for inclusive, sustainable development in transboundary river basins in the context of a changing climate.

The NEXUS Gains Initiative will be a game changer, but also many other IWMI projects will be helpful in interconnected thinking about improving the food security and water systems.

As IWMI and the other One CGIAR centers work together, we will be able to make change in a more systematic, holistic way that will change the mindset around food systems and ultimately improve the resilience of water supply systems.

What is making you feel hope about the future of food and water systems in Pakistan and Central Asia?

The current government is Pakistan is saying that food security is one of their highest priorities. They have initiated so many social initiatives in that field, including a resource program where they are providing food to vulnerable communities, with a focus on gender and the stunted growth of children.

The government also emphasized a need to understand the challenges in agriculture sector, linking from the basic production system towards the value supply chain, because as I mentioned that 22% of the system level losses are there.

  Source

Repairing the past: From African American cemeteries to Iraqi art

Posted on by emandowa

Our progress roundup highlights American endeavors to address past injustices, by harnessing the power of both local voices and highly visible institutions.

1. United States

Efforts to preserve African American burial sites are gaining momentum across the country. Missing deeds, weak preservation laws, and general lack of awareness have made lost African American cemeteries uniquely vulnerable. More and more, communities are leading efforts to memorialize developed burial grounds, as well as identify and preserve these sites before they are slated for development.

Why We Wrote This

Increasingly, societies are trying to address wrongs by stopping bad practices and giving back what was taken. In the U.S., more communities are memorializing Black burial sites. And two museum collections have returned artifacts to Iraq.

Virginia’s Prince William County recently voted to fund archaeological surveys to improve cemetery mapping. Officials are also considering additional oversight for development projects in the community of Thoroughfare, where a new activist group has formed in response to the erasure of historic Black and Native American gravesites.

In Florida, where legislators estimate there may be as many as 3,000 developed or abandoned burial grounds, the governor signed off on a six-month task force dedicated to studying this issue. Nationally, historical preservation advocates have been pushing congressional bills that would establish a database of African American cemeteries throughout the United States, and to support educational programs. “People are absolutely starting to realize that these kinds of historical injustices need to be addressed now,” said Kelley Fanto Deetz, co-CEO of the History, Arts, and Science Action Network. “So there is a change coming.”
Thomson Reuters Foundation, Black Cemetery Network

2. Colombia

“Green corridors” offer residents of Medellín, Colombia, refuge from rising temperatures. Since 2017, the city has installed tens of thousands of native trees, palms, and other plants to create 30 interconnected corridors through many of Medellín’s “heat islands.” These urban areas have high concentrations of heat-absorbing paved roads and concrete, making the neighborhoods hotter in the day and slower to cool down at night. With more than 12 shaded miles, the green corridors offer residents routes to travel, work, and rest, and have decreased the heat island effect by 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, according to city officials. The added vegetation also helps combat air pollution and absorb carbon emissions.

Despite initial concerns over the cost of creating and maintaining the corridors, city gardeners say community members have come to appreciate the green spaces. Their work has also received international praise. The initiative won a 2019 Cooling by Nature Award from Ashden, a United Kingdom-based charity supporting climate change solutions around the world, and the head of the United Nations Environment Program in Colombia, Juan Bello, said, “The Green Corridor project is an excellent example of how city planners and governments can use nature for smart urban design.”
Thomson Reuters Foundation, U.N. Environment Program

Khalid Mohammed/AP

Crates of recovered artifacts sit temporarily at the Foreign Ministry before heading to the Iraq Museum on Aug. 3, 2021.

3. Iraq

The Iraqi Ministry of Culture reclaimed 17,000 looted artifacts in the country’s largest repatriation. Decades of unrest, especially during the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, have allowed for extensive looting of Iraqi antiquities, which often appear on the black market with vague or falsified letters of provenance. The recent return results from years of effort and includes thousands of cuneiform tablets, ancient seals, and other items. Around 12,000 artifacts come from the Museum of the Bible, founded and chaired by Hobby Lobby President Steve Green. The company launched an internal review of museum collections after the U.S. Department of Justice levied $3 million in fines in 2017 for dubious acquisitions. Another 5,000 were donations to Cornell University’s collection.

“This is not just about thousands of tablets coming back to Iraq again – it is about the Iraqi people,” said Hassan Nadhem, the minister of culture, tourism, and antiquities, about the historic shipment. “It restores not just the tablets, but the confidence of the Iraqi people by enhancing and supporting the Iraqi identity in these difficult times.”
The New York Times, Al Jazeera

4. Malawi

Malawian teens are tackling sensitive subjects on air. A survey showed that 54% of young people in Africa rely on radio as their primary news source, and according to the Ichikowitz Family Foundation, 81% find local programming more trustworthy than international programs. The U.S.-based nonprofit Developing Radio Partners is helping local radio stations build on that trust by mentoring young people to be role models for their community, and address critical social issues. So far, DRP has worked with nine stations to train about 400 youth reporters in Malawi. The teens go on to host and research radio shows covering cultural taboos, such as gender violence and HIV.

One program, called “Let’s Shine,” is estimated to have reached 3 million youths since hitting airwaves in 2017. One listener, Doreen Sakala, is a young mother who says the show’s candid conversations about teen pregnancy inspired her to return to school. Organizers say child marriage – which is illegal but remains common in Malawi – has declined in areas where radio stations have partnered with DRP. Near the Zambian border, Nzenje village chief Lawrence Lungu says the youth-led radio shows have helped dissolve at least six child marriages by “[bringing] light to us when we were in the dark.”
Thomson Reuters Foundation

Source

25 Poorest Countries in the World

Posted on by emandowa

In this article, we will be looking at 25 of the poorest countries in the world. You can skip our detailed breakdown of these countries by heading straight to the 5 poorest countries of the world.

The pre-pandemic world had made significant progress to reduce global poverty to almost half by the year 2000. Today however, according to United Nations projections of multidimensional poverty index, the ongoing pandemic has pushed poor nations to a new brink of income inequality and enshrouded almost 8% of the total human population in complete despair.

Poverty by definition is a depravation in income and access to resources to maintain a healthy life. According to the World Bank, poor or low-income countries are nations that have a per capita gross national income (GNI) of less than $1026.

Many of the poorer countries in the world are a cauldron of political instability with years of internal conflict leaving them vulnerable to financial insecurity. Additionally, natural disasters brought on by the global climate emergency have led to entire nations being entrapped in cycles of poverty and disease. Such fragile infrastructures cannot withstand the onslaught of adversities such as Ebola and AIDS outbreaks and nations lose, whatever productive ground they have gained, very quickly.

It is perhaps not surprising that top ten of the poorest countries exist in Africa, and that it is in both Africa and in the continent of Asia that we expect to witness the largest increase in extreme poverty as a result of the pandemic. All of these countries are deeply susceptible to environmental and economic risks and the ripples of the COVID 19 pandemic have contributed immensely to long-term persistent challenges to their economies.

All is not lost and there are many strides that have been made due to narrowing of the digital divide in these nations. Internet accessibility has helped to introduce the services of companies like Alphabet Inc. Class A (NASDAQ: GOOGL), Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), Twitter, Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) and Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: UBER) and open new windows of opportunity and information to these hitherto isolated peoples.

Poorest Countries in the World

Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash

Our Methodology

Over the past 25 years, the World Bank has used gross national income (GNI) per capita – valued annually in US dollars – to classify countries into an economic prosperity scale. The GNI of a country is calculated by taking into account its national output within borders and also its investments from abroad.

The formula for Gross National Income (GNI) is: GNI=C +I+G+X +NFFI. Where the ‘C’ represents consumption, the ‘I’ investments, ‘G‘ is consumptions and investments made by the government, ‘X’ represents net exports and ‘NFFI’ is the net foreign factor income. This defined and preferred benchmark, over the previously used gross domestic product (GDP), has proved useful to analyze progress and development trends since the beginning of the 3rd millennium.

With this context in mind, we will now deep dive into our list of the 25 poorest countries in the world. We will start with the 25th poorest country, according to the World Bank GNI per capita rankings as well as the 2021 World Population Data Sheet.

25 Poorest Countries in the World

25. Lesotho

GNI: $2740

Population: 2.2 million

A constitutional monarchy, Lesotho is a landlocked country with a mountainous terrain almost entirely surrounded by South Africa. The mountains have been largely responsible for their protection from outside encroachment.  The country is home to 2.2 million people and its GNI per capita rests at $2740. Lesotho has been prone to periodic droughts. It has also survived a military takeover which was reverted after seven years of martial rule.

24. Solomon Islands

GNI: $2680

Population: 0.7 million

An archipelagic state of 992 islands and atolls scattered around Melanesia in the Pacific Ocean, its 0.7 million residents are vulnerable to natural disasters such as tsunamis, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions. Its GNI per capita is the $2680 and 12.7 percent of its population lives below the poverty line.

Despite these odds, 11.9% of Solomon Islanders have access to the internet and are bridging the digital divide with companies like Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL), Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), Twitter, Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) and Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: UBER).

23. Guinea

GNI: $2580

Population: 13.5 million

Guinea is a majority Muslim country with ties to France. It has established trade with UAE and China. Its GNI per capita is at $2580. The 13.5 million people of Guinea have survived the Ebola virus, but the underlying fear of a new outbreak continues to permeate. Guinea continues to look to IMF to establish new programs for better infrastructure.

22. Ethiopia

GNI: $2410

Population: 117.8 million

This unique country in Africa evaded Colonial rule for all of its history, except a brief period of four years. Its war with neighboring Eritrea ended in 2018. Its population of 117.8 million makes it the second most populous country in Africa. Ethiopia has battled a 30-year drought and a population boom leaving its GNI per capita at $2410.

The country ranks 22nd in our list of the 25 poorest countries in the world.

21. Uganda

GNI: $2260

Population: 27.1 million

Uganda has one of the highest fertility rates in the world. Its population as of mid-2021 was 27.1 million people. It is perhaps tragically balanced by the AIDS epidemic, which keeps mortality rates high. Uganda’s government spending has grown as has its national debt resulting in its GNI per capita at $2260.

20. Mali

GNI: $2250

Population: 20.9 million

Mali, landlocked in western Africa, depends on its gold mining and agriculture exports as a source of wealth. Its people have seen much economic and social unrest and suffered through over 31 years of dictatorship rule. The current population of Mali is 20.9 million.

19. Gambia

GNI: $2230

Population:  2.5 million 

The Gambia is one of the smallest countries on the African mainland and is home to 2.5 million people, 95 per cent of whom are Muslim. The Gambia, largely an agricultural economy, relies heavily on overseas remittances and tourism. GNI per capita is $2230. Any future economic progress will depend on substantial bilateral aid. The Gambia has not been successful in eliminating its human trafficking problem; women, girls and young boys continue to be in danger of becoming victims.

18. Togo

GNI: $2230

Population: 8.3 million

The Togolese people have lived under a 50 year rule, with one family at the helm. The political and civil unrest and frustration in the form of riots experienced by the country is mainly due to this. Togo enjoyed a period of economic stability till the political situation erupted into its current state. At the moment its GNI per capita is at $2230. Although this figure is similar to The Gambia, other factors of the Human Development Index have been taken into account to place it below that country.

However, as youth in poor countries like Togo gets access to the internet and begin to use services of companies like Alphabet Inc. Class A (NASDAQ: GOOGL), Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), Twitter, Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) and Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: UBER), many believe this would increase awareness and create new economic opportunities in the region.

17. Burkina Faso

GNI: $2190

Population: 21.5 million

Burkina Faso is a country with very limited natural resources. Its 21.5 million inhabitants have had a history littered with human and natural disasters from drought to terrorist attacks and then to internally displaced peoples from these attacks. The current GNI per capita for Burkina Faso is $2190. Like The Gambia it struggles with issues resulting from human trafficking of women and children.

16. Rwanda

GNI: $2160

Population: 13.3 million

Rwanda has had a past littered with unrest culminating in the genocide of 800,000 people in 1994 including a large proportion of its Tutsi population. Its current population stands at 13.3 million people. Tourism, tea and coffee are some of the major sources of foreign exchange. Present day government has made pathways to leading the way to progress in the communications and technology sector. Rwanda’s GNI per capita is $2160.

However, as youth in poor countries like Rwanda gets access to the internet and begin to use services of companies like Alphabet Inc. Class A (NASDAQ: GOOGL), Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), Twitter, Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) and Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: UBER), many believe this would increase awareness and create new economic opportunities in the region.

15. Afghanistan

GNI: $2110

Population: 39.8 million

Afghanistan, one of the two countries on our list that is not located in Africa, houses a population of 39.8 million people. The geopolitical situation of the country has made it helpless against interference from its neighbors. Over 72,000 Afghans have received refuge in neighboring Pakistan. It is unfortunate that Afghanistan continues to be the world’s largest producer of opium. Since the US invasion in 2001, economic activity has increased slightly and currently the GNI per capita is at $2110.

14. Guinea-Bissau

GNI: $1980

Population: 2 million

A small country of 2 million people located on the western coast of Africa, bordering the Atlantic Ocean, Guinea-Bissau is home to a diverse plethora of ethnicities. The country has experienced its fair share of political upheavals in the form of coups and civil war. All this has contributed to its fragile economy where the GNI per capita is $1980 and two out of three Bissau-Guineans remain below the poverty line.

13. Sierra Leone

GNI: $1670

Population: 8.1 million

Home to 8.1 million people, Sierra Leone is located on the Western edge of the continent of Africa. Subsistence agriculture is the main source of wealth for its people.

12. Eritrea

GNI: $1610

Population: 3.6 million

Eritrea was involved in a 30-year struggle for independence from Ethiopia till 1991. Like many African countries the Eritrean population of 3.6 million people engages in subsistence agriculture for most of its economic output with a small percentage involved in mining of gold and other minerals. Its GNI per capita is currently at $1,610.

However, as youth in poor countries like Eritrea gets access to the internet and begin to use services of companies like Alphabet Inc. Class A (NASDAQ: GOOGL), Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), Twitter, Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) and Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: UBER), many believe this would increase awareness and create new economic opportunities in the region.

11. Chad

GNI: $1580

Population: 17.4 million

After Chad’s independence in 1960, the Chadian people saw over three decades of oppression and invasion from its neighbors. The country is home to 17.4 million, over 400,000 of whom are from Nigeria and Sudan. Chad mediates to resolve the Darfur conflict. Its GNI per capita is $1580 as low oil prices stress Chad’s fiscal position. Its 1 million internet users have been introduced to the services of companies like Alphabet Inc. Class A (NASDAQ: GOOGL), Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), Twitter, Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) and Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: UBER) opening avenues of free flow of information and technology.

10. Malawi

GNI: $1540

Population: 20.3 million

A country of 20.3 million people, Malawi is located in southern Africa. It is ranked among the world’s least developed countries with a GNI per capita of US $1540. The country is heavily dependent on IMF, World Bank and other donor nations for assistance. A large share of its economic down trend can be attributed to the El Nino triggered drought of 2015.

9. Madagascar

GNI: $1540

Population: 28.4 million

Once a pirate stronghold in the early 18th century, Madagascar with its mostly youthful population of 28.4 million people is a small island in the Indian Ocean. It has suffered its fair share of cyclones and locusts infestations over its history. The dependent population contributes to its low GNI per capita of $1540. It is perhaps not surprising that 9.8% of the internet users in Madagascar’s dependent population use the services of (NASDAQ: GOOGL), Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), Twitter, Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) and Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: UBER).

8. Liberia

GNI: $1250

Population: 5.18 million

Liberia is a country on the western coast of Africa. Its name is derived from the Latin ‘liber’ meaning free and is home to 28 diverse ethnicities of 5.18 million people. The basis of its foundation was a home for liberated African American slaves. An Ebola outbreak in 2015 and over a decade of fighting have reduced its GNI per capita to $1250. Ivorian refugees in Liberia make up 95% of the refugee population.

7. Mozambique

GNI: $1250

Population: 32 million

Mozambique, on the eastern coast of South Africa, remained under the Portuguese till 1975. Its 32 million inhabitants have struggled with a severe drought and large scale emigration due to civil war for the better part of a century. The GNI per capita of Mozambique stands at $1250 as of 2020. Mozambique like most poor African countries is highly vulnerable to lower life expectancy due to AIDS.

6. Niger

GNI: $1210

Population: 25.1 million

Named after the Niger River, this landlocked African country is home to 25.1 million people. Niger’s geopolitical position and the rate of unrest and spillover effect from surrounding countries have contributed to its low GNI per capita at $1210. Niger lacks the funds to develop its mineral and oil resources and is ranked last in the UN Development Programme’s Human Development Index.

However, as youth in poor countries like Nigeria gets access to the internet and begin to use services of companies like Alphabet Inc. Class A (NASDAQ: GOOGL), Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), Twitter, Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) and Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: UBER), many believe this would increase awareness and create new economic opportunities in the region.

Click to continue reading and see the 5 Poorest Countries in the World.

Suggested articles:

Disclosure: None. 25 Poorest Countries in the World is originally published on Insider Monkey.

Source