Maldives’ UN General Assembly Presidency Renews Hope for Small Island Developing States

Posted on June 23, 2021 by admin

Civil Society, Development & Aid, Economy & Trade, Featured, Global, Headlines, Human Rights, Inequity, TerraViva United Nations

Opinion

Taking Stock, Looking Forward. Credit UNESCO

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia , Jun 23 2021 (IPS) – Earlier this month, Abdulla Shahid, the Maldives’ foreign minister, was elected President of the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), which commences in September.

This is the sixth time a candidate from a Small Island Developing State (SIDS) has been elected to steer the work of the UN’s highest policy-making organ during its 76-year history:

Rudy Insanally of Guyana became the first president of the General Assembly elected from the UN-SIDS category in 1993; followed by Saint Lucia’s Julian Hunte in 2003; Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa of Bahrain in 2006; and the late John William Ashe of Antigua and Barbuda in 2013, while Peter Thomson of Fiji, took the helm during the GA’s 71st session in 2016.

https://www.un.org/ohrlls/content/list-sids

It may seem surprising that such small nations have so frequently been named to this high position—the aggregate population of all SIDS is only 65 million, less than one percent of the global population—but the UN’s 38 SIDS constitute one fifth of the international organization’s total voting membership.

This position gives SIDS outsized power as a voting bloc, which they have wielded to great effect, perhaps most significantly when it comes to climate change, which as we will see has benefited the entire global community.

Abdulla Shahid. Credit: United Nations

Far from representing a monolithic group, SIDS hail from every region of the world and are home to dozens of languages and a wide variety of social and economic characteristics. Some, like Guyana and Belize, are not even islands, but they all share unique social, economic and environmental vulnerabilities (like size, remoteness, and limited resources base) that the UN has recognized a distinct group of developing countries since 1992.

They are also highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, like extreme weather, sea level rise, and biodiversity loss, making them natural allies in the fight to cut the greenhouse gas emissions responsible for the crisis.

In fact, in 1989, the Maldives hosted one of the first international conferences on sea level rise, a consequential event in the international climate change fight and the inspiration for the creation of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), which has been credited to establish the the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 1992 and winning the inclusion of the 1.5 degree Celsius temperature goal in the Paris climate accord in 2015, the latter during the Maldives chairmanship of the group.

SIDS have also shown critical leadership in the creation of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In 2014, SIDS helped lead the negotiations, ultimately creating what is known as the SAMOA Pathway, a blueprint to ensure priorities of SIDS were reflected in the final 17 SDGs.

Before that, John William Ashe skillfully set the stage for the SDGs by working with larger countries to create a process for the SDGs that truly had global buy in.

All along, SIDS main argument that the specific challenges they face need to be given special consideration, and today a number of the SDGs do just that, including sustainable management of fisheries, aquaculture, and tourism. Such recognition was further solidified in 2015 as part of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda adopted at the UN Conference on Financing for Development and again that year in the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.

Catherine Haswell, the UN Resident Coordinator in the Maldives (left) meets a group of local women. May 2021. Credit: UN Maldives/Nasheeth Thoha

Unsurprisingly, another theme that has emerged in SIDS international diplomacy over the years is ocean conservation. In December 2017, under Peter Thomson’s leadership, the General Assembly decided to convene negotiations towards an international legally binding instrument under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction, what is known as the high seas.

Thomson was also instrumental in developing the UN Ocean Conference that sets out to conserve and sustainably use ocean resources.

SIDS’ important endeavors during the General Assembly not only showcase the value of their contributions there, but of the GA itself, a place where all 193 UN countries, large and small, can elevate their concerns.

During the campaign for the post competing with Zalmai Rassoul, the candidate from Afghanistan, the Maldives’ Shahid launched “a presidency of hope”, noting that his priorities during the year-long presidency are to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic and rebuild economies better and greener.

“The General Assembly can boost efforts towards greater climate action” and “renew momentum” on issues of energy, biological diversity, sustainable fisheries, desertification and the oceans – that are at the heart of SIDS’ concerns.

The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, while welcoming the new President-elect Shahid commended his “selection of hope as the central theme in his vision statement” and noted that, “coming from a small island developing state, Mr. Shahid will bring unique insights to the 76th session of the General Assembly, as we prepare for COP26 in Glasgow in November.”

Shahid’s election, as with the SIDS leaders before him, not only offers new hope for islands, but the whole international community. At this precarious moment in history, it is truer than ever that by promoting the interests of SIDS, what we are really doing is protecting the future of mankind.

Ahmed Sareer was the Ambassador/ Permanent Representative of the Maldives to the United Nations from 2012 to 2017 and chairman of the Alliance of Small Island States from 2015 to 2017. He is presently serving at the General Secretariat of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) based in Jeddah.

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Things to do in the Bay Area: Alameda County Fair, Walk to End Alzheimer’s

Posted on June 18, 2021 by emandowa

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — The state of the pandemic is always changing-but one thing is certain. There are still plenty of safe and fun activities that you and your family can do to create a “better weekend.” ABC7’s Jobina Fortson has a list of events happening where you live.

Weekend of October 22 – 24

The Alameda County fair kicks off Friday under the theme “Come Together” – as organizers celebrate the revival of the fair after a series of COVID-19 related closures. Live concerts are back at 8 p.m. nighty! Fair favorites like the carnival and pig Racing will return, and so will all that fried, greasy, cheesy, but oh-so-delicious food. The fair is operating under state and county safety protocols and will have sanitizing stations and touchless payment options on hand.

Join ABC7 Meteorologist Mike Nicco at the Walk to End Alzheimer’s at Bishop Ranch in San Ramon, or you can walk on your own at home. The Walk to End Alzheimer’s is full of flowers, each carried by someone committed to ending the disease. The event is raising awareness and funds for a breakthrough in the fight against Alzheimer’s and all other forms of dementia.

How about winding down your weekend with some Beethoven? The San Francisco Civic Music Association is presenting its first FREE concert of the 2021-2022 season at the Herbst Theater this Sunday. Enjoy!

Event availability may be subject to change. Always be sure to check the event’s official website before planning your weekend!

Alameda County Fair
Pleasanton
10/22/2021
Forget pumpkin spice lattes, this fall the smell of corn dogs is what’s filling the air as the Alameda County Fair returns to Pleasanton October 22 -31. The 2021 theme “Come Together” celebrates the revival of the Fair and the community reuniting safely after nearly a year and a half of COVID-19 related closures.

Outlaw Music Festival
Mountain View
10/23/2021
With Willie Nelson and the Avett Brothers.

Oxbow Riverstage: Death Cab for Cutie
Napa
10/23/2021
Death Cab for Cutie will perform at the Oxbow RiverStage in Downtown Napa on Saturday, October 23rd, 2021! Illuminati hotties will open the show.

USS Hornet: History Mystery “After-Hours” Tour
Alameda
10/22/2021
Your behind-the-scenes tour includes areas aboard the USS Hornet that have not yet been opened to the public, virtually untouched since the ship’s decommissioning over forty years ago, as well as other eerie spaces that have been reported to host unseen visitors.

International Stuttering Awareness Day Community Celebration
San Francisco
10/22/2021
Join PROUD STUTTER Podcast co-hosts and creators Maya and Cynthia to celebrate verbal diversity on International Stuttering Awareness Day. This event celebrates all forms of diversity. We can’t wait to drink, eat and be merry with you!

Goblin Jamboree 2021: Bay Area Discovery Museum
Sausolito
10/23/2021
Celebrate the spooky season at the Bay Area Discovery Museum! Goblin Jamboree returns for a week-long celebration packed with Halloween themed programs and frightful delights. Capacity is limited for these special themed days.

‘The Great Pumpkin South City’ Halloween 2021
South San Francisco
10/23/2021
Time to get into the Halloween spirit with this fun event for all community members to enjoy! Join fellow community members for a fun Halloween event. The afternoon will be filled with activities for all ages including a pumpkin patch, games, Zombie Zone, and much more!

A Halloween Drag Queen Brunch 2021: The Vault Garden
San Francisco
10/24/2021
High kick your Halloween into high gear with Ducal Council’s newly-crowned Grand Duchess, Bobby Friday & Friends for a wildly fun & fantastic spook-tactular Halloween-themed show. Channel your favorite Queen and get the royal treatment at The Vault Garden this spooky season. Tickets are $69 and include a 3-course brunch including sweets, savory and everything in between.

Embarcadero Center Photo Contest
San Francisco
10/22/2021
Do you want to win a gift card to any Embarcadero Center retailer of your choice? Enter the Embarcadero Center Photo Contest to win! Enter to win by locating murals throughout the center and taking a photo of yourself. Full rules at the website.

Ocean Avenue Halloween Block Party
San Francisco
10/23/2021
Ocean Avenue’s community leaders are back to do what they do best — put on another spectacular Halloween block party! OMI Cultural Participation Project joins together with SF African American Early Childhood Educators, Ocean Incubators, Ingleside Merchants Association and OMI Community Collaborative to throw the annual “Halloween Block Party” on Saturday, October 23rd, 2021 starting at noon. Trick or treat yourself to the free event, open to the public. All community members are invited to mingle, play games and show off their scariest looks on Faxon Avenue, while enjoying some music from the DJ.

Masquerade Halloween Party at Selfie Market
San Francisco
10/23/2021
The Selfie Market presents Masquerade is a music themed costume event. Dress like your favorite pop-star, hip-hop artist, rocker, hippie, studio54 or maybe best music era. Live DJ spinning, special effects through the space. Capture your best moments in over 30 installations themed all about music.

Spirits of the Barbary Coast: A Haunted Pub Crawl
San Francisco
10/22/2021
Starting at High Horse in the Jackson Square Historic District, we’ll spend an evening in the very oldest parts of the City. Learn the history and lore of the Barbary Coast, North Beach, and Chinatown. We’ll hear about a miner who solved his own murder, star crossed lovers of the Gold Rush Days, and SF’s long standing reputation as a place of pleasure and vice. Max 15 people.

Hayes Valley Pet Parade
San Francisco
10/23/2021
FREE EVENT! HVAW and SFWalkies are organizing a Doggie Costume Parade! More details to follow from our cohosts, SFWalkies! From 11 AM to 1 PM on Saturday, October 23. Bring your hat in their best costume or come look through our box of potassium’s or buy a costume from one of our sponsors.

39TH Annual LEAP Sandcastle Classic
San Francisco
10/23/2021
Leap Arts in Education is back at Ocean Beach to host the largest sandcastle contest in Northern California; featuring team competition, food trucks, and music all day. The 2021 theme is “Onward & Upward!” and the public is invited to join in the fun and experience the construction of dozens of jaw-dropping, supersized sand sculptures.

Shipyard Open Studios 2021
San Francisco
10/23/2021
The Hunters Point Shipyard Artists offer the public an opportunity to explore this singular creative community in one fell swoop this fall during its Shipyard Open Studios, connecting with over one hundred art makers in their spaces and supporting them directly with purchases of their work. Open Saturday, October 23 and Sunday, October 24 from 11am-6pm, this is a rare chance for visitors to visit the Shipyard, which is only open to the public twice a year for artist events. The public is invited to drop in anytime over the weekend free of charge to enjoy this lively gathering of artists in their studios, located within six adjacent Shipyard buildings. Local food vendors and musical entertainment are planned as well. Parking is plentiful.

Almanac’s Backyard Hootenanny
Alameda
10/22/2021
Join us for an Almanac Backyard Hootenanny! We’ve got pumpkins and hay bales galore for a picture-perfect photo-op, food specials including kettle corn and pumpkin ice cream, beer specials, cider, and bluegrass bands rocking all 3 days!

Golden Gate Park’s Free Soul/R&B Friday Night Concert
San Francisco
10/22/2021
Soul/Jazz Friday – R&B and Soul with Cornell “CC” Carter and CJ Washington opening

“ShakesFEAR in the Dark” Zombies
Vallejo
10/22/2021
Are you prepared for the Zombie Scourge? Enter at your own risk! Participants will be led through our Zombie Apocalypse where our world has been overrun by the undead. But not to worry. Tourists to our Zombie Experience will be socially distanced from the biting Zombies as long as they stay on the lighted path and listen to their guide.

Red Bull “Short Circuit” Indoor Bike Race on Go-Kart Track
South San Francisco
10/22/2021
Red Bull Short Circuit is a brand new high-octane, heart-pounding, limit-testing fixed gear elimination race on an indoor go-kart track. 144 lucky riders will enter the arena, battling their way through qualifying, semi-final, and final rounds, but only one rider will emerge victorious. Success in an elimination race – where the last rider to cross the line every lap is eliminated – requires more than just pure strength: lightning-quick reflexes and split-second decision-making could mean the difference between winning and losing. Free to watch!

Harvest Festival at Alemany Farm
San Francisco
10/23/2021
Celebrate the fall season with your family and friends! Come to Alemany Farm for food and autumn-themed activities including: live music, winter crop plant sale, make-your-own-salt scrubs, veggie pickling, garlic planting, farm tours, beekeeping showcase, and more!

SF’s Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD) Reopening Community Free Day
San Francisco
10/23/2021
The Museum of the African Diaspora reopens for the first time since the start of the pandemic this October and is celebrating with a free admission Community Day on Saturday, October 23! With renovations complete to the Museum’s lobby, theater, and gallery spaces, the highly anticipated reopening features a line-up of original exhibitions including first-time solo museum exhibitions of work by two of Africa’s most important contemporary artists working on the international stage today-Ghanaian painter Amoako Boafo and Malawi-born, Johannesburg-based artist Billie Zangewa. In addition, there will be a site-specific installation by San Francisco-based artist Sam Vernon in the newly redesigned lobby; the work of San Francisco multimedia artist Sydney Cain as part of the Museum’s Emerging Artist Program; and a presentation of short films by contemporary African artists curated by Leila Weefur in the newly upgraded theater.

SF’s Mini Renaissance Faire
San Francisco
10/23/2021
Come join in the fun of a Renaissance Faire inspired event held outdoors in the beautiful City of San Francisco. Spend an afternoon hearing great madrigals, engaging with our singers and players, and enjoy entertainment the whole family can enjoy. This is a first for SFRV as we engage our patrons, fans, and newcomers in this jovial afternoon. Attendees are encouraged to dress in Renaissance attire and to fully participate in the exhilarating afternoon perfect for fans of all ages. Bring your own picnic blankets or lawn chairs and take in beautiful music with some of San Francisco’s most captivating views!

SF Civic Symphony’s Free Fall Concert at Herbst Theater
San Francisco
10/24/2021
The San Francisco Civic Music Association presents our first FREE concert of the 2021-2022 season. Performances include Beethoven’s “Dankgesang” from Op. 132 String Quartet, Mendelssohn’s String Symphony No. 8 in D.

Lakehouse Jazz
San Francisco
10/22/2021
Enjoy Lakehouse Jazz, a unique and intimate concert experience in the iconic Golden Gate Park at a hidden and iconic boathouse. As Karl the Fog moves over the lake and covers a slew of colorful boats, we’ll sit inside our intimate and improvised concert venue where the music of the best musicians in the Bay Area and a glass of beer or wine will be the perfect way to unwind your week. By attending this event not only you’ll listen and learn jazz from some of the best musicians in The Bay Area but also, you’ll be actively supporting the local art scene and its musicians.

Street Art Festival at Pier 70
San Francisco
10/23/2021
Bring the family, your friends, your neighbors or just yourself for an immersive art experience with leading street artists. Watch the artists painting live or participate and learn the art of mural painting and together transform an outdoor wall at Pier 70 into an explosion of colors and creativity. Talking Walls orchestrates the day of spray, play and learning – paint with muralists and unleash your creative side. Enjoy food from La Cocina’s Kayma Algerian Eatery. The workshop fee covers the cost for materials to paint with Talking Walls artists.

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PASSIONATE: Young Female African-American scholar gives out her $40,000 Scholarship, Says there are People who need it more

Posted on June 11, 2021 by emandowa

A high school graduate in the United States identified as Verda Tetteh has donated her exceptional performance scholarship fund worth $40,000 (K32, 056, 800) to any student who may need it more.

Tetteh, who immigrated to the U.S. with her family from Ghana, delivered a powerful address on resilience at the beginning of the Massachusetts school’s graduation ceremony.

And just as she took her seat, the school’s principal announced her as one of the two beneficiaries of the scholarship.

While accepting the scholarship reward for her exceptional performance, Tetteh acknowledged how community college had greatly helped her mother, and she knew how far that money would go in funding an education there.

So she said at the ceremony that she wanted the administration to consider giving the scholarship to a community college student.

“I am so very grateful for this, but I also know that I am not the one who needs this the most,” Tetteh said.

“My principal actually you know, found me later that day and said, ‘I’m so very proud of you and that was a very selfless move.’

“My mom said she cheered and gave me a standing ovation so I think it was very positive feedback and response from across the board,” Tetteh told USA Today.

Her video went viral and was shared on various media platforms.

Tetteh has already gotten significant scholarships and financial aid to help her attend college, according to her family.

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From Climate Change to Covid, Are We Ready to Deal with Disasters?

Posted on June 10, 2021 by admin

Civil Society, Climate Change, Education, Environment, Food Security and Nutrition, Gender Violence, Global, Headlines, Health, Humanitarian Emergencies, Labour, Migration & Refugees, Sustainability, TerraViva United Nations, Water & Sanitation

Opinion

Credit: Bibbi Abruzzini

PARIS, Jun 10 2021 (IPS) – In the last 20 years, disasters affected over 4 billion people. At global level we witness on average one sweeping disaster a day, the majority of which are floods and storms. From the Covid-19 pandemic to climate change, calamities are taking new shapes and sizes, infiltrating every dimension of society. From the emotional to the political, how do we deal with disasters? How can we create a whole-of-society approach to disaster risk reduction?

Right through this vortex of intersecting crises, a new toolkit and interactive website by Forus, the Global Network of Civil Society Organizations for Disaster Reduction (GNDR), Save the Children Switzerland and Inventing Futures, with the support of Fondation de France, looks at how civil society organisations coordinate disaster risk reduction and post-emergency interventions. Meant for civil society networks, activists, government officials and community-based organizations, the toolkit provides best-practices from around the globe.

“Today, we are all actors and victims of crises. How can we better understand and learn to cope with them? These practical tools allow us to discover the stakes, the exemplary actions and their effects, through simple definitions and concrete testimonies experienced by civil society,” says Karine Meaux, Emergency manager at Fondation de France.

“Building resilient communities in the face of natural and man-made hazards has never been more important. While disasters don’t discriminate, policies do. Together we can act and put pressure on decision-makers to promote a holistic approach to disaster prevention and reduction and truly people-centred policies,” says Sarah Strack, Director of Forus.

Civil society at the forefront of disaster management

From resilient communities in Nepal, to conflicts in Mali and peace processes in Colombia, the toolkit presents six approaches to disaster risk reduction gleaned from case studies compiled across the civil society ecosystem. The toolkit looks at various topics from capacity building, to local knowledge, resource mobilisation, partnerships with governments and long-term sustainable development and livelihood resilience, ensuring that communities ‘bounce forward’ after a disaster.

Credit: Bibbi Abruzzini

Specifically, the toolkit aims to clarify the crucial role frontline civil society organisations play in reducing the impacts of disasters in the midst of an expanding and intensifying global risk landscape. Bridging governments, communities and experts is the only way we can tackle the multiple ways disasters affect local and social processes such as education, migration, food security and peace. If civil society is not free to operate – or even exist – our collective capacity to deal with disasters and create long-term resilience is hampered.

“You have countries [in the region] in which civil society is not even allowed to exist. This reality changed a lot after the Arab Spring, with countries living in a terrible crisis, with military conflicts, where the role of civil society now is not only to struggle for their existence, but also to provide the population with basic needs and humanitarian interventions,” says Ziad Abdel Samad, Director of the Arab NGO Network for Development (ANND).

Everyday disasters and inequalities

Robert Ninyesiga, from UNNGOF, the national civil society organisation platform in Uganda, argues that in most cases, “more effort has been put towards disaster response while neglecting the disaster prevention aspect”.

This therefore calls for continuous intentional awareness and capacity building as regards to disaster prevention and this can only be effectively achieved if sustainable partnerships between central governments, local governments, civil society organisations, media and citizens are strengthened.

Shock events, high-impact disasters, such as conflicts, earthquakes or tsunamis are just the tip of the iceberg. Underneath this layer there are an increasingly high number of “everyday disasters” affecting people around the globe. Localised, small scale, and slow onset disasters are often “invisible” – far from the spotlight. Those at low incomes are the most vulnerable and find themselves at the periphery of infrastructures, response systems and media attention.

For instance, in addition to being often exposed to intensive disasters such as floods and storms, residents in urban slums across Bangladesh are suffering much more than other communities since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Credit: Bibbi Abruzzini

“Most slum dwellers are daily wage earners, but they are not able to earn money. They are not able to maintain social distance, because in one room 4-5 members are living. Many people are using a shared bathroom. It’s very difficult to maintain hygiene. There is not enough space to sit or sleep at home while maintaining sufficient distance. Due to lack of money, many slum dwellers have only one or two meals a day. Violence and sexual harassment are increasing in the community due to cramped conditions. Children are not attending school,” explains the Participatory Development Action Programme (PDAP) which works in the slums of Dhaka .

These pressures add to regular “everyday” challenges of air pollution and garbage management, flooding, water-logged land, and poor quality water.

Local knowledge and Resilient Future

Civil society organisations often fill a tremendous gap and find themselves at the forefront of prevention and emergency efforts. The localisation of responses and partnerships are absolutely crucial to understand the needs of communities in pre and post-disaster scenarios.

In Honduras, civil society has created community-led interventions, to prioritise local plans of action across the country.

“Honduras, and Central America more in general, have been hit in the last 10 years by an intensification of disasters, most of them linked to climate change. Our role in helping communities to adapt to climate change and to deal with disasters, is in terms of capacity building, humanitarian assistance and advocacy by creating links between local, national, regional and global levels,” says Jose Ramon Avila from ASONOG, the national platform of civil society organisations in Honduras.

The intense and cascading nature of risks, such as seen in the cases of Covid-19 and climate change, represent a serious threat to the achievement of a sustainable and resilient future. Growing experience over the last three decades has revealed that disasters and development are closely linked. Ignoring the impact of disasters makes it more difficult to pursue sustainable development.

“Sustainable development can only be achieved when local risk is fully understood. Critical to understanding and assessing the complex threats and risks, challenges and opportunities faced by communities most at risk, is the need to partner with those people. This practical toolkit provides valuable insights and examples from GNDR members and others on how this can be achieved,” says Bijay Kumar, Executive Director, Global Network of Civil Society Organisations for Disaster Reduction (GNDR)

It has also been found that much of the negative impact on sustainable livelihoods comes not from large, ‘intensive’ disasters, but from many smaller, ‘everyday’ disasters. It has become crucial to address intensive and everyday disasters and to integrate our responses with overall work to pursue sustainable development.

We need to ask ourselves this question: can we build new bridges of solidarity between civil society, communities and governments? Can we prevent and anticipate disasters? Our future is not disaster-free; to build resilient communities it is crucial to nurture strong roots for our society to flourish.

The author Bibbi Abruzzini is Communications officer at Forus.
Find the toolkit and microsite on Disaster Risk Reduction here. Available in English, French and Spanish.

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Nigeria’s Twitter Ban Is Part of a Larger Attack on Civil Society

Posted on June 9, 2021 by admin

Africa, Civil Society, Headlines, Human Rights, Press Freedom, TerraViva United Nations

Opinion

While the Twitter ban surprised many, the government’s action against social media platforms has long been threatened and is part of a long-term strategy to bend civil society and force Nigeria’s citizens into compliance with the government

Muhammadu Buhari, President of Nigeria, addresses the general debate of the UN General Assembly, 2019. Credit: UN Photo/Cia Pak

LAGOS, Nigeria, Jun 9 2021 (IPS) – Four years ago, Omoregie* and his friends were arrested without cause and taken into custody. When they got to the station, Omoregie watched as the police began to beat his friends. Afraid, he began to discreetly tweet about the attacks as they took place.

I and many other Twitter users could read his fears while he called for help through his tweets. Taking action as a lawyer, I was able to secure his release within a few hours with the help of other activists through the police unit responsible for citizen complaints.

I had been thinking of Omoregie this week when the government of Nigeria banned the use of Twitter in the country, making use of it a criminal offense. The ban followed the social media platform’s deletion of a tweet from President Muhammad Buhari in which he threatened violence against people in a region in the country’s South East where attacks had been made on public infrastructure.

While the banning of Twitter surprised many, the government’s action against social media platforms has long been threatened and is part of a long-term strategy to bend civil society and force Nigeria’s citizens into compliance with the government. Twitter has been a major source of activism and news in Nigeria

Nigerians spend almost four hours on social media daily and Twitter is the second largest social media platform after Facebook. Most public debates begin on Twitter and the platform often sets the tone for national news carried on traditional media. It has become the platform to hold government, institutions and powerful individuals accountable.

It has also long been a place for activism and to organize protests, including last year’s EndSARS protests, which led to the eradication of the Special Anti Robbery Squad. Ninety-nine people were killed during the EndSARS protest in Nigeria and Twitter helped to expose these abuses. This was most evident during an attack by police and the military on protesters at Lekki Bridge in Lagos.

Documentation of the attack, including a livestream by media personality DJ Switch forced senior military officers to intervene and later acknowledge the attack took place. Since livestreaming the attack, D.J Switch has been forced to seek asylum in Canada as a result of threats to her life.

This efficacy for activism has drawn government’s attention.

About two years ago, Nigerian government introduced a social media bill that sought to regulate the social media space and criminalize simple comments that authorities deemed ‘falsehoods’ or hate speech with fines and jail terms.

As a lawyer and an activist, I appeared before a Senate committee at the public hearing and gave statements about how we use social media to help fight human rights violations, consumer rights, and even to help find missing persons. After the public hearing, the bill was abandoned but, as we saw with last week’s Twitter ban, the Buhari administration did not give up on its ambitions to restrict social media.

They took their opportunity with last week’s shutdown. Nigeria’s judicial system has been effectively on strike for the past two months, so the Twitter ban was implemented without the oversight of the courts. In addition to banning Twitter, the government has demanded licensing of all social media platforms as well as services which stream news and entertainment via the Internet.

All of these restrictions aim to control freedom of expression; a right guaranteed under Nigeria’s Constitution as well as the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the United Nations’ Declaration of Human Rights–both of which Nigeria has signed.

The Twitter ban also comes as the Nigerian government increases offline crackdowns on citizen action. They have repeatedly tra mpled on the right of citizens to assemble and protest in physical space. Activists have been shot at by police and military and many arrested while protesting peacefully. Twitter has also been used to shine a light on these crackdowns.

Since the ban against Twitter was announced, the government has wasted no time in implementing punishment for users. Immediately after the announcement, Nigeria’s Attorney General directed the arrest and prosecution of anyone using the Twitter app.

Practically, this will mean police will be empowered to search telephones for the app. Police searches of phones—and unhappiness with those searches—are not new to Nigerians and were one of the reasons for the EndSARS protests.

The draconian ban also begs the question, if Twitter, a global platform which helps to spotlight the government excesses can be shut down, what safety is there for Nigeria’s local media, journalists and citizens? With the Twitter ban Nigeria risks further sliding into dictatorship and there will be fewer ways to organize challenges to it.

Some will argue that Twitter is to blame for its banning because it overstepped in deleting a tweet from President Buhari that Twitter argues violates its policy. But even if we accept that Twitter was wrong to delete a tweet, the federal government’s reaction to ban a platform so important to public debate and activists is petty and an extreme overreach.

It is time for the world’s democracies to take concrete steps and forestall Nigeria human rights violations. Censorship of independent voices is often a means to shut down accountability and enable autocratic rule.

Allowing the Twitter ban by a few politicians without criticism would signal that the world endorses autocracy. The world’s silence and inaction are an endorsement of the Twitter ban, a shrinking of the ability of civil society to organize and a violation of the rights of 200 million Nigerians.

*Not his real name

Nelson Olanipekun is a human rights lawyer and advocate who uses technology and law to accelerate the pace of justice delivery. He is a 2021 Aspen Institute New Voices Fellow.

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Time to End Generational Injustice with a ‘Global Blue New Deal’ to Protect Oceans

Posted on June 8, 2021 by admin

Active Citizens, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Economy & Trade, Education, Environment, Global, Green Economy, Headlines, Labour, Poverty & SDGs, TerraViva United Nations, Water & Sanitation

Opinion

Credit: Australian Institute of Marine Science

PARIS, Jun 8 2021 (IPS) – Increasingly, youth are rising up to declare that they’ve had enough of the cyclical exploitation of the environment that jeopardizes their own future.

Youth activism through the Global Climate Strikes and Fridays For Future protests have helped spur revolutionary policy frameworks, like the Green New Deal championed by U.S. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

International organizations and sovereign governments have now interpreted the Green New Deal into frameworks and policies of their own; it’s clear that environmental policy led by youth has energized the discussion on global decarbonization and the social impacts of climate change.

However, the Green New Deal only mentioned the ocean once. We need to insert more Blue into the green transition.

Earth’s vast oceans are humanity’s single most important climate regulation tool. As governments coalesce around plans to quite literally save our species, we must recognize that there is no future without understanding the role the ocean has to play.

Beyond human life support, the ocean economy contributes to ecosystem services, jobs, and cultural services valued at USD 3-6 trillion, with fisheries and aquaculture alone contributing USD 100 billion per year and 250+ million jobs.

Our ocean, however, is overfished, polluted with plastic, and exploited for non-renewable resources like minerals and fossil fuels. This perpetuates a cycle of generational injustice and leaves youth to inherit an increasingly degraded environment with less and less time to restore it. Not only is this detrimental to progress at large, but our most vulnerable global communities, who contribute the least to global emissions, will feel the effects of our degraded environment the most severely.

Youth not only need to be proactive advocates for the SDGs, we need to hold the global community accountable to commitments they have made between nations and to youth as the greatest stakeholders in the future health of our environment.

Creating the “Global Blue New Deal”

In 2019, the Sustainable Ocean Alliance distributed surveys across its network to identify the key youth policy priorities for a healthy ocean and just future. We received 100+ responses from 38 countries in 5 languages.

Over the past year, SOA’s Youth Policy Advisory Council synthesized these into a youth-led, crowdsourced ocean policy framework: the Global Blue New Deal.

The first public draft of our Global Blue New Deal is being launched now, at the dawn of the UN’s Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, which aims to gather global ocean stakeholders behind a common framework to deliver “the ocean we need for the future we want.”

Youth want to contribute to the success of the Ocean Decade and call on the international community to recognize our policy suggestions as part of the solutions our planet needs.

The vision of the Global Blue New Deal is to “outline an ocean policy framework that integrates crowdsourced youth priorities that will be proposed to governments on international, national, and local scales for implementation.”

It is organized under four pillars, each containing specific ocean policy solutions.

In brief:

Pillar 1
Carbon Neutrality: Transition to a Zero Carbon Future

Pillar 2
Preserve Biodiversity: Apply Nature-based Solutions to Promote Healthy Ecosystems and Climate Resilience

Pillar 3:
Sustainable Seafood: Match Increasing Global Demand Sustainably

Pillar 4:
Stakeholder Engagement: Include Local Communities in Natural Ocean Resource Management

We invite like-minded youths, scientists, policymakers, and other ocean stakeholders to visit https://www.soalliance.org/soablog/youth-led-blue-new-deal and help as we finalize the Global Blue New Deal ocean policy framework during our public comment period throughout July.

Each generation has inherited an increasingly degraded ocean environment with the poorest, most vulnerable communities feeling the impacts the most severely. This is our opportunity to rewrite the long history of compromising our ocean.

Mark Haver and Marina Porto are Chair and Co-Chair respectively of the Youth Policy Advisory Council of the Sustainable Ocean Alliance, the world’s largest youth-led network of ocean allies.

Source

Malawi Diaspora

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