HYDERABAD, TELANGANA, India, Sep 20 2019 (IPS) – As companies begin to focus on hiring people with disabilities, we need to shape how they think and act on this interest.
In the first decade of this century, Andhra Pradesh had several self-help groups (SHGs)–women who were saving, borrowing, and generating livelihood opportunities for themselves as well as their communities.
As these groups grew, the government began to notice that the aspirations of children were different from their SHG-member mothers, who were mostly marginal farmers or weavers. The state felt that they needed to do something to fulfil these aspirations and from this was born the Employment Generation and Marketing Mission (EGMM)–a skilling mission under the Department of Rural Development in undivided Andhra Pradesh.
EGMM started in 2004 with a pilot–a Rural Retail Academy was set up in Warangal for youth who were 10th and 12th standard dropouts; local school teachers were taught to train them on customer-facing skills, and after six months they were ready to be placed.
Higher efficiencies, near-zero errors in an industry where margins are small–opened up almost 50,000 cashiering jobs for disabled youth in the retail sector.
Kishore Biyani of the Future Group was the first one to hire these young people, and him doing so changed the way India looked at rural youth. It made people realise that: a) you didn’t need graduates with degrees for customer service, and b) rural youth, if skilled right, could get formal private sector jobs.
Prior to the establishment of the EGMM, government skilling programmes didn’t think of job placement as something they were responsible for. All of them did skilling for skilling’s sake. Now placement has become the norm in every skilling programme offered by either the government or the private sector.
EGMM was also able to demonstrate innovation at scale. However, it’s relatively easy to achieve scale when you are sitting inside the government. When I thought of what to focus on after rural youth, it was important for me to enter a space where there wasn’t an existing model for scale, and to prove that it could be done outside of the government as well. Disability was that space.
Moving to disability
The statistics around disability are alarming–80 percent of the world’s disability population is in developing countries like India. Despite this, a decade ago, little was being done about it.
Cities with a booming IT industry like Bangalore and Delhi, had organisations training and placing disabled people in jobs, but this was limited to 30 people a year at best. And, most of them were urban and educated. However, 69 percent of the disabled youth in India live in the villages–and at the time, in 2012, nobody was focusing on less-educated rural youth with disability.
There were many challenges
When we went to the villages, we faced several obstacles:
Getting youth to join: Disabled youth who lived in rural areas were doubly disadvantaged: they were cut off from the job market because of their rural location, and they (and their families) didn’t believe that they could ever get a job.
Finding trainers: We were also faced with a shortage of people who could train these youth. Disability is one word but within that word there are different kinds of disability–speech impaired, visually challenged, physical disabilities, and so on–and each one of them has different needs. Even when we did find trainers who could work with disabled youth–sign language instructors, for example–they were ill-equipped to train in the short-term training formats that we had developed.
Providing them job opportunities: Companies came with a lot of mindsets. They would ask us “Can you give us youth who look like you and me? Will it be expensive to hire and manage them? Will my other employees have a problem if I hire your youth?”
There is a gap in the urban disabled space as well
As we started working with the corporates, some multinational companies started asking us, “Where are the youth with English, the ones who are educated?” The perception is that if the disabled youth are educated, they will perhaps get jobs on their own.
However, in most cases, educated youth with disability have low skill levels. They qualify as engineers, have an engineering certificate and so their aspirations are to get into the well-known global and Indian tech companies. However, their technical knowledge is poor since colleges don’t have special educators to guide them.
The perception is that if the disabled youth are educated, they will perhaps get jobs on their own. However, in most cases, educated youth with disability have low skill levels. Picture courtesy: Rawpixel
The market is beginning to think about disability more actively
We are hearing companies talk about focusing on disability. So, while the timing is right, we need to shape how companies think and act on their interest.
Here are a few approaches that skilling organisations that work with disabled youth can adopt to ensure that larger numbers of corporates hire and retain these young people and that they do it in the right manner.
1. Try to place youth with disability in customer-facing roles
When they have to interact with customers, awareness about the issue of disability goes up automatically; you don’t have to work on that separately. We piloted this hypothesis by placing a speech- and hearing-impaired individual in a cashier’s job, with some simple workplace adaptations.
Three months later the retailer ran a survey to ask their customers for feedback and 95 percent of the respondents said that having ‘silent’ cashier had led to faster service. This insight–higher efficiencies, near-zero errors in an industry where margins are small–opened up almost 50,000 cashiering jobs for disabled youth in the retail sector.
2. Create a sensitive ecosphere
Hiring youth with disabilities is not just about matching profiles to jobs. We do sensitisation workshops, low cost adaptations, accessibility audits, going as far as to sync companies’ existing software to ensure that hired youth are productive. Otherwise, it merely reiterates the myth that youth with disabilities cannot work.
3. Build up jobs sector by sector
We did this with the automotive industry. We started with one company–Valeo–and hardwired all our best practices over there. More importantly, their HR director and I started talking about these innovations and the value provided by these youth at conferences and forums. As a result, 15 more auto companies started hiring disabled youth.
4. Teach portable skills and not specific job skills
Typically, skilling organisations give youth job-specific training–like say a three-day training in folding clothes. However, the danger with this approach is that if the folding clothes process stops, so does their job. It is important therefore, irrespective of the sector, to teach English, communications, and life skills–skills that they can take across jobs. This allows them to be mobile across jobs and capitalise on the opportunities available.
5. Encourage companies to measure impact
An executive from a multinational company that we at Youth4Jobs work with said that our alumni manage 75 forms a day versus their average of 45-50. Once companies experience the business case and see the results, their senior executives become champions for the programmes.
6. Prepare companies to be ready for changes in the law
It is likely that one day, a particular state might suddenly decide to make hiring of disabled youth mandatory in sync with the Right to PwD Act 2016 which speaks to the right of disabled to education and employment. And if that happens, other states will follow. It is important that companies are ready for it when it happens.
Meera Shenoy is the founder of Youth4Jobs, where she works on skilling young people with disabilities. She has been at the forefront of job-linked skilling for rural youth, tribal youth, and now youth with disabilities, at a scalable level. She was previously Executive Director, Employment Generation and Marketing Mission (EGMM), the first state government skilling mission. Meera has also consulted with the World Bank and the UNDP.
Protestors rallied outside a library building in Manhattan on Wednesday, carrying placards about Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen and referencing the “bone saw” that was reportedly used to dismember Jamal Khashoggi, a prominent critic of Saudi prince Mohammad bin Salman. Credit: James Reinl/IPS
UNITED NATIONS, Sep 19 2019 (IPS) – A New York library appeared to bow to pressure this week when it canceled an event that was being co-hosted by Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammad bin Salman, who is accused of a range of human rights abuses.
On Wednesday, the New York Public Library (NYPL) said it was scrapping the so-called Misk-OSGEY Youth Forum, a workshop on Sept. 23 that was being co-hosted by bin Salman’s Misk Foundation and U.N. youth envoy Jayathma Wickramanayake.
The event had been blasted by Human Rights Watch (HRW) and other campaign groups, who said it served to whitewash bin Salman’s reputation after the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in October last year — reportedly on the crown prince’s orders.
Evan Chesler, chairman of the NYPL board, said that dropping the workshop was the “appropriate thing to do” after weeks of protests and an online petition that had garnered more than 7,000 signatures.
In a statement, the library said it had cancelled the “space rental” amid “concerns about possible disruption to library operations as well as the safety of our patrons” amid “public concern around the event and one of its sponsors”.
It remains unclear whether the Misk Foundation will seek an alternative venue for the workshop at short notice. A U.N. spokesman told IPS it was “up to Misk to provide information on whether the event will take place elsewhere or not”.
Saudi Arabia’s mission to the U.N. and the Misk Foundation declined to comment on the controversy.
Protestors rallied outside a library building in Manhattan on Wednesday, carrying placards about Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen and referencing the “bone saw” that was reportedly used to dismember Khashoggi, a prominent critic of bin Salman.
“This week’s protests show that the public will not keep quiet while the leadership of the NYPL, a treasured repository of civilisation, hires our library out to the butcherer of Khashoggi,” Matthew Zadrozny, president of the Committee to Save the New York Public Library, told IPS.
“The NYPL leadership must explain to the public it serves who signed the deal with bin Salman’s foundation and why.”
Kenneth Roth, director of HRW, blasted the “repression-whitewashing event” on Twitter and asked U.N. secretary-general Antonio Guterres to scrap the partnership between his youth envoy, Wickramanayake, and the crown prince’s charity.
Now that the New York Public Library has withdrawn as a venue for the Saudi crown prince’s repression-whitewashing event https://t.co/JvGG6cyLd2 will UN chief @AntonioGuterres withdraw his youth envoy’s sponsorship before a replacement venue is found? https://t.co/ZA1Ctd8iIO
Suzanne Nossel, CEO of rights group PEN America, said the library had made the “right choice”, addiing bin Salman’s government had “orchestrated the murder and dismemberment of journalist Jamal Khashoggi”.
“Hosting this event just days before the anniversary of Jamal’s killing would have been particularly appalling not just for his family, friends, and colleagues, but also for those currently being persecuted in the kingdom.”
Nossel also noted that the library “is the crown jewel of the literary community in New York” and it stands for “free exchange of ideas and free expression, qualities that the crown prince has repeatedly disdained in both words and actions”.
The NYPL event was set to see some 300 budding young entrepreneurs learn about green themes, corporate responsibility and other parts of the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) agenda.
Khashoggi, a U.S.-based journalist who frequently criticised the Saudi government, was killed and dismembered on Oct. 2 last year after visiting the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, where he collecting documents for his wedding.
The CIA assessed that bin Salman had ordered Khashoggi’s killing. U.N. expert Agnes Callamard has described the death as a “premeditated execution,” and called for bin Salman and other high-ranking Saudis to be investigated.
Officials in Riyadh, who initially said Khashoggi had left the premises unharmed, now say the journalist was killed by a rogue hit squad that did not involve bin Salman. Activists have since pushed for accountability over the killing.
<!– Lupita Nyongo and Director Danai Gurira. Photo Credit: QuartzAfrica –>
Lupita Nyongo and Director Danai Gurira. Photo Credit: QuartzAfrica
Mixed reactions have continued to trail news that Kenyan actress, Lupita Nyong’o will play the Nigerian lead character in TV series adaptation of Chimamanda Adichie’s ‘Americanah’
On Sunday, Lupita confirmed that HBO Max had ordered a 10-episode series based on the award-winning novel.
Following the announcement, Nigerians on social media shared diverse views on the casting of Lupita as the lead character, Ifemelu, an Igbo woman raised in Lagos.
While some fans applauded Lupita for purchasing the movie rights, thus earning casting control, others opined that an Igbo or Nigerian actress would do justice to the role.
Some fans suggested Genevieve Nnaji, ‘Insecure’ star, Yvonne Orji, Cynthia Erivo or Tracy Ifeachor for the role.
@Yugerohu tweeted, “Lupita is going to play Ifemelu from Igbo land Nigeria? I love Lupita a lot, but this is not it.
Chimamanda with her award-winning Americanah novel
“Feels like she’s the default pick whenever Hollywood needs an African Actress. If it’s too hard to find one in Nigeria, give us Yvonne Orji? Cynthia Erivo? Tracy Ifeachor?”
@Mide_TA said, “Seeing as she bought the film rights. She can cast whoever she wants I think.”
@Behembaba said, “Black Americans have been making this same argument about Black foreigners playing Black American roles.
“Cynthia Erivo should never have been caste as Harriet Tubman.”
@Johnmuriuki said, “We, Africans, didn’t gripe when Morgan Freeman played Mandela, nor did we raise a ruckus when Denzel played Steve Biko.
“We didn’t raise an eyebrow when Forrest Whittaker played Idi Amin. We oughta ran riot when @shakira did that god-awful song in 2010 but we held our wheels.”
@Theolufolake said, “Lupita bought the film rights in 2014. Honestly I feel you. I felt the same way about Half of a yellow Sun.”
@Shawlarh said, “Forget about her buying the rights. She’s the only African Actress well suited for the role and big enough to reach a bigger audience, which is what they need. It’s simply business.”
@Onioluwafunmi said, “I still have a beef with the Lady that played Olanna in Half A Yellow Sun. I felt really sad. It just wasn’t right.”
NAN reports that some other fans pointed out that Nigerian actor, David Oyelowo played leading roles in Uganda-based ‘Queen of Katwe’ and ‘The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind’.
@Echezona tweeted, “Y’all should stop being pressed about Lupita taking on the role of a Nigerian woman.
“Y’all weren’t pressed when David oyelowo acted Queen of Katwe (set in Uganda) and Chiwetel Ejiofor in the boy who harnessed the wind (set in Malawi).” @99thoughts said, “I get your point but
David oyelowo was casted in ‘Queen of katwe’ which was a Ugandan story. He was also the main actor in ‘a United kingdom’ which was a South African history.”
NAN reports that Nyong’o purchased the film rights to ‘Americanah’ in 2014 and immediately collaborated with fellow Black Panther’s castmate, Gurira to write the screenplay.
However, in 2018, the duo stated that the novel was being turned into a mini-series and not a feature film. They visited Nigeria to do research for the screen project.
‘Americanah’ tells the story of Ifemelu (Nyong’o), a young, beautiful, self-assured woman raised in Nigeria, who as a teenager falls in love with her classmate Obinze.
Living in a military-ruled country, they each depart for the west, with Ifemelu heading for America.
There, she learned that despite her academic success, she is forced to grapple for the first time with what it means to be black.
WASHINGTON-(MaraviPost)-Less than two years out from the 2020 US presidential election, the pool of Democratic candidates vying for their party’s nomination is among the largest and most diverse in United States history.
The field has been reduced from 27 to 20, and will likely continue to shrink as leading candidates continue to pull away in the polls and the race heats up.
So far, there have been three Democratic debates. The first two hosted 20 candidates over the course of two nights, but the third only saw 10 candidates take the stage due to stricter Democratic National Committee guidelines.
As the field narrows, here is a look at the current 2020 Democratic presidential hopefuls:
Michael Bennet, 54
Michael Bennet has served as a US senator from Colorado since 2009. Bennet, a former head of the Denver school district, carved out a profile as a wonky, policy-oriented senator.
He gained internet fame this year for a harsh scolding of Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas over the government shutdown.
Bennet was close to launching a presidential campaign after that, but had to pause it when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer.
In this file photo taken on April 10, 2019, US Senator Michael Bennet speaks during the North American Building Trades Unions Conference in Washington, DC [Zach Gibson/Getty Images/AFP]
Bennet’s office said last month that the senator was successfully treated. That cleared the way for his May 2 campaign launch.
Bennet has so far only made the debate stage twice, during the first and second debates. He failed to qualify for the third debate in September.
Joe Biden, 76
Joe Biden served as vice president under former President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2017 after nearly four decades serving as a senator from Delaware.
Biden is the most experienced politician in the race, and the among the oldest at 76. This will be his third presidential run. His first White House bid in 1987 ended after a plagiarism scandal.
In a video announcement of his candidacy posted on Twitter on April 25, Biden focused on the 2017 deadly clash between white supremacists and counterprotesters in Charlottesville, Virginia. Biden noted US President Donald Trump‘s comments that there were some “very fine people” on both sides of the violent encounter, which left one woman dead.
“We are in the battle for the soul of this nation,” Biden said. “If we give Donald Trump eight years in the White House, he will forever and fundamentally alter the character of this nation – who we are. And I cannot stand by and watch that happen.”
Last month, Biden struggled to respond to comments from Lucy Flores, a 2014 lieutenant governor nominee in Nevada, who said he made her uncomfortable by touching her shoulders and kissing the back of her head before a campaign event. Several other women have made similar claims.
In a video, Biden pledged to be “more mindful” of respecting “personal space”, but Flores told Fox News this week that the former senator’s jokes on the matter have been “so incredibly disrespectful”.
The incident is just a glimpse of the harsh vetting from both Democrats and Republicans expected for Biden, who has run for president twice before but never from such a strong political starting position.
Former Vice President Joe Biden speaks at the Biden Courage Awards last month in New York [Frank Franklin II/AP Photo]
In recent weeks, he was repeatedly forced to explain his 1991 decision, as Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, to allow Anita Hill to face questions about her allegations of sexual harassment against Clarence Thomas, then a nominee for the Supreme Court.
Biden has since apologised for his role in the hearing. But in the #MeToo era, it is another example of why critics believe he may struggle to catch on with the Democratic primary voters of 2020.
As the frontrunner, Biden has made all three debate stages during this campaign season.
Bill de Blasio, 58
The New York City mayor emerged as a progressive standard-bearer in 2013, when he won the first of two four-year terms at the helm of the country’s biggest city on a platform of addressing income inequality. But he has struggled amid middling approval ratings and some political setbacks to build a national profile.
De Blasio, 58, can point to a number of policy wins in New York, including universal prekindergarten, a higher minimum wage and paid sick leave.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio speaks at the 2019 American Israel Public Affairs Committee policy conference [File: Jose Luis Magana/AP Photo]
De Blasio has called Trump a “bully” and a “con artist” and criticised his administration’s positions on immigration, climate change and social welfare.
De Blasio made the debate stages for the June and July events, but failed to do so in September.
Cory Booker, 49
Cory Booker has served as a US senator from New Jersey – the first African American in the state’s history to hold the office – since 2013. He was the mayor of Newark from 2006 to 2013.
His entry into the Democratic primary was steeped in history and symbolism, befitting his status as the second black candidate in an historically diverse field. Invoking the legacy of the national movements for civil rights and for women’s suffrage, the New Jersey senator during his candidacy announcement urged a return to a “common sense of purpose”.
Cory Booker speaks to voters during a campaign stop in Manchester, New Hampshire [File: Steven Senne/AP Photo]
Booker could face difficulty winning the hearts of the progressive Democratic base due to his past financial ties to banking and pharmaceutical interests. He said he would stop taking contributions from pharmaceutical companies in 2017.
As for the debates, Booker has been on the stage for all three events held so far.
Steven Bullock, 53
The Democratic governor of Montana, re-elected in 2016 in a conservative state that Trump carried by 20 percentage points, has touted his electability and ability to work across party lines.
Montana Governor Steve Bullock talks to the media and students at Helena High School as he launches 2020 US presidential campaign in Helena, Montana [Jim Urquhart/Reuters]
Bullock, 53, has made campaign finance reform a cornerstone of his agenda, and emphasises his success in forging compromises with the Republican-led state legislature on bills to expand Medicaid, increase campaign finance disclosures, bolster pay equity for women and protect public lands.
Bullock failed to make the debate stage in June, but did so in July. Due to the stricter guidelines for the September event, however, he did not qualify.
Pete Buttigieg, 37
Pete Buttigieg has served as mayor of South Bend, Indiana, since 2012.
Before that, Buttigieg was a consultant for McKinsey and company.
He is the first openly gay Democratic candidate to run for president. He announced his presidential bid on January 23, 2019.
There are no policy positions on his website. He has virtually no paid presence in the states that matter most. And his campaign manager is a high-school friend with no experience in presidential politics.
Despite this, he has suddenly become one of the hottest names in the Democrats’ presidential primary season. On the campaign trail, he has frequently spoken about the struggle to legalise same-sex marriage.
Pete Buttigieg speaks during the US Conference of Mayors winter meeting in Washington [File: Jose Luis Magana/AP Photo]
He has also repeatedly criticised Vice President Mike Pence for his views that undermine LGBTQ rights.
“I’m not critical of his faith; I’m critical of bad policies. I don’t have a problem with religion. I’m religious, too. I have a problem with religion being used as a justification to harm people and especially in the LGBTQ community,” the Indiana Democrat said in an interview with NBC’s The Ellen DeGeneres Show this month.
Buttigieg’s moment may pass if he does not take swift action to build a national organisation capable of harnessing the energy, he will need to sustain his surge in the nine months or so before the first votes are cast.
Buttigieg has been on all three stages of the debates so far.
Julian Castro, 44
Julian Castro was elected mayor of San Antonio, Texas in 2009 and served until 2014.
He served as the 16th US secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) under US President Barack Obama from 2014 until 2017.
Castro, the grandson of Mexican immigrants, was raised by a local Latina activist, and after a brief career in law, he was elected mayor of the nation’s seventh-largest city at the age of 34.
Julian Castro listens as he is introduced at a gathering of Tri-City Young Democrats in Somersworth, New Hampshire, US, on January 15, 2019 [Brian Snyder/Reuters]
It was not long after that election that Democrats nationally embraced him as a star in the making, particularly one from Texas, where a booming Hispanic population is rapidly changing the state’s demographics and improving the party’s fortunes.
As for the debates, Castro has made all three events held so far.
John Delaney, 56
John Delaney served as a US congressman for Maryland’s sixth district from 2013 to 2019.
Delaney, a former banking entrepreneur, is known as politically moderate with a willingness to reach across the aisle.
He has supported a measure to raise money to build infrastructure by allowing US corporations to avoid taxes when they repatriate profits overseas if they buy bonds that would be used to build infrastructure.
John Delaney stands in a food vendors building during a visit to the Iowa State Fair [File: Charlie Neibergall/AP Photo]
He announced his presidential run in a Washington Post op-ed published on July 28, 2017.
Delaney, one of the wealthiest members of Congress, was the first to announce he will seek his party’s nomination in 2020.
He said he was entering the presidential race early because he knows he will need time to build name recognition.
He failed to qualify for the first debate, but was able to do so for the second. He could not, however, meet the guidelines for the third debate.
Tulsi Gabbard, 38
Tusi Gabbard has served as a US congresswoman from Hawaii’s second district since 2013.
Gabbard is the first Hindu member of Congress. At the age of 21, she became the youngest to be elected to a US state legislature serving on the Hawaii House of Representatives.
She has also served in the Hawaii Army National Guard in a combat zone in Iraq and was deployed to Kuwait.
She was a fierce opponent of same-sex marriage when she served in the state legislature in her 20s. But she has since disavowed those views and professes her support for LGBTQ rights.
Critics have pounced on her efforts to block the legalisation of same-sex marriage in Hawaii and a meeting she held with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Earlier this year, she penned an op-ed responding to media reports about her alleged ties to Hindu nationalists.
Tulsi Gabbard delivers a nomination speech for Senator Bernie Sanders on the second day at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia [File: Mike Segar/Reuters]
“While the headlines covering my announcement could have celebrated this landmark first, and maybe even informed Americans about the world’s third-largest religion, some have instead fomented suspicion, fear and religious bigotry about not only me but also my supporters,” she wrote.
As for the debates, Gabbard qualified for the first two debates, but failed to do so for the third.
Kamala Harris, 54
Kamala Harris has served as a US senator from California since 2017.
Before joining the Senate, Harris was the attorney general of California. She has also served as San Francisco district attorney.
Her track record as San Francisco’s district attorney and California’s attorney general has drawn scrutiny in a Democratic Party that has shifted in recent years on criminal justice issues.
Harris is the daughter of immigrants from Jamaica and India.
Senator Kamala Harris speaks to the media after announcing she will run for president of the United States [Joshua Roberts/Reuters]
She supports a middle-class tax credit, Medicare for All healthcare funding reform, the Green New Deal and the legalisation of cannabis.
Amy Klobuchar served as a US senator from Minnesota since 2007, becoming her state’s first elected female senator.
Before joining the Senate, she was the Hennepin County lawyer.
Amy Klobuchar waits to speak at the Ankeny Area Democrats’ Winter Banquet on Thursday, February 21, 2019, in Des Moines, Iowa [Charlie Neibergall/AP Photo]
Klobuchar gained national attention in 2018 when she sparred with Brett Kavanaugh during Senate hearings for his Supreme Court nomination.
On the campaign trail, the former prosecutor and corporate lawyer supports an alternative to traditional Medicare healthcare funding and is taking a hard stance against rising prescription drug prices.
She has made all three debates held so far.
Wayne Messam, 44
Wayne Messam has served as mayor of Miramar, Florida, since 2015.
Messam grew up in South Bay, an agricultural town of 3,500 people, adjoining Lake Okeechobee. His parents emigrated from Jamaica.
Messam believes Miramar has much that the rest of the US would like to have: environmentally friendly development, high-end manufacturing and major corporate operations.
Miramar Mayor Wayne Messam poses for a portrait in Miramar [Brynn Anderson/AP Photo]
Pundits have said he is unlikely to win due to low name recognition and funding. No sitting mayor has ever won the presidency and he has a lack of political experience.
On March 28, 2019, he announced he was running for president.
Messam has failed so far to make a single debate stage.
Beto O’Rourke, 46
Beto O’Rourke served Texas’s 16th congressional district in the House of Representatives from 2013 to 2019.
O’Rourke gained fame last year for his record fundraising and ability to draw crowds before of his unexpectedly narrow loss in the US Senate race against Republican incumbent Ted Cruz.
His Senate bid generated a torrent of media attention and excited voters in a party desperate for fresh political faces. He lost the race by fewer than three percentage points, the tightest senate contest in the state in four decades.
O’Rourke announced a $6.1m fundraising haul for the first 24 hours of his campaign, bettering his Democratic opponents.
Beto O’Rourke speaks during a campaign stop at a cafe on April 19, 2019, in Somersworth, New Hampshire [Scott Eisen/AFP]
Since his Senate bid ended, O’Rourke has worked to keep himself in the public eye, regularly staying in touch with his supporters and sitting for an interview with Oprah Winfrey.
But with progressive policies and diversity at the forefront of the party’s nominating battle, O’Rourke will face a challenge as a wealthy white man who is more moderate on several key issues than many of his competitors.
He announced his presidential bid on March 14, 2019.
He has appeared on all three debate stages.
Tim Ryan, 45
Ryan has served as a US House representative from Ohio’s 13th district since 2003.
He represents a northeastern Ohio area that has reportedly lost manufacturing jobs in the past few years and shifted to Republican Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election.
Ryan has said Trump has turned his back on those blue-collar voters who fled to him in 2016 and failed to live up his promise to revitalise the manufacturing industry.
Tim Ryan speaks at the Heartland Forum on the campus of Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, Iowa [File: Nati Harnik/AP Photo]
Ryan pledged to create jobs in new technologies and to focus on public education and access to affordable healthcare.
He first gained national attention when he unsuccessfully tried to unseat Nancy Pelosi as the House Democratic leader in 2016, arguing it was time for new leadership.
Ryan announced his presidential run on April 4, 2019.
He qualified for the first two debates, but failed to do so for the September event.
Bernie Sanders, 77
Bernie Sanders served as a US representative for 16 years before being elected to the Senate in 2006 where he currently represents the state of Vermont.
A progressive and cofounder of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, he is the longest-serving Independent in the history of Congress.
Sanders announced his presidential run on February 19, 2019. Sanders ran an unsuccessful bid for president in 2016 after losing to Hillary Clinton.
In the 2020 race, Sanders will have to fight to stand out in a packed field of progressives touting issues he brought into the Democratic Party mainstream four years ago.
Bernie Sanders speaks as he holds one of his first campaign events in Chicago, Illinois, on March 3, 2019 [Joshua Lott/Reuters]
His proposals include free tuition at public colleges, a $15 minimum hourly wage and universal healthcare.
He benefits from strong name recognition and a robust network of small-dollar donors, helping him to raise $5.9m during his first day in the contest.
Since then, he has appeared on all three debate stages.
Joe Sestak, 67
Former US Representative Joe Sestak joined the race in June.
In announcing his candidacy, Sestak, 67, a retired three-star US Navy admiral, emphasized his 31-year military career, the need to restore US leadership in the world and challenges from climate change and China‘s growing global influence.
“Our country desperately needs a president with a depth of global experience and an understanding of all the elements of our nation’s power, from our economy and our diplomacy to the power of our ideals and our military, including its limitations,” Sestak said in a video released on his campaign website.
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Sestak speaks during the West Des Moines Democrats’ annual picnic [File: Charlie Neibergall/AP Photo]
Sestak represented a district in eastern Pennsylvania including the former industrial cities of Allentown and Bethlehem for two terms from 2007 to 2011.
He ran for the US Senate in 2010 and lost to Republican Pat Toomey in a year that saw Republicans take control of the House of Representatives. Sestak sought a rematch with Toomey in 2016 but lost in the Democratic primary.
Sestak has yet to qualify for a debate.
Tom Steyer, 62
Tom Steyer, a billionaire donor and liberal activist, announced on July 9 he was joining the Democratic presidential field after initially saying he would not run to focus his attention on impeaching Trump and getting fellow Democrats elected to Congress.
“There’s a breakdown in Washington DC, and I don’t mean just Donald Trump,” Steyer tweeted in a thread announcing his candidacy. “I’m talking about corporate money and our broken political system.”
The 62-year-old is one of the most visible and deep-pocketed liberals advocating for Trump’s impeachment. But he has previously said he has grown frustrated at the pace at which the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives is approaching Trump.
Tom Steyer, founder of NextGen Climate, speaks during the California Democratic Convention in San Francisco, California [File: Stephen Lam/Reuters]
His announcement made no mention of impeachment issue, instead focusing on why he believes there is a need to reduce the influence of corporations in politics. He also said he plans to target climate change, which is the focus of the Steyer-backed advocacy group NextGen America.
Citing issues including climate change and the opioid crisis, Steyer said that in nearly every “major intractable problem, at the back of it, you see a big-money interest for whom stopping progress, stopping justice is really important to their bottom line.”
Steyer announced his presidential bid after the first presidential debate in June. He failed to make the debate stage in July and September. He has, however, qualified for the fourth debate in October. He was the first to do so in addition to the 10 candidates who have appeared during all three debates held so far.
Elizabeth Warren, 69
Elizabeth Warren has served as a US senator from Massachusetts since 2013.
Warren, known as a progressive, taught law at several universities and was a Harvard professor.
Warren is a leader of the party’s liberals and a fierce Wall Street critic who was instrumental in creating the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Earlier this year, she apologised to the Cherokee Nation for taking a DNA test to prove her claims to Native American ancestry, an assertion that has prompted Trump to mockingly refer to her as “Pocahontas“.
Elizabeth Warren addresses the Rev Al Sharpton’s National Action Network during a post-midterm election at the Russell Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill [File: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/AFP]
She announced her presidential run on February 9, 2019. She has promised to fight what she calls a “rigged economic system” that favours the wealthy.
She recently unveiled a student loan forgiveness proposal that would cancel up to $50,000 of debt for millions of Americans. She also supports free college tuition for students at two and four-year institutions.
Warren has been at all three debates.
Marianne Williamson, 66
Marianne Williamson is an author, entrepreneur and activist. Williamson is the founder of Project Angel Food, a volunteer food delivery programme serving homebound people with life-changing illnesses.
She is also cofounder of the Peace Alliance, an education and advocacy organisation.
The Texas native believes her spirituality-focused campaign can heal the US.
Marianne Williamson meets with childcare advocates at the Nevada State Legislature in Carson City, Nevada [Bob Strong/Reuters]
A 1992 interview on Oprah Winfrey’s show propelled her to make a name for herself as a “spiritual guide” for Hollywood and a self-help expert.
She is calling for $100bn in reparations for slavery over 10 years, gun control, education reform and equal rights for lesbian and gay communities. In 2014, she made an unsuccessful bid for a House seat in California as an independent.
Williamson qualified for the first two debates, but failed to do so in September.
Andrew Yang, 44
Andrew Yang is the founder of Venture for America. In 2012, the Obama administration selected him as a Champion of Change.
In 2015, he was selected as Presidential Ambassador of Global Entrepreneurship.
He filed with the Federal Election Commission to run for president in 2020 on November 6, 2017.
The entrepreneur and former tech executive is focusing his campaign on an ambitious universal income plan.
Andrew Yang arrives at a town hall meeting in Cleveland on Sunday, February 24, 2019 [Phil Long/AP Photo]
Yang wants to guarantee all American citizens between the ages of 18 and 64 a $1,000 cheque every month.
The son of immigrants from Taiwan, Yang also is pushing for Medicare for All and proposing a new form of capitalism that is “human-centred”.
Yang has qualified for all three debates held so far.
Who has dropped out?
So far seven candidates have dropped out of the race, with more likely to end their campaigns as the top tier of the field continue to increase its lead.
Here’s a look at who has dropped out so far:
Kirsten Gillibrand, 52
Kirsten Gillibrand has served as a US senator from New York since 2009.
After failing to qualify for the third Democratic presidential debate, Gillibrand, who campaign on a platform centred on women’s rights, dropped out of the race.
In announcing her decision on August 28, Gillibrand told US media she had not decided which candidate to endorse.
“I think that women have a unique ability to bring people together and heal this country,” Gillibrand told the New York Times
“I think a woman nominee would be inspiring and exciting,” she added.
Mike Gravel, 89
Mike Gravel, the 89-year-old former senator made a little-known run for the Democratic nomination in 2008, took another stab at it early in the Democratic race.
His goal was to make the debate stage, but when that didn’t happen, he officially ended his campaign in August, and endorsed Sanders.
John Hickenlooper, 67
John Hickenlooper served as the governor of Colorado from 2011 to 2019.
He announced he was ending his presidential bid on August 15 in a video posted on Twitter.
“While this campaign didn’t have the outcome we were hoping for, every moment has been worthwhile and I’m thankful to everyone who supported this campaign and our entire team,” Hickenlooper tweeted.
Later in August, Hickenlooper announced he would run in the US Senate race against Republican incumbent Cory Gardner in Colorado.
Jay Inslee, 68
Jay Inslee has served as the governor of the state of Washington since 2013.
On August 21, he announced he was dropping out of the race, saying “it has become clear that I’m not going to be carrying the ball. I am not going to be the president.”
Inslee made fighting climate change the central issue of his campaign. In announcing his withdrawal, Inslee said he hopes other 2020 candidates would use his detailed 10–year climate plan.
Seth Moulton, 40
Seth Moulton has served as the US representative for Massachusetts’s sixth congressional district since 2015.
On August 23, he announced he was dropping out of the 2020 race, telling US media if one of the more progressive candidates win the nomination it could make it harder for the Democrats to beat Trump.
“I think it’s evident that this is now a three-way race between Biden, Warren and Sanders, and really it’s a debate about how far left the party should go,” Moulton told the New York Times.
Richard Ojeda, 48
Richard Ojeda was the first official presidential contender to drop out of the race.
In January, the former West Virginia state senator announced he was suspending his campaign, acknowledging he “does not have the ability to compete”.
Eric Swalwell, 38
Eric Swalwell, an Iowa native, has served as a House representative from California’s 15th congressional district since 2013.
He dropped out of the presidential race after the first primary debate in June.
Cameron Diver is Deputy Director-General, the Pacific Community (SPC)
New Caledonia, Sep 13 2019 (IPS) – In less than 10 days, countries from around the planet will come together in New York for the United Nations Secretary General’s Climate Action Summit. I look forward to representing the Pacific Community (SPC) at this important event, and throughout “Action Week” during the upcoming UN General Assembly.
Cameron Diver
The interconnections and synergies between major issues of global concern and the key role multilateralism and international cooperation can play in helping tackle these challenges are illustrated by the agenda of the week from 23 to 27 September. Underpinned by the Sustainable Development Goals, each of the high-level summits will focus on commitments to accelerate action across climate change, enhance efforts to secure healthy, peaceful and prosperous lives for all, mobilise sufficient financing to realise the 2030 Agenda and address the specific issues and vulnerabilities of small island developing states.
The week of summits kicks off with a focus on climate action. And this is, in my mind, highly appropriate. The multiplier effect of climate change undermines our efforts to achieve the sustainable development goals, it increases the challenges of biodiversity conservation and sustainable use, it intensifies competition and the potential for conflict around natural resources and it poses the single greatest existential threat to the lives and livelihoods of millions of people around the globe. From where I stand, the science on climate change is clear. To take only these examples, the IPCC Special Reports on the impacts of global warming of 1.5° above pre-industrial levels and climate change, desertification, land degradation, sustainable land management, food security and greenhouse gas fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems provide us with the most robust, high quality evidence base to understand the significant negative impact climate change is already having on our natural environment, on the wellbeing of people, ecosystems, flora and fauna and the massive and potentially irreversible consequences of inaction. As regards our ocean, the upcoming Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate is likely to confirm what the islands of the Blue Pacific continent, and others whose cultures, traditions and livelihoods are deeply attached to the ocean, have already sensed: the climate crisis is a real and present threat to ocean and coastal ecosystems and the human communities that depend on them.
The stakes are high, but where there is a threat there is also an opportunity. If we act now, there is still have time effectively to tackle the climate crisis! To put it simply: ambition without action is insufficient and simply not an option. SPC is committed to working with our Member States, international and regional partners to translate climate ambition into tangible climate action, for both mitigation and adaptation. The benefits could be huge, with the Global Commission on Adaptation estimating that investing $1.8 trillion in climate adaptation globally in just five areas from 2020 to 2030 could generate $7.1 trillion in total net benefits. We are also convinced that we must collectively harness the synergies between, for example, climate and the ocean, biodiversity, health, security, economic development, food systems, land use, gender and many other development areas to fully exploit the potential of the SDGs and ensure that future pathways to sustainable development are integrated, inclusive, nature-friendly, climate-informed and resilient. SPC is already implementing this approach with its Members and partners. One illustration is our EU funded PROTEGE project, whose intended outcomes include a transition to sustainable integrated agriculture and sound forestry resource management; sustainable fisheries and aquaculture management that is integrated in and adapted to island economies; sustainable integrated water resource management; and invasive alien species control, all against a backdrop of climate-change hazards that require ecosystem and biodiversity protection, resilience and restoration.
As was recently remarked to me at the Green Climate Fund Global Programming Conference in Korea: “we already know what we must do. We need to stop talking and start doing”. It is my sincere hope that “Action Week” in New York will indeed be a turning point for “doing”; a catalyst for firm, measurable commitments to tangible actions that match the level of ambition already expressed to address the climate crisis and the multiple development challenges that remain as we approach the final decade of the 2030 Agenda. If we do not translate ambition into action, we will fail ourselves, we will fail future generations and we will fail our planet. If, however, we take up the challenge and take sustained, coordinated and integrated action, we can win the battle against climate change, create new and innovative opportunities for development, deliver on the promise of the Global Goals and trace a positive pathway to new era of resilient and sustainable development. High hopes indeed…
The 20th International Leprosy Congress (ILC) is being held Sept. 10 to 13 in Manila, Philippines. The conference is hosted every three years and was last held in China in 2016. Credit: Stella Paul/IPS
MANILA, Sep 12 2019 (IPS) – Rachna Kumari of Munger in Eastern India’s Bihar state is not yet 30. But she’s already been married at 18, abandoned by her husband after she was diagnosed with leprosy and become an award-winning advocate of the disease. She has traversed a long road. And this week she undertook another step in her journey to fly to Manila, Philippines, as a delegate at the 20th International Leprosy Congress (ILC).
The grassroots leader, who is employed by the International Leprosy Elimination Partnership (ILEP), has also previously traveled to Ethiopia and China to share stories about her life and her work.
Prior to attending the ILC yesterday Sept. 12, she participated in the Global Forum of People’s Organisations on Hansen’s Disease, an event co-organised by Japan’s The Nippon Foundation (TNF) and Sasakawa Health Foundation (SHF). The global forum gave her valuable insights into the universal challenges of leprosy-affected and leprosy advocates such as stigma and lack of financial sustainability, Kumari said.
She said she also gained technical education and management skills, which she feels are crucial for success in advocacy.
She added that when she carries out her work in communities across Munger, she has no official identification to show many of the Hansen’s disease-affected persons she comes across, many of whom are weary of strangers as they continue to face discrimination and stigma.
This simple form of accreditation, Kumari said, played a huge role in advocacy against the disease.
“[In] my community, I have nothing to prove that I am an advocate, a knowledge builder. So, people doubt me, they don’t know if they [can] trust me. A simple document of identification can be a big step to build trust between a community worker and her community,” Kumari told IPS.
Maya Ranavare, who works as a treasurer in Association of People Affected by Leprosy (APAL), in western India’s Maharashtra state, says that partnerships among organisations must not remain in closed rooms but should instead result in collective action that reaches communities.
“There is a sense of competition among people’s organisations. Instead, we must act collectively. Also, if it is a partnership, then there should not be duplicity. Tasks should be distributed evenly. If one organisation is doing mobilisation, other should work on technical education. This will increase everyone’s skill and ability,” Ranavare told IPS.
According to Dr Arturo Cunanan, the Chief Medical Officer of the Culion Sanitarium and General Hospital in the Philippines, there needs to be programmatic changes in the government public health system. Budgetary allocation, innovation, new research and sensitisation of healthcare workers are all needs of the hour.
“Leprosy elimination is now like a car that has run out of fuel. We need that fuel right now. The fuel is innovation. Take vaccination for example. Why is that even after centuries, we still don’t have a vaccination for universal application?
“Also, we need innovative, easier ways to diagnose leprosy. If you look at Tuberculosis, there are several ways to do a quick test and find out if a person has it. But for leprosy, we still have only clinical test. We need new tools, quicker ways and for all of that we need new investments in innovation, research,“ Cunanan told IPS.
The ILC started runs Sep 10 to 13. The congress will identify the priorities for a future course of action to end leprosy. Currently there are 200,000 new leprosy cases reported every year across the world, with 60 percent of those new cases originating in India.
According to the organisers, the congress will identify the priorities for the future course of action for achieving zero leprosy. The congress also emphasised the importance of partnerships and a new future partnership among the leprosy-affected people’s organisations has already started between HANDA – a Chinese NGO– and PERMATA, an NGO based in Indonesia.
HANDA, which has recently been recognised by the government of China for their skills in project management, finance management and organisational re-structuring, is set to share these crucial skills with PERMATA.
“We will soon host a delegation from PERMATA in our Guanzhou office. They have a special interest in finance management and we are ready to share our expertise and experience in that area with them,” Sally Qi of HANDA told IPS.
SHF was instrumental in building this partnership and encouraged both HANDA and PERMATA to start a dialogue on skill sharing, Qi added.
Lupita Nyongo and Director Danai Gurira. Photo Credit: QuartzAfrica –> 
