Stand Up, Speak Out: A Global Call to Men on the 25th Anniversary of International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women

Posted on November 22, 2024 by admin

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

Opinion

Credit: UN Women

LONDON, Nov 22 2024 (IPS) – In 1960, the Rafael Trujillo regime in the Dominican Republic assassinated the Mirabal sisters— renowned and respected for their courage and activism against dictatorship. To give their senseless violent death some meaning and to preserve their legacy, in 1999, the United Nations inaugurated November 25—the day of their assassination—as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (EVAW).

When talk of violence against women (VAW) was still taboo in polite and political circles, the UN’s stance was powerful. It put a spotlight on a pervasive pandemic of violence evident across continents and cultures that caused devastation in the lives of millions and replicated itself across generations.

The assumption was that raising public awareness and creating a political platform—a global one, no less—would prompt attention, concern, action, and genuine political will to address and eliminate this preventable form of harm and trauma.

Unfulfilled Promise of Global Initiatives

In the subsequent years, other high-profile, largely performative, initiatives followed. UN events became annual feel-good rituals, sidelining seasoned women’s rights advocates in favor of celebrity-driven initiatives.

UN Women’s campaigns, such as actress Nicole Kidman’s “Say No-UNiTE to End Violence Against Women,” featuring stern Wonder Woman-inspired imagery on reusable bottles, raised funds but did little to reach perpetrators of violence. Emma Watson’s HeforShe seemed to admonish women for excluding men—despite decades of efforts to engage men in tackling violence.

Iceland even hosted an all-male “barbershop” conference to address equality, with limited impact. Similarly, UK Foreign Secretary William Hague garnered attention with grand declarations about ending wartime rape through the UK-led Prevention of Sexual Violence Initiative (PSVI), backed by long-time activist and actress Angelina Jolie.

But his premise that sexual violence in war would be prevented if cases were documented and perpetrators faced the future prospect of criminal justice, missed fundamental facts – including that to stop war-time rape, more focus and resources should be put on preventing wars.

Meanwhile, the top-down international attention barely made a dent in addressing the problem where it resided worldwide: in communities and homes, and increasingly online—especially in times of crisis and conflict. In large part, the lack of impact of these high-level initiatives was their failure to reach the right audiences with the right messages through trusted messengers.

Relying on Hollywood actresses to inspire largely women’s audiences to unite against violence may be necessary for motivating women, but it is not sufficient. When the perpetrators of violence are overwhelmingly male, strategies, messaging, policies, and programs must also be directed at men.

Implicitly acknowledging that world leaders did not care about the social and human cost of violence against women, the World Bank took a different tack: following the money. In 2014, the Bank reported that violence against women cost countries up to 3.4% of their GDP.¹ In some countries, this was more than double their investments in education.

Implying that we should care about violence against women because it affects our bottom line is certainly a mercenary approach, but even this stark calculation failed to prompt a change in policies, practices, or prioritization of the elimination of violence against women (EVAW) as a socio-economic and security concern.

Countless diplomats, activists and bureaucrats have shaped new policies and resolutions at national and international levels. A transnational bureaucracy has grown around the agenda and EVAW has gone global with the “16 Days of Activism” campaign. Yet, 25 years later, the outlook remains grim.

We know that in Gaza women endure caesareans without anesthesia because of the Israeli blockade on food, water, electricity, and medication—but nothing is being done to prevent it. We know that in Sudan, women and girls face extreme sexual violence and rape, yet nothing is being done to prevent this violence or provide protection and care for survivors.

We saw how the COVID-19 pandemic prompted a spike of some 40% in domestic violence across the world—and yet, nothing is being done to acknowledge or deal with the issues systemically. Year after year, femicide persists. Between March 2023-2024, in the UK alone, 100 women were killed by men.

Multifaceted Solutions

Breaking the silence on violence against women through awareness-raising campaigns has certainly drawn attention to the issue. We now have increased reporting, with better data on the forms of violence and the victims and survivors. We have an increased trickle of funding for programming and, perhaps most importantly, we have clear evidence of what works. It is not surprising that the solutions are multifaceted.

Laws and policies matter. In France, as the Gisele Pelicot case reveals, the legal definition of rape matters. Similarly, changing institutional cultures matters, especially in male-dominated law enforcement. In the U.S., a 2020 study found that one in four women will experience sexual assault in their lifetime, but fewer than 5% of survivors report the assaults to law enforcement.

In the U.S., police code 20% of reported cases as “unfounded,” based on the reporting officers’ perceptions of the woman reporting the incident. The 2020 report notes that “dismissing sexual violence has become common practice amongst the police.”² Training and changing police practices is therefore essential to bring perpetrators to justice and increase women’s trust in the service.

Globally, grassroots initiatives prove that impactful change begins with local security personnel and community leaders. At the International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN), we have supported many of our partners in the Women’s Alliance for Security Leadership (WASL) in their efforts.

In Sri Lanka, the Association of War Affected Women (AWAW) successfully advocated for deploying female police officers to rural areas, trained male and female police officers on international laws such as UN Security Council Resolution 1325 and encouraged them to develop culturally effective approaches to addressing VAW.

In a Syrian refugee community in Turkey, our partner Kareemat has led interventions to stop child marriages that often take place because they are “one less mouth to feed.” Since fathers are making these decisions, raising awareness of the risks to their daughters and offering livelihood alternatives is essential.

To ensure the message resonates, Kareemat engaged trusted male religious leaders to emphasize that child marriage contradicts Islamic values and harms young girls. They also advocate for continued education and provide skills training, supporting girls to have their own livelihoods.

“We have observed a positive shift among many beneficiaries, especially men…agreeing on the importance of waiting until a girl reaches the age of eighteen before marriage,” says Kareemat Founder, Najla Sheikh. “These men also advocated for preparing young women by equipping them with a profession that enables them to support themselves…The beneficiaries expressed a desire to see girls achieve financial independence and be able to protect themselves in a safe environment like Kareemat.”³

Efforts to engage men in communities has expanded over the years. But as UK-based investigative journalist Sonia Sodha wrote in 2022,⁴ when it comes to the seriously violent, awareness and education is just not enough; reflecting on the differences between and within men is also essential.

Sodha highlights the UK-based project, Drive, which “has shed once and for all the feminist attachment to the idea that the key to reducing serious violence is teaching men to be better.” The project works with high-risk domestic abusers, assigning them case managers to provide support with jobs, mental health, and housing, while also serving as early warning conduits to involve police and social services when necessary to disrupt violence.

The results are astounding with an 82% and 88% drop in physical and sexual abuse respectively. Yet, access remains severely limited, with only 1% of serious abusers receiving such intervention.⁵

Meanwhile, a consistent factor in men’s violence is their own exposure to violence as children. Childhood abuse is a leading precursor of adult violence, yet in rich and poorer countries, programs to protect children are being slashed. As the wars in Gaza and Yemen show, children are increasingly the key targets of violent conflict.

Violence Against Women Amidst War and Displacement

With 56 wars raging and over 120 million people displaced by conflict, violence against women is on the rise, in increasingly complex forms. Ukraine is a case in point. Ukrainian men have become soldiers at the frontlines fighting Russian forces to protect their families and homeland.

But too often, on leave, they mete out their own trauma against their wives and children. It is wretchedly heartbreaking, yet universal in contexts of crisis and conflict.⁶ Simultaneously, displacement and economic hardship forces more women into sex work, trafficking, and other situations that heighten their vulnerability. Political dealmaking, such as the U.S.-Taliban agreement, has fueled multi-generational violence against women and children.

Over half a century since the Mirabals’ assassination, as a global community, we are certainly more aware of the horrors of violence against women. But it is still women who are picking up the pieces.

Our support networks are critical, says South African activist Bernedette Muthein, recalling “the street groups that intervene during domestic violence” and the women-led organizations that provide advice, support, and exit plans that “include stashing identity documents, clothes and money.”

Shelters and women-only spaces also remain essential for victims. But in Liberia, says peacebuilder Cerue Garlo “such issues are still not seen as national issues. The public expects women to handle them as ‘women’s issues’,” a sentiment that resonates around the world.

Time to Break the Cycle

On November 25, 2024, as the UN commemorates the 25th anniversary of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, perhaps it is worth stating it explicitly: violence against women is not just a women’s issue. It is a societal, economic, and security issue. Given the vast majority of perpetrators are men, it is also very clearly a men’s issue.

At a minimum, it is time to shift the shame and fear that women have harbored for so long, onto the men who perpetuate the violence. Too often, when such calls are made, social media platforms are flooded with #NotAllMen. Of course, not all men are implicated in VAW—and this is precisely the point. It is time for the good men—those who are indignant about and abhor such violence—to stand up, speak out, and join women to take on the challenge of ending this pandemic.

It is also time to dedicate more funding and channel resources directly to the women’s organizations working to tackle the roots, symptoms, causes, and effects of such violence.

The good news is that when the most serious abusers in the UK can be stopped, and destitute Syrian fathers can be convinced to protect their daughters, we know that violence against women is not inevitable. We just need to muster up the political will, social courage, and economic resources. Let’s not wait another 25 years to make the promise of ending violence against women a reality.

¹ https://www.worldbank.org/en/results/2023/08/25/tackling-gender-based-violence-development-imperative
² https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9136376/
³ Personal correspondence
⁴ https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/mar/06/male-violence-against-women-much-more-than-toxic-masculinity
⁵ Ibid
⁶ https://gppi.net/media/Kotliuk_2024_Hidden-Front-of-Russias-War_ENG.pdf

Sanam Naraghi Anderlini, MBE, is Founder/CEO, International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN)

IPS UN Bureau

Source

Breaking Cycle of Violence to Save Mothers & Children: Why Ending Gender-Based Violence is Essential for Global Health

Posted on November 21, 2024 by admin

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

Opinion

Pioneering effort to protect women and children in quarantine centres in Viet Nam Credit: UN Women

GENEVA, Nov 21 2024 (IPS) – Each year, millions of women and children around the world die from preventable causes. Maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) is a shared global priority, yet we often overlook one of its most pressing—and preventable—barriers: violence against women.

As we mark the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, we are reminded that gender-based violence (GBV) is not just a social issue but a critical health crisis that endangers the lives of mothers and children everywhere.

When we consider that a woman experiencing violence is 1.5 times more likely to have a low-birth-weight baby and that this condition greatly increases infant mortality, the need for urgent, integrated action becomes starkly clear. ¹ Addressing violence is not peripheral to MNCH efforts—it is foundational.

Violence and Health: A Devastating Cycle

Evidence tells us that intimate partner violence (IPV) directly affects maternal and infant outcomes. Pregnant women subjected to IPV face a heightened risk of complications like preterm labor and hemorrhage, often resulting in increased maternal and newborn mortality.² ³ The problem doesn’t end with pregnancy: children born to mothers experiencing violence have a higher likelihood of malnutrition, stunting, and developmental delays, perpetuating a cycle of vulnerability. ⁴

The psychological toll is just as concerning. Women subjected to violence are more prone to depression and anxiety, both of which affect maternal health-seeking behavior.⁵ Depressed mothers are less likely to access antenatal care and postnatal services, further endangering the lives of their infants. In turn, these mental health impacts lead to cascading health and social risks for women and their families, affecting entire communities.

Rajat Khosla

The Crisis Within Crises: Humanitarian Settings

Nowhere are these challenges more pressing than in humanitarian settings. Conflict, natural disasters, and displacement magnify the vulnerability of women and children, often leading to spikes in sexual violence and the breakdown of healthcare systems. In conflict zones, over 60% of women report having experienced sexual violence, according to humanitarian reports. ⁶ These women are not only at risk of severe trauma and infection but also of maternal mortality, with rates nearly double those found in stable environments. ⁷

It’s estimated that more than 500 women and girls die every day from preventable complications related to pregnancy and childbirth in humanitarian settings,⁸ underscoring an urgent need for an integrated approach to MNCH and GBV response. These statistics are more than numbers—they represent the lives of mothers, daughters, and children who deserve health, safety, and dignity.

The Overlooked Victims: Women Health Care Workers

It’s not only patients who suffer. Female health workers, the backbone of MNCH services worldwide, are often at grave risk. In fragile and conflict-affected settings, women health workers face high rates of violence, including harassment and physical assault.

Research suggests that up to 80% of healthcare workers in these settings report experiencing violence, a statistic that directly impacts their ability to provide care.⁹ High rates of violence lead to burnout, turnover, and a critical shortage of trauma-informed healthcare providers when they are needed most.¹⁰

For many, this threat is exacerbated by their roles as frontline responders to gender-based violence. The safety and mental health of our healthcare workforce are inextricably linked to the health outcomes we aim to achieve for mothers and children.

A Call to Action for Integrated Policies

1. Prioritize Funding for Integrated MNCH and GBV Services:

2. Strengthen Health Systems in Humanitarian Settings:

3. Protect and Support Women Health Workers:

The costs of inaction are too high. Each preventable death of a mother or child as a result of violence marks a failure to uphold the rights to health and safety for all. By placing violence against women at the forefront of our MNCH efforts, we can break the cycle of suffering and create the conditions needed for healthy mothers and thriving children.

This 16 Days of Activism, let’s commit to integrated action against violence—because women’s health, newborn survival, and child development depend on it. Together, we can build a world where women and children live free from violence, and where health and dignity go hand in hand.

¹ World Health Organization. (2013). Global and regional estimates of violence against women: prevalence and health effects of intimate partner violence and non-partner sexual violence. Geneva: World Health Organization.
² Shah, I. H., & Hatcher, A. (2013). The impact of intimate partner violence on women’s reproductive health: A review. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 14(2), 128-137. doi:10.1177/1524838012451845
³ Elizabeth P. Lockington et al. Intimate partner violence is a significant risk factor for adverse pregnancy outcomes. AJOG Global Reports. Volume 3, Issue 4, November 2023, 100283
⁴ Ellsberg, M., & Heise, L. (2005). Researching violence against women: A practical guide for researchers and activists. Geneva: World Health Organization.
⁵ World Health Organization. (2013). Global and regional estimates of violence against women: prevalence and health effects of intimate partner violence and non-partner sexual violence. Consequences. https://iris.who.int/bitstream/handle/10665/77431/WHO_RHR_12.43_eng.pdf
⁶ UNODC. (2021). Sexual violence in conflict: Current trends and implications. Vienna: United Nations. Retrieved from UNODC
⁷ UNFPA. (2019). Maternal mortality in humanitarian settings. New York: UNFPA. Retrieved from UNFPA
⁸ UNFPA. (2020). Maternal mortality in emergencies: The hidden crisis. Retrieved from UNFPA
⁹ Médecins Sans Frontières. (2018). Health workers in conflict zones: Risks and realities. Retrieved from MSF
¹⁰ World Health Organization. (2021). Violence against health workers. Geneva: WHO.

Rajat Khosla is Executive Director of the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health (PMNCH), the global alliance for women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health and well-being, hosted by the World Health Organization, based in Geneva.

Email: khoslar@who.int

IPS UN Bureau

Source

Brazil Vows to Make COP30 a Catalyst for Climate Action and Biodiversity Celebration

Posted on November 21, 2024 by admin

Biodiversity, Climate Action, Climate Change, Climate Change Finance, Climate Change Justice, Conferences, COP29, Development & Aid, Editors’ Choice, Energy, Environment, Featured, Global, Headlines, Human Rights, Sustainability, Sustainable Development Goals, TerraViva United Nations

Moisés Savian, Brazil’s Secretary of Land Governance, Territorial and Socio Environmental Development at COP29. He looks forward to COP30 which will be held in his country. Credit: Umar Manzoor Shah/IPS

BAKU, Nov 21 2024 (IPS) – As Brazil gears up to host COP30 in Belém next year, Moisés Savian, the country’s Secretary of Land Governance, Territorial and Socio Environmental Development, outlined the event’s significance in showcasing Brazil’s environmental policies and fostering global collaboration.

In an interview with IPS, Savian highlighted Brazil’s progress under President Lula’s administration and outlined the country’s aspirations for the upcoming climate conference.

The 2025 UN Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP30) is scheduled for November 2025 in Belém, Brazil. This event will feature the 30th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP30), the 20th Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP20), and the seventh Meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement (CMA7). Additionally, it will include the 63rd sessions of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA63) and the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI63).

A Moment to Shine

“The next COP is a significant opportunity for Brazil. Our nation is blessed with immense natural resources, diverse ecosystems, and cultural richness. Hosting this event allows us to highlight our environmental policies and contribute meaningfully to the global dialogue on climate action.”

Savian said that past COPs held in nations like Dubai and Azerbaijan were remarkable in their own right but Brazil’s edition will be distinct.

“Brazil’s unique societal fabric, comprising contributions from people across the globe, coupled with its vast ecological diversity—from the Amazon to the Cerrado—will add an unparalleled dynamism to COP30,” he said.

Achievements in Environmental Protection

Savian says that under President Lula’s administration, Brazil has made significant strides in reducing deforestation and transitioning toward sustainable agriculture. “In the past year alone, we have reduced deforestation by 30 percent in the Amazon and 25 percent in the Cerrado. These achievements reflect our commitment to protecting our vital biomes.”

In the agricultural sector, Brazil is heavily investing in an ecological transition to reduce emissions.

In 2023, Brazil revised its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) and enhanced its climate ambitions, committing to a 53 percent reduction in emissions by 2030. The country aims to position itself as the first G20 nation to achieve net-zero emissions while fostering job creation and economic prosperity. Brazil is also finalizing its 2035 emissions reduction targets, focusing on combating deforestation, promoting sustainable agriculture, decarbonizing industries, implementing nature-based solutions, expanding renewable energy sources, advancing sustainable transportation, and developing the bioeconomy. However, despite these initiatives, Brazil’s climate plans have received only a fraction of the necessary funding to meet its ambitious goals.

According to Savian, focusing on traditional and indigenous populations, ensuring their rights and territories are preserved is extremely important. “We are formulating a specific national plan for family farming, which constitutes the majority of our rural population. These communities are often the most affected by climate extremes, so targeted public policies are essential.”

Global Responsibility and Support

Savian also addressed the role of developed nations in supporting climate adaptation and mitigation in countries like Brazil. He outlined four key areas where global cooperation is essential.

Financing Climate Action- Developed countries must deliver on their promises to fund climate initiatives. Technological Support- Advanced technologies from these nations can aid in decarbonizing economies like Brazil’s. Sustainable Consumption- A focus on low-carbon products and sustainable supply chains is crucial. And Knowledge Exchange-Collaboration in research and capacity-building is vital for global progress.

“Less than 1 percent of global climate financing currently reaches family farmers and traditional communities. This needs to change. While funding is critical, so too are clear criteria for its allocation and ensuring it reaches those who need it most.”

Challenges and Priorities for COP29

Commenting on COP29, Savian expressed concerns about slow progress in implementing commitments. He stressed the need for tangible outcomes in three key areas Climate Financing—establishing actionable frameworks and ensuring funds reach grassroots communities; finalizing regulations to operationalize carbon trading and monitoring mechanisms, including setting up indicators to track progress and results.

“Without a focus on family farming and food system transformation, there can be no just transition,” he said.

Brazil’s Vision for COP30

Savian expressed confidence in Brazil’s readiness to host COP30, acknowledging the logistical challenges posed by Belém, a city of 1.5 million people.

“Despite these hurdles, we are committed to showcasing Amazon to the world. This will be a chance for global leaders and citizens to engage with the heart of Brazil’s environmental efforts.”

He also highlighted Brazil’s track record of successfully hosting major international events under President Lula’s leadership. “We aim to make COP30 a transformative experience that advances climate goals and deepens global appreciation for Brazil’s biodiversity and environmental stewardship,” Savian said.

It’s a Deal—Wealthy Nations Pledge Not to Build New Unabated Coal-Power Plants

Posted on November 21, 2024 by admin

Climate Change, Climate Change Finance, Climate Change Justice, Conferences, COP29, Development & Aid, Editors’ Choice, Energy, Featured, Headlines, Poverty & SDGs, TerraViva United Nations

Activists speak out against fossil fuels amid a new pledge from wealthy nations and EU against new unabated coal power plants. Credit: Joyce Chimbi

BAKU, Nov 21 2024 (IPS) – Of all fossil fuels, coal has had the most serious and long-term effects on global warming. When burnt, coal releases more carbon dioxide than oil and gas, producing an estimated 39 percent of the global carbon dioxide emissions. Yet, coal is still the number one energy source, providing nearly 40 percent of the world’s electricity.

A COP29 deal struck on Wednesday November 21 now holds the promise to change the fossil fuel landscape and climate change trajectory, placing the world back on track to net zero. Twenty-five countries and the EU have now pledged not to build any new unabated coal-power plants in their next round of national climate plans in bid to scale up ambitions in the next phase of climate action.

Fossil fuels are highly polluting. The ‘no new unabated coal power’ COP29 initiative was signed by EU climate envoy Wopke Hoekstra to pledge that when the 25 nations submit their national climate plans by February 2025 along with all other nations party to the Paris Agreement, theirs will reflect no new unabated coal in their respective energy systems to accelerate phasing out of fossil fuels.

In reference to fossil fuels, ‘unabated’ means taking no measures to reduce the carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases released from the burning of coal, oil, and natural gas. Abated refers to attempts to decrease release of polluting substances to an acceptable level.

“I’m often asked what gives me confidence that we can get this job done.  The answer is lots of things.  Quiet acts of solidarity, from people who get knocked down, but who refuse to stay down.  But there are also big things – the macro trends that aren’t up for debate.    And there’s none bigger than the global clean energy boom – set to hit two trillion dollars this year alone.  And it’s just getting started,” Simon Stiell, the executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, stressed.

“Money talks, and as we enter the second quarter of this century, it is saying loud and clear: there is no stopping the clean energy juggernaut, and the vast benefits it brings: stronger growth, more jobs, less pollution and inflation, cheaper and cleaner energy. The list of benefits goes on.”

The coalition of nations backing the diplomatic campaign to encourage all countries to end new coal power is constituted of mostly wealthy nations such as Germany, France, Canada, the United Kingdom and notably Australia – a major coal producer. This is the latest pledge towards curbing use of the fuel and phasing out fossil fuels in line with the COP28 deal.

The pledge is incredibly critical for despite coal being extremely dangerous to the global climate goals, a coal boom is unfolding. Data in the Global Coal Plant Tracker show that “69.5 GW of coal power capacity was commissioned while 21.1 GW was retired in 2023, resulting in a net annual increase of 48.4 GW for the year and a global total capacity of 2,130 GW. This is the highest net increase in operating coal capacity since 2016.”

COP29 has been centered around a new deal for climate financing to support the third Nationally Determined Contributions in the developing world, but delegates have not lost sight of the COP28 landmark deal when nearly 200 nations—for the first time—called on all nations to transition away from fossil fuels.

Activists want a net-zero world and they want it now, calling for ambitious climate actions to save the planet. Credit: Joyce Chimbi/IPS

Teresa Anderson, the Global Lead on Climate Justice at ActionAid International, told IPS, “Just transitions and climate finance have to go hand in hand. Last year’s agreement to transition away from fossils was an important step. But without finance to make the just transition a reality, developing countries are in a bind.”

Stressing that climate-hit countries want to “leapfrog the fossil fuel era and scale up renewables, but can’t do so when they are being pushed deeper into debt by the climate crisis. To finally unlock the climate action the planet needs, COP29 needs to agree on an ambitious finance goal worth trillions of dollars in grants each year. Ensuring a just transition in energy is about much more than encouraging corporate investment and can’t just be left up to the private sector.

“When shifting away from fossil fuels, governments have a responsibility to actively involve communities in planning, training, social protection and ensuring energy access and secure livelihoods. Public services can join the dots, and have a key role in the just transition. The new climate finance goal has to provide trillions of dollars in grants, not loans or corporate investment targets,” Anderson observed.

Hailed as a major progressive step in the journey towards phasing out fossil fuels, the initiative is nonetheless not the silver bullet to end coal. The new commitment does not compel nations to stop mining or exporting coal. Notably, the world’s greatest coal-power generators, such as the United Nations and India, are not part of the initiative. Nonetheless, despite coal power growing in the past years despite the COP28 deal on fossil fuels, Hoekstra expressed optimism that this call to action will set the ball rolling towards a much-needed fossil fuel phasing out.

IPS UN Bureau Report

Paul Zeleza’s reinvention of Ali Mazrui

Posted on November 21, 2024 by emandowa

“The Kenyan political thinker who was unafraid to confront contentious issues.” “The African political scientist who sparked controversy.” This was how The Guardian and The Times of London respectively described Ali Mazrui shortly after his death in October 2014. That Mazrui thrived on controversy is widely known.

The image of Mazrui portrayed by Malawian scholar Paul Zeleza in his intervention at the Ali Mazrui 10th anniversary virtual webinar last month is, however, quite different. Just as Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King Jr. have often been shorn of their radicalism in much of contemporary analyses, Zeleza’s Mazrui seems to be ideologically compatible with an eclectic motley crew of diverse scholars, revealing a cardboard cutout of the Kenyan scholar.

Precisely because Zeleza is a widely respected academic and administrator whose work could have a great impact, particularly on younger scholars, we wish to challenge the portrayal of the Kenyan academic in his 18-page essay “The Enduring Legacy of Ali Mazrui: Commemorating an Intellectual Griot.”

Zeleza purports to discuss comparatively Mazrui’s scholarship and that of 28 other thinkers: his predecessors, contemporaries, and successors. The task could not be nobler, but Zeleza unfortunately largely fails to achieve his stated goals of placing the Kenyan intellectual within the context of his ancestral and contemporary influences.

We might classify Zeleza’s sins into two parts: sins of commission and sins of omission. Sins of commission are largely misinterpretations or distortions of what Mazrui has written, while sins of omission are fundamental facts that are overlooked.

Sins of commission
Zeleza correctly notes that: “Mazrui’s most well-known concept of the Triple Heritage (was) articulated in his book and television series The Africans: A Triple Heritage (1986).” Mazrui, however, never critiqued the imposition of Western liberalism on African societies resulting in a scepticism of Western-style democracy, as Zeleza claims in seeking to align the Kenyan’s views to those of Nigerian scholar Claude Ake.

Mazrui’s position was more nuanced. While he was strongly anti-colonialist, he was only mildly anti-capitalist. He genuinely believed that capitalism was the mother of both imperialism (of which he disapproved) and liberal democracy (which he admired in theory, but felt was hypocritically practiced by Western nations particularly in their support of foreign autocrats and maltreatment of black minorities at home).

Zeleza suggests that Mazrui’s advocacy of Pan-Africanism was consistent with that of individuals like America’s W.E.B. Du Bois and Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah. Zeleza could have further clarified the different shades of meaning in which the term is understood, as well as how Mazrui’s own thinking of the concept evolved, by drawing on the Kenyan’s rich typology of Pan-Africanism elaborated in detail in his seminal 1977 book, Africa’s International Relations: The Diplomacy of Dependency and Change.

Zeleza links Nkrumah’s ideas on Pan-Africanism and neo-colonialism to Mazrui’s, but fails to interrogate the Kenyan scholar’s most contentious debate which was centred around Nkrumah. Mazrui’s most influential article “Nkrumah: The Leninist Czar?” published in 1966 shortly after Nkrumah’s fall from power, depicted the Ghanaian leader as a “Leninist Czar”: a royalist revolutionary who had helped pioneer one-party rule in Africa and ruled in a monarchical fashion that lost the organisational effectiveness of a Leninist party structure. Mazrui was widely vilified by leftists and Pan-Africanists for what many felt, at the time, was a treacherous pro-imperialist critique of an African liberation icon.

Zeleza also highlights Wole Soyinka sharing Mazrui’s beliefs on the importance of African intellectual and cultural autonomy, without noting the fundamental differences between the two scholars evident in their ferocious debate of 1991/1992 in which Soyinka accused Mazrui of an Islamophilic slant in his 1986 nine-part documentary The Africans, berating the Kenyan scholar for underplaying the damage of the Arab slave trade on Africa, and for trivialising and misrepresenting African indigenous cultures.

Among Mazrui’s intellectual successors named by Zeleza are such eccentric choices as Ghana’s George Ayitteh, African-American Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Cameroon’s Achille Mbembe. Ayitteh is a conservative scholar who disproportionately focuses attention on African tyrants and domestic deficiencies and thus blames Africa for its own failures. Mazrui, in stark contrast, consistently blamed historical and contemporary external forces for most of Africa’s problems, without ignoring domestic autocracy.

In 2000, Mazrui scathingly critiqued Gates’s six-part documentary Wonders of the African World for: portraying ancient Egyptians as racist; ignoring Swahili experts; overplaying Muslim atrocities in Zanzibar; and under-playing Jewish commercial involvement in the Transatlantic slave trade. Cameroon’s Achille Mbembe was described by Malawian scholar, Thandika Mkandawire, as representing “an obscurantist anti-‘victimology’ discourse”, and has more recently acted as an academic ambassador for French president Emmanuel Macron’s neo-colonial efforts in Africa: a far cry from Mazrui’s dyed-in-the-wool Pan-Africanism.

Sins of omission
In terms of Mazrui’s contemporary influences, Zeleza lists writers like Nigeria’s Chinua Achebe, Kenya’s Ngugi wa Thiong’o, and Ghana’s Ayi Kwei Armah, but fails to note Nigeria’s greatest poet, Christopher Okigbo, on whom Mazrui wrote his only novel: The Trial of Christoher Okigbo, in 1971.

Mazrui’s focus on literature also tended to be a global and not just a continental one that sought to use authors like Shakespeare, Milton, and Kipling to illuminate the African condition.

Among Mazrui’s closest intellectual collaborators within his peers were Nigeria’s Ade Ajayi and Jamaica’s Dudley Thompson with whom he campaigned relentlessly on the issue of reparations to Global Africa for the European-led Transatlantic slave trade and colonialism. All three Pan-African intellectuals also served on the Organisation of African Unity’s Group of Eminent Persons established in 1992.

Zeleza mentions none of this. Furthermore, some of the political figures he identifies like Amilcar Cabral were not as central to Mazrui’s scholarship as Tanzania’s Julius Nyerere, Uganda’s Milton Obote and Idi Amin, Egypt’s Gamal Abdel Nasser, Libya’s Muammar Qaddafi, and later, South Africa’s Nelson Mandela and America’s Barack Obama, none of whom are mentioned. Zeleza has thus omitted individuals who would have to form an integral part of any serious discussion of Mazrui’s scholarship. Zeleza’s list appears arbitrary, and even he himself concedes that it is based on “impressionistic selectivity” (apparently because it is no easy task to capture in a short essay the essence of Mazrui’s intellectual output of 58 books and 679 academic articles). Many of these scholars and statesmen, we think, are perhaps those that Zeleza himself admires. They are not the ones that were major influences on, and disciples of, Mazrui.

Zeleza then outlines 10 of Mazrui’s most important ideas, but fails to mention perhaps his most influential: Pax Africana. This was a concept that the Kenyan told us he was most proud to have coined. The idea is developed in Mazrui’s very first 1967 book Towards A Pax Africana: A Study of Ideology and Ambition in which he argued for Africa to craft its own self-pacification mechanisms in order to avoid pernicious interventions by external actors. This study remains a foundational text of Africa’s International Relations and Conflict Resolution, but somehow does not make it into Zeleza’s top ten.

Some of the comprehensive work in the rich treasure of Mazruiana that would also have been helpful for Zeleza to have mentioned is Mazrui’s 2014 African Thought in Comparative Perspective, and in reference to his discussion on Mazrui’s contributions to feminist thought, the late Kenyan scholar’s 2014 The Politics of Gender and the Culture of Sexuality.

But what should not be overlooked is who else is missing from Zeleza’s account: the Ali Mazrui we know who loved to argue, generate controversy, and stimulate ideas. Where is the Mazrui who made a name for himself by challenging conventional wisdom?

Where is the Mazrui who once said “my life itself is one long debate”? The Mazrui we knew was also different from Zeleza’s Mazrui in another sense. The Kenyan intellectual was a storyteller, the master of paradox, the master comparativist, the master of metaphor, the master verbal gymnast, a master jargon-buster, a master inventor of words, and a master classifier. This “Multiple Mazrui” is mostly missing from Zeleza’s interesting essay.

In short, Zeleza’s interpretation of the “enduring legacy” of Mazrui vastly overplays the connections between Mazrui’s scholarship and that of his predecessors, contemporaries, and successors. The Kenyan had noted in 1991: “My own worldview does not fit into any particular …school. That is why I am attacked from (all directions.)”

In the Hereafter which he dubbed “After Africa”, Mazrui himself would be unlikely to recognise Zeleza’s reinvention and caricature of Africa’s most eloquent griot and the Black Atlantic’s Master Essayist.

Professor Adebajo is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Pretoria’s Centre for the Advancement of Scholarship; and Dr Adem is a Research Fellow at JICA Ogata Research Institute for Peace and Development in Tokyo, Japan. Dr Adem is also Ali Mazrui’s intellectual biographer.

Source

COP29 Focus On Climate Migration as Hotter Planet Pushes Millions Out of Homes

Posted on November 20, 2024 by admin

Civil Society, Climate Change Finance, Climate Change Justice, COP29, Development & Aid, Editors’ Choice, Featured, Global, Headlines, Human Rights, Humanitarian Emergencies, Labour, Migration & Refugees, Sustainable Development Goals, TerraViva United Nations

COP29

Ugochi Daniels, the Deputy Director General for Operations at the International Organization for Migration (IOM), speaks to IPS Senior Journalist Joyce Chimbi. Credit: IOM

BAKU, Nov 20 2024 (IPS) – Migration is growing as the planet gets even hotter. Climate change is fuelling a migration crisis and millions of people in vulnerable nations are continually being uprooted from their homes. The climate and migration nexus are undeniable and the global community has turned to the Baku climate talks for urgent and sustainable solutions.

Ugochi Daniels, the Deputy Director General for Operations at the International Organization for Migration (IOM) spoke to IPS about displacement of people due to the impact of climate change and its different dimensions, such as disaster displacement, labor mobility, as well as planned relocation. She also talked about the magnitude of this pressing problem, as nearly 26 million people were displaced due to the impact of climate change in the last year alone.

“This impact is destroying people’s livelihoods. The farms they used to farm are no longer viable and the land can no longer sustain their livestock. So, people then move, looking for job opportunities elsewhere. Then there is planned relocation, which IOM supports governments to do. When governments know certain communities can no longer adapt as the impact of climate is so great that they are going to have to move, rather than waiting for the climate impact to happen to move and probably not in as organized a way as possible, governments plan for it. That is what we refer to as planned relocation,” she explains.

Ugochi Daniels, the Deputy Director General for Operations at the International Organization for Migration at COP29. Credit: Joyce Chimbi/IPS

Stressing that climate migration is on track to be an even bigger global crises, with World Bank estimates showing that “216 million people will be displaced due to the impact of climate by 2050 and that they will be displaced within their countries. Nearly a billion people are living in highly climate-vulnerable areas. Trends are showing that when people are displaced, it is often due to a mix of many factors. So, if a community is hit by an extreme weather event, and at the same time the necessary investments were not made, there is no way for the community to absorb the shock of the extreme weather event.”

Daniels notes that with progressive COPs, each year is also becoming the hottest in recorded history and there are more disasters such as heat waves, droughts, floods and hurricanes. Saying that these issues are increasingly becoming a lived reality for even more people. Further referencing the recent flooding in Spain, in addition to all the disasters unfolding in the developing countries. In turn, this is increasing awareness of the impact of climate change on people.

“Of the estimated 216 million people moving by 2050, nearly half of them are in Africa—86 million in sub-Saharan Africa and 19 million in North Africa. Africa is highly vulnerable amid all the other development issues that the continent is dealing with. And we know that, looking at Africa alone, water stress will affect 700 million people by 2030. The reality is that we are experiencing the impact of climate. We had unprecedented flooding in Nigeria this year and it is not just Nigeria—there is Chad and the Central African Republic and the Eastern Horn of Africa has faced similar events in recent times, and we have the El Niño and La Niña in Southern Africa,” she explains.

Daniels says they are encouraged and satisfied because human mobility is integrated into submissions for the Global Goal on Adaptation and that they are unified around this issue. There is also the Kampala Declaration on Migration, Environment and Climate Change, which has already been signed by over 40 countries in Africa and the regional groups in the Pacific Island States and the islands have all prioritized the issue as it is their lived reality.

“As IOM, our presence at COP is in supporting member states in raising visibility and awareness on the link between climate change and migration and displacement. Having said that, within the negotiations, and we are still waiting to see what comes out, we hope that this continues. We count on member states in making sure that the impact on vulnerable communities is recognized, that vulnerable communities are prioritized for climate financing, and that migration is factored in as a positive coping strategy for adaptation,” Daniels observes.

She emphasises that “when we talk about displacement, we also have to recognize that as things stand, migrants, through formal and informal means, remit a trillion dollars a year. And a lot of that is going to developing and middle-income countries. And when I met with the diaspora at COP last year, they said to me, ‘We are financing loss and damage now.’ We have seen that remittances have stayed resilient since COVID-19 and continue to go up. So here at COP, it is not just recognition of climate change and human mobility, which has been in the covered decision at least for the last three COPs. But it is also about integrating this into the different instruments and mechanisms, whether it is financing or in the indicators.”

Further speaking to the issue of the operationalization of the Loss and Damage Fund. Saying that whereas there are 64 funds globally specific on climate, the Loss and Damage Fund is the only one that has a window specific for vulnerable communities. As member states continue their negotiations, IOM is looking forward to solutions that, for instance, improve access to climate finance, ensuring that in the new financing path, the loss and damage fund supports vulnerable communities to adapt or migrate safely. Emphasising the need for regional cooperation to manage climate-related migration and how climate migration features in the national adaptation plans.

“Importantly, vulnerable communities. need to be part of the solutions. They need to be at the table where these decisions are being made. IOM is one of the—it is actually the only UN organization—that is one of the representative agencies supporting the Loss and Damage Fund and implementation of the fund. Our top priority is the engagement and participation of those most affected so that they have a voice at the table. Well-managed migration is a very effective adaptation strategy. Human civilization has been shaped by migration and this will continue. Climate and other factors will continue to trigger movement,” Daniels says.

“We have the tools. We know what the solutions are. There is the global compact on migration, which is how countries have agreed they will cooperate for better migration management and better migration governance. So, because we know migration has shaped our history and that it will shape our future, we have no excuse for not ensuring that it is safe, dignified, and regular. Whatever we do not do, the traffickers and smugglers will do.”

Stressing that in the process, there will be more people dying, “We will have increased vulnerabilities, and the business model and the industry of trafficking will just continue to grow. So, the urgency for climate action is here and now and there is really no excuse for why we are not collectively working on this. The evidence is there. The solutions are there. The agreements are there too. So, we are here at COP to do our best to ensure it happens.”

IPS UN Bureau Report

Source

Malawi Diaspora

Blog

Stand Up, Speak Out: A Global Call to Men on the 25th Anniversary of International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women

Breaking Cycle of Violence to Save Mothers & Children: Why Ending Gender-Based Violence is Essential for Global Health

Brazil Vows to Make COP30 a Catalyst for Climate Action and Biodiversity Celebration

It’s a Deal—Wealthy Nations Pledge Not to Build New Unabated Coal-Power Plants

Paul Zeleza’s reinvention of Ali Mazrui

COP29 Focus On Climate Migration as Hotter Planet Pushes Millions Out of Homes