Colombia’s Historic Child Marriage Ban

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Opinion

Credit: Fundación Plan/Instagram

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay, Jan 8 2025 (IPS) – Colombia has just marked a historic milestone in the global campaign against child marriage, with the Senate passing one of Latin America and the Caribbean’s most comprehensive bans on child marriage and early unions. In a country where one in five girls under 18 and one in 10 under 14 are married or live in marriage-like conditions, the new law raises the minimum age to 18 with no exceptions, eliminating a 137-year-old Civil Code provision that allowed children over 14 to marry with parental consent. This achievement aligns with goal 5 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which has a target of eliminating harmful practices like child marriage by 2030. The new law now awaits the signature of President Gustavo Petro to come into effect.

The breakthrough

Child marriage disproportionately affects Colombia’s most vulnerable communities, with rates of between 40 and 65 per cent among rural, Indigenous and Afro-Colombian populations. In some communities, girls as young as 10 are married off. These early unions expose girls to unequal power relations, deny them education, limit their bodily and economic autonomy and lead to higher rates of gender-based violence and health issues linked to early pregnancy.

The passage of the #SonNiñasNoEsposas (‘They are girls, not wives’) bill reflected the power of persistent civil society advocacy. After several failed attempts since 2007, the bill, authored by two congresswomen, passed with unanimous support. This success was driven by a coalition of Colombian civil society organisations as part of the Girls Not Brides global network, including the Foundation for Gender and Family Development, Fundación Plan and Profamilia, working alongside international partners such as Equality Now and Plan International, with Girls Not Brides directly supporting legislative advocacy and media campaigns.

Beyond raising the marriage age, the new law establishes the National Comprehensive Programme for Life Projects for Children and Adolescents. This preventive initiative targets the structural causes of early unions – poverty and lack of education – particularly in remote rural areas. The programme includes the participation of Indigenous communities through their own governance structures, recognising the importance of cultural sensitivity in implementation.

The global landscape

Colombia is by no means alone in having a child marriage problem. Around the world, some 12 million girls are married each year, two million before the age of 15. While child marriage can affect boys as well, girls are six times more likely to be married as children than boys.

According to the Child Marriage Monitoring Mechanism, a collaborative initiative to generate evidence to support efforts to end child marriage, one in five young women worldwide are married before their 18th birthday, with rates highest in sub-Saharan Africa.

To tackle this problem, The Elders, a group of senior public figures, launched the global Girls Not Brides partnership in 2011. With over 1,400 member organisations in more than 100 countries, Girls Not Brides works to prevent under-age marriage, recognising it as both a human rights violation and an obstacle to development. It identifies four main drivers of child marriage: poverty, limited educational and economic opportunities, gender inequality and insecurity in conflict or disaster situations. It tackles the problem with awareness-raising campaigns, national and international policy advocacy and community engagement to challenge social norms that perpetuate child marriage.

Since then, efforts have multiplied. In 2016, the United Nations Population Fund and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) launched the Global Programme to End Child Marriage. Now in its third phase, set to run until 2030, the programme operates in 12 high-prevalence countries in Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. Working directly with governments, it has reached millions of adolescent girls, focusing on education, healthcare and economic opportunities.

Regional-level initiatives include the South Asian Initiative to End Violence Against Children, which works in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and the African Union’s Campaign to End Child Marriage in Africa, launched in 2014 in 10 high-prevalence countries and later expanded to 30.

Many more initiatives work at national and local levels. They combine multiple responses, including working with religious and community leaders to change social norms, supporting girls’ education and economic empowerment, engaging with men and boys on gender equality, advocating for stronger laws and their enforcement, providing support services to girls at risk of child marriage, using media and technology to raise awareness and change attitudes and building networks of young advocates and change-makers.

Progress and challenges

These efforts have contributed to a global decline in child marriage rates. According to UNICEF, the proportion of young women married as children has decreased from 25 per cent to 21 per cent over the past decade, meaning that 25 million child marriages have been prevented. However, the global number of child brides is still estimated at 650 million, including girls under 18 who have already married and adult women who married as children.

The average annual rate of reduction has been 0.7 per cent over the past 25 years and 1.9 per cent over the past decade, showing the impact of recent initiatives. But at this rate, the SDG target of eliminating the practice by 2030 won’t be achieved.

Setbacks have been caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, conflict and economic instability. Wherever insecurity rises, so does child marriage, as parents see early marriage of daughters as a financial and security solution. During Syria’s conflict, for example, the rate of child marriages shot up among refugees in countries such as Jordan and Lebanon.

Looking ahead

Colombia’s new law marks significant progress, but it’s just the beginning, as evidenced by the fact that many of the early marriages that take place in Colombia would have been illegal under the old law.

The real work of implementation begins now. Colombia’s efforts over the next few years will be crucial in demonstrating how legislative change can translate into real protection for vulnerable girls. For Latin America and the Caribbean, it should open up opportunities for strengthened cross-border cooperation and similar legislative reforms.

Colombia’s comprehensive approach could serve as a model for change in a region where many countries still have legal exceptions that allow child marriage under some circumstances, while others have strong laws that aren’t adequately implemented.

While the declining trend in global child marriage rates offers hope, the current pace of change remains far too slow. Colombia’s example shows that significant progress is possible through sustained, multi-stakeholder commitment and comprehensive approaches that change laws but also address underlying social dynamics. The international community must build on this momentum. This means scaling up successful initiatives, increasing funding for civil society organisations and maintaining political pressure.

Inés M. Pousadela is CIVICUS Senior Research Specialist, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report.

For interviews or more information, please contact research@civicus.org.

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Erratic Sales and Government Apathy Hurt Telangana Weavers

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Arts

Siddipet cotton fabric being woven. Credit: Rina Mukherji/IPS

Siddipet cotton fabric being woven. Credit: Rina Mukherji/IPS

SIDDIPET, POCHAMPALLY & KOYALAGUDDEM, India, Jan 8 2025 (IPS) – The southern Indian state of Telangana has always been home to exquisite cotton and silk weaves. But in recent years, lack of market access, expensive inputs, and government apathy have taken their toll on the weaving community. As a result, the younger generation is refraining from pursuing this traditional occupation and opting for more lucrative pursuits.

This is evident when one visits the weaving towns of the state. Take Siddipet, which is about 100 km from the metropolitan city of Hyderabad. Siddipet has always been known for its exquisite cotton saris and stoles. But today, only about a hundred wizened individuals, spread over seven handloom cooperatives, still weave.

Srivikailasam is a renowned middle-aged weaver who was honoured by the Chief Minister with the Konda Laxman Bapuji Award. His saris, dupattas and stoles are prized items in the export market. Yet none of his children—a son and two daughters—want to inherit his craft.

Another weaver, known as Ilaiyah, has been weaving for the past 60 years, since he turned 15. Yet his children have turned their backs to weaving.

Yadagiri has also been weaving for the past 60 years, like his fellow weavers. But neither his son nor daughter are interested in learning to weave.

Master weaver Mallikarjun Siddi, who also owns a marketing outlet in Siddipet, followed his father, renowned weaver Buchaiah Siddi, into the profession. But his children have opted out of this traditional occupation.

However, Siddi defends the youngsters.

“Why would youngsters want to adopt a profession that pays so little? A weaver earns Rs 1000 (USD 11.82) a day here, and it takes three full days to weave a sari. A job in the IT hub of HiTech City in Hyderabad fetches a lot more.”

Worse, the Telangana government does not subsidize electricity; this has resulted in the Siddipet weavers continuing to use handlooms instead of switching to powerlooms, making their work even more tedious and hard. Electricity is Rs 10 (USD 0.12) a unit. If subsidized, the cost comes down to Rs 1 (US$ 0.012) per unit. Power loom machinery is expensive, ranging from Rs 1.5 lakh to 6 lakh (USD 1773.5 to USD 7101). With electricity subsidy, a weaver can bear the burden. Otherwise, it is not possible. Hence, even today, you see only handlooms here,” explains Siddi.

Master weaver Laxman Tadaka prepares his materials. Credit: Rina Mukherji/IPS

Master weaver Laxman Tadaka prepares his materials. Credit: Rina Mukherji/IPS

Marketing the product is also tough. The government buys the product at higher rates but does so lackadaisically. “Their representatives come only once a year, and although the payment is higher, it is not immediate. Private parties come regularly, and often, pay immediately,” say weavers.

The story is hardly any different in Pochampally, world-renowned for its ikat silk weaves. Ikat here can be either single ikat or double ikat, with the second being even more expensive. The yarn has to be initially soaked and then dyed before weaving. Since ikat weaves require every thread of the yarn to be dyed separately, a power loom can never be used. Thus, ikat weaves, whether cotton or silk, must be woven on a handloom, as master weaver Laxman Tadaka points out. The silk yarn comes from Bengaluru and is priced at Rs 4500 (USD 53.20) per kilogram. A weaver needs an average of 6 kg of yarn to weave seven saris a month. To bear the cost of inputs and the effort, a weaver must make enough sales. “The 15 percent subsidy extended by the government can hardly suffice,” Tadaka points out.

Rudra Anjanelu, manager of the Pochampally Handloom Weavers Cooperative Society, says they are dependent on subsidies.

“Our silk saris are expensive. But we cannot afford to give discounts unless the government supports us. A major problem is the 5 percent Goods and Services Tax (GST) that has now been imposed by the central government. It makes saris and other silk products even more expensive.”

In the past, the state government used to render marketing support through its outlets, offering the products to customers at discounted prices, especially during the festive season, while subsidizing weavers. This is not forthcoming anymore, making it tough for weavers.

Most weavers have to rely on the Telangana State Handloom Weavers Cooperative Society Limited (TSCO), their apex cooperative, to sell their product.

“We had suggested a method to jack up our sales. The Telangana government has a Kalyanalakshmi scheme, wherein parents of girls are given Rs 1 lakh (USD 1182.32) for their daughter’s wedding. Along with the money, the government could easily provide a sari worth Rs 10,000 (USD 118.23) for the bride. This will help us weavers too, while helping the parents with the bridal trousseau,” Anjanelu says.

Besides, most weavers are not happy with the quality of the subsidized yarn provided by the government through the National Handloom Development Corporation.

Muralikrishnan, a weaver from Koyalaguddem, a village renowned for its cotton ikat, laments, “The yarn provided by the government is of inferior quality and this, in turn, can affect the quality of our end product. It is unlike what we get from private traders.”

Moreover, as Anjanelu points out, “Yarn has to be paid for. When sales are down, how can weavers buy any yarn?”

A big challenge for handloom weavers remains the flooding of markets by printed duplicates, which sell at a fraction of the price of handloom fabric.

On hindsight, though, it is not as if nothing was done for weavers by the Telangana government. However, if weavers have not experienced long-term benefits, could this be attributed to the outcome of the ballot?

The previous Chandrashekhar Reddy (state) government, for instance, introduced a 36-month savings-cum-insurance scheme for weavers termed the Thrift Scheme, wherein the government contributed an amount matching the investment made by an individual.

In Pochampally, land was also sanctioned for a handloom institute, and a handloom park was set up on the outskirts of the town. However, with a new Chief Minister getting elected, the plans came to naught. The Handloom Park too suffered from bad planning. Weavers who had set up shop at the park now have to market their products from their homes.

It is ironical that the weavers of Pochampally, Koyalaguddem and Siddipet find it tough to sell their exquisite weaves, despite being located in the vicinity of metropolitan Hyderabad, which boasts of an upwardly mobile population with high disposable income.

Notwithstanding the problems faced, there are a few who have found a solution. Dudyala Shankar and Muralikrishnan of Koyalaguddem have diversified their range of products to include ikat fabric and bedsheets, alongside traditional saris, dupattas, and stoles. Muralikrishnan has been accessing markets all over India through the internet, from his dusty little village.

“It is the only way out,” he tells me.

Indeed, the World Wide Web can certainly fill in where humans cannot. Product diversification and market access translating into sales may ultimately wean back the younger generation to keep the weaving tradition alive in Telangana and prevent it from dying out.

IPS UN Bureau Report

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Carter’s Virtue Trumps Mendacity

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Opinion

Credit: White House

ATLANTA, Georgia, Jan 3 2025 (IPS) – The fireplace in the State Dining Room of the White House that says, “May none but honest and wise men ever rule under this roof.” President John Adams wrote that in a letter to his wife Abigail in 1800.

Jimmy Carter was by all accounts a wise, just, and decent man—a man of deep religious faith, who was also circumspect—some may say old fashioned—about his rhetoric.

He was refreshingly candid in using the country-boy phrase “I’ll whip his ass!” against Democratic primary opponent Sen. Edward Kennedy. Most reporters in that era considered it too harsh or nearly obscene, so instead, they wrote, “I’ll whip his donkey!”

Carter was honest. When asked by a reporter amid stories of the Kennedy brothers’ sexual indulgences, if he had ever had lust in his heart, he responded straightforwardly, “Yes.” That’s something no other politician would ever do. But it was easy for Carter to admit because he followed the Christian and Calvinist doctrine that “We are all sinners.”

Historians view his administration as a watershed in the civil rights struggle, especially in the South. As president he negotiated the first ever peace agreement between Israel and the Arabs. In his post-presidential years, he made a worldwide impact as a humanitarian.

Civic virtue must be faithful to the original concept of American nationhood—favoring citizens ahead of government. Liberty and justice are the watchwords of democracy, not blind obedience to politicians.

George Washington said, “There exists an indissoluble union between virtue and happiness.” Lincoln advised “Malice toward none…charity for all…firmness in the right.” Carter followed these sentiments at his inauguration with a pledge from the Biblical Prophet Micah: “Do justly, love mercy, walk humbly.”

There are two ways of recognizing people as honest and wise—by their words and by their deeds. Carter told the truth straight out—even if it was inconvenient or might hurt him. His policies were based on simple fairness, especially in his efforts to overcome the endemic racism of the Old South.

By contrast, President-elect Trump is famous for the lies and invective-filled slander constantly dripping from his lips: “When somebody hurts you, just go after them as viciously and as violently as you can…. When somebody screws you, screw them back in spades.” Trump’s brand, he said, means, “Power is the only true value.”

We teach our kids differently. “Be nice,” we always say. Sesame Street TV and First Grade teachers call out children for “Courtesy Lacking.” Why can’t we demand as much from our leaders?

Trump is a symptom of the ills of our society, not the cause. Today most of us tolerate curses and obscenities that would have scandalized our grandmothers. Trump is simply riding the crest of a flood of indecency that already exists among the public.

Let’s bring back civic virtue. Jimmy Carter may be the best example of personal rectitude among US leaders in our lifetimes. Let him be your model—not the empty, sleazy suit that is soon to be the next occupant of the White House.

James E. Jennings PhD is President of Conscience International.

IPS UN Bureau

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A Renewed Vision for Prosperity for Landlocked Developing Countries

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Opinion

OHRLLS Office Banner. Credit: The United Nations Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (UN-OHRLLS)

UNITED NATIONS, Jan 3 2025 (IPS) – Over 570 million people live in the world’s 32 Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs), spanning across Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. These nations face unique and complex development challenges. Their lack of direct access to the sea, geographical isolation, limited infrastructure, and difficulty integrating into global trade and value chains hinder sustainable development and progress.

The lingering impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, rising vulnerability to external shocks, climate change, and mounting debt burdens have further compounded these challenges, eroding progress achieved under the last developmental roadmap for LLDCs—the Vienna Programme of Action.

However, a pivotal moment for LLDCs is at hand. In the lead-up to the Third United Nations Conference on LLDCs (LLDC3), to be held next year, the international community has adopted a new Programme of Action (PoA) to guide LLDCs’ development from 2025 to 2035.

UN Under-Secretary-General (USG) and High Representative, cr. Credit: OHRLLS

A new decade of opportunity and progress

The new PoA is a landmark achievement designed to address the structural challenges of LLDCs and accelerate their socio-economic integration into the global economy. This vision focuses on five priority areas critical to transforming LLDCs into resilient and competitive economies:

Structural Transformation and Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI)

Economic diversification is crucial for LLDCs. Their dependence on a narrow range of commodities leaves them highly vulnerable to external shocks. The new PoA prioritizes value-added industries and leveraging technology and innovation to help LLDCs integrate more effectively into global value chains and build more resilient economies.

Digital connectivity, which is pivotal for sustainable development, is also an important focus of the PoA. In 2023, only 39% of LLDC populations used the internet, compared to the global average of 67%. The PoA aims to create regional digital platforms for peer learning and capacity building while increasing support to LLDCs to leverage technology for sustainable growth.

Trade, Trade Facilitation, and Regional Integration

Trade drives economic growth, yet LLDCs account for just 1.1% of global merchandise exports. High trade costs—averaging 30% more than coastal countries—significantly hamper their competitiveness.

The new PoA highlights LLDCs’ interest in establishing a dedicated work programme at the World Trade Organization (WTO) to address their unique needs. It also recommends developing a high-level panel of experts to examine the application of existing international laws on freedom of transit for LLDCs, ensuring that LLDCs can engage in international trade under fairer conditions.

Transit, Transport, and Connectivity

Transport infrastructure is a critical link for LLDCs to global markets. Bridging the current gap—nearly 200,000 km of paved roads and over 46,000 km of railways—will require over half a trillion dollars.

To address this, the PoA proposes an Infrastructure Investment Finance Facility (IIFF) for LLDCs to mobilize resources for sustainable transport infrastructure, thereby reducing trade costs and enhancing connectivity.

Enhancing Adaptive Capacity and Resilience to Climate Change and Disasters

LLDCs face significant vulnerabilities to climate-related disasters. Between 2012 and 2022, 447 such events affected 170 million people in LLDCs—double the global average.

The PoA emphasizes climate-resilient infrastructure, sustainable agriculture, and improved access to climate finance. It also notes LLDCs’ interest in developing a dedicated work programme under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Lastly, but more importantly,

Means of Implementation

The success of the new Programme of Action depends on robust means of implementation, including adequate resources, technical support, and strong partnerships. The PoA calls for increased development assistance and emphasizes the role of public-private partnerships in realizing its ambitious goals.

Driving Progress through Partnerships – a call for global solidarity and action

The adoption of the new Programme of Action is more than a commitment—it is a renewed call to action. Global solidarity is essential to provide LLDCs with the financial, technical, and capacity-building support they need. Strengthened partnerships and concerted efforts will enable LLDCs to leverage their potential and contribute meaningfully to the global economy.

The upcoming LLDC3 Conference in 2025 will serve as a critical platform to build this momentum and strengthen international collaboration and multi-sectoral partnerships for the implementation of the PoA.

With political resolve, enhanced partnerships, and tangible actions, LLDCs can emerge as dynamic contributors to the global economy, charting a path toward sustainable prosperity over the coming decade.

Ms. Rabab Fatima, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States.

IPS UN Bureau

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‘Digital platforms amplify the Israeli narrative while systematically silencing Palestinian voices’

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Jan 2 2025 (IPS) –  
CIVICUS discusses the challenges Palestinian civil society faces in resisting digital suppression and advocating for justice with Palestinian lawyer and researcher Dima Samaro.

As the director of Skyline International for Human Rights, Dima advocates for digital freedoms and human rights in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). She is a board member of Innovation for Change, MENA Hub, and the Surveillance in the Majority World Network, and volunteers with Resilience Pathways, which helps Palestinian civil society organisations (CSOs) reclaim the narrative amid Israeli efforts to manipulate public opinion, block funding and restrict civic space.

Dima Samaro

How are digital platforms influencing the narrative on Palestine?

Digital platforms have become key to shaping narratives about Palestine, often amplifying the Israeli narrative while systematically silencing Palestinian voices. Platforms such as Meta, TikTok and X, formerly Twitter, routinely remove Palestinian content under vague ‘policy violations’. This has intensified since October 2023, with the Israeli Cyber Unit issuing over 9,500 takedown requests, 94 per cent of which were approved. These actions have resulted in the removal of posts, shadow bans – a form of censorship that limits visibility of pro-Palestinian content without user notification – and account suspensions, and have extended to the censorship of hashtags such as #FreePalestine.

Algorithmic bias further marginalises Palestinian narratives. For example, Instagram once mistranslated the Arabic phrase ‘alhamdulillah’ – praise be to God – next to a Palestinian flag as ‘terrorists fighting for their freedom’. On WhatsApp, AI-generated images depicted militarised scenes as illustrations for ‘Palestinian’ but benign cartoons for terms such as ‘Israeli boy’ or ‘Israeli army’. While these incidents are often dismissed as technical errors, they reveal a systemic bias.

Policies such as Meta’s Dangerous Organisations and Individuals framework are heavily influenced by US terrorism designations and stifle Palestinian discourse by prohibiting expressions of ‘praise’ or ‘support’ for major political movements. Meanwhile, hate speech targeting Palestinians – including posts celebrating violence or calling for the destruction of Gaza – often goes unchecked. While ads inciting violence against Palestinians are allowed, the use of terms like ‘Zionist’ is flagged as hate speech. This double standard silences Palestinian voices while enabling propaganda that justifies collective punishment and shields atrocities from scrutiny.

Platform complicity goes beyond censorship. In April, +972 Magazine reported that WhatsApp, which belongs to Meta, played a role in supporting the Israeli AI surveillance system Lavender, which has been linked to the killing of civilians in Gaza. These disturbing revelations suggest direct corporate complicity in violations of international law.

Digital platforms are distorting narratives, dehumanising Palestinians and normalising violence against an already oppressed and besieged population. They actively suppress efforts to document war crimes and manipulate information. They must be held accountable for this.

What challenges does Palestinian civil society encounter?

Palestinian CSOs work under immense pressure, facing arbitrary arrests, travel bans, funding cuts and violence. In October 2021, Israel designated six prominent Palestinian human rights groups as terrorist organisations. These unfounded accusations delegitimised their work, fuelling defamation campaigns and enabling harassment and other restrictions on their work.

Many human rights defenders have also become targets of digital surveillance. Pegasus spyware, developed by the Israeli company NSO Group, has been used to hack the devices of Palestinian activists and human rights defenders, putting their safety and work at risk. This surveillance has been widely condemned by organisations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

But the crackdown on Palestinian civil society goes beyond digital tactics: human rights defenders are harassed, arbitrarily detained and physically attacked. In Gaza, the situation has worsened after October 2023. Several civil society workers have been killed, injured or detained, and many have been displaced by the ongoing bombardment. The destruction of infrastructure has further hampered their work.

Journalists also face violence. Gaza has become the world’s deadliest place for journalists, with 195 media workers killed to date, many of them deliberately targeted while carrying out their duties. This loss of independent reporting creates a massive information gap, leaving human rights violations unreported and unchecked.

To make matters worse, international donors such as Germany, Sweden and Switzerland have suspended funding over unsubstantiated allegations of links to terrorism. The European Union’s imposition of ‘anti-incitement’ clauses also stigmatises Palestinian CSOs by forcing them to prove their neutrality, limiting their ability to document human rights violations without risking their safety.

How is Skyline International helping address these challenges?

We work at the intersection of technology, social media and human rights in Palestine and the region. We track, monitor and document human rights violations committed by states and corporations, particularly in the digital sphere. This includes tracking digital surveillance, analysing the ethical implications of AI in conflict settings and advocating for the protection of fundamental online rights such as freedom of expression, access to information and the right to privacy.

In Palestine, we support civil society activists and journalists by tackling online censorship and digital bias. We work closely with human rights defenders to document cases of over-enforcement of policies, content takedowns, account suspensions and algorithmic bias by social media platforms, as well as the illegal use of spyware and new technologies to target media workers. We also condemn Israel’s use of digital tools to target journalists in Gaza and Lebanon. Our aim is to draw national and international attention to these violations and advocate for the protection of press and online freedoms, ensuring that journalists can report without fear of retribution.

We also hold technology companies to account for their impact on human rights. In September, for example, we sent an open letter to Binance, a leading cryptocurrency exchange, expressing serious concerns about allegations of a mass seizure of Palestinian crypto wallets at Israel’s request. These actions exacerbate the economic and financial blockade of Gaza, making it even more difficult to access essential resources such as water, food and medical supplies. We demanded transparency regarding the criteria used to determine which accounts were frozen and immediate action to mitigate the humanitarian impact on Palestinian users. Although Binance responded, it didn’t provide a clear explanation or take any action.

What can the international community do to support Palestinian civil society?

Support for the work of Palestinian civil society is crucial to documenting abuses and advocating for justice. But this support must go beyond expressions of solidarity or charity. We need our allies to support our struggle for freedom and dignity.

The international community must move beyond empty rhetoric and take tangible action. It must also do more than just provide financial aid: it must put political pressure on Israel to end its occupation and respect Palestinian human rights. This includes protecting activists, fighting Israel’s constant attempts to criminalise and silence our work and holding accountable those who profit from the ongoing genocide. It means stopping arms exports to Israel and holding tech platforms accountable for their complicity in suppressing Palestinian voices, amplifying hate speech and facilitating Israeli surveillance and repression.

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Remembering Jimmy Carter: a UN Perspective

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Opinion

Carter was a man of decency and integrity who devoted his life to promoting peace and democracy. Credit: Courtesy Kul Chandra Gautam

 
Former US President Jimmy Carter, a leader of impeccable integrity and decency who devoted his life to promoting peace and democracy worldwide. I recall his contribution to the peace process in Nepal and his leadership in combatting deadly diseases in Africa.
 
Jimmy Carter enthusiastically supported the child survival campaign led by UNICEF. He had nominated Jim Grant to be the Executive Director of UNICEF and said that it was one of the most important decisions of his presidency.

KATHMANDU, Nepal, Jan 2 2025 (IPS) – Former American President Jimmy Carter was a man of peace and principles. He presided over a tumultuous period in American history from 1977 to 1981, working hard to restore trust in government after the Watergate scandal and the divisive era of the Vietnam War. He brokered a landmark peace deal between Israel and Egypt and negotiated a historic treaty to hand over the Panama Canal to Panama.

Carter, a champion of human rights both in the US and around the world, passed away at 100 on December 29, 2024.

More than any recent American president, Carter pressed gently but firmly on autocratic regimes worldwide to respect human rights and the rule of law. When he led the country with immense moral authority, it encouraged many human rights advocates, while dictators worried about the US sanctions.

At home, Carter got many progressive legislations passed in areas of consumer protection, welfare reforms and the appointment of women and minorities in America’s judiciary. However, he had difficulties managing the US economy, the Iran hostage crisis and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. And in the 1980 Presidential election, when he lost his bid to Ronald Reagan, his active political career came to an end.

Kul Chandra Gautam

But he didn’t retire to a comfortable life, rather, he embarked on a noble mission as one of the world’s highly respected elder statesmen, deeply committed to promoting democracy and human rights. He founded the Carter Center with a motto of “Waging Peace, Fighting Disease and Building Hope”.

With his team, he worked tirelessly to help resolve conflicts, monitor elections and improve human health through campaigns to eliminate several neglected diseases afflicting the poorest people worldwide, particularly in Africa.

“For his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights and to promote economic and social development,” Carter won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.

Links with UNICEF and Nepal

Carter greatly admired UNICEF Executive Director James Grant and strongly supported the UNICEF-led global child survival and development campaign. Further, the organisation was a key partner in the Carter-led global campaign to eradicate a debilitating disease called dracunculiasis or Guinea-worm disease.

My first substantive meeting with Carter took place on August 3, 1995, at an event in Washington, DC, organised jointly by the Carter Center, USAID, WHO and UNICEF to mark the 95 percent reduction in Guinea worm cases worldwide and to recommit to its total eradication. I had a long and fruitful discussion with Carter on strengthening our collaboration in the global campaign to eradicate Guinea-worm disease.

In February 2004, I joined President Carter and WHO Director-General JW Lee on a 3-day field visit to observe and advocate for Guinea-worm eradication in Ghana. I learned about Carter’s humble personality, deep commitment to many worthy causes and impressive advocacy skills.

In our informal interactions, we often talked about Nepal.

Carter’s involvement in Nepal

Carter visited Nepal twice to observe Nepal’s Constituent Assembly Elections. He advised Nepali leaders, including the Election Commission, based on his worldwide experience and credibility in observing elections and conflict resolution. Over the years, the Carter Center produced several reports on Nepal dealing with issues related to the peace process, challenges in drafting Nepal’s Constitution and other important issues of social justice and equity.

I instinctively supported Carter’s noble efforts to promote peace, democracy and development. However, like everybody else, Carter was human and fallible, and some aspects of the Carter Center’s reports on Nepal were flawed.

In particular, Carter’s hasty verdict that Nepal’s first Constituent Assembly election was free, fair and peaceful ignored the fact that there was an unusually high degree of intimidation in many rural constituencies. The non-Maoist parties’ candidates were prevented from campaigning, and voters were threatened with physical violence for weeks preceding the actual voting.

There were well-intentioned but inaccurate analyses of Nepal’s socio-political dynamics by the Carter Center, the International Crisis Group, and even the United Nations. In their effort to appear “balanced and even-handed”, they gave the undue benefit of the doubt to the progressive-sounding rhetoric of the Maoists, ignoring their violent and corrupt practices.

Carter witnessed the insincerity and duplicity of the Maoists when they initially welcomed the 2013 election for the second Constituent Assembly but then denounced it as rigged and unfair when the results showed that they had suffered a humiliating loss.

Unlike during the first CA election, Carter took the necessary time to analyse the second CA election better. He left somewhat sobered by a deeper understanding of the Maoists’ opportunistic and undemocratic nature.

A man of faith and integrity

Jimmy Carter was a deeply religious and spiritual man who often turned to his faith during his political career. But as a progressive man and defender of human rights and gender equality, he found himself at odds with his Southern Baptist Church when it opposed gender equality, citing a few selected verses from the Bible that women must be “subservient” to their husbands and must not be allowed to serve as priests.

Carter protested and took a painful decision to sever ties with his Baptist Church, saying that parts of its rigid doctrine violated the basic premises of his Christian faith. He wrote to his fellow Baptists and published an op-ed article “Losing my religion for equality”.

Carter had a philosophical and spiritual perspective on death. As he suffered from multiple bouts of cancer treatment, he remarked, “I didn’t ask God to let me live, but I just asked God to give me a proper attitude toward death. I found that I was absolutely and completely at ease with death”.

May Carter’s noble soul rest in eternal peace.

Source: Kathmandu Post, Nepal

Kul Chandra Gautam is a distinguished diplomat, development professional, and a former senior official of the United Nations. Currently, he serves on the Boards of several international and national organizations, charitable foundations and public-private partnerships. Previously, he served in senior managerial and leadership positions with the UN in several countries and continents in a career spanning over three decades. As a former Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF and Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations, he has extensive experience in international diplomacy, development cooperation and humanitarian assistance.

IPS UN Bureau

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