Rejuvenating Tradition To Help Save Ancient Engineering Marvel—Dhamapur Lake

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The Vijayanagar rulers constructed an earth-fill dam in 1530 AD to create Dhamapur Lake. There is now a campaign to save it. Credit: Rina Mukherji/IPS

The Vijayanagar rulers constructed an earth-fill dam in 1530 AD to create Dhamapur Lake. There is now a campaign to save it. Credit: Rina Mukherji/IPS

PUNE, India, Oct 2 2024 (IPS) – Dhamapur is a small village in Malvan taluka of west Sindhudurg district, housing the famous Dhamapur Lake. The Vijayanagar kings constructed an earthfill dam in 1530 A.D., creating a man-made lake surrounded by hills on three sides. Canals connect it to the Karli river, irrigating lush paddies and farms that grow the red Sorti and Walay rice varieties typical to the region.

A Bhagwati temple constructed in the typical Konkan style stands on its banks. Small shrines to anthills flank this temple, which is devoted to Goddess Bhagwati. This is because all over the Konkan region, anthills are considered manifestations of the Earth Goddess and worshipped as Goddess Sateri. These are monuments to biodiversity and well-being; white ants or termites that build anthills are known to aerate the soil, help seed dispersal, and improve soil fertility. The worship of anthills is an old Vedic practice that continues to survive in and around the Konkan region of Maharashtra, Goa, and its neighborhood to this day.

The construction of the earthfill dam on Dhamapur Lake too spells of local ingenuity. Made up of porous laterite stone that is locally found here, every layer of stone is alternated with a layer of biomass made of twigs and branches.

This freshwater reservoir, used for irrigation and drinking water purposes, is one of Maharashtra’s oldest engineering marvels. Its waters and the Kalse-Dhamapur forests that flank it nurture a wide variety of unique floral and faunal species, making it a popular tourist destination.

But beauty apart, this man-made lake, which is geographically on higher ground as compared to the surrounding countryside, plays an important role in recharging the groundwater, acting as a sponge during the monsoons.  Apart from serving as an important source of drinking water and irrigation, Dhamapur Lake nurtures an entire ecosystem. Its waters and surrounding forests harbour a wide variety of flora and fauna, some of which are endangered species. Its significance can be gauged from the fact that it was given the Word Heritage Irrigation Structure (WHIS) Award by the International Commission of Irrigation and Drainage (ICID) in 2020.

But in recent times, several encroachments have affected this extensive waterbody. Guest houses, wells, and walkways built in its floodplains to boost tourism have been eating into its extensive area, in scant regard to the flora and fauna that thrive in its pristine waters.

Fighting for Dhamapur Lake

In recent years, though, Dhamapur Lake has found a savior in Sachin Desai and his organisation, Syamantak Trust. Incidentally, Sachin Desai and his wife, Meenal, have an interesting background that illustrates their love for the natural world and India’s time-honored traditions.

Believers in home schooling, the Desais fought out with the authorities to home-school their daughter. Abandoning high-paying corporate jobs, these two professionals set up the University of Life on their ancestral property to familiarize youngsters with traditional bricklaying, carpentry and farming skills in 2007. To stem the migration from the region, they sought to inculcate love and respect for traditional practices, foods, and cuisine among youngsters. This was how the Syamantak Trust came into being.

In the years that followed, learners and youngsters who spent time at the University of Life went to use the knowledge they acquired to specialize in respective fields or venture into entrepreneurship, selling local products to tourists frequenting Dhamapur. Rohit Ajgaonkar, once a student at the University of Life, has become an active volunteer with Syamantak and runs a small eco-café in Dhamapur.  Remarkable in its use of local materials, the eco-café has an array of local delicacies such as kashayam and jackfruit, wood apple, and mango ice creams.

Rohit and his mother, Rupali Ajgaonkar, also run a shop adjoining their eco-café, wherein they sell hand-pounded local masalas, mango and jackfruit toffee, local pickles, cashew butter, kokum syrups and kokum butter.  Prathamesh Kalsekar, another student of the University of Life who is the son of a local farmer, is now doing his B.Sc. (Agriculture) at the Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth. He has raised a private forest on his family land in Dhamapur, and now grows many local fruit and vegetable trees, bushes, and plants, particularly focusing on nutrient-rich wild varieties. He has also set up a nursery of saplings for distribution among local farmers.

A temple on the outskirts of Dhamapur Lake. Credit: Rina Mukherji/IPS

The Bhagwati temple is on the banks of Dhamapur Lake. The temple is built in the typical Konkan style, wherein the deity is placed at one end in the sanctum sanctorum. The main section of the temple is reserved for the assembly of elders who meet and discuss matters related to the village. The temple is reminiscent of a bygone era when a place of worship also served as a place for the community to assemble and parley. Credit: Rina Mukherji/IPS

The Ongoing Battle to Save Dhamapur

These skills and respect for nature came in handy when Syamantak embarked on its mission to save Dhamapur and other waterbodies in Sindhudurg district through a community-led movement, following the construction of a skywalk undertaken by the authorities in 2014, and the running of diesel-run boats for tourists by the panchayat (village self-governing body). But this was easier said than done, notwithstanding the public zeal.

Desai and his volunteers realized that “Sindhudurg district has several wetlands and waterbodies. However, the authorities haven’t notified or demarcated any of them. This permits encroachments, a lot of them by government bodies.” In the case of Dhamapur Lake, the high flood line was ignored, and private parties encroached upon the peripheral areas of the lake. Even the state government’s Department of Agriculture had built a nursery and sunk a well on the floodplains of the lake.

Making use of the National Wetland Atlas prepared by the Space Applications Centre of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and the Maharashtra Remote Sensing Applications Centre in 2010, during the tenure of Minister of Environment & Forests Jairam Ramesh, Syamantak Trust approached the Western Zonal bench of the National Green Tribunal. Some residents of Sindhudurg district also filed an Environment Interest Litigation (EIL) to save the lake. At that time, the phytoplankton population had already decreased due to the construction of 35 pillars and the 500-meter-long cement concrete skywalk.

An Interim Order in 2018 by the Tribunal not only halted all further construction but saw every bit of concrete broken down and removed from the precincts of the lake. It also stopped the use of diesel boats on the lake . Furthermore, the state Public Works Department (PWD) was ordered to shell out Rs 1.5 crore for mitigation measures to be undertaken to reverse the damages caused by the construction of the 2.5 km skywalk and the use of diesel boats.

Meanwhile, following the formation of a 32-member Wetland Brief Documentation Committee as per an Order by the District Collector, the Syamantak Trust organized the local citizenry to document the flora and fauna of Dhamapur lake. They were soon joined by students from the local college of architecture, academicians, botanists, zoologists, and geographers from Mumbai and other parts of India, besides Dr Balkrishna Gavade and Dr Yogesh Koli, who lent their expertise for the study.  Mapping Dhamapur helped the volunteers learn about the kind of biodiversity hotspot the Western Ghats region is, especially in the forested tracts around Dhamapur Lake.

Five months spent documenting the various wetland flora and fauna showed 35 species of birds belonging to 18 families to frequent the lake, such as the Eurasian Marsh Harrier, Indian Pond Heron, Lapwing, Kingfisher,  and Small Bee-Eater. The lake was found to be particularly lush with phytoplankton and zooplankton species, which are the building blocks of a wetland ecosystem. The volunteers would also learn about how the Wax Dart butterfly was reported for the first time in Maharashtra, on the banks of Dhamapur lake.

Once Dhamapur was mapped, the volunteers went on to document a total of 57 wetlands and waterbodies in Sindhudurg district, including those as yet unlisted by the authorities. These included Vimleshwar in Devgad, Pat Lake in Kudal, and Jedgyachikond in Chaukul, among others.

The Uphill Struggle to Save Dhamapur Lake

The mapping and summary of violations were to come in handy when fighting to conserve Dhamapur Lake at the NGT.  However, the community’s fight to have Dhamapur Lake recognized as a wetland has not borne fruit so far. “Our case was dismissed by the NGT in 2023 on the grounds that the lake does not qualify to be a wetland in keeping with the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules 2017, since it was constructed for drinking water and agricultural purposes,” Desai tells IPS.

However, the Trust and its community volunteers have not given up yet. They have now approached the Supreme Court to demand

1) Demarcation of the Lake’s buffer zone and high flood line; and

2) Notification of the Lake by the state government in its gazette.

Once notified, the Lake, they feel, would be protected against further encroachment from public and private bodies alike.

Meanwhile, Syamantak Trust, along with members of the local community, continue to familiarize visiting students and persons from other parts of India with this unique water-body and its flora and fauna through eco-trails. As of this year, Syamantak Trust has begun hosting classical music concerts with the theme “Connect to Nature,” allowing music lovers to explore the vast repertoire of Hindustani classical music and its connection to the seasons and nature’s clock.

Currently, the Desais and their volunteers in the local community sincerely hope that once people in Dhamapur and beyond learn to appreciate and love nature, it will help them connect better with the lake and its entire ecosystem. This can be the best and only bulwark against the destructive march of climate change.

IPS UN Bureau Report

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‘Australia Must Turn Its Climate Rhetoric into Action’

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Oct 1 2024 (IPS) –  
CIVICUS discusses the recent Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) meeting in Tonga with Jacynta Fa’amau, Pacific Campaigner at 350.org, a global civil society organisation campaigning for climate action.

Representatives from 18 countries gathered in Tonga for the 53rd Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting from 26 to 30 August, seeking to address issues including the climate crisis, socio-economic challenges and political conflict in New Caledonia. A key agenda item was securing funding for the Pacific Resilience Facility, a climate finance mechanism aimed at supporting communities affected by climate change. Civil society called on Australia, the world’s third largest fossil fuel exporter and a co-founder of the Forum, to demonstrate real climate leadership by phasing out fossil fuels and transitioning to renewable energy.

Jacynta Fa’amau

What was on the agenda at the recent PIF Leaders Meeting?

The PIF is an intergovernmental body that aims to improve cooperation between Pacific states and territories, Australia and New Zealand. We may be divided by national borders, but we are united by the ocean, and many of the issues that affect one island can provide valuable lessons for another. As a Samoan, I know my future is linked to that of a sister in the Solomon Islands or a brother in the atolls of Kiribati.

PIF meetings bring together regional leaders to discuss the most pressing issues facing our region. At the 53rd session, the agenda focused on several issues, including climate change, climate finance, education, health and the Pacific Policing Initiative – an Australia-backed strategy to train and support police.

But climate issues were at the top of the agenda. As Pacific Islanders, we know that phasing out fossil fuels is critical to our survival. We deserve not just resilience, but the ability to thrive in the face of this crisis. To do this, we need access to adequate climate finance and affordable renewable energy. The Pacific Resilience Facility is part of the way to achieve this, with an emphasis on ensuring accessibility for communities. Leaders had already endorsed Tonga as the host country for this financial facility, so now the key priority is to secure the resources.

What were civil society’s priorities, and what did it bring to the table?

Civil society has a vital role to play in holding leaders to their promises and creating pathways for communities to get involved. The PIF’s Civil Society Village hosted remarkable groups such as the Pacific Islands Climate Action Network and the Pacific Network on Globalisation, which are working to bridge the gap between civil society and policymakers.

As for 350.org Pacific, our role has always been to ensure that communities have the tools they need to take part in multilateral discussions that often seem far removed from realities on the ground. There’s no point in making decisions about the people you serve if you do it without their input. Before the PIF began, we held the Our Pawa Training with over 200 young people and students across Tonga. ‘Pawa’ references the people power driving the climate movement and the promise of a Pacific built on safe, ethical renewable energy. This training equipped young Tongans with tools to engage in climate conversations.

Our top priority is to ensure a safe and liveable future for the Pacific. Scientists have made it abundantly clear that our survival depends on an immediate global phase out of fossil fuels. Wealthier nations must phase out first, and historical emitters must support the global south in achieving their phase out.

The Pacific mustn’t be left behind in the renewable energy revolution. It’s unfair that our islands should bear the financial burden of recovering from a crisis we didn’t cause. We need the resources and expertise to transform our energy systems on our own terms and put the land, sea and wellbeing of Pacific Islanders first. We call for accessible climate funding to meet the Pacific Resilience Facility’s US$500 million target.

For us, this means Australia must turn its climate rhetoric into action.

Why is Australia at the centre of civil society’s demands?

As the region’s biggest producer of fossil fuels and the third largest exporter in the world, Australia plays a significant role in the climate crisis that threatens our survival. To come to the lands of our ancestors and claim climate leadership while signing our death warrants with every gas project you approve is immoral and unacceptable.

But we also hold Australia to high standards because it claims to be our family. In the Pacific, kinship puts the welfare of the many before the greed of the one. There’s no world in which Australia can be a true partner to the Pacific while continuing to exploit fossil fuels. With every tonne of coal exported, Australia is exporting climate disaster to our islands.

Australia must commit to phasing out fossil fuels, domestically and in its exports. It must ensure the Pacific is not left behind in the transition to renewable energy and commit to the funding it’s historically owed to the victims of the climate crisis. The Ki Mua Report commissioned by the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative found that eight Pacific countries could transform their energy systems for less than a seventh of the amount Australia gives to the fossil fuel industry.

With its potential COP31 presidency on the horizon, Australia has the chance to become the climate leader it claims to be.

Did the outcomes of the PIF meeting meet your expectations?

We had high expectations, particularly on climate action, given the recent report by the World Meteorological Organisation on the accelerated sea level rise our region faces. The Pacific is particularly vulnerable, so we need to be exceptionally ambitious. Despite our negligible contribution to this climate crisis, we have set ourselves ambitious climate targets. We have been innovative in our adaptation strategies and ambitious in our climate finance goals.

And while the PIF’s final communiqué is an encouraging step towards securing the resources we need to tackle the climate crisis, there’s a disappointing lack of pressure on the region’s major fossil fuel producers to commit to a phase out.

The PIF’s focus on peace and stability was important given the current sovereignty struggles and the shadow of a geopolitical tug-of-war hanging over our islands. But the climate crisis remains the most pressing security threat we face. With each new cyclone comes increased instability, and with each displaced community comes a host of security issues.

The time for deliberation is long past and the time for action is upon us. The PIF may be over, but the journey to COP29 is just beginning. We Pacific climate warriors will continue to celebrate our culture and ancestors as we advocate for decisive climate action that will help us achieve a safe and sustainable future for the Pacific. We hope those with the power to effect change will choose to join us.

Get in touch with 350.org through its website or Facebook and Instagram pages, and follow @350 on Twitter.

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COP 29: High Stakes for Small Islands Fighting for Climate Finance

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COP29

Buoyed by the collaboration and agenda established in their SIDS4 conference in May, small island developing states are preparing for COP29 with a focus on climate finance and collaboration. IPS spoke with an official from Saint Lucia about that nation’s climate action, preparation for COP29 and the importance of a united SIDS’ voice in negotiations.

Section of Castries, Saint Lucia. Through ambitious NDCs, SIDS like Saint Lucia are hoping to shore up resilience and protect their economies and infrastructure. Access to adequate climate financing remains crucial to these efforts. Credit: Alison Kentish/IPS

Section of Castries, Saint Lucia. Through ambitious NDCs, SIDS like Saint Lucia are hoping to shore up resilience and protect their economies and infrastructure. Access to adequate climate financing remains crucial to these efforts. Credit: Alison Kentish/IPS

SAINT LUCIA, Oct 1 2024 (IPS) – Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are experiencing the most severe impacts of climate change. When leaders of those islands met in Antigua and Barbuda in May, they let the world know that achieving climate justice hinges on comprehensive climate finance.

As they prepare for the 2024 United Nations climate change conference (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan, Saint Lucia is prioritizing this issue, strengthening alliances with other SIDS, and seeking critical funding for adaptation and mitigation projects. With the recent enactment of its Climate Change Act of 2024, the island nation recognizes that securing climate finance is vital for safeguarding its future.

“This year’s COP has been dubbed the ‘Finance COP’,” Maya Sifflet, a Sustainable Development and Environment Officer for Saint Lucia told IPS. “The focus is to get the finance we need to mobilize and implement the ambitious climate action we’ve committed to.”

Saint Lucia, like many other SIDS, faces significant challenges in adapting to the impacts of climate change. Rising sea levels, more intense storms and shifting weather patterns are already threatening its economy and infrastructure. Sifflet explained that Saint Lucia has developed a comprehensive National Adaptation Plan (NAP), which integrates climate action into national development strategies. However, without adequate funding, even the most well-crafted plans risk falling short.

“Every year, countries submit their nationally determined contributions (NDCs), outlining the climate action they’re taking. We are encouraged to make them as ambitious as possible, stating what climate action we are taking. Our NDCs now capture not only our mitigation efforts, but our adaptation efforts as well,” Sifflet said.

Finance is crucial to those plans.

“We need to ensure our sectors are more resilient—agriculture, tourism, fisheries. Each sector was encouraged to assess its risk, assess vulnerabilities and explore what actions can be taken to build resilience. We have therefore developed several sectoral adaptation strategies and action plans.”

Saint Lucia has also developed a set of bankable project concepts, which aim to make the nation “finance-ready” when global funds become available. These initiatives are part of a broader effort to position the country to receive climate funding, whether through bilateral agreements or international mechanisms.

Sifflet emphasized that collective action through umbrella groups like the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) is crucial to Saint Lucia’s success at COP29. “We negotiate in blocs. Our strength is in numbers,” she said. “Through AOSIS, we exchange knowledge, share experiences, and amplify each other’s voices in the negotiations. It’s a big arena, it’s very contentious and you need that collective presence to have power.”

One of the key areas Saint Lucia and AOSIS members will focus on during COP29 is the operationalization of the Loss and Damage Fund, which was a breakthrough agreement during COP27. The fund is designed to provide financial assistance to vulnerable countries for losses and damages resulting from climate change impacts that cannot be mitigated or adapted to.

“Operationalizing the Loss and Damage Fund would be a major success at COP29,” Sifflet noted. “It’s something SIDS have lobbied for over many years. This fund signifies that the global community is ready to put money where their mouth is.”

Saint Lucia, in anticipation of the fund’s formalization, has already conducted a Loss and Damage Needs-Based Assessment to ensure it is prepared to access financing once it becomes available.

“As vulnerable countries, we bear the brunt of climate change, often being forced to hit the reset button after every extreme weather event,” Sifflet added. “And it’s not just about economic losses—our cultural assets, things that can’t be quantified, are at risk. There is so much at stake for us as small islands,” she told IPS.

Sifflet concluded that while Saint Lucia’s preparation for COP29 has been extensive, the real measure of success will be securing the finance and global commitments needed to ensure the survival and prosperity of small islands in the face of climate change.

This week, the COP29 Presidency unveiled a group of programmes to propel global climate action. In a letter to all parties, President-Designate Mukhtar Babayev said it include the Baku Initiative on Climate Finance, Investment and Trade, noting that “climate finance, as a critical enabler of climate action, is a centrepiece of the COP29 Presidency’s vision.”

This year’s COP is expected to be a competitive negotiations stage for global climate change funding. Small island developing states will be looking to the large economies and major emitters of greenhouse gases to give the financial support needed for adaptation and mitigation measures to cope with a crisis that they did little to create. The stakes for Saint Lucia, and other SIDS, are high.

IPS UN Bureau Report

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Using Education To Stop the Generational Cycle of Violence Against Women in the Pacific

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PACIFIC COMMUNITY

Marshall Islands President Hilda C. Heine departs the International Conference Centre after presenting her keynote speech during the first day of the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women. Cr

Dr Hilda C. Heine, President, Republic of the Marshall Islands,
departs the International Conference Centre after presenting her keynote speech during the first day of the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women. Credit: Chewy Lin/SPC

SYDNEY , Sep 20 2024 (IPS) – Parliamentary representation by women in Pacific Island countries remains stubbornly low at 8.4 percent. Yet women leaders across the region have been meeting every year for the past four decades to discuss goals and drive action to address gender inequality and the most pressing development challenges in the Pacific.

One of the critical issues discussed at the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women, convened recently by the regional development organisation, Pacific Community, in Majuro, Republic of the Marshall Islands, was endemic levels of violence against women. Up to 68 percent of women in Pacific Island countries have suffered physical or sexual violence by a partner, more than double the global average of 30 percent, reported by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The conference is an invaluable opportunity for government, civil society and donor stakeholders to monitor progress on addressing this issue and identify action plans. And, for many Pacific women leaders, an important part of the long-term vision is preventing violence against women in the next generation. Educating the youth of today to change attitudes and behaviours that are perpetuating these human rights violations, and the severe socioeconomic repercussions is a critical strategy that the Pacific Community is working to roll out across the region.

“Young men and women can be impactful agents for change on the ground,” Mereseini Rakuita, Principal Strategic Lead for Pacific Women and Girls in the SPC executive team, told IPS. “The root cause of gender-based violence is unequal power relations between men and women. This necessitates the engagement of young men and women in advocacy work to enhance their understanding about this violence and its link to inequality.”

Group photo of delegates to the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women held in Majuro, RMI. Credit: SPC

Group photo of delegates to the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women held in Majuro, RMI. Credit: SPC

Growing the seed of change in young people is the vision behind the Pacific Girl project, managed by Pacific Women Lead at SPC, and also the Social Citizenship Education (SCE) program, which is part of the multi-partner Pacific Partnership to End Violence Against Women. The SCE program is supported by the European Union. It employs a ‘whole of School’ approach by training teachers in four Pacific Island countries, namely Kiribati, Vanuatu, Tuvalu and the Republic of the Marshall Islands, to embed education about human rights, gender equality and gender-based violence into the formal curriculum. And, also, informally, through the cultivation of respectful behaviours and supportive advocacy.

“In Kiribati, the SCE programme has rolled out nationally across all schools, whereas in Vanuatu it’s focused on six schools in the capital, Port Vila. In Tuvalu, it reaches four schools and 22 in the Marshall Islands across urban and rural locations,” Rakuita explained. “It successfully reaches many rural and remote communities; however, there are so many more to reach given the challenges of transport and resources, remembering that several Pacific Island countries have more than 300 islands.”

Senator Daisy Alik-Momotaro (left) with young Marshallese women sing prior to the first session on the third and final day of the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women. Credit: SPC Chewy Lin

Senator Daisy Alik-Momotaro (left) with young Marshallese women sing prior to the first session on the third and final day of the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women. Credit: SPC Chewy Lin

It is a strategy that resonates strongly with national leaders in Pacific Island countries. “I fully support this initiative,” Sokotia Kulene, Director of the Gender Affairs Department in Tuvalu’s Office of the Prime Minister, told IPS. “This is the mandate of the Tuvalu National Gender Equity Policy objective and plan of action, and it will make a difference by changing attitudes, behaviours and mindsets.”

Despite decades of awareness raising and international donor support for reducing the entrenched rates of violence against women, its prevalence remains stubbornly high across the region. The proportion of women who have experienced physical or sexual violence by a partner, ranges from 68 percent in Kiribati and 66 percent in Fiji to 62 percent in Samoa, reports UN Women. Globally, the Pacific Islands ranks the worst in the world for this form of violence. Fifty one percent of women in Melanesia have ever suffered physical or sexual violence, compared to 33 percent in Sub-Saharan Africa and 25 percent in Latin America and the Caribbean, according to WHO.

Marshall Islands’ Minister for Culture and Internal Affairs, Jess Gasper Jr. Credit:

“There is a need for greater investment in addressing the root causes of violence, such as tensions over economic insecurity in a family, which is exacerbated by climate change impacts and loss of livelihoods, and misinterpretation of the bible needs to be supported with transformative approaches to biblical teachings. And media content needs to be produced through various platforms to reach audiences in a way that educates men and boys, as well as women and girls,” Sharon Bhagwan Rolls, Programme Manager for the Pacific Women Mediators Network in Fiji, told IPS.

Gender inequality is the central cause of violence against women and girls. Making tangible progress to address this issue is hampered by additional barriers, including low levels of education in remote areas, perceptions of women’s lower social status, abuse of alcohol and financial abuse within families. And now, in the twenty-first century, the issue is further exacerbated by technology-facilitated gender-based violence.

It is also a major challenge to overcome the strong stigma of domestic and sexual violence in communities that influences the reluctance of survivors of gender-based violence to report these crimes to the police, resulting in a high level of impunity for perpetrators.

“In Fiji, only half of women living with violence have ever told anyone about it and only 24 percent of survivors of violence in Fiji have ever sought help from an agency or formal authority,” Rakuita claims.

From L to R RMI Senator Daisy Alik-Momotaro, Tuvalu Prime Minister and Minister of Gender Equity and Women Empowerment, Mr Feleti Teo, and Marshall Islands’ Minister for Culture & Internal Affairs Jess Gasper Jr. Credit: SPC/Chewy Lin

From L to R: RMI Senator Daisy Alik-Momotaro, Tuvalu Prime Minister and Minister of Gender Equity and Women Empowerment, Feleti Teo, and Marshall Islands’ Minister for Culture & Internal Affairs, Jess Gasper Jr. Credit: SPC/Chewy Lin

Survivors are, therefore, often trapped in a continuous cycle of abuse when spouses or partners control women’s access to financial resources and the means to independence. And the effects on women’s lives are devastating. Beatings and injuries from violent attacks leave deep physical and mental wounds, including disability, while sexual violations expose women to sexually transmitted diseases. The damage to a woman’s mental health ranges from depression and post-traumatic stress disorder to a high risk of suicide.

The broader costs of domestic violence to island societies and nations are immense. In Fiji, 43 women are physically maimed by domestic assaults every day and, in Papua New Guinea, up to 90 percent of all injuries presented by women to health facilities are due to gender-based violence, reports the Pacific Community. Studies in Vanuatu show that children with mothers who suffer domestic violence are far more likely to drop out of school. And it impacts national economies, such as Fiji, where violence contributes to 10 days of lost work time per employee per annum.

The support of Pacific Island governments and male leaders, in partnership with women, is essential to any meaningful progress.

“If most leaders in the Pacific are men, then their engagement is critical,” Rakuita explained. “We have some great examples in the Pacific of male leaders taking on this critical developmental challenge. The PNG National Parliament has a Standing Committee on gender-based violence as an oversight mechanism on the country’s response to GBV efforts. This was driven by male leaders and led by them—male leaders who recognise the deep impacts GBV is having on their communities and have had enough. They have rightly exercised their power whilst in office to create something sustainable.

There are now signs that the SCE programme, Pacific Girl and other initiatives are triggering leadership in young islanders. At SCE there are after-school clubs for students, organised to directly engage boys and girls in more than 150 primary and secondary schools in the four participating countries. “Students who have participated in the clubs are now demonstrating leadership roles in their schools, such as leading school assemblies, building positive and healthy relationships among their peers and conducting awareness sessions about violence against women in schools and communities,” Rakuita said.

For Kulene, there are major long-term gains of reducing gender-based violence, which would significantly “contribute to Tuvalu’s sustainable development goals,” whether it is improving good health, diminishing poverty, or strengthening peace, justice and economic development.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

15 Years After the Civil War Ended, Sri Lanka Faces Another Crucial Election

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Democracy

Agnes Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International, addresses the media and the community at the site of the Mullivaikal massacre. She says justice is overdue for the families of those killed and disappeared during the Sri Lankan civil war. Credit: Johan Mikaelsson/IPS

Agnes Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International, addresses the media and the community at the site of the Mullivaikal massacre. She says justice is overdue for the families of those killed and disappeared during the Sri Lankan civil war. Credit: Johan Mikaelsson/IPS

MULLIVAIKAL, Sri Lanka , Sep 16 2024 (IPS) – Thousands of Tamils are heading to Mullivaikal on the northeast coast of Sri Lanka, many of whom were here 15 years ago and still live in the region. They are there, May 18, to commemorate the massacre of civilians in a ‘no fire zone’ during the final stages of the civil war.

This was the last day of the bloody civil war, which raged mainly in the northern and eastern parts of the island since 1983. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) guerrillas had finally surrendered to the Sri Lankan government. The aftermath continues to rock the island.

The ethnic conflict between the island nation’s majority Sinhalese population and the minority Tamils (who were in the majority in the north and east) had escalated after 1948 when the country gained independence from Britain, the last in the line of colonial powers.

The whole island suffered during the war. Sri Lankan Tamils have been through a lot, especially those who lived in the war-torn north. Everyone who came to the beach on this day of remembrance wants to honor the memory of loved ones who fell victim and the blood that was spilled in the sand.

“Everyone here has a family member or relative who didn’t make it,” explains the teacher Shanmuganathan, who has stopped with his motorcycle by the road where porridge made from rice, the only thing that was available to eat in the war zone, is being offered before Memorial Day.

The war has left its mark. He shows scars from shrapnel and tells us that he lost his wife in the final stages of the war. He has continued to work and is involved in a teacher’s union.

Women pray during the commemoration of the Mullivaikal massacre. Thousands died in no fire zones in the final days of the war. Credit: Johan Mikaelsson/IPS

Women pray during the commemoration of the Mullivaikal massacre. Thousands died in no fire zones in the final days of the war. Credit: Johan Mikaelsson/IPS

Internationally, the calls to investigate targeted bombings of civilians, mass executions of surrendering Tiger soldiers and leaders, widespread sexual violence and other torture are no longer as loud. Many of those who protested and demanded to know what happened to missing relatives have died without receiving any response from the government.

When war crimes are discussed, the government side highlights that the terrorist-branded LTTE carried out acts of terror against civilian targets in the south and that Tamils in the north were used as human shields.

The peace process that began in 2002 with a ceasefire and peace talks led by the Norwegian government and facilitator Erik Solheim stalled and the ceasefire agreement was torn apart by the parties. Sri Lankan government forces in 2008 launched a final offensive to capture the parts then still controlled by the LTTE, which had been fighting for a separate Tamil state in the northern and eastern parts of the island.

In early 2009, the Tigers abandoned their main stronghold, the town of Kilinochchi. The areas under guerrilla control were shrinking ever faster. Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran did not listen to calls to lay down arms and surrender. Eventually, a narrow coastal strip remained, with several hundred thousand civilians and the remnants of the guerrilla movement pressed together and under fire from land, sea, and air.

For Remembrance Day, a school in the town of Puthukkudiyiruppu is organizing a poetry competition. One of the participants, Kamsaini, now 24, wants to share her experiences with the schoolchildren, who were born after the war.

“The generations after me know nothing about the pain I felt these days. We had neither food nor water and I lost several family members; some died, and my sister is missing,” explains Kamsaini.

In place under the hot sun in Mullivaikal is Agnes Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International. During her stay on the island, she has met President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who opened up for the visit, which was not a given. When the Rajapaksa brothers ruled the country (2005-2015, 2019-2022), the government allowed the military and police to prevent Tamils from observing commemorations linked to the war.

One reason why Callamard and Amnesty International want to be there is that she does not want Sri Lanka to “fall off the agenda,” which could happen if the main actor within the United Nations, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, does not succeed with the latest in a series of resolutions on Sri Lanka voted through in the UN Human Rights Council.

She sees the issue of the war in Sri Lanka as a crucial test for the international community. A 30-year-long civil war must not be swept under the carpet, she believes

“Every time we fail to create justice, we all, including the international community, get a wound. We’re here because we don’t want that to happen. We feel the determination of many people in Sri Lanka and civil society, both Tamils and Sinhalese and a range of actors who are committed to seeing justice delivered,” says Callamard.

In this way, it represents a defining moment for the United Nations. Callamard is critical of the UN Security Council, which “has not taken a single step for Sri Lanka.”

Amnesty International advocates, as do a number of states, that the latest resolution must be implemented.

“Just a lot of ‘blah, blah, blah,’ something for the eyes, investments in so-called institutions and nothing, nothing, nothing. Fifteen years. Come on!” she urges.

Even on the island, there are far too many who have done nothing at all.

“The point is that the government in power must step forward, the political parties must step forward, the parliament must step forward, the religious leaders must step forward, cultural leaders must step forward. It should be an issue that everyone rallies around. The problem is that governments are being replaced. So it’s not good enough. Everyone must take their responsibility,” says Callamard.

In Mullivaikal, many people share memories. James Confucius, a Catholic priest, tells how he and a group of people barely made it out of the war zone alive.

“We waved a white flag, and we went in the direction of the soldiers to surrender, but then they shot at us, so we had to turn back,” he says.

They waited in a sand bunker and finally got another opportunity. The soldiers they encountered believed that an injured woman in the group was a Tiger soldier, because she had short hair. The priest pleaded and said she needed hospital treatment, but the soldiers said the woman had to stay.

The group had to move on and when they had gone only a short distance, they heard a shot.

“I turned around and saw that the woman had been shot,” says Confucius.

In total, roughly 300,000 people got out of the war zone. An estimate that has often been used is a death toll of 40,000 civilians in the final stages of the war alone. Tamils state higher numbers, while Sri Lankan authorities write low death tolls, including in the 2010 report by the Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), appointed by the government.

The then sitting president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, had previously said that “not a single Tamil civilian has been killed by the military.”

Experts have dismissed the statement as absurd. While the majority of Tamil politicians still refer to “genocide,” the issue of death tolls rarely receives the same attention as it did in the years after the civil war.

The UN Human Rights Council has voted through a number of non-binding resolutions that Sri Lanka is expected to follow, but no real action on the problem has been taken in Sri Lanka. There is also nothing to suggest that this will happen.

None of the main candidates in the presidential election on September 21 have highlighted truth-seeking, the rule of international law, regional power-sharing and reconciliation—what the UN is asking for. The economy is in focus, the nation and the citizens, and all candidates want to stop corruption.

The agreement that the government reached with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), is also being discussed. It was negotiated by President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who is not elected by the people but took over by a vote in Parliament after Gotabaya Rajapaksa resigned and fled the country as a result of the April-July 2022 Aragalya (meaning struggle in Sinhalese) protest movement. Before that, Rajapaksa had appointed Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister.

At the Ministry of Defense (MOD) on the outskirts of the capital Colombo, soldiers and officers move inside the compound, which is surrounded by high walls. For some, the Vesak holiday awaits when the full moon approaches. The armed forces also marked the end of the war and Victory Day, but more quietly than in previous years.

Colonel Nalin Herath is the MOD media spokesperson. Right now, work is being done to adapt the forces to actual needs. Herath says they will shrink to 100,000 by 2030. Many who were previously employed in the military have faced unemployment as civilians.

An urgent issue is trying to bring home hundreds of ex-soldiers who were lured by middlemen to go to Russia to work for Russia’s army. Most are said to have received promises not to take part in battle, which hasn’t been the case.

“We should not have mercenaries in war; it violates international law,” says Nalin Herath.

Some have also fought and died on Ukraine’s side. Herath emphasizes that Sri Lanka is neutral, adheres to non-alignment, and does not want to comment on whether it is worse to fight for Russia, which is waging an illegal war of invasion and committing war crimes.

Close to 20 men from Sri Lanka, who were on the Russian side of the front in June, were confirmed dead. An unknown number of men have surrendered to Ukrainian forces. Hundreds of former soldiers have not been heard from for a long time, which emerged after the Ministry of Defense in April-May opened a telephone line where relatives can call.

Sri Lankans who have become Russian citizens can effectively be stuck in a death trap, as the Sri Lankan government became aware after a delegation traveled to Moscow in June to discuss the matter with the Russian counterpart. It was explained that the Sri Lankans who became Russian citizens are now under Russian law.

As a spokesperson for a military organization, Herath talks about a general goal.

“War means destruction. Both parties suffer. This should not be an era of war. As a soldier, I want to see a peaceful world. The smartest thing would be to avoid the wars,” he states.

He highlights international humanitarian law, which he teaches, both in Sri Lanka and internationally. He mentions the good the Sri Lankan military has done. After the war, minefields were cleared, land was returned and soldiers donated blood to the hospitals.

But he cannot comment on Amnesty International’s statement. Political leaders are responsible for handling this. He nevertheless states:

“Violations occur in all wars. Here we are dealing with isolated cases,” he adds.

Consensus still lingers.

IPS UN Bureau Report

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Small Glacial Lakes’ Mass Destruction in the Himalayan Community

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Climate Change

Before and after the flood: Thame village in the Mt. Everest region (Khumbu region) in Nepal-before the flood. This village is home to world renowned climbers like Kami Rita Sherpa. On August 16 a flash flood caused by the glacial lake outburst swept away the most of Thame village. Credits: Khumbu Pasang Lhamu Rural Municipality

Before and after the flood: Thame village in the Mt. Everest region (Khumbu region) in Nepal-before the flood. This village is home to world renowned climbers like Kami Rita Sherpa. On August 16 a flash flood caused by the glacial lake outburst swept away the most of Thame village. Credits: Khumbu Pasang Lhamu Rural Municipality

KATHMANDU, Sep 10 2024 (IPS) – Small glacial lakes can cause destruction, which may impact the livelihoods of entire communities. Now this is the harsh reality that the community of Thame village in the Mt. Everest region of Nepal now faces as they rebuild after the August 16 disaster.

On that day a devastating flood struck Thame, a Sherpa village in the Khumbu region, damaging houses, local businesses, a school, a health facility, and the community’s means of livelihood. 

“Thame is one of the main villages that is important in terms of trekking attraction, and the flood swept away the entire village. That will definitely impact our livelihood,” said Pashang Sherpa, “Even though I am not from that village, I have been working as a trekking guide for the last 15 years, and villages like Thame are crucial to us.”

An assessment of the damage by the local government-Khumbu Pasang Lhamu Rural Municipality in the Solukhumbu district-reports that at least 18 properties have been destroyed, including seven homes, five hotels, one school, and one health post.

“Given the difficult geographical terrain, reconstruction efforts will be costly, and the local government’s budget will not be enough. That’s why we appeal for help from individuals and institutional sectors,” the rural municipality stated in an appeal for assistance.

What Exactly Happened

A view of glacial lake after the flood. Credit: Khumbu Pasang Lhamu Rural Municipality

A view of glacial lake after the flood. Credit: Khumbu Pasang Lhamu Rural Municipality

Initially, the cause was unclear, but now things are becoming clearer: Thame village was hit by a flash flood caused by a glacial lake outburst. Thyanbo glacial lake, located upstream of Thame, burst, sending floodwaters mixed with sediment down to the village.

“It was the result of more than one event—ice/snow melt or an avalanche caused spills from one glacial lake, which then triggered an outburst flood from the lower Thyanbo glacial lake,” said Dr. Arun Bhakta Shrestha, Senior Climate Change Specialist at ICIMOD. “It’s not that both lakes burst, but rather that the overflow or spill of water from one lake caused the other lake to outburst.”

Leading up to the flood, multiple weather-related factors were at play. Recent rainfall and rising temperatures likely contributed to ice/snow melt, which in turn led to the outburst. According to the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology (DHM), the area received relatively high rainfall in the week leading up to the event, and temperatures were also relatively high.

“That may have caused ice/snow melt or an avalanche at the upper lake, and the spilled water caused erosion, which ultimately triggered the lower lake to burst,” DHM said in a statement.

Experts are saying that this flood is the latest example of the causal impact of climate change and the level of impact that can be seen at the local level. Tenzing Chogyal Sherpa, ICIMOD’s Cryosphere Analyst—who also belongs to the mountain Sherpa community and is from the Khumbu region—views this event as both personal and a stark reminder of the climate crisis.

Tenzing Chogyal Sherpa, ICIMOD’s Cryosphere Analyst, comment on X. Credit: X

ICIMOD’s Cryosphere Analyst, Tenzing Chogyal Sherpa’s comment on X tells of the ‘heartbreaking reality’ of the flood. Credit: X

“Seeing the ancestral homes of Sherpa families in ruins was just numbing,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “Every disaster tests our resilience, but it also strengthens it. We, the mountain community, will emerge united and determined to protect our homes and way of life. Now, more than ever, we must raise our voices to the global community. Our stories and struggles need to be heard.”

Small Glacial Lakes Are Also Dangerous 

According to satellite image assessments, the lake’s size was approximately 0.05 square kilometers just a few hours before the breach. “This lake was not on the list of potentially dangerous lakes that may cause GLOFs, and it wasn’t that big either. There are thousands of lakes like that,” Shrestha says. “This means even small lakes can cause vast destruction, and our river corridors are not safe.”

There are several lakes upstream of Thame, and satellite images show that these lakes’ sizes are constantly growing. However, they are not listed as potentially dangerous glacial lakes (PDGLs) like the nearby Tsho Rolpa. A glacial lake inventory report published in 2020 identified 47 PDGLs within the Koshi, Gandaki, and Karnali river basins of Nepal (21 in Nepal), the Tibet Autonomous Region of China (25 in China), and India (one in India).

This report identified other small lakes in the region, but they were not listed as PDGLs; there are more than 3,624 lakes in total. The report indicates that there are 2,214 lakes smaller than 0.02 square kilometers in size and 759 lakes ranging from 0.02 to 0.05 square kilometers in size.

“Yes, lakes are getting bigger day by day because of snowmelt and glacier retreat. But these small lakes are also dangerous when it comes to the destruction they may cause to downstream communities,” Shrestha said.

He argues that it’s time to integrate potential danger into development plans and disaster risk reduction (DRR) mechanisms so that disasters like the one in Thame can be avoided. The Thame flood occurred in the afternoon, allowing locals to move to safety, which prevented human casualties. But if it had happened at night, the situation could have been much worse.

“We are getting multiple wake-up calls, but we haven’t woken up yet,” Shrestha said. “We need to consider glacial lake-related events from a watershed perspective, not from the viewpoint of individual lakes. A multi-hazard preparedness approach is needed to avoid larger destruction because there are thousands of lakes above the communities.”

IPS UN Bureau Report

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