The government of Sudan has decided to seize the assets of the formerly ruling National Congress Party of toppled President Omar al-Bashir. The assets to be confiscated will include the headquarters of Bashir’s party in all Sudanese states, as well as the media institutions of the party also everywhere in Sudan. The media institutions contain several newspapers; TV channels; radio stations, and media companies. The decision to confiscate the assets of Bashir’s party dates back to December of last year when the new government of Sudan approved a law for the dissolution of the National Congress Party and the seizure of its assets.

New chapter

Disbanding the National Congress Party and the confiscation of its assets turns a new leaf in Sudan’s political life and gives this poor African nation a new political beginning, one free from the shadow of the man who ruled Sudan with iron and fire for decades in the past.

Bashir, who was overthrown by the military in April last year after months of mass protests, ruled Sudan for 30 years. He mounted the country’s saddle after a military coup that brought the Islamists, specifically the Muslim Brotherhood, to power. During these 30 years, the mismanagement, corruption, and religious extremism of Bashir’s regime turned Sudan into a fearful country where poverty was common and freedom was rare.

The disappearance of Bashir’s party from Sudan’s political stage will open the door for eradicating the covert networks of power, operating within the Sudanese state, ones that continue to be controlled by Bashir’s backers.

Media arm

The Sudanese government has formed a special panel to survey and then disband or confiscate all the institutions affiliated to Bashir’s party, including the media arms of the party.

The panel contains members of the Sovereign Council, which was formed in August last year to oversee the work of the government and chart a new political future for Sudan, and the Forces of Freedom and Change, the main opposition coalition in Sudan during the months of protests against Bashir’s rule.

Panel member Taha Osman revealed that the controversial Ashorooq TV was among the media outlets suspended and confiscated for having links with Bashir’s regime and party. The panel also seized a media company called al-Andalus, which owned several TV channels that were also linked to Bashir, including Tiba or Thebes Channel. The confiscated assets also included companies that issued newspapers, such as the daily al-Rai al-A’am or Public Opinion newspaper.

Return

The confiscation of the assets of the National Congress Party came as party members make efforts to return to the Sudanese political scene. A leaked audio purportedly of a leading member of the party revealed attempts for the party’s return to politics.

Mahdi Ibrahim, also a leading member of Sudan’s Muslim Brotherhood, says in the audio that the National Congress Party was blamed for all of Sudan’s problems. “I think we need to go back,” Ibrahim purportedly says in the audio which was aired by the Saudi news channel al-Arabiya on January 6. He suggests giving the National Congress Party a new name so that it can be more acceptable to the Sudanese public.

He even expresses confidence that the new party will be able to function as a magnet for Sudanese citizens.

“We were able to attract citizens to us at every stage and I think general conditions in Sudan now make this very possible,” Mahdi said.

Mahdi notes that the current political parties in Sudan are incapable of leading the African country while it struggles economically and politically in a region full of challenges and conflicts.

L'articolo Sudan Starts Cracking Down On Bashir’s Party proviene da InsideOver.

Climate change preceded by cyclic droughts and flash floods is already affecting agriculture, a key economic sector in Sub-Saharan Africa. In rural Kenya, Paul Koech, a 37-year-old father of six from the Kapkatet village in Narok County relies on farming for income, food security and nutrition. But due to the depressing impact of climate change, he is unable to sustainably produce and buy enough food for his family.

As the frequency and the severity of extreme droughts continue, agricultural productivity diminishes. The food supply and demand system is greatly disrupted making food availability a challenge to millions of people in Africa. Koech says that getting food and water, especially during the dry season, has become more difficult with food prices rapidly skyrocketing.

“Unlike before, at the moment I buy all the food very expensively, particularly milk for my kids”. He paused pointing at ploughed land. “I am struggling to feed my family yet I invested a lot of money in farming every season but end up getting little.” Koech regretted.

In many parts of Africa, climate change is the biggest impediment to people’s ability to grow enough food. The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) 2019 report indicates that 821.6 million (or 1 in 9 people) with 513.9 million in Asia and 256.1 million people in Africa, respectively do not have enough food to eat. Furthermore, over two billion people, mostly in low and middle-income countries lack regular access to safe, nutritious and sufficient food.

Like many other households in rural Kenya which have been ravaged by precarious impact of droughts, a stressor on the already volatile food prices and also overstretching the household’s budget on food, Koech couldn’t afford “three-meals a day”. “The situation becomes worse during dry season as we also buy fodder and water for our livestock. Though everything is uncertain, so getting three meals a day is not guaranteed. We only strive to get food for our supper, ” he said.

A global commitment to Sustainable Development Goal 2 aims to end world hunger and ensure access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food for all people all year round. A goal that is supported by over 500 million rain-fed farms worldwide, which provide up to 80% of food in the developing countries according to a UN report. Achieving this goal by 2030 can be impossible due to overreaching challenges of climate change.

Anna Cheborgei another resident and small scale farmer, says that a decade ago weather conditions were favourable and the farming business was doing well. She has never lack food, but the recent persistent drought, destructive pests and diseases followed by consecutive years of reduced yields – particularly maize which is a staple food – has led to a scarcity of food and loss of income.

“I have lost a lot of farm-produced to recurrent droughts, I sold some of our cows to buy food and invest back into the farm. I spend Ksh.500 (5 USD) per day to buy food, it is very difficult to get the money when you don’t have a source of income” She explained.

The impact of adverse weather continues to affect millions of households in Africa. Their financial investments are negatively affected hence the inability to adequately adapt to a changing climate and increased vulnerability.

“We no longer predict the planting seasons because the weather changes more rapidly with prolonged droughts or heavy rainfall leading to a lot of loss in our farms”. Paul added.

Worsening climate change is likely to push prices of staple food much higher. Researchers at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University released a new study on dietary affordability in the world, showing that nearly 1.58 billion people in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia who earn an estimated $2.84 per day, cannot afford the recommended diet.

“We found that the global median of the proposed diet would cost $2.84 per day,” said Kalle Hirvonen, the lead author and development economist in Ethiopia at the International Food Policy Research Institute. “In low-income countries, that amounts to 89.1 per cent of a household’s daily per capita income, which is more than people can actually spend on food,” Kalle explained.

As the foods get scarce, the quality becomes poorer and its prices also rise. UN reports highlighted the poor-quality diets as the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the world. The EAT-Lancet Commission study published at The Lancet Global Health indicated that the high cost of food prevents billions of people, particularly in developing countries from accessing a well-balanced diet.

“The cost of food preparation and non-food necessities ensure that an even larger number of people cannot afford that kind of healthy diet,” said senior author William Masters, an economist at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University.

Against the backdrop of declining food production, African governments are making concerted efforts to address agricultural food production to increase food security. Recently, African leaders held the first Africa Food Security Leadership Dialogue (AFSLD) in Kigali-Rwanda to find concrete ways of strengthening and accelerating their support to food security programs in Africa and help African agriculture adapt to climate change through increased partnerships and coordination.

In a press release from the meeting, Gilbert Houngbo, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, IFAD says that there is need to increase coordination at many levels, from addressing gaps in major infrastructure to transferring knowledge, finance and innovative technologies at the community, farm and even family level.

“IFAD is committed to continuing to work with its partners to empower the rural poor and the most vulnerable and to ensure that smallholder farmers and agripreneurs have the capital, the knowledge and the support they need to succeed – and drive greater food security and economic development at the same time,” said Gilbert Houngbo.

L'articolo Climate Change Increases Food Prices in Sub-Saharan Africa proviene da InsideOver.

1,660kg of cocaine was found in Guinea-Bissau in September 2019, in one of Africa’s biggest drug seizures. The drugs, found in a bungalow outside Canchungo, Guinea-Bissau, was seized with another 250kg of cocaine found in a couple of houses nearby.

Three Colombians, a Mexican and eight other people were arrested at the scenes of the crime. A further eighteen cars were seized, along with a speedboat. The drugs were headed for Europe, where the UN World Drug Report 2019 has recorded increased cocaine use, alongside North America.

Earlier in March, Guinea-Bissau police seized 800kg of cocaine in the country known as “smuggler’s paradise”. Poverty and corrupt, dysfunctional judicial systems have left West Africa increasingly prone to drug smuggling rings.

More than a decade ago, Colombian drug cartels arrived in West Africa. Their purpose was to turn the region into a transit hub for cocaine being imported from Latin America and into Europe. Africa’s political instability has also left citizens vulnerable to the drug smuggling trade.

‘The fact of the matter is that without assistance, Guinea-Bissau is at the mercy of wealthy, well-armed and technologically advanced narcotics traffickers,’ said the Consultancy Africa Intelligence agency.

A senior official at the US’s Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) said: “Geographically, West Africa makes sense. The logical thing is for the cartels to take the shortest crossing over the ocean to West Africa, by plane – to one of the many airstrips left behind by decades of war, or by drop into the thousands of little bays – or by boat all the way. A ship can drop anchor in waters completely unmonitored, while fleets of smaller craft take the contraband ashore.

“A place like Guinea Bissau is a failed state anyway, so it’s like moving into an empty house.

“There is no prison in Guinea-Bissau. One rusty ship patrols a coastline of 350km, and an archipelago of 82 islands. The airspace is un-patrolled. The police have few cars, no petrol, no radios, handcuffs or phones.

“You walk in, buy the services you need from the government, army and people, and take over. The cocaine can then be stored safely and shipped to Europe, either by ship to Spain or Portugal, across land via Morocco on the old cannabis trail, or directly by air using ‘mules’.”

The global drugs trade is an incredibly complex, illicit industry. Law enforcement worldwide have found it impossible to control this industry, because of its complexity.

From the farmers who feed their families growing cocaine to the law enforcement officers who turn a blind eye for a ‘cut’ of the profits, to the everyday citizen in Europe – including wealthy, powerful people, some politicians – who abuse the drugs, the drug chain is too long and too complex to be defeated.

The United States would finally admit to this impossibility when different states began legalising recreational marijuana use, starting with Colorado in 2012. Unfortunately, this war on drugs would come at a huge cost to the country’s African American population who were deliberately criminalised for decades, by the US government, for using and selling marijuana.

In Europe, the rhetoric of blame continues to be used when talking about drug trafficking in Africa. News reports fully blame the lack of police equipment and social infrastructure that have attracted Latin American drug lords to operate in the area. Yet, West Africa’s drug trafficking would not be catalysed if demand from Europe didn’t make drug trafficking extremely profitable.

This is a rhetoric of power: the people who use the drugs from safe distances are allowed to point fingers at those who grow, make and traffic the drugs in unsafe, dangerous and, many times, hopeless conditions.

In 2011, Matthew S. Jenner, from the Indiana University Maurer School of Law would argue against criminalising drug trafficking.

“Forty years ago, the world declared war on drugs,” he wrote. “Today, after decades of failing to adequately control drug consumption, an even graver problem has emerged: violent drug traffickers have taken the industry hostage and will stop at nothing to preserve their power.

“Governments have instituted dozens of programs to dismantle the illicit drug industry, but they have seen only marginal success.”

In 2009, the West Africa Coast Initiative (WACI) was launched by United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (DPA/UNOWAS), Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) and The International Crime Police Organization (INTERPOL).

Its goal is to use force to “address the menace of transnational organized crime, including drug trafficking.” It is operational in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea-Bissau and Cote D’Ivoire.

“All the venues are being screened to expand the WACI programme implementation beyond the initial five targeted States, to serve as a model for all ECOWAS members,” its website states.

The presence of WACI in these countries will only serve to make drug traffickers more crafty in their trade, and government officials more prone to corruption.

The global drugs trade is “one of the top five largest industries in the world after the arms trade”. Rather than making forceful attempts to squash this globalised and heavily-profitable network, Africa’s biggest challenge would be to fix the sociopolitical and economic problems drawing its local population to this industry.

The future of the African Union is dependent on the continent achieving its aims to “promote sustainable development at the economic, social and cultural levels” and to “promote peace, security, and stability on the continent”.

The ENACT transnational organised crime programme’s research and analysis of Africa’s drug trade, policy, and future consumption trends reveals that sub-Saharan Africa will see the globe’s biggest surge in illicit drug users in the next 30 years, caused by organised crime and ineffective policy. With one in four people in the world predicted to be African by that time, the AU must hasten to achieve its sociopolitical and economic aims by its 2063 deadline.

West Africa’s opiate crisis, today, is an example of bigger problems to come if the AU does not meet its objectives. The same problems that caused West Africa’s drug trafficking boom are the same problems that will continue to exacerbate the problem unless the root of this continental malaise is addressed.

L'articolo The Global Drugs Trade Finds a Profitable Hub in West Africa proviene da InsideOver.

London is the second richest city in the world after New York City. According to Business Insider, there are 2.7 trillion dollars of total private wealth in London. London, however, is a divided city.

Despite the apparent wealth, London has the highest rate of poverty in Great Britain. Traditionally, the East End, the area of London east of the city also known as the business district, has been impoverished. During the reigns of Queen Victoria and Edward VII, there were dreadful slums in this part of London. The worst slum was ‘Old Nichol’ in Shoreditch. From the early twentieth century, slums were demolished and council flats built to house former slum dwellers. Although this improved the lives of those who inhabited slums, there is still much deprivation.

When England hosted the summer Olympics in 2012, a large number of jobs were created, however, the majority of those jobs ceased to exist when the Olympic Games ended. There is still high unemployment in the East End. This is exacerbated by Canary Wharf, a business development adjacent to dilapidated council estates. Many of those who inhabit council flats are in low paid work while those who work at Canary Wharf earn high incomes. Near to the East End is the city where the Stock Exchange is located; many here are paid high salaries. This further distinguishes the economic division in London leading to poverty.

On a similar note, Westminster is one of London’s wealthiest boroughs because it is the area where all the tourist landmarks are situated such as The National Gallery and Trafalgar Square. Also, Westminster incorporates many places of entertainment such as London’s West End theatres. Westminster, however, has the highest number of rough sleepers in England. In the autumn of 2018, 306 people spent a night on the streets in Westminster. This is more than double the number of those in Camden, the borough with the second-highest rate of rough sleeping. The main factors that have caused rough sleeping are unaffordable accommodation, relationship breakdown, eviction and release from institutions, such as prisons, where no support has been provided.

Another form of homelessness are those who live in temporary accommodation, such as bed and breakfast hotels. The number of households in temporary accommodation in London is ten times higher than the national average; high rents have been responsible for this. Also, the introduction of ‘The Bedroom Tax’ precipitated a high number of evictions. The regime penalized people who lived in a council property where there were more bedrooms than people living there. For example, if one person inhabited a three-bedroom, council flat, the tenant would have to pay rent for the other two bedrooms not being occupied. This led to many having a shortfall on their rent account and they were evicted because of this.

The introduction of ‘Universal Credit,’ which was a huge change to welfare in decades, caused misery and suffering to millions because claimants had to wait months before they received any money; this caused there to be arrears on rent accounts and tenants were evicted although they were not to blame. The majority of people evicted were then placed in temporary accommodation in outer London because Housing Benefit (this covers the payment of rent for those without work or in low paid jobs) costs are cheaper than in inner London. Inner London has become ‘gentrified’ (wealthy people have moved to once poor areas) and therefore rents are much higher there than in outer London. London has the highest rate of child poverty in England. 700,000 children in London are living in poverty. Tower Hamlets, a borough in the East End, has the highest rate of child poverty in London, at 56.7%.

The high cost of living and reduction in welfare have been responsible. Also, there has been a ‘benefits freeze’ which has prevented welfare benefits being increased to accommodate the rising cost of living. Two-thirds of child poverty exists in families where at least one adult is working. Although unemployment is at its lowest since the 1970s, a high number of people are in low paid jobs. A Joseph Rowntree Foundation Survey in 2016 revealed that 55% of Londoners living in abject poverty were in employment.

The ‘gig’ economy has been responsible for the rise in poverty in London and the rest of England. The ‘gig’ economy is a labour market characterized by the prevalence of short-term contract or freelance work rather than permanent jobs. Also, there have been a high rise in the number of ‘zero hour’ contracts: an employee might have work one day but nothing for the rest of the week. Such jobs have no holiday or sick pay. Irregular and low paid work as well as the high cost of living in London have caused millions to be living in poverty.

Poverty is detrimental to people’s physical and mental health. Limited money forces people to eat cheap food which contains much sugar, fat and salt which can precipitate Diabetes, heart disease and obesity. The stress of poverty can cause people to become mentally ill or to use alcohol or drugs as coping mechanisms. A living wage needs to be introduced. A living wage is the minimum income necessary for workers to meet their basic needs of food, housing and other essential needs. Far more council homes and housing association properties need to be built; these cater for those in low paid work.

Also, the high cost of living needs to be reduced. For example, there should be a freeze on fares being increased. Such changes would greatly reduce poverty. Britain has the sixth richest economy in the world yet for many, there is no quality of life owing to poverty. There is a proverb: History repeats itself. Britain in the early twenty-first century has become the second Victorian age.

L'articolo London has the Highest Poverty Rate in Great Britain proviene da InsideOver.

Child marriage is now illegal in Tanzania. The two-year legal battle ended on October 23, when sections 13 and 17 of Tanzania’s Law of Marriage Act were declared “unconstitutional” by the Tanzanian Supreme Court of Appeal.

Before the 2016 ruling, girls aged 14 and above could get married with the consent of a court, and girls aged 15 and above could be married with parental consent. Boys, according to the Law of Marriage Act 1971 are only permitted to get married aged 18 and above.

Thirty-one per cent of girls in Tanzania are married before their 18th birthday. Another two out of five girls are given up for marriage before the age of 15, and almost one in four have their first child before the age of 18. The East African nation has the 11th highest number of child brides in the world.

Dr Agnes Odhiambo, Senior Researcher at the Women’s Rights Division of Human Rights Watch said: “This is a victory for the many girls in Tanzania who have been suffering unnecessarily because of government failure to outlaw child marriage.

“The government of Tanzania, for some time, has been sending mixed messages about where it stands on protecting the right of girls.

“It’s also very outrageous for the country’s Attorney General to say that marriage is protecting for girls, where research that we have done… shows that child marriage is very dangerous for girls.”

In 2017, Dr Odhiambho, writing for Human Rights Watch, discussed the discriminatory practices, linked to child marriages which Tanzania’s girls face.

Sexual abuse by teachers is common in Tanzanian schools: girls are often punished when they fall pregnant, while teachers are spared by the law and the community. A 2011 report by UNICEF reveals that one in ten girls in Tanzania experiences sexual violence by a teacher.

“What we have seen when we are on the ground in Tanzania is issues around reproductive health,” Dr Odhiambho continued.

“There is an impact on girls who have to give birth when they are very young. Some of them often die during childbirth, while others develop serious injuries.

“What is also seen [on the ground] is the issue with violence,” she added, explaining that husbands and in-laws of child brides often abuse them physically and psychologically.

“Some girls feel isolated within the family, they feel that they don’t have a lot of friends, causing them a lot of emotional trauma. Some of them, also, are under a lot of domestic violence.

“Some of them are also telling us of being raped in their marriage. They are not ready for the marriage, they are not ready to have sex in marriage, and so their husband forces them to have sex.”

Child marriage is not just a societal problem, but an economic one. The costs of not keeping girls in education further encourages national poverty, because uneducated girls do not generate a big income to the country.

“Ending child marriage could generate benefits worth $5 billion per year by 2030 thanks to lower population growth thereby higher standards of living and lower poverty,” reads a report from the World Bank titled: “The Power of Investing in Girls”.

“The boost for Tanzania’s economy that ending child marriage, preventing early childbearing, and investing in girls’ education would provide would help poverty reduction efforts, as high population growth makes it especially difficult to achieve sustained reductions in poverty over time.”

Quentin Wodon, World Bank lead economist and co-author of the report said: “If women who married as girls had been able to delay their marriage, their annual earnings today could have been higher by more than $600 million. Ending child marriage and educating girls is not only the right thing to do, it is also a smart investment.”

The President of Tanzania, Jon Magufuli, once said that girls who became pregnant would not be allowed back to school, to discourage other schoolgirls from having sex. Under his presidency, schools routinely carry out mandatory pregnancy tests, “a serious infringement of girls’ rights to privacy, equality, and autonomy”, Ellen Martinez, Children’s Rights Division Senior Researcher at Human Rights Watch argued.

The ruling of the Court of Appeal is a great step into safeguarding the political, societal and financial future of millions of girls in Tanzania.

L'articolo Child Marriage Ban Upheld by Tanzania’s Court of Appeal proviene da InsideOver.

The climate change crisis is currently ravaging millions of peoples’ livelihoods in the Horn of Africa leading to a rapid increase in demand for humanitarian needs and assistance. As a result, the intensity of cyclic droughts are becoming more severe, diminishing water resources and multiple climate-related shocks exacerbate displacement of a larger population into desolations with little or no access to water and food.

According to theUnited Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Djibouti, the most affected country in the region by the climate change, contains more than 280,000 people who do not have food in the country. In a recent visit to Djibouti by Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, Ursula Mueller, called on the international community to take immediate action towards tackling the climate change issues, particularly in Djibouti and the entire Horn of Africa.

“Climate change is real, and I could see it here. I saw the widespread drought and I met communities that can barely access safe water. They explained to me how this situation is impacting their lives. Djibouti has had virtually no contribution to the global climate emergency, but its population is suffering the consequences daily,” said Ms. Mueller.

In two days visit to the country to assess the effects of climate change and the consequences for the humanitarian situation in the region, Ms. Mueller noted a devastating impacts of climate change that has contributed to a limited livelihoods opportunities leading to a higher level of poverty and unemployment, lack of water, poor hygiene conditions and increasing risk of disease outbreaks.

“Severe acute malnutrition rates are alarming and considered an emergency according to global standards. In Bondara village, women told me how they were doing whatever it takes to put food on the table for the family, but the frequent droughts are preventing them from doing so,” Ms. Mueller added.

According to the climate change profile for the Greater Horn of Africa published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands on April 2018, Djibouti is ranked 141 out of 181 countries globally which are vulnerable to climate change as well as 51st most vulnerable and 33rd least ready to cope with impact of climate change.

With the current increase in temperature and arid conditions experience in the region, UN reports indicate that only 0.01 per cent of the land arable with minimal annual rainfall, exposing more than 58% of the rural population to food insecurity while 23% live in abject poverty.

Due to its proximity to Gulf countries. Djibouti forms a transiting point of refugees and asylums seekers to the Gulf countries with 400 to 600 migrants crossing daily, fleeing the impact of conflict, instability and harsh climate in neighbouring countries such as Somalia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and recently Yemen. Djibouti is also home to some 30,000 refugees and asylum-seekers and an estimated 100,000 migrants.

“It was heart-breaking to hear a 20-year-old young woman mentioning that her dream is to find a job as a maid in Saudi Arabia, and she is risking her life in search of a better opportunity,” She added.

An estimated 27 million people – or 24% of the total food insecure people in the world– lived in seven of the eight countries in the IGAD region, according to a new report released by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the Food Security Information Network (FSIN).

Ambassador (Eng.) Mahboub Maalim, Intergovernmental Authority on Development Executive Secretary, acknowledged that climate change shocks are the main drivers of food insecurity in the Horn of Africa and call on the IGAD members to invest more on climate resilience and adaptation to climate change measures.

“The main drivers of acute food insecurity and malnutrition in our region are climate, conflict and economic instability. I call on IGAD specialized offices, Member States and partners to invest further in resilience, adaptation to climate change, conflict prevention and sustaining peace to overcome vulnerability and address the root causes of hunger and malnutrition” said Ambassador (Eng.) Mahboub Maalim, IGAD Executive Secretary.

The Deputy Humanitarian Chief affirmed the need for urgent action to address the underlying causes of vulnerabilities and get on a path to sustainable development in Djibouti and the region.

“But the Government needs further support to help communities build up resilience, to be self-sufficient so that the recurring shocks do not lead to further suffering and more costly crises.” She emphasized.

L'articolo The UN Calls for Action Over Climate Change Crisis in Djibouti proviene da InsideOver.

Over the past weeks, protests have erupted across West Papua and Indonesia with over 200,000 people joining the march. Fuelled by the alleged racist attack of three Papuan students who were shot in their dorms by militia groups, along with video footage of Indonesian police firing at campaigners – in which six were killed – tensions have rapidly escalated.

Yet, this uprising is not something new. Over the years, many massacres have occurred. It has been estimated that over 500,000 civilians have been killed and thousands more raped, tortured, and imprisoned since Indonesian rule began over 50 years ago. One of the most poignant bloodbaths being the infamous “Biak Massacre” back in 1998, where numerous people were shot following protests. More than 200 – including women and children – were then frogmarched onto Indonesian vessels by the military, taken out to sea, and thrown in to drown.

As a result of the on-going political unrest, there are now over 6,000 Indonesian military and police on the streets of Papuan Towns and cities. To date, the country remains the poorest province in Indonesia according to the 2016 Human Development Index, with 40 per cent living below the poverty line. Furthermore, Papuans have the highest maternal and child mortality rates in the country; the highest rates of illiteracy; and the lowest life expectancy. Many have argued this is evidence of the government turning a blind eye to the growing injustices and struggles the people of West Papua face.

Naomi Sosa, Director of Papua Partners UK, an organisation that provides support to the indigenous Papuan community, explained, “Papuans experience direct violence in terms of widespread human rights abuses by the state but they also experience deep structural violence. Many more Papuans die by structural violence than by direct violence. This is seen played out in the crisis in Asmat Regency of Papua where a measles and malnutrition crisis killed at least 72 people – who were mostly children – in early 2018. Other epidemics and famines over the last 40 years, due to lack of immunisation and no presence or negligence of the state, have most likely killed tens of thousands.”

Most Papuans live in a perpetual state of fear, aware that they could face a catalogue of violence at any given point. Apart from physical abuse, rural villages have been burnt to the ground, and agriculture and livestock destroyed, subjecting the inhabitants to illnesses and starvation.

Furthermore, the creation of new districts has allowed local elites to have access to funds and control with little accountability. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of people continue to be denied the services and finances that they need, which contributed to more violence and deaths.

“There cannot be peace in the land of Papua until there is real justice for the Papuan people,” Sosa added. “Until then, any peace achieved only by stopping direct violence, blocking of protests, silencing of journalists and activists, is a false and unsustainable peace and will never be acceptable to the majority of Papuan people.”

Since the rights to freedom of expression are also largely denied in West Papua, many find themselves to be victims of persecution or imprisonment should they object to Indonesian rule or express being in favour of independence. At present, hundreds of political prisoners are being held with lengthy jail sentences for protesting peacefully.

In a damning report, Amnesty International said that “the people of Papua have been subject to severe human rights violations at the hands of the Indonesian authorities. Their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly are heavily curtailed, and many are imprisoned simply for having taken part in non-violent demonstrations, or having expressed their opinions.”

Today, the police arrested a leading West Papuan activist. Buchtar Tabuni, who is the deputy head of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) was suspected as an instigator in the recent riots and pro-independence protests.

Tempo reported that Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Dedi Prasetyo in South Jakarta said that Tabuni has been charged with articles on treason and others, and Papua Regional Police HQ are still examining him. Dedi, however, did not disclose the role of Buchtar and his alleged association with Benny Wenda – another Papuan activist accused of orchestrating the insurgences.

The province of West Papua, which lies far east of Indonesia, was originally inhabited by Melanesian people until it was colonised in 1898 by the Dutch. It was temporarily transferred to the United Nations before being given to Indonesia in 1963. By 1969, following a referendum, which many claimed to be fraudulent, it came under Indonesian rule – a move that has since been hugely contested by most Papuans over the decades.

L'articolo Indonesia’s Secret Genocide On West Papua proviene da InsideOver.

The second president of the newly independent Botswana, Sir Ketumile Masire, was known for saying, “When we asked for independence, people thought we were either very brave or very foolish.” In 1966, the African nation gained independence after years of British rule, and the future seemed uncertain with little potential for economic growth. An agrarian society, its macroclimate was predisposed to droughts that led to famines, poverty, and disease

Yet, just a few years after its independence, diamonds were discovered. Botswana soon became the home base of the famous De Beers – one of the world’s top diamond companies. To date, Jwaneng diamond mine in South-Central Botswana is the richest diamond mine on the planet. Botswana’s prospects were set to change. Or was it?

Despite the diamond boom that has fortified some aspects of the economy, considerable amounts of poverty and inequality persist throughout the country. According to the Borgen Project, in some rural areas, the poverty rate is as high as 46 per cent and unemployment for the country is at 20 per cent.

The World Bank reported that the highest poverty pockets are still found in the more remote regions, and that children under 15 years of age represented 46.2 per cent of the poor in 2009/10. It also stated that larger households with more children have a tendency for higher rates of poverty. Furthermore, since Botswana has some of the highest HIV/AIDS statistics, and a sizeable number of single-parent families, they are more likely to be poor due to only having one source of income.

The 2018 Global Hunger Index gives Botswana a score of 25.5, which indicates that it suffers from a level of hunger that is considered to be “serious”. This is highlighted with the Botswana School Feeding Program, where children have meals provided to them whilst at school. During the weekends or holidays, however, many children can go without food.

Young people tend to face higher rates of unemployment. Around 51 per cent of unemployment comes from those who are between the ages of 15 and 24. This has been a result of the fact that the skills being taught at schools do not often align with the careers on the job market. As such, it has led to a significant increase in unemployment levels amongst graduates.

There also is a great disparity with the distribution of livestock. In rural communities, oftentimes, the only jobs that are available are agriculture ones. It is estimated that almost half of the farmers do not own cattle, and the ones who do, own just very small herds. As a result, the poorest 71 per cent of traditional farmers own only about eight percent of total traditional herds, while the richest 2.5 percent own about 40 percent. And around 10 per cent of farming households own 60 percent of the 2.3 million cattle in the country. What this means is that the entire system is being further bolstered by an uneven distribution of wealth which fosters the rich getting richer, while the poor remain poor.

Michigan State University identified inadequate levels of social safety nets; inequitable distribution of power and assets in households; over-reliance on the government to provide economic resources and social services; high population growth rates; and the remoteness of many communities as further factors of poverty. Harsh climatic conditions leading to low agricultural production, as well as cultural beliefs and practices which relegate women to a subordinate position,  can also be blamed. Women, in particular, also struggle to enter the job market due to social barriers and lack of education and as such, comprise of only around 36 percent of formal sector employees.

While there may be various reasons for Botswana’s widespread poverty, the government has proposed to tackle some of the issues with the Vision 2036 project. Backed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the aim is to be a high-income nation by 2036 with an end goal that could mean that no one would be below the poverty line. Yet, whether the project comes into fruition or not and succeeds in its endeavour, only time will tell.

L'articolo Botswana: Why Is The Biggest Diamond-Producing Country In The World Poor? proviene da InsideOver.

Rickety huts made out of wood and galvanised steel teeter above gravestones, as children play amongst garbage, open sewage, and the dead. This is a place concealed from the roving eyes of tourists to the Philippines’ vibrant capital, Manila. With a population that far outnumbers work prospects, thousands have been driven to these makeshift dwellings. Since the 1950s, formidable slum communities have been built in the city’s public cemeteries. Occupied by gangs, prostitutes, labourers, and runaways, these communes are a cocktail of desperate poverty and danger.

Manila is not just one of the oldest cities in the world, but also one of the most densely populated. Lured from all corners of the country, people arrive in droves seeking out better lives and opportunities. Yet, too often, what they discover is a town bustling with frenetic poverty and bursting at its seams with inhabitants. And for those who are tasked with being both impoverished and uneducated, the city does not glitter of gold. They find themselves, unwittingly, doomed for life in the cemetery slums. And even after they have died, most are predestined to remain there.

Lacking in basic amenities such as electricity, running water, sanitation, and even proper accommodation, generations of families have eked out a living via whatever means necessary. And since President Duterte’s “war against drugs”, violent raids are frequent. Police routinely storm the slums on killing sprees. Many are resigned to their family members meeting bloody ends and lovingly tend to their graves after they are gone. The lack of funds or concern means that proper investigations are not often carried out for those who die within the walls of the cemeteries.

“That night, 50 police came into the cemetery,” Carmelia Bahacan, whose 37-year-old-son was killed, told the Guardian. “They shot him five times. He was dead after the first shot, but they continued shooting.”

She lives in a shack built on top of her son’s grave, and said that she liked that his body is next to her, buried in a tomb with her father.

“Someday soon I will die, and I would like to be buried here also,” she concluded ominously.

The police claim that many of the residents are unemployed and, with few options, often fall into criminal activities to make ends meet. As such, the cemetery neighbourhoods become a breeding ground for crime and lawbreakers.

Danial Eriksen is a creative director and photographer who spent years documenting off-the-grid communities in various places around the globe, and one of them was a cemetery slum in Manila. For a week, Eriksen lived alongside the slum-dwellers in Cemeterio Del Norte. For him, it was an eye-opener to experience how organised and self-contained it was. He described it as being somewhat surreal to witness people living amongst the dead – sometimes, sleeping on raised coffins with human remains.

“What I got from the community is that they felt safe in the graveyard,” he explained. “One of the elders once said: ‘The dead can’t hurt you.’”

“I was also fascinated by how the government had opened the cemetery for thousands of homeless to live in and turn the tombs into apartments,”

“The apartment type is like how apartments work. They are final resting places for people who cannot afford to buy their own lots at the cemetery. The cemetery management, which is the government, owns the land. They are built on top of one another to accommodate more people. Each apartment has a five-year lease. When a person is laid to rest in one of the units, his or her family has to pay for the lease. After five years, should they want their departed loved ones to stay there, they need to go to the management to renew their lease. Otherwise, they get evicted. The bones are usually placed in sacks. Ideally, they tag them and keep them in a storage area. Unfortunately, rarely does this happen. I think this is because of the big number of expired leases and the number of people looking for vacancies.”

When leases are not renewed, those skeletons are no longer taken care of and the bones are removed and forgotten. It is primarily the family’s duty to look after the remains of their deceased, yet, not everyone is able to afford to continue the maintenance of it. Often times, people remove the bones from the tombs; bones piled on top of one another in dark corners or stored in careless rucksacks are common sights.

Eriksen said that the number of people living in the cemetery continues to grow at an alarming rate, and feels that the government has not done enough to find a better alternative.

“The people have been in the cemetery for as long as elders can remember. No one has exact figures on how long people have been living there. But I’m certain it’s been a while,” he added.

L'articolo Thousands Living In Cemeteries Built Into Slums proviene da InsideOver.