By MediaGlobal
RECORD GLACIER MELTING THREATENS WORLD’S POOR
17 March 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: The world’s glaciers are melting at an increasingly rapid rate, the World Glacier Monitoring Service, a Swiss research center supported by the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) reported this week. Based on information from 30 reference glaciers in nine mountain ranges around the world, the service estimates that in 2006 approximately 1.4 meters of water equivalent, equal to 1.54 meters of ice thickness, was lost. In 2005 losses measured only half a meter. Since 1980 the service reports that more than 10.5 meters of water equivalent have been lost – a volume equal to 11.5 meters of ice thickness, or nearly 38 feet. This increasing rate of melting is cause for concern, UNEP said, and the most immediate victims will be the world’s poorest people. “There are suggestions by scientists that recent flooding in China, for example, is linked in part with increased glacial melt,” Nick Nuttall, spokesman for UNEP, told MediaGlobal. Even more worrying, he stressed, is the future impact of unchecked glacier melting. “In the medium to long term, glaciers melting away may lead to water shortages in certain key months of the year,” Nuttall said. “Mayors in several cities have expressed concern over drinking water supplies as a result of glacier loss.” Glacier melting, he added, is yet another example of the adverse impact of global climate change on the world’s poorest people. “Unless the international community responds by combating climate change and factoring adaptation strategies into development decisions and strategies, the poor and vulnerable members of society [will] face increasing water shortages, the loss of economically important ecosystems and nature-based resources such as wetlands and inland fisheries, and perhaps an increase in water-borne disease.”
ISLAMIC NGO’S FILL NICHE IN DEVELOPMENT AID
18 March 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: With sixty percent of refugees living in Muslim countries, and many of the most pressing humanitarian crises unfolding in predominantly Muslim areas, Islamic non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have an increasingly important role to play in the delivery of emergency and long-term development aid. Muslim organizations have “advantages in those areas,” Mostafa Mahboob of Islamic Relief, an NGO that runs permanent projects in nine sub-Saharan countries, said in an interview with MediaGlobal. “People might be more receptive to others from a similar understanding,” he said. “Understanding where they’re coming from and understanding the sensitivities that might be involved with those communities – that’s a tremendous advantage that we have.” Mahboob explained that Islamic organizations are often more successful in involving local religious leaders in community outreach and education, particularly important aspects of efforts such as HIV/AIDS prevention. As in other communities, HIV infection carries considerable stigma in many Muslim areas, and the support of religious leaders is often crucial to raising awareness of the disease. But, while religious affiliation may help some aid organizations gain the trust of the communities they work with, “in other instances people might assume we only serve Muslims or we are involved in religious conversions of any sort, which is not true,” Mahboob said.
RICH COUNTRIES URGED TO ASSIST BANGLADESH IN COPING WITH GLOBAL PRICE SHOCKS
18 March 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: The international community, especially oil-rich countries, should increase support to Bangladesh as the country struggles with global price shocks while trying to strengthen its democratic systems, said Kemal Dervis, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), who recently wrapped up a three-day visit to the country. Roughly 40 percent of the population of this South Asian country live below the poverty line, reports UNDP, and in December annual food inflation reached 16 percent. Prices of essentials, such as rice and oil, are also significantly higher than they were last year, and Bangladesh faces food shortages after two floods and the cyclone Sidr decimated crops last year. “For a country like Bangladesh, where roughly 40 percent of the population lives below the poverty line and where poor households spend nearly 70 percent of their income on food items, a steep increase in food prices has a strong adverse effect on the incidence of poverty and human development,” Cherie Hart, of the UNDP Regional Centre in Bangkok, told MediaGlobal. “The real issue is protecting the vulnerable from these shocks,” Dervis said. “The international community cannot leave these huge world events unattended.”
MAKING MEDICINE IN AFRICA WOULD INCREASE ACCESS, BOOST DEVELOPMENT
20 March 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: African governments should play a larger role in pharmaceutical research and development, said Ahmed Ogwell, head of International Relations for Kenya’s Ministry of Health. Speaking at a discussion on innovative financing for medical drug development, held Thursday at UN Headquarters, Ogwell stressed the need to increase access to existing drugs, while upping funding for the development of new ones. Health advocates have long accused stringent patent laws and international treaties governing intellectual property rights of making life-saving drugs prohibitively expensive for the developing world. “The current system, which relies solely on intellectual property, has failed quite dramatically in Africa,” Ogwell said. “That is why the disease burden is in fact probably increasing in some areas.” Conducting innovative medical research in Africa could accomplish two goals, increasing the region’s scientific and technical capacity while focusing research on the communities most affected by neglected diseases. Getting governments involved is critical, Ogwell said, adding that prizes awarded for the discovery of treatments with the greatest public health benefits could be organized and funded by the public health sector. “When governments become a little more active, the money will be more, and hopefully the results will be faster,” Ogwell told MediaGlobal. Technology transfer from developing countries with growing pharmaceutical industries to Africa could increase drug access and help develop Africa’s knowledge-based economies. “There’s a lot of discussion right now between different African countries and companies, both in Asia and Brazil – in Asia I mean India and to some extent Pakistan. And the intention is to try and see how to transfer technology, to be able to use it in Africa,” Ogwell said. “I am very hopeful that it’s going to expand.”
UN SUPPORTS USE OF SATELLITES TO COMBAT EFFECTS OF NATURAL DISASTERS IN ASIA
20 March 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: The Asia-Pacific region has been the victim of some of the most devastating natural disasters in human history, reports the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). In the last ten years, six out of ten of the most deadly natural disasters occurred in the Asia-Pacific region. The area also “accounted for over 74 percent of the estimated 21,000 causalities from natural disasters in the world in 2006, and eight ESCAP member countries are ranked in the top 10 countries most hit by natural disasters,” said Shigeru Mochida, Deputy Executive Secretary of ESCAP, at a recent conference. To help prepare countries in this region for future disasters, ESCAP organized a regional conference on disaster management to review ways of utilizing information collected from earth observation satellites. Space-based information can be used “to support preparedness and early warning and to support rescue and recovery activities,” Wu Guoxiang of ESCAP told MediaGlobal. For example, satellite-based information can be used to create hazard maps that show which areas are vulnerable to floods, tsunami, landslides and other catastrophes. “During and after disasters, such information can be used to estimate disaster affected areas for rescue and relief actions, and to estimate the damages caused by the disaster,” Wu added. High-level officials from the national disaster management authorities of 22 countries participated in the conference, which concluded March 21 at the United Nations Conference Center in Bangkok.
APPOINTING FEMALE JUDGES CRITICAL TO EFFECTIVE LEGAL SYSTEMS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
20 March 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: Women’s involvement in the legal system is critical to establishing a fair and just system of law in Afghanistan, said Joan Winship, Executive Director of the International Association of Women Judges, a U.S.-based NGO that seeks to support women judges around the world. Since the fall of the Taliban, America has been very involved in helping Afghanistan establish what is known as “rule of law”, an environment in which the power of the legal system is respected and upheld. It is important, Winship said, that when such legal systems are developed, they take into account women’s perspectives and allow women’s participation at all levels, from access to courts to serving as judges. “In most countries, women are more than 50 percent of the population,” Winship told MediaGlobal. “And women—it’s not to say that they’re better or worse—but they bring a life experience that is different from their male counterparts.” In Afghanistan, where women were banned from serving as judges under the Taliban, today there are 50 women on the bench across the country. Such involvement is crucial, Winship said, because when women aren’t engaged in the legal system, whole areas of law critically important to society may be neglected. “In any number of countries, in some cases, there haven’t been courts like juvenile courts, like family courts” she said. Having women judges also ensures that the rights and interests of women are upheld. “In Africa, some of the biggest issues [facing women] are issues of property rights, of inheritance rights, of economic rights.” Winship said. “Having women judges in the courts makes a difference.”
FAO EXPRESSES SERIOUS CONCERN ABOUT PREVALENCE OF AVIAN INFLUENZA
21 March 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: Although efforts to contain avian influenza, or bird flu, have been largely successful, serious concerns remain over an increased prevalence of the disease in Indonesia, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned. Thirty-one of the nation’s 33 provinces have reported infections, making it the prime hotbed for the disease. Jill Nesner of FAO told MediaGlobal that Indonesia has had the highest number of human deaths from the disease. One of the principal reasons is the number of backyard farmers in the country, a many of whom deal with poultry. Around twenty percent of Indonesia’s 1.4 billion chickens live in roughly 30 million backyards around the country. “There will be more human cases if we do not focus more on containing the disease at source in animals,” remarked FAO Chief Veterinary Officer, Joseph Domenech. The attention avian flu receives has dropped significantly over the past two years although the disease remains a threat to the developing world. “FAO has really backed down on the situation,” said Nesner. However, she added, this is because containment has proven successful, not because they have lost interest.
PHOTOGRAPHY CONTEST AIMS TO RAISE AWARENESS OF POVERTY AND HUNGER
21 March 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: Year of the Rat meet Year of the Potato. The Chinese are not the only people titling 2008—the United Nations named this year the International Year of the Potato (IYP) in an effort to raise awareness of hunger and poverty around the globe. The potato is a crucial crop that contributes to agriculture, world food security and the economy. The Food and Agriculture Association (FAO) is asking photographers to exemplify the spirit of the potato through its cultivation, biodiversity, trade, processing, consumption, marketing and utilization. “It’s basically a contest,” Jill Nesner of the FAO told MediaGlobal. Camera manufacturer Nikon is sponsoring the event, which aims to change the way people view a simple potato. The contest will be split into two categories, professional and amateur, giving photographers of all skill levels a fair chance to win. Nesner added that the contest will promote research and development of an important agricultural staple. “[The] potato is the world’s number four food crop, after rice, wheat and maize, with annual production of more than 300 million tonnes,” said NeBambi Lutaladio, the IYP coordinator. Participants can simply upload their photographs online. Winners will receive cash prizes or Nikon cameras. The entry deadline is 1 September 2008.
GLOBAL HAPPENINGS
For April
International Banana Conference 2008 – Mombassa, Kenya (7-11 April 2008): Organized by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, the conference focuses on banana and plantain research across Africa, lessons learned and the way forward. A major objective of the conference is to foster international partnerships. Email: t.dubois@cgiar.org Website: www.banana2008.org
Unite for Sight’s 5th Annual International Health Conference – Yale University, New Haven, USA (12-13 April 2008): The conference will bring together 180 expert speakers in international health and development, public health, eye care, medicine, social entrepreneurship, nonprofits, philanthropy, microfinance, human rights, anthropology, health policy, advocacy, public service, environmental health and education. Website: http://uniteforsight.org
Prince of Wales’ Business and the Environment Programme - Cambridge, UK (15-18 April 2008): The University of Cambridge Program for Industry, Business & the Environment Program is the premier international forum for executive learning and leadership for sustainability. The six annual Senior Executives Seminars held around the world aim to help a select group of highly influential decision-makers understand the challenges and opportunities. Website: http://www.cpi.cam.ac.uk
The Global Travel and Tourism Summit – Dubai, UAE (20-22 April 2008): Set in a unique format – The Round – the Summit will engage invited participants in real dialogue on issues that affect the industry and the world at large. Invited participants include the Chairs and Chief Executives of the Travel & Tourism industry, heads of government, international experts and the global media. Website: http://www.globaltraveltourism.com/
Africa: International Conference on African Culture and Development – Kumasi, Ghana (21-26 April 2008): The conference is designed to draw attention to a missing link in attempts to develop the African continent – culture. Website: www.icacd.ccoghana.org
Rethinking Poverty: Making Policies Work for Children – Conference and Call for Papers. New York, USA (21-23 April 2008): UNICEF and the Graduate Program in International Affairs at the New School will jointly host an international conference to review and mobilize the international agenda on ending child poverty and reducing disparities. Website: www.crin.org
The current list of upcoming events also appears on the e-newsletter of the Special Unit for South-South Cooperation.
Development agencies and non-governmental organizations are welcome to send details of upcoming conferences for inclusion in our HAPPENINGS column.
Contributors: Nosh Nalavala, Sheana Laughlin, Joseph Deaux, Adelia Saunders and Sarah Long
MediaGlobal is a leading provider of information on global development issues facing vulnerable countries in Africa and Asia. Leaders of developed countries, the global media (with media in developing countries), policymakers in donor countries, non-governmental organizations, Permanent Representatives of Missions to the United Nations and key personnel in the United Nations Secretariat, its agencies and managers in the field worldwide read MediaGlobal’s newswire stories. Contact: media@mediaglobal.org . United Nations, Room S-301, New York, NY 10017. Tel: (212) 963-9878. Fax: (609) 716-1297 Website: www.mediaglobal.org
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