20 November 2009 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: The U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is flat funding its programs for 2010, after years of steady increases. In 2004 President Bush created the fund with a budget of US$2.3 million including funding to combat Tuberculosis. In 2009 the AIDS specific funding rose to US$5.6 million, and the budget for 2010 maintains this figure. PEPFAR currently supports over two million people on antiretroviral therapy, with a goal of supporting three million people by 2013. Some advocate a commitment to support six million individuals by 2013 due to ongoing need. Currently, according to the World Health Organization, four million people who have HIV are receiving antiretroviral therapy, and six million who need it do not have access. Ambassador Eric Goosby, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator told MediaGlobal, “President Obama and Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton are committed to supporting PEPFAR’s good work, even in the face of the global economic decline. There is a strong commitment to not lose the momentum of PEPFAR, and to continue to support the individuals that PEPFAR has touched.” Yet the funding cap could undermine the actualization of this commitment. Even if PEPFAR continues supporting its current partners, many people who need treatment are still awaiting further funding and access to care. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria considered suspending all new grants for 2010 due to the potential stalling of donations from its main supporters, including PEPFAR. This week it voted to remain open to new proposals, but its ability to respond to new proposals depends on its donors’ commitments. The funding issues are linked to the global financial crisis, however the need for access to HIV/AIDS prevention and care remains high. Without continued, increased support, the global fight against AIDS could backtrack and the progress made could be reversed. Allyn Gaestel

Climate Change a security threat for Pacific Small Island Developing States

20 November 2009 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: Faced with the prospect of rising seas, crop decimation, and the forcible outmigration of entire nations, the Pacific Small Island Developing States called this week for the United Nations Security Council to turn its attention to climate change. Ambassador Stuart Beck of Palau, speaking on behalf of the low-lying Pacific islands, asked the Security Council to recognize that climate change will cause serious regional security issues in the Pacific. Beck told MediaGlobal that the “imminent destruction” of low-lying islands due to climate change “will pose a security threat to the rest of the world as the outmigration of people who have been inundated causes a strain on the resources of the communities they enter.” The lack of enforceable measures to halt and reverse the ravages of climate change has galvanized the call of threatened Pacific islands for the Security Council to “get off the sidelines and stop letting this voluntary process linger while these islands are destroyed,” according to Beck. Currently, freshwater sources are being contaminated by encroaching saltwater, and food supplies are being undermined by rising high tides as well. Taro, the traditional crop of Palau, “will only grow in freshwater,” according to Beck, “but it has to grow near the shore, in low-lying areas. So any incursion by the sea destroys the crops.” But food security issues pale in comparison to entire nations of people becoming refugees, and Beck insists that, “we seem to spend more time paying attention to security issues than to what people might consider environmental issues.” The threatened Pacific Small Island Developing States hope that the involvement of the Security Council will “raise people’s consciousness on this as dramatically and as quickly as possible” because climate change is “destroying their countries.” Mary Slosson

Shifting trends in African migration

19 November 2009 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: With its geographical proximity to Africa and a shrinking native population, Europe continues to host the vast majority of foreign-born Africans living abroad—4.6 million in 2007, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). However, though the bulk of African immigrants worldwide continue to find new homes in Europe, stricter post-9/11 immigration laws and border security have pushed a small but steadily growing wave of Africans to seek resettlement elsewhere. The IOM’s Jean-Philippe Chauzy explained to MediaGlobal that “various shifts in patterns of irregular migration within Africa, from Africa to Europe, and more recently, from Africa to Latin America and North America” have emerged, though European nations remain the major destinations. Chauzy added that other destinations have also appeared including Israel via Egypt or other points throughout the world by flights based in South Africa. Latin America too has emerged as a popular destination for African immigrants, with a relatively small but growing number of new arrivals. According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR), Argentina leads the region with roughly 1,000 African refugees over the past three years from virtually none eight years ago. The African population of Tapachula, near the southern Mexican border, is also now in the hundreds, though many there hope to continue on to the U.S. or Canada. Once a major source of emigration from conflict, Latin America seems to attract more Africans because of its social services, legal protection, and broader definitions for those protected as refugees under its laws. Additionally, more of a focus is placed on integration—especially into urban areas—while migrants await residency status decisions, rather than using refugee camps and detention centers. Life is still difficult for African migrants who often give thousands of dollars to smugglers for long and dangerous journeys. Furthermore, despite the wider variety of choices, even after these trips, there are still few guarantees of reaching their final destination or gaining residency. Henoch Derbew

FAO and IDB team up to improve agriculture investment

18 November 2009 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: In response to what has been a severe drop in agricultural investment in the developing world during the global financial crisis, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reached a US$1 billion agreement with the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) earlier this week. In an extension of the 2008 Jeddah Declaration, which is a commitment to alleviating hunger in the least developed countries of the IDB, FAO will provide technical support and advice on implementation of new agricultural projects. In return, the IDB will contribute funding over the next three years to improve food security in 26 countries. Guy Evers, the Chief of Southern and Eastern Africa Service and Officer-in-Charge of Western and Central Africa Service at the FAO Investment Centre, explained the need for such agricultural funding to MediaGlobal. “There is a problem of donors and priorities, where a lot of resources were diverted to the social sector and education, and agriculture was a victim of the situation,” he said. He detailed how investors are often looking for more glamorous results, and critical funding for food production gets put on the backburner. Evers continued, “It is difficult for long-term investments to show an impact.” The drop in investment comes at a bad time for agriculture in the developing world. Coinciding with the financial crisis were skyrocketing prices in food, making it even harder for poorer individuals to obtain the basic living necessity. In response, the FAO and IDB will be financing projects that allow many individuals to produce the food themselves, or obtain it more easily. “Food prices became a wake-up that we have not invested enough in agriculture,” said Evers. In addition to its cooperation with the FAO, the IDB has been working with other sister organizations and financing institutions to continue assisting its developing member countries. Ryan Dicovitsky

Land rights reforms for low-income communities gain attention at the United Nations

17 November 2009 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: Ensuring legal and land rights to low-income individuals is crucial to empowering vulnerable populations and paving the way to sustainable development, according to panelists who spoke at a United Nations University 18 November discussion, entitled “A place to call our own: land disputes and the rights of the poor.” Thomas McInerney, director of research, policy and strategic initiatives for the International Development Law Organization, addressed his organization’s initiatives to enable low-income communities and individuals alike to maximize their knowledge of, and ability to act upon, their legal rights. For example, McInerney noted, the IDLO is undertaking a community land registration program in Mozambique, Uganda, and Liberia, ensuring that “local communities are able to make use of and register their lands.” Communities receive legal education and paralegal assistance in order to avoid falling victim to policies and unfair deals they fail to successfully broker. “Legal empowerment is not just about creating new laws and institutions. It is about making the laws work better for everyone, but more specifically the poor, because the poor can’t always use the laws in the way that they should,” McInerney said. “For us, the process involves strengthening the voices and the participation for the poor. How can the poor participate in the decision making processes, and how can we make sure that that their voices are heard?” McInerney noted that while he was in Namibia, he learned of an NGO fighting for a community’s land rights in Zambia. When the government took over the rural people’s land, it paid them US$60 a hector, “a quite inadequate amount.” Empowering initiatives, like the ones IDLO is furthering, could help low-income people avoid being taken advantage of in such a manner. Yet one of the panelists, Stephen Golub, an adjunct professor at Berkeley Law School and Central European University, pointed out to MediaGlobal that enforcement of good land rights reforms in and of itself won’t yield remarkable achievements in sustainable development. “This is a piece of a much bigger puzzle of many other policies and movements that can help lift people out of poverty,” Golub said. “If I had to pick the biggest single issue to address, it wouldn’t be land law, it would be gender, above it all, but it is hard to generalize like that, as well.” Amy Lieberman

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