125th Station, Broadway. Credit: Joan Erakit/IPS

By Joan Erakit
NEW YORK, May 24 2017 (IPS)

On a busy Friday afternoon, the number 1 subway train heading north through Manhattan’s Westside comes out of a dark tunnel –and if one takes a minute to release oneself from communication devices—one can catch sight of the approaching 125th street in the distance, the crosswalk buzzing with yellow cabs.

The train station at 125th street and Broadway that sits high above the commotion below on a green arch bridge is the first clue that a passenger has reached Harlem, the gateway portal to the historic New York City neighborhood.

Last week, the Consortium for Sustainable Urbanization and UN-Habitat organized a discussion at the United Nations headquarters that brought together stakeholders from the private sector, the UN system, government, academia and civil society to share ideas for creating and sustaining gateway portals — ultimately emphasizing the need to utilize urbanization as a tool for development.

Whilst many in the room were probably used to such discussions taking the route of creating bustling cities that could accommodate the highest number of urbanites in order to support political, economic and cultural agendas, it was refreshing to instead witness a focus on urban planning through gateway portals that put infrastructure center stage.

A gateway portal is an emblem of a city and can be everything from a bridge, plaza, or historic site that often welcomes one into a city or specific neighborhood. California’s Golden Gate Bridge is the most famous, linking Marin County to San Francisco in an architectural piece designed by engineer Joseph Strauss in the 1930s.

As one heads east of California, other gateway portals across the United States start popping up such as the Minneapolis Stone Arch Bridge that crosses the Mississippi River, connecting the southern and northern parts of the Midwest City. Arriving in New York, the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island join the historic Manhattan Bridge as portals to the urban jungle – each depicting an intentional narrative of its own.

Famed architect Santiago Calatrava, a man known for his extraordinary body of work was invited to the discussion last week where he not only shared various projects, but also highlighted the necessity of portals. In his own words he mentioned that, “bridges are important pieces of infrastructure and gateway portals are to a city what infrastructure is to Sustainable Development.”

If this is true then city planners, architects and government officials are now tasked with the challenging job of thinking critically of where and how they place gateway portals. Instead of just creating entrances that mark an area and alert taxi drivers to charge toll fees, planners now have the opportunity to address issues of sustainability by utilizing smart, inclusive design that goes beyond just a pretty facade.

In 2013, author Charles Montgomery published a book called ‘Happy City: Transforming Our Lives Through Urban Design’, an anthropological text on what it meant to create sustainable spaces that were not only focused on developing a city, but also on underscoring the temperament of its citizens in relation to that development. If people were generally happy and continued to live happy lives within urban bustling communities, then was it possible that their surroundings would eventually be transformed socially, economically and politically?

“Urban spaces and systems do not merely reflect altruistic attempts to live the complex problem of people living close together, and they are more than an embodiment of the creative tensions between competing ideas,” he wrote. “They are shaped by struggles between competing groups of people. They apportion the benefits of urban life. They express who has power and who does not. In doing so, they shape the mind and soul of the city,” he concluded.

Citizen Driven Planning

The premise of the conversation last week was straightforward: development cannot succeed without conscious urbanization. This, meaning that urbanization for development needed to include a citizen driven approach to planning and design that accounted for inclusion, health, resiliency and equality.

According UN Habitat, it is estimated that around 54% of people now live in urban areas and as this number steadily grows, the question of how to sustainably house, provide and protect a large population in such dense spaces has become a top priority for both the UN system and government officials.

A timely discussion as Habitat III concluded last year in Quito, Ecuador with the goal of adopting a new urban agenda that would offer a set of action oriented global standards that would guide the way in which we designed and sustained our cities – citizen driven urbanization would need to prioritize these global standards when building or reshaping gateway portals.

Additionally, such plans would also need to uphold the fact that gateway portals established the economic and political power of the city, and to be citizen driven would essentially mean that the portals were of service to the people who used them daily, and not the other way around.

Frederick Douglas Plaza, Harlem. Credit: Joan Erakit/IPS

What’s In A Narrative?

During the 5th and 6th centuries, grandiose gates and high towering walls that circled a city – sometimes serving as a safety barrier in the chance of attack – illustrated the gateway portal. The narrative of a powerful gate or great wall such as the one in China laid forth the cities ambitions and easily communicated its priorities.

In 2017 with more and more people moving into urban areas, we are forced to ask ourselves what sort of narrative we’d like to have. When one arrives in Harlem, what narrative is being shared once you’ve crossed the threshold of the gateway portal on 125th street and begin your descent into the colorful street below?

New York City Commissioner Feniosky Pena-Mora spoke during the panel last week about the plans that the De Blasio administration drawn up towards creating sustainable, healthy public spaces with the agenda of changing the narrative of its city.

“We often say that we want to create spaces that work for everyone – diversity is key,” he said, continuing, “We must design to invite, and design to delight.”

This – NYC’s actual design mantra – when applied to redefining gateway portals is to simply put the citizen at the center of the vision. Yes, happiness is key, sustainability is key but city planners must also focus on creating spaces that encourage openness.

In the end, it cannot be disputed: gateway portals emphasize the importance of a city. They provide a first impression and a lasting one if curated with intent. It is with this measure that city planners and government officials must consider portals as the ‘opening line’ of their cities narrative.

Sustainable urbanization can most certainly be an effective tool for development, but must not be approached with naiveté. As the Executive Director of UN Habitat Dr. Clos put during his remarks last week, “when you address one problem, you generate two more.”

Addressing one gateway portal at a time, a city’s quest for sustainable urbanization becomes an actual possibility rather than just a city plan.

Shahida Amin, a young Pakistani woman, brings her 10-month-old son to school every day. Credit: Farooq Ahmed/IPS

By Joan Erakit
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 4 2014 (IPS)

The Programme of Action adopted at the landmark 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) included chapters that defined concrete actions covering some 44 dimensions of population and development, including the need to provide for women and girls during times of conflict, the urgency of investments in young people’s capabilities, and the importance of women’s political participation and representation.

The diversity of issues addressed by the Programme of Action (PoA) provided the opportunity for states to develop and implement a “comprehensive and integrated agenda”.

In reality, governments and development agencies have been selective in their actions, and many have taken a sectoral approach to implementation, which has resulted in fragmented successes rather than holistic gains.

Few are better placed to reflect on progress made over the last two decades than the executive director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin.

Excerpts from the interview follow.

Q: In 1994 you were advocating for reproductive health and rights at the first ICPD in Cairo. Twenty years later, you are leading UNFPA as its executive director. What has that journey looked like for you?

A: The last four years have opened me up to the challenges that the organisation and the mandate itself have faced. Twenty years ago, we were able to secure commitments from governments on various aspects of poverty reduction, but more importantly the empowerment of women and girls and young people, including their reproductive rights – but the battle is not over.

Today, we are on the cusp of a new development agenda and we, as custodians of this agenda, need to locate it within the conversation of sustainable development – a people-centred agenda based on human rights is the only feasible way of achieving sustainable development.

Q: What were some of the biggest challenges that the ICPD Programme of Action faced in its early years?

Babatunde Osotimehin, executive director of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund. Credit: UNFPA

A: I think that Cairo was very cognizant of the status of women in society. It was also cognizant of the status of girls – particularly of young adults, and of the issues of sexuality and the power struggle between men and women over who decides on the sexuality of women.

The battle is not strictly about a woman’s ability to control her fertility, but it goes beyond the issue of fertility and decision-making. Women still earn less than men for doing the same job. There is no proportional representation in politics of women, and in the most severe cases, little girls don’t go to school as much as boys.

That is a continuous struggle, and our job is to ensure that gender equality in the very strict sense is accomplished, so we achieve what I always refer to as a “gender neutral” society.

Q: The Demographic Dividend is going to be an important focus in the post-2015 development agenda. How will UNFPA work to assess and meet the needs of young people?

A: We are already doing it!

Of course, we are going to strengthen and scale up our work. We don’t pretend that UNFPA can provide all the inputs needed to reap the dividend. But raising the bar and promoting youth visibility and participation at the political level is something that we will be doing with member states and partners.

For example, how do we ensure that we can partner with UNESCO, to continue to do the good work they are doing in terms of education – particularly with girls’ education? And how can we partner with ILO [the International Labour Organisation] to ensure that we have job creation, skills and all of the things that enable young people to come into the job market to get the opportunities they are looking for?

How do we ensure that within member states themselves, we’re creating spaces that enable young people to feel that they are part of the system?

It is impossible to get the kind of rapid development we’re looking at if member states do not accept the principles of comprehensive sexuality education, and do not accept that young people should also be exposed to information and services about contraception.

Q: How will you respond to women and girls in conflict areas, especially pregnant women or those who have faced violence and abuse?

A: That’s something we do superbly. We are also conscious of the fact that the world may see more crises. Today, we are looking at Gaza, we are looking at Syria, we are looking at Iraq, we are looking at the Central African Republic, we are looking at South Sudan, we are looking at old conflict areas in the world, which are still there. We cannot forget the IDPs [Internally Displaced Persons] who have existed for so long in northern Kenya, in the Zaatari Camp in Jordan, these are areas where we work actively.

We offer three types of response: services for girls and women to prevent GBV [gender-based violence]; services for the survivors of GBV, so that they can receive care for the physical assault; and services for their emotional and psychological support so that they are reintegrated back into the society.

We provide education, antenatal care, delivery services and postnatal care for women in camps and mothers around the world.

Our flagship programme, before we expanded to all of this, was recognising that women in conflict areas have dignity needs. Very few people think of women and their regular needs in war and conflict, so we provide them dignity kits, to enable them to preserve their health and dignity.

Something UNFPA has been trying to do more is increase attention to and prevent GBV and talk about it in such a way that we can show that it’s actually more prevalent than it is assumed, not only in conflict, but in domestic circumstances as well.

This story originally appeared in a special edition TerraViva, ‘ICPD@20: Tracking Progress, Exploring Potential for Post-2015’, published with the support of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund. The contents are the independent work of reporters and authors.

Edited by Kanya D’Almeida

Excerpt:

Chief Yahya Louche of Bande, a village in Niger, addresses his constituents about maternal health and the importance of involving men. Credit: Joan Erakit/IPS

By Joan Erakit
BANDE, Niger, Sep 11 2014 (IPS)

It is a long, 14-hour drive from Niger’s capital city Niamey to the village of Bande. And the ride is a dreary one as the roadside is bare. The occasional, lone goat herder is spotted every few kilometres and the sightings become a cause of both confusion and excitement since there aren’t any trees, or watering holes in sight.

Dry, hot and often plagued with sandstorms, Niger has a population of over 17.2 million, 80 percent of which live in rural areas. Insecurity, drought and trans-border issues contribute to this West African nation’s fragility where 50 percent of its citizens have access to health services.

IPS has travelled here with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to visit a school that — on a continent where male involvement in maternal health is not the norm and, in fact, men are oftentimes not present during the duration of the pregnancy or the birthing process due to cultural reasons — is pretty unique. It’s the School of Husbands.

Formed with support from UNFPA in 2011, the school has over 137 locations in Niger’s southern region of Zinder. Members are married men between the ages of 25 and 50, but young boys are now being recruited to come and sit in on meetings — to learn from their elders.

As IPS arrives at the village early one morning, a group of musicians approach the vehicle playing ceremonial music; they precede a traditional chief who is being escorted by his most trusted counsel and a throng of personal security who frantically chase away curious children with sticks.

Yahya Louche is the chief of Bande and he stops to talk to IPS about maternal health and the importance of involving men.

“I am a member of the School of Husbands,” Louche says of the informal institution that brings together married men to discuss the gains of reproductive health, family planning and empowerment.

“The School of Husbands is where there is no teacher and there is not student,” Louche continues, adding, “They are not getting paid, they are working for the well being of the population.”

The School of Husbands is a prime example of what can happen when men stand shoulder to shoulder with women, promoting safe births.

The Perils of No Care 

While visiting the health centre near the chief’s homestead, IPS spots a young woman making her way across the compound to the maternity room. She is weak and can barely make eye contact while two friends hold her up by each arm.

IPS is told that she delivered a baby at home and has walked kilometres to get help because she began bleeding profusely – it is an obstetrical emergency known as postpartum haemorrhage (PPH).

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), PPH is responsible for about 25 percent of maternal mortality. Without prenatal or antenatal visits during pregnancy, complications are more likely to arise — some often leading to death.

“Before the School of Husbands, women didn’t want to go for delivery at health centres, they would stay at home and have their babies,” Louche explains.

According to the World Bank, Niger has a Maternal Mortality Ration (MMR) of 630 to 100,000 live births.

Women in Niger suffer.

It is a very well-known custom in the country that women are not to show their pain or discomfort. When they give birth, it is often in silence.  The woman on the delivery table makes no sound though pain is very visible on her face.

Madame Doudou Aissatoo, a midwife in Konni, a town in Niger, tells IPS that it is important to have reproductive health and family planning services readily available because many women walk for miles to come to the health centres. If commodities and services, or even midwives are unavailable, the women will leave and not return for a very long time.

“The very critical thing is to integrate it in the package; when a woman comes to the health centre for whatever reason, she has to get the family planning right away, whether it is a routine health check-up or something serious. Even on Saturday or Sunday, if a woman comes to the health centre, she’ll get it,” Aissatoo says.

Returning Home to Promote Health

The ancient story is quite fascinating; when a young boy leaves his homestead to find greener pastures, a time will mostly likely come when the folks back home call upon the man to become chief.

Often leaving the diaspora to fulfil his duties, a request to become chief is one that cannot be refused for turning it down is the equivalent to shaming ones ancestors.

It is such that the chiefs in Niger today come from different professional backgrounds and many have been doctors, diplomats and professors.

Traditional chiefs in Niger are the most important leaders — even heads of state and presidents seek their council before making big decisions. Without their blessing, one can assume that the road ahead will be difficult.

The UNFPA country office has understood the role that traditional chiefs play and has built a partnership in favour of promoting the health and rights of women.

In 2012, the traditional chiefs of Niger signed an agreement with UNFPA furthering a commitment to improve the health conditions of women.

“When we gathered in 2012, we made a commitment as an organisation to work with UNFPA in order to reduce the demographic growth, be part of sensitisation activities and gear towards improving reproductive health,” Louche explains.

When asked if she feels good about her husband participating in the institution, Fassouma Manzo, a local woman replies ecstatically: “Very much!”

A round of applause follows Manzo’s declaration as she continues, “before the School of Husbands, men didn’t have discussions with their women; but now, there is an issue for which they are very interested. As a woman, you can now find a space where you can talk and share with your man.  It’s a great side effect!”

Louche, a charismatic chief who spends much time talking to his constituents truly believes that empowering men puts the focus put on women.

The School of Husbands doesn’t just highlight the importance of seeking professional medical care when pregnant, but it also works to promote understanding between men and women — a gain that will only foster harmony for both sexes.

Edited by: Nalisha Adams

The writer can be contacted through Twitter on: @Erakit

Excerpt:

The eight islands that comprise Turtle Islands, Sierra Leone, are remote and practically untouched by modern civilisation. Credit: Joan Erakit/IPS

By Joan Erakit
MATTRU JONG, Sierra Leone, Aug 26 2014 (IPS)

Emmanuel is a male midwife.

At the age of 26, he lives and works on one of eight islands off the southwest peninsular of Sierra Leone, an hour by speedboat from Mattru Jong, the capital of Bonthe District.

On a particularly hot Wednesday morning, IPS joins Marie Stopes, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Health to go and visit a population on one of the Turtle Islands that is practically untouched by modern civilisation.

Marie Stopes is a British-based non-profit that provides family planning and reproductive health services to over 30 countries around the world. They work as a back-up support system to the government, filling in the gaps in hard-to-reach areas that the government is still working to resource.

On the mainland of Mattru Jong there is a small market, situated on the river Jong which flows into the Atlantic ocean, and crowded with various kiosks boasting fish, vegetables and live chickens tied at their feet in straw baskets.

To reach the islands, one has to travel by boat. But all the islands don’t have landing docks and the boats sometimes stop in knee-deep water. Passengers — and midwives visiting the islands to provide reproductive health and family planning services — have to hoist their belongings and supplies above water, to make their way to the villages.

“Their [midwives] challenge is that they don’t have a boat. If you want to do this effectively, you need a good boat,” Safiatu Foday, a regional family planning coordinator for UNFPA in Sierra Leone, explained to IPS.

For island communities that have very little access to the mainland, basic health information is difficult to come by, therefore the risks — especially those pertaining to pregnancy, become inevitable.

With a population of over six million, where women of childbearing age are between the ages of 15 and 49, this West African country has refocused its health initiatives, working tirelessly to strengthen the capacity and training of skilled midwives — an exceptional tool in reducing maternal and infant mortality.

It Takes a Village

The village is inhabited by about a few hundred people — most of them large families, many of whom have just started utilising the peripheral health unit (PHU) that is onsite.

Emmanuel, one of the first men to undertake the position of midwife in this area, is the person “in-charge,” facilitating prenatal visits, deliveries, antenatal care, attending to illnesses and referring patients to a hospital when needed.  

“There are people who since their birth, have never left the island,” Fadoy said.

Some of the women say they have delivered 13 or 14 children prior to the work of Marie Stopes in their village.

Others recount having no time to “rest” or take care of their other children while being pregnant almost every year.

There are common reasons as to why women become pregnant so consistently.

One woman shares that there is a fear of being “abandoned” by one’s husband. The women say if they do not engage in sexual intercourse during the marriage, their husbands will look elsewhere. Therefore women feel they have no choice but to keep getting pregnant.

There is also the question of approval; many women must obtain permission from their husbands to start using contraceptives.

“We used to get pregnant all the time and our husbands would abandon us, so we had to fight for ourselves to survive. Since Marie Stopes came to the island and we now have access to contraceptives, we are able to take care of ourselves,” Yeanga, 33 tells IPS, adding, “It has created an impact in my life, one, because I now know about spacing births.”

Yeanga is the mother of five children with the oldest aged 25, and the youngest only three years old.

Before going on family planning, Yeanga admits to having difficulties with her husband, which were only heightened when he found out that contraceptives would help her not to get pregnant.

“Even when I wanted to join family planning, my husband was not agreeing, but I talked to him about it and we finally agreed to allow me to start family planning.”

In order to fully meet the demand of women who are in search of family planning and reproductive health services, the government has come up with an interesting strategy: recruit and train traditional birth attendants (TBA’s) to provide quality health care services in the villages.

Because they are from the village, they are both respected and valued, thus their insight, advice and knowledge are taken very seriously.

“Before midwives came to the island, there were just TBA’s doing deliveries in this area – and there were a lot of problems with these births,” Isatu Jalloh, 28, a nurse working in the village, told IPS.

Without skilled birth attendants, many of the women on the island suffered complications like preeclampsia, fistula and even death.

Though Sierra Leone has one of the highest maternal and infant mortality rates, 140 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, and 857 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, Jalloh believes that the maternal death rate on the island has reduced due to the advocacy of midwives who travel to the island to promote family planning and reproductive health.

The ability to choose when to have children has allowed women on the island to pursue small economic ventures. They are able to produce an income to not only take care of themselves, but also their children.

The Future is Bright?

As the last few hundred days of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) come to a close, Sierra Leone stands at an interesting cross section: that of incremental success and challenges to come.

Demand for reproductive health and family planning services is high, the commodities are being supplied through partnerships with UNFPA and Marie Stopes, midwives are being dispatched to different districts, yet obstacles remain.

Most trained midwives deployed to health centres far from their homes don’t want to stay in those areas due to harsh working conditions and unfamiliarity with their surroundings.

And with the outbreak of Ebola, most midwives have been immediately evacuated, leaving patients, many of them pregnant women, without proper care.

Sierra Leone faces an opportunity to scale-up its reproductive health and family planning services by continuing its ability for form essential partnerships, most effectively illustrated in the one with civil society and advocacy group, Health Coalition for All.

“Our focus is on health and health-related issues. The key areas are advocacy and monitory, we work to ensure that services are available, accessible, affordable and that they reach the beneficiary,” Al Hassane B. Kamara, a programme manager for the coalition, shared with IPS.

Based in Makeni, in Northern Province, the Health Coalition for All has played an essential role in ensuring that women have access to healthcare, especially during pregnancy.

By addressing the issues such as lack of trained staff, delivery of commodities and most importantly, the high user fees during clinic visits, the coalition takes a proactive stand to ensure that women do not end up in unqualified hands.

“They pay very high fees to see a qualified doctor, especially for cesarean operations.  As a result they have no options but to work with the TBA or a “quack doctor.”

With programmes such as the Free Health Care Initiative (FHCI) that allows pregnant mothers, lactating mothers and children under the age of five to access services for free, Sierra Leone continues to put its focus on reproductive health.

 Edited by: Nalisha Adams

The writer can be contacted through Twitter on: @Erakit

Excerpt:

The United Nations Tuesday commemorated World Humanitarian Day paying tribute to aid workers who risk their lives to bring relief to those in need.

In 2013 alone, 460 aid workers suffered violence or attacks, and 155 were killed, according to a new report by the U.N. Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA

 To highlight the plight of those working in the field, OCHA convened a panel discussion hosted by The Huffington Post.

The participants included former New York Police Department officer turned Peacekeeper, Ken Payumo, Syrian clarinettist Kinan Azmeh, former child soldier and now activist and actor, Emmanuel Jal, and Pernille Ironside , currently working in Gaza.

The panellists not only discussed what it meant to be a humanitarian worker, but also to recount personal experiences of working in the field.

Asked to define the duties of a humanitarian worker, Ironside, an aid worker with UNICEF equated it to “selflessness” and added that, “advocating for the protection of civilians at all times,” was a major characteristic of the job.

Payumo, a peacekeeper who was working in South Sudan at the brink of the conflict in 2013 recounted a harrowing verbal altercation with local forces when thousands of civilians sought refuge at the UNMISS compound he was working on.

“Impartiality is central to us,” Payumo added, emphasizing the need for aid workers to neither judge, nor condemn civilians who sought protection during times of unrest.

Jal, a rapper and peace activists offered his perspective on the recent crisis in South Sudan pointing out there was “no coup, it was something the government created.”

Asked what people could do to help the situation in his former country, Jal said lobbying, awareness and discussion were integral to addressing any kind of political, or social crisis.

By putting a spotlight on a “dark” place, local and national issues were brought to the forefront and governments would feel the pressure to handle them.

In a statement released here, the President of the General Assembly John Ashe said a people-centred approach to dealing with conflict seemed to be the important message for World Humanitarian Day.

“As we look to implement a new sustainable development agenda, eradicating poverty while maintaining peaceful societies based on an inclusive, people-centered approach will be essential components if we are to achieve success and build a just and prosperous future for all the world’s citizens.”

Ashe’s sentiments were echoed by all panelists when they were asked what citizens all over the world could do to be more of a humanitarian.

“Start at home,” Payumo asserted, implying that not all humanitarian workers needed to travel abroad to work in conflict zones to help others.

Ironside asked the audience to consider, “giving a voice to the voiceless or for those who feared to speak out.”

In the light of the protests in Ferguson, Missouri, where violence has escalated after an 18 year old unarmed Mike Brown was fatally shot by police, and in Gaza where tensions between the Palestinians and Israelis continues to claim the lives of men, women and children, World Humanitarian Day put a spotlight on the work that many undertake selflessly in hot spots.

As Ashe said in his statement: “World Humanitarian Day is not only an opportunity for our international community to celebrate the spirit of humanitarian work, but also to underscore the need to do more, as growing humanitarian crises continue to threaten millions of the most vulnerable communities where lives have been torn apart by war and other natural disasters.”

A new report launched Wednesday alluded to the role renewable energy could play in improving energy security while also acting as a way to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions.

The Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21) annual Renewables 2014 Global Status Report gives a comprehensive look at the industries, investments, energy markets and policy developments worldwide.

According to the report, renewables accounted for over 56 percent of net additions to power capacity last year.

During a high level discussion sponsored by the Permanent Mission of Germany to the United Nations last week , Arthouros Zervos, Chair of REN21 told attendees that China, the US, Japan, United Kingdom and Germany, “were all top investors in renewable energy and production in 2013.”

Becoming more efficient with energy goals has its advantages for all countries, especially in an age where a portion of household income is spent securing energy services.

The 2014 report not only points out benefits such as the reduction of health and environmental problems caused by fossil and nuclear fuels, improving education, eradicating poverty, promoting gender equality and creating jobs.

It is estimated that there are over 65 million direct or indirect jobs in the renewables industry.

First released in 2005, the Renewables Global Status Report has aided governments and businesses alike to make comprehensive decisions and policies towards the usage of sustainable energy.

In a press release, REN21 states: “Robust policies couple with continuing technological advances, falling prices, and innovations in financing have made renewables increasingly affordable for a broader range of consumers worldwide.”

Because the last decade has set a model for global transition to renewables, many are optimistic of a future that would achieve 100 percent renewables, but emphasize strict guidelines.

“Current thinking needs to change: continuing the status quo of a patchwork of policies and actions is not longer sufficient. Instead, technology developments, finance models as well as stable and predictable renewable energy policies need to be systematically linked across the public and private sectors in order to support and drive the transition process” said Zervos.

As UN member states contemplate the important additives for the Post 2015 Development Agenda, health organisations are lobbying for investments in midwifery, a service experts believe could provide up to 90 percent of the care needed for newborns and pregnant mothers at the time of birth.

“Midwives are central to midwifery care and the lives of women and newborn babies,” said Frances Day-Sirk, President of the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM).

A report released Monday by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) focuses on 73 countries across the world and emphasizes the urgency of training midwives to execute the birthing process with great efficiency . And returns on investing in this sector can prove to be a win, it adds.

According to the study, State of the World’s Midwifery 2014: A Universal Pathway – A Woman’s Right to Health, “investing in midwifery education, with deployment to community-based services, could yield a 16-fold return on investment in terms of lives saved and costs of caesarean sections avoided, and a “best buy” in primary health care.”

In countries where medical care is both elusive and expensive, midwifery is a mother’s next best option; when given precise education and allowed to fully function within the health system, midwives can help reduce the maternal and newborn deaths by two thirds.

“The midwifery workforce, within a supportive health system, can support women and girls to prevent unwanted pregnancies, provide assistance throughout pregnancy and childbirth, and save lives of babies born too early,” Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement.

As a follow up to the inaugural 2011 report launched on the same subject, this new package of information addresses four key elements that often act as barriers for midwives: acceptability and quality of midwifery services, accessibility and availability.

In the 73 countries profiled in the report, nearly half have taken important steps to retain midwives in remote areas—a feat many health organizations and NGOs applaud.

Because of the growing gap in resources and infrastructure as the world population grows, urgent measures need to be executed in order to assure that women get the health services they so desperately need during pregnancy.

Midwives pay a crucial role, many of them being trained locally, understanding the lay of the land, being familiar with the communities and providing a safe haven for individuals who would otherwise struggle to find assistance.

“Access to quality health care is a basic human right. Greater investment in midwifery is key to making this right a reality for women everywhere,” said Babatunde Osotimehin, Executive Director of UNFPA.

In the aftermath of the deadly Typhoon Haiyan that hit the Philippines in November of 2013, recovery efforts are slowly making themselves visible—a feat that the Children’s Rights & Relief Organisation (UNICEF) has been pushing for.

“UNICEF was on the ground within the first days, as soon as it was possible to get into the typhoon area” Lotta Sylwander, UNICEF Country Representative in the Philippines told IPS via email, adding, “there were formidable challenges of access, with debris, including tens of thousands coconut trees blocking roads and airports.

UNICEF’s first priority was to save lives and to provide lifesaving assistance as soon as possible, with a special concern for children, who are obviously very vulnerable after a natural disaster like Haiyan.”

Despite debris, limited access and even support, UNICEF worked to bring relief to the 14 million people affected by the typhoon—nine million of whom are children.

The organization also has reportedly assisted in bringing children back to school, providing vaccines and purifying water. In the past six months over 80,000 children have been immunized and over one million people have had access to clean drinking water.

“As a first point we focused on getting the water supply in Tacloban and nearby areas up and running,” said Sylwander.

She also noted that UNICEF restored water for approximately 100,000 citizens of Tacloban.

The aftermath of the Typhoon unfortunately left its greatest impact on children—many of them having lost family members or separated from primary care givers.

“Children were in immediate need of food, safe water, shelter and a place to live, health care, safety and protection.” Slywander said, emphasizing that after such trauma, children needed to return to some sort of normalcy—much of which included education.

And as with any disaster situation, recovery efforts for children quickly turned to the protection and safety in the face of trafficking and exploitation.

According to Slywander, trafficking has been recognized as a pre-existing issue in the central parts of the Philippines, dramatically increasing concern after the typhoon hit.

“While there have been substantial media attention around the potential for an increased risk of trafficking in the immediate aftermath of the typhoon, UNICEF has not found a significant increase in incidence of trafficking as a result of the typhoon,” she added.

Having signed agreements with over 40 municipalities, or Local Government Units (LGU) in the Philippines post typhoon, UNICEF hopes to continue its relief efforts in Haiyan. With a joint work plan between the two entities, interventions including child protection, health, education, nutrition, monitoring and governance are to be addressed in order to try an ensure resilience and preparedness in the face of future disasters.

As civil disputes, societal destruction and political unrest swept through the world last year, about 92 journalists were killed in the line of duty. Reporting from war zones—often without proper protection, journalists have continued to risk their lives to inform the general public.

In 1993, the General Assembly declared 3 May ‘World Press Freedom Day’, an initiative aimed at upholding the safety and integrity of both journalists and their profession.

“Free media, traditional and new are indispensable,” said Secretary General Ban Ki-moon while addressing an audience at a pre-World Press Freedom event on Thursday.

Journalists repeatedly face discrimination, violence, prison sentences and even death for their work, according to the Committee to Project Journalists (CPJ) whose Executive Director Joel Simon said: “Intolerant, repressive societies are using anti-state charges and ‘terrorist’ labels to intimidate, detain, and imprison journalists.”

During Thursday’s event, a number of practicing journalists joined the stage to share their stories, some horrific and others inspirational—but all a testament to the risks journalists take on a daily basis.

Since 1992, over 1,000 journalists have been killed yearly—nearly one a week.

CPJ also reports that September 11 had a great impact on the mistreatment of journalists with governments passing laws that focused on anti-terrorism and national security. The scrutiny towards journalists increased as they continued to ask hard questions and cover sensitive issues such as insurgencies, ethnic minorities and political opposition.

In 2013, 200 journalists were jailed, and according to CPJ, China, Turkey, Eritrea, Iran and Syria remain notorious for imprisoning journalists.

Panelists at the event included speakers such as President of the General Assembly, John Ashe and CBS News Correspondent and President of the UN Correspondents Association (UNCA) Pamela Falk, drew attention to the work of journalists far and beyond conflict reportage — and towards the role of media in the post 2015 development agenda.

The marginalized are the ones who stand to benefit from press freedom , and as Vibeke Jensen, Director at UNESCO Liaison Office in New York said, “the safety of journalists is fundamental” in ensuring that poverty and under development, especially in regards to women and children, are covered.

Falk asked the UN to “make 2014 the year to protect journalists, by adding the freedom of expression and press freedom to the post 2015 development agenda.”

The World Press Freedom Day highlights three interrelated themes: sustainability and integrity of journalism, media’s importance in development and safety of journalists and the rule of law.

Women and girls wait outside of a local community centre and library in Medellin, Colombia. Credit: Joan Erakit/IPS

By Joan Erakit
MEDELLIN, COLOMBIA, Apr 15 2014 (IPS)

When you walk through downtown Medellin on a hot Saturday night, it is a common sight to see throngs of people sitting on sidewalks, milling outside make-shift tech stores that sell calling cards, chargers and other cell phone accessories.

They flood the local plaza chatting loudly, nibbling on bits of fried plantain and bargaining over goods—even as a popular salsa tune blares from a nearby loudspeaker.

As we cross the street to an opposite pavilion under the Metrocable, we notice a young woman—possibly in her early twenties—walking by a group of men. She is about 5’5 wearing a black tank top, blue shorts and low heel shoes. Without warning, one of the men sitting on the sidewalk draws out his hand and pinches the woman between her legs.

Recounting the incident, Daniela Talero, a participant at last week’s World Urban Forum (WUF7) told IPS that safety in cities is “important,” – particularly for women — and that “it is how you measure your quality of life.”

Violence against women is one of the biggest challenges facing urban areas in countless cities across the globe. According to UN Women, 70 percent of women have experience physical and/or sexual violence in their lifetime and those living in urban areas are “twice as likely as men to experience violence, particularly in developing countries.”

Although the conversation about safety in urban areas took on a much bigger role during WUF7, some were still sceptical.

Kevin Mugenya, an Urban Programming Manager from World Vision in Kenya told IPS: “I think first of all people have not understood how women interact differently with public spaces, and even if they’ve understood the challenges, how then do we move it to the next level?” he asked.

For Talero, interacting differently with public space goes far beyond mobility. Each day, women have to choose clothing based on where they might be going and who will be around, for fear of unwanted attention.

“If you have to go around the corner and feel unsafe, you’re not going to go around the corner and that limits everything that you do.” Talero said.

Upon visiting an informal settlement, one can find men parading the streets at any given time of the day. As Mugenya puts it, “there are challenges in regards to livelihood” in urban settings.

Boys often find themselves out of school, unable to earn a living and left to their own devices in search of activity. It is in these unfortunate situations that men prey on vulnerable women.

As city planners gathered at WUF7 to discuss this growing problem, the solution seemed to go beyond the revamp of the cityscape; providing great lighting, putting mirrors along street buildings so women could see who was walking behind them, or even creating a transportation systems just for women—a solution Mugenya firmly believes will not address the real issue and will only create inequality—did not seem to sustain the concerned.

By creating public spaces that are inclusive and target the participation of men, a city begins to slowly take responsibility for the actions of their citizens.

The conversation about sexual violence is more effective with men, rather than with just women. When men are brought to the same table, given the same information, required to follow the same rules and held accountable for their actions, they become part of the solution and not just the problem.

A new school built amongst the steep hills of the Community 13 neighbourhood of Medellin, Colombia. Credit: Joan Erakit/IPS

By Joan Erakit
MEDELLIN, COLOMBIA, Apr 8 2014 (IPS)

Amidst the backdrop of plush green forestry and winding roads that curved around each hilltop, participants from all over the world gathered in the city of Medellin, Colombia Monday for the seventh session of the World Urban Forum (WUF7).

There, ready to greet them and detail the accomplishments of their own city were hundreds of local Colombians each staged from the airport to the plaza Mayor Convention and Exhibition Centre, the official venue for the forum.

A reported 15,000 people from over 164 countries lined registration desks to pick up identification cards and be processed through security, visibly excited to be in the Colombian city.
Hosting the WUF7 in Medellin goes far beyond pleasurable scenery and great weather.

“I think it’s very important for the people of Medellin, because it’s recognizing they are doing well. That they have made a lot of improvements in the city.” Maria Isabel Rasmussen, a Colombia native and lecturer attending the forum, told IPS.

The city of Medellin has under gone vital changes both socially and economically. Once ridden with violence and widely known as a hub for narcotics, Medellin now boasts itself as ‘transformed’ and ‘innovative’ with a transportation system called the Metro de Medellin that connects thousands of people a day from communities that were once isolated from the downtown area.

With a theme focused on urban equity in development, the attendees gathered at WUF7 eager to address the realities of urban environments—poverty, infrastructure, insecurity, mobility and sustainability.

“There can be no sustainable development if urbanization is not sustainable, “ said Joan Clos, Executive Director of UN-Habitat, at a press conference Sunday.

The urban revitalization of Medellin is being presented as an example because of its recovery of public space and efforts to include citizens from vulnerable communities in the implementation of development.

“Medellin has become a kind of laboratory. They have put to test some dreams and they have tried to put into practice and do things,’ Rasmussen said, adding “not just thinking or analysing, but more going into the ‘how.’”

With a population of over three million people, the aggressive urban renewal of the Medellin has garnered a lot worldwide attention but city revitalization aside, it is visibly apparent that poverty still remains a black cloud over the Colombian people.

“It’s a learning process,” Rasmussen said alluding to the challenges that the city faces.

“The municipalities need to take the responsibility of delivering this huge structure that the city needs; transport, libraries and so on, because the people are not able to do that.” Rasmussen concluded.

As man cannot live by bread alone, so a city cannot thrive on physical renewal alone.

WUF7 will continue until April 11th and the information gathered at the forum will be considered as tools for the preparations of the U.N.’s post 2014 development agenda.

In an effort to leverage the power of partnerships and assist in the creation of an equitable world for women and girls in developing countries, non-profit organizations and UN agencies are turning to mentoring in business. UN Women’s Knowledge Gateway for Women’s Economic Empowerment and the Cherie Blair Foundation’s Mentoring Women in Business Programme have agreed on a 12-month initiative that will provide opportunities for women through a range of projects.

The two organisations believe that women need a bit more than just a written check to get ahead.

“The collaboration between UN Women and the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women is a concrete example of how two partners can bring together complementary expertise and resources to positively impact women in business and employment, especially in developing countries,” Anna Falth, manager of Knowledge Gateway for Women’s Economic Empowerment, told IPS.

Announced during the 58th session on the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), the relationship allows women from the Knowledge Gateway for Women’s Economic Empowerment to build connections with established entrepreneurs at the Mentoring Women in Business Programme.

The partnership will allow women to build their digital literacy and business skills, receive feedback on innovative ideas and connect with experts and peers in various fields of interest.

“Mentorship is critical for women setting up and growing their businesses as well as in their early years of employment. Mentors provide women with the inspiration, confidence, resources, skills and support required to succeed, in particular in male-dominated work cultures,” added Falth.

Falth also believes that when women have mentors, their ability to sustain hardships and persevere through challenges is much higher than women without mentors.

Offering cross-border support to women entrepreneurs, the Mentoring Women in Business Programme combines mentoring with technology matching women entrepreneurs in developing countries and emerging markets with male and female mentors around the globe—a relationship that goes beyond money making skills.

“Mentorship can also provide insights on how to promote equal sharing of responsibilities between women and men, and achieve a quality life-work balance, whilst progressing towards leadership positions in their careers,” Falth told IPS.

Launched in September of 2013, the Knowledge Gateway for Women’s Empowerment attracted of 40,000 individuals in the first six months from over 180 countries.

What one lacks, the other makes up for; this is the mentality behind the partnerships between UN Women and the Cherie Blair Foundation. UN Women’s large database of women ready to move their lives forward economically can only be enriched by the support and practical tools that the mentors from the Cherie Blair Foundation’s programme offer in a one-on-one session that will hopefully birth both economic and social results.

“This kind of collaboration is vital, and is a testimony to the engagement of all sectors of society to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment,” said Lakshmi Puri, Deputy Executive Director, UN Women.

Etweda “Sugars” Cooper addresses audience at CSW side event on women and natural resource management in Libera. Credit: Lusha Chen/IPS

By Joan Erakit
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 21 2014 (IPS)

The topic of natural resource management posed a critical question during the current 58th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW): how can women utilize their knowledge for managing natural resources to promote peace and develop themselves?

The answer lays in the experiences of local Liberian women who actively encouraged their fellow citizens to educate themselves about land ownership and management – especially because women own less than one percent of the land in Liberia.

In a partnership with United Nations Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO) and United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), civil society, governments and non-profit organizations met to discuss the mobilization of women and natural resources in a CSW side event titled ‘Turning Money into Honey: Women’s Role in the Management of Natural Resources and Extractive Industries in Liberia for Durable Peace.’

A new report (Women and Natural Resources – Unlocking the Peacebuilding Potential) by UN Women, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) and PBSO explores the relationship between women and natural recourses, in order to strengthen women’s contribution to resolving conflict, entities should focus on how women manage, use and make decisions about natural resources

“We are the drivers of our country.” said Edtweda “Sugars” Cooper, a leader of the Liberian women’s movement who spoke during an informal meeting at the Swedish mission Wednesday afternoon.
Land in particular, is one of the most important aspects of a woman’s livelihood in Liberia and has recently been a topic of controversy as corporate companies seek economic gains within the country.

Alice “Old-Lady” Kamara, a rural women’s activist and head of the women’s “Peace Hut” in Henry’s Town, Gbarpolu County, Liberia told the story of a logging company that destroyed forests, damaged roads and ultimately polluted the water system.

The situation came to a head when Kamara and other local women took matters into their own hands and rallied against the logging company, creating a roadblock and driving them out of the town.

The women feared the destruction of their roads would prevent them from transporting goods to the market – an essential part of both their economic and social development.

This form of retaliation served as a reminder to governments and big corporations that women in Liberia view the land not only as a means to create a life, but also as an empowerment tool.

“You can’t take away our livelihood.” Cooper said, commenting on the importance of allowing women to stand up to corporations and authorities that dismiss their eligibility to manage natural resources.

“Women are skilled, we’re are managers. In Liberia, in a farming community, the woman will clear the land; she plants, she harvests, she processes, she markets the produce from the land.”
UN Women together with their counterparts in Liberia call for the recognition of women as integral land developers, managers and business owners.

Using Liberia as a success story, three major points are defined: education of women in such a way that promotes skill, literacy and empowerment, enforcement of gender sensitivity from the local level to the parliamentary level and economic investment for locally owned businesses.

After a 14-year civil war that left the country destabilized, Cooper believes no one should underestimate the strength of women in Liberia. “We bring skills to the table and those skills will help with the development of our country.” she said.

Liberia is home to over three million people and according to UN Women—about half of them are women.

A fire fighter barricades Madison Avenue on 116th Street as smoke engulfs area. Credit: Joan Erakit/IPS

By Joan Erakit
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 12 2014 (IPS)

An East Harlem neighbourhood was shaken Wednesday morning when an explosion erupted and two buildings collapsed on 116th street and Park Avenue in New York City (NYC).

A gas leak is said to be the culprit as neighbours reportedly complained of an odour just minutes before the explosion.

According to Con Edison’s Twitter account, the energy company received the call around 9.13 local time (21.13 GMT) and dispatched a crew at 9.15 (21.15 GMT). The explosion took place at 9.40 (21.410 GMT) with the Con Edison arriving just minutes after the devastation.

Authorities responded quickly with some 250 or more fire fighters rushing to the scene to help pry people out of the rubble and hose down burning buildings caused by the five-alarm fire.

“My building has 16 families.” Kaucher Bhuiwan, a woman who lives in the neighbourhood told IPS. “I was sleeping and then I woke up when I heard it. I felt like my building was shaking.”

New York city Mayor Bill de Blasio, who had to cancel an appointment with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Wednesday morning, arrived to survey the damage calling the explosion, “a tragedy of the worst kind because there was no indication in time to save people.”

The two buildings that collapsed housed 15 apartments, a piano store called Absolute Piano and a Spanish Christian church. “I went outside and I saw the whole building on the ground.” Bhuiwan said.

Neighbours told IPS that a bus and various cars were seen on the road as explosion erupted. “I saw the fire fighters finding people. They were looking everywhere,” Bhuiwan continued.

Amidst heavy smoke and police barricades, distraught citizens pleaded with officers to allow them check on family members in nearby buildings that had been blocked off.

One woman who was dressed in a red sweater and visibly shaken vehemently assured police that she could not get a hold of her family and needed immediate access. An officer held her hand while dispatching a colleague to check on the building addressed.

Leaving many surprised, no one suspected an explosion like this could occur on a busy cross street like 116th and Park Avenue.

“It was so crazy, my heart rate just jumped.” Rasheeda Davis, a woman who lives on 117th street told IPS. “I looked outside and everyone was just running.”

“There are a lot of new buildings around here. I’ve never feared an explosion or a gas leak or anything like that.” Davis shared with IPS. While investigations are underway, reports confirm the deaths of three people and over 60 injured.

The United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA) and the World Bank are partnering to oversee strategies to address gender based violence through the lens of education, capacity building and economic growth.

And as a public health and development issue, it is becoming increasingly hard, they say, to sweep gender based violence under the rug during parliamentary or community level conversations
During a meeting amongst ministers of health, public policy and population from Niger, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Benin, Executive Director of UNFPA Babatunde Osotimehin urged the international community to help “rewrite the narrative from peace and security to one of development.”

According to Genevieve Inagosi, Minister of Gender, Family and Child for the DRC, for a woman there is “no place less safe than her own home,” and about 60 percent of women in the DRC suffer intimate partner violence.

UN Women estimates that 35 percent of women globally have experienced physical and or sexual intimate partner violence/non partner violence.

Last year, the President of the World Bank, Jim Yong Kim and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon travelled to the Great Lakes region to assess the remnants of countries post conflict.

The mission, which also included UNFPA, as the top UN agency on reproductive health and rights as well as maternal and new born health, found specific objectives to tackle.

“A, we had to stop the violence and B, we had to dig deep and look at gender based violence,” said Osotimehin.

After meeting with various heads of state , talking to representatives from various sectors of the community and touring local areas in the region, the World Bank committed one billion dollars.

Osotimehin noted that putting an end to gender based violence was just the tipping point as the entities involved also had to address capacity building and education.

“Send girls to school and let them stay in school.” Osotimehin said, pointing out the number of young girls enrolled in primary – and barely making it to secondary school.

With the World Bank’s commitment to support governments of the Great Lakes region in reducing poverty and promoting shared prosperity by pin-pointing some of the most vulnerable groups, including victims of gender based violence, Osotimehin saw this opportunity as a wise one, calling it a “time to invest in Africa.”

There are a few key issues the Great Lakes region faces with gender based violence where women are the most vulnerable group. Violence against women and girls is especially prominent in eastern DRC and a culture of impunity is still prevalent. The region is in need of an integrated multi-faceted response that covers the medical, mental, justice and economic systems of the community.

With the financial backing to tackle a mile high “to do” list (support for survivors and violence prevention, maternal and reproductive healthcare services, capacity building and regional knowledge sharing), UNFPA can focus on the day-to-day programmes and capacity building projects on the ground, slowly implementing steps for success.

While calling for governments to “take ownership” and support initiatives that promote gender equality, perception and violence prevention, Osotimenhin also noted the importance of building infrastructure that can sustain a community long enough to tackle the issue of not only gender based violence, but also of inequality.

UN High Representative Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser speaks at a rally commemorating International Women’s Day. Credit: Joan Erakit/IPS

By Joan Erakit
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 7 2014 (IPS)

In its continued effort to highlight the achievements of women, United Nations Women for Peace (UNWFP), in partnership with United Nations Alliance of Civilization (UNAOC), convened Friday the ‘March in March’, an annual awards luncheon and rally to celebrate International Women’s Day.

This year’s theme focused on the fight to end violence against women and according to UNWFP, violence against women has become commonplace in some countries and little to no consequences has been given to perpetrators.

To an audience that included Cindy McCain, supermodel Naomi Campbell, actresses Kelly Rutherford, Kim Cattrall and honouree, filmmaker Trudie Styler, the UN High Representative for UNAOC and former President of the 66th Session of the General Assembly, Ambassador Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser called for women’s issues to be treated as human issues.

“The issue of “the woman” is one that is inherently close to the work of the UN Alliance of Civilization. It is not just a women’s rights issue, but a humanitarian one as well.” said Al-Nasser.

Addressing the need to bring men and boys to the table to discuss violence against women, Al-Nasser also noted that education plays an effective role, especially if started at an early age, adding, “We have to teach young boys and educate them that they should raise their voices against this crime. If we don’t change attitudes and perceptions, this crime will continue to happen.”

UNWFP points out that one in five women under the age of 15 are sexually abused, most often by a family member, and in some countries, nearly seven out of 10 women are beaten, raped or mutilated.

Having the conversation about sexual violence and supporting victims is still a work in progress for the global community. Victims still keep quiet for fear of more violence or even death, and without proper resources local organizations and even governments struggle to meet the needs of affected women.

Playing its part in strengthening the implementation of laws and policies on violence against women, and also to provide services to survivors, the UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women was established in 1996 by the General Assembly and since 2012, supported by UNWFP.

Emphasizing the need for “mutual respect among nations and people” of different diversities in order to break down the walls of gender inequality that often lead to violence against women, Al-Nasser applauded the work of UNWFP for its ability to provide economic and social opportunities for women that ultimately helped create a life of dignity.

“Our rights, our lives, our dignity, should not be dictated by any of these diversities—including gender.” Al-Nassar said during his closing remarks.

UNWFP was founded in 2008 under patronage of Ban Soon-Taek, wife of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and focuses on supporting the goals of UN agencies whose missions elevate women through cultural, educational and social programs while engaging in a global peace building process.

Last September, , IMPACT Leadership 21, an organisation geared towards promoting the visibility of women in leadership roles called for the appointment of a woman as the next UN Secretary-General, a first in the history of the world body.

Exactly five months later, IMPACT Leadership 21 continues its mission to push for full equality between men and women.

And in a recent panel discussion titled “The Power of Collaboration: Women and the Future of Global Leadership,” the organisation took the issue a few steps further with an open dialogue featuring ambassadors, business leaders, students and media.

“Peace is inextricably linked to equality for all women, girls and men.” said Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury and former UN Under-Secretary-General, during his opening remarks at the discussion.

It is estimated that there are over 193 heads of state in the world with only nine of them being women. In parliament, only 13 percent of women legislate and when it comes to chief executive officers (CEO’s) of big corporations, 15 to 16 percent of them are women.

The stark reality of the underrepresentation of women in leadership roles is what worries Janet C. Salazar, CEO and Founder of IMPACT Leadership 21.

“In order for economies and global leadership to be sustainable, it is imperative that those who are in top leadership positions in both public and private, commit to a political will and a conscious effort to make women’s leadership equality at the top of a normal, daily aspect of every institution in our society.” Salazar said in a statement.

As the global community faces its fair share of political and social instability, peaceful negotiations and dialogue are sought after, but most do not include women.

“Women need to be at the peace tables to make a difference in the transition from a culture of violence to a culture of peace.” said Chowdhury, who also expressed his disappointment for the lack of women present at the table during the recent Geneva II peace talks on Syria early this year.

According to Constance J. Peak, Chief Financial Officer and Chair of the Global Advisory Council and a panellist at the event, women fighting for leadership roles need to cultivate certain characteristics like innovation, tenacity and a sense of collaboration. Collaboration, she believes, is important because the world is “interconnected” and one cannot function without the other.

Peak also believes that it is integral for men to become involved in the push for women at the forefront. “In order for women to accelerate, we must include men in the conversation.” Peak said.

And it is not merely a conversation that IMPACT Leadership 21 hopes to create; it is a culture of collaboration that allows men to see women as leaders in both the peace process and in business world.

Creating a platform for both women and men to share ideas on equality, pushing for access to education for women and girls but also understanding that education is not enough, and empowering women to participate in both the decision making process and implementation, are just a few of the steps that “The Power of Collaboration” discussion emphasized to its audience.

And as the UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth, Ahmad Alhendawi, said in his closing remarks, “Don’t support women, they don’t need your support. Invest in women.”

The 15-member Security Council Saturday unanimously adopted a resolution demanding unhindered access to humanitarian aid for Syria.

After three years of horrific violence, starvation and displacement, millions of Syrians caught up in the ongoing political crisis are expected to get some form of relief – provided both government and rebel forces agree to the demands of the Council.

“This is the worst humanitarian crisis of our generation,” Ambassador Samantha Power, Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations said at the press stakeout, following the adoption.

The new resolution aims to beef up assistance and follow through with provisions that will safe guard people’s lives moving forward.

The resolution calls for access to humanitarian aid for the three million plus civilians trapped in besieged areas. So far, the continuing violence has cost over 100,000 lives.

A paragraph in the resolution demands that, “all parties immediately cease all attacks against civilians, as well as the indiscriminate employment of weapons in populated areas, including shelling and aerial bombardment, such as the use of barrel bombs, and methods of warfare which are of a nature to cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering.”

Secretary General Ban Ki-moon echoed those sentiments while addressing the Security Council after the adoption of the resolution, commending its work and adding his own concern for the Syrian people.

“Civilians continue to bear the brunt of the conflict. They are the daily victims of brutal violence and indiscriminate attacks, including the use of heavy weapons, aerial bombings, mortars and car bombs in population areas.” Ban said.

The cooperation of the Syrian authorities and all other armed opposition groups in the implementation process of resolution 2139 is critical in preventing a fall-through or another three years of trauma. The resolution states specifically that all parties cease violent attacks, allow humanitarian workers access to besieged areas, including conflict areas and across border lines.

It also urges member states to act generously and continue to support the humanitarian needs of the Syrian people both in Syria and in neighbouring countries, as well as calls for an end to impunity for violations and abuses of human rights.

Although the passing of the resolution was swift, it is the implementation that will test its mettle, according to diplomats here.

Meanwhile, a coalition of 17 non-profit organisations including Save the Children, World Vision International, Center for Victims of Torture and Islamic Relief Worldwide released a statement urging all parties involved, both inside and outside Syria, to take necessary action to implement the resolution.

“The Security Council’s resolution is a diplomatic breakthrough; it is not yet a humanitarian breakthrough. This will require the swift translation of the Council’s strong, shared words into meaningful action,” the statement read.

The coalition urged the Security Council to follow through with its 30 day check point where the Secretary General will be asked to report on the implementation of the resolution by all parties involved. Thereafter, the council will receive another report from the Secretary General.

In his remarks, Ban said: “This resolution should not have been necessary. Humanitarian assistance is not something to be negotiated; it is something to be allowed by virtue of international law.”

In 2008 the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) established the Youth Solidarity Fund (YSF) in a way to support young people through an international grants-making programme.
Seven years later, YSF continues its work by providing seed funding to youth led organizations that focus on fostering dialogue on cross cultural issues and bridging gaps between communities both locally and globally.

“We have funded over 40 projects across the globe and built strong relationships with these 40 youth organizations. We have provided them with training, networking opportunities and connections to media.” Isabelle Legare, Youth Manager for UNAOC told IPS.

By backing youth lead initiatives, YSF gives young people a seat at the table because they encourage them to speak their minds and address policy makers who will ultimately make decision that affect their future.

An interactive and grassroots inspired programme, YSF allows participants to create and submit projects that benefit 18 – 30 year olds with a “train the trainer” type of approach.
With the 40 projects that have been funded since its inception in 2008, the YSF has given out between 20,000 to 30,000 dollars to each project in hopes of promoting inclusion.
“The UNAOC supports projects that reach out to, and connect marginalized youth from different cultural and religious backgrounds as this helps foster broader and transformative engagement from all types of youth.” Legare said.

According to the fund, the cycle of support goes beyond financial backing and into perception. Young people may not always be the first individuals who come to mind when addressing world issues, but as far as YSF is concerned, they are key to peace building.

“The YSF changes the narrative regarding the link between youth and peace building. Too often, youth are portrayed as instigators of conflict or victims of conflict.” says Legare, adding that “the individual youth and the youth organizations involved in the YSF demonstrate that this generation is active in preventing conflicts, fostering reconciliation, building trust and understanding between communities.”

With the current demonstrations in Venezuela and tensions in the Ukraine, youth are believed to be the first to respond and the first to voice their opinions, allowing them easily become incubators for change.

Funding projects that support capacity building, strengthen cultural understanding and mobilize discussions to bring about peace are important concepts for the YSF. A partnership with the UNAOC that is epitomized in the success of their programme.

Legare offers this insight: “This approach is a full recognition of the fact that young people are trailblazers when it comes to advancing the mission of the UNAOC.”

Mimose Gérard, 57, washes clothes and collects plastic bottles from the trash in order to survive. She is still living in a tent camp four years after Haiti's earthquake. Credit: Milo Milfort/IPS

By Joan Erakit
UNITED NATIONS, Jan 29 2014 (IPS)

As violence rips through South Sudan and ongoing conflict plagues the Central African Republic and Syria, developing countries stand at a difficult crossroads – struggling to grow economically and politically, yet fielding deep inequalities within their own borders.

The United Nations Development Programme launched a report Wednesday titled “Humanity Divided: Confronting Inequality in Developing Countries”. It warns that “the world’s population lives in societies that are more unequal today than 20 years ago,” where despite impressive technological advancements, 1.2 billion people still live in poverty.

It says that income inequality increased by 11 percent in developing countries between 1990 and 2010. More than three-quarters of households in developing countries are living today in societies where income is more unequally distributed than it was in the 1990s.

UNDP Administrator Helen Clark notes that overall, the wealthiest eight percent of the world’s population earns half of the world’s total income, while the remaining 92 percent must fend for themselves with whatever is left.

Basing its framework on the relationship between the inequality of outcomes and inequality of opportunities, the UNDP report stresses that the two perspectives are “interdependent” and that one cannot function without the other.

“The inequality of outcomes refers to inequalities in the material outcomes that matter for human well-being, such as a person or household’s income or wealth status, health and nutritional status, and educational achievements,” Anuradha Seth, a lead author of the report, told IPS.

The inequality of opportunity, she says, refers to the idea that specific groups within a population, such as women and racial and ethnic minorities, consistently face inferior economic, political, and social opportunities than their fellow citizens due to circumstances of birth.

The report makes clear that though the two concepts are interdependent, they also have very different drivers, and only addressing inequality of opportunity will not suffice in moderating inequality of outcomes.

Inequality at the root of conflict

Are some of the worst conflicts we see today rooted in inequality? According to Seth, it’s possible.  “Indeed, there is substantial evidence that both economic inequalities but also horizontal inequalities have played an important and often times key role in driving conflict. And conflict, in turn, can deepen existing inequalities.”

Access to proper food and water, medical care in times of disease, or even quality education for children can also be a major factor in stirring tensions among local populations.

The “drivers” of inequality are complex and diverse and include social, economic and cultural barriers that do not allow for full political participation. Indeed, one percent of the world’s population owns over 40 percent of the world’s assets, with the bottom half holding one percent.

According to a UNICEF study of 43 developing countries, 90 percent of children from wealthier backgrounds have the opportunity to attend school, compared to 64 percent from poorer backgrounds.

Women continue to lag behind men in nearly every indicator of well-being, an example of “horizontal inequality.”

“Horizontal inequalities can undermine social cohesion and can increase political and social tensions – and in some circumstances can fuel instability and conflict,” Seth told IPS.

These inequality gaps include maternal and newborn health. It is estimated that between 2006 and 2010, women in sub-Saharan African were 20 times more likely to die in childbirth than those in Central Asia or Eastern Europe.

“We know well that the biggest source of vulnerability which undermines individual, community and societal resilience is horizontal inequality, that is inequality between groups,” Selim Jahan, director of the poverty practice group at UNDP’s Bureau for Development Policy, told IPS.

Jahan added that a sustainable approach to crisis situations in developing countries would only prove successful if more “empowered and resilient women and women’s organisations” were part of the conversation, both on a community and a household level.

“Increasing women’s agency remains critical to ensuring gender parity in all dimensions of development,” Jahan said.

“There will not be much progress in advancing equality for women – and in fact the cause of social justice overall – unless women are enabled to participate in political and public life on an equal footing with men so that they can ensure that their voice and concerns are fully heard.”

Why inequality matters

In order to allow all individuals to have a fair chance at developing both themselves and their families, the topic of inequality needs to move up the political agenda.

“Even as redistribution remains very important to inequality reduction, a shift is needed towards a more inclusive pattern of growth, one that raises the incomes of poor and low-income households faster than average in order to sustainably reduce inequality, key to the post-2015 development agenda,” the report notes.

And fine-tuning that agenda is the job of more than just governments and development agencies, experts argue.

“The realisation of inclusive society is a very much a common interest, something from which we all stand to gain,” Jahan said. “We need to make sure that it also becomes a joint endeavour. The report we are launching today is meant as a contribution to this process.”

On 5 April 2014, the 7th World Urban Forum (WUF7) will descend on Medellin, Colombia on the theme ‘Urban equity in development’ — Cities for life.’ The focus of the weeklong conference , in the Latin American hub,  will be on practical and sustainable ways of creating more inclusive and compact cities that address complex issues like inequality, population and infrastructure.

The estimated 10,000 delegates are expected to come from the private sector, academia, non-profit organizations and business. The results of the conference will eventually be handed off to government officials who can better decide on their implementation.

Spearheading the conference and making the rounds last week to promote the upcoming conference was Executive Director of UN-Habitat ,Joan Clos.  Clos’s dedication to the conference’s outcome is palpable, and he believes that an opportunity like WUF7 to discuss measures of urbanization is the answer to the world’s most pressing problems. “It would provide a good mixture of local experiences and best practices worldwide.” Clos said during a UN press conference.

Sustainability will not only be an important topic for the UN’s post-2015 economic agenda,  but also pose a serious comparison for future generations to ponder:  it’s one thing to come up with solutions that rectify the current state of poverty, over-population and disease, but it’s entirely another to sustain those solutions over the next 20 or even 30 years, according to UN Habitat.

With the growing world population and the influx of people moving to large cities,  urbanization is reaching an excruciating tipping point: where will all these people go, and how will they live amongst each other in harmony?

Cramped cities invite great opportunities, but they also produce great challenges. Poverty, violence and lack of sanitation are just a few of the things that can quickly age city officials as they try to figure out how to best accommodate the movement of new inhabitants.

“Cities must be more dense, compact, integrative and inclusive to reduce inequalities and reclaim public space as a common good for all citizens,” said Clos, during an October 2013 presentation.

With over 100 million people living in slums worldwide, the reality of elevating living conditions that promote healthy development is a bit frightening.  Local authorities need the support of national and international governments just to meet a few of the obstacles.

WUF7 is a unique meeting place that will hopefully address the issue of urbanization as it pertains to the post-2015 agenda.   However, authorities will have to move quickly; it is estimated that the number of urban settlers has reached 3.5 million over the course of human history, and will only take 30 to 40 years to double.

The winning partnership to creating better cities will need to marry both diplomacy and sustainability, because once implemented by government, cities can then work to sustain urbanization in such a way that promotes equality, development and health.

In his year-end of press conference Monday, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon left journalists with a telling prospect for the upcoming year that puts the needs of people first: “I want this diplomatic momentum to carry over into the New Year. We must make 2014 the year of protecting people – their security, their fundamental rights, their basic well-being.”

A security and fundamental rights approach might as well be a standpoint that the participants of WUF7 can address as they tackle the well being of urbanites.

The fight to end violence against women and girls remains a critical issue for the  global community as the world gathered to observe Orange Day—the International Day to End Violence Against on the 25 November, 2013.  Violence against women and girls is a grave violation of human rights and has a long lasting consequence on the victims, the families, the communities and the countries that suffer its wrath.

A performance of “Wounded to Death” in the ECOSOC Chamber at the United Nations Headquarters. Credit: Lusha Chen/IPS

To keep the issue fresh in people’s minds and to spread the word in a way that is relatable to all, Italian journalist Serena Dandini has written and produced a play called “Wounded to Death,” a series of monologues based on true events that tell the horrifying and prolific stories of women who have been victims of femicide.

During a special performance at the United Nations headquarters on Tuesday night, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director of UN Women emphasized the importance of putting violence against women and girls on the map and called its omission from the Millennium Development Goals “glaring.”

According to A Promise is A Promise, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s campaign to end violence against women and girls, 7 in 10 women worldwide have reportedly experienced physical and/or sexual violence in their lifetime. The kinds of sexual attacks that women and girls experience go beyond non-intimate partner violence to intimate partner violence, violence while pregnant, female genital mutilation, and also abduction and trafficking.  It is said that 80 percent of the 800,000 people trafficked across national borders are women and girls, and 79 percent of them are trafficked for sexual exploitation.

The numbers are staggering and beg a troubling question: are we making ourselves clear that violence against women and girls is unacceptable?

In an effort to clarify an important point and to connect this human violation to pop culture, Dandini puts together a performance featuring famous women in the arts, music and film industry—easily bridging the gap between civil society, private sector and community.

A performance that lays bare the awful truths of sexual abuse within homes in England, to a rape and murder in Central Park, no stone is left unturned in Dandini’s “Wounded to Death.”  With a leading cast that includes famed artist Marina Abramovic, Italian actress and model Maria Grazia Cucinotta, photographer Nan Goldin, singer Amanda Palmer and philanthropist Abigail Disney, the monologues are written in a way that causes the audience to put themselves in the shoes of the women whose lives met their unspeakable end because of femicide—a criminal act likely to go unnoticed by many.

“Violence against women isn’t cultural, it’s criminal.  Equality cannot come eventually, it’s something we must fight for now.” said U.S. Ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power, in a statement released on Tuesday. There’s something to be said about watching famed actresses and artists perform disturbing accounts of sexual violence; in their professional capacity they are able to emulate the lives of those passed as if they themselves have suffered horrendous violence.

As a partnership between UN Women and the Permanent Mission of Italy to the United Nations, “Wounded to Death” is an example of the power of storytelling in a way to protect the human rights of women and girls.

– The new Regional Human Development Report produced by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) brings to light an issue that is considered a “thwart” to the development of Latin America.  Citizen insecurity is a growing problem in the region and according to the new report, “a challenge that must be overcome by means of democratic and inclusive policies that respect human rights.”

Regional Human Development Report for Latin America launch at United Nations Headquarters. Credit: Lush Chen/IPS

Violence is slowly crippling the societal and economic strands of Latin American countries and as governments prepare for crackdowns and iron fist responses, a few organizations, researchers and civil society members conclude that the situation is more diverse than it seems, and a one-size-fits-all approach is not the way to solve things.

Surveying over 18 countries in Latin America and aptly titled Citizen Security With A Human Face: Evidence and Proposals for Latin America, the report shared a startling conclusion: though having sustained immense economic growth, Latin America remains one of the most insecure and unequal destinations in the world.

Citizen security is a crucial subject for many political decision makers because it becomes central to their campaigns; the people that vote them into office want to feel safe to walk the streets and often look to their leaders to help make it so.

“It is a crucial issue for several regions, including Latin America and the Caribbean, because without peace there can be no development, and without development there can be no lasting peace.” said Helen Clark, UNDP Administrator.

Some of the major attributes driving the insecurity in the region stem from the disorganization of youth—many lack opportunities to better themselves, education and even shelter.  Left alone on streets late at night and with nothing better to do—and sometimes with access to drugs and alcohol—they resort to crimes, both petty and serious.

Because Latin America is one of the only regions where lethal violence grew between 2000 and 2010, researchers and policy makers are zeroing in on additional attributes to insecurity including, low quality economic growth in the area, demographic changes, the accessibility of weapons, alcohol and drugs, and also institutional vulnerability.

“While some threats—such as organized crime, especially drug trafficking—are often used to explain insecurity, the regional, national and local dynamics are much more diverse,” adds the Human Development Report coordinator, Rafael Fernandez de Castro.

That diversity spreads directly into women and girls who suffer the consequences of violence in Latin America.  The report emphasizes the great threat that violence against women poses to human development because the rate of rape, domestic violence and female murders has risen in all the surveyed 18 countries.

The report makes no qualms about how the issue of citizen security must be dealt with—or better yet, what must be avoided.

The “iron fist” way of combating violence will no longer work, for increased policing and criminal repression in Latin America has only lead to high crime rates.  Addressing the lack of opportunities available for young people, protecting the rights to life and physical integrity are just a few ways in which citizen security can be targeted.

The report makes clear that national efforts to reduce crime through a policy initiative is key, as well as optimizing crime prevention programmes that use public spaces and promote coexistence as a way to deter violence.  It is also recommended that the reduction of impunity is crucial in promoting human rights and reinforcing faith in justice institutions.  Additionally, actively safeguarding the rights of victims as well as addressing gender violence both domestic and public can be a positive way of prevention.

Most importantly, some of the countries can start by reinvigorating a confidence in their police system.  When citizens feel as thought their basic rights are protected and that by-and-large their voices are heard, they are more likely to work with authorities in finding ways to combat violence within their communities. As the report firmly states, “the most effective way to reduce citizen insecurity is by improving the people’s lives.”

Announcing a joint mission to the Sahel region, Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and President of the World Bank, Jim Yong Kim addressed the press Friday on their new mission which would place peace and development at the forefront.

The historic visit set the groundwork for plans to assist in the revival of Africa’s economic and social future.

“Earlier this year, President Kim and I travelled together to the African Great Lakes region in support of a new peace framework aimed at tackling the roots of long-running conflict and under-development.” Ban told reporters.

Using their high profile positions, knowledge and leadership, the two engaged in discussions with various African leaders, members of the African Union and civil society on issues pertaining to peace and security, development and economic stability.

Pledging one billions dollars to the Great Lakes Region, both Kim and Ban encouraged African partners to work towards developing their countries by investing in their people.

Visiting Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Chad, Mali and Niger, this upcoming trip which starts Monday will have three major points: addressing the instability in Mali, supporting governments and taking a regional approach to handling issues of poverty.

With the current state of the Northern Africa and the effects of violent conflict, the Sahel region lags behind in development and protection of its people

However, some critics remain skeptical of where the fruits of a World Bank-United Nations labour will sprout.  Africa continues to suffer from corruption and accountability has proven to be difficult.  Still, the World Bank President assures that this joint mission has survived revision, and its initiatives are bound to be successful.

“The World Bank Group will mobilize behind a new approach to the Sahel. We will do this while working side by side with countries from the Sahel, the Secretary General and other development leaders from the UN, the European Commission, the African Development Bank, and the African Union.” Kim said in his statement via videoconference from Washington, D.C.

Both Kim and Ban plan on looking at a number of different issues from disease, women’s empowerment, education and economic development of young people. To do so, they will utilize the opportunity to be on the ground, working directly with Sahelian leaders and other community officials to both implement and manage solutions.

“Now is the time to help them build more stable lives. They need better access to quality health care and education, as well as good jobs, especially for women and young people. The Secretary General and I will hear first-hand from Sahelian leaders next week.  We know their nations suffer from many interrelated problems.” shared Kim.

Addressing the root causes of conflict and poverty are reason enough for this joint mission. Therefore both Ban and Kim will have to work tirelessly to build effective programs that stress accountability and transparency to continue sustaining the five major countries—many months after they board that plane back to the United States.

In Nepal, many children who suffer from malnutrition belong to young mothers. In fact, teen marriages and pregnancies are common and over 23 percent of women give birth before they are 18 years old. Credit: Naresh Newar/IPS

By Joan Erakit
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 30 2013 (IPS)

Before we begin, perhaps we can set aside the stereotypes: no, she didn’t “mess herself up by following boys around”, and no, it is not in fact her fault that she became pregnant.

Adolescents rarely have children because they want to. Yet 7.3 million girls under the age of 18 give birth every year, with two million of those births to girls under the age of 14.

“The powerlessness girls experience is often a symptom of human rights violations of one form or another,” Richard Kollodge, editor of a flagship report launched Wednesday by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), told IPS.

“When a girl is married against her will before 18, her rights are violated. When a girl becomes pregnant and is forced to leave school, her right to an education is denied,” he said.

This powerlessness affects young women deeply, and many are faced with excruciating choices that can lead to illegal abortion, social exile and even death.

Titled “Motherhood in Childhood: Facing the Challenge of Adolescent Pregnancy,” UNFPA’s annual report looks at the most important factors driving adolescent pregnancy: poverty, lack of education, forced marriage and inequality.

In his forward to the report, UNFPA Executive Director Babatunde Osotimehim writes that, “A pregnancy-prevention intervention, whether an advertising campaign or a condom distribution programme, is irrelevant to a girl who has no power to make any consequential decisions.”

The report sheds light on a key problem when it comes to adolescent pregnancy: the lenses used to view young women are tainted.  An unnecessary burden of being solely responsible for a pregnancy is put on the back of a young girl, and she is rarely looked at as a victim.

UNFPA is calling for a new perspective on adolescent pregnancy, one that includes not only the teen’s behaviour as a cause of early pregnancy, but also at the actions of their families, communities and governments.

Outside factors

Using a diagram, UNFPA describes five determinants (national, community, school/peers, family and individual) that can determine a teen parent’s path.

For example, when governments make laws limiting access to contraception, it contributes to negative views towards sexuality and women in the general community.  This trickles down to the schools, where sex education and available resources for young women are limited because they are not seen as necessary.

Parents can then develop negative views about sexuality and even about their own daughters, investing very little in their education and reinforcing a gender inequality in a young girl before she is even given a chance.

All this carries a high cost to national development aspirations as well. In Kenya, if the more than 200,000 teen mothers had jobs instead of children, they would have added 3.4 billion dollars to the economy – a sum equal to the value of Kenya’s entire construction sector.

If adolescent girls in Brazil and India had only waited to bear children until their early twenties, their nations would have greater economic productivity equal to over 3.5 billion and 7.7 billion dollars, respectively, the report says.

Meanwhile, just two cents of every dollar directed toward international development is spent on adolescent girls.

Powerful conversations

“One of the points the report makes is that the conversation cannot start in only one place,” Kollodge said. “The conversation has to occur simultaneously at all levels – at the national and policy levels, at the community level, in schools, among parents, among men and boys, and among peers.

“Research shows that interventions aimed at girls, and especially at changing girls’ behaviour, rarely have a positive impact,” he added. “No single intervention, or action by a single stakeholder, will make a real or lasting difference.”

Power is the most important aspect of a girl’s life – the power to stand up for herself, to protect herself and to choose when she is ready to have a family.

“The report makes the case that more often than not, pregnancy is not the result of a deliberate choice but rather, the result of an absence of choices and opportunities in life,” Kollodge said.

“When, for example, a 13-year-old girl is forced into marriage and is then expected by her husband, her parents, and her community to start having children right away, that girl clearly lacks power to decide whether, when and how often to have children.

Placing high emphasis on developing human capital of young girls, and giving them the opportunity to make sexual reproductive choices for themselves, not only promotes the health and protection of young girls, it also gives them a seat at the global development table.

U.N.  Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has appointed Sigrid Kaag of the Netherlands as a Special Coordinator of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)-United Nations Joint Mission to eliminate the stockpile of chemical weapons in the Syrian Arab Republic.

In a statement during Wednesday’s  press briefing, the Secretary General confirmed his confidence in  Kaag’s ability to spearhead the mission: “Ms. Kaag brings to the job a wealth of UN and other experience—including service with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNWRA) and other offices around the world with a particular focus on the Middle East and North Africa.”

Serving as Assistant-Secretary General of the Bureau of External Relations and Advocacy of the UNDP since 2010,  Kaag will be responsible for overseeing all activities on the ground in Damascus.  She will manage both the OPCW and UN personnel, as well as ensure access and security for team members with additional support in the areas of communications, logistics and policy.  Her appointment comes after the Secretary General’s close consultation with OPCW Director-General Ahmet Üzümcü in relation to resolution 2118, adopted  by the Security Council on 27 September 2013.

The road ahead for Kaag is not positioned to be an easy one and though she will head to the Hague this Friday to familiarize herself with the many players and topics that will surely cross her path, the UN remains aware that there is still a great deal of work ahead in Syria.

“We have no illusions over the challenges ahead.” Ban said.  “The situation in Syria remains dangerous and unpredictable.  The cooperation between all parties in Syria is required.”

And this cooperation could not be more timely; civilians are still being targeted and the humanitarian needs grow larger by the day.  It is estimated that over 100,000 people have died and many more have fled their homes, living in exile without the guarantee of ever returning back.

As UN agencies continue to pledge their support to deliver medical tools, food, water and other necessities, the ability to reach everyone affected by the crisis is limited.

Ban hopes  Kaag’s efforts to work as a liaison, managing the work of the OPCW and UN to eliminate chemical weapons will hopefully pave a way for humanitarian workers to deliver assistance safely and efficiently.

“While mobilizing to eliminate Syria’s chemical weapons, the UN has not lost sight for one moment of the wider tragedy that is still destroying Syria.  We are equally focused on reaching a political solution that will stop the appalling violence and suffering being inflicted on the Syrian people.”

One of the fastest-growing Asian immigrant groups in the United States, Filipinos are perceived as the most likely to assimilate with ease.  That is, of course, if you’re looking from the outside in.

A closer scrutiny might begin to reveal the complex and often harsh realities of geographical change, social anxiety and family loyalty faced by migrants the world over."I give a human face to the newcomer’s emotional traumas, the anguish of nostalgia, and loss of pride and status.” -- Erlinda Kravetz

In her book Krystal Hut: Stories, a collection of short stories about the Filipino-American experience, author Erlinda Kravetz paints vivid pictures of life between the old country and the new country.  Her characters are rich in spirit and deeply devoted to their families, yet caught in the ambivalence of wanting to fit in with their neighbours while preserving their heritage.

“I spent a lot of time nurturing my characters, understanding their deepest desires, dreams, hopes and illusions, following them on their emotional journeys but never losing sight of where they came from and where it all began for them,” Kravetz told IPS.

It is exploring her characters’ emotional journey that allows for a special connection between the reader and the text.

Immigration of any kind is not an easy subject to tackle, and it certainly helps when an author has his or her own personal narrative to reflect upon.  A Filipino woman herself – and one who has endured the challenges of balancing two cultures – Kravetz writes from a place of humility, but also has a poignant understanding of transition.

Americanised

“Coming from a former U.S. colony, Filipinos feel a special kinship with Americans,” Kravetz says.

This special kinship is due to the fact that Filipinos actually harbour more “Americanised” characteristics within their societal background than any other migrant group from Asia.  From education and language to religion and marriage, Filipinos arrive here fairly well-equipped to participate in the economy, quickly joining the workforce and sacrificing whatever they must in order to make a life of their own (as any other immigrant would).

They speak English, have earned degrees (though one must note that those degrees are rarely regarded as equivalent to U.S. degrees), and many have already married and started families.

However, the cultural transition away from deeply embedded traditions is a whole other ballgame, and the crux of the differences between Americans and Filipinos could not be made clearer than in the stories of Krystal Hut.

In Achara, Kravetz describes a family torn between assimilating socially and preserving family ties.

The plot revolves around a family coming together for a reunion in Long Island, whilst coming to grips with the unchanging ways of their mother, the matriarch, who meticulously concocts her traditional recipe of achara (pickled green papaya) in her son’s kitchen, unflinching and unwilling to mix the modern setting with old traditions.

Her children have assimilated in their own ways, some being devout in their individualism and others walking a fine line between two worlds, as described by one of her sons:

“Our father and our eldest brother are dead, making me the head of the family.  I know I don’t have to – now that we’re all in America and have our own lives – but I’ve taken on the responsibility for keeping the family ties intact in our adopted country.  It’s been difficult with everybody living in different parts of the country.”

Building relationships

Krystal Hut is about relationships, with family, with neighbours, with community.  The stories each bring attention to a different aspect of human connection from death and despair to love and suffering, both here in the U.S. and back home in the Philippines. Kravetz is bold in allowing each of her characters to embody great pain with such transparency.

By writing empathetically about immigration, Kravetz offers a new perspective on an experience that many in our global community find difficult to discuss.

“I think most immigrants – regardless of their origin – are aware of challenges, particularly in a time when the U.S. continues to drag its feet on whether to welcome or deport hundreds of thousands of undocumented aliens,” Kravetz said.

“Yes, there are hardships, like working at two or three menial jobs and living in cramped quarters, racial slurs, threats of deportation. In my stories, I give a human face to the newcomer’s emotional traumas, the anguish of nostalgia, and loss of pride and status.”

Indeed, coming to a new country and making a life of your own is not without its challenges.  However, there are also great experiences to share – that of overcoming economic difficulty, of building community and more specifically, if one is able, being able to sponsor more siblings and family members to come and do the same.

Krystal Hut may be fiction, but it also educates, inspires and informs. Kravetz is in more ways as much a professor as she is a storyteller – and a great one at that.

Millennium Development Goal Eight has become a big focus for the Secretary General and other United Nations officials as the deadline draws nearer.  In a press conference last week,  Secretary General Ban Ki-moon launched the Millennium Development Goals Gap Task Force Report 2013.

Entitled “The Global Partnership for Development: The Challenge We Face,” the report follows the commitments that countries have made in regards to debt relief, aid, trade and access to medicine and technologies.

Joined by Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development at the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), Shamshad Akhtar and Assistant Secretary-General and Director of the Bureau for Development Policy the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Olav Kjorven, the Secretary General spoke on the progress of MDG 8.

“As the report shows, tariffs of exports from developing countries are down.  Exports from developing to developed countries are up.  A larger portion of exports from least developed countries are being admitted tax-free.  Access to mobile phone/technology and the internet continue to rapidly expand.” Ban remarked.

The MDG Task Force which was set up by the Secretary General to help monitor the efforts by the global community to close the gap between commitment and delivery has had some gains, but also endured a few challenges, even with the Official Development Assistance (ODA) target of 0.7 per cent of gross national income.

“While global economic trends are slowly improving, the crisis continues to take a toll.  For the first time in a long while, Official Development Assistance has fallen for two consecutive years.” said Ban.

With debt restructuring needed and limited access to technology plaguing developing countries, the challenges faced pick at the progress of the MDG Gap Task Force, yet optimism is still to be found.

Partnerships formed between developed countries and developing countries are the foundation for practical solutions to fighting financial and economic difficulties.  While still being able to face the issues within their own countries, governments are also maintaining their commitments to partnerships outside their borders, making it easier to trade and opening up access to new markets.

It’s the
big guy helps the little guy mentality that strikes as obvious, however not so simple. As the report states:

“While there are advances to report in increasing countries to new technologies, in duty-free access for exports from developing countries and, to a lesser extent, in efforts to increase access to more affordable essential medicines, the international community is not fully delivering on its commitments to development assistance and to reaching an agreement on development-oriented multilateral trade.  The differences in directions taken and the disparity in results weaken the cohesiveness of the global partnership.  As many developing countries are redoubling their efforts to accelerate the progress towards achieving the MDGs by 2015, more policy coherence and consistency is needed within the global partnership to support the endeavours of developing countries.”

During a press conference Tuesday, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called for the voices of the “disabled, the poor and the jobless, the hungry, those living without adequate sanitation or health care” to be heard as the work of defining the post-2015 development goals continues.
Opening with remarks during a conference that also included Helen Clark, chair of the United Nations Development Group (UNDG), and representatives of the Young Digital Advocates, A Million Voices: The World We Want was presented as a new guide to creating a sustainable future.

A Million Voices is a report based on information gathered from millions of people around the world—many of whom do not have access to the internet—about what matters most to them, their communities and their families.

“Over the last 13 years, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have generated tremendous progress.” Ban added. “Many countries have transformed access to education and water, reduced disease and poverty, and moved towards gender equality.”

Originating from the My World survey that sought to bring issues of universal relevance to the table, A Million Voices has managed to somewhat cut through the national and local government bureaucracy in developing countries, and attempted to reach marginalized communities. Political freedom, better job opportunities, phones and internet access, freedom from discrimination and persecution are just a few of the issues that were brought up through consultations, written and online surveys.

“Our work to define a post-2015 development agenda will help us to recalibrate our efforts to eradicate extreme poverty and chart a course to a world of prosperity, peace, sustainability, equity and dignity for all.” Ban said at the press conference.

With the MDGS being close to over, the groundwork has been laid out. It will take equal efforts from various member states, private sector and international agencies to work through the intricacies of developing, protecting and empowering the global community.

And as the Secretary General alluded in his statements, “people want to be involved in setting the new development agenda. They want to be engaged in holding member states to the promises we make.”

As the global conversation continues, new actors emerge, and the post-2015 MDGS will hopefully strive to leave no one behind.

A cornerstone of Africa’s planned Free Trade Area will be improved production capacity. Credit: Kristin Palitza/IPS

By Joan Erakit
UNITED NATIONS, Jul 18 2013 (IPS)

Bridging the gap between Pan-Africanism and the African Renaissance has been a top priority for the African Union (AU).

But with a military coup in Egypt, instability in South Sudan and Mali, and even the ailing health of former South African President and freedom fighter Nelson Mandela, solidifying its purpose and mission as the continent’s mouthpiece has been a bumpy road for the organisation.“Poverty is number one and should be number one when you want to put the African continent to another level." -- Robert Kayinamura of Rwanda's Mission to the U.N.

Founded in 1963 by African leaders including Julias Nyerere of Tanzania, Milton Obote of Uganda, Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia and Nkwame Nkuruma of Ghana, the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) was established to free countries from colonial rule.

The intention was to build a better, self-sustained league of democratic nations that would push the continent forward. But a recent panel discussion that took place at the U.N. seemed to have lost its original intent in a debate over whether the African continent should participate fully in the global economy as it is, or create its own financial systems and become an equal contender on a much larger scale.

“The problem with this conversation here is that it came from a perspective of Pan-Africanism, but old Pan-Africanism.  We need to get to the new Pan-Africanism,” Robert Kayinamura, a first counsellor for the Permanent Mission of Rwanda to the U.N., told IPS.

Pan-Africanism is an ideology and movement that espouses unity and solidarity not only on the continent but within the diaspora.

As Africa continues its growth spurt, the world – primarily China – is beginning to focus on its wealth of natural resources.  And Africa’s respective leaders are utilising organisations such as the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and AU to bind together and formulate concrete economic, diplomatic and development plans.

Moderating tensions

According to Dr. Ali Mazrui, a professor of African studies at Cornell University, conflict prevention has not been the organisation’s strong point.  In the last 50 years, many countries have endured horrific civil wars while their neighbours looked on cautiously.

“[Ugandan President Yoweri] Museveni should have more readily intervened in Rwanda in April of 1994 the way Julius Nyerere intervened in Uganda,” Mazrui said, referring to the Rwandan genocide and the Tanzanian-led ouster of dictator ldi Amin’s regime in 1978-79.

Dr. Mazrui also added that when the OAU was founded, one of its agendas was to moderate tensions within states, but not to participate in tensions within states – and Nyerere did in fact catch backlash from the OAU during his intervention in Uganda.

This path may have led to the increasing dependence on international interventions during times of war, and surrender to institutions such as the International Criminal Court (ICC) for justice thereafter.

Because development is directly related to conflict, which is then related to poverty, managing conflict and promoting peace would have been a sound way to sustain the continent during the first 50 years of the OAU.

Passing the baton

On Sep. 9, 1999, the OAU came together to establish the African Union (AU) as a means to aid the continent in its growth to becoming an equal player in the global economy.

Not having the proper resources or economic expertise to tackle issues of development, the OAU focused heavily on the eradication of colonialism and then passed the baton to the AU to further develop the economic infrastructure of Africa.

Beginning its revisions and strategising policies to incorporate economic change, the AU set forth a plan for a central banking system that would uplift Africa from its deepening financial woes and most importantly, and while doing so, focus on the source of all its problems: poverty.

“Poverty is number one and should be number one when you want to put the African continent to another level, because poverty is the source of conflict,” Kayinamura told IPS.

“Poverty is the source of envy, poverty is the source of listening to nonsense,” he added.

Indeed, it is an all-encompassing issue that includes education, health, political stability, financial independence, social welfare and inequality.

With projects to start an African Central Bank, an African Investment Bank and an African Monetary Fund in 2010 – 2011, the AU decided that by encouraging Africans to be self sustaining – less dependent on aid or any other outside handout – stronger, more democratic nations would be formed.

The idea was simple: eradicate poverty by creating a financial institutions that gave out manageable loans, and that in turn built the private sector.

“The private sector has been the engine of fighting poverty because it creates jobs. You get a job, I get a job, everybody gets a job, and my kids go to school.  It doesn’t have to be the vicious cycle: I come from the garden, so my kids go to the garden,” Kayinamura told IPS.

It is a vicious cycle that many Africans hope not to perpetuate, as the pressure on their leaders to assert change grows heavier.  But lack of political maturity and capacity-building continue to the slow the process of achievement. As the world turns its eyes once again to North Africa, the role of the OAU and AU will be brought back into the limelight.

And the question remains: What – and who – will move Africa forward?

By Joan Erakit
UNITED NATIONS, Jul 11 2013 (IPS)

On Thursday, the international community recognises World Population Day, a time of assessment, discussion and projections for the future that necessarily gives great weight to the rights of women and girls and particularly their sexual and reproductive health.

Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin. Credit: UNFPA

This past week, the Netherlands has been host to the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) where equality and the rights of every person have been highlighted.

“Women’s rights are human rights,” the executive director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, told IPS. “I would hate an institution where we are now discriminating in terms of which rights are now for women and which rights are for men.”

According to Population Action International, a non-profit organisation geared towards making contraceptives accessible to all women all over the world, some 215 million women currently lack access to family planning.

This leads to unwanted pregnancies, unsafe abortions, medical complications during birth and even death, not to mention the economic setbacks and educational detours that may accompany the raising of a child.

As the framework for the post-2015 development agenda is being prepared, it has become clear that human rights and sexual reproductive health are intertwined with economic growth and sustainable development.

IPS correspondent Joan Erakit spoke with Dr. Osotimehin about the challenges and opportunities facing women and girls when it comes to voluntary family planning, and protecting human rights in order to sustain the post-2015 Development Agenda.

Excerpts from the interview follow:

Q: What is the relationship between sexual and reproductive health and human rights?

A: The best way to capture it is to come back to the ability of girls and women to exercise their basic human right of choice, and freedom to access education, to access services, to access opportunity. It also ensures that they can develop their full potential, and finally to make choices about how many children they want to have – if they want to have them – what’s the gap between the children they would like have, and do so without coercion from anybody.

Q: What happens to a woman when she is given the opportunity to decide when she wants to have kids?

A: What tends to happen from the experience and the research we have is that they tend to have as many children as they can afford to look after. And they also tend to have the children, given the interval, so that they can be healthy. And that has implications for contraception; so they must be able to access contraception to enable them to exercise that right to its fullest.

Q: Because economic growth and development are greatly connected to voluntary family planning, how do we show this kind of information to local communities and governments so that they can invest in family planning?

A: There are two approaches to it. The first approach is a short-term approach, which is to actually demonstrate that, from a service perspective, when you invest in family planning there is always a return on investment. For every dollar that you invest, there’s a minimum of three to six dollars return on the investment.

The long term is that the woman or the girl would be able to freely develop herself, access quality education, access skill development, be able to get a job, or start a business. Do something for herself that makes her economically viable and contribute to community in terms of development.

When a woman has access to contraception and she is able to develop her potential and she is able to have the number of children she can afford to have, the children tend to do better than the women who don’t have that access. We know for a fact that when you look at the metrics of it, girls who don’t go to school, when they have kids, the kids don’t do well. So, there is a cycle of poverty.

Once they go to school and they are older than 18, their children do better. What you are doing is ensuring that you have generations that are actually having access to several things, and in that sense building human capacity that drives economic growth.

Q: What are you looking to add to the post-2015 development framework in regards to the rights of women and girls?

A: The post-2015 development framework is one where we must assert the issues of reproductive human rights, and the fact that women and girls must be the centre of human development. If you don’t have human development and human capital development, it’s going to be difficult for you to have sustainable development.

Excerpt:

Maasai villagers in traditional clothing and jewellery in the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. Credit: William Warby/cc by 2.0

By Joan Erakit
UNITED NATIONS, May 9 2013 (IPS)

The Maasai tribe of Kenya and Tanzania has long been a beacon of traditional culture to many Africans – and for Westerners on safari through Maasai Mara, Samburu or Amboseli, a familiar face.

But familiarity and travels aside, the tribe faces many of the same roadblocks on the path to development as any other marginalised community around the world.

William Kikanae, community leader of his Maasai village in Maasai Mara, recently spoke with IPS in New York during the launch of an initiative to provide economic opportunities for local tribeswomen by the Spanish footwear brand Pikolinos.

“First, I know for myself that women are the most important part of the family,” Kikanae told IPS. “(But) for Maasai people, women are not important. They don’t have power like a man.”

As an Adcam director for Kenya, Kikanae works with brands overseas like Pikolinos to cultivate projects that allow the women of his community to earn money.

Through the Maasai Project, local women embroider sandals that are then sent to Spain for finishing and sold all over the world, with the proceeds going back into community development projects such as schools, clinics and housing.

“Before, the men of my community thought that I supported women to be in power more than them,” Kikanae said in regards to the Maasai Project.

“We’re not going against anyone. I can say now that even our politicians are proud of the project,” Kikanae added.

The middlemen

According to a female government officer and doctor from the Maasai tribe, who asked that her name be withheld, supporting women and propelling them to the forefront of development is a significant way to achieve change among the Maasai.

“Women cannot own livestock they look after, but if educated these things will change. All is not lost for those who did not go to school, however. If allowed by their men to trade in milk, handicrafts, they can generate income for their families,” the Kenyan officer told IPS.

Poor communities are always subject to exploitation and misrepresentation when it comes to aid, so when a tribe like the Maasai partners with an organisation abroad, it is only natural for scepticism to arise.

“I think the problem here stems from the middlemen. These are the guys who are supposed to connect the community with the ‘helpers’. These people will use the opportunity to exploit the community to realise their own ambition with very little of the help reaching the beneficiary,” the officer told IPS.

“Since education has lagged behind, the few educated individuals have used the ignorance of the majority to their own benefit. So, in a nutshell, the common villager may not be able to differentiate this.”

Homework by firelight

The women of the Maasai are hardly in denial when it comes to their lack of education. They understand that the more people are educated within their community, the fewer will fall victim to exploitation.

But old patterns persist. In many local African villages, it is a well known fact that only if a young girl is rendered useless to her family – unwilling to marry young, reluctant to perform household duties and chores, or go to the garden and dig – would she be sent off to school to study. This caused a division in opportunity and kept education inaccessible to those who desired it.

A tradition-versus-modernisation issue is still visible today.

Additionally, the lack of basic needs at home such as electricity or transportation to school greatly hinders the performance of a rural student. As the officer told IPS, “You can imagine trying to do homework by firelight or walking long distances to and from school.”

Let the women lead

From an outsider’s point of view, it may seem that the Maasai women cannot catch a break, from lack of health services – especially in regards to maternal health where many women still die during childbirth – to the spread of HIV/AIDS, a topic that most do not feel comfortable talking about.

“Men go to towns, sells cows or work, have relationships with town women and bring the virus home,” the officer said. “The women have not heard of condoms or negotiating for safe sex.”

As in other societies around the world, the spread of HIV/AIDS is directly linked to education, and when children don’t receive information on sexual health, the perpetual cycle of disease continues.

Added to these concerns is the growing problem of displacement.

“Large tracts of Maasialand are being sold by men, sometimes without the knowledge of their wives. From Kitengela to Namanga on the border this is happening. This land is being bought by other communities and before long the Maasai will be in the back of beyond in extremely hard to reach areas. The current leadership is too short-sighted to see this catastrophe in the making,” the officer added.

Asked what is needed to facilitate development among the Maasai, the officer said, “There is need to for good leadership to guide this process so that there is no exploitation.”

With education and good leadership, the obstacles that the tribe face are slowly tackled. One by one, Maasai women are more likely to reassess the needs of their entire families and surrounding community, whilst working together with local and international organisations to bring about measurable change, she said.

There are 135 million live births every year, with only 11 million benefitting from quality care. Credit: Photo stock

By Joan Erakit
UNITED NATIONS, May 8 2013 (IPS)

The story goes like this: a young mother lies quietly in a dimly lit room having just given birth to her baby. For the next seven days she watches over the child with caution, nursing and swaddling it patiently. Fearful that the infant will not survive past a few days, she refuses to give it a name.

Unfortunately, this scenario remains the reality for many women across the globe. There are 135 million live births every year, with only 11 million benefitting from quality care – a divide not only between rich and poor but also between life and death.“We’re not going to solve all these issues without involving and engaging men.” -- CEO of Save the Children Carolyn Miles

On Tuesday, Save the Children launched their annual report State of The World’s Mothers 2013: Surviving the First Day. The report emphasises the need for quality care around pregnancy, delivery and postnatal care.

“The first hours and days of a baby’s life are especially critical,” it says. “About three-quarters of all newborn deaths (over 2 million) take place within one week of births. Thirty-six percent of newborn deaths (1 million) occur on the day a child is born.”

Sometimes it is as simple as not having access to an educated midwife or community nurse. Other times it’s as complicated as having to wait for a husband’s approval in order to go to the hospital to deliver the baby.

Then there are the infections that newborns are prone to when they come into this world, and also the health of the mother during and after pregnancy.

Empowered mothers

“An empowered and educated mother is the best thing for a child,” President and CEO of Save the Children Carolyn Miles said as the report was launched at the United Nations.

The report cites three major causes of newborn mortality: severe infections, pre-term birth and complications during childbirth.

At the heart of the problem is the fact that millions of women lack access to a physician or healthcare facility.

“As we start to do more for newborns, the quality of care is also really critical, because we want babies not just to survive, but to survive without disability,” said Professor Joy Lawn, director of the MARCH Centre at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

This means making maternal and child health a priority for government officials and community leaders. It means having conversations with husbands and fathers about the need to have a birthing plan.

“We’re not going to solve all these issues without involving and engaging men,” Miles told IPS.

“We have got to work in communities to actually engage husbands, make them part of the plan. A woman develops a plan to get to the hospital to be able to deliver; engage her husband in that plan. Make sure he’s expected to be part of the plan and has put away a little money if there’s a transportation need. He’s actually part of that.”

Growing midwifery

Losing a baby during childbirth has become commonplace in the developing world. It is understood that childbirth is a terribly difficult thing with sometimes devastating results, but still a natural order.

“There is this sense of, ‘this is just what happens’. Babies die, babies are born too early, and they’ll die. Mothers don’t name their children for seven days because so many will die,” Miles told IPS. “So it’s changing that idea that every mother and every child deserves to live through birth.”

According to the report, 800 women die during pregnancy or childbirth and 8,000 newborn babies die during their first month of life. It all seems to boil down to two essential factors: education and access.

Those few midwives or birth attendants who are available – especially in rural areas – usually lack adeqate training in prenatal and postnatal care. What little education on the topic they have, they’ve learned along the way from previous childbirths, some not so successful.

Public health advocates say these providers need proper training and tools to carry out basic tasks like cleaning the umbilical cord after childbirth and teaching new mothers about infection.

This leads to access, another issue preventing pregnant women from receiving the best care during such a critical time. Rural areas are hard to reach, community workers are not paid enough to allow travel, and resources are scant.

“Part of the solution is to train more community midwives and health workers,” says Catherin Ojo, a chief nursing officer at Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital in Zaria, Nigeria.

By Joan Erakit
UNITED NATIONS, Apr 16 2013 (IPS)

The Global Education First Initiative stands at the forefront of this week’s Learning Ministerial Meetings in Washington, D.C., underscoring the importance of education in the development of the global economy.

The initiative is a project of United Nations (U.N.) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who, along with the World Bank president and Gordon Brown, the U.N. special envoy for global education, is hosting the meetings, which take place Apr. 16 through 18.

Josephine Bourne, associate director and global chief of education at UNICEF. Credit: UNICEF/2013/Susan Markisz

The ministerial meetings will bring together ministers of finance and education from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Haiti, South Sudan, Yemen, India, Nigeria, Ethiopia and Bangladesh and will focus on sustainable solutions in discussions between the private sector and civil society organisations.

Josephine Bourne, UNICEF associate director and global chief of education, spoke with IPS about the upcoming meetings and the challenges of education for all. Excerpts from the interview follow.

Q: As part of the secretary-general’s Global Education First Initiative, what is the role of UNICEF and how are you pooling your resources to push this campaign forward?

A: The Global Education First Initiative, or GEFI, provides a unique opportunity to catalyse greater political will and commitment at various levels, from rallying key stakeholders in the field of education to securing sustainable funding sources for education.

UNICEF has and will continue to support the objectives of GEFI through a number of actions to strengthen our work on children who are out of school and by ensuring we provide education opportunities to the most vulnerable, particularly girls, children with disabilities and children living in conflict.

UNICEF is also working to mobilise youth to bring in their voices and perspectives on youth education issues, which include child labour, child marriage and teacher training.

Q: If there is one issue right now that greatly diminishes a child’s opportunity to obtain an education, what would it be?  

A: Being born a girl, into poverty, in a rural area often combine to diminish a child’s opportunity for an education. When a girl in the developing world receives seven years of education, she marries four years later and has 2.2 fewer children.Girls from disadvantaged groups are often the most marginalised of all.

Educated girls have fewer, healthier and more educated children, hence reducing poverty at a community level, and they lead to improvements in national economic growth, an increase in female leaders, and lower levels of population growth and greater sustainable development.

Q: How can civil society and the private sector work together to come up with solutions that can effectively work in each country? Undoubtedly, civil society and the private sector have a key role to play in ensuring and sustaining an environment where children can learn and thrive. 

A: UNICEF has a strong relationship with civil society and the private sector that has only strengthened in recent years.

Through Schools for Africa, for example, UNICEF is working with governments, local authorities, communities and other partners in 11 countries to create the necessary conditions to attract children to school, keep them there and provide them with safe and protective environments in which they can learn, play and thrive.

Another new and unique initiative is P.L.A.Y., Play and Learning Activities for Youth, which features portable playground units that children can assemble into any structure, helping them to tap into their imagination, curiosity and self-expression, and help them learn to collaborate with peers. This partnership is between Disney, UNICEF and organisations in Haiti and Bangladesh to provide safe recreation for children living in disaster recovery conditions and extreme poverty.

Q: For teachers and community leaders working on a local level where results may be harder to measure, will these meetings at the World Bank at least provide a map for success that can be followed?

A: The progress and work that happens in a country is often determined by the policies developed by government and development partners. Everything we do – every decision we make, every programme we launch, and every dollar we spend – should be judged by how it affects the children and communities we serve.

The success of the meetings at the World Bank will depend on whether the priority actions identified improve the educational opportunities of the most vulnerable children in each of those countries – girls, children in rural areas, under threat or living with disabilities.

We also need to improve how we monitor results for the most vulnerable children. This is something UNICEF is working on, with UNESCO’s Institute for Statistics.

Teachers, community leaders and parents must continue to deliver services on the ground to enable children to enrol, remain and learn in school, while governments and development partners must advocate for policies that promote and protect the right to education for all children. Next week’s meeting will take up these important concerns.

Q: The relationship between gender equality and education has been continuously discussed in both media and politics. Is there something special about this relationship that we can hope to learn from the recent documentary “Girl Rising”? How is this film being used to advocate for young girls in the countries that will be presenting cases during this week’s meetings?

A: Girls from disadvantaged groups are often the most marginalised of all and require special attention. Being a girl from a poor family or ethnic or linguistic minority group, living in a rural or remote region or in a country affected by conflict increases tremendously the risk of being out of school.

“Girl Rising” showcases the experience of girls as they face various barriers to gaining access to school. Drawing on the lived experiences of girls, the film presents a vibrant picture of the great promise school represents while also showcasing the inequity in the distribution of educational opportunities for millions of girls around the world.

The film is an important contribution to building awareness about issues concerning adolescent girls and their empowerment. That said, empowering girls alone will not suffice to bring about social change.

Protecting and promoting the human right to education for all children, girls included, requires the involvement and commitment of all duty bearers – of individuals, parents, communities, institutions and international bodies, like that of the UNICEF and the U.N. family.

Excerpt:

His Excellency Mr. Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser of Qatar, U.N. High Representative for the Alliance of Civilisations, stands with youth from City Kids, a local non-profit organisation in New York. Credit: Joan Erakit/IPS

By Joan Erakit
NEW YORK, Apr 13 2013 (IPS)

Today’s youth are hardly passive consumers of content – they create it, endlessly updating via social media and spreading information faster than one can say “go”.

This weekend at New York’s Columbia University, the United Nations Alliance of Civilisations (UNAOC) teamed up with Columbia’s Teachers College for a symposium titled “Conversations Across Cultures: Youth Media Visions“, exploring how young people from around the globe view diversity, migration and social inclusion, via video production.

Inaugurating the symposium, His Excellency Mr. Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser of Qatar, a former president of the U.N. General Assembly and U.N. High Representative for the Alliance of Civilisations, emphasised the deep investment of the UNAOC in the development of young people.

“The UNAOC is committed to facilitating the participation of youth with their visions and opinions of the political process. Several of the UNAOC initiatives channel this commitment,” he said.

“The UNAOC is also committed to supporting the distribution of outreach of new media, and of media messages where youth represent themselves.”

Representation for Change

And that seems to be the precise reason for giving young people a mic, a video camera and access to the Internet. Though mainstream media may not always be keen to allow the voices of the young for fear of unorthodox opinions, Youth Media Visions pushes young people to the frontline, facilitating all aspects of education and production under the guidance of experienced media professionals.

“It’s very appropriate to welcome a programme that’s of enormous impact because this is a way that youth can speak and make a difference, and communicate across cultures and help people understand each other.” Dr. Susan Furhman, president of Teachers College, told a packed room at the Macy’s Gallery.

The symposium, which features various digital aspects including film, workshops and video production, is an avenue of dialog that brings educators and youth together to discuss mediums of change.

How do you get young people to voice their opinions on the matters that truly concern them? Well, you start by giving them a video camera.

In 46 short films made by youth all over the world, subjects such as migration, education, bullying, unemployment and poverty are covered with such unflinching clarity and honesty, it’s almost difficult to watch.

In a short video entitled “Living in Limbo: Youth Out of Work and Out of School”, a group of teenagers shoot a day in the life of a young New York mother as she struggles to navigate the perils of job hunting whilst dealing with two young children and bouts of depression. The film works to shed light on the United States’ disconnected youth, a phenomenon that has left many out of school.

Build it and they will come

Regardless of where a child grows up and what resources are available to them, technology – once introduced – becomes a learning tool unlike any other.

“Technology promotes this sort of playfulness, you get to know things through a sort of game,” Laia Sole, an artist and arts educator who curated the project, told IPS.

Youth Media Visions embraces this aspect by engaging its participants in the conversations surrounding the introduction of media and technology to remote villages and cultural settings usually isolated from technology.

“Children every day act in a very similar manner. The introduction of media and technology into a classroom is something that we can see all over the world. It’s changed the way we approach technology and how we build it. It is something that promotes interaction and it’s more based on the senses; it’s more tactile and visual and it’s something that humans, particularly children, relate to,” Sole told IPS.

The symposium, which runs Apr. 12- 14, also features eight non-profit organisations from all over the world whose main goal is to empower young people by using media.

CHINH, Global Action Project, Cinema en Curs, One Minutes Jr., Educational Video Center, Plural +, Fundacion Kine and Wapikono Mobile are all organisations that will participate in the three-day event which encourages visitors to take active digital roles in the discussion of formal and informal education.

“One of the things that became relevant to me while working on this project was learning from these organisations that we have here,” Sole added. “They are mobile, they are flexible, they can work whether in formal or informal settings, which means that they can reach communities which otherwise could not be reached.

“My main goal would be that we see how these different organisations operate, in order to see what are the advantages of working with media in any educational setting whether it’s formal or informal,” she concluded.

Youth Media Visions will be on display at the Macy Gallery Apr. 12 through 19.