Detail from the cover of ‘Degrowth: A Vocabulary for a New Era’

By Justin Hyatt
BUDAPEST/BARCELONA, Nov 22 2014 (IPS)

For anyone who recently attended the Fourth International Conference on Degrowth in Leipzig, Germany, listening in on conference talk, surrounded by the ecologically savvy, one quickly noticed that no one was singing the praises of sustainable development.

Nonetheless, development per se and all that this entails did take centre stage, as a crowd of three thousand participants and speakers debated ongoing trends in the fields of environment, politics, economics and social justice.

Given that it may not be immediately clear why a rallying cry anchored to ecological principles would call for the demise of sustainable development – which in generic terms could be described as the environmentalist programme dating back several decades – it seems that a clarification or two would be in order.

As is the case with social movements, they evolve and go through periods of transformation like anything else does. When the term sustainable development came into use in the 1970s and 1980s, it did support the assumption that general environmental principles and minimum ecological limits should be respected when going about the everyday business of development.From the vantage point of economic realism, development is inextricably connected to economic growth. However, degrowthers carry the deeply-held belief that economic growth simply does not deliver what it promises: increased human welfare

The term sustainable development rapidly gained wide-scale acceptance, with the U.N. Commission on Sustainable Development just one of the many (inter)governmental or top-down bodies that have set up in the past three decades to include environmental goals in planning and policy.

However, according to Federico Demaria, author and member of Research & Degrowth in Barcelona, the idea of sustainable development is based on a false consensus. Once this term and its underlying situations are properly deconstructed, Demaria tells IPS, “we discover that sustainable development is still all about development. And that is where the problem lies.”

Development is indeed a dirty word in degrowth circles. From the vantage point of economic realism, development is inextricably connected to economic growth. However, degrowthers carry the deeply-held belief that economic growth simply does not deliver what it promises: increased human welfare.

“Thus we find ourselves at a place where we need to readdress the flaws of sustainable development with a fresh perspective,” says Demaria.

It is with the hopes to do just that in a clear and powerful way that Demaria, along with Giorgos Kallis and Giacomo D’Alisa, have produced the new book Degrowth: A Vocabulary for a New Era, which has just been released by Routledge.

This volume includes 50 entries that all touch on specific aspects of degrowth and go a long way towards elucidating the distinguishing factors of degrowth, as well as properly defining concepts ranging from conviviality to bioeconomics, societal metabolism and many others.

The historical development of the degrowth movement is also spelled out. Thus we learn that in the 1970s, at the time of the first phase of the degrowth debate, when The Limits to Growth by Dennis and Donella Meadows and others was published, resource limits was the talk of the town. Yet now, in what can be called the second stage, criticism of the hegemonic idea of sustainable development has come to the forefront.

It was Serge Latouche, an economic anthropologist, who defined sustainable development as an oxymoron in A bas le développement durable! Vive la décroissance conviviale!  (‘Down with sustainable development! Long live convivial degrowth!’) at a conference in Paris in 2002, affiliated with the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and concerned with the issues of development.

Latouche and others in the French-speaking world began to give shape to the French movement, which called itself décroissance and eventually spread to other countries, entering Italy as decrescita and Spain as decrecimiento. Eventually, by 2010, degrowth emerged as the English-language term, well suited for universal applicability.

For many of the attendees of the degrowth conference in Leipzig, the set of vocabulary of the degrowth movement and even the very name degrowth begged to be dealt with carefully. There were a few proposals to switch to a name carrying positive connotations, instead of defining a movement based on opposition to something – growth in this case.

But Latouche and Demaria both argue that the word degrowth most concisely defines one chief objective of the movement – the abolition of economic growth as a social objective. Referred to as a missile word, it is disturbing for some, exactly because it intends to be provocative; as such, this has borne fruit.

There are certainly positive concepts to highlight in the degrowth movement. These include voluntary simplicity, conviviality and economy of care. Yet none of these terms are broad enough to be inclusive and representative of the breadth of ideas that make up the entirety of degrowth.

Perhaps Francois Schneider, another of the degrowth pioneers, put it best when he defined degrowth as: “equitable downscaling of production and consumption that will reduce societies’ throughput of energy and raw materials.”

The goal in all of this, according to the authors of the new book, is not simply to have a society that can manage with less, but to have different arrangements and a different quality. That is where the idea of societal metabolism (that is, energy and materials within the economy) comes into place, because it explains how a degrowth society will have different activities, rearranged forms or uses of energy, and significantly different allocations of time between paid and non-paid work.

Taking social relations as well as the time-work relationship a step further, the theory of dépense, also described in the new book, comes in handy. Dépense signifies the collective consumption of ‘surplus’ in a society.

Nowadays, surplus time and energy is often re-invested in new production or used in an individualistic manner. This follows the dictum of capitalism whereby there should not be too many wasteful expenses; at the most individuals can employ their own all-too-brief methods to unwind from stressful life in the rat race.

Yet degrowth advocates point to the habits of older civilisations where surplus was dedicated to non-utilitarian purposes, be they festivals or celebrations. Degrowthers prefer to see an application of dépense to community-based uses that place conviviality and happiness-inducing activities above economic factors.

While no one can predict when and how the degrowth transition will take place, Demaria stresses that examples of this transition are already here. “Look no further than the transition town movement in the United Kingdom or Buen Vivir in South America,” says Demaria.

Demaria and others also hope that one specific effect of the Leipzig conference, as well as the brand new volume on degrowth, will be to re-politicise environmentalism. Sustainable development de-politicises real political oppositions and underlying dissonance, contributing to the false imaginary of decoupling: perpetuating development without harming the environment.

“Once we decide that we are not afraid to talk about the full implications of development, be they economic, social or political,” says Demaria, “then we begin to see that it is actually utopian to think that our societies can be based on economic growth for ever. Degrowth, by contrast, really offers the most common sense of all.”

(Edited by Phil Harris)

Degrowth demonstrators marching through the streets of Leipzig, September 2014. The placard reads: Exchange Share Give. Credit: Klimagerechtigkeit Leipzig (http://klimagerechtigkeit.blogsport.de/)

By Justin Hyatt
LEIPZIG, Sep 22 2014 (IPS)

From the mid-20th century onwards, economic growth has come to count as a self-evident goal in economic policies and GDP to be seen as the most important index for measuring economic activities.

This was the premise underlying the recent Fourth International Conference on Degrowth for Ecological Sustainability and Social Equityheld in Leipzig to take stock of the “degrowth” movement’s progress in efforts to debunk the mantra of growth and call for a fundamental rethink of conventional economic concepts and practices.

Many followers of the movement, who argue that “anyone who thinks that growth can go on endlessly is either a crazy person or an economist”, base their philosophy on the findings of a 1972 book – The _Limits_to_Growth – which reports the results of a computer simulation of exponential economic and population growth with finite resource supplies.“In China, which is touted as a success story of economic growth, 75 percent of the results of this growth serves only 10 percent of the population, while the enormous Chinese urban centres have become so polluted that even the government would like to build eco-cities” – Alberto Acosta, economist and former President of the Constitutional Assembly of Ecuador

After Paris (2008), Barcelona (2010) and Venice (2012), this was the fourth such conference but, with some 3,000 participants, the largest so far. Hundreds of workshops, roundtable discussions and films or presentations were organised for the scientists, researchers, activists and members of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) who gathered to discuss economic degrowth, sustainability and environmental initiatives, among others.

Internationally acclaimed Ecuadorian economist Alberto Acosta, who was President of the Constitutional Assembly of Ecuador in 2007-2008 told participants that in China, which is touted as a success story of economic growth, 75 percent of the results of this growth serves only 10 percent of the population, while the enormous Chinese urban centres have become so polluted that even the government would like to build eco-cities.

Acosta, who developed the Yasuní-ITT initiative, a scheme to forego oil exploitation in Ecuador’s Yasuní National Park, is also an advocate of buen vivir, arguing that extractivism is one of the most damaging practices linked to latter day capitalism, as more and more non-renewable natural resources are taken from the earth and lost forever, while producing gigantic quantities of harmful emissions.

To counter extractivism, Acosta calls for the adoption of buen vivir, which is based on the Andean Quechua peoples’ sumak kawsay (full life) – a way of doing things that is community-centric, ecologically-balanced and culturally-sensitive – and loosely translates as “good living”.

For Giorgos Kallis, an environmental researcher and professor at the University of Barcelona, degrowth needs to provide a space for critical action and for reshaping development from below, in an attempt to divert more time away from a capitalist and towards a care economy.

When asked if the concept of degrowth was not too radical or uncomfortable a message, Kallis said: “Yes, perhaps degrowth doesn’t sit well, but that is precisely the point, to not sit well – it is time to make this message relevant.”

Canadian author and social activist Naomi Klein, known for her criticism of corporate globalisation and author of No Logo – which for many has become a manifesto of the anti-corporate globalisation movement – joined the conference by Skype to tell participants that radical change in the political and physical landscape is our only real possibility to escape greater disaster and that reformist approaches are not enough.

One of the main driving forces behind the degrowth movement is Francois Schneider, one of the first degrowth activists who promoted the concept through a year-long donkey tour in 2006 in France and founded the Research and Degrowth academic association.

“Systemic change involves whole segments of society,” Schneider told IPS. “It doesn’t involve just one little part and we don’t expect a new decision from the European Parliament that will change everything. Dialogue is the key. And putting forward many different proposals.”

Taking the example of transport and mobility, he explained that it is useless to tackle the transformation of transport alone because “transportation is linked to energy and advertising is linked to the car industry.”

Vijay Pratap, Indian activist from the Gandhi-inspired Socialist youth movement era and member of South Asian Dialogues on Ecological Democracy (SADED) pleaded for the inclusion of marginalised majorities in the degrowth movement. Pratap told IPS that “unless we initiate the processes so that they can become leaders of their own liberation, no real post-growth society can come into being.”

While he was satisfied with what he said as a very egalitarian and democratic approach to the organisation of the conference, Pratap said that inclusion should be guaranteed for those who do not speak English, those who do not know how to navigate social networking sites and those who do not have access to international philanthropic donor agencies.“

According to Pratap, who participated as an organiser in the World Social Forum (WSF) gathering in Mumbai in 2004, this was one major lesson of the WSF process.

On the final day, Lucia Ortiz, a programme director for Friends of the Earth International and active in Brazilian social movements, did not mince her words in the closing plenary when she proclaimed that “degrowth is the bullet to dismantle the ideology of growth.”

The movement to dismantle this ideology will now continue in preparation for the next degrowth conference in two years’ time.

And Kallis is convinced that it will be even more successful than this year’s event. Commenting on the increase in participation from a few hundred in Paris in 2008 to the 3,000 in Leipzig, he quipped: “At this pace, in twenty years, we’ll have the whole world at our conference.”

(Edited by Phil Harris)

Permaculture enthusiasts with their harvested produce. Credit: Graham Bell/IPS

By Justin Hyatt
BUDAPEST, Jul 28 2014 (IPS)

Food security is often thought of as a question of diversifying supply and being able to move food through areas plagued by local scarcity, relying on the global economic system – including trade and transport – as the basis for operations.

But there is a growing current of opinion that the answer lies much closer to home, by creating locally resilient food supplies which are less dependent on global systems and therefore on the political and economic crises that afflict these systems.

While both approaches have their place, one issue that they have in common is the goal of improving diets and raising levels of nutrition.

At the global level, this goal will take centre stage at the international conference on nutrition that the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and the World Health Organization (WHO) are jointly organising in Rome from November 19 to 21 this year.“Farmers and nutritionists rarely discuss the nutritional quality of a carrot and how it could be improved through farming practices. Farmers are more concerned with yield and appearance while nutritionists typically assume that all carrots are created equal” – Bruce Darrel, food security expert

The organisers will be seeking political commitment for funding improved nutrition programmes as well as including nutrition-enhancing food systems in national development policies. They are also likely to attempt to give the Zero Hunger Challenge in the post-2015 United Nations development agenda fresh momentum.

In the meantime, one task that many say still remains is how to address nutrition in a holistic way, ranging from soil health to plant and animal health as well as to education about food storage and preparation methods that maximise nutrition.

Canadian food security expert Bruce Darrell believes that there are currently few examples of holistic approaches to nutrient management that incorporate strategies for nutrient levels and develop efficient nutrient cycling. “Perhaps this is not surprising when dealing with something that is essentially invisible and which has no generally recognised name as a concept,” he argues.

In his daily work, Darrell examines the role of mineral nutrients in soil, how they are depleted by farming practices, and their implications for healthy food.

According to Darrell’s accumulated knowledge, a single carrot can be more than twice as high in nutrients as that of another carrot grown in poor quality soil, which contains less than half the amount of sugars, vitamins and minerals.

A lack of knowledge about these things needs to be overcome, says Darrell: “Farmers and nutritionists rarely discuss the nutritional quality of a carrot and how it could be improved through farming practices. Farmers are more concerned with yield and appearance while nutritionists typically assume that all carrots are created equal.”

While the carrot is only one example of a whole range of food and nutrition issues, it is becoming clearer that the knowledge gap can be and is gradually being overcome.

Increasingly, individuals and small grassroots organisations are getting together to develop whole-systems approaches to nutrition. There are also more and more networks emerging globally to understand food.

“Not all of us have the luxury to decide exactly how we feed ourselves,” Ágnes Repka, a raw food expert from Hungary and one of the coordinators of the Future of Food European Learning Partnership, told IPS. “But many of us can make a choice on how to prepare the ingredients we have. Keeping as much of our food in their natural, raw form is one of the best ways to maintain its nutrients.”

The Partnership aims to bring sustainable food initiatives from different parts of Europe to one place and learn from each other, bringing the insights regarding sustainable agriculture and healthy food to a new level of understanding.

Repka stressed that when the members of the Partnership think about the healthiest possible food, “we mean what is healthy for our body, for our mind, for our communities and our planet.”

In order to communicate the new-found gains in the world of nutrition and to promote awareness in food education, Ireland’s Truefood Academy comes just at the right time.

Colette McMahon and Casandra Cosgrove of the Academy explain their reasons for putting an educational component in their nutrition-related work: “As nutritional therapists we have found that the practical skills and understanding of basic nutrition is poor and so began to develop and implement an outreach programme in a workshop format.”

The approach has proved successful and beneficial, deepening the understanding of the nutritional impact of traditional food preparation skills, which has demonstrated positive measurable results in the quality of life of the participants.

Meanwhile, across the Irish Sea in southern Scotland, Graham Bell grows over a metric ton of food on less than a 0.1 hectare garden and envisions permaculture as an apt and wise approach to sustainable and nutritious food harvesting.

“The great opportunity is for people to grow as much of their own food as possible,” says Bell. “The first need is to ensure access to land but a lot can be done on very little as we are proving. The next step is to ensure people have the skills to grow what they need.”

“Good change takes time,” adds Bell. “It is incremental. Permaculture is not a missionary activity. It is about modelling better ways of behaving. Better for ourselves, our families, our friends and neighbours – and better for people we don’t know.”

Building durable, sustainable systems is a “one day at a time” approach, according to Bell – not an overnight solution. It involves a lot of sweat, toil and trial, but it is worthwhile, he and other practitioners say.

This summer, a permaculture gathering is taking place in Bulgaria, with the next gathering already scheduled at the Sieben Linden eco-village in Germany. Repka is an avid fan of such meetings and enjoys visiting and learning new things as well as sharing her knowledge.

“Learning how to get the most out of our food is a simple way that we can improve our health,” explained Repka. Uncooked plant based foods, such as vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds in their raw form give our body more vitality, energy and health is Repka’s message.

“These are the simple choices we can make every day,” she added.

Protests against the Russian invasion of Crimea at the Maidan in Kiev. Credit: Justin Hyatt/IPS.

By Justin Hyatt
KIEV, Mar 15 2014 (IPS)

Amidst rising tensions within Ukraine, between its government and Russia, and even more between Russia and the West, many are now beginning to fear the beginning of a new Cold War. Talk of sanctions is finding new supporters, and there are proposals to freeze plans for a G8 summit scheduled in Russia later this year.

At the end of February pro-Russian gunmen seized key buildings in the Crimean capital Simferopol, and on Mar. 6 the Crimean parliament asked to join Russia. It set a referendum on this question for Mar. 16.

Crimea is a southern region of Ukraine with a large Russian-speaking population, and significantly under Russian cultural and political influence. Russian or pro-Russian forces are now said to control most of Ukraine’s southern peninsula.“We are one nation. Not divided, just diverse."

Russian President Vladimir Putin declared the need for a presence in the Crimea in order to protect the Russian-speaking population there. On the other hand Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk has pledged that Ukraine will not give a “single centimetre” of land to Russia.

Tensions have escalated on the peninsula. While only warning shots have been fired so far, pro-Ukrainian protestors as well as journalists have been physically and verbally assaulted. Election observers from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) who attempted to enter Crimea in the last few days were chased away.

Questions of language and identity have assumed enormous proportions as Ukraine plunges deeper into turmoil.

“Language and religion were not dividing factors for Ukrainians until politicians started artificially creating such confrontations,” Liliya Levandovska, researcher at the Central European University in Budapest in Hungary told IPS.

The party of former Ukraine president Viktor Yanukovych, who fled to Russia following lethal clashes in Kiev, would make references to the suffering of the Russian-speaking population, said Levandovska. “But these were myths, and now Putin is broadcasting these myths to the world.”

Many eastern Ukrainians are scared they will be obliged to use only Ukrainian language, Tamara Zlobina, an analyst earlier with the Institute for Strategic Studies in Kiev told IPS. “They are fed disinformation by Putin’s propaganda.”

Many easterners, she said, are frustrated by poverty and helplessness, but may end up venting their anger towards pro-Ukrainian activists, instead of the regime.

“There are conflicts and discussions going on everyday on the streets,” said Zlobina. “The east has its own Maidan now. There are pro-Ukrainian activist groups, pro-Russian activist groups, and then there are masses who are confused. The situation is unclear.”

But Zlobina sees the tide turning. She believes that false media propaganda is backfiring and that it has only “provoked a lot of eastern Ukrainians to join the Euromaidan movement and fight for their right to have dignity and a decent future.” The Euromaidan movement is named after Ukrainian protests in Kiev demanding better rights and greater integration with the EU.

Levandovska says people who came from the eastern and southern regions of Ukraine to visit the Maidan returned with a decidedly different picture from what they had gleaned from the media.

The Crimean Tatars are an ethnic Turkic group who were deported by Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin to central Asia in 1944. They currently make up 12 percent of the Crimean population.

Highly vociferous in their non-alignment with Moscow, they recently staged a public protest in Simferopol in support of a united Ukraine, outnumbering a pro-Russian protest held at the same time. “Vladimir Putin realised then that a media assault was not enough, that separation would have to come by force,” Levandovska told IPS.

Activists reported that pro-Russian powers shut down all Ukrainian TV channels in Sevastopol, such as ICTV, Novyi and TRK Ukraina.

Billboards in Crimea are depicting a choice between a “Nazi” Ukraine, or joining the Russian federation. The Tatars plan to boycott the referendum.

On Mar. 8, on International Women’s Day, a special gathering took place on the Maidan in Kiev. Banners held by women bore slogans such as “Equality, Solidarity, Sisterhood” and “Women of Maidan to Women of Crimea.” Natalia Sherimbetova, a language instructor from Kiev, said that women from Crimea would not get to hear about the event because Ukrainian TV channels are no longer accessible there.

In another show of solidarity with the Russian-speaking population of western and southern Ukraine, a language-swap day was organised in Lviv, Donetsk and Kiev where Ukrainian speakers spoke Russian for a day and vice-versa. “It was powerful. Even in the most Western of Ukrainian cities, Lviv, many people made a point to speak Russian,” Sherimbetova told IPS.

It’s difficult to gauge just how many people participated in the language swap, but Sherimbetova insists that the essence is in the symbolic gesture of this action, and that Ukrainians, especially in the West, were trying to send a message to their Russian-speaking brethren.

“We are one nation. Not divided, just diverse,” said Levandovska. “It is just a matter of time, until the people in the east will stop believing false propaganda. We all want long-term peace and prosperity for Ukraine.”

The phosphate processing plant of Gabes, seen here with phosphogypsum debris in the foreground. Credit: Justin Hyatt/IPS

By Justin Hyatt
GABÈS. Tunisia, Jun 7 2013 (IPS)

The story of Gabès and the local phosphate industry follows a plot that is all too familiar: an underdeveloped town located in an industrial region boasts one major lucrative industry with high output and export values, but the local population and surroundings experience alarming levels of illness and environmental blight.

But locals are no longer remaining as silent as they once were, holding a festival to mark World Environment Day on Jun. 5 and taking other actions such as protesting and using anti-pollution graffiti to increase awareness about the situation in Gabès.

The sixth largest city and a major industrial hub in southern Tunisia, Gabès is home to the state phosphate processing plant. The factory, operated by Group Chimique Tunisien (GCT), processes phosphate from Gafsa and the interior of the country into phosphorus, then exports the product worldwide.

Gabès’s industrial sector dates as far back as the middle of the twentieth century. By 2007, with an annual output of phosphate reaching 8 million tonnes, Tunisia became fifth in the world for phosphate production.

“It is an enormous industry” amounting to 30 percent of Tunisia’s gross national product (GNP), says Haythem Nasfi, director of the Gabès branch of the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR).

GCT employs 3,000 workers, and on days when the production cycle runs at full speed, daily profits can reach 11 million TND, roughly 6.8 million U.S. dollars. But with a vast industrial zone less than one kilometre from the edge of town, the factories’ activities inevitably have severe repercussions for both human health and animal life.

Gabès has the highest rate of cancer in Tunisia, and in the neighbourhood closest to the factory, Chott Salam, lung cancer can be found in one out of 10 households. Kidney cancer rates are slightly higher, with 12 percent of families affected. Likewise, bone fragility, allergies and stillbirth all feature higher than average rates."You always want to sleep. You never have enough energy [in Gabès]."
--Haythem Nasfi

“Everyone is tired. You always want to sleep. You never have enough energy,” Nasfi said, citing a common complaint among Gabèsiens. Simply taking a short trip to the nearby touristic town of Matmata leads to a dramatic improvement in mental facilities, he added.

Affecting wildlife

Meanwhie, the Oasis of Chott Salam, which is located directly beside the industrial area and once teemed with bird and animal life, has become more of an industrial wasteland, unsuitable for wildlife or recreation.

Local fish populations suffer too. Since 1965 over 200 species have been lost, reducing biodiversity in the gulf to as few as 15 fish species.

The natural ecosystems inherent not just to this now damaged oasis but also to the entire Gulf of Gabès  are unique, their warm waters providing a special reproduction zone for species of the Mediterranean Sea. Noteworthy here are the waders and waterfowl, as well as marine vegetation such as seagrass and posidonia.

According to ecologist and designer Safouane Azouzi, a native of Gabès, Chott Salam is considered the only maritime oasis in the world. Yet currently over 400 sources of fresh water feeding into the oasis have dried up because of chemical pollutants, and the loss of adequate habitat and sources of uncontaminated water has forced many species to either find other habitats or simply dwindle in number.

Authorities have so far kept silent on the pollution issue and have yet to openly admit that the problem exists. Most Gabès residents believe that the government simply doesn’t want to cough up the money for its modernisation.

The most critical reform would involve ending the large-scale discharge of phosphogypsum, a by-product of the production cycle. The organisation SOS Environnement Gabès asserts that the daily amount of phosphogypsum that is leaked into the sea reaches a whopping 28, 720 tonnes.

Phosphogypsum, a radioactive reaction of phosphate ore with sulfuric acid, are strewn across the ground leading from the factory to the sea, and waves pounding the empty beach consist of ink-black water. In the United States, large quantities of phosphogypsum are required to be stored in sequestered large stacks.

Taking on pollution

But while no palpable steps toward factory reform have been observed by the citizens of Gabès, environmental activism has been taken to new heights.

The city now boasts 23 civil associations working to bring the pollution issue to the forefront of public discourse. The results are paying off. “Stop the Pollution” graffiti adorns the facades of numerous buildings, and non-violent protests such as roadblocks frequently figure into the routine used by campaigners.

The Association to Protect the Oasis of Chott Salam has spearheaded recent awareness-raising efforts, including a festival staged on the Jun. 5, World Environment Day. Over 1,000 participants marched through the streets to the scene of the festival, chanting, “We want to live.” Even more locals visited information stands or listened to anti-pollution rap and hip-hop.

Organiser Neder Chkiwa remarked that the previous year witnessed only a fraction of the current level of interest. The organisers have packed the month of June with numerous events, such as distributing flyers in shopping centers or holding anti-pollution graffiti contests.

The possibility for citizens to actively engage with this issue is in fact one of the benefits of living in Tunisia after the revolution. “During the time of Ben Ali, people might have complained behind closed doors,” Nasfi told IPS. Yet today this taboo has been broken, and not only citizens can discuss the problem openly, but they have also become de facto environmentalists.

Before the revolution, any open act of protest would have been unthinkable. “You would have gone straight to jail” Chkiwa noted.

SOS Environnement Gabès has been operating under the radar for a number of years, and they are particularly pleased with the new possibilities to protest. “We pin a lot of our hopes on the new generation, which has the most at stake and deserves to have healthy living conditions, without having to flee the city,” a member of the organisation, who requested anonymity, told IPS.

Dinah Abdelwahad, who hails from Gabès but currently lives in Tunis as an interior designer, maintains the same hopes. “While the activists are slowly but surely making progress to change things, there is still an imbalance of power. Those running the factories and in government have more money and political influence.”

“But I remain optimistic that things will soon pick up, and we will experience real change,” Abdelwahad concluded.

Of the 60,000 participants at this year's WSF, 20,000 came from Tunisia. Credit: Monika Prokopczuk/IPS

By Justin Hyatt
TUNIS, Apr 17 2013 (IPS)

When participants at the 2011 World Social Forum in Dakar, Senegal, received word that former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak had stepped down, swept away by a wave of popular resistance that brought millions of Egyptians into the streets, few could contain their joy.

But euphoria was quickly replaced by doubts: what is the purpose of the World Social Forum (WSF)? Is it even relevant anymore? How does it connect with people struggling to survive, and facing the guns on the ground?

“Yet here we are two years later,” said renowned commentator and social scientist Immanuel Wallerstein at the 2013 edition of the WSF in Tunis, “invited by the very people who made this revolution, who want us here, who want us to help strengthen their internal struggle in Tunisia. Is that irrelevant?”

His question points to the need, expressed by scores of participants who gathered here from Mar. 26-30, for serious reflection on the success and direction of the WSF, which has just completed its 13^th year.

Although the event was held in Tunis to honour the revolutionaries who toppled Tunisia’s former dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali — and set in motion a chain of similar uprisings that came to be dubbed the Arab Spring — participants continue to wonder where the Forum will go, and what it is capable of achieving.

The workshop series “Decolonising the Forum” brought into focus the discrepancies of representation and accessibility.

This year drew a clear majority of non-Westerners: of the roughly 60,000 visitors, only 8,000 came from Europe, while up to 20,000 were from Tunisia alone. Yet, traditionally, large organisations such as the anti-globalisation Association for the Taxation of financial Transactions and Aid to Citizens (ATTAC), along with Europe and North America-based NGOs, have been better able than organisations in the South to send major delegations.

Speaking on behalf of the Indian National Forum of Forest People and Forest Workers, Roma Malik recalled that the WSF started as a process to counter the negative consequences of globalisation and neoliberalism, which critics claim have created massive inequalities in the global distribution of income: just a glance at the Gini Index, which measures income inequality on a scale of 0 to 1, shows Namibia at 0.74, dangerously close to the point of “absolute inequality”, while industrialised countries like the Czech Republic, Norway and Japan hover around the 0.25 mark on the scale.

Thus, “The WSF should become less dominated by the big NGOs and efforts need to be made to bring more people to the gatherings who have less funding,” Roma told IPS.

This includes the kind of people that Roma works with, such as forest dwellers in India who are subject to land-grabbing and displacement, as multi-national corporations target these mineral-rich regions and replace natural forests with cash-crops and monocultures.

Over 1.1 million hectares of forest are under threat in the central Indian region, according to a recent report by Greenpeace entitled “Countering Coal”. Development of the Mahan coal block, located in the Singrauli district of the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, could alone displace 14,000 tribal people.

This comes at a time when rural dwellers in India are having to fight for their right to prevent large-scale investments from disrupting their way of life, as the Indian government recently forced a watering down of protective legislation in the so-called Forest Rights Act, once heralded as a victorious achievement for forest dwellers.

Steven Faulkner, international officer of the South African Municipal Workers Union, put the burden of addressing the challenge of representation squarely on the shoulders of the Forum’s leadership, which traditionally takes the form of the International Council (IC), a representative body of roughly 140 members.

“We need a bold leadership, which considers itself accountable to the poor and the marginalised,” he said.

Having spent several decades working on labour issues throughout Africa, Faulkner stressed the fact that the world’s poor are not passive recipients of aid but are rather active survivors of a highly unequal economic, social and political world system.

This very act of survival is a creative process that “we should be looking at more carefully”, continued Faulkner, bringing in those directly affected to share their strategies.

“If we can free ourselves from the boundaries imposed by colonialism, and become genuinely free in the manner that Nelson Mandela talked about, then we can realise one thing: Africa has enormous potential.” Tapping into this potential involves “retention of humanity” by installing political, economic and environmental relationships based on mutuality instead of competition.

Other voices at the WSF pointed to the Forum’s great unifying and renewing effect. Hassen Ltaief, an activist during the Tunisian revolution, drew huge applause from the audience when he said: “We here are not the same anymore as we were before the WSF. We came to bring a new spirit to the Forum and as I can see in the eyes of the older activists, it appears this was a true success.”

What made the forum significant, Ltaief informed IPS, was that it opened the space for the development of a collective conscience, and highlighted the importance of collaborative organising, two critical lessons for Tunisia, which is experiencing the growing pains of a new democracy and is under enormous pressure to safeguard the hard-won gains of the revolutionary period.

Now, organisers are beginning to lay the groundwork for future meetings. The IC’s plans to hold its next planning meeting in the Maghreb region has given a boost to the Maghreb Social Forum, while a decision regarding an upcoming Maghreb/Mashreq Social Forum is expected in May.

The Maghreb Social Forum has been in existence since 2005, when it was called to life in Porto Alegre by Moroccans and Tunisians. It has since developed along the lines of a regional social forum, and has made special efforts to address issues pertaining to women, youth and broadening the civil society sector in Northern Africa.

Formal proposals for the next World Social Forum are also anticipated in the near future, while currently the ideas floating around range from India to Mexico, Canada, Brazil, or even Tunisia.

“The WSF has traditionally been a nomadic experience,” said Nicolas Haeringer, a long-time participant and observer of the International Council. “It needs to grow roots, more than previously, and as Tunis provided one of the most inspiring gatherings I’ve attended, it would not be so far-fetched of an idea to hold it here again.”

The Palestinian struggle took centre stage at the 2013 World Social Forum. Credit: Monika Prokopczuk/IPS

By Justin Hyatt
TUNIS, Apr 4 2013 (IPS)

The conference drew both supporters and opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad; conflicting opinions about the Polisario Front and the politics of Western Sahara; Palestinian activists and the Jewish Anti-Zionist Network. In short, the 13^th edition of the World Social Forum, held in Tunis on Mar. 26-30, was a melting pot of struggles and a search for common ground.

To the thousands of participants gathered in Tunis – where determined public protests toppled former dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in January 2011 – it was clear that a key function of the annual meeting is to build solidarity across movements for peace, justice and freedom.

Widely recognised as the cradle of the Arab Spring, Tunis was selected as the site for this year’s WSF in part to pay homage to the deceased fruit vendor, Mohamed Bouazizi, whose self-immolation sparked the Tunisian revolt and the ongoing Arab Spring.

Together in what is now an iconic city, over two years after the Tunisian revolution, activists reaffirmed their commitment to international unity.

“Our mission is to create a new form of solidarity, which is opposite to competition and exists to engender equities,” Mamdouh Habashi, member of the Egyptian Socialist Party and the South-South People’s Solidarity Network, told IPS, calling this “the spirit” of South-South cooperation.

The network comprises numerous grassroots movements throughout the world, and sees itself as a champion of democracy, equated here with people’s power and social progress.

For Rita Silva from the No-Vox Network, founded during the first European Social Forum in 2002, international solidarity could be the make or break factor in a successful movement. When the No-Vox Network addresses formidable tasks such as preventing evictions or demolitions in developing countries, she said, international support is key.

Those struggling in countries like Angola or Zimbabwe, for example, are largely cut off from the rest of the world. “They can easily be killed and no one says anything – but if they are connected (to international networks), they have protection,” she said.

Representing the International Alliance of Inhabitants, Mike Davies stressed the need to have a functioning platform from which local communities can speak to the world. Problems often arise, he said, when northern NGOs mediate the voices of their constituencies, who are either forced to learn the jargon of the NGO world or get lost in the process.

“Our sole focus is to strengthen communities to (enable) them to help themselves, and not continue to be victims of charity,” Davies said.

Although the Arab Spring has inspired protest movements for democratic change around the world, not all of its outcomes are cause for celebration. The Syrian civil war, which has so far claimed over 60,000 casualties according to conservative estimates, served as a grim reminder to the WSF participants that the consequences for failing to find common ground can be catastrophic.

Sara Ajlyakin, an activist in the Syrian uprising, stressed that while the outcome of the conflict is not yet clear, it has opened up vital spaces for organising and building unity.

“It is a historical advance that can not be reversed,” Ajlyakin told IPS. “We felt the power of the streets, the collective, and no one can take that away.”

Until the Arab Spring, she said, the population of Syria had no outlet for its frustrations and grievances. “But that is gone now – if you are a woman, a worker, a student, a member of the LGBT community, whichever walk of life you come from, you can now collectively express your opinion.”

Acknowledging that conflicting visions and ideologies impact the nature of a movement of conflict, Ajlyakin dismissed the notion of “Islamists versus secularists” as a false binary.

The only binary she recognises is between “revolutionary and anti-revolutionary” activity. “The Islamists are not the devil,” she said. “By isolating them you encourage the historical mistake of the Arab Left, which equates secularism with atheism.”

“It is my job to communicate a message to political Islamists: ‘I’m not planning to eliminate you, I’m a part of you, you’re a part of me, but you also can’t isolate me’,” she said, echoing the conference’s theme of sowing unity, rather than division.

In the true spirit of international solidarity, the Palestinian cause took centre stage at the Forum, with the concluding event consisting of a march through Tunis that ended at the Palestinian embassy to commemorate Palestinian Land Day.

According to Amjad Shawa, director of the Palestinian Non-Governmental Organisations Network, it was “fully apparent” that the Palestinians were in the minds and hearts of the participants here.

“Solidarity comes from all sides,”  Shawa told IPS, naming the presence of such organisations as the Jewish Anti-Zionist Network who came to the Forum and demonstrated alongside the large Palestinian delegation.

(END)

A youth delegation from Tunis heads to the countryside to spread the word of the World Social Forum. Credit: Monika Prokopczuk/IPS

By Justin Hyatt
TUNIS, Mar 22 2013 (IPS)

In the final countdown to this year’s World Social Forum (WSF), Tunisian civil society and the country’s capital, Tunis, prepares for an influx of over 50,000 visitors. With the dates of the forum set for Mar. 26-30, uncompleted tasks are being fast-tracked while the university campus that will host the forum is being given a security face-lift.

The biggest question on the minds of the organisers and their international guests is the security situation in the country. It was only last month, on Feb. 6, that popular left-wing politician Chokri Belaid was murdered near his home in Tunis. His death led to political uncertainty and eventually the resignation of Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali, as well as protests on the street.

Legitimate concerns that the country might slip into turmoil and instability have spread fast and are keeping visitors at bay.

“We get many emails every day from people who are worried about this,” said Haifa Nakib, who is in charge of logistics and administration of the WSF. “I tell them: ‘Don’t believe all the hype on TV! Tunisia is not at war and the situation here is peaceful. There is no terrorism here, in fact the government is even going to secure the location’.”

The government is indeed cooperating fully with the organisers of the massive gathering, and has even deployed a security team to locations surrounding the campus, which organisers hope will be “discreet”.

Cheima Ben Hamida, a volunteer coordinator, informed IPS that security would also be provided to organisers inside the campus. She is further comforted by the fact that the government “has instructed all its ministries to aid the WSF to the fullest extent possible”.

Meanwhile, enthusiasm over the event is at full throttle. Over 4,500 organisations from over 85 countries have registered. France and Tunisia top the list of participants: each plans to have representatives from over 300 groups present. Brazil, Belgium, Italy and Morocco are also high up, with each represented by at least 50 organisations.

The U.S. is also sending its largest WSF delegation to date. With 66 groups currently registered, this marks the highest level of participation from the North American country. Canada is likewise dispatching a large contingent.

Among the many topics to be addressed and debated are women’s rights, youth and culture. Though the main theme of the Forum is the Arab Spring, other issues — from the global economic crisis to the global ecological crisis — will be given due importance.

Demonstrating their commitment to the success of the event, the Tunisian immigration authorities have made participation accessible to visitors from countries without diplomatic accords or the presence of embassies. Fresh arrivals who produce a letter of invitation will be granted an entry visa. Thus, citizens of countries like Peru or Israel will have no problem attending the meet.

The third edition of the World Free Media Forum (WFMF) will be held simultaneously, starting on Mar. 24 and carrying on throughout the entire duration of the WSF.

Several hundred media representatives are expected to participate in workshops, discussions and media coverage of the forum. A free media village has been set up for this purpose, while non-profit community radio has been targeted as a preferred media format.

Another “forum within the forum” will be an international youth camp, which will bring together young people aged 18 to 30 and provide a space to organise sports, dances, cooking competitions and debates.

Khalil Teber, a member of the youth commission and co-organiser of the youth forum, shared his excitement with IPS: “We are providing the youth with a space of their own. Activities have been planned for day and night – it will be like four days without sleep.”

“Our vision,” added Teber, “is to present Tunisian youth to the world, including the version of the Tunisian revolution as the youth see it. And we want all Tunisian youth there, regardless of their political stripes.”

Besides being a celebration of the birthplace of the Arab Spring, this year’s convergence is significant for another reason: participants plans to discuss, in detail, the future of the World Social Forum.

It is clear to all those attending and organising the event that numerous other social and grassroots mobilisations – such as the Occupy movement – continue to play a major role. While not able to replace this forum, they do point to the need for the WSF to reflect and then evolve. This entails the integration of sundry movements and initiatives into the evolutionary process of the WSF.

“If the content is effective and the social forum becomes refreshed with this edition, then it will move forward,” according to Ben Hamida.

Romdhane Ben Amor, the man in charge of communication at WSF, stressed: “What is really important is what comes after the forum. A new way of thinking needs to emerge, a new vision of the world. If the forum can help both Tunisian and worldwide social movements to build on their strengths and find new ways of cooperation, then it will have been a success.”

A protest rally in Tunis in support of free expression. Credit: Lassad Ben Achour/IPS.

By Justin Hyatt
TUNIS, Feb 28 2013 (IPS)

The extent to which Tunisians are able to express themselves freely is an ever-changing phenomenon. While the country is still in the grips of turmoil after the recent killing of left-wing politician Chokri Belaid, which sparked some of the largest protests since the initial revolution in 2011 that toppled Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, the airing of dissent has become second nature for many.

It is widely agreed that freedom of speech is the most significant achievement in the wake of the collapse of the former regime. Veteran Tunisian journalist Sofiane Ben Hamida says fear of speaking one’s mind too loudly was once the order of the day. “In the former regime, someone sitting at a café would be afraid to just voice their political opinions too loudly. This is now ancient history.”

This positive development notwithstanding, it is still sometimes a rough transition. A number of incidents have been recorded where journalists have had their camera stolen or even been beaten up. Some journalists have also received death threats for being too outspoken.

Tawfik Ben Brick, a well-known public figure, has faced repeated harassment over his journal ‘Dhed Assolta’ (‘Against the Power’). He had been accused of assault on a woman during the Ben Ali era and has more recently had issues of his magazine confiscated in bulk by the police.

“Better protection of journalists is needed,” says Fathi Zabaar, an independent consultant and formerly with Freedom House Tunisia. “While there are significant advances being made towards a freer society, journalists and the public should be spared all harassment, and when needed, the government should be there to protect its citizens.”

According to Hichem Snoussi from the international NGO Article 19, which is dedicated to safeguarding freedom of expression, Tunisian media is free, yet these freedoms do not have full legal bearing in Tunisian law.

A number of decrees are currently being drafted and debated, and are intended to provide legal structures for the media and for access to information.

Article 19 has also provided a thorough legal analysis of the draft constitution, and is putting pressure on the National Constituent Assembly (ANC) to go further than the initial draft to make sure that international standards are considered.

Much of the national debate is on the Internet. In a country where roughly one out of three persons has a Facebook account, the realm of social media is exploited to the hilt. According to Zabaar, something akin to an Internet militia is also spreading rumours and hate speech, especially on Facebook.

“There is a given pattern to the choice of language employed as well,” says Zabaar. “The right-wing groups tend voice their opinions in Arabic, while those representing the left side of the spectrum frequently use the French language.”

The range of new media is quite fully explored in Tunisia. Adherents of data journalism can plug into fhimt.com, which takes an approach to interpreting events that is based on graphical data analysis and comparison charts.

At the same time, those concerned with privacy and surveillance issues attend meetings dedicated to cryptography, and the ‘hacktivist’ group Anonymous is also alive and well in Tunisia.

Or consider the Tunisian version of Telecomix, which describes itself as a ” sociocyphernetic telecommunist cluster of internet and data loving bots and people” and sees its role as one of defending the free flow of information.

Nader Yamoun, a Tunis-based entrepreneur and open data activist, set up an anti-corruption portal, which promotes open data in Tunisian society. “In this regard, Tunisia can boast of real progress. The first open data platform was created in the U.S. in 2009. France followed in 2011, and we got one in Tunisia in 2012.”

While much work in this area has clearly still to be done, Zabaar sees the current stage of Tunisia’s transition towards a free society as one of growing up and joining the ranks of other functioning, albeit flawed democracies.

“Whatever they say, we do now have a strong base for a sound democracy.” (End)

A group of activists biked over 1,000 kilometres to spread the word of the WSF in towns and cities across Tunisia. Credit: Aurélie Lecarpentier/IPS

By Justin Hyatt
TUNIS, Dec 11 2012 (IPS)

Following in the wake of the wave of revolutions dubbed the ‘Arab Spring’, which originated here nearly two years ago, North Africa is gearing up to host the World Social Forum (WSF) for the first time.

While Egypt was initially considered for the role, organisers finally settled on Tunisia. Now, this country of 10.7 million people will welcome visitors from all over the world in March of 2013, in a gathering organisers estimate will number upwards of ten thousand participants.

Tunisian civil society is mobilising on numerous fronts. Several large organisations have banded together to design the framework of the event, sending delegates to the steering committee, which serves to guide the preparations.

Forming the backbone of the steering committee is the Tunisian Platform for Economic and Social Rights, whose president, Abderrahmane Hedhili, along with the group’s project coordinator Alaa Talbi, play key roles in laying the foundation for the massive gathering.

“The World Social Forum will be a great opportunity for civil society in Tunisia,” Hedhili told IPS. “Especially from the point of view of bringing reconciliation to those groups with diverging points of view, finding new solutions for local problems  and helping to establish the democratisation process at every level, we see very strong potential.”

A number of working groups have also been established, overseeing issues such as women’s rights, youth and culture. Hedhili stressed that beyond the ‘showcase theme’ of the Arab Spring, a range of topics are on the agenda, from the global economic crisis to social, cultural, environmental and religious issues.

Amélie Cannone, co-chair of the Paris-based organisation AITEC and a veteran of the WSF, has been following the developments and is moving to Tunis for several months to provide extra organisational support.

She recalled that “during the last WSF that took place in Dakar, Senegal, in February 2011, the fall of Mubarak was announced, and this triggered incredible joy and hope all over the floor”.

It quickly became apparent to all those present – as well as scores of activist around the world who had been closely following the Arab Spring – that the courage and determination of Tunisian and Egyptian activists should be honoured by selecting a North African country as the setting for the next WSF.

As Talbi put it, “the Arab world is the new centre of social movements”. Thus the WSF can help strengthen Arab social networks and serve as a foundation for cooperation with international movements as well.

“From the Indignados in Spain to the student protesters in Quebec and Chile and the Occupy movement in the U.S. or UK – they all drew inspiration from the Arab Spring,” added Cannone.

So far, most of the energy for the upcoming meet has been coming from the capital, Tunis. But Marwen Tlili, a young citizen and social activist based here, felt that other regions of the country should not miss out on the excitement.

He gathered  a small group of fellow activists and organised a bike caravan during the month of October, in an attempt to widely broadcast news of the WSF and reach out to local groups in towns such as Kasserine and the city of Gafsa, encouraging them to make their own contributions to the WSF.

By the end, the bike caravan had travelled over one thousand kilometres and disseminated information about the WSF in dozens of locations around the country.

“I think our caravan had a profound impact on those people we encountered,” said Tlili. “In Tunisia, to see a group of cyclists pass through your town is not as common of a sight as it may be in Europe or Canada. It impressed people and brought positive publicity for the upcoming Forum.”

Organisers also hinted at plans for more bike caravans ahead of the WSF, including possibly one caravan departing from Morocco and another originating in Italy. Both would chart a course bearing towards the Tunisian capital.

Cannone also stressed the importance of transnational cooperation, as well as the urgent need to mobilise youth and women, work that the Maghreb Social Forum  has been doing on the regional level for several years already.

The ecological dimension will not be left out either, according to Cannone.

“The current economic model based on intense extraction of natural resources has been especially prevalent in the MENA (Middle East-North Africa) region,” Cannone stressed.

“Thus the WSF, which has incorporated a lot of people from the alter-globalist movement, will be sure to take the environmental problems seriously, and will promote a paradigm shift to local economies, including new models of production, social protection and decent living conditions for all.”

Tlili shares her enthusiasm about the potential inherent in such a massive event: “The World Social Forum should be an opportunity for people to change their lives. We want to encourage especially the youth, with the revolution fresh in their minds, to get active and to do positive things in their own communities.”

(END)

An Ennahda poster in Tunis. Credit: Jake Lippincott/IPS.

By Justin Hyatt
TUNIS, Nov 26 2012 (IPS)

A year has passed since the provisional government assumed power in Tunisia. Following in the wake of the revolutionary changes brought on by the Arab Spring, the moderate Islamic Ennahda party won the majority and formed a coalition with the two secular parties Congress for the Republic (CPR) and Ettakatol in October last year.

With the promise to hold new elections a year later, the country waited as Oct. 23 approached.

The day came and went, without the ruling government stepping down. Small protests erupted in the streets of the capital and later elsewhere but there were no large-scale rallies.

“I experienced the greatest deception of my life, “a young psychologist and actress from Tunis who gave her name only as Meriem told IPS. Even if the ruling government did not immediately step down, she said, people were hoping for some sign that change was in the works.

“I don’t care who is in power, but I want to see action, see something happening,” she said. “But after such a let-down, I was crying like a fool.”

The ruling coalition has claimed that more time is needed to prepare elections, and has instead pegged Jun. 23, 2013 as the next election date.

Usama Zekri, a blogger, stressed that more time is indeed needed to fully prepare for the elections that will usher in the first four-year political cycle.

“While the National Assembly is perhaps slow,” Zekri told IPS, “Tunisians are not used to open debates and talking with each other, thus we need time to learn and also to make mistakes.”

Nidaa Tounes (‘Call of Tunisia’) has generated some of the strongest opposition support recently. The party is led by octogenarian former prime minister Beji Caid Essebsi, and holds to a strict secular line.

Nesrine Dridi, a dentist, claims that the best solution for Tunisia would be a secular power structure as envisioned by Nidaa Tounes, leaving religion as a matter of choice.

“We used to be a tolerant society, but now religion is forming dividing lines,” says Dridi. “What we need is for people of all stripes to work hand in hand to promote our country and establish a free society.”

Many in the opposition are worried that while Ennahda espouses moderate Islam, it is actually keen on promoting religion throughout all areas of government and public life.

The Salafist movement represents the hardline ultraconservative branch of Islam, but Ennahda can position itself as a moderate strain, needed by all to preserve a balance in the style of governance.

In forming the new constitution, Ennahda seemed open to Salafist demands for greater inclusion of Sharia law. But this was quelled by opposition groups and secular parties.

This was seen as a warning sign for those who are worried that liberal democratic values might draw the shorter straw. Yet, according to Zekri, the opposition has been too preoccupied attacking Ennahda on the religious front, and could do more to propose an alternative economic programme.

In order to fully reassure the country that the democratic evolution is on the right track, the ruling coalition will have to prove that proper steps are being taken.

The establishment of the independent Committee on Elections is seen as such a sign, but many have still to be convinced of its impartiality and readiness to get to work.

Beyond this, serious progress will need to become evident elsewhere. Among the greatest tasks facing the government are high unemployment and the rising cost of living.

In October the Swiss government and the International Finance Corporation granted Tunisia a million dollars to implement business procedural reform. An Austrian trade delegation has visited Tunisia to explore possibilities for Tunisian-Austrian relations.

These are just a few of many overtures currently, but it is not clear how all this will translate into jobs and putting more people to work.

Tunisians remain in a state of uncertainty, eager for signs that the country is headed in the right direction, and that the blood and sweat of the Jasmine revolution will help cement Tunisia’s place as the best-transitioned democracy in North Africa.

For now, the streets remain relatively calm, without large-scale protests taking place, yet President Moncef Marzouki recently admitted to having nightmares of a second revolution.

Activists like Meriem are poised to jump into action, if the need arises.

“I don’t want to be an activist, I’d like to get on with my life,” stresses the actress, “but if I feel like my voice needs to be heard again, I won’t wait for a minute to get out on the street.”

Palestinian and Israeli children playing together. Credit: Rivanna Miller/IPS.

By Justin Hyatt
JERUSALEM, Aug 29 2012 (IPS)

On a sunny summer afternoon, kids start arriving with their parents at a park near Ein Rafa, a Palestinian village in the south of Jerusalem. The Arabic speaking kids stay in one cluster at first, and the Hebrew speaking kids chat among themselves. Soon a ball appears, and before long all the kids intermingle in a fast-paced game of Chinese football.

The adults begin to spread blankets on the ground, and set out the food they brought with them. It’s looking to be a promising picnic, with games, food and fellowship.

Pupils from participating schools meet for common activities several times a year as part of a joint Jewish-Palestinian intercultural school programme launched by The Centre for Creativity in Education and Cultural Heritage (CCECH), a non-profit-making organisation based in Jerusalem.

Ahmed Barhum, 26, is one of the adults present on the occasion, a celebratory get-together for another successful year. Barhum was once a pupil, and is currently a facilitator in this school programme.

“Being a part of this has touched every aspect of my life,” says Barhum. “Thanks to folklore, games and other things, we can get to know each other’s cultures, and that is precious.”

For Simon Lichman, founder and director of the programme, people like Ahmed keep him going. “Seeing Ahmed and other alumni of the programme come back and become part of our team, investing time and energy in something they believe in, is thrilling.”

Dr. Lichman, a British-born resident of Jerusalem, founded CCECH and the school outreach programme in 1991. Since then, he has been running it together with his partner Rivanna Miller, and with other dedicated staff of both Arab and Jewish backgrounds.

The scope of the programme is simple: Arab and Jewish schools from both west and east Jerusalem (all within the jurisdiction of the Education Department of the Jerusalem Municipality) are paired up and work towards creating long-term relationships. Pupils in fourth through sixth grades participate for at least two years with the same pairs of classes meeting each time in a series of joint activities.

Each class has one lesson a week built into their school curriculum. They meet together with the other schools every few months.

The programme includes traditional play and traditional food. But everyone also shares talk of traditions in religion, and family stories, besides the song and dance. Pupils interview parents and grandparents about their own cultural and religious traditions, bringing information and examples to the class.

Palestinians from East Jerusalem do not usually intermingle with their Jewish neighbours. Such occasions that bring them face to face are quite unique.

Lack of funding is a constraining factor. The organisation is currently funded by a mix of foundations and foreign embassies, as well as Christian and Jewish communities seeking to promote interfaith interaction and co-existence.

The current level of support allows for 500 children from five different schools to participate.

“What I tell funders is that for every pupil who graduates from the programme, effectively learning compassion and understanding, the potential recourse to violence is reduced,” says Lichman.

While a wider trend within the Palestinian population indicates wariness of “coexistence” initiatives, as these are seen as benefiting the Israeli occupation, Lichman declares that “our Palestinian partners do not subscribe to this view. They are rather of the persuasion that understanding and communication can only benefit both sides.”

Lichman goes on to explain that pride in family folklore, and especially food traditions, is basic to understanding culture in the Middle East. “This is where we start, where we find common ground. But religion and family history are also important, and these are focused on in the later stage of the programme.”

Following the first two stages of games and food, in the third stage the mixed groups of children visit a synagogue and a mosque. A rabbi explains Judaism, while an Imam takes listeners through the tenets of Islam.

Even if the pupils are not able to remember every detail of the lessons covering religion, they do come away changed by the experience, affirms Lichman. He also stresses that one important aspect of his programme is that it takes an approach that can get the whole community talking.

Dorian Levin, a Jewish woman from Jerusalem, is also a programme alumnus who has become a member of the CCECH staff. She says the results have been meaningful.

“At the same time, it is also very hard. The realities are difficult, and whole communities have been told for decades not to trust the other. If we want to forge deeper relationships, this will take more time.”

By Justin Hyatt
BUHOMA, Uganda, Mar 23 2011 (IPS)

The bicycle has become a symbol of hope for hundreds of women in Uganda who have been trained in repairing one of life’s favorite transport modes.

More than two hundred women from around the Bwindi National Park, in the country’s southwest, have been taking part in a two-week course on bicycle repair, organised by the group Ride 4 a Woman.

The idea of the workshop is simple: to help disadvantaged women gain new, marketable skills and at the same time promote an environmentally-friendly form of travel, namely, cycling. It’s part of the Social Bike Business Programme, now being developed in Uganda.

The model originates with One Street, an international cycle advocacy organisation located in the United States, in Prescott, Arizona. The idea has spread to Los Angeles and further afield to places such as Budapest, Hungary and Prague, Czech Republic.

For the women who participated in the Uganda workshop, it was an eye opener to the multiple possibilities of the bicycle.

The new face of bicycle mechanics

Feredisa Kamahanga, one of the participants said, “I am very excited about this. For the first time I can now remove a tyre from a bicycle and put it back.”

She added, “I have gained training as a bike mechanic … and I can’t wait to fix my first bicycle!”

Sue Knaup, director of One Street, came to Uganda to hold the workshop and said she “was impressed at how quickly the women picked up on the idea.”

Even though many of the women had never cycled before, Ride 4 a Woman has big plans for them. “Next is job training, which will give the women professional skills to earn a much better income and hopefully break out of the cycle of dawn-to-dark work,” explained Knaup.

In Uganda, women are often discouraged from mechanical activities or from riding a bicycle. Avenues such as this venture offer new territory for the women to cover.

Big plans ahead

Ride 4 a Woman’s executive director Denis Rubalema has big plans for the project. “We have already begun construction in the first phase of the women’s centre on their property, which is due for completion in November.”

The centre will house a venue for training courses, a bike repair station, a bike shop, and eventually a bike manufacturing section. It will also be the hub of all local activity.

Rubalema believes that the space will create a lively social atmosphere for the women. In addition to bikes, the women will also engage in other skills learning such as crafts, cooking and tailoring.

“The project will have a profound impact on the livelihoods of the women and their families,” says Rubalema. Women will now be able to earn money repairing bikes, but they can also use bicycles as taxis, as well as to transport goods to the market.

According to a 2008 World Bank report titled “Africa Development Indicators”, Uganda not only has the world’s youngest population but also the highest youth unemployment in the world. Statistics for women’s unemployment are hard to come by, but unemployment among youth aged 15-24 stood at 83 percent.

Tourism plans

Tourism also features prominently as part of the centre’s grand plan. Guided bike rides are offered to tourists visiting the national park or venturing into the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest.

The area is known for its endangered mountain gorillas and has been described as one of the most biologically diverse areas on earth. Tourists also frequently buy local handcrafted products.

Tourism is the country’s fourth largest foreign currency earner and provides thousands of people with employment.

The Ugandan Wildlife Authority is supporting the project, as they actively promote the bike tours and cooperate with Ride 4 a Woman. They are also creating an exciting trail for cyclists to use in the forest.

The government is also supportive of these programmes, which figure into the development goals, especially as women are at the heart of development in the country. The local and district authorities have also come out in support for the Social Bike Business Programme.

Knaup has also helped Ride 4 a Woman secure a wholesale account for quality bike parts since her return home to the U.S. This is the first time that such bike parts are entering Uganda. Given the generally low quality of bikes available in the country, this will come as a boon to both ordinary citizens and to the women in the Bwindi area who are mastering the trade.

Rubalema underscores the high potential that the bicycle has in store for the programme and for the women of southwestern Uganda. “Our biggest dream is to see the women in the area become empowered women.

“After all, that is how our mission reads: to empower women using bicycles.”

Excerpt:

With newfound liberties for the Kurdish minority and the government’s ‘Democratic Opening’ initiative the prospects for peace in 2010 are brighter than they have been in the last 25 years. The fly in the ointment is the ban in December of the pro-Kurd, Democratic Society Party (DTP).

The Dec. 11, 2009 decision of the Constitutional Court declaring DTP illegal was a hard blow for the Kurds, the country’s largest minority with about 20 million people. Expressing concern over the court ruling, the Presidency of the European Union called upon Turkey to reform its laws governing political parties.

The court decision was followed by protests and street clashes in which several people died, sparking fears of an extended period of unrest.

The grounds given for ordering the dissolution of DTP were its ties to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), classified as a terrorist organisation in Turkey and in several other countries. DTP had maintained that the PKK should have a seat at the negotiation table with its incarcerated leader, Abdullah Öcalan, given a prominent role.

Öcalan – who has been in jail for the last decade – is a beloved figure among the Kurds. It is feared that without him unity and peace will be difficult to reach. However, the Turkish government remains firm in its unwillingness to see the PKK as anything but an illegal guerrilla organisation, despite its unilateral ceasefire since March 2009.

The Istanbul-based Human Rights Association (IHD) claims that without the DTP there is no chance to carry on the democratic process. “DTP is the natural negotiator on behalf of the Kurds regarding the Kurdish question,” explains Öztürk Türkdo?an, chairman of the IHD.

Following the ban most of DTP’s members switched over to the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), a Kurdish back-up party established in 2008. It remains to be seen how this party will be able to pick up the pieces.

For much of 2009, however, the Kurds had reason to stay upbeat. In May DTP shocked the political establishment by doing exceedingly well in the local elections. They were able to place mayors in nine of the provincial capitals and take control of 98 municipalities in eastern Turkey. The party could also send 21 members to Turkish parliament.

In August, Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) came forward with its “Democratic Opening” initiative, which is meant to bring the country to a new levels of freedom for Turkey’s various minorities, especially the Kurds. In anticipation Turkish President Abdullah Gül had predicted that “good things will come to pass”.

Secession from Turkey and complete independence are no longer the stated aims of the Kurds. They claim their goals are now to achieve greater freedom and maintain their identity and language.

Says Ercan Aybo?a, a German Kurd formerly employed at the Diyarbak?r municipality: “The important thing is that the Kurdish language is taught in schools and that Kurds are treated as equals in the federal constitution.”

Recently, a rule that stipulated a limit to broadcast lengths of Kurdish language shows on television and radio was dropped. Other restrictions on the public use of Kurdish in meetings and elsewhere are also being eased.

Official recognition of Turkey’s minorities is a possibility in 2010. It has already been announced that the constitution could be amended to make it possible to give full official recognition of the Kurds as a distinct ethnic group.

In some cases, it is women who are taking the initiative for peace. The “peace mothers” in Izmir are calling for violence in Turkey to be stopped. In their march in downtown Izmir they held signs stating “we are mothers and we are for peace.”

Similarly in Istanbul, Turkish and Kurdish women went on the streets to declare that “women want peace”. They began the ‘Conscientious Objection for Peace’ movement and declared their rejection of military service, so as to abstain from “fighting against our Kurdish brothers and sisters,” – in the words of one attendee.

Sevgim Denizalt?, an Istanbul-based journalist, believes that the voice of people who want peace will be heard more loudly in 2010. ‘’I think the solution is in the Turkish people’s hands, especially in that of the women. If they can formulate their wish for peace more effectively than the nationalists, things can become better in 2010.”

Emina Ayna, a leading Kurdish politician, is more forthright: “All policies of assimilation have failed. Democracy in Turkey will come by way of solving the Kurdish issue.”

By Justin Hyatt
BUDAPEST, Jun 4 2008 (IPS)

A standoff over the likely demolition of a cultural centre is only the latest in long wrangling over the fate of Budapest’s crumbling cultural and architectural landscape.

The major stumbling block for city authorities and other agencies that want to protect old buildings has been the high level of autonomy that local municipal districts enjoy.

The roots of this go back to 1990, when it was thought after the fall of communism that the 23 city districts would work best decentralised. As a consequence, the central city government has less authority than do those in Paris, Berlin or Prague. Budapest’s more independent local districts are under-funded and vulnerable to corruption.

This situation will not be cleared up anytime soon, as a two-thirds parliamentary majority is needed to change the existing arrangement, says András Zsuppan, a local reporter who has been closely following the events. Political parties are closely tied to individual districts, and it is in their interest to maintain status quo.

One of the latest to come up for demolition is the popular cultural centre Kultiplex to make way for a new hotel, and a castle wall section dating from the 15th century, considered in the way of construction of a parking garage.

Kultiplex has been home to cultural and film-related activities since the beginning of the 20th century. It also houses a radio station, cinema, café, restaurant and concert hall.

The new construction is not planned on the location of Kultiplex, but in an adjacent park, due to a law that says the overall quantity of green space may not be reduced. So if Kultiplex is not converted into a park, new developments on the existing park would become illegal.

Zoltán Jakab, who is in charge of programming at the cultural centre, says it would be absurd to replace such an embodiment of culture with “a few park benches.”

The city authorities originally owned the property, but sold it to the district on the understanding that a university building was planned there. But now district officials are aggressively pursuing closure of Kultiplex to allow for construction of a hotel.

The Hungarian National Office of Cultural Heritage Preservation (KÖH) has turned down an appeal to grant the centre heritage protection.

Kultiplex is meanwhile seeking other avenues to stay functional, through legal claims that it has an operating licence from the district valid until 2010.

KÖH has a history of championing cultural and heritage preservation, but there has been a change at the top recently. This might also explain its decision to allow the tearing down of the 15th century wall just under the Buda castle to make way for a parking garage.

KÖH vice-president Tamás Fejérdy has said that without removing this section, construction of the parking garage would be untenable. He said they had sought the option that would bring the “least amount of damage possible.”

Since neither the city nor the government is offering significant financial support for renovations in the districts, the trend of opting for new developments over restoration is likely to continue.

In a frequent pattern, district municipal governments owning a lot of property lack the funds to renovate a building, and along comes a developer who puts down money to replace a historic building with brand new construction.

The area hit especially hard is the seventh district, home to Budapest’s Jewish quarter and to Europe’s largest synagogue.

“These new buildings rarely fit in with the surrounding environment,” says Judit Holländer of the civil association OVÁS! (Protection), founded in 2004 to stop demolitions in the Jewish quarter.

A few successes have come. Demolition orders on several buildings in this quarter have been overturned. A major breakthrough came Feb. 1 when a four-month moratorium was ordered on any structural changes to the quarter, while a new regulatory plan is worked out with input from all sides.

In November last year, French architect Michael Polge visited Budapest on behalf of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) International Council on Monuments and Sites.

Polge warned that should the area fail to maintain the ambience fitting its title, UNESCO would take away special status for the neighbourhood. The Jewish quarter is part of a semi-protected buffer zone because of its proximity to the UNESCO heritage site Andrássy Boulevard.

Polge proposed a tax incentive based on the French model, where new construction comes with a 19.6 percent tax, but renovations only at a 5.5 percent.

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