Wreck in Baia Salinedda, Italy. Credit: E. Trainito/UNESCO

By Lusha Chen
UNITED NATIONS, Apr 25 2014 (IPS)

Large amounts of underwater shipwrecks are bringing new opportunities to Small Island Developing States (SIDS) through scientific cooperation and tourism, according to the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

“These wrecks are time capsules of history as they have carried with them the technology, material culture, and objects from their current time, place, and culture of origin,” said Reginald Murphy, Secretary-General of the Antigua and Barbuda National Commission for UNESCO, during a side event Tuesday to discuss the potentials, preservation and use of Underwater Cultural Heritage in SIDS.

The Atlantic slave trade that brought slaves from Africa to the Americas during the 16^th to 19^th century, for example, has left an abundance of underwater remnants ideal for research, education and development. Anyone of African decent living on Turks and Caicos Islands (islands located 550 miles southeast of Miami, Florida) can trace their ancestry to the 193 slaves who survived the wreck of the slave ship “Trouvadore” in 1841, according to Murphy.

With the Third International Conference on SIDS, scheduled to take place in Samoa from Sep.1 to 4, UNESCO is focusing on the protection and preservation of SIDS’ underwater cultural heritage. According to the Paris-based UN agency, every dollar invested in the protection and valorization of a heritage site helps increase economic activity around it by a factor of up to 12, depending on the location and development.

Although there are numerous sunken cities, shipwrecks and prehistoric sites that have potential for sustainable tourism and resources in SIDS, they have not been researched or protected yet.

Della Ireton, associate director of Florida Public Archaeology Network at the University of West Florida, said there are different ways for SIDS to explore their resources, such as cooperation with academic institutes.

Ireton relies heavily on trained student volunteers for her work, as well as specialists who are involved in creating the partnership with small islands.

Due to economic constraints, few of the SIDS can afford to raise shipwrecks from the seabed, like what the British government did for the 16^th century warship Mary Rose. However, it is already a big step for SIDS to be aware of the importance of protection and preservation, according to Ireton.

“Maybe they are not ready just yet to work on underwater heritage tourism, but at least they are thinking about it. If they are protecting these sites then they already have potential for the future,” Ireton said.

A female member of an Explosive Ordnance Disposal team brushes sand off a mortar shell during a demonstration held by UNMAS in Mogadishu, Somalia. Credit: UN Photo/Tobin Jones

By Lusha Chen
UNITED NATIONS, Apr 4 2014 (IPS)

Poised on her knees, Betty Augustino is digging out the soil ,inch by inch, under a scorching 110 degree Fahrenheit temperature. She has a goal—to declare this part of South Sudan free of mines, so her brother can also play soccer in the safety of the field.

Augustino is a member of an all-female demining team in Yei, South Sudan.

So far, over 40 percent of the deminers employed by U.N. Mine Action Service (UNMAS) around the world are female. On the International Day of Mine Awareness Friday, the U.N. highlighted the key role of women in removing over 110 million active mines scattered across 70 countries.

“It is often said that women hold up half the sky,” said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in a statement released here. “Women worldwide are vital to our drive to clear landmines and protect against their indiscriminate effects, teaching people how to live safely in contaminated areas, assisting victims, clearing landmines and disposing of explosive ordnance.”

Every day, roughly 10 people are killed or maimed by landmines, UNMAS reports.

No election can take place when people are afraid to vote, no basic infrastructure like hospitals and schools can be built under dangerous conditions, and there can be no employment when companies are reluctant to hire local people, said Agnès Marcaillou, Director of the UNMAS.

“There is no peace building, no stability, no human rights, and no rights to move around without fear,” said Marcaillou, “There will be no peace process if half the population is not involved.”

Women’s participation in mine action entails more than removing landmines from the ground. They play significant roles in teaching local people how to avoid dangers in a mine-affected environment and in advocating for a mine-free world.

In countries like Colombia, one of the most mine-affected countries, with over 10,000 victims since 1990, landmines buried by both the government and non-state armed groups intensify the urgency to have a stronger demining sector.

Rossana Becerra, a Colombian evaluation Coordinator from the HALO Trust, a civilian demining organisation, explained how female deminers deal with daily pressures, “You have confidence in the process, that’s a safe process, you are trained, you have to do it step by step, in this way, you can manage the stress.”

To date, 161 states have signed the Ottawa Treaty (Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention), which aims at eliminating landmines around the world. However, 35 U.N. states, including Syria, Myanmar, Cuba, and North Korea, are non-signatories. Unless they become parties of the treaty, they won’t be able receive help from UNMAS.

“Governments should do more to address gender in their mine action programmes and through their implementation of the Anti-personnel Mine Ban Convention,” said Ban.

Ron Suskind, author of Life, Animated, shared his 20 years journey with autism. Credit: Lusha Chen/IPS

By Lusha Chen
UNITED NATIONS, Apr 3 2014 (IPS)

As buildings and landmarks lit up blue around the world to shine a light on the “World Autism Awareness Day,” the U.N. urged the global community to empower those who live with Autism Spectrum Disorders with equal opportunities to education, employment and integration.

“Education and employment are key,” said U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, “Schools connect children to their communities. Jobs connect adults to their societies. Persons with autism deserve to walk the same path.”

For Ron Suskind, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, gaining equality for his autistic son Owen starts with accepting and understanding his difference.

In 1997, when he heard six year-old Owen describe his brother Walt “like Mowgli or Peter Pan”, he felt “the world turned upside down.” It is the first complex sentence Owen uttered in four years after being diagnosed with autism. “My son speaks Disney, we have to learn that language. It’s a good language,” said Suskind.

Ever since then, the Suskind family has been living in a Disney world: they watch “The Little Mermaid”, “Dumbo”, “Fantasia” and “Bambi,” play the animated characters and speak the language like they are living in the movie scene.

“To perceive things as they are,” Suskind told the panel of diplomats, educators and social activists, “not as we are.”

Today, discrimination against children with Autism Spectrum Disorders still exists in many countries. Due to cultural and social perception, in countries like Indonesia and Nepal, some parents lock up autistic children and give them no access to education or employment.

“Government needs to make primary education accessible, free, and available to all,” said Daniela Bas, Director of the Division for Social Policy and Development of the U.N. Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), who, as a disabled child, witnessed the Italian government passed a law ensuring the right to education for children with disabilities in 1970s. “We need to find where our abilities are, and work with them.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) named autism one of the fastest growing developmental disabilities in the United States, and estimates that about one in 68 children worldwide have been identified with Autism Spectrum Disorders, compared to one in 150 a decade ago. It is five times more common in boys than girls.

So far, there is no known cure to the disease. It costs at least $17,000 more per year to take care of an autistic child than it does for a child without it, which includes costs of health care, therapy and caregiver time.

“At this time of economic constraint, governments should continue to invest in services that benefit persons with autism. When we empower them, we benefit current and future generations,” said Ban.

UN officials, diplomats and educators gather to talk about gender imbalance in global education. Credit: Lusha Chen/IPS

By Lusha Chen
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 12 2014 (IPS)

In order to go to school, Sarah, a girl living in rural Ethiopia, escaped the village and an arranged marriage at 14, returning to her home at age 23, when she could finally enter a classroom again. In a conversation with a youth advocate for education, named Chernor Bah, Sarah asked, “Why does it have to be so hard for me, just because I’m a girl?”

Sarah used to be one of the 100 million women, mostly from least developed countries (LDCs), who could not read.

According to a report by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), titled Education for All Global Monitoring Report, over 15 million young girls out of school are never expected to enroll for classes.

These figures have stirred a number of concerns over gender imbalance in global education, as the 58th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) got underway.

“There are serious setbacks,” said Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, “which will affect all sustainable efforts for development to the international community.”

The gender disparity in education is “unacceptable,” said Bokova. As stated in the report, “If recent trends in the region continue, the richest boy will gain universal primary completion in 2021, while the poorest girl will not be able to catch up until 2086.”

Such slow pace in developing education equality is largely resulted from two factors: war and poverty.

About half of the world’s out-of-school population lives in conflict-affected countries, which are usually low and lower middle-income countries that lack early childhood care as well as access to education.

As conflict and poverty bar girls from education, cultural and social perceptions also hinder access and allow for illiteracy to grow.

Without enough female teachers or male teachers trained with gender sensitive courses, girls in the Arab States witness a greater disadvantage. Nearly 60 percent of females are out of school compared to 57 percent in South and West Asia and 54 percent in sub-Saharan Africa.

Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director of UN Women called the efforts on girls’ education the “investment that could get the best return ever,” because girls, “represent the whole humanity.”

Mlambo-Ngcuka called for more attention to education from member states and agencies. She said the “issue (of education) is not central enough in the UN”.

Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, a former foreign minister of South Korea, said he was particularly “encouraged” by the agreement reached between the two Koreas on family reunions.

After his recent meeting with Kim Yong Nam, President of the Presidium of the North Korean Supreme People’s Assembly, in Sochi, Ban said that tension between the two Koreas has been high and inter-Korean relations have remained strained for far too long.

“As such, this important development is a step in the right direction.” he added.

Meanwhile, a group of elderly South Koreans travelled to North Korea to meet their long-separated relatives in the first reunion in more than three years.

The elders, whose average age was around 84, had to be accompanied by family members on their way to the heavily fortified border and then to the North Korean resort of Mount Kumgang.

It has been reported that many of them made the journey either by ambulance or in wheelchairs. The meetings are likely to be the last chance for them to meet their families, which were torn apart by the Korean War 60 years ago.

The six-day (Feb 22 to Feb 26) family reunions, which began Thursday, are the results of a hard-won agreement between North and South Korea. North Korea almost canceled the reunion in January protesting the US-South Korea military drill scheduled to start later this month.

After the Commission of Inquiry (COI) of United Nations office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) released the human rights report on North Korea on February 17, South Korea’s ambassador for human rights, Jung-Hoon Lee, said in an interview with Wall Street Journal that he’s convinced the North is using the concessions on the family reunions as a bargaining chip for human rights issues.

The report catalogues crimes against humanity including “extermination, murder, enslavement, torture, imprisonment, rape, forced abortions and other sexual violence”, “North Korea understands the gravity of the report and the reaction from the U.N. and the international community as a whole,” Ambassador Lee said. “They’re trying to dilute the effect of the COI report by playing this game of being the peacekeeper, showing they’re not bad people, (and) they’re hosting family reunions.”

Though it is still unclear whether the reunions will bring in a broader agreement, the commission will present its findings on March 17 to the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva. Its recommendations include Security Council sanctions against those who’re most likely to commit the crimes against humanity.

It has been estimated that the war separated tens of millions of people. Nearly 130,000 South Koreans have applied for family reunions since 2000. In each of the 19 rounds of reunions, only a few hundred got selected by lottery in South Korea.

So far, 18,000 have met their families in person. But the number is declining: South Korea’s unification ministry says that 57,700 have died, including 3,841 who passed away in 2013.

Africa is losing some 50 billion dollars every year due to illicit financial flows (IFFs), an amount that is much higher than the development aid  the continent receives from international donors, said former South African President Thabo Mbeki.

“If we can stop Africa from losing resources in illicit outflows, then these funds can be directed to meeting the needs of the continent’s people and allowing them to build a better future,” said Mbeki, chair of the High Level Panel on Illicit Financial Flows.

Data from United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) shows  money leaves the continent mostly via tax evasions and commercial transactions by multinational companies (60 percent). Criminal activities including drug trading, racketeering, counterfeiting, contraband and terrorist financing take up 35 percent while the rest is due to theft, bribery and other forms of corruption by government officials.

According to ECA, money that has been drained out of Africa diverts domestic savings from real domestic investment, which could deepen income gaps, stimulate inflation and then weaken governance. It has been estimated that without the illicit outflow, GDP per capita in Africa would have been 16 percent higher.

The cumulative IFFs were unequally distributed in Africa from 1997 to 2008 with two thirds of them attributed to two regions, West Africa (38 percent) and North Africa (28 percent).

According to a report released by the African Development Bank  last year, the problem is most acute in Nigeria and South Africa, the continent’s two largest economies and hubs to oil, precious metals and minerals.

“The direct and indirect consequences of illicit financial flows– including reduced investment and revenues for health, education, employment, income – are major constraints for Africa’s transformation,” said the report.

In order to stop illicit financial flows out of Africa, Mbeki believes there will have to be a “shared responsibility.”

He said the main destinations and also the beneficiaries of IFFs are usually Africa’s major trading partners, including both developed countries and tax havens.

“We’ve got to try and understand this matter of this illicit capital outflows out of the continent, both from the point of view of we, the exporting continent, and then the receiving countries so that our recommendations will have to address both ends of this.”

Mbeki’s panel has already visited Washington DC and had discussions with the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and the U.S. government. The panel members are currently visiting several African countries, including Kenya and South Africa, to investigate the issue. It is expected to release a final report with recommendations by July this year.

Rolling out renewable “green energy” solutions to refugee camps in five countries from the Middle East, Africa and Asia will improve the well being of more than one million lives, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said during a launch of a two-month campaign to raise funds through the sale of light bulbs at IKEA stores globally.

For every light bulb purchased during the campaign period (February 3 to March 29), IKEA Foundation will donate ¢ 1 ($1.37) to the UNHCR.  The funds raised from the “Brighter Lives for Refugees” campaign will support the delivery of better lighting, sustainable energy and primary education in UNHCR-run refugee camps throughout Jordan, Sudan, Bangladesh, Chad and Ethiopia, reaching out to almost 1.5 million refugees.

About 30 to 40 percent of the funding will be used for education and the rest of it will help provide solar-powered streetlights, indoor solar lanterns and other renewable energy technologies such as fuel-efficient cooking stoves in camps.  But challenges are facing both UNHCR and IKEA.

Over the past two years, Jordan has provided asylum for a large number of Syrians, Iraqis and other refugees.  The pressure of substantial strain on national systems and infrastructure has become acute.

Peter Kessler,  the Jordan-based Senior Spokesman for UNHCR, said many refugees are now pirating electrical hook-ups that can be unsafe.  How to install a system of proper low-energy lighting for such a huge refugee population, and to renovate the traditional energy consuming system are key in providing refugees with lighting for studies and other activities.  Nearly 10.5 million refugees globally are children and simple activities such as going to the toilet, collecting water or returning to the shelter can be difficult and dangerous, without accessible lighting.

To IKEA, the real test is how to help build up safe and smart energy systems in severe living situations, like refugee camps that are set up in deserts like Jordan or places like Sudan, Ethiopia and Chad.

Jonathan Spampinato, the head of Communications & Strategic Planning of IKEA Foundation said that IKEA has little experience working in the Middle East.  This time they might need more creativity and different designs to light up the homes in the region, which will be addressed by a partnership knowledge workshop organised by UNHCR and IKEA.

According to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres, the partnership has become “more vital and more urgent,” with over 2 million people living as refugees in 2013, a near 20-year record. Guterres said, “This campaign represents a new, unique chapter in our relationship with the IKEA Foundation, UNHCR’s largest private sector partner. Together, we hope to be able to transform the lives of many refugees.”

The UN children’s agency UNICEF may have found a direct way to identify the gaps that keep the most disadvantage children from enjoying basic human rights.  UNICEF’s latest report, titled Every Child Counts, shows the importance of collecting data to reveal disparities among the world’s 2.2 million children.

“Data has made it possible to save and improve the lives of millions of children, especially the most deprived,” said Tessa Wardlaw, Chief of UNICEF’s Data and Analytics Section.  “Further progress can only be made if we know which children are the most neglected, where girls and boys are out of school, where disease is rampant or where basic sanitation is lacking.”

Statistics in the report show that some 6.6 million children under five years of age died in 2012, mostly from preventable causes, in violation of their fundamental right to survive and develop. The report also shares that 11 per cent of girls are married before they turn 15, jeopardizing their rights to health, education and protection.

In the last two decades, achievement also gained with some 90 million children who would have died before reaching the age of five if child mortality rates had stayed the same as their 1990 level, instead, have lived with an improvement in water and sanitation.

Using technology advantageously, UNICEF is able to support grassroots surveys in more than 100 countries efficiently with the help of the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) conducted by national statistical authorities. Children who have been excluded or ignored by the average standard can be accounted for using disaggregating data that takes into consideration location, wealth, sex, ethnicity and disability status. So far interviews have been done in more than 650,000 households in 50 countries.

One might ask just how well the data presented can affect the policy making process on a grassroots level, and according to UNICEF’s Senior Advisor of Statistics and Analytics, Holly Newby, the answer is not that simple.

“We are looking at the evidence bases, and using the information to make changes.”  she said. At the end of the day, it is up to governments and officials to decide on whether they want to use the data or not.

“Data does not, by itself, change the world. It makes change possible – by identifying needs, supporting advocacy and gauging progress. What matters most is that decision-makers use the data to make positive change, and that the data are available for children and communities to use in holding duty-bearers to account,” the report explains.

69 years after the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the United Nations continues its tradition of remembering the six million Jews who were killed by the Nazi regime with a Holocaust Memorial Day.

In a video message played during the January 27^th gathering, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recalled his journey to Auschwitz, one of the worst German Nazi concentration and extermination camps saying that he would never forget his visit and recalling how everything was “extinguished through systematic murder, unique in human history.”

The Holocaust Memorial Day drew the likes of diplomats, journalists and survivors, each present to share their experiences and learn from the lives of others.

Born in Poland in 1929, Holocaust survivor Rena Finder recounted the horror of years past to a packed room in the General Assembly, emphasizing on the importance of remembering tragedy and cautioning attendees that, “Forgetting is dangerous.”

The United States Ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power compared what happened to Jews 69 years ago to what is happening today in Syria.  She echoed the voice of the Security Council on the urgent need to address the humanitarian situation in the war torn country.

“As we recall the unmatched horrors of Auschwitz, the Holocaust, and World War II, we must acknowledge our responsibility to remember with honour both those who died and those who endured great suffering, unimaginable suffering, and who survived.  We must acknowledge as well that remembrance is the beginning, not the end of our responsibility.”

For filmmaker Steven Spielberg whose Oscar winning movie Schindler’s List was called his “riskiest and most personal film,” for his Jewish background and for his relatives who died during the genocide in both Poland and the Ukraine, to remember is to learn how to convey history in an authentic way.

“It took me years of directing sharks, aliens and dinosaurs before I felt ready to tackle the Holocaust,” Spielberg said.

In 1994, a year after the film was released Spielberg founded the University of South California Shoah Foundation Institute whose videographers interviewed approximately 250 holocaust survivors in 56 countries.

“We must refuse paralysis,” Spielberg said. “Genocide is evil, but I think perhaps the greatest evil is when people who have been spared the horrors permit themselves to despair.  The despair of those who would otherwise act is evil’s triumph.”

“Those who lived through it know what we will never know. But we can learn, because they want to teach us,” Spielberg added.

Finder, whose name appeared on Oskar Schindler’s list – the man who inspired the film, used her experience and life lessons to educate students about the Holocaust through her work with the organization, Facing History and Ourselves.  She explained that the impact of the film allowed survivors and liberators feel free to share their stories because a wall of silence came down.

“Encouraging young people to be more accepting of others and learn from the cruelty that was inflicted on Jews and other minorities during the Holocaust has been my life’s work,” said Finder.

Today, with violence prevalent in every corner of the world—Central African Republic, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo to Syria, Iraq and even Myanmar, Bangladesh and Thailand, the world is witnessing a multitude of loss everyday.

“Theirs were journeys into the Holocaust, they cannot emerge from it and neither can the world until there are no more genocides, until the unthinkable becomes impossible,” said Spielberg.

Geeta Rao Gupta, UNICEF Deputy Executive Director holds a new report titled Every Child’s Birth Right: Inequities and trends in birth registration. Credit: Lusha Chen/IPS

By Lusha Chen
UNITED NATIONS, Dec 12 2013 (IPS)

On the 67^th anniversary of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) —   and in an effort to raise awareness around a growing problem– the organisation released a new report  on the inequalities of birth registration. It is estimated that one in three children under the age of five might lose the right to celebrate their own birthdays because their birth was not recorded—and nearly 230 million children under five have not been registered.

“Birth registration is more than just a right. It’s how societies first recognize and acknowledge a child’s identity and existence,” said Geeta Rao Gupta, UNICEF Deputy Executive Director. “Birth registration is also key to guaranteeing that children are not forgotten, denied their rights or hidden from the progress of their nations.”

The report aptly titled Every Child’s Birth Right: Inequities and trends in birth registration, places importance around birth registration as a passport to protection. Without legal registration, children are excluded from accessing education, medical assistance, social security and are often more vulnerable to child labour, forced conscription, child marriage and trafficking.

The registration rates vary significantly across regions with the lowest found in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Among the 161 countries that were analysed in 2012 the 10 countries with the lowest birth registration levels were Somalia (3%), Liberia (4%), Ethiopia (7%), Zambia (14%), Chad (16%), United Republic of Tanzania (16%), Yemen (17%), Guinea-Bissau (24%), Pakistan (27%) and Democratic Republic of the Congo (28%).  India had the most unregistered children in 2012—71 million are living anonymously.

According to the report, even when a child is registered this does not guarantee the accredited documents proving so—one in seven registered children do not have a valid birth certificate.

The implications of not registering a child go far and beyond just having accredited documents because the social, educational and developmental future of the new-born are dependent on a valid record of birth.

In Gambia, a father is primarily responsible for registering a child, and in Indonesia, a marriage certificate is a must for birth registration—which means that the children born to a single mother cannot hold the nationality of the country—a barrier to accessing education or any other social rights.

There are many additional factors that prohibit a child from being registered at birth, for instance, being unaware of relevant laws and processes, not understanding cultural barriers to facing social discrimination are just a few challenges new parents face.  Natural disasters and on-going conflicts also hinder registration because given each respective crisis, registering children is the last thing on a health workers mind.

In Chad, children from Muslim and Christian are more likely to be registered than religious minorities. The list goes on, warily hinting at the inequalities that both women and babies face after childbirth.

As time changes and more and more people are turning to technology, organizations like UNICEF are able to tackle birth registration in an efficient way.  By embracing innovative approaches that support governments and grassroots communities in simplifying birth registration process and data collection, slowly, children are being counted.

In Uganda, using mobile phone technology, parents can complete the registration procedures in minutes—a process that normally takes months.

According to Gupta, “Societies will never be equitable and inclusive until all children are counted.” For the countries that have no data available or have issues registering children at birth, it’s the emphasis placed on technological support that really makes a difference, and which will eventually be one of the determining factors in a child’s future.

American pop singer and songwriter Katy Perry is ready to roar for the world’s most vulnerable children and adolescents. Recently appointed as United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) newest Goodwill Ambassador, she will focus her humanitarian efforts on brining awareness to issues such as severe poverty, violence, abuse, and neglect in regards to children and adolescents—especially in emergency and conflict situations.

Katy Perry and UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake announcing her appointment as UNICEF’s newest Goodwill Ambassador. Credit: Lusha Chen/IPS

“I believe young people have the power to change their own lives with our help.” Perry said. “I am honored to join UNICEF as a Goodwill Ambassador and committed to doing everything I can to help children and adolescents who come from such different backgrounds but want the same thing: a brighter future.”

As an active user of social media, Perry will likely be the first celebrity to amass 50 million followers on Twitter by 2014. Her latest tweet about her recent appointment as Goodwill Ambassador of UNICEF gained almost 5,000 retweets in 22 hours.  And it doesn’t stop there; after Typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines, Perry called on her Twitter followers to support UNICEF’s efforts to help children affected by the disaster.

She wrote #unconditionallyUNICEF, which relates to her new song “unconditionally,” a song she wrote after returning from her trip to Madagascar. In April of this year, Perry spent four days visiting schools and slums in the tropical island country, where 68 per cent of the 20 million people are living in poverty. She brought much-needed attention to education and sanitation issues plaguing the country.

“Katy Perry is already a champion for children, and we look forward to hearing her ‘roar’ on behalf of UNICEF,” said Executive Director Anthony Lake. “We are delighted that she is joining us as UNICEF’s newest Goodwill Ambassador and lending her remarkable voice to amplify the voices of children and young people around the world.”

About 12 percent of the world’s population is witnessing a growing gap between economic growth (seven percent every year) and employment growth (almost three percent every year) in the 49 Least Developed Countries (LDCs), according to 2013 LDCs Report “Growth with Employment for Sustainable Development ” launched by the UN  Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

 “Such higher rate has never been seen in economic development, in any of category of countries which we deal with,” said Mussie Delelegn, Officer-in-Charge of UNCTAD.

He said “job creation should be at the front and center of the employment policies and strategies in LDCs.”  All 49 LDCs  have the lowest income, weakest human resources and are most likely to be exposed to economic vulnerability.

According to the study, demographic patterns, persistent poverty, accelerated urbanization and rising inequalities made remunerative employment difficult .  Population in LDCs is projected to double to 1.7 billion by 2050, the youth population (aged 15 to 24 years) is expected to rise from 168 million in 2010 to 300 million by 2050, when one in four youths worldwide will live in a LDC. An average of 16 million jobs will be needed every year with working-age populatin soaring between 2010-2050.

With population growing rapidly and urbanization rising at an alarming pace, Delelegn said there will pressure put on natural resources and rural-urban migration. “The role of agriculture, which is historically the source of employment and livelihood is diminishing over time.”

Even though LDCs have achieved economic growth in the past decade,  it has not been inclusive nor able to reduce poverty.  It has not generated enough quality jobs which could provide people with higher wages and better working conditions, especially for the youth and women. Many are getting by with the provision of temporary, low wage work that doesn’t provide health insurance.

The report suggests that governments in LDCs should kick-start the growh process by providing quality jobs for youth and women, and develop productive capacities through investment-growth-employment nexus, in which investment should be the critical entry point.

Women in LDCs have been proved to have a higher propensity to work in the labour market — around 80 percent as opposed to the  30 percent of men. Between 1990 and 2012, an estimated 290 million women entered the LDC labour force and increased the  paricipation rates  by three percentage points—from 59 percent to 62 percent on average—a result of their high flexibility to work in the informal sectors (housekeeping, child-rearing, farming, etc.).

Delelegn underscored the importance of international  cooperation in terms of education and training towards workers under the globlization trend.

“The amount that goes to education and to the general public service is minimum. So interntaional support, not only in terms of financing, but in terms of ideas and policies, in terms of advising and in terms of traning the locals is still key. So there is a bigger issue that has to be addressed by national governments themselves and also by international community, whenever it’s necessary,”  he added.

By Lusha Chen
UNITED NATIONS, Nov 14 2013 (IPS)

In June, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia were enveloped in haze as hundreds of forest fires burned across the island of Sumatra, in the worst pollution crisis to hit Southeast Asia in more than a decade.

Dr. Nigel Sizer, Courtesy of the World Resources Institute

An analysis by the U.S.-based World Resources Institute (WRI) determined that 150,000 square kilometres burned – more than twice the size of Singapore. Worse, nearly three-quarters of the fires in the study area burned on peatland (a soil layer composed of partly decomposed organic material,  often several metres deep), which acts as a sink to absorb planet-heating carbon dioxide.

Dr. Nigel Sizer, the director of WRI’s Global Forest Initiative, spoke with IPS correspondent Lusha Chen about the obstacles they confronted in investigating the fires, and what countries in the regional Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) can do to prevent this recurring environmental catastrophe.

Q: Regarding the most recent fires across Sumatra, what efforts are being undertaken and what efforts should be taken to investigate the cause of the fire and potential culprits?

A: Achieving full accountability for the fires in Sumatra is important, but it will not be easy. Officials in Indonesia, Singapore, and elsewhere are currently investigating who started the fires and who is legally responsible. Several companies that operate palm oil and pulpwood concessions, as well as a few individuals, have already been implicated.

Still, it remains to be seen exactly who will be officially prosecuted and what the penalty will be. Knowing who is legally responsible can be determined only after careful collection of evidence and proper due process.

A major hurdle is that land ownership information in Indonesia is complex, difficult to obtain and opaque. Analysis from the World Resources Institute found that determining who is legally responsible managing the land where fires occurred is a huge challenge.

For example, although many fires were concentrated in company concession lands set aside for palm oil or pulpwood development, simply identifying which companies manage the land proves very difficult. The company concession data are inconsistent between the Ministry of Forestry, the provincial and district governments, and even more so with the self-reported data from the companies.

Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia should work together to try and unravel the complex ownership structures of the companies, and their subsidiaries, to understand who manages the land where fires may have occurred.

Q: In the report, you called on ASEAN leaders to act together to stop the pollution. Did this happen at the recent meeting in Brunei?

A: In October the heads of state from the ASEAN countries took some positive steps towards combatting the illegal and harmful fires that cause the haze. Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, and Thailand agreed to adopt a joint “haze monitoring system” and share digital land-use and concession maps on a government-to-government basis. These are good steps towards transparency and accountability.

But much more progress needs to be made. The governments stopped short of making concession and land use data entirely public, which would allow for independent monitoring of fire-prone areas by civil society. The ASEAN governments can also do more to ensure that companies operating in multiple countries in the region are held to responsible for their operations in Sumatra.

Ultimately, enforcement on the ground in Indonesia remains the most important thing. The risk of further fires will remain high unless the no-burn policies as strictly enforced at a local level. This will require support from national and local governments, as well as corporate buyers and consumers who purchase commodities produced in the area.

Q: How seriously are the fires contributing to Indonesia’s GHG emissions, and what are the long-term consequences if the problem is not addressed?

A: The fires are an enormous contributor to Indonesia’s Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, and will have profound impacts on the country’s climate strategies.

Calculating the emissions from the fires is be extremely difficult, due to uncertainly in the depth and quantity peat, a soil layer of partly-decomposed organic material that can emit large amounts of gas when burned. According to estimates from Indonesia’s national office on climate change*, changes in land use (including fires) and the effects on peatland account for 79 percent of Indonesia’s total emissions. This is globally significant, as Indonesia is, by some accounts, the third largest emitter in the world.

The Indonesian government has pledged to cut emissions 26 percent (or 41 percent with international assistance) by 2020 compared to business-as-usual. It will be very difficult for them to meet this ambitious goal without addressing the issue of fires on forest and peatland.

Q: Slash-and-burn is a very traditional way to clear the land for planting. What efforts should be taken at the grassroots level?

A: We need greater awareness and political will from the leaders on the ground. Elected officials, local governments, and local communities need to take strong action to ensure that illegal burning is controlled. Local farmers should be given alternatives to burning, such as access to mechanised equipment that can make clearing and planting easier.

It is also vital that major plantation companies prohibit their local company operators and suppliers from burning land. Similarly, corporate buyers of commodities like palm oil and pulp and paper should ensure that their supply chains are not linked to companies suspected of burning.

Getting the markets to send the right message will help ensure that local farmers and company operators understand the damage that the fires cause.

Change on the ground cannot happen without them.

(*Citation: DNPI (2010) Indonesia’s Greenhouse Gas Abatement Cost Curve. Dewan Nasional Perubahan Iklim, Jakarta, Indonesia.)

Excerpt:

With opportunities and challenges brought on by rapid development in information and communication technology, it is estimated that more than 470 million jobs must be created between 2015 to 2030 to tackle the current financial crisis, and meet the needs of a growing population.

In a panel discussion titled ‘The Future of Employment: The World of Work in 2030’, Abdou Salam Diallo, Chair of the UN Second Committee emphasized the importance of education for development.

“New skills must be taught on a large scale to take advantage of this development, and that is where training, and employment of young people become especially significant”, said Diallo.

New technologies like artificial intelligence, data analytics, robotics, and synthetic biology are not only improving productivity but also reshaping both business and the labour market,  he added. Raymond Torres, Director of the International Institute for Social Studies at the International Labour Organization (ILO) said that by 2030, underemployment and unemployment would rise and that even those who were highly educated would require additional intricate skills in order to function in a highly demanding labour market.

 In 10-15 years, more development will be achieved with new technologies like 3D printing and synthetic biology being fully realized. This means, modern working environments will come earlier than people’s expectation.

However, according to Barbara Birungi, Founder and Director of Women in Technology, Africa might be left out in this employment transformation. It is witnessing a widening gap between traditional job training and international needs.

“In the world of 2030, traditional jobs will go away, but the education system in Africa is still training us for traditional jobs, they are not moving forward to train with more technology and entrepreneurship as they should.” said Birungi, who later added that by 2030, if no changes were made, international companies would only hire foreigners to work in Africa because the locals are not skilful enough to take the available jobs.

Inequality is another challenge that working population—especially women have to confront in the future employment.

Birungi added that social norms continued to promote ideas that women were not equal to men and therefore employment opportunities remained highly unequal. Women in Africa are more likely to be underemployed and underpaid. Birungi called on international companies to equip youth, especially young women with modern skills, and to transform the traditional education system.

According to Population Division of United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), by 2025 there will be 8.1 billion people in the world.  In order to address the needs of underemployment and unemployment, both civil society and government will need to invest in the education and training of all, in a manner that is empowering and focuses on skills needed for high quality jobs.

Courtesy of the Mary Robinson Foundation

By Lusha Chen
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 2 2013 (IPS)

Climate justice – the nexus between human rights and climate change – must be a pillar of the post-2015 development agenda, says former Irish president Mary Robinson.

As global temperatures rise, low-income communities suffer disproportionately from health problems, financial burdens, and social and cultural disruptions.

Founder of the Mary Robinson Foundation – Climate Justice, the former U.N. high commissioner for human rights spoke with IPS correspondent Lusha Chen about the challenges and opportunities facing developing countries, especially small island states, when it comes to their survival or extinction in coming decades.

Excerpts from the interview follow.

Q: In 2009, when you attended the Copenhagen Climate Summit, you said you didn’t see journalists or some ministers from developed countries show urgency to deal with climate change issues. Do you think this year’s U.N. General Assembly offered any changes?

A: I am surprised that more heads of state and senior ministers of developing countries don’t actually speak about their reality: that they are suffering more and more from climate shocks.

They talk about it privately, but they somehow don’t want to project vulnerability. It’s a contrast to the heads of state of small island states that maybe are going to go under. They have no choice, so they speak out and they want climate justice.

We know the reality, and we also understand that communities that haven’t contributed [to the problem] have to benefit from the low-carbon economy that we must move to. And particularly access to affordable, renewable energy.

Q: Many developing countries are facing a conflict between economic development and paying the cost to protect the environment. What’s your take on this?

A: I recognise that there are costs, I think unfair costs if you like, on poor developing countries, and we need much more support for adaptation for climate resilience, whether it’s rural areas or in cities.

I was talking to [Liberian] President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.  She may have to move part of her population from her capital Monrovia – she hasn’t budgeted for that – because of the climate. So we need much more support for adaptation, and also for the technologies that will help poor countries to benefit from no-carbon growth.

And there are a lot of examples of south-south cooperation now, which I very much welcome:  south-south engagement in projects for access to energy, even at the local level, and I’m very keen that we promote as much as possible of that.

But we have to recognise that we are coming to a very difficult period, and if we don’t do the right thing in 2015, and have a fair, robust, equitable agreement that keeps us below two degrees Celsius [of warming], it will get much more difficult for countries that are seeing a big expansion in their populations… to cope with food security, to adapt.

So this is a very precious time, it’s a very important time, and that’s why climate justice links to a good sustainable development agenda post-2015 for all countries, which countries must take more responsibility to cut their emissions, and also a fair climate agreement.

Q: Are you still plugged into what’s going on in Ireland?

A: Yes, I would also look to Ireland to take responsibility. As a former president, I don’t engage politically in Ireland, and that’s understood. But Ireland is a good country to work on food security from, because we have a very good reputation for tackling hunger…  and I’m proud of that.

Excerpt:

By Lusha Chen
UNITED NATIONS, Apr 2 2013 (IPS)

March 27 officially declared the arrival of spring to the Hindu community, celebrated with the Holi festival. Known as the festival of colours, Holi has a broad appeal in and outside India, particularly among youth. Hindus send their greetings and welcome good luck by throwing coloured powder to others and smearing people’s clothes with paint. 

The celebration of Holi will usually last for several weeks and will also take place in different areas across America. At the UN, the United Nations Staff Recreations Council initiates the celebration to embody the festival’s spirit of bridging social barriers of language and status.

United Nations Staff Celebrates Holi, the Hindu Festival of Colors from IPS Inter Press Service on Vimeo.

This year also marks the fifth annual Holi Festival in New York City, which, with the theme “Green Holi”, stressed the use of new herbal and non-toxic colours.

By Lusha Chen
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 8 2013 (IPS)

On the sidelines of the 57th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Huairou Commission (HC), on March 4th, organised a panel discussion on women’s access to justice. 

Sponsored by UNDP and coordinated by HC, women from over 70 communities in seven countries across Africa for over a year engaged in a participatory action research on local obstacles to women’s access to justice and new bottom-up models to remove judicial bottlenecks.

These 70 groups are dealing with issues ranging from domestic violence to HIV/AIDS, care for handicapped children and social development. Through their research, they revealed contradictions and gaps in legal frameworks that prohibit women’s access to justice — findings which they have built upon in their collective responses, including the training of community paralegals and watchdog groups.

The results of their research will further influence future policy-making within UNDP.

Shorai Chitongo, representing Ray of Hope Zimbabwe, an organisation dealing primarily with domestic violence, was among the panelists that participated in the research, along with local headman Gilbert Tendai Mungate, who talked about their collaboration. The panel was chaired by Randi Davis, Officer in Charge of the UNDP Gender Unit.

UN CSW Side Event from IPS Inter Press Service on Vimeo.