High Expectations at the World Parks Congress

By Marshall Patsanza
SYDNEY, Nov 13 2014 (IPS)

Conserving the world’s most valuable natural resources is the focus of the sixth World Parks Congress 2014, taking place Sydney, Australia. The congress, which takes place once every 10 years, is convened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

By Marshall Patsanza
JOHANNESBURG, Oct 4 2010 (IPS)

In the rural KwaZulu Natal town of Jozini, Thembeni Madlopha-Mthethwa has been the town’s mayor for a decade. And in contrast to the rest of the country, which has experienced numerous civil strikes and service delivery complaints, Jozini has rarely had any such problems.

Thembeni Madlopha-Mthethwa, the IFP mayor of Jozini, says gender is not a limiting factor when it comes to leadership. Credit: Marshall Patsanza/IPS

But despite the good work done by her municipality which also includes successful gender-based violence and development projects, people across the country cannot learn from their example because of the lack of media coverage about them, she says. South African women in politics are often only covered by the media if they are in the forefront of their organisations or if they are involved in scandals, the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) mayor says.

Excerpts of the interview follow.

Q: What challenges did you face when trying to get political support? A: When I started most women did not want to associate themselves with me. Women in my area in Jozini refrained from political activity and often left it for men (to participate). Despite politics being frowned upon by many women in my community I decided to stand up for what I believed in and for the change I wanted to see in my community. So I joined the IFP.

When I decided to campaign to become a Mayor, most of my support initially came from my relatives and close friends. Then women slowly started to join in as they liked the ideas I was bringing across. As my campaign grew, male politicians began to see the leadership qualities in me and they began to have confidence in me as a leader. The male members of the IFP supported my campaign and this motivated me to continue with politics as I realised that I had broken barriers and entered into what was perceived as a male-dominated field. When I became a Mayor in 2000 I felt that I had gained the confidence and support from my community and party colleagues both male and female.

Q: How did you break through into a mostly male-dominated political party which also has deep cultural roots? A: There is huge perception that the Zulu culture does not have room for female leaders because of its patriarchal roots. This perception is not true because even back in the day of King Shaka Zulu (the early 19th century Zulu King) there were women leaders. If you show the right leadership qualities and have confidence in standing (up) for what you believe in, then the men and the community will respect and support you. So culture does not offer any boundaries to female political leadership.

Q: How supportive has your political party been of your candidacy? A: When the political party appoints you as their ambassador they give you all the necessary support. They provide you with the financial support, documentation and necessary material to do your job regardless of whether you are male or female. Even with the support there will be times when you get the occasional opposition and lack of co-operation from party members who feel that they deserved to be appointed before you. These small things come with the job and should be seen as challenges that help build ones character.

Q: How is your relationship with the media? A: In my years as Mayor I have realised that it is really difficult to get media coverage on female politicians who are not controversial, especially if you come from a deep rural area. Our municipality really struggles to get the media to notice our good work and the achievements we have made in the community. The covering of women in politics by the media is very biased in this country. If you are a woman politician from a small constituency and is not viewed as big enough on the political scene, the media usually ignores you.

Q: How does the lack of media coverage affect the situation of women politicians in general? A: The lack of adequate media coverage on the work done by female politicians contributes to the lack of knowledge of what other women leaders are achieving in South Africa. Women will not be inspired by the works of other women if they are not made aware of it. The reason why people think politics is a male-dominated field is because they hardly hear of any effective contributions by female politicians.

Q: What are you doing as a leader to increase the presence of women in politics? A: As mayor I have tried to increase the number of women involved in politics in my area especially at council level and community level. Women are often motivated by other women in political positions so when they see a fellow female in a leadership role they also develop an interest in politics. Even if we do not go door to door enticing women to join politics we do notice that women in our area are offering themselves to wanting to joining and showing an interest in politics.

Personally I have been mentoring other female mayors from the IFP. When these women heard about the work I have been doing, they began to call me and wanted to know how to work with male politicians and how to establish good relationships with stakeholders in the community. My main advice to them is that they should not view themselves as women but as representatives of their people. Gender is not a limiting factor when it comes to leadership.

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By Marshall Patsanza
GABORONE, Apr 22 2010 (IPS)

April signals the tail end of the flood season in Mozambique. The country’s water managers will soon be able to appraise the effects of changing policies.

Each year, the many major rivers that flow through Mozambique on their way to the Indian Ocean – the Pungwe, the Limpopo, the Zambezi – swell with rain and burst their banks during the November-April rainy season. In 2001, the flooding killed around 700 people and displaced up to 500,000 others.

Mozambican water and disaster management experts attending a workshop for river basin organisations in Gaborone on April 20-21, told IPS that they have begun shifting their approach to the annual flooding in terms of helping those in low-lying areas to find a profitable co-existence with the water.

“Floods will always be there and it is time we start living with them and looking for ways in which they can benefit us,” said Olinda Costa Sousa, director of the goverment’s water management agency for the southern part of the country, ARA-SUL (Administração Regional de Áquas do Sul).

Flood management has traditionally focused on reducing the occurrence or severity of floods in settled areas but Mozambique’s regional water bodies are exploring alternatives. But the high waters also spread nutrients across flood plains, and recharge wetlands in which fish thrive. This attracts people to live near rivers where their homes may be in danger.

“Realising that floods are dangerous is important for the local inhabitants, but at the same time educating them on how to utilise the positive attributes such as good fertile soil and rich fishing resources are some of the things the government is trying to impart on the river basin inhabitants,” said Sousa.

Sergio Sitoe, from the Limpopo Basin Commission’s Interim Secretariat explains further. “As a measure trying to balance between harnessing the positive effects of flooding and managing the effects of floods the Department of water in Mozambique is trying to initiate plans to allow local river basin inhabitants to co-exist with floods since the issue of flooding is perennial.”

To ensure that people settled on floodplains the river basin are aware of the pros and cons of their location, the country has set up disaster management committees at local level to help educate people on how to protect themselves while taking advantage of the benefits.

Solutions

This includes encouraging villagers to have two homes – one near farms or fishing on the river’s edge, and another settlement on higher ground that will remain above the water line even in wet years.

In other areas, where the flooding is not as severe, the inhabitants are encouraged to build elevated houses which will allow water to flow beneath them without being swept away.

“If we encourage people to stay on flood plains we have to educate them on how to react to warning systems and to locate the escape routes in which they can use to evacuate to safe ground when the water levels rise in the rivers,” said Helio Banze, director of Umbeluzi-Maputo basins.

There is no single recipe for organising effective community participation for flood management and it is also up to the inhabitants to realise that their safety is paramount and that the floods are very dangerous.

Although this might seem obvious, there are many people who refuse to move away from flood-prone areas due to cultural reasons and beliefs. “These are the people who are often killed by the floods because they completely ignore the warning systems,” Sitoe said.

“Another obstacle to effective flood management is that most of the settlers view their livestock as a symbol of economic wealth, and they will not move to higher ground because their animals will not be able climb the steep slopes,” said Banze.

But the biggest challenge are the inhabitants who have lived in flood plains and have survived floods, explained Cacilda Machava, director of the water management agency for the Zambezi in Mozambique.

“These people believe that they have become resilient to floods and will not react to any warning systems and the biggest fear the disaster management teams have is that the next flood will be bigger and could destroy them.”

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By Marshall Patsanza
JOHANNESBURG, Mar 8 2010 (IPS)

A world where all children are born free of HIV infection is possible in only five years if donors continue to fund global efforts to combat the virus.

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria says in addition TB transmission will be halved by 2015 and malaria will be eliminated as a public health problem by 2020 if it increases funding for its programmes.

The fund’s results report was launched in Johannesburg on Mar. 8 by Professor Michel Kazatchkine, the organisation’s executive director. “A world where no children are born with HIV is truly possible by 2015,” Kazatchkine said.

Programmes supported by the Global Fund in developing countries saved at least 3,600 lives per day in 2009 and an estimated 4.9 million since its creation in 2002.

By the end of 2009 programmes financed by the fund provided antiretroviral therapy (ART) for 2.5 million people and 790,000 HIV-positive pregnant women were on treatment to prevent mother to child transmission (MTCT) of HIV in developing countries.

The report said that continued and substantial increases in long-term financial commitments by donors will be essential in order to reach the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015.

“The Global Fund is about getting results. This report clearly shows the world’s investments are making a difference,” said Michel Sidibe, the executive director of the United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS.

South Africa is one of the countries that have stepped up a rapid expansion of HIV prevention, care and treatment services according to the report. South Africa receives 271.3 million dollars from the fund.

According to South African Health Minister, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, the fund has provided treatment for 400,000 of the 920,000 people who are on ART in the country. “This funding has gone a long way in helping South Africa’s progress in achieving the MDGs on time,” Motsoaledi added.

“It is our hope as the South African government that donors use this report to see the work the Global Fund is doing in developing countries in assisting in the progress of the MDGs,” Motsoaledi said.

The Global Fund has invested in 41 countries and territories in east, southern, west and central Africa with a focus on where there is the greatest need.

According to the report Namibia, Rwanda and Zambia are on track to meet the targets they set for universal access to ART.

In Malawi 37,000 HIV-positive pregnant mothers had received MTCT by the end of 2009 and within eight months of ART introduction overall adult mortality declined by 10 percent.

All these are indicators of good progress, especially on the African continent, said Sidibe.

Sidebe also highlighted the importance of the fund’s replenishment. He said that “a withdrawal of funding on Global Fund–supported projects would be a universal nightmare, as it will mean removing the people who are already on HIV treatment of the medication due to lack of funding.”

But in order for this progress to be continuous international donors have to play their part, explained Kazatchkine.

The fund requires 20 billion dollars over the next three years.

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