Category Archives: Socio-economic Collapse

Its been a busy year for Amnesty International with positive changes taking place around the world. Laws have been rewritten, awards have been won, prisoners of conscience released and our supporters have continued to campaign with passion to ensure people can live free from torture, harassment or unjust imprisonment.Heres a round-up of human rights wins to celebrate this year

January

Global: Amnesty Internationals ground-breaking report on how health workers around the world had been exposed, silenced and attacked during the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in Ibrahim Badawi, a doctor, and Ahmad al-Daydoumy, a dentist, being released from detention in Egypt in January and March this year. They were just two of the many health workers arbitrarily detained in 2020 in Egypt, on vague and overly broad charges of spreading false news and terrorism, which Amnesty highlighted in its research.

February

Campaigners in Sri Lanka call for an end to forced cremation. Photo: AFP via Getty Images.

Sri Lanka: Following the outbreak of Covid-19 in Sri Lanka, a number of people from the Muslim community were forcibly cremated on the instructions of the authorities and against the wishes of the deceaseds families. Amnesty International called for Sri Lankas authorities to respect the right of religious minorities to carry out the final rites of their relatives in accordance with their own traditions unless restrictions were needed to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Amnesty also engaged with Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) states to impress upon the Sri Lankan government to change this discriminatory policy, and placed op-eds in Pakistan and Bangladesh ahead of a key session of the United Nations Human Rights Council. As a result,Sri Lankan authorities decided to end the practice of forced cremations for victims of Covid-19 in February.March

Bahrain: Amnesty International helped to secure several prisoner releases in Bahrain this year, including four children who had been tried as adults. In March, a Bahraini court suspended a six-month prison sentence against the four and placed them in a rehabilitation programme instead one week after Amnesty issued an urgent action. In April, there was more good news with the release of prisoner of conscience, Mohammed Hassan Jawad, who had been serving a 15-year prison sentence for his peaceful participation in the 2011 uprising. Amnesty International has been campaigning for his release for a decade. In another breakthrough, on 11 March, the European Parliament adopteda resolutionon Bahrains human rights situation and its treatment of human rights defenders, followed by anotherin September on Emirati prisoner of conscience Ahmed Mansoor which echoed Amnestys recommendations.

Tokyo Rainbow Parade. Photo: Getty Images/Alessandro Di Ciommo/NurPhoto.

Japan: In March, a Japanese court ruled thatthegovernmentsfailure to recognize same-sex marriage was unconstitutionalthecountrys first-ever judicial ruling on marriage equality. The decision was aground-breakingstep for same-sex couplesin their pursuit of equal rights and could set an important precedent forsimilar cases filed by other same-sex couples in Japan. This followed campaign calls and petitions from Amnesty International and others.

Amnesty International's Yezidi report revealed the physical and mental health crisis endured by Yezidi children separated from their families.
Illustration: Cesare Davolio / Amnesty International.

Iraq: The Iraqi parliament passed the Yezidi Survivors Law which provides a framework for reparations for many survivors of ISIS atrocities in northern Iraq, including women and girls who were subjected to sexual violence and child survivors who were abducted before the age of 18. This was a key recommendation in areport published last yearby Amnesty International on the physical and mental health crisis endured by Yezidi children separated from their families. The report was also referenced by Angelina Jolie in a speech to the UN Security Council regarding sexual violence in conflict. Additional bylaws were passed in September.

Activists protest the Philippine government's deadly 'war on drugs'. Photo: Noel Celis/AFP/Getty Images.

Global: In March, October and November, the International Criminal Court (ICC) announced it would open formal investigations into the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the Philippine governments deadly war on drugs and crimes against humanity in Venezuela. Amnesty International has been documenting crimes against humanity in all these countries for several years, its research was cited dozens of times in the Prosecutors filing.

Patients in Madgascar are treated for Covid-19. Photo: AFP via Getty Images.

Madagascar: After months of refusing to acknowledge Covid-19, the Malagasy government finally dropped its policy of refusing to order Covid-19 vaccines following pressure from Amnesty and others giving more people a chance to access life-saving vaccines.

Police committed to investigating the murders of best friends Popi Qwabe and Bongeka Phungula, after receiving a petition signed by more than 341,000 Amnesty International supporters. Photo: Amnesty International.

South Africa: In March, police revived an investigation into the 2017 murders of best friends Popi Qwabe and Bongeka Phungula, after receiving a petition signed by more than 341,000 Amnesty International supporters worldwide demanding that their killers be brought to justice. The police have now completed their investigation and handed over the case to the countrys National Prosecuting Authority. After years of distress and anger over irregularities and delays in the original police investigation, Popi and Bongekas friends and families finally have reason to believe that justice for their loved ones is on the horizon. I feel optimistic, said Popis sister Thembelihle. I feel like finally, something is about to change.

April

Global: Amnesty International released its flagship annual report, The State of the Worlds Human Rights. This latest edition covered the human rights situation in 149 countries and was translated into a record 38 languages. It also included specific advocacy calls on a range of human rights issues.

May

Palestinian protesters run for cover after Israeli forces launched tear gas canisters. Photo: AFP via Getty Images.

Global: Amnesty International won a prestigiousWebby Awardfor its microsite on the abuse of tear gas by police forces around the world. The site was originally launched in mid-2020, and is frequently updated with new content and evidence of abuses. The material is also still being cited in ongoing advocacy, including in recent US Congressional debates around regulating or banning police use of tear gas.

June

Germain Rukuki. Photo: Alexandra Bertels.

Burundi: NGO worker and human rights defender Germain Rukuki was released from prison after spending more than four years behind bars for standing up for human rights. Initially sentenced to 32 years in prison on baseless charges, Germain was jailed before getting a chance to hold his youngest child, born just weeks after he was detained in July 2017. After more than 400,000 actions calling for his release, Germain is looking to be reunited with his family, who fled the country for fear of reprisals.

The 'Free Xinjiang Detainees' petition is handed over in Helsinki, Finland. Photo: Amnesty International.

China: Amnesty International published an extensive report detailing how the draconian repression faced by Muslims in Chinas Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region amounts to crimes against humanity. The report garnered significant global media coverage, and was followed up with a campaign calling for the closure of the internment camps. To date, the Free Xinjiang Detainees petition has been signed by more than 323,000 people around the world and Amnesty Internationals national teams in 10 countries have held petition handover events.

Pakistan: Amnesty International successfully campaigned for the acquittal and release of Shafqat and Shagufta Emmanuel, a Christian couple, who spent seven years on death row on blasphemy charges.

Decode Surveillance NYC. Illustration: Eliana Rodgers.

USA: Decode Surveillance NYC saw more than 7,000 Amnesty International supporters from 144 countries map 15,000 surveillance cameras across New York City which can be used by the NYPD to track people using facial recognition software. The results of the innovative project helped campaigners push local legislators for a ban on the use of the discriminatory technology.

People from Nepal finally received a boost in vaccinations following campaigning and advoacy initiatives. Photo: Anadolu Agency via Getty Images.

Nepal: After the launch of Amnesty Internationals report, Struggling to breathe: The second wave of Covid-19 in Nepal, which was followed by sustained campaigning and advocacy initiatives, the Japanese government donated 1.6 million vaccines to Nepal, Bhutan donated 230,000 and the UK donated 130,000 doses.

Nigeria: The Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) granted an order to prohibit Nigerian authorities from prosecuting anyone using Twitter in the country. This victory for freedom of expression came after Amnesty International helped Nigerian NGO, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), to bring a case against the Nigerian authorities over their threat to prosecute anyone using Twitter after they implemented a blanket ban on the social platform in June.

July

Maura Martnez. Photo: The National Immigrant Justice Center.

Nicaragua: After more than two years locked up in an immigration detention facility in California where she was abused and denied access to adequate medical care, Maura Martnez, a transgender woman originally from Nicaragua, was finally freed in July. Martnez had spent half her life in the United States where she sought safety after experiencing relentless gender-based violence while living in Mexico. However, after a legal incident, US authorities detained and threatened to deport her. Thanks to a global campaign by Amnesty International and partner organizations, she is now free and able to live in the USA while she awaits the adjudication of her asylum claim.

Human rights defender, Berta Caceres. Photo: Amnesty International / Camila Villota B.

Honduras: On 5 July 2021, a court in Honduras convicted David Castillo, the former manager of the company Desarrollos Energticos and the person in charge of the Agua Zarca hydroelectric project, of participating in the 2016 murder of the human rights defender Berta Cceres. Amnesty International has campaigned for justice for Berta for years and continues to demand that all those responsible for ordering or carrying out her murder face justice.

Denmark: In early 2021, the Danish government proposed a draft law to parliament granting police the power to issue a security-creating assembly ban if a group of people exhibited insecurity-inciting behaviour. Amnesty Denmark and partners successfully prevented the Danish government from passing the law, which would have put undue restrictions on the right to protest. They won the Civic Pride Award 2021 for their campaigning. Another award winner was Amnesty Hungary, which campaigned against the abusive and stigmatising LexNGO law, as part of the Civilisacion coalition. Over 3 years, the coalition fought LexNGO, taking the case to the European Court of Justice, which eventually led to the repeal of the law.

Sierra Leone: After years of sustained campaigning from Amnesty International and others, the parliament voted to abolish the death penalty in Sierra Leone for all crimes. The Act, approved by parliament in July, was being finalised before President Julius Maada Bio can sign it into law. The process of commuting all outstanding death sentences has already begun. As of 30 June 2021, 21 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa had abolished the death penalty for all crimes.

Young activists from Latin America discuss sexual and reproductive rights as part of the human rights education programme, It's My Body!. Photo: Amnesty International.

Latin America: Amnesty International celebrated the achievements of its five-year human rights education programme, Its My Body!, which set out to educate young people in Argentina, Chile and Peru about sexual and reproductive rights, enabling them to make positive changes in their community. Hundreds of young people were trained to provide support to others and the impact has been incredible. In Argentina, one young person successfully reformeda school curriculum to include comprehensive sexuality education, while in Peru, young people who took part in the project trained parents and teachers across the country.

USA: After the previous US federal administration carried out 13 executions in six months, on 1 July 2021, the US Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the establishment of a moratorium on executions pending the review of policies and procedure by the Department of Justice. Amnesty International has been one of the organizations campaigning for this outcome and will continue to work until this temporary measure is turned into permanent abolition of the US federal death penalty [and all death sentences are commuted.

August

Members and supporters of New York's Afghan community raise awareness of Afghanistan's refugee crisis following the Taliban takeover.
Photo: ED JONES/AFP via Getty Images.

Afghanistan: Following the collapse of the Afghanistan government after the Taliban seized power in mid-August 2021, Amnesty International researchers continue to investigate atrocities committed by the group and were able to verify two massacres of Hazara people in the provinces of Ghazni and Daykundi by Taliban fighters. These reports were among the first evidence that the Taliban continued to persecute marginalized communities in Afghanistan as they took control of the country. Amnesty International also published powerful testimony from girls who were excluded from school, amidst ongoing Taliban threats and violence.September

Guinea: After months of campaigning from Amnesty International and its supporters, pro-democracy activist Omar Sylla was unconditionally released on 6 September, the day after the military led a coup against President Alpha Conde. Following his release, dozens of political activists were also released and charges were dropped by the judiciary.

Tunisia: Research by Amnesty International helped to end the practice of arbitrary travel bans imposed on many Tunisians following President Kais Saieds seizure of exceptional powers. After Amnesty published a story on the situation, the president issued astatementon 17 September ordering the border police not to impose any travel ban on people unless through a judicial order.

People from Mumbai, India, take part in a climate strike. Photo: Hindustan Times via Getty Images.

Global: Following years of advocacy, pressure and engagement from Amnesty International, the Human Rights Council recognized the Right to a Safe Clean Healthy and Sustainable Environment and created a Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Climate Change an emphatic statement leading up to COP26 about the link between human rights and the environmental crisis.

Central African Republic: Two men suspected of crimes against humanity Mahamat Said Abdel Kani and Eugene Barret Ngaikosset were finally arrested, with Ngaikosset placed incustody by the Special Criminal Court (SCC). It was the first time the SCCpublicly nameda suspect and it came after Amnesty Internationalcalledfor the SCCto address its lack of transparency. Amnesty International has been advocating for justice for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in CAR for a number of years and our work together with others contributed to these two individuals being arrested.

October

The Pegasus Project. Photo: Forbidden Stories.

Global: The European Parliaments Daphne Caruana Prize for Journalism was awarded to the Pegasus Project, which saw Amnesty partner with major media organizations to expose the vast scale of violations perpetrated through secretive cyber surveillance. The revelations made global headlines and led to spyware company NSO Group being blacklisted by the USA, as well as triggering investigations in multiple countries, and calls for the surveillance industry to be properly regulated.

Moldova: The parliament of Moldova ratified the Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention and Suppression of Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention), opening the door to better protection and support to survivors of domestic violence and violence against women. According to the Moldovan government, the country has already adapted more than 20 legislative acts to meet the requirements of the convention. To date, the only other country in Eastern Europe and Central Asia to ratify the convention, in addition to Moldova, is Georgia. Amnesty has been actively promoting womens rights and the fight against domestic violence for years.

Kosovo: Following an intervention from Amnesty International, Austrian-based Kelkos Energy withdrew its baseless defamation lawsuits against environmental activists Shpresa Loshaj and Adriatik Gacaferi, who had publicly raised concerns about the environmental impact of hydropower projects. Austrian-based Kelkos Energy was using these lawsuits to intimidate and silence Shpresa and Adriatik from speaking out about the possible environmental damage caused by the companys exploitation of Kosovos natural resources.

The case of the METU students was part of Amnesty Internationals flagship Write for Rights campaign in 2020. Photo: ODTU LGBTI+.

Turkey: A court acquitted 18 students and an academic who had been prosecuted for taking part in a peaceful campus-based Pride parade in Ankara in May 2019, which was met with police using pepper spray, plastic bullets and tear gas. Their acquittal after a protracted legal battle was a victory for justice. The case of the METU students was part of Amnesty Internationals flagship Write for Rights campaign in 2020. More than 445,000 people from 43 countries demanded their acquittal.

Global: Following pressure from Amnestys international and partner organisations, the Executive Office of the UN Secretary-General announced plans to mainstream childrens rights within the UN system. The announcement followed a successfulUNside-event organised jointly by Amnesty International and its partners, featuring an address by Amnestys Secretary General, Agnes Callamard.

November

Guinea Bissau and Niger: Guinea Bissau and Niger declared they would allow individuals and NGOS to submit complaints to the African Court on Human and Peoples Rights, bringing the number of countries to sign the declaration to eight. Amnestys advocacy campaign was pivotal, thanks to its educational video, social media campaign and sustained engagements with African Union actors and civil society groups.

The rest is here:

33 human rights wins to celebrate this year - Amnesty International

Enab Baladi Zeinab Masri

The course of events in Syria has made a fundamental shift in the socio-economic order of the countrys north, which has borders with Turkey. Some villages and small cities have turned into economic centers after Aleppo, which used to serve as the economic capital of Syria, declined.

Sarmada, a small town located in the northern countryside of Idlib near the Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Turkey, saw this transformation.

In addition, some small villages, which have a high population density due to the spread of large numbers of displacement camps, such as Atmeh and Qah, have developed into economic centers.

Several investment companies and projects have scrambled to spread throughout these small towns and villages, given their population density, proximity to the Turkish border, and the relative spread of safety there.

The need for investments in northern Syria stems from the existence of reasonable capital in the hands of people therethe capital is characterized as idle and diminished due to the skyrocketing inflation the availability of good investment opportunities. In addition, the governorate of Idlib has an enormous potential of human capital, a very high population density, and an excellent geographical location.

The availability of investment companies will increase investment opportunities, stimulate the economic movement and achieve sustainable development in the region.

Consequently, more human resources, mainly university graduates, will be hired, the Public Relations Office of the Namaa Investment Company, which is operating in northwestern Syria, toldEnab Baladi.

Namaa is an investment finance company in the region, working with capital fully paid by individuals and institutions, provided that this capital is invested in several projects: such as establishing business companies, real estate development projects, fuel companies, and other financing import and general trade deals.

The companys public relations office pointed out that the most important investment areas in the region include the real estate sector, the health sector, tender financing, and the natural stone sectorInvesting in the extraction and export of natural stones, including marble. All these types of investments help to bring hard currencies into northern Syria.

He pointed out that there are promising opportunities in other areas that may have a high investment value, such as investing in livestock, renewable energies and some industrial specializations.

Namaa Company explained that the main obstacle to investment companies in northwestern Syria is the ongoing instability. The Idlib region could witness outbreaks of military confrontations at any time. Therefore, people save their money as a precautionary measure; they do not spend it because they could suddenly experience forcible displacement.

Investment in northwestern Syria could encounter numerous difficulties such as the lack of necessary experiences (strong accounting experience in particular). Plus, people tend not to invest in industrial areas because of the insufficient stability in the region and the semi-siege situation in the north.

The global financial crisis, which was triggered by the spread of the coronavirus infection(COVID-19), had severe repercussions on northern Syria: An increase in prices of fuel and imports in general and a collapse in the value of the Turkish lira, which is the main currency adopted in the Idlib region.

Syrian economist Khaled Terkawi toldEnab Baladithat the border areas in northern Syria, such as Sarmada and Dana, are relatively stable, leading to the spread of investments; many shops and some factories and workshops have been established.

He added that the proliferation of stability and safety in the border areas in northern Syria enhances economic activities and attracts investments.These areas, which have become densely populated following the multiple waves of displacement, have grown in importance. This is because the presence of several people will revive and expand the market.

Terkawi believes that these areas will continue to expand in the future because people are looking for more opportunities. For example, new industrial cities are founded in northern Syria. The establishment of industrial cities actually leads to the emergence of new markets and the expansion of economic activities in the border areas.

On the other hand, Syrian economist and researcher at the Middle East Institute in Washington, Karam Shaar, said that the main problem facing investments or projects that began to appear in cities such as Sarmada, Dana, and Aleppo countryside, is the investors fear of establishing any long-term activities.

Speaking withEnab Baladi, the researcher argued that investments are limited so far in northern Syria because there is no reliable or transparent future for these projects. Plus, the Capital is a coward.

Accordingly, most projects are a quick win, and they do not require significant investment spending. They are projects concerned with harvesting some agricultural crops, or canning goods and exporting them to Turkey, or harvesting, pressing, storing, and distributing olive oil outside Syria.

Shaar believes that investments positively impact people living in northwestern Syria. Cheap labor is one of the great investment incentives in northwest Syria. However, the instability of the security situation and the lack of clarity in the political and economic horizon of the region makes investment unattractive.

Namaa believes that the most vital role of the investment companies in northern Syria is to operate (use) the citizens money in varied investment areas. These investments serve the public interest and reduce unemployment.

When investment activities and projects are carried out wisely and skillfully, economic problems will be resolved in northern Syria over time.

In addition, when investments are successfully developed, this could attract foreign capital to invest in the region. This will improve peoples living standards in northern Syria and enhance healthcare services and education and development rates.

The interstitial area encompassing Sarmada and Bab al-Hawa makes for a peculiar phenomenon. It is not a classic border zone separating two sovereign states, though it actually fulfills this function. Nor is it a free zone created by such entities to facilitate trade, though it does that too, according to a study titled How the Small Town of Sarmada Became Syrias Gateway to the World., issued on 2 June, by Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center.

The study indicates, One way to perceive the Sarmada/Bab al-Hawa phenomenon is to imagine it as a multiportal gateway, one that arose organicallyit is more the result of circumstance than designbetween the distinct sociopolitico-economic systems of Turkey and Syria.

Economically speaking, Sarmada is considered a link between the well-defined and internationally recognized financial/banking order that exists in Turkey and the rest of the world, with the relatively vague financial-banking system in Idlib, which is run by non-international actors and lacks a clear regulatory framework.

According to the study, the uniqueness of this multi-portal gate lies in the fact that no single actor maintains tight control over it. For example, Turkey, the only international player with a strong presence on the ground in Idlib, exercises influence on the region but does not enjoy tight control.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which rules the greater part of Idlib in the immediate, physical sense, has imposed its control over the Sarmada/Bab al-Hawa area and reaped some benefits. Nonetheless, the group refrained from exercising complete control because such a step might backfire.

Read more:

Investment companies make their way in opposition-held Sarmada - Enab Baladi

Bengalurus Museum of Art & Photographys new digital festival merges art, learning and melodies

When I was in college at the Faculty of Fine Arts MSU, Baroda, the museum was a place students went to play hooky. It was never to look at the beautiful replica of the Dancing Girl of the Indus Valley Civilisation, the stunning collection of Chola bronzes, or the giant skeleton of the whale that hung from the ceiling. That was only appealing to nerds like myself.

Fortunately, in the last 20 years, things have changed. Museums are no longer dusty and desolate; they are well lit, multisensorial interactive spaces that are led by an enthusiastic team of curators and collaborators, coming up with new ways of engaging their audience. And it is heartening that the change is happening in both public and private sectors, working across artistic disciplines.

Internationally, the Louvre and Tate are working with augmented reality to allow immersive experiences. Recently, Victoria & Albert in London invited visitors to tumble down the rabbit hole with their Curious Alice exhibit that worked with virtual reality. In India, too, museums such as Bhua Daji Lad (BDL), Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, CSMVS (Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya) and the Goa Art Museum have upgraded and updated their approach and programming.

Grammy winner (and recent second time nominee) Ricky Kej

Museums have become vibrant institutions of learning and entertainment. In India, this potential is only just being recognised, and we have a lot of catching up to do, says Tasneem Mehta, BDLs managing trustee, adding that they have created a comprehensive cultural campus for all age groups covering not just art and culture, but a range of natural history, environment and socio-economic subjects.

At Bengalurus Museum of Art & Photography (MAP), the experiment is with music. This weekend, it is hosting Art is Life: SoundFrames. A three-day digital festival in collaboration with the Berklee College of Music, Boston it will present over 25 events inspired by music, including concerts, performances, panel discussions, film talks, educational workshops and exhibitions. Featuring will be more than 65 artists from around India and the world such as Ambi and Bindu Subramaniam of SubraMania, Grammy winner (and recent second time nominee) Ricky Kej, musical talents from IndianRaga, young Hindustani maestro Pandit Sanjeev Abhyankar and the Darbari Qawwals of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya Dargah.

The festival is jointly curated by MAPs director, Kamini Sawhney, and Annette Philip, artistic director of the Berklee India Exchange and an award-winning musician, educator, and arts entrepreneur. Art is at the heart of any community. The digital museum intends to bring together its various aspects, not just the visual arts, says Sawhney, explaining how the Art is Life festival, launched last year, had a great response. We are celebrating its anniversary with the theme of music, as a positive response to the pandemic.

Annette Philip, artistic director, Berklee India Exchange

Map will also host five workshops that will include voice therapy, and a section on capturing the profile of the city through its sound (sounds of the sea in Mumbai, the bustle of Old Delhi). We put out a public call encouraging producers to work with the Ableton Software [a digital audio workstation for both macOS and Windows] that will help them integrate the sounds of their cities. There are entries from Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Delhi.

At MAP we have always been about reimagining the museum so that it is not just a repository of objects, but also of ideas, conversations and interactions. A community cant be collaborative without tapping into its creative aspect, which is why we must be inclusive to all aspects from folk to classical, popular to traditional. We must help people to collapse the hierarchy, says Sawhney.

The idea is one she shares with Phillip. Both our institutions hope to not only preserve and sustain cultural conversations about and through the arts, we both actively engage and welcome community participation in the creation of art and music, Phillip tells me by email. I believe this is the first of many dynamic collaborations Berklee will have with MAP going forward. While the entire programme is stunning, she concludes that she is particularly excited about Women of the World, Ricky Kej and Sounds of the City.

From December 3-5. The digital festival is also accessible to the visually-disabled and incorporates Indian sign language.

See the rest here:

Making music at the museum - The Hindu

Editorsnote: In November,The National Interestorganized a symposium on the confluence of demographics, migration, and climate change. We asked a variety of scholars the following question: Canmigrationbe a solution to the various demographic challenges facing many nations, or is it a challenge in its own right? How should states adapt to and/or mitigate the effects of changing demographics and influxes of migrants?The following article is one of their responses:

In many ways, Canada seems perfectly positioned to take advantage of climate change. The country sits on a vast wealth of natural resources with an abundant supply of freshwater, oil, and natural gas. Its political system is, for the moment, relatively stable. And as the planet warms, Canadas traditionally unfarmable northern regions could turn into the worlds breadbasket. But for all its advantages, Canada is desperately lacking in one vital resource: people.

Indeed, despite being the worlds second-largest country, Canada has a relatively modest 38 million citizens, a mere one-ninth of the United States population. More importantly, the national fertility rate has long been in steady decline, with the number of Canadian births reaching a fifteen-year low in 2020. This puts the country in a precarious position: while most populations need a total fertility level of a little over two children per woman to survive, Canada sits at just 1.47, representing one of the lowest birth rates in the West. Were this trend to continue, the countrys population could start shrinking within the next two decades.

Theres good reason to see this as a serious national security concern. Most crucially, Canadas dropping fertility rates will bring about a massive shift in the countrys age demographics, with the percentage of Canadians aged sixty-five and older projected to increase from 17.2 in 2018 to over 20 in 2030. The resulting impact on the workforce will be dramatic. Today, the countrys ratio of workers to pensioners is three to one. Over the next fifteen years, that number will fall to two. And indeed, while the cultural implications of this sort of demographic change can be complicated, the economics are rather simple: as Canada ages, its productivity will decline, labor costs will skyrocket, and the countrys robust social programs will crumble under the weight of its retiring population.

Degrowth, then, would represent a catastrophic opportunity loss for a country primed to benefit from global warming. In one famous study, Stanford professor Marshall Burke estimated that if Canada were to take complete advantage of its newfound agricultural opportunities, it could see a fivefold increase in its gross domestic product over the next several decades. But thats a huge if. Canada will need a massive amount of labor to exploit its 4.2 million square kilometers of new agricultural frontier, and as it stands, its population is not growing nearly fast enough to meet the regions growing demand.

So now, with the writing on the wall for its future growth, Canada has started looking abroad. The result has been a dramatic increase in Canadas immigration targets: just last year, Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino announced that the country would be aiming to add an additional 500,000 permanent residents in 2021, an increase of more than 50,000 from 2020.

And yet many still think this doesnt go far enough. One particularly influential group of business leaders and academics, known as the Century Initiative, wants Canada to nearly triple its population by 2100. Growing our population to 100 million by 2100 would reduce the burden on government revenues to fund health care, old age security, and other services, the Initiative's site reads. The group states that 100 million is not just a number. Its a vision for the Canada we want to build for future generations.

Such an approach would have profound socio-cultural implications. To be sure, a 100 million person Canada would look markedly different from how it looks today, raising the question of whether or not Canadians are ready for such a sudden shake-up of the national demographic.

But its a risk that Canada seems prepared to take, and theyre not alone. To the east, Russia and the Scandinavian countriesboth thought to be potential climate winnershave cited underpopulation and declining birth rates as major obstacles to their national growth. Russia, in particularnever known for its subtletyhas discussed flying in hundreds of thousands of Indian workers to its now-arable Far East region. Many in Sweden, too, have pushed for increased immigration rates as the population ages.

Each approach will surely have unique strengths and weaknesses that will lead to different results depending on each countrys specific circumstances. For a nation like Russia, for example, the presence of China to the south means that it must be careful when deciding which foreign nationals (and how many) it wants to allow in. Canada, on the other hand, has the advantage of an immigration system that prioritizes immigrants with perceived value, allowing the country to admit those who best fit its evolving socio-economic needs.

Immigration, then, will have a key role to play in the West as declining birth rates and climate change transform the world order. Indeed, with the right policies, countries like Canada and Russia could see their prospects soar. But with the wrong policies, their economies could be destined to collapse.

Thomas Hochman (@thomashochman) is a Fellow at Citizens Climate Lobby. His work has been featured in The National Interest, The Washington Examiner, and a number of other outlets.

Image: Reuters.

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Climate Change Is Creating a Northern Labor Crisis - The National Interest

India has had a history of airlines which have ended in failure. Among them were Vijay Mallya's Kingfisher Airlines, businessman Naresh Goyal's Jet Airways and the country's first low-cost carrier, Air Deccan, founded by former army captain GR Gopinath.

Despite these collapses and a turbulent operating environment, which has only worsened during the coronavirus pandemic, Indian billionaire Rakesh Jhunjhunwala is seemingly undeterred.

He is trying his hand at bringing the new Akasa Air to the skies along with former Jet Airways chief executive Vinay Dube. The new airline is billed as an ultra low-cost carrier and it plans to start operating in the coming months. But Akasa Air will be flying into stormy weather.

Considering the past and present situation, it will not be a cakewalk for the company and it will have to overcome many hurdles to make its way up, says Nitin Shah, the executive director of Findoc, an Indian financial services group.

As the aviation industry worldwide grapples with the impact of the pandemic, Indian airlines are projected to report collective losses of between $3.2 billion and $3.7bn in the current financial year ending March 31, 2022, according to aviation consultancy Capa India.

But analysts also point to room for growth in India's aviation sector, as Asia's third-largest economy is expected to expand in the coming years.

The country's economy is forecast to grow 9.5 per cent this year and 8.5 per cent in 2022, according to the International Monetary Fund, after shrinking 7.3 per cent in 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

By 2030, Indias international air traffic is projected to increase by between 50 million and 60 million passengers a year compared with pre-Covid levels, to reach 115 million to 125 million, according to Capa. It is then expected to double again by 2040, to 240 million.

Increasingly, Indians are expected to take up air travel. Currently, only a single-digit percentage of its population of almost 1.4 billion travels by air. And that is the market potential Akasa Air is targeting.

India is one of the fastest-developing aviation markets and has extraordinary potential, says Mr Shah. There is a huge potential for the sector to grow in future. The Indian aviation sector has witnessed a strong recovery in the post-lockdown era.

But the near-term challenges are great, analysts say. Even before the Covid-19 crisis hit, India's aviation industry was going through turbulence. Factors including price wars between India's carriers and soaring taxes on fuel pushed several airlines into steep losses, leaving them in a precarious position.

High fuel and running costs, and a capital intensive business, along with cut-throat competition, has made the business of even the best-placed players quite vulnerable to any adverse developments, says Richa Agarwal, a senior research analyst at Equitymaster.

High fuel and running costs, and a capital intensive business, along with cut-throat competition, has made the business of even the best-placed players quite vulnerable to any adverse developments

Richa Agarwal, senior research analyst, Equitymaster

In recent history, the full extent of the woes of the sector came into sharp focus with the demise of Kingfisher Airlines in 2012. The airline, set up by liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya, started operations in 2005. It launched amid great fanfare and gained a lot of popularity among consumers, becoming known for its high levels of customer service.

But the competitive environment and the airline's high costs meant that it became unviable, and it became a struggle for the company to pay its staff and bank loans. It was the airline's failure and insolvency that led to Mr Mallya becoming a wilful defaulter, as he fled to the UK, where he is currently based. The Indian government is fighting to have him extradited.

Air Deccan went down with Kingfisher after the budget airline, which had run into losses, merged with Kingfisher in 2007.

Following Kingfisher's demise, low-cost carrier SpiceJet was on the verge of collapse. But Ajay Singh, its co-founder, stepped in with a rescue package. This involved restructuring the airline's ownership. SpiceJet survived, seemingly against the odds.

Indian billionaire Rakesh Jhunjhunwala. Prashanth Vishwanathan / The National

Players in this segment have shut shop in the last few years due to mounting debts, poor acquisitions and cheaper prices offered by competitors, says Gaurav Garg, the head of research at CapitalVia Global Research. Also, the rising fuel prices and a depreciating rupee seem to be a major reason in the increasing operating costs of the airlines.

Jet Airways also became a victim of the tough operating environment and it stopped flying in April 2019, when it ran out of cash.

Even Air India, the country's flag carrier, has long struggled with losses and mounting debt. This led to its long-awaited privatisation this year, with Tata Sons acquiring the ailing airline.

In the past decade, seven airlines have ceased operations, including regional carriers like Air Costa and Air Pegasus, alongside bigger players.

There is fierce competition among Indian carriers, as the market continues to recover from the impact of Covid-19. Akasa Air's plan to hit the skies coincides with Jet Airways' aim to resume operations in 2022 under new ownership.

We believe the entry of another low-cost operator, Akasa, will only make the going tough, Ms Agarwal says. The industry dynamics will remain challenging with the fight for slots and traffic, and high costs.

For these reasons, she does not think it is a good investment.

We believe that in the past, quite often, tycoons obsession for airline business has been more driven by megalomania than a sound investment decision based on economics, she says. Its not bad luck.

The impact of Akasa Air on low-cost carriers is likely to be similar to that of Kingfisher's on full-cost carriers seen in 2005, according to Kapil Kaul, chief executive and director at Capa India.

Kingfisher's impact on full-cost carriers was very strategic, which led to some bad decisions by Jet Airways, including the acquisition of Air Sahara, he says.

However, Akasa Air is regarded as a major emerging player based on the financial strength and the hiring strategy so far, Mr Kaul says.

Working in its favour is the Bengaluru-based airlines strong team, which offers a chance at success, some experts say.

Mr Jhunjhunwala, the co-founder of Akasa Air, holds a 40 per cent stake in the new airline. A stock trader and investor, he is often referred to as the Warren Buffett of India because of his savvy stock investments.

Mr Dube is the chief executive of the new airline, and Aditya Ghosh, the former president of India's largest domestic carrier, IndiGo, is also on the board.

Certain carriers have committed the mistake of over expansion and taking on huge debt, which led to stretching too wide and ultimately, the collapse of the business, Mr Garg says.

On the contrary, Akasa being a well-capitalised new entrant, holds the potential to be successful over the long term if it focuses on certain crucial elements like managing its fleet composition, distribution model and destination selection, which would differentiate it from the existing players and provide a competitive edge.

Akasa Air is already well-positioned for its take-off in 2022, having placed an order this month for 72 Boeing 737 Max planes, valued at close to $9bn.

We are already witnessing a strong recovery in air travel and we see decades of growth ahead of us, Mr Dube said at the time of the deal, announced during the Dubai Airshow.

Akasa Air's core purpose is to help power India's growth engine and democratise air travel by creating an inclusive environment for all Indians, regardless of their socio-economic or cultural backgrounds.

As an ultra low-cost carrier, Akasa Air will have an opportunity to win over passengers with low fares, says Mr Shah. But the key to profitability will be focusing on keeping operating costs even lower than other airlines like IndiGo and SpiceJet, and making profits by selling a big volume of tickets.

Akasa Air will have to navigate its way through strong headwinds, but soaring profits could be on the horizon.

Updated: November 28th 2021, 4:40 AM

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Will India's Akasa Air be able to weather the turbulence facing other airlines? - The National

By Zephania Ubwani

Arusha. Maybe much is not known or documented on how the struggle for independence fared in Arusha prior to 1961.

But there is no contention it had much to do with Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere who used to traverse the country to mobilise citizens for the great day.

Old citizens who are still alive in this great city would recall Mwalimu sneaking in to create or strengthen his network of supporters.

At times he would put up at the Kilimanjaro Villa, an accommodation facility in the heart of the town, said to be the first multi-storeyed building to be put up by an African.

His supporters before Uhuru were the likes of Selemani Migire, a towering Tanu stalwart from Mbulu who would erupt like a volcano in defence of Mwalimu at all times.

The other was Jackson Kaaya, an elder from the slopes of Mt. Meru -now incapacitated due to old age. He served as the party chairman for years in the 1970s and 1980s.

For Arusha, the sunset months of the colonial era were ushered in style; with the full presence of Mwalimu when he officiated landmark projects in the city as the Chief Minister. One of them, according to accounts by elders who spoke to The Citizen, was the official inauguration of the city hall by Mwalimu a few weeks to December 9th, 1961.

The three floor building along the Boma Road is still there, with its amphitheatre-like hall for meetings of the councillors and offices for different departments.

Nyerere was also to grace an international meeting on wildlife conservation which, among other things, issued the historic Arusha Manifesto.

That was also a few weeks before Independence and was enough sign that Tanzania and Arusha, in particular, were to play an important role in conservation.

During the 1960s, though, there were not many national, regional or international conferences that Arusha used to host until about five years ago. But the city on the slopes of Mt.

Meru was to host an important meeting that charted a way forward for the countrys turn to Socialism and Self Reliance from 1967. The Arusha Declaration was crafted during a meeting of the Tanu National Executive Committee (NEC) under Nyerere which took place at a community hall in Arusha.

The building, near the main stadium, has since been turned into a National Museum with relics (documents, photos and booklets) on the countrys journey to socialism. It was in the same year (1967) that Arusha was designated the headquarters of the East African Community (EAC), a milestone for the town until then famous as a settlers paradise. Probably it was due to the importance of Arusha that a number of high profile regional institutions were allowed to set their headquarters here.

In the 1970s, these included the then Commonwealth Health Secretariat, now known as the Eastern, Central and Southern Africa Health Community (ECSA-HC).

The other prominent organization was the Eastern and Southern African Management Institute (Esami), arguably one of the high profile training institutions on management issues.

With Arusha continuing to attract regional organizations despite the collapse of the EAC in 1977, the citys link to the Socialism declaration prevailed.

It was while in the same region that Mwalimu Nyerere announced officially that the villagisation programme was binding under the policies of the day.

During his visit in 1973 to Mbulu district - now in Manyara region - he firmly directed that villagisation should not be viewed as voluntary for the rural dwellers.

Mwalimus timeline was that Tanzanians living out of towns and cities should or must settle or be resettled in registered villages by 1975.

The villagisation policy - which was being implemented under the Socialism and Self Reliance policy -had its criticisms although not much said during those days.

It looked like the densely populated highlands like the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro, Meru, the south-western highlands and parts of Kagera region were spared.

They were spared on grounds that the majority of their inhabitants were already settled in villages, engaging in more productive agriculture or livestock rearing.

Compulsory villagisation under the Ujamaa policy appeared to target large swathes of semi-arid central and western parts of the country or the coastal areas.

Even though,criticisms reigned. Thats despite the government insisting it would enable citizens to enjoy socio-economic services when they are settled together.

Some rural planning experts argued that the move would usher in land degradation as the people would be squeezed together in small plots of land.

The exercise was equally not well received by the nomadic pastoralists or the traditional livestock keepers with large herds in general. Nomadic herders have for generations been allergic to any move by the authorities to interfere with their mode of life, including where to take their animals for grazing.

With villagisation, their concern was on how to balance their mode of production with the likely over-grazing due to concentration of large herds in small areas.

Again the scholars did not fully support the programme on fears of the carrying capacity of land would not support large herds in open grazing areas under it.

But Mwalimu Nyereres blueprint for Socialism and Self Reliance remained and on February 5th, 1977, Arusha was to host the 10th anniversary of the Declaration. In 60 years of Uhuru, Arusha has transformed into one of the major cities in the country, being a hub of the multibillion shilling tourism industry.

In the early 1960s, the city looked like a paradise for the settler community involved in commercial agriculture,tourist hunting, hotel business and missionary work. Now it is the EAC regions diplomatic city being the headquarters of allied organisations and diversified economic activities from horticulture to gemstone mining.

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Arusha landmarks in 60 years of independence - The Citizen

1960s AUTUMN SCENIC WITH CORNUCOPIA BESIDE WOODEN FENCE (Photo by H. Armstrong ... [+] Roberts/ClassicStock/Getty Images)

Thanksgiving Day is just as complex and layered as the casseroles consumed at dinners taking place across the nation in observance of the holiday. As millions of Americans celebrate family, friends, and unwavering gratitude, Indigenous Peoples are tasked withrefocusing the narrative to center the genocide of their ancestors. Societys refusal to acknowledge and account for intergenerational harm contributes to the ongoing socio-economic disparities plaguing their communities, today.

As many as 15 million Native Americanpeople are estimated to have been livingin North America when ChristopherColumbus arrived in 1492. Toward the end ofthe 19th century, a mere 238,000 remained. As thousands of Indigenous women and children continue going missing, and activists face incarceration for protecting the environmentsolidarity to Indigenous communities is more critical now, than ever.

Throughout American history, they have survived over 1500wars, ambushes, raids and seizures all sanctioned by the United States government. Yet their bold love, indomitable resilience, ancestral connection and steady pursuit of healing are disrupting the colonial norms shaping the current social ecology.

These 9 Indigenous activists, educators, and healers are shattering common misconceptions about the origins of Thanksgiving and Indigenous history.

Soni Lopez-Chavez

Soni Lopez-Chavez

For Soni Lopez-Chavez, the pursuit of passion and beauty has called to her, her entire life. Born in the vibrant city of Guanajuato, Mexico at an early age, Lopez-Chavez moved to San Diego where she has resided ever-since, ever-inspired by the gorgeous scenery and diverse cultures.Currently favoring digital illustration as her medium of choice, her work embodies pulsating color schemes and themes of heritage as based off her own Indigenous background and childhood.

My parents gave up so much and worked endlessly to give me better opportunities. For them and for myself I create images to raise awareness, to help heal and inspire. I encourage you to support the healing process and self-determination of Indigenous communities. Learn more about Indigenous rights by helping those who have already been working on these issues for a long time like Indigenous artists, business owners, journalists, and community organizers.Soni Lopez-Chavez

Corrine Grey Cloud

Corrine Grey Cloud

Corinne Grey Cloud is Lakota and Mohawk and lives in Mission SD. She is the CEO of Rice Consulting LLC, a Diversity Equity and Inclusion company that works on Native Specific DEI trainings for Fortune 500 companies. Grey Clouds articles and work have been featured in Huffington Post, Al Jazeera, and Google. She currently is on staff forPowwows.comand serves on numerous boards including for Feminist on Instagram.

Thanksgiving is a complicated holiday for many people, but especially for Native folks. We have for centuries been presented a narrative that eludes to Natives having given the land they steward over to colonizers when in fact that interaction was bloody and traumatic with lasting effect today. I encourage the non-native population to embrace Thanksgiving as a day to be thankful for your relatives, and to drop the legend of an imaginary peaceful dinner between Pilgrims and Indians. Its ok to embrace what is the truth of our history, while working toward making our nation a better and more inclusive one. Corrine Grey Cloud

Pnar Sinopoulos-Lloyd

Pnar Sinopoulos-Lloyd

Pnar Sinopoulos-Lloyd(they/them) is an award-winning Indigenous multi-species futurist, Quechua gender technologist, wildlife tracker and trans eco-philosopher. They along with their spouse are the co-founders of Queer Nature, a transdisciplinary organism stewarding, earth-based queer community through survival skills, multi-species kinship and rites of passage. Sinopoulos-Lloyds relationship with transness, hybridity, neurodivergence, Indigeneity and belonging guided their work in developing Queer Ecopsychology through a decolonial and autistic lens. As a survival skills mentor, one of their core missions is to uplift and amplify the brilliant survival skills that BIPOC, 2SLGBTQ+ and other systematically targeted populations already have in their resilient bodies of survivance.

"An integral way to support Indigenous folks is honoring Indigenous cosmological technologies this includes our prismatic genders. Gender liminality is Indigenous cosmological technology.This includes disrupting cisheteropatriarchy which is a tool of settler colonialism. In my Andean lineage, our gender expansiveness is specifically a technique for world-making during collapse and apocalypse (Pachacuti). This original instruction of futurist is embedded in our origin story as Qariwarmis, our Andean Two-Spirit (2S) role. Center and amplify 2S and Trans Native leadership and brilliance." Pnar Sinopoulos-Lloyd

Luis and Trini Rodrguez

Luis Rodrguez (Mixcoatl Itztlacuiloh) and Trini Rodrguez (Tlazohteotl)

Luis Rodrguez (Mixcoatl Itztlacuiloh) and Trini Rodrguez (Tlazohteotl) are Indigenous spiritual practitioners and activists for some 30 years, based in the San Fernando Valley (SFV) section of Los Angeles. Luis is Mexica/Raramuri and Trini is Mexica/Wixarika. Their teachers have been among the Dine (Navajo), Lakota, Akimel Ooldham, Mexica (in Mexico and US), Maya (in Mexico and Guatemala), Pibil of El Salvador, and Quechua in Peru, among others. Luis is part of the SFVs Turtle Lodge. Trini facilitates the Hummingbird Womens Lodge. They are cofounders of Tia Chuchas Centro Cultural & Bookstore of Sylmar CA, an Indigenous-based arts & literacy center. They also run the podcast The Hummingbird Cricket Hour, which addresses personal and social issues with an Indigenous lens.

Clarity is also Medicine. Luis & Trini Rodrguez

Fidel Rodriguez

Fidel Rodriguez

Fidel Rodriguez works as a producer, educator, mentor, and organizer. For over 20 years, He has produced several award-winning radio programs for Clear Channel and Pacifica Radio. Rodriquez has developed educational conferences, concerts, and has facilitated wellness and leadership trainings for numerous companies, government agencies, and non-profit organizations. The educator has been an international keynote speaker on topics ranging from culture, history, shamanism, spirituality, consciousness, wellness, violence, decolonization, and creating paradigm shifts in thinking.For over a decade, Rodriquez has worked for the Los Angeles County Human Relations Commission where he facilitates adult leadership trainings and creates youth development and wellness workshops for youth affected by childhood trauma and the juvenile justice system. These workshops focus on practical wellness tools, history, trauma, poverty, racism, leadership, and healing.Rodriquez graduated from the University of Southern California as a McNair Scholar with degrees in Chicano/Latino and African American studies and is a certified trainer for Franklin Covey. He is an initiated Awo, which describes one who possesses specialized, esoteric knowledge and wisdom, in the ancient wisdom known as Ifa.

The transformation of human consciousness is upon us, we all feel it.It is now time to let go of the painful experiences youve endured on your journey that now live in your mind. Let go of them, they no longer serve you.Connect at every moment with Mother Earth and your ancestors.Love yourself, share loving-kindness with all beings you encounter, and may your character not spoil your destiny. We our the ancestors of those yet unborn. With deep gratitude to all who read these words. You are loved. Fidel Rodrguez

Allen Salway

Allen Salway

Allen Salway is a 23-year-old Din, Oglala Lakota, Tohono Oodham Writer, Influencer, and Cultural Curator from the NavajoNation. The climate justice activists work has been featured on MTV News, Washington Post, New York Times, Paper Magazine and several other publications. Salway, an ambassador for DigDeeps Navajo Water Project, is committed to bringing water and electricity to Navajo families living without.

To me, Thanksgiving is a reminder of our resistance as Indigenous People navigating this settler society that continuously tries to erase and destroy us. Yet, we are still here. Allen Salway

Charlie Amy Scott

Charlie Amy Scott

A Din scholar born and raised within the Navajo Nation, Charlie Amy Scott (they/her) reflects, analyzes, and critiques what it means to be a Din in the 21st century on her personal blog,dineaesthetics.com, while inspiring joy and justice to thousands on Instagram and TikTok at @dineaesthetics.

My ancestors, and the ancestors of so many Indigenous communities have survived displacement, removal, and genocide. No matter what this colonizing world attempts to do, we will continue to be here reminding people of our strength, our beauty, and our voice. Today, and every day, I celebrate the brilliance of Indigenous Peoples, and hope others join me. Learn and grow a little more, and challenge the colonial narratives we are told and support Indigenous Peoples, our issues and our causes. Charlie Amy Scott

Xiuhtezcatl

Xiuhtezcatl

Xiuhtezcatl, Mexica and Xochimilca,bridges many worlds through his music and his voice. As an Indigenous creative, his vision comes to life at the intersection of art, storytelling and community organizing. A multifaceted performer and Hip Hop artist, Xiuhtezcatls music serves as a vehicle to reclaim space, build community and engage his generation in reimagining our future.

Indigenous people are reclaiming space and shifting culture everywhere we look, from the climate movement, to the fashion and entertainment industry and beyond. As we continue to tear down physical and symbolic monuments to enslavement and genocide, I encourage y'all to tap into the wave of Indigenous creatives, artists, storytellers, organizers and leaders. Get familiar with the complexity and diversity of Indigenous peoples and voices. That is where our strength lies. Before you know it, we will be impossible to ignore. Xiuhtezcatl

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A Day Of Dinner And Decolonization: 9 Indigenous Activists, Educators And Healers To Follow - Forbes

A senior Red Cross official has voiced anger at the continuation of sanctions and freezes in international aid to Afghanistan, preventing basic services from being delivered to the population.

Dominik Stillhart, the director of operations for the International Committee of the Red Cross, said in a statement Monday that he is livid after a six-day day visit to field hospitals, where he said he witnessed first-hand suffering of Afghans.

When youre standing in the pediatric ward in Kandahars largest hospital, looking into the empty eyes of hungry children and the anguished faces of desperate parents, the situation is absolutely infuriating, Stillhartsaid.

Earlier this month, the United Nations warned that more than half of Afghanistans estimated 40 million population is likely to go hungry this winter unless more funds are forthcoming from donors. The World Food Program said that fuel costs are up, food prices are soaring, fertilizer is more expensive, and all of this feeds into the unfolding Afghan crisis.

Stillhart said the situation is angering, given that civilians suffering is man-made and the result of the international communitys choice to impose sanctions on the Taliban regime, which assumed power in Afghanistan in August.

The return to power of the Islamist Taliban after the withdrawal of U.S.-led foreign troops has plunged the country into an economic crisis and increased Afghan humanitarian needs to unprecedented levels, which stem from years of war and a prolonged widespread drought.

The international community has refused to grant diplomatic recognition to the Taliban government mainly over human rights concerns, especially those of women and girls, under the Islamist movements rule. The Taliban have banned women from most employment opportunities and restricted education for most women and girls.

The absence of legitimacy led to suspension of several billions of dollars in annual foreign assistance to Kabul and blocked the Talibans access to about $10 billion in Afghan assets, mostly held in the U.S. Federal Reserve. The sanctions have made it extremely difficult for the Taliban to pay salaries or import essential goods.

Stillhart said that recent resolutions from the U.N. and general economic sanctions are causing donors to rethink, and pause, their contributions to humanitarian efforts in Afghanistan, which can deny live-saving assistance to civilians.

In order to prevent the collapse of Afghanistans public health system, the ICRC on Monday began supporting 18 regional and provincial medical facilities, including running costs and medical supplies. The ICRC is planning to support the facilities for six months.

The agency also began paying employees salaries on Monday, Reuters reported.

In his statement, Stillhart said cases of malnutrition, pneumonia and dehydration at the Mirwais Regional Hospital in Kandahar have doubled from mid-August to September.

Stillhart said the future of medical care and education in Afghanistan are dependent upon international support.

States must engage with Afghanistan. This is the only way to prevent a total collapse of essential services like health care and education. Political considerations should not interfere with humanitarian action, Stillhart said.

Analysts say Washington and other Western governments have few good options in Afghanistan: They can either try to work with the Taliban, and in effect collude with human rights violations, or watch the worsening crisis from afar and see 20 years of development work reversed.

Stillhart pushed donors to find creative solutions to save the lives of millions of Afghans.

He warned that the economic sanctions "meant to punish those in power in Kabul are instead freezing millions of people across Afghanistan out of the basics they need to survive, according to an Agence France-Presse report.

He told AFP that "sanctions on banking services are sending the economy into free-fall and holding up bilateral aid."

In October, the heads of government and foreign ministers from the worlds 20 leading economies the G-20 agreed at a video summit to examine how to inject more aid into Afghanistan, while preventing funds being controlled by the Taliban and used for political purposes rather than humanitarian.

The European Union announced during the summit a $1.15 billion aid package for Afghanistan to avert a major humanitarian and socio-economic collapse.

However, earlier this month, Jan Egeland, secretary general of the humanitarian organization Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), said, The international response to the suffering, immense suffering in Afghanistan and for Afghans and neighboring countries is really pitiful.

There must be an immediate scale up of aid both inside Afghanistan and in neighboring countries like Iran, before the deadly winter cold, he said.

(Ayaz Gul and Jamie Dettmer contributed to this report. Some material for this report came from Reuters and Agence France-Presse.)

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Red Cross Official: Sanctions, Freeze in Donations Add to Afghan Humanitarian Crisis - Voice of America

The writer heads the Sustainable Development Policy Institute.

We have not seen this level of near-universal poverty in any country in recent history, said Ms Kanni Wignaraja, assistant secretary of the United Nations Development Programme, last month, while referring to the deteriorating economic situation of Afghanistan. The UN estimates that the percentage of the Afghan population living below less than $1.90 when the Taliban took over will increase from 50 percent to 97 percent by next summer.

The above shocking numbers were partly due to changing weather patterns, prolonged periods of drought accompanied by above-average temperatures. Food insecurity further worsened after the change in regime in Kabul. According to the World Food Programs (WFP) estimates released in the beginning of this month, three million Afghans were at the brink of famine. Likewise, an equal number of children are malnourished. Another 23 million, in a country of 38 million, faced acute hunger. Out of those, 8.7 million were only one step behind famine: in WFP language, in a state of emergency. Children and women in Afghanistan are the worst affected by this situation. There are four million internally displaced persons in Afghanistan; of them, 80 percent are women and children.

In its recent story, The Economist has described the worsening situation in Afghanistan in these words, Locals report cases of entire families starving to death in their homes. Hospital wards are taking in emaciated children, including 11-year-olds who weigh just 13kg. Poor Afghans are selling their remaining possessions for food. Some are selling their daughters. The misery is as bad in the cities as it is in the countryside. As the winter sets in, the agony will only deepen.

A closer analysis reveals that Western Coalition Forces were merely interested in maintaining a status quo in war-torn Afghanistan during the last two decades. They did nothing to stabilise Afghanistan as a country.

Under twenty years of coalition-supported rule, the Afghan economy did not prove to be much different from its armed forces. Both collapsed without showing any sign of resistance. While a strategic affairs expert can tell you about the armed forces, let me describe why the Afghan economy collapsed after the Talibans victory.

It would not be wrong to say that successive governments in Afghanistan were dependent on foreign aid. Till August 2021 (before the Taliban interim government), Afghanistan used to receive $8.5 billion per annum as foreign aid. That external financing was equal to 45 percent of its GDP, and financed 75 percent of the government budget, including almost all health, education and security spending.

Almost 80 percent of its electricity needs are met through imports from neighbouring countries (from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Iran). Other essential imports include wheat (from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Pakistan), fuel (from Iran, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan), and medicines (from India, Pakistan, and Iran). Since America has frozen Afghan assets worth $9 billion, it is unable to pay for its imports.

The Afghan government does not print its local currency and hence is facing a shortage of it. Half a million soldiers and police personnel have lost their jobs, and civil servants, including 220,000 teachers, have gone unpaid for months. Only last week, the Taliban government made partial payments to select civil servants through the meagre revenue collected during the three months of their rule.

The US lists the Taliban as specially designated global terrorists (SDGT) so routing payments through US dollar payment system is fraught with criminal liability. As per the UN Security Councils Resolution 1988 (mandatory implementation by all countries), the Afghan Taliban as an entity are not sanctioned. However, some cabinet members are listed under UNSC 1988. Hence dealing with the Taliban may invoke international sanctions. The US Office for Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has frozen the assets of the Afghan government. And the Taliban government is yet to be recognised by any country in the world.

Due to the sanctions, Afghanistans commercial banks face difficulties in transactions with correspondent banks and interbank placements. They are at risk of insolvency. Strict withdrawal limits have been imposed on depositors local currency/foreign currency accounts. This has undermined payments for general imports, leading to a shortage of critical imports such as food, fuel and electricity.

The OFAC, while upholding and enforcing US sanctions against the Taliban, the Haqqani Network, and other sanctioned entities, has issued General License (GL) 14 and GL15. Through GL14, the US Treasury will continue to work with financial institutions, international organisations, and the NGO community to ease the flow of critical resources, like agricultural goods, medicine, and other essential supplies, to people in need.

Through GL15, certain transactions related to exporting or re-exporting agricultural commodities, medicine, and medical devices are authorised.

Mexico, Ireland and Norway (UNSC members) and international NGOs support exceptions of humanitarian assistance as part of the UN sanction regime. Likewise, Switzerland, Chad and the Philippines (and a few others) have enacted national legislation to protect humanitarian assistance from material support offences. Despite the backing of the above-mentioned countries, and OFACs GL 14 & 15, routing US dollars funds transfer to Afghanistan is exceedingly complicated.

In September 2021, donors pledged $1 billion in response to the UNs flash appeal for $600 million. However, only one-third of those pledges could materialise. The European Union promised $1.15 billion in October. Yet 300 million euros of that had already been committed, and much of the rest will be provided to Afghanistans neighbours so they may send humanitarian assistance. The WFP requires around $220 million a month to avert a food crisis during the harsh winter months.

Pakistan may face the direct brunt of the evolving humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. In case of an economic collapse (which may be quite soon under the existing scenario), Pakistan needs to be ready to host up to another one million, mostly non-vaccinated both for Covid-19 and polio, refugees. Sharing its essential imports (wheat, petroleum products, and vaccines) with the refugees would further increase the current account deficit, affecting the value of the rupee versus US dollar and the interest rate. On top of it, Pakistan would have no filter to distinguish foes (members of anti-Pakistan groups) from friends among the refugees. A few thousand miscreants among a half-million peaceful Afghan refugees would be enough to sabotage the peace that the people of Pakistan achieved after braving hundreds of suicide bombers during the last two decades.

The socio-economic security of Pakistan and, most notably, the dignified assistance of Afghan people, are linked with a resumption of foreign aid if not unfreezing of Afghan assets.

No one can disagree with the Western demands for fundamental rights for Afghans. However, punishing the intended beneficiaries and letting them starve to death because their rulers are not respecting their basic rights is akin to throwing the baby out with the bathwater and must be avoided.

The West can follow the Yemeni model, where Houthis the de-facto rulers of Yemen do not enjoy international recognition. However, the international community is funding Yemeni civil servants and the people of Yemen, calling it support to President Hadis government in exile (based in Saudi Arabia).

Finally, we dont have to pay the Taliban to pay the salaries of staffers of basic services delivery departments or take care of food aid in Afghanistan. International NGOs and UN agencies can hire such civil servants as their short-term service providers and pay them directly, bypassing the Taliban. However, a functional banking system is a prerequisite for transferring such aid. The US would have to come up with an innovative solution for that.

Afghans are calling; one hopes the West is paying attention to their miseries.

Twitter: @abidsuleri

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The Afghans are calling - The News International

The Bubonic Plague, also known as the Black Death, wiped out nearly half the population of 14th century Europe. That is the bad news. But the plague was also a major factor in the rise of economic and political freedom.

In fact, a study by Daniel W. Gingerich and Jan P. Vogler of the University of Virginia found that the areas that were hardest hit by the Black Death became more democratic than areas with fewer casualties, an effect that was discernible centuries later.

Their findings are published in an article entitled Pandemics and Political Development:The Electoral Legacy of the Black Death in Germany, in the online academic journal World Politics.They also published an article on their research for general readers at Politico entitled What the 14th Century Plague Tells Us About How Covid Will Change Politics.

Before the plague, the researchers say, the socio-economic structure of medieval Europe consisted of a feudal elite that owned the land, which was worked by peasants tied to the land in a system of serfdom. When the plague killed much of the labor force, the surviving peasants were in such demand that they could command better working conditions, the right to move to better opportunities, and, crucially, compensation in money, rather than just a share of the produce. In the years immediately following the Black Death, the authors write, serfdom collapsed and was replaced by a wage economy based on free labor.

Meanwhile, power was decentralized because the elite was also devastated by the plague. Peasants had to co-ordinate with each other to plan the work, which resulted in an early form of self-government. Villages chose their own leaders by holding elections. Citiestheir populations bolstered by peasant migration from the countryside to take advantage of the new money-based economy elected their own city council members and mayors.

The result was a culture of self-government that did not exist in areas that were largely spared by the Black Death. In those seemingly fortunate regions, serfdom, powerful elites, and the feudal economy persisted, in contrast to the new freedoms and economic prosperity of the regions where the plague proved the most deadly.

Gingerich and Vogler, who focus their research on Germany, say that this culture of self-government, with its values of political and economic freedom, continued even after the Middle Ages, with these regions generally favoring pro-Democratic political parties, and opposing monarchical parties and even, in the 20th century, National Socialism.

I wonder if there is a correlation between the severity of the plague and the regions and cities that embraced the Reformation. The authors look at Wrttemberg as a case study, and that would become a Lutheran city. But the authors dont really go into the religious factors.

They go on to suggest that the COVID pandemic might also have similar democratic effects. They admit that COVID is not at all comparable to the Black Death, with its 70% death rate, in terms of fatalities. Still, COVID has led to a labor shortage, which has driven up wages, though, in the absence of the demographic collapse caused by the plague, the authors conclude that the advantage to workers will probably be temporary.

I would argue, though, that if the Black Plague contributed to decentralized government and the rise of freedom, the COVID epidemic has done the opposite, resulting in a more powerful central government and to to the loss of freedom.

Well talk about that next time, so tune in tomorrow!

Illustration: St. Sebastian pleading for plague victims by Josse Lieferinxe (149-=1499), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

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The Consequences of Plagues and Pandemics (part 1) - Patheos