Category Archives: Socio-economic Collapse

Lack of transparency has aided incompetence in the sector

The entire country was recently plunged into blackout when the national grid collapsed and lost 3,489 megawatts (MW). That about 99.7 per cent of the countrys daily generation would collapse in one day reinforces existing concerns about the structural defects of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN). It has proved incapable of stabilising the power grid, transmitting generated volumes with minimal losses and putting an end to frequent power outages. More tellingly, the national blackout coincided with the release by the Senate of a N132 million fraud at the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company Plc (NBET).

Both developments the nationwide power outage and the unbudgeted N132 million NBET expenditure clearly illustrate the absence of accountability in a sector that has a fully constituted NERC running its affairs. For the nationwide power outage, reports indicate that it was the fourth time the country would be experiencing system collapse in 2021. This is despite the huge investment of over $1.6 billion to upgrade TCNs transmission infrastructure through the World Bank, African Development Bank (AfDB), and other multilateral organisations. The TCN has also received budgetary allocations to support its transmission infrastructure upgrade, yet it is at best a lame duck, unable to support the objectives of the power sector privatisation consummated in 2013.

According to operations report, in the first week of March 2021 for example, the power sector lost about N6.8 billion to constraints and other challenges which included unavailability of transmission infrastructure. Clearly, the TCN cannot guarantee stable transmission of power to the Discos for onward distribution to end-users. It also constraints the national economy from growing as industries and commercial entities, including small and medium-sized enterprises heavily rely on diesel and petrol generators to stay afloat. Any country keen on sustainable socio-economic development cannot overlook the inevitable reorganisation needed at the hugely dysfunctional behemoth called TCN.

Data from the system operator of the TCN reveal that the national grid has recorded steady collapses, but no one is ever called to account by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) for what could be considered a drawback on the power sector. This is also what is on display at NBET. Reports from the Senate Committee on Public Accounts which was adopted by the Senate, noted that the NBET spent N95.320 million on overseas training for its staff, which never took place; N34.163 million on unverifiable services and N2.583 million on uniforms for outsourced drivers. As indicated by the Senate, a federal government entity spending N2.583 million on uniforms for outsourced drivers is clearly illegal considering that it is solely the responsibility of the contractor to kit its employees. Additionally, the money spent on overseas training for NBET staff between October and November 2014 was in violation of a presidential directive against such expenses. The Senate also pointed out that the expenditure has no documentary evidence to back its execution.

The business of NBET as a bulk power trader in the sector is essential, just as its processes are expected to be transparent and fraud-proof. To have an NBET with questionable transactions is akin to putting the fate of the countrys electricity market in jeopardy. Clearly, both cases at the NBET and TCN are evidence that accountability in Nigerias power sector is not yet the priority of the government or the regulator, NERC. They also suggest that the reasons why top private investors and investments seldom look towards Nigerias power sector may not be all about the absence of funds to invest, but about the lack of trust in a market that lacks transparency and accountability.

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ACCOUNTABILITY AND THE POWER SECTORTHISDAYLIVE - THISDAY Newspapers

President Vladimir Putin says reality is that Taliban has taken control of most of the country, and separately, Russian envoy to Afghanistan insists there is no alternative to the insurgent group and resistance to it will fail.

Russian has called on the global community to prevent the "collapse" of Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover, saying there is no alternative to the insurgent group and resistance to it will fail.

"The Taliban movement control almost the entire territory of the country," President Vladimir Putin told a televised press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the Kremlin on Friday.

"These are the realities and it is from these realities that we must proceed, preventing the collapse of the Afghan state," he added.

Both leaders said Afghanistan figured prominently during the outgoing German leader's final working visit to Russia.

He went on to say that Russia learned itself how counterproductive it is to impose foreign forms of government on Afghanistan, referencing the Soviet invasion of the country that ended in withdrawal in 1989.

Criticising the "irresponsible policy" of imposing "outside values" on war-torn Afghanistan he said, "You cannot impose standards of political life and behaviour on other people from outside."

The Russian president also highlighted the importance of preventing "terrorists" from entering neighbouring countries from Afghanistan, including "under the guise of refugees".

Putin said it was not in Russia's interests to dwell on the results of the US military campaign in Afghanistan and that it was important to establish good and neighbourly relations with Afghanistan.

He said that Moscow and its partners should unite to help people in Afghanistan.

He said Russia was interested in the country being stable which it was not at the moment.

In her remarks, Merkel said her country's priority is to help those who helped NATO mission in Afghanistan to "safely depart" and "evacuate as many people as possible to Germany".

READ MORE:UN: Taliban hunting for Afghan targets in 'door-to-door visits'

Russian envoy: Resistance to Taliban is doomed

Meanwhile, Russia's envoy to Afghanistan praised the conduct of the Taliban on Friday in the days since its takeover, saying there was no alternative to the group and resistance to it would fail.

The comments by Ambassador Dmitry Zhirnov reflect efforts by Russia to deepen already well-established ties with the Taliban while stopping short, for now, of recognising them as the legitimate rulers of a country.

Speaking to Reuters news agency from Kabul, Zhirnov said the security situation in the capital was much better than it was before the Taliban took control of it and spoke optimistically about the future.

"The mood in Kabul can be described as one of cautious hope," said Zhirnov.

"There was a bad regime which disappeared and people are hopeful. They say it can't be worse so it should be better. But this is another test for the Taliban to pass. After they restore order, they should start improving the socio-economic situation," he said.

Kabul has been largely calm, except in and around the airport where 12 people have been killed since Sunday, NATO and Taliban officials said.

READ MORE:Afghan women voice their fears about Taliban rule

'Ticket to a new life'

Zhirnov's said efforts to hold out against the Taliban by former Afghan officials from Panjshir valley north of Kabul would fail.

"They have no military prospects. There are not many people there. As far as we know they have 7,000 armed people. And they already have problems with fuel. They tried to fly a helicopter but they have no petrol and no supplies," he said.

Zhirnov also questioned the idea that all of the Afghans trying to flee the country were doing so because of the Taliban.

"Many people now see this situation now as a possible ticket to a new life (in the West) and this may not be related to the Taliban," he said of the chaotic exodus.

READ MORE:Anti-Taliban forces coming together in Panjshir Valley, says Russia

Cautiously optimistic

Moscow has been cautiously optimistic about the new leadership in Kabul and is seeking contact with the insurgents in an effort to avoid instability spilling over to neighbouring ex-Soviet states.

The Kremlin has in recent years reached out to the Taliban which is banned as an "extremist" group in Russia and hosted its representatives in Moscow several times, most recently last month.

READ MORE:Taliban marks Afghan Independence Day by asserting victory over US

Source: AFP

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Russia: Taliban controls most of Afghanistan, bids to topple it doomed - TRT World

South Africa has among the highest recorded levels of social protest of any country in the world. The reasons behind this are more complex than often assumed.

The scale and severity of the looting and sabotage in KwaZulu-Natal and parts of Gauteng in July, following the jailing of former president Jacob Zuma, has brought social protest and civil unrest into the popular discourse.

But much of the commentary on the July riot which cost over 300 lives and billions of rands in damage to the economy has neglected the long history of violent protest in the country. The truth is that, while disgruntlement by Zumas supporters was the trigger, the roots of social unrest go much deeper.

What is more, the available data shows that the number of protests in South Africa has been steadily rising over the past 20 years. For instance, there has been an almost nine-fold increase in the average number of service delivery protests each year comparing 2004-08 with 2015-19.

There is also evidence that social protests are increasingly violent and disruptive.

Read more: Violence in South Africa: an uprising of elites, not of the people

It is important to understand what lies behind this trend of growing social unrest, which makes the country precarious, and what might be done to tackle the underlying causes.

If the government wants to avoid a repeat of the social and economic catastrophe of the July 2021 riots even if on a smaller and more localised scale it should look back to learn some important lessons about why protest happens and how to address this.

There are a number of key factors in understanding the reasons behind social protest in South Africa:

First, it is important to recognise that the people and places with the highest levels of social and economic deprivation are not those most likely to protest. For example, protests over service delivery the provision of basic services such as electricity, water and sanitation are heavily concentrated in the metropolitan areas, such as Johannesburg, Cape Town, eThekwini, Tshwane, Nelson Mandela Bay and Mangaung. Yet rural municipalities actually have much lower levels of service coverage.

Access to basic services has also improved across the country over the past two decades. But delivery protests have increased exponentially over the same period. There are evidently deeper and more complex reasons behind how and when ineffective delivery of municipal services ends up in social conflict.

Second, it is often a sense of unfairness (inequality), not just levels of provision, that lead to grievances and resentment which spark social protest. For instance, long-standing differences in amenities between neighbouring communities send a clear signal that the government is not willing or not able to meet their needs in an equitable manner.

A case in point is informal settlements which have often been hotspots for protest action. Rural migrants arrive in the city with expectations of a better life, only to end up living in squalor. Until the government can implement a realistic and scalable plan for upgrading informal settlements, this is likely to continue.

Third, government departments tend to get fixated with meeting numerical targets at the expense of service quality and what matters most for communities. Recent research suggests that municipal officials get locked into a culture of playing it safe and compliance in delivering services and related public investments rather than innovation and genuine transformation.

An infamous example is the delivery of toilets in an open field where municipalities get the credit and contractors get paid for erecting them, whether or not there are any houses or people living in the vicinity.

Government needs to stop paying lip service to the principles of community consultation and local participation, and take this work seriously. The extra time and effort are justified by aligning municipal plans and investments closer to peoples actual priorities. Local buy-in can also help ensure that investments in public infrastructure are protected and maintained.

Read more: Understanding violent protest in South Africa and the difficult choice facing leaders

Finally, feelings of frustration and anger have been heightened by years of waiting for promises to be fulfilled. International studies suggest that communities are more likely to protest when they can clearly attribute blame, and where visible institutions are perceived to possess the means for redress.

Municipal services have a clear line of sight, where communities can easily measure and attest to progress in their experience of daily life. Mismanagement and corruption have led to the collapse of many municipalities over recent years. This is especially so in smaller cities and towns, with images of sewage running down the street and no water in the pipes. In this way, grievances over service delivery are a common trigger for social protest. But the grievances often reflect a much broader basket of discontent.

Over the last 18 months, the hardship and suffering facing poorer urban communities, in particular, has been compounded by their disproportionate loss of jobs and livelihoods during the pandemic. The reality of hunger and food insecurity is a moral issue but also critical for social stability.

The recent extension of the R350 (US$23) special COVID-19 monthly grant should help to alleviate some of the immediate pressures on poorer households. But, the country also needs a clearer plan of how to tackle the problem of food insecurity.

At the heart of the matter, South Africas deep-seated social inequalities and segregated living conditions provide fertile ground for popular discontent. There is no easy fix for these.

Metropolitan populations continue to expand. This places added pressure on poorer communities forced to cope with rapid densification, strained services, informality and sparse economic opportunities. Fractured communities and weak, under-resourced governing institutions further complicate the task of upgrading and transforming these neighbourhoods.

Read more: South Africa's 1994 'miracle': what's left?

Meanwhile, affluent households can buy their way into places that are safer, better planned and have higher quality facilities. They can opt out of public services by paying for private schooling, healthcare and security. This accentuates the socio-economic divides even further.

There is a real danger that the current fiscal crisis will further corrode public services. This will encourage more and more middle-class families to buy into private provision. Unless the government gets to grips with this issue, the widening chasm between middle and working-class communities will amplify perceptions of unfairness and exacerbate social instability.

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What lies behind social unrest in South Africa, and what might be done about it - The Conversation CA

The eve of a democratic Nigeria witnessed high incidence of ethnic-related rivalry and violence in the North Central zone, to which Plateau state belongs.

These ethnic rivalries posed serious socio-economic threats to the state and the fortunes of the people are being jeopardised.

Ethnic rivalries are as old as the world itself.The Plateau ethnic rivalry has received both local and international attention, even though the solution to the recurrent conflicts has not been attended by successive governments.

The ethnic rivalry seems to have been heated up overtime by the high visibility of mobilised, politicised and ethnicided armed ethnic groups found in most multi-ethnic states, as found in Jos, Plateau state. This political undertone given to this conflict has made it highly impossible for both the federal and Plateau state governments to find a lasting solution to the crisis.

The recent unrest in Bassa, Riyom local government area of Plateau state and subsequent attack on innocent passers-by in Gada Biyu has proven that the bad elements are still wearing the cloths of ethnicity and religion on the Plateau.

They are likely to be the conspirators in the Jos unending conflict that started 20 years ago.It is because of ignorance and mindless hate that these conflicts have continued to advance beyond a manageable stage. It was on a beautiful Friday in September 2001 around 4pm while listening to Voice of America (Hausa Service) that the sad development broke in the air and Jos was in flames.

This sad development will remain in history as one of heartbroken news that ever passed through my ears and 20 years down memory lane, the state is still searching for peace.

One would have thought that the horrors, the bloodshed and the losses Plateau has witnessed in the last few decades are enough lessons to serve as a warning signal to avert further distruction of lives and properties. The renewed ethnic conflicts in Bassa, Riyom and Jos North (Gada biyu) have proven that the conflict entrepreneurs are still alive and are working to sink Plateau into another unrest.

Since then, Plateau state has been experiencing wave after wave of violence, killings and reprisals, more wanton and brutal with each occurrence. We have seen repeated attacks on cattle, and the persistent destruction of farmlands in recent times in some parts of Jos and its environs.

Bassa, Bokkos, Riyom and Barkin Ladi local government areas are now the centre of the repeated attacks attributed to kidnappers and gunmen.What makes my heart bleed is the seeming movement of this conflict to no end in sight. This conflict has brought us to the brink of food insecurity. Education has been halted and economic activities have been drastically weakened

The rural economy is on the verge of total collapse. Health services cannot be accessed. Development has been reversed. Thousands of Plateau citizens are displaced. Every time we are convinced it cannot get any worse, we are plunged deeper into the mess. It is unarguable that what emerges clearly from the situation in Plateau state is that all sides are complicit in the killings and violence.

What is making the conflict more complex to manage is due to ethnic and religious dimension it has taken. People have chosen to align with their own (tribe) even when they are the architects of the recurrent incidents that have caused the lives of countless people and rendered millions homeless.

Plateau state was an important mining area in Nigeria and is a major exporter of tin and columbite. The tin is melted just outside Jos, the state capital and its largest town.The metals are shipped by rail to Port Harcourt for export.

Other minerals, notably, tantalite, kaolin, tungsten (wolfram), zircon, and thorium compounds, are also exploited on the Plateau.Lead, zinc, and silver are mined on a small scale in the eastern part of the state around Wase, Zurak, and Kigom. We have to deconstruct that in humane artificial wall in Jos and environs.

A christian should be able to move freely with a relaxed mind at Unguwan Rogo, Zololo etc anytime. Likewise, a muslim should not be afraid to be at Unguwan Rukuba, Rukuba road etc at any moment.

Since the outbreak of this ugly terrain in Plateau state, security agencies have detailed an accurate report of attacks carried out by deviants from every side.

The failure of successive governments in Plateau to implement different reports of committee of enquiries is gradually making this conflict to become a norm. Lack of political will to address and go after the conflict entrepreneurs has given room for more recurrent incidents as many has it that nothing will happen to them as criminals with same crime history.

In 1976, Plateau state was carved out of the former Benue-Plateau. It is bounded by the states of Kaduna and Bauchi on the north, Taraba on the east, and Nasarawa on the south and west.

The Jos Plateau rises to about 5,250 feet (1,600 m) above sea level in the states north-central part, and the Benue river valley stretches along the southwestern border.Although there are wooded valleys in the southeast, the vegetation is mostly open grassland.

It is now occasion by hedges of cacti and scattered trees, which is used for grazing and farming. Although the state is best known for its mining production, agriculture is the major occupation of the people. Acha, millet, yams, sorghum, corn (maize), potatoes, cowpeas, rice, fruits, and vegetables are the cash crops and occupation of the people of the state. Fulani herdsmen graze their cattle on the tsetse-free Plateau and supply milk to the dairy at Vom.

The states of Borno, Zamfara, Sokoto, Katsina, Niger and Yobe have witnessed more violent crisis attributed to bandits and kidnappers that are wearing the Boko Haram cap.

The conflicts in states of Plateau, Taraba, Kaduna and Benue have paid the supreme price of hypocritical violence related to ethnic and religious conflicts.

The face off between Jukun and Tiv in some of parts of Taraba, Eggon and Alago in Nasarawa state, the current wage of violence in the Northwest have proven beyond any reasonable doubt that conflict entrepreneurs have no respect for our tribes or religion during the execution of their evils. It means that in most cases, these conflicts continue to occur because of hatred that is running through our blood stream.

We have failed to embrace recourse to law, the failure to accept responsibility and the failure to align with peace, is what has brought the state to its knees and it is about to be a norm as these criminals are not only entertained but are seen as hereos.

Since the return of the fourth Nigeria Republic in 1999, farmer-herder violence has killed quite a number of people and displaced hundreds of thousands.

It followed a trend in the increase of farmer-herder conflicts throughout much of the western Sahel, due to an expansion of agriculturist population and cultivated land, deteriorating environmental conditions, desertification and soil degradation, population growth, breakdown in traditional conflict resolution mechanisms of land and water disputes as well as proliferations of small arms and crime in rural areas.

Insecurity and violence have led many populations to create self-defence forces and ethnic and tribal militias which have engaged in further violence. The majority of farmer-herder clashes have occurred between Muslim Fulani herdsmen and Christian farmers, exacerbating ethno religious hostilities.

It means that disputes involving indigenes and those being referred to as settlers are common nation-wide particularly in the developing world.

The Ifes and the Modakekes, the Ijebu of Lagos state and those of Ogun state, Ijaws and the Ilajes in Ondo and Delta states among few too many to mention ethnic conflicts in Nigeria and other parts of the world. It is only an enemy of Plateau that will wish the state to go back to the ugly days.

The emergence of Simon Bako Lalong administration in 2015 came with peace and good governance as one of the policy trust of his government. The establishment of peace and conflict resolution agency coupled with some of the measurers taken have shapen the thinking of many sons and daughters of Plateau that there is no alternative to peace.

The story is the same in all parts of the state including the communities that were tagged no go areas. Plateau has had enough of this violence and crime against humanity that caused them the best market in West Africa the popular Terminus (Main Market) and too many to mention of the state valuables that should give the Youths more jobs.

This must not be allowed to become our new normal. It is time for us as a nation to face the reality that we have an emergency on our hands. A catastrophe that must be decisively dealt with before it snowballs into an existential crisis. We must stop treating these acts of criminality with kid gloves and enough of this bloodshed that keep repeating itself.

There must be the safety of lives and property in spheres of human endeavours and without peace and security, there would be a loss of confidence in the government.This is the more reason why I have maintained in the past that impunity must give way to punitive measures. When criminals profit from their criminality, crime will increase.

Once these criminals have clarity on what awaits them should they toe such evils paths, then their audacity to commit evil will be weakened, and gradually, this ugly chapter in our national life will become a thing of the past. Let a state of emergency be declared in the security sector so as to deal decisively with the criminals currently testing the power of the nation state apparatus from north down to the south.

To this end, I must commend Governor Lalong always for demonstrating high level of commitment to ensure that the gang of mischievous elements are not allowed to sink Plateau into another well of violence.

As citizens that have paid the supreme price of these violence in the last 20 years in Plateau state, working closely with Governor Lalong to broker peace is not a choice but an only option. It is an expensive venture.

Lets give peace a chance and build our lost bones together to return Plateau state as a destination for all like Dubai where everyone will go and do business lawfully. This is the template of Governor Lalong because peace and unity are the prerequisites of development.

Mohammed, President, Arewa Youth Advocate for Peace and Unity Initiative, writes from Bauchi.

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Jos crisis: Time to end artificial wall of hatred - Blueprint newspapers Limited

In this interview with Ugo Aliogo, the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Nigeria, Mr. Edward Kallon, speaks on the humanitarian crisis in the North-east, UN reforms in Nigeria, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and other issues. Excerpts:

What are the major reforms of the United Nations in Nigeria and how have these reforms impacted the countrys development indices?The Secretary Generals Reform Agenda is being implemented on the basis of three interlinked tracks: a. Repositioning of the United Nations Development System aimed at improving the overall UN approach to 2030 Agenda through a reinvigorated resident coordinator system, a new generation of UN Country Teams and restructuring of regional assets; b. Break existing silos and allow for an integrated whole-of-pillar approach to peace and security, through enhanced focus prevention and peace sustainment (Human Rights, Humanitarian, Development and Peace Nexus), and c. Paradigm shift in the management of the Secretariat through decentralization, delegation and simplification to enhance effectiveness, while strengthening accountability.

In Nigeria, the Resident Coordinator (RC) position was officially delinked from the UNDP Resident Representative function at the beginning of 2019, thus creating an impartial, independent and empowered RC as the official Representative of the Secretary-General in the country.

Earlier in 2018, the UN System in Nigeria developed the $4.3 billion United Nations Sustainable Partnership and Development Framework (UNSDPF) 2018 -2022 which outlines the strategic direction and results expected from the cooperation between the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the UN System in Nigeria. The UNSDPF 2018-2022 serves as the collective support and response of the UN System to the national development initiatives of the government regarding the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP), the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Africa Union Agenda 2063 and other internationally agreed declarations.

The UNSDPF 2018-2022 reflects Nigerias changing economic, social and environmental conditions and is designed as a strategic framework to assist and address Nigerias developmental and humanitarian challenges, leveraging on UN leadership, comparative advantages, and capacity assessment. The UNSPDF 2018 -2022 is also the basis for the country programme documents and presence of the 19 resident and four non-resident UN entities with the host country programmes in Nigeria.

Impacting development indices in Nigeria requires a whole-of-government and a whole-of-society approach. It requires that we use the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a framework to develop social contracts that promote action from all stakeholders including youth, civil society, academia, media, the private sector, trade unions and other stakeholders.

The SDGs will also need to be localised. This will require that there is a transition in policies, budget implementation (not just allocations), institutions and regulatory frameworks. At the higher levels, it will be necessary that both the Federal and State governments galvanise the political will and set priorities to secure the requisite resources and develop smarter development solutions to accelerate the implementation of the SDGs.Over the next decade, Nigeria will require additional resources anywhere between $161 to 357 billion to achieve SDG targets. As a middle-income country, between 50-60 percent of the financing needs is expected to be covered by the government. The challenge is that over the last couple of years, the total consolidated budget (both federal and state) was only about $54 billion. The capacity of the Nigerian government to increase investment and spur post COVID 19 recovery and job creation are severely restricted. Furthermore, debt accumulation is not an option and it is, therefore, necessary that the government does everything possible to facilitate enhanced private capital investment.

What are the obstacles to reforms for the United Nations in Nigeria?Almost all UN entities have a special mandate that is United Nations International Childrens Emergency Fund (UNICEF) on children, World Meteorological Organization (WMO) on climatology and World Health Organisation (WHO) on health. With these reforms, we still need to work through the differences in agency systems in order to promote joint working among them and to develop joint programming initiatives (Deliver as One). We still need to develop a more systematic approach to our partnership with Government, bilateral donors and IFIs. The skillsets for such an approach are not yet fully developed. We are also yet to develop a Nigeria funding compact with our donors. This is a critical foundation for all other areas and it is still the most challenging.

As a system, we are proud that we now have a Management Accountability Framework (MAP) to provide guidance on the overall direction, accountabilities and oversight to take forward our collective responsibility to make the United Nations fit for purpose to support the 2030 Agenda. The MAF provides a consistent approach that remains faithful to the letter and spirit of the GA resolution on the repositioning of the UN Development System.

Is the UN doing enough to support Nigeria in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)?The United Nations Sustainable Development Partnership Framework (UNSDPF) is the UNs partnership with the government of Nigeria on our partnership to support Nigeria in meeting the SDG goals. The current partnership runs until 2022 and a new framework is currently being developed to support Nigeria. This support cuts across many areas from health and vaccinations, education, social protection, environmental issues on desertification and the cleanup in the Niger Delta, support to the National Bureau of Statistics on data collection, and support to State governments in using the SDG framework in the development plans, among others. Financing remains a key challenge and the UN is supporting Nigeria in developing an Integrated National Financing Framework (INFF) which should help identify options and potential areas for action. Most recently the UN has supported in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic in testing, vaccinations, and risk communication, with over $70 million mobilised and spent. The UN continues to stand ready to support Nigeria.

How will you measure Nigerias commitment to achieving the SDG goals and where are we in comparison to other countries?Nigeria remains committed to meeting the SDGs goals and that commitment is clear as Nigeria was one of the first countries to adopt the SDGs. The effort of Nigeria also goes back to the commitment to meeting the previous MDGs. The commitment is also clear as the SDGs have been a key part of the national development planning process. At the sub-national level, many States are now incorporating the SDGs into their plans. The available data however suggests that accelerated efforts are required if Nigeria is to meet the goals by 2030. Even though there are improvements across many fronts the improvements in many cases are not fast enough. The Ministry of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, and the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on SDGs continue to champion the SDGs and remain key coordinators.

In 2019, the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) estimated that without additional spending, there would be less than 50% progress toward all SDGs and even with increased investment from the public and private sectors, many SDGs would not be met. Therefore, even before the COVID-19 pandemic, a business-as-usual approach to financing development appeared insufficient to attain national development priorities and SDG targets.

Now, the socio-economic impact of COVID-19 has compounded the problem, marked by the decline of government revenues and development financing as well as worsening socio-economic indicators. Poverty and hunger remain high and the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to disrupt any progress.

In the areas of education, health, and access to basic services some progress has been made but will need to be accelerated significantly to meet the targets for 2030. For instance, the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to push over 7 million more Nigerians into poverty in 2020, with the poverty rate projected to rise from 40.1% (82.9 million) in 2019 to 42.5% (90.2 million people) in 2020 and 42.9% (95.7 million people) in 2022.

One area that has seen a setback is in gender equality, where cases of gender-based violence have risen since the pandemic. Significant challenges also remain in financing the SDGs, as government revenue is constrained and many being left behind in private financing of some SDGs.It is important to note the internal variation within Nigeria with some regions, particularly in the North West and North East lagging behind and in need of renewed efforts. The UN continues to support the government in a broad set of areas to help her goal of meeting the SDGs. Nigerias commitment to those goals is clear and the UN is ready to continue supporting Nigeria.

The humanitarian crisis in the North-east remains a major crisis that seems to hinder achievement of the desired success. What do you think is responsible for this?The crisis in North-east Nigeria is a complex emergency and presents an intricate web of issues that require the collective efforts of different actors in the search for a durable solution.The humanitarian crisis in the BAY Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States is very dynamic and remains one of the largest in the world today. At the peak of the crisis in 2017, over 2.2 million people were displaced in the BAY states and 303,963 Nigerian refugees were in neighbouring countries Cameroon (115,695), Chad (16,294) and Niger (171,974). Currently, there are an estimated 1.9 million people displaced in the worst-affected BAY States.

Over 80 per cent of them are in Borno State and many live in dire conditions with four out of five IDPs living in overcrowded camps. In addition, an estimated 1.6million displaced people have returned to relatively safe areas in BAY States with limited basic services and livelihood opportunities.

Over $3.2 billion has been mobilized for the humanitarian response in the north from 2017 to 2020, providing life-saving assistance to over 5.5 million people annually. This is thanks to advocacy at the highest level by the Government, the ERC and IASC at the Oslo Conferences in 2017 and 2019, and the mission of the UNSC to the Lake Chad Basin and endorsement of the UNSCR 2439. These efforts contributed to raising international awareness of the impact of the Boko Haram insurgency in the Lake Chad Basin and mobilisation of donor interest.

The humanitarian communities in Nigeria, including the Government, International NON-Governmental Organisations (INGOs), Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and the UN have done very good work over the years in alleviating human suffering, averting a famine in 2017, and bringing hope to millions of people affected by the conflict. This is despite the conflict being a complex and challenging counter-insurgency ecosystem with regional implications for the Sahel and the Lake Chad Basin.However, 8.7 million people in the BAY states need humanitarian assistance in 2021 and a total requirement of $1 billion. The ongoing conflict continues to be the main driver of humanitarian needs in North-east Nigeria.

What is the role of the UN in supporting the resettlement of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), providing psycho-socio support and source of livelihood for them?The ongoing conflict is resulting in a serious protection crisis with continued violations of international humanitarian and human rights law, violations of the rights of children, abduction, rape, arbitrary killings, gender-based violence, and the collapse of traditional coping mechanisms. About 80 per cent of people in need of humanitarian assistance across the Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states are women and children. Women and children are disproportionately aected by the COVID-19 pandemic and gender inequalities have been reinforced over the past few months. From global best practices, there are no humanitarian solutions to humanitarian problems.

The only solution to the crisis in North-east Nigeria is peace. We must therefore have a shared understanding of the risk and vulnerability that prioritise prevention always, development wherever possible, and humanitarian action when necessary. This approach should also be supported by the right kind of financing, drawing from diverse funding sources to ensure that the required resources are mobilized.

From our analysis, a three-pronged approach is required to find a durable solution to the crisis in North-east Nigeria, an approach that requires the engagement of a diverse range of actors based on their comparative advantages: Continuation of the counter-insurgency effort of the NAF and the counter-terrorism effort by the MNJTF. This however needs to be complemented with dialogue and a peacebuilding process to achieve peace. Continuation of life-saving assistance in pockets of acute humanitarian needs, built around a resilience-based approach to support the affected population cope with the impact of the crisis, recover from it and engage in transformative change. Address the root causes of the crisis due to prolonged development deficit, multidimensional poverty, governance and human rights deficits and climate vulnerabilities.

What do you think is responsible for the widespread insecurity challenges facing the country, especially in the north-east; what is the solution, and what is the role of the UN to support Nigeria in this fight?From the UNs long experience of international development and promoting peaceful solutions across the world, we have found that there is no peace without development and there is no development without peace.There are a number of key underlying factors driving insecurity in the region, which remains a complex and challenging situations, including: Youth unemployment and youth underemployment: These issues have only increased since the advent of COVID-19 which has caused unprecedented socioeconomic difficulties globally. With youth unemployment at 42% and not enough jobs being created, the economy needs about five million new jobs every year to keep up with the number of people entering the labour market. Unequal development: Across regions and across the nation, there are disparities in levels of development and access to opportunities, which further increases inequalities. Proliferation of small arms: Nigeria accounts for 70% of the 500m illegal arms in West Africa, many of which are in the hands of non-state actors rights across the country.

The UN system in Nigeria is involved in a number of efforts and initiatives to address these key underlying issues and the UN, of course, continues to support the Government of Nigeria in its development aspirations as we work together towards achieving the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs. The UN is currently investing in local peace architecture and cross-border issues and early warning systems.

Furthermore, UN also invests in border governance and regional security through Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Africa Unity (AU), and Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). We are working to bridge the humanitarian-peace-development nexus in the North-East through the development of a durable solution framework. UN agencies are closely involved in recent initiatives like Generation Unlimited and the Nigeria Jubilee Fellowship Programme which aims to reach millions of unemployed and underemployed youth. We have high hopes that these efforts will lead to transformational change in Nigeria for the Nigerian people and bring about the peace and development that they deserve.

What is the relationship between development and humanitarian challenges?Addressing complex emergencies requires appropriate locally-constructed and context-specific initiatives to simultaneouslyaddress the duality of the key problems we encounter: Reduce needs, risks and vulnerabilities of the affected populations; Build resilience at the individual, household, community and institutional levels.At the core of strengthening the coherence between humanitarian, development and peace is reducing peoples needs, risk and vulnerabilities, supporting prevention efforts and thus, shifting from delivering humanitarian assistance to ending needs. This is critical to reducing the humanitarian caseloads and ensuring that we meet our collective pledge to leave no one behind.

Do you think Nigeria is winning the war in the humanitarian crisis facing the nation, if not can you identify the gaps and opportunities for adjustment?The humanitarian crisis in the states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe (BAY), in North east Nigeria, remains one of the largest in the world today. The conflict is a protracted one that is in its 12th year and over 37,000 people have been killed. At the peak of the crisis in 2017, over 2.2 million people were displaced in the BAY states.

The humanitarian communities in Nigeria, including INGOs, civil society, UN and the government, have done very good work over the years since gaining access to the region in 2016. The humanitarian community has helped in alleviating human suffering, averting a famine in 2017, and bringing hope to millions of people affected by the conflict. This is despite it being in a complex and challenging counter-insurgency eco-system with a regional implication for the Sahel and the Lake Chad Basin. Over $3.2 billion has been mobilized for the humanitarian response in the north from 2017 to 2020, providing life-saving assistance to over 5.5 million people annually.

The only solution to the crisis in northeast Nigeria is peace. We must continue to prioritize prevention always, development where feasible, and humanitarian assistance when needed. There are no humanitarian solutions to humanitarian problems.

How would you assess government interventions in the fight to eradicate the COVID-19 pandemic. Do you think the strategies are good enough to win the fight or there is need to re-strategise?The COVID-19 pandemic has been an x-ray that has revealed fractures in the fragile skeleton of the societies we have built. We must work together to turn the impact of COVID-19 into a generational opportunity to build back better a more equal and sustainable world.

What has been the support of the UN in complementing governments effort in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic?The One UN COVID-19 Response and Basket Fund has been very successful in supporting the COVID-19 Presidential Task Force and mobilized over $ 73 million. The UN Basket Fund procured 40 percent of the medical supplies to respond to the COVID 19 Pandemic and distributed to all states by the Nigeria Centre for Disease(NCDC). The key achievements of the One UN Response and Basket Fund include: Procurement of 10,839,000 (PPES) comprising of 459,783 test kits (Cobas, Thermofisher and molecular test kits, 50 ventilators, oxygen concentrators. Resuscitator, Swab collection and extraction kits, Gowns, gloves, and facemask. 40 percent of the total medical supplies and equipment for the response were funded from the Basket Fund. Support to State level COVID 19 response. Digital surveillance outbreak response management and analysis system, data transmission to States, distribution of revised home-based care guidelines and training of health care workers on case management and infection prevention control. Risk communication and community engagement through public awareness campaigns, Television, radio, social media that reached over 84 million people across 17 States to increase awareness of preventive and protective measures among Nigerians.

An allocation of 13.65 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine has been approved by COVAX facility for Nigeria, of which the first batch of 3.92 million doses was received on March 2 2021. All 36 dtates and the federal Capital Territory (FCT) have started vaccination since mid-March and as of May, 19 a total of 1.84 million people, which is about 92 per cent of the first dose target, have been vaccinated in the country.

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Kallon: Peaceful Co-existence Will Address Humanitarian Crisis in North-east - THISDAY Newspapers

The video stream was grainy, the makeshift banners wonky, the two men on camera were not named and they were reading their speeches off paper, one of them not very fluently. Various other bigwigs then appeared on screen to congratulate all concerned, and then, 29 minutes in, they switched to Powerpoint and the screen went black.

It could have been the declaration of a military coup in some far distant country, with the production values of 20 years ago. Or an Open University seminar from the 1970s. In fact, it was the press conference to launch the IPCCs Sixth Assessment Report on the science behind climate change.

Antnio Guterres, the secretary-general of the United Nations, summed its contents up succinctly: Code red for humanity.Global surface temperature is now 1.09 degrees higher than in the back half of the 19th century. The past five years have been the hottest on record. Heatwaves, extreme rainfall events, droughts and cyclones are multiplying and human activity is to blame.

In all scenarios, even ones that include global cooperation and rapid carbon reduction, we could reach the tipping point of 1.5 degrees above the pre-industrial average before 2040 not 2050 as previously predicted. In the worst scenarios, the global temperature will reach 2.5 degrees by mid-century and 4.4 degrees by 2100.

But in its shambolic presentation, the IPCCs press conference on 9 August demonstrated the strategic problem. The science is clear and urgent. Yet important segments of the electorate, in all countries, do not care. No government in the world has a plan to decarbonise its economy. As a result, the socio-economic scenarios that climate scientists are working with are out of joint with reality.

The five Shared Socio-Economic Pathways (SSPs) used by climate modellers to predict the future temperature of the earth were first publishedin 2013. They are, in summary: (SSP1) the world goes smoothly, collaboratively and enthusiastically green and more socially just; (SSP2) the same but too slowly; (SSP3) the world system breaks up into competing regional powers, with each country prioritising its own growth and energy security; (SSP4) global inequality dominates, with high social unrest and poor progress on decarbonisation in the developing world; (SSP5) hyper-neoliberalism, where we just burn carbon and rely on the market, and economic development, to curb population growth and (eventually) find a geo-engineering solution for the burning planet.

The bad news is that under even the most benign scenario, we still hit 1.5 degrees by 2040. The worse news is that all these models now look unrealistic. What we are going to get, unless something changes radically, is a mixture of the bad bits of SSP3, SSP4 and SSP5: a fragmented global system, with high inequality, regional rivalry and social unrest with transnational institutions powerless and the financial elite still dreaming that technology will save us.

Even if, as the IPCC predicts, we get approximately constant, and not rising, carbon emissions out to 2070, this is a dire prospect. I dont know what the climate results for this combined model look like, but my guess is they would be worse than anything the IPCC has predicted.

What do we do? Between now and the COP26 conference in November, were going to get a case study in what not to do.Boris Johnson has put Alok Sharma in charge of Britains international diplomacy to secure a new carbon emission reduction deal. In 24 votes in the House of Commons on climate related matters, Sharma has not supported measures to reduce carbon emissions 17 times.

Sharma knows, as does the rest of the Tory government, that there is no way the Conservatives will be able to sell to their loyal voters the radical measures needed for Britain to decarbonise its energy, housing and transport systems by 2050.

This is a problem for Labour, too. Labour went into the 2019 election with the most detailed and radical decarbonisation plan ever presented by a mainstream political party. It called for a green industrial revolution and pledged to put the UK on track for net-zero-carbon energy system within the 2030s and go faster if credible pathways can be found [and] deliver nearly 90 per cent of electricity and 50 per cent of heat from renewable and low-carbon sources by 2030.

That would mean borrowing 250bn over ten years, to build vast new offshore wind and solar facilities, to insulate every home and transform home heating systems, to electrify all transport and to manage the entire energy system centrally.

Labour bombed. The scale of the borrowing and spending needed, and the radical changes in behaviour that will have to go alongside them, were beyond the imaginations of people on the doorstep.I remember an elderly ex-car worker in Birmingham screaming at me that Jeremy Corbyn will destroy the economy.

In a way, I now think the Labour canvassers of 2019 are among the luckiest people on earth: we have glimpsed whats going to happen when people are confronted with the scale of the economic changes needed to meet the demands of the climate crisis. It will terrify them above all because they know that, under free-market capitalism, the only people who ever lose out when things change is themselves.

So the Sixth Assessment leaves global politics at a crossroads. You can see where conservatism is going ideologically from the insistent calls for adaptation over mitigation. Were an advanced country, with high technological expertise. We can adapt to rising sea levels and sudden floods. The unspoken coda is that were going to have to sink refugee boats in the channel, as the Global South, which cannot adapt to desertification and floods, implodes.

It is certain that, as electorates get confronted with the point-blank choices, ecofascism will rise. In their book White Skin, Black Fuel (2021), the Swedish academic Andreas Malm and the Zetkin Collective make a compelling case that the carbon-burning heat engine and the racist colonial empire are the two dynamos of capitalism, and predict that race hatred, and genocidal solutions, will proliferate as climate chaos increases. "The far right, they point out, has not figured in any climate models. Variables of whiteness and race and nationalism have not been included.

In my forthcoming book How To Stop Fascism, I trace the far rights progression from outright climate science denial towards acceptance of the science, alongside the solutions proposed by the Finnish "ecofascist" Pentti Linkola depopulate the earth and, in the name of defending nature, let large parts ofhumanity in the Global South die.

[See also:IPCC climate report: the arrival of the natural disaster movie age?]

Faced with this, the left needs something more effective than what Corbynism offered and there are only two realistic choices.

The first is what Malm calls eco-Leninism: the adoption of harsh programmes of economictransformation, akin to the War Communism of 1919-21 in Russia, using a draconian state. In this Leninist model, you reject all timetables that rely on the consciousness and spontaneity of the masses: you seize power (somehow) and you use it to force the pace of change.

I think we should reject Climate Bolshevism for the same reasons that we should reject Leninism: it didnt work. After just three years of War Communism, the Bolsheviks had to lead an organised retreat back to market socialism, only by now they had destroyed all vestiges of workers' democracy and spontaneous self-organisation.

The second option, if we are to avoid the inexorable collapse, is what Ive been calling for since 2015: a revolutionary reformism. The only political vehicle that is going to be able to enact a programme similar to the one Labour offered in 2019 is the Labour Party. The only state thats going to execute that programme is the existing state, albeit reformed for the task and minus numerous placemen for the fossil fuel industry.

The actual battle, then, lies within the existing system, the existing parties and the existing state. We are losing it, up to now, because nobody within the political class Corbyn included placed climate at the centre of everything else, and made a convincing case for urgency and priority. Having now borrowed and spent more than 300bn on Covid-19 mitigation in a single year, dwarfing the sum proposed by Labour to mitigate climate, maybe there's a chance of resetting the frame.

From Berlin to Brighton, what matters most in the run-up to COP26 is whether social-democrats and the larger Green parties get this. Once they do, they still face the task of selling radical social transformation to a sceptical elderly electorate, and to recalcitrant trade unions.

Keir Starmer has committed Labour to doing the bulk of decarbonisation before 2030. Given that, the next election there is no way Labour can avoid leading, once again, with a radical climate offer.

The task is to persuade and mobilise: to persuade people stuck in conversations about potholes and anti-social behaviour to see the disaster rushing towards them. To mobilise those who already understand to actually vote.

There is no guarantee of success but that's the challenge laid down by the IPCC report.

[See also:The US produces the same carbon emissions as 89 countries in the Global South]

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Why only radical social transformation can avert a climate catastrophe The video stream was grainy, the - New Statesman

Hundreds of thousands of children in Lebanon are going to bed hungry, Save the Children warned today, as their parents increasingly fail to make ends meet at the end of every month and are unable to pay for basics such as food, electricity and medicine.

The gap in finances needed to buy basic goods has skyrocketed 550 per cent over the past year, according to a new analysis of the financial situation of families in Beirut published a year after an explosion in the port tore through the city.

Save the Childrens analysis found that families from virtually all wealth groups in the nations capital have been plunged deeper into poverty, with children increasingly being sent out to work.

Very poor families are hardest hit, falling on average 5.5 million Lebanese pounds short of the 6.1 million pounds needed monthly just to afford the basics. This shortfall is equivalent to $3,600 USD at the official bank rate or $456 at the official informal rate. Poor and middle-income families are also several hundred dollars short every month.

Najwa, a Lebanese single mother of two, receives cash assistance from Save the Children. She said,

Our children are craving food - as simple and tragic as that. My children (16 and 13 years old) lost weight significantly and the entire situation has affected not only their physical but also mental health. Both my parents are elderly with chronic illnesses. My father has cancer and, due to the situation, we missed a couple of months of treatment. Medication was either unavailable or too expensive. I dont know how long well be able to survive the situation. For months, we kept waiting and hoping things would get better but all were witnessing is a free fall into the abyss.

On August 4th last year, an explosion killed over 200 people and wounded more than 7,000, destroying the port and thousands of homes and shops in Beirut. The impact of the blast, coupled with an ongoing economic crisis, COVID-19, and the highest spike in food prices in the world, means more families in Lebanon are resorting to desperate measures that affect the youngest and the most vulnerable.

These include eating less, poorer quality food, buying food on credit, and selling furniture. Many are cutting back on health and education expenses, and are surviving on savings or borrowed money, or by sending their children to do dangerous work just to survive every month, said the child rights organisation.

Salma, a Syrian resident of Beirut and mother of three, said,

My son and husband were injured in the explosion so they needed medication and checkups. Everything is expensive, we cant even afford yoghurt or cheese. We have to split the bread bag for two days and meat is a luxury we cant afford. Our children know not to ask us for anything now because our answers would be no or not now.

The economic crisis has impacted families from all socio-economic groups and nationalities, but Syrian refugees across the country are among the hardest hit. Some nine out of 10 Syrian families in Lebanon are living in extreme poverty. Essential goods like lentils, cooking oil, diapers, sanitary pads and fuel are unaffordable for around 47% of Lebanese[i], and almost 90% of Syrian refugees[ii].

Surviving, but barely, said Jennifer Moorehead, Save the Childrens country director in Lebanon, Hundreds of thousands of children are going to bed hungry, often without having eaten a single meal that day. Families cant afford the electricity to run a fridge or hot water, or the medicines they need to treat illness. The longer this situation continues, the more likely it is that children will slide into malnutrition, which ultimately could lead to death.

In 2020, Save the Children warned that over half a million children in Beirut would struggle to survive by the end of the year. That number will most likely have risen sharply over the past year, the organisation said.

To support children going hungry in Lebanon and across the globe, Save the Children recently launched its largest-ever appeal, aiming to raise $130 million.

The economic downfall of Lebanon does not only impact the financial situation of children and their families, Save the Children said. Poverty has a deep impact on the education of children, on their health care, and their growth and mental development and wellbeing. Babies and young children who are unable to have a healthy diet are at risk of malnutrition and disease.

Children who are hungry have trouble learning or are dropping out of school altogether as they have to work to help with the family income.

Ms Moorehead continued: The government of Lebanon and the international community need to start treating the situation in Lebanon for what it is a full-fledged humanitarian crisis driven by an economy in total collapse. This crisis is entirely man-made, so it can also be man-unmade. If that doesnt happen, children can die of hunger any day.

Save the Children is calling for donors to prioritise funding for transparently distributed cash support for the most vulnerable families of all nationalities in Lebanon. The government of Lebanon should urgently set up a cash-based social safety net programme, to cover monthly basic needs for families, so they can ensure children have access to food, electricity, health care, clean water and can keep going to school.

More info on Save the Childrens largest-ever hunger appeal.

Multimedia content available.

[i] WFP and World Bank, Lebanon Vulnerability and Food Security Assessment, March-April 2021. Accessed at: https://docs.wfp.org/api/documents/WFP-0000129566/download/

[ii] UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, Vulnerability Assessment of Syrian Refugees in Lebanon VaSyR, 2020. Available at: https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/VASyR%202020.pdf

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Lebanon One year after Beirut blast, economic crisis pushes families further into hunger, says Save the Children - Lebanon - ReliefWeb

Wed, Jul 28, 2021

MENASourcebyKarim Mezran, Alissa Pavia

After a night of celebrations and tension following the announcement of the constitutional coup of the President of the Republic Kais Saied. The Ennahdha militants led by their leader Rached Ghannouchi are still in front of the gates of the Assembly and clashed with pro Tunisian President Kais Saied activists under the control of the police outside and the army inside the parliament. At the end of the morning the slogan of the party will be to leave the sit-in, the parliament still held by the military regains its calm. Tunis, Tunisia, on July 26, 2021. Photo by Nicolas Fauque/Images de Tunisie/ABACAPRESS.COM

On July 25, Tunisians experienced a peculiar day. In the morning, they were on social media, celebrating swimmer Ahmed Hafnaoui, who unexpectedly won gold in the 400-meter freestyle final at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. Later that day, protests rocked the capital Tunis and several other cities across the countryMonastir, Sfax, El Kef, Sousse, and Touzeuras protestors called on the government to step down due to the poor handling of the latest COVID-19 breakout and economic collapse of the country. In the evening, Tunisian President Kais Saied invoked Article 80 of the 2014 constitution to prevent imminent dangerthreatening the integrity of the country. He then announced the freezing of the activities of parliament for thirty days, the suspension of parliamentary immunity for all members of parliament, and the dismissal of Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi. President Saied will assume all executive powers and subsequently choose a prime minister of his choice.

According to Article 80, in the event of imminent danger threatening the nations institutions or the security or independence of the country, and hampering the normal functioning of the state, the president may take any measures necessitated by the exceptional circumstances, after consultation with the prime minister and speaker of parliament and informing the president of the constitutional court. Unfortunately, Tunisia does not yet have a functioning constitutional court, so legal experts opinions on the legality of Saieds decision vary. Political parties were also divided. The Islamist party Ennahda and its leader, Rached Ghannouchi, who is also the speaker of parliament, called the decision a coup against the 2011 Jasmine Revolution, while other parties supported Saieds decision.

How did things get here?

This crisis is long in the making. After almost perfectly handling the first wave of COVID-19 in mid-2020, the country fell into a deep political, economic, and later health crisis. On July 15, 2020, former Prime Minister Elyes Fakhfakh resigned after days of mounting political tension between him and some coalition parties, primarily Ennahda.

Ten days later, on July 25, 2020, Saied nominated Mechichi as the head of the new government. Mechici, the interior minister in 2020 under Fakhfakh, had a technocratic profile as the former chief investigator in the national anti-corruption authority. He is from Jendouba, a town of the disadvantaged area of northwest Tunisia.

His government won the vote of confidence in September 2020 by 134 votes to sixty-seven. The heterogeneity of the groups supporting his executivethe Islamist Ennahda and Karama and the modernist Qalb Tounes and Tahya Tounesshowed that the modernist-Islamist cleavage is not particularly helpful in making sense of the current phase of Tunisian politics.

The current phase can be defined as an institutional conflict, pitting the presidency against the parliament, Saied against Ghannouchia conflict that has been brewing for a while now. Initially, Mechichi was perceived to be close to Saied, but soon after the formers appointment, the situation changed. As relations between him and the president soured, Mechichi got closer and closer to the parties supporting his executive. However, his executive struggled to address the problems adequately. Tunisia is facing a particularly deep socio-economic crisis which has been ongoing for several years.

Against this backdrop, the COVID-19 pandemic was also becoming unmanageable in Tunisia over the past few weeks. The country witnessed a rapid rise in infections due to the spread of the Delta variant. On July 13, Tunisia recorded 157 coronavirus deaths and almost 8500 new cases, the highest daily infection rate and death toll since the start of the pandemic. Hospitals were overwhelmed and the country faced shortages of oxygen supplies, vaccines, and medicines. After chaos erupted at the vaccination centers on the first day of the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday on July 21, Mechichi sacked Health Minister Faouzi Mehdi. However, as the crisis deepened, many in Tunisia criticized the attitude of Mechichi not only for the lack of efficiency in dealing with the crisis, but also for some of his actions. A week earlier, on July 14, Mechichi had played tennis in front of cameras with Ons Jabeur, the rising star of Tunisian tennis, at the peak of the crisis. It was also later revealed that Mechichi and other members of the cabinet held a retreat in a luxury hotel and pool in Hammamet during the crisis, further exacerbating social tensions.

International reactions to Tunisia

The international community reacted slowly to the events of July 25, with most political leaders publishing weak, largely insignificant statements. In the immediate aftermath of President Saieds decision to freeze parliament and sack the prime minister, neither the United States nor the European Union (EU) responded. Only by the end of the day, when the situation deteriorated and the protests seemed to become more violent, did the US issue an official statement siding with Tunisias democracy. The State Department published the statement after Secretary Antony Blinken called President Saied urging him to adhere to the principles of democracy and human rights. Meanwhile, the EU waited two full days before issuing an official declaration. Joseph Borrell, the EUs foreign policy chief, called for the restoration of institutional stability as soon as possible and, in particular, for the resumption of parliamentary activity.

Individual EU member states also showed discontent at the events in Tunisia, but none took a decisive stance against President Saieds actions. Germany said it was following the latest developments with concern while France called for a return to the normal functioning of the states institutions.

Turkeys foreign ministry expressed deep concern and called for the restoration of democratic legitimacy. As expected, Turkey is siding with its ally Ennahda. Turkeys position can be instrumentally used by some countries, such as the Emirates and Egypt, to emphasize the Islamist secularist divide as the main cleavage in Tunisia and potentially depict the Tunisian crisis as a repetition of the Egyptian coup of General al-Sisi of 2013, when democratically-elected Islamist President Mohamed Morsi was deposed. Saieds actions can be presented as the actions of a secular modernist leader that is intent on preserving the country from the backwardness of the Islamic movement.

Qatar took a more neutral position, despite the offices of its state-owned news channel Al Jazeera being stormed by Tunisian police and its journalists expelled. Only the foreign ministry issued an official statement, saying that Qatar hopes that Tunisian parties will adopt the path of dialogue to overcome the crisis. Qatar did not make any official announcement condemning the attack.

Both Russias and Saudi Arabias comments focus on maintaining the security and stability of the country and its people.

So far, it appears that most international actors are taking a bystander position and waiting to see how the situation in Tunisia evolves. They are particularly interested in knowing the official position of the powerful Tunisian General Labor Union (UGTT). Thus far, the UGTT seems somewhat supportive of President Saieds decisions, saying that his actions were in line with the constitution. Otherwise, the UGTT has not yet issued a strong statement. In any case, the main issue is not whether the actions of the president are legitimate or not according to the constitution, but the fact that these actions were taken at the worst possible moment for the country, one in which the fragile economy and political system may not survive the blow inflicted by this decision, thus, underscoring how President Saied does not have Tunisias best interests at heart.

Karim Mezran is director of the North Africa Initiative and resident senior fellow with the Rafik Hariri Center and Middle East Programs at the Atlantic Council

Alissa Pavia is assistant director for the North Africa Initiative within the Rafik Hariri Center and Middle East Programs at the Atlantic Council

Tue, Jul 27, 2021

On July 25, President Kais Saied invoked Article 80 of Tunisias constitution to sack Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi and dissolve parliament. Atlantic Council experts react to the events, assess the impact on the fledgling democracy, and offer their thoughts on how the international community may respond.

MENASourcebyAtlantic Council

Thu, Jul 15, 2021

Libyas political system prior to the elections is preferred but not imperative. What is essential is giving the Libyans a strong voice on the outcome of their political system.

MENASourcebyKarim Mezran and Hafed Al-Ghwell

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Tunisia was the only democracy to blossom from the Arab Spring. Now it's a mess. - Atlantic Council

India, for some time, has been wearing a tiara of its vulnerabilities.

Revenge tourism is on every mind, including the ones who have been cautious all along the pandemic. Practicing restraint has been tough on human mind but a necessary evil to accomplish. Hence, an urge to spread ones wings in free air has become difficult to extinguish.

But there remains no point where a disaster could be confined to a particular part of India. If Northern Bihar is facing annual floods, Indias southern states, in particular, Maharashtra too, is facing the drift.

About 2,29,074 people were evacuated from the flood-hit areas from a total of 1,028 affected villages on the western coast and nearly 25,564 animals died in vain.

Landslides are pretty common in upper belts of Uttarakhand and a few calculated lower stretches. So, what is different this time? Uttarakhand has been reporting a succession of landslides ever since the month began.

Being a mountain baby, it becomes easy to decide where it is safer to go. But maybe, not anymore. Even the mountain stretches hard and emboldened enough to resist the downward movement, are facing the landslides.

Himachal Pradesh also reported a bridge collapse due to boulder-fall killing 9 and leaving many injured.

Like all the unexpected events taking hold of the human world, increasing intensity and frequency of natural disasters has grabbed its own place to make lives miserable and pathetic.

Not only lives are lost because of these disasters, additionally, misinformation and confusion prevails that leads to further chaos.

From being ranked 44 out of 191 countries in the World Bank Groups2019 Inform Risk Index (and 29 out of 191 in terms of high disaster risks) to constantly facing from all clouts and blows of Nature, India is attempting to recover.

According to the rankings, India has very high exposure to greater risks and this has even driven its social vulnerability ramping people under extreme poverty, accelerating unemployment and consequent trafficking. India has 420,000 sqkm, or 12.6% of its total land as landslide-prone.

With the climate change in picture, this is bound to worsen.

India has repeatedly faced some of the highest maximum temperatures around the world, with an average monthly maximum of around 30C.

Floods constitute one of the greatest sources of annual losses to Indian exchequer caused by disasters, a staggering $7 billion every year.

And nearly 86% of worldwide deaths caused from tropical cyclones are accounted for, in India and Bangladesh alone.

Experts have warned that we can no longer ignore the climate change dynamics, as it significantly engulfs our daily routine. The monsoon rains are bound to increase unprecedented with an increase in the global temperatures.

As per one of the latest studies Climate change is making the Indian monsoon seasons more chaotic: For every degree Celsius of warming, monsoon rains will likely increase by about 5 per cent. Global warming is increasing the monsoon rainfall in India even more than previously thought.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Changes (IPCC) fifth Assessment Report (AR5)has clarified the impact of humans on climate system and vice-versa.

It is dominating the monsoon dynamics of the 21st century. Climate change is leading to unpredictable weather extremes and their serious consequences. What is really on the line is the socio-economic well-being of the Indian subcontinent.

A more chaotic monsoon season poses a threat to the agriculture and economy in the region and should be a wake-up call for policymakers to drastically cut greenhouse gas emissions worldwide.

Western Ghats, according to Madhav Gadgil committee, have been termed as ecologically sensitive and any development in the zone attracts deep scrutiny yet the deforestation and rapid urbanization in these serene Ghats have led to the warming of atmosphere.

This has fueled the capacity of air to absorb and retain moisture, prospering the existence and formation of intense cumulus-nimbus clouds, the giant vertical clouds bearing rain, to trigger an incessant downpour over this region.

The same story is ruling the mountains where unbated construction of hydropower plants for increasing electricity demand of increasing population and roads, hotels or homes causes deforestation and alteration in land-use planning.

Removal of forest cover can lead to the loosening of soil and easy landslides even with the smallest amount of rainfall.

Hills or upper regions are more sensitive and susceptible to changes in weather system and even respond to these threats more quickly.

With the development of cumulonimbus clouds, paired with the absence of strong upper air currents can cause cloud bursts. As the clouds get trapped and could not travel afar, it tends to expend all its water over a certain area, taking the face of cloud bursts.

It is no longer a developing countrys problem alone, but it is now hitting the industrialized nations such as Germany, Belgium, and The Netherlands, explains a researcher from IPCC.

There is a grim picture in every country possible, be it the third wave in US, floods in China, heat waves in most of the countries or floods in Italy and nearby countries. The differentiation has ended ultimately.

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Indias Landslide saga and why India needs to be concerned as these are surely not the lasts or worsts - The Indian Wire

Calls are growing for Government action in the wake of the Cleveland Bridge crisis as supply chain firms face a bleak future.

The Federation of Small Businesses in the region warned that many SMEs in the supply chain would need help and Seema Malhotra MP, Labour's Shadow Minister for Business and Consumers, said urgent action need to be taken.

The FSB called for the right support in the right places.

Reshma Begum,Development Manager for the region said: "Small businesses dont have the luxury of significant cash reserves to offset the detrimental impact of losing a large contract, so it is essential that support is provided to both the employees and the businesses impacted by the crisis.

"The Cleveland Bridge crisis will undoubtedly cause serious concerns amongst the businesses across the country, operating within their supply chain.

"Small businesses are often required to dedicate significant proportions of their resource and capacity to service large scale contracts, and the threat of losing the same could be devastating for already hard-hit businesses navigating their way out of the Covid pandemic."

Seema Malhotra said: "This is extremely worrying news and my immediate thoughts are with every affected employee who may be feeling anxious about their livelihood."

"The Government must explain as a matter of urgency what it is doing to protect these jobs. And Ministers must also dig deeper and explain how it can be possible that an engineering company of this significance, a major employer in the North responsible for building landmarks across our country, can be in such a perilous position.

"This news underlines again that we need a long-term plan for oursteel industry which is vital for our economy and national security. The UK has a proud manufacturing history and it's crucial government backs Britain's manufacturers to secure their proud future."

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng

The Business SecretaryKwasi Kwarteng is understood to have asked his team at theDepartment for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy to find out what happened in abid to understand how it could all have ended so badly so quickly.

The Northern Echo understands that Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen has been asked to helpthe investigation.

A BEIS spokesperson said: "We recognise that this will be distressing news for Cleveland Bridge employees and their families. Government officials are engaging with local partners in Tees Valley to understand the situation in more detail.

We are working hard to make sure that the sector has the best possible chance of competing for and winning public contracts. All Government departments and arms-length bodies are required to consider socio-economic factors when procuring steel.

The department has already established a new joint industry and BEIS Steel Procurement Taskforce with the aim of working with the sector to promote the unique selling points of UK steel and explore how best to support and position the industry for success in forthcoming major public contracts.

The is also the 315m Industrial Energy Transformation Fund which aims to support businesses with high energy use to cut their bills and reduce carbon emissions.The department says it has also provided up to 66m through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund to help steel and other foundation industries develop radical new technologies and establish innovation centres of excellence in these sectors.

And Kwasi Kwarteng has reformed and co-chaired the UK Steel Council for 2021. There have been three meetings so far, the latest only on Wednesday,to work in partnership on the shared objective of creating an achievable, long-term plan to support the sectors transition to a competitive, sustainable and low carbon future.The news broke just a few days ago thatCleveland Bridge - one of the great engineering icons of the North - had called in administrators, putting hundreds of jobs at risk.

Read more:Jobs threat as Darlington's Cleveland Bridge 'calls in administrators'

That team of administrators then confirmed that it was the Covid pandemic that had pushed the company over the edge, and they warned: "No business is immune to the far-reaching impact of the pandemic, which has delayed major infrastructure projects around the world and put significant financial pressure on the teams behind them."

Read more:Administrators blame Covid for Darlington's Cleveland Bridge crisis

Cleveland Bridge on Yarm Road

Butit also thought that the Government may have to answer for more deep-rooted problems in the sector as firms face major problems in the global marketplace.

There is anger at the lack of a level playing field and concern in many quarters that Government support is not welded together.

Read more:Cleveland Bridge: The six questions we still need answering on Darlington firm's future

Alex Cunningham, MP for Stockton North, has already clearly blamed the Government, saying: Too often weve seen the Tories fail our industries and workers in the Tees Valley. When we needed help to save the Redcar SSI blast furnace they turned their backs and when the Sirius mine project needed a helping hand the Government and the Tees Mayor were content to see it taken over by a multi-national company leaving local investors, some of whom sunk their life savings into it, high and dry.

Too many jobs have been lost in the Tees Valley in recent years some 12000 since the start of the pandemic and we have one of the highest unemployment rates in the country. This time the Government, without the restrictions on aid they could have faced because of the EU, must ensure these jobs and this internationally renowned company are saved.

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Threat to small businesses after Cleveland Bridge collapse - The Northern Echo