SUSTAINABILITY Archives - Page 130 of 134

Global Partnerships2016-05-092023-07-10

Aid Frozen as Mozambique Reels Under ‘Iceberg of Debt’

NEW YORK (IDN | GIN) – Canada has joined the IMF, World Bank and several other countries in cutting aid to Mozambique over concerns about the country’s finances.

CTV News reported on May 9 that Mozambique had more than $1.3 billion in undeclared debts, which raised concerns among donors over its financial management. Fourteen donor agencies and countries, including the U.K., Portugal and Switzerland, are freezing a portion of their development assistance.

Canada’s high commissioner in Mozambique said on Twitter on May 9 that general budget support has been frozen – that’s aid that goes directly to Mozambique’s government. Development assistance provided to NGOs and multilateral organizations like the UN remains in place.

In the midst of freezing aid, banks that saw dollar signs in the developing economies of Africa are being blamed for a looming fiscal crash in Mozambique over so-called “tuna bonds”.

Emblematic of the easy lending by western banks, 24 fishing boats meant to be a modern tuna fleet are gathering rust in the port of Maputo.

Peace & Justice2016-05-092023-07-10

Praises Roll in for Re-elected Equatorial Guinea President

NEW YORK (IDN | GIN) – After the disputed re-election of the longest-serving ruler of Equatorial Guinea in April 24 polls, opposition leaders and local organizations decried it as “not credible.”

According to the election results supervised by a minister of his own party, President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo swept the polls with nearly 94% of the vote.

But most known members of the opposition were either barred from participating or boycotted the elections in protest. An African news team – Africa24 – was reportedly detained for hours at the airport despite having the proper paperwork from the Information Ministry.

With his victory, the 73-year-old President Obiang – who has already served 37 years – will serve another 7-year term.

Because the country is oil-rich, the government has friends around the world. Critics, however, point to the country’s poverty index – ranking 144 out of 187 countries on the United Nations’ 2014 Human Development Index.

Sustainable Industrialisation2016-05-082023-07-10

Africans Vow to Promote Inclusive and Sustainable Industrialization

Analysis by Jeffrey Moyo

HARARE (IDN) – The third Pan African Capacity Development Forum organized by the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF), in partnership with the organisation’s Pan-African and international partners, has vowed to boost industry together with infrastructure, in order to promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation in line with the ninth goal of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

As such, the organisation says it has invested more than $1 billion, building institutions in 45 countries on the African continent and supporting regional economic communities as well as continental organisations.

The SDGs were built on the eight anti-poverty targets that the world committed to achieving by 2015, dubbed the Millennium Development Goals.

Climate Action2016-05-042023-07-10

Jobs and Climate Asian Development Bank’s Top Priorities as it Turns 50

Analysis by Jaya Ramachandran

FRANKFURT (IDN) – Creating quality jobs, developing the private sector, and combating climate change to ensure a vibrant and sustainable Asia top the agenda of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) as it marks its fiftieth anniversary this year.

According to Bank President Takehiko Nakao, over the last decade, Asia has grown about 7% annually, even after the global financial crisis. This has supported global growth, he said in the opening address at the 49th Annual Meeting of ADB’s Board of Governors – for the first time held in Germany – from May 2 to 5.

China is expected to grow 6.5% this year, down from 6.9% last year, reflecting its transformation to a new growth model. The region as a whole is projected to grow by a robust 5.7% in 2016, said Nakao.

India, with projected growth of 7.4%, is now the fastest growing large economy. Indonesia is expected to grow 5.2% in 2016, higher than last year despite the negative impact from lower commodity prices. Bangladesh, Cambodia, Myanmar, the Philippines, and Viet Nam are gaining growth momentum backed by reform efforts.

Sustainable Industrialisation2016-05-032023-07-10

Growing Doubts About ‘Free Trade’ in the United States

Analysis by Martin Khor*

GENEVA (IDN | SOUTHVIEWS) – “Free trade” seems to be in deep trouble in the United States, with serious implications for the rest of the world. Opposition to free trade or trade agreements emerged as a big theme among the leading American presidential candidates.

Donald Trump attacked cheap imports especially from China and threatened to raise tariffs. Hillary Clinton criticised the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) which she once championed, and Bernie Sanders’ opposition to free trade agreements (FTAs) helped him win in many states before the New York primary.

That trade became such a hot topic in the campaigns reflects a strong anti-free trade sentiment on the ground. Almost six million jobs were lost in the U.S. manufacturing sector from 1999 to 2011.

Wages have remained stagnant while the incomes of the top one per cent of Americans have shot up. Rightly or wrongly, many Americans blame these problems on U.S. trade policy and FTAs.

Affordable Clean Energy2016-05-012023-07-10

Art Exhibition Highlights Regional Bank’s Commitment to ‘Lighting Africa’

By Ronald Joshua

JOHANNESBURG | ABIDJAN (IDN) – When Akinwumi Adesina took over as the President of the African Development Bank in September 2015, he made no secret that lighting up and powering Africa would be one of his five priorities – one of the ‘High 5s’.

“Without electricity there is no future, no growth, no progress,” he said opening the exhibition, titled Lumières d’Afriques (‘African Lights’) on April 26 at the Donwahi Foundation for Contemporary Art in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, under the auspices of the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the African Artists for Development (AAD) Fund.

The exhibition, which is the world’s first in several respects, will run through June 6 before going to Dakar, London, Washington, among other places. It comprises 54 works created by 54 world-renowned contemporary African artists, one for each of the 54 countries that make up the continent, united around the same source of inspiration: The illuminated Africa.

Gender Equality2016-04-292023-07-10

Adolescent Girls in Bangladesh Defend Right to Learning

News Feature by Naimul Haq

COX’S BAZAR | Bangladesh (IDN) – Many young girls drop out from schools in Bangladesh largely due to poverty and poverty related causes. But strong motivations for continuing education have changed the scenario over the past few years.

Despite the practices of patriarchy and traditional beliefs against girls’ education and employment in mostly poor families in the rural areas, adolescent girls in many regions of Bangladesh have demonstrated how defying such traditions can actually benefit their lives.

Shonglap – or dialogue that calls for capacity building or developing occupational skills and offers livelihood opportunities for marginalised groups of people in the society – has made a positive impact encouraging them to learn.

Ummey Salma, who quit school in 2011 due to extreme poverty, has joined Shonglap in South Delpara of Khurushkul in coastal Cox’s Bazar district. In a group of 29 adolescent girls, Ummey, who lost her father in 2009, has been playing a leading role among the girls who meet six-days a week in the Shonglap session held at a rented thatched home in suburb Delpara.

DEVNET2016-04-262023-07-10

Building an Efficient Asian Network for Disaster Risk Reduction

Viewpoint by Toshiaki Kitazato*

TOKYO (IDN) – In the January 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake, Kobe City – with its population of 1.5 million – was hit hardest by strong tremors. Nearly 6,500 people lost their lives

Eighteen years later, Japan suffered a great disaster yet again, followed by the massive tsunami caused by the earthquake in deep sea crusts in the Pacific Ocean on March 11, 2013. The East Japan Great Earthquake Disaster not only caused more than 20,000 death casualties but also destroyed the nuclear power plant buildings in Fukushima.

In Indonesia, great tsunamis were generated by the Sumatra earthquake in 2004 that recorded more than 220,000 death casualties in total in Thailand, Sri Lanka, India etc. Four years later, more than 87,000 people were killed by a devastating earthquake in Sichuan province of China. SPANISH | GERMAN | HINDI | JAPANESE

Climate Action2016-04-192023-07-10

Environmental Fund Taps Six for Major ‘Green Prize’

NEW YORK (IDN | GIN) – Once the ancestral land of pastoralists and hunter-gatherers, the Tarangire national park in Tanzania found itself in the crosshairs of tourist developers carving up the wilderness for fancy lodges, luxury tents and other rich tourist amenities.

Lands once shared with the wildebeest, the zebra, and majestic old baobab trees were being “grabbed” by government or companies, without compensation to the Masaai and Hadzaba who resided there.

As countries around the world prepared to mark Earth Day on April 22, the Goldman Environmental Foundation honoured six grassroots leaders including Edward Loure of Tanzania for defending lands at risk from profit-seeking developers.

Global Partnerships2016-04-162023-07-10

Achieving UN Goal of Development Aid Remains an Uphill Task

Analysis by Jaya Ramachandran

PARIS | NEW YORK (IDN) – Revitalizing the global partnership is Goal 17 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – adopted by world leaders in September 2015 at an historic Summit at the UN headquarters in New York.

It urges developed countries to implement fully their official development assistance (ODA) commitments, including the commitment to achieve the target of 0.7 per cent of the Gross National Income (GNI) given as ODA to developing countries and 0.15 to 0.20 per cent to least developed countries.

“ODA providers are encouraged to consider setting a target to provide at least 0.20 per cent of ODA/GNI to least developed countries,” says one of the Goal 17 targets endorsed by the world leaders.