Decent Work & Economic Growth

Photo: Dr Wim Naudé, Professor of Economics at the Department of Economics with the Cork University Business School in Ireland with the image of AfCFTA from African Union website.

African Free Trade Area Expected to Lift Millions out of Extreme Poverty and Boost Growth

By Busani Bafana

BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe (IDN) — The long-awaited African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)—set to be the world’s biggest free trade zone by size—which entered into force on January 1, 2021, promises a new era for African trade.

An Africa-wide free-trade pact could bolster the region’s income by $450 billion and lift 30 million people out of extreme poverty by 2035, if accompanied by significant policy reforms and trade-facilitation measures, according to the World Bank. When fully operational, the Free Trade area will create a market of 1.2 billion and drive a combined GDP of $2.5 trillion.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 06 April 2021

Photo: The jobless in Malaysia. Source: Malay Mail.

COVID-19 Pushes Millions into Destitution

By Jaya Ramachandran

GENEVA (IDN) — A once-in-a-century crisis—a Great Disruption unleashed by the COVID-19 pandemic—hit the world economy in 2020. The pandemic has reached every corner of the globe. Meanwhile, more than 120 million have been infected and close to 2.7 million people killed worldwide.

High unemployment and loss of income have pushed millions into destitution during the pandemic. The total number of people living in poverty is expected to have increased by 131 million in 2020 alone. As many as 797 million people will still be trapped in extreme poverty in 2030, representing a poverty headcount ratio of over 9 per cent.

: Jaya Ramachandran; UN INSIDER; 24 March 2021

Photo: Women Vision Workshop in Malawi. Source: Empower.

Development Needs to Come from The People

By Jones Ntaukira

KAPITA, Malawi (IDN) — Most development agencies fail because they don’t listen to the people and end up imposing projects on people. This is an important lesson I learned over 10 years working as a development worker here with Empower Malawi.

I joined the Empower Malawi team in 2010 as a fresh young graduate with no experience in development work. A scientist at heart, equipped with theories, hope and confidence amassed from the long lecture hours, I was eager to get down to work. I cared less where and how. I just wanted to work and enjoy myself.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; THE WORLD; Africa; 24 March 2021

Photo: A visual from a section of the Indian farmers' protests on 3 January 2021. CC BY-SA 4.0

India’s Farmers’ Protests Threaten to Overturn the Political Landscape

Viewpoint by Vijay Prashad*

NORTHAMPTON, Massachusetts (IDN) — For the past three months, Indian farmers and agricultural workers have been in the middle of a difficult struggle against the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Tens of thousands of them have gathered around the capital city of New Delhi; they say that they will not disband unless the government repeals three laws that negatively impact their ability to remain economically viable.

The government has shown no sign that it will withdraw these laws, which provide immense advantages to the large corporate houses that are close to Prime Minister Modi. The government’s attempt to crack down on the farmers and agricultural workers has altered the mood in the country: those who grow the food for the country are hard to depict as “terrorists” and as “anti-national.”

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 03 March 2021

Image credit: UN Economic Commission for Africa.

Time to Redouble Efforts for Economic Diversification in East Africa

By Devendra Kamarajan

NAIROBI (IDN) — When the COVID-19 pandemic crisis started, most people were extremely pessimistic. They thought that the region would drown in terms of trade declining catastrophically. But a new report reveals that the East Africa Community economies — Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda — have, by global standards, proven to be relatively resilient.

: Devendra Kamarajan; THE WORLD; Africa; 21 February 2021

Photo: In this photo from Friday, August 14, 2020, protesters supported by New Orleans Workers Group march in support of African asylum seekers — many of them from Cameroon -- who've been conducting hunger strike at the Pine Prairie ICE Procession Center in Evangeline Parish. (Photo by Jason Kerzinski) Source: Louisiana Illuminator

Deportation of Africans Cancelled After Reports of Torture by the US Immigration Service

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — A plane carrying Cameroonian, Angolan and Congolese asylum seekers due to take off from Alexandria, Louisiana, was cancelled with minutes to spare after advocacy groups published affidavits by detainees of torture by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.

The affidavits listed a host of violent tactics ICE officials had reportedly used to pressure the detainees to submit to their deportation. ICE agents were accused of choking, beating, and forcing the asylum seekers to agree to expulsion by threatening them placement in Covid-19 wards.

: SUSTAINABILITY; Decent Work & Economic Growth; 16 February 2021

Photo: Collage of pictures from Wikipedia Commons and NationofChange.

Chocolate Multinationals Collude with Mali’s Child Slavery Rings

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — A federal class-action suit filed on behalf of eight Malian citizens against Nestle SA, Cargill, Hershey and Mars, Inc. among others for their alleged complicity in the trafficking and forced labour of African children, is now under review by the US Supreme Court.

The plaintiffs are former child slaves trafficked from Mali to harvest cocoa beans in Côte d’Ivoire, the biggest exporter and producer.

: SUSTAINABILITY; Decent Work & Economic Growth; 15 February 2021

Image: Global Supply Chains. Source: PYMNTS.com

New German Law Seeks Corporate Accountability for Rights Violations in Global Supply Chains

An Important Step Towards Implementing UN Guidelines

By Rita Joshi

BERLIN (IDN) – After protracted negotiations, Germany's coalition government has announced an agreement on a German 'mandatory human rights due diligence law' focusing on corporate accountability for human rights violations in global supply chains. In doing, it has taken into account the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs). These also address the human rights risks and identify the human rights impact of their response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

: Rita Joshi; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 13 February 2021

Photo: Stuart Appelbaum, the president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU). Credit: RWDSU.

Behind Amazon's 'Most Aggressive Anti-Union Effort’

Viewpoint by Sonali Kolhatkar

Workers at one of Amazon’s warehouses are deciding whether or not to join a union. Amazon’s union-busting efforts indicate just how important the vote is, writes Sonali Kolhatkar. She is the founder, host and executive producer of “Rising Up With Sonali,” a television and radio show that airs on Free Speech TV and Pacifica stations. This article was produced by Economy for All, a project of the Independent Media Institute.