Sustainable Cities & Communities

Photo: The Port of Beirut eleven days after the disaster. The French amphibious assault ship Tonnerre is the large ship on the right, which arrived in the port on 13 August to provide food, construction materials, medical supplies, and personnel. CC BY-SA 4.0

People Are Leading Beirut's Recovery in the Absence of the State

Viewpoint by Aseel Naamani and Ruth Simpson*

This article was originally published on openDemocracy. Any views or opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of IDN-InDepth News.

BEIRUT (IDN) – Recent events in Lebanon tell a story of interwoven crises, culminating in the explosion in Beirut on August 4. To overcome the crisis in the long-term, recovery efforts must be participatory and take a bottom-up approach, based on communities’ needs, while protecting shared spaces and cultural heritage.

: Phil Harris; OPINION; 13 September 2020

Photo: The Senegalese-American RnB singer Akon has just announced the laying of the foundation stone for the construction of the green and futuristic Akon City in western Senegal. Source: Afrik21.

Senegal Sees Dollar Signs in New Construction Underway in Dakar

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK | DAKAR (IDN) – Can a fish and peanut-based economy ramp up to become a world-class industrial powerhouse when money is tight and oil discoveries may not bring the hoped-for rewards?

That’s the question for Senegalese people to consider as hopes placed in their president, Macky Sall, and his “Plan for an Emerging Senegal” sputter forward.

: THE WORLD; Africa; 07 September 2020

Photo: Members of a cooperative in Morocco meeting and planning their future (July 2020). Credit: High Atlas Foundation

Challenging the Dogma of Community Approach to Development

Viewpoint by Dr Yossef Ben-Meir

The writer is a sociologist and president of the High Atlas Foundation, a U.S.-Moroccan not-for-profit organization dedicated to sustainable development in Morocco.

MARRAKECH (IDN) – Systems devised to organize local community participation in development emerged more than 70 years ago as a means to address poverty by involving people in designing their own initiatives and activities. Today, the people-driven approach to development is widely considered a way to create sustainable projects to advance economic growth, education, and health.

: Africa & ME Editor; OPINION; 09 August 2020

After Downing Statues, Africans Turn to Change at Home

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – Africa has been pulling down statues for years – from Cecil Rhodes at the University of Cape Town to Britain's Queen Victoria in Kenya, to King Leopold of Belgium in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Now, change is moving ahead in Sudan, Gabon and other countries as the momentum for social and economic justice continues to grow. In Sudan, the country's highest governing body has ratified a law outlawing female genital mutilation (FGM) – three months after the cabinet approved amendments to the criminal code that would punish those who perform it.

: THE WORLD; Africa; 20 July 2020

Photo: Johannesburg, the largest and wealthiest city in South Africa. Source: Africa Facts.

Africa Can Still Be on the Top

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN) – Africa is suffering a double whammy after many years of success. The Coronavirus, while not taking down great numbers of people like in Europe, Asia and the Americas, has had a severe impact by curbing its exports in the face of the formers’ severe economic depression.

For example, flowers grown in Kenya and Ethiopia have been particularly hit. Kenya’s flower industry employs up to 70,00 people. Ethiopia’s horticulture provides 180,00 jobs. Kenya’s overnight exports of cut flowers to Europe have been worth almost 770,000 US dollars a year, up from 134 million in 2000. Now sales are on their way to rock-bottom.

: Jonathan Power; THE WORLD; Africa; 26 May 2020

Photo: The Kampala-Entebbe Expressway under construction, 17 February 2016. Source: The Coversation | Dai Kurokawa/EPA

Massive African Infrastructure Projects Often Hurt, Not Help, Local People

Viewpoint by Tom Goodfellow*

SHEFFIELD (IDN) – Big infrastructure projects are always controversial. Yet in parts of the world associated with severely deficient infrastructure, the positive value of major infrastructure investments is often taken as a given.

This assumption needs to be subjected to much greater scrutiny, as I argue in new research that explores the narrative of Africa’s “infrastructure gap” and why different bodies are rushing to “plug” it. The nature of the relationship between infrastructure and economic growth is already contested. Despite their tendency to produce a short term boom, there is evidence that big infrastructure investments can exacerbate economic fragility.

: Phil Harris; OPINION; 17 March 2020

Photo: The Government of Kenya, the UN and development partners receive a warm reception in West Pokot on 26 February 2020. Credit: UN

UN Supports Sustainable Development of Kenya's 'Last Frontier'

Viewpoint by Mohammed Simba Guleid

The writer is the CEO of the Frontier Counties of Kenya and the former Deputy Governor of Isiolo County.

NAIROBI (IDN) – The United Nations estimates that Sub-Saharan Africa loses 40 billion hours per year collecting water. In most of Kenya's water-scarce regions, this invariably involves an already poorly-nourished mother lugging a 20-kg jerrycan for about three hours every day under 40^o C temperatures – often carrying a baby on her back.

: Africa & ME Editor; THE WORLD; Africa; 01 March 2020

Photo: An arsenic-free water plant has been established in Sirajganj, Bangladesh, enabling students to access arsenic-free water. Previously, they had to rely on pond water, making them susceptible to disease. 5 May 2016. ©GMB Akashss

SDG 11 and the Crucible of Sustainable Development Success

Viewpoint by Jaffer Machano

The writer is Global Programme Manager, Municipal Investment Finance, United Nations Capital Development Fund. This article first appeared 18 February in UN Chronicle, a digital magazine of the United Nations, produced by the Department of Global Communications.

NEW YORK (IDN) — The lexicon of sustainable development includes an oft-used term: market failure. The term has been attributed to, and popularized by, a Hungarian-born economist who would eventually serve under United States President Lyndon Johnson before teaching at Harvard University—Francis Michel Bator.

: UN Bureau; SUSTAINABILITY; Sustainable Cities & Communities; 29 February 2020

Photo: The aftermath of the bushfires in Prospect Hill, Sydney (near Pemulwuy and Greystanes) in January 2020. CC BY-SA 4.0

Australia Battling Devastation Wrought by Worst Ever Bushfires

By Kalinga Seneviratne

SYDNEY (IDN) – Australia’s worst summer in living memory has burnt over 18 million hectares. The UN Environments Programme (UNEP) estimates that more than 5,900 buildings including over 2,800 homes have been destroyed as of mid-January. In addition to a death toll of 33 people so far, about one billion animals, and many more bats and insects, are likely to die in total over the coming weeks and months as a result of lost habitat and food sources, says UNEP.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 25 January 2020

Photo: An informal settlement in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti. Credit: UN-Habitat/Julius Mwelu.

UN Concerned About Haiti 10 Years Since Disastrous Earthquake

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – Hundreds of thousands of Haitians lost their lives, including 102 UN personnel, and millions were gravely affected by the devastating earthquake that struck the Caribbean nation ten years ago on January 12.

The incident ranks among the top 10 deadliest earthquakes in human history, according to a recent OCHA report. Nevertheless, $126 million humanitarian plan for Haiti, launched in February, was only 32 per cent funded.