By Busani Bafana
BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe, Oct 15 2024 – High levels of hunger will continue for another 136 years in many developing countries, according to a new report assessing global hunger.

The report, the 2024 Global Hunger Index (GHI), paints a grim picture, predicting that global hunger levels will remain high for another century. If more progress is not made to end hunger, it will continue to reverse many development gains. The report blames the combined crises of conflict, climate change, high food prices and mounting debt, all of which are denying billions of people the right to adequate food. 

Hunger Here To Stay

Published by Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe, on October 10, 2024, the GHI reveals that at least 64 countries are unlikely to reach low hunger levels until 2160 if the current pace of change continues.

Hunger is at serious or alarming levels in 42 countries, with conflicts exacerbating food crises in places like Gaza and Sudan, where famine is already present in North Darfur, the report found.

Now in its 19th year, the GHI ranks countries based on recorded levels of undernourishment, child stunting, child wasting and child mortality. Of the 136 countries examined, 36 face serious hunger levels, while six at the bottom of the index—Somalia, Yemen, Chad, Madagascar, Burundi, and South Sudan—have alarming hunger levels. In 2023 alone, 281.6 million people in 59 countries and territories faced crisis-level or acute food insecurity, including Gaza, Sudan, Haiti and Burkina Faso.

The report warns that the chances of meeting the UN’s goal of zero hunger by 2030 are grim.

Concern Worldwide’s Chief Executive, David Regan, described the situation as disappointing that the 2030 goal was now out of reach.

“Our response should be to redouble our efforts to regain momentum,” Regan told IPS. “We need global action to tackle hunger.”

Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia are the regions most affected by hunger. According to the GHI, about 22 countries in Africa are facing serious hunger levels.  Of the top ten countries cited for having serious to alarming hunger levels, five are in Africa.

David Regan, Chief Executive, Concern Worldwide. Credit: Concern worldwide

Conflict, Climate Change and High Debt Fuel Hunger

Large-scale armed conflicts, climate change, high food prices, market disruptions, economic downturns, and debt crises in many low- and middle-income countries have combined to complicate efforts to reduce hunger, the report found.

“Conflict can only be resolved where the external stakeholders that are typically fueling the conflict, step away from using conflict to acquire the resources or to increase the instability of the most fragile states,” Regan told IPS. “Climate change will not stop until those responsible for the largest emissions reduce them. It is not possible to say that the human right to food is being respected globally when powerful nations are clearly not playing their role in addressing its causes.”

Regan criticized wealthy nations for not playing their part in addressing global hunger, stating that while they have not turned their backs on the issue, political  interest in solving hunger has waned in recent years.

The report further notes that more than 115 million people globally are internally displaced—some have been forced to migrate as a result of persecution, conflict violence and many more displaced by weather-related disasters.

The wars in Gaza and Sudan have led to exceptional food crises, the report stated, flagging rising inequality between and within countries.  Although extreme poverty in middle-income countries has decreased, income inequality remains persistently high, and poverty in the poorest countries is worse than before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gender Equality, Key to Food Security

The report also draws attention to the link between gender inequality, food insecurity, and climate change, noting that these factors combined have put communities and countries under extreme stress.

FAO Director-General QU Dongyu delivers his speech during the opening session of 29th Session of the Committee on Agriculture. Credit: FAO/Cristiano Minichiello

“Governments must invest in and promote gender equality and climate change and recognize and deliver on the right to food so that all people are assured the right to food,” Regan said.

Ahead of World Food Day, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has echoed the call for swift action to eliminate hunger and ensure everyone has access to safe, nutritious food.

The World Food Day is being marked under the theme Right to food for a better life and a better future, which underscores the urgency to provide varied and healthy food to all.

FAO Director General Qu Dongyu noted that 730 million people are facing hunger due to the global challenges caused by man-made and natural disasters. Besides, more than 2.8 billion people in the world cannot afford a healthy diet.

“There is no time to lose, we must take immediate action, we must act together,” Dongyu urged, reiterating that the right to food is a basic human right.

IPS UN Bureau Report

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By Anis Chowdhury
SYDNEY, Oct 15 2024 – Climate justice recognizes differential impacts of climate crisis between rich and poor, women and men, and older and younger generations. The UN Secretary-General António Guterres emphasized, “as is always the case, the poor and vulnerable are the first to suffer and the worst hit.” However, all people should have the agency to live life with dignity. Thus, climate justice looks at the climate crisis through a human rights lens.

Anis Chowdhury

Climate justice also recognizes that while “no country is immune”, impacts vary between rich and poor countries. And poor countries, lacking means to handle, are the worst sufferers, even though they contribute least to the crisis. This unfairness highlights unequal historical responsibility that countries bear in relation to the climate crisis.

Thus, climate justice synthesizes the recognition of rights and differentiated impacts. It asserts that every individual and country have the right to development, and the countries, businesses, and people that have become wealthy from emitting large amounts of greenhouse gases have a responsibility to help those affected by climate change, particularly the most vulnerable countries and communities, who often are the ones that have contributed the least to the crisis.

Differentiated contributions and impacts
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports that between 2010 and 2020 human mortality from floods, droughts, and storms was 15 times higher in highly vulnerable regions. The IPCC also finds that globally, the 10% of households with the highest per capita emissions contribute 34–45% of global household greenhouse gas emissions, while the bottom 50% contribute 13–15%. It warns, children and young people today will bear the full force of climate change impacts as they advance through life even though they have not contributed to the climate crisis in a significant way.

The World Bank estimates that only one-tenth of the world’s greenhouse gases are emitted by 74 lowest income countries (LICs), but they will be most affected by the effects of climate change. The World Bank also finds that compared to the 1980s, these LICs have already experienced approximately 8 times as many natural disasters in the past 10 years. It warns, by 2050, unchecked climate change might force more than 200 million people to migrate within their own countries, pushing up to 130 million people into poverty and unravelling decades of hard-won development achievements.

Within the same country, the impacts of climate change may be felt unevenly due to structural inequalities based on race, ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status. For example, women are more severely affected; people with disabilities are at increased risk, including threats to their health, food security, access to water energy, and sanitation, and livelihoods; and Indigenous Peoples are facing increasing threats and risks to their lives, livelihoods, and traditional knowledge.

Six dimensions of justice
Climate justice “insists on a shift from a discourse on greenhouse gases and melting ice caps into a civil rights movement with the people and communities most vulnerable to climate impacts at its heart,” said Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland and former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Thus, climate justice encompasses ideas of fairness, equity, and ethical responsibility. It goes beyond simply mitigating carbon emissions; and delves into the distribution of climate impacts, the participation of marginalized communities in decision-making, and the recognition of diverse perspectives and experiences related to climate change.

A survey of Australian environmental groups reveals 6 dimensions of climate justice – distributive justice, procedural justice, recognition justice, relational justice, inter-generational justice and transformative justice.

Distributive justice emphasizes that some countries and communities disproportionately bear the brunt of climate change and its costs. Procedural justice calls for the inclusion of impacted countries and communities in decision-making processes.

Relational justice highlights the importance of fostering collaborative relationships between countries, groups and communities to advance climate justice. Fair, equal and respectful relationships are seen as essential in developing equitable climate change responses.

Intergenerational justice expresses concerns about the impacts of climate change on future generations. Protests by hundreds of thousands of schoolchildren highlight the intergenerational injustice of climate change. They demand world leaders to act now to save the planet and their future.

Transformative justice focuses on social and institutional inequalities that drive and perpetuate climate change. Some argue that addressing climate justice requires a fundamental shift away from the capitalist global economic system. Others argue for fair transition to a low-carbon world while creating jobs and driving more rapid and inclusive economic growth.

Climate justice highlights the over-arching principle, “Leve No One Behind”, of the UN Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Climate justice demands translating commitments into reality, enabling stronger and deeper collaboration, and facing up to the greatest challenge of our times.

As Mary Robinson emphasized, “by working together we can create a better future for present and future generations”.

Failed commitments widen trust deficits
Sadly, as Oxfam draws attention, Rich countries’ continued failure to honour their US$100 billon climate finance promise – made at the 2009 Copenhagen Climate Summit – threatens negotiations and undermines climate action. Oxfam also exposes the claim by the OECD – a rich country club – that “Developed countries materially surpassed their USD 100 billion climate finance commitment in 2022”.

Independent assessments by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and Overseas Development Institute (ODI) reveal that such exaggerated claim is due to flawed accounting systems. After adjusting data to eliminate double counting, produces smaller numbers than the OECD. The country-by-country breakdown of responsibility shows that very few are contributing enough.

Climate finance analysts criticized the quality of climate finance and the way the OECD calculates the figures. Harjeet Singh, a veteran climate justice activist, said the process of providing and accounting for climate finance “is riddled with ambiguity and inadequacies. Much of the funding is repackaged as loans rather than grants and is often intertwined with existing aid, blurring the lines of true financial assistance”.

Climate finance continues to be predominantly delivered as loans a large share of which has been non-concessional. This has added to debt pressures.

Developing countries remain frustrated and sceptical as they lost trust due to developed countries’ continued failure to meet their overall aid commitment of 0.7% of GNI agreed more than half a century ago.

Common, but differentiated responsibilities
The unmet US$100 billion commitment will expire in 2025, anyway. The US$100 billion goal is a fraction of what is needed to support developing countries to achieve climate goals of the Paris Agreement.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change finds that developing countries will require at least US$6 trillion by 2030 to meet less than half of their existing Nationally Determined Contributions.

As UNCTAD highlights, developing countries face the double challenge of simultaneously investing in development and in climate mitigation and adaptation, while addressing the costs of loss and damage.

The scale of this challenge is staggering when close to 900 million people in the world do not have access to electricity, and more than 4 billion people do not have a social safety net they can rely on.

This challenge can only be met by truly upholding “common, but differentiated responsibilities”. That is, when rich countries and communities recognize their non-immunity and respect the development rights of poor countries and vulnerable communities. Only then will a new spirit of cooperation usher in to establish climate justice.

IPS UN Bureau

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Excerpt:

By CIVICUS
Oct 15 2024 –  
CIVICUS discusses Afghanistan’s system of gender apartheid with Shaharzad Akbar, Executive Director of Rawadari, a human rights organisation founded by Afghans in exile.

Since regaining power in August 2021, the Taliban have banned women from all education beyond primary school and most jobs. They don’t allow women to travel without a male guardian or be seen in public, with severe penalties for violations. A new law introduced in August 2024 further silenced women by literally banning them from being heard in public. This received widespread international condemnation. Afghan civil society, mostly in exile, continues to document human rights abuses, advocate with international allies and campaign for change.

Shaharzad Akbar

How much space is there for civil society to operate in Afghanistan under the Taliban?

Not much. Although there’s still some civic resistance, mainly led by women, the Taliban have dismantled almost all civic structures. They have disbanded student associations and teachers’ unions and severely restricted the space for civil society to operate.

Long before they took power, the Taliban targeted civil society activists, journalists and religious and tribal leaders who challenged their rules. But when they regained power in August 2021, they used state institutions to further restrict civic space. It was women who resisted: just one day after the Taliban seized Kabul, they took to the streets to demand their rights. Independent media cautiously tried to cover these protests, but journalists were beaten and tortured. By January 2022, the Taliban were arresting women protesters. Cases of arbitrary detention, torture and intimidation and enforced disappearances have only increased since then.

The Taliban repealed laws protecting journalists and civil society, increased censorship and used intimidation to silence independent media. Anyone who criticises their government, even if it’s a social media post questioning electricity cuts, is likely to receive a phone call from the Taliban’s intelligence agency ordering them to delete it and not to raise the issue again.

It’s now impossible to work openly on human rights or freedom of expression in Afghanistan. The Taliban shut down the organisation I headed, the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC). Other organisations working on cultural rights, peacebuilding and social issues have either changed their mandates or left.

How have the Taliban responded to women’s resistance?

When they returned to power, the Taliban were surprised to see women take to the streets against them. Given the Taliban’s violent past, many men didn’t dare protest. But women, who the Taliban underestimated because they saw them as weak, stood together and challenged them publicly.

At first they thought the protests would die down, but when this didn’t happen, they responded with increased violence, imprisoning and torturing women activists and targeting their families. They also launched a smear campaign accusing them of not being ‘authentic’ Afghan women. Since then, they’ve tried to impose the idea that Afghan women belong at home, fully covered and without any public aspirations.

Many repressive decrees followed. First, women were segregated from men in universities, then required to cover up even more and finally banned altogether from universities in December 2022. Restrictions on women’s work also increased over time: women were first restricted to the government health and education sectors and they were later banned from working for civil society organisations and the United Nations (UN). The result was a full-blown system of gender apartheid.

But women refused to be erased and found new ways to resist. Some have continued to protest publicly, even at great risk to their lives and those of their families. A notable example is a protester who was detained with her four-year-old son. Others have opted for more subtle forms of resistance, setting up clandestine schools and seeking education delivered via WhatsApp by Afghan diaspora and international educators. Women’s rights activists, both inside and outside Afghanistan, have formed advocacy networks that are very active in international and regional forums.

When was Rawadari founded and what does it do?

Rawadari was publicly launched in December 2022 by a group of exiled former AIHRC staff. We had been documenting human rights abuses for over a decade and were forced into exile when the Taliban came to power. We set up Rawadari because we felt it was important to continue monitoring and documenting the situation, and to counter the disinformation being spread by the Taliban.

Rawadari’s work focuses on three areas. The first is human rights monitoring. To date, we have published nine reports, available in English and Afghanistan’s two main languages, Dari and Pashto. We want to ensure they are accessible to both local and international audiences.

Our second area is advocacy, particularly on accountability and victim-centred justice. We regularly submit reports to the UN and push for the Taliban to be brought before the International Court of Justice and International Criminal Court. We also advocate for additional resources for the UN Special Rapporteur on Afghanistan and are exploring other mechanisms, such as the establishment of a people’s tribunal for Afghanistan.

The third focus of our work is to promote a culture of human rights. This is difficult because, being outside Afghanistan, we have to do it through social media campaigns and online discussions and events. But we try to keep the conversation going and build alliances within the human rights community and beyond.

How are you campaigning for women’s rights?

In June this year, it was 1,000 days since the Taliban banned girls from going to school. To raise awareness and keep the issue alive in people’s minds, we launched the Iqra campaign (‘read’ in Arabic). We worked with Musawer, an organisation led by the renowned Afghan poet Shafiqa Khpalwak.

As we couldn’t use video footage for security reasons, we asked girls to record a short audio clip about how the ban on education affected them. This wasn’t easy, because many girls don’t have their own phones and identifying them could put them at risk. But we managed to gather voices from across Afghanistan.

The campaign was a success because it centred the voices of Afghan girls from every corner of the country and brought them to the fore, and because it gained support from men and women. Girls spoke about the dreams they’ve lost, the friendships they miss and the depression and negative thoughts they battle every day. Some said they’d witnessed early marriages among their friends. They all appealed to the international community to support their right to education. Some clips reached thousands of people, and prominent Afghan singers, TV personalities and other celebrities amplified the message and called for the reopening of girls’ schools.

We’ve also recently worked with Femena, a regional organisation, to launch a campaign in response to the recent ban on women’s voices in public spaces. Afghan women, at great risk, began singing as a form of protest. To show solidarity, we asked people around the world to share a song, poem or message of support each week. So we continue working to make sure Afghan girls and women are heard and not forgotten.

What challenges do you face in your work?

One of the main obstacles we face is the complete closure of the physical spaces in which we used to work. We can’t hold programmes in schools, universities or mosques in Afghanistan, nor can we speak openly about human rights issues without putting people at serious risk. This severely limits our ability to have face-to-face conversations, which are crucial for mobilising support and building relationships.

Another major challenge is gathering and verifying information. In the past, when there was a violent attack, we would go to hospitals and other local facilities to get details. Now the Taliban have ordered these facilities not to share sensitive information. Families of victims and survivors are also often afraid to speak out, making it difficult for us to document serious violations such as disappearances. Even when we promise them full and strict confidentiality, families are too afraid to come forward.

It is also a challenge to protect our network in Afghanistan. Something as simple as compensating people for their communication or transportation costs could put them in danger. We can’t organise collective online training sessions because participants could reveal their identities to each other, increasing the risks.

On the advocacy front, our biggest challenge is the lack of political will. Afghanistan has largely fallen off the international agenda and many western countries, particularly the USA, are reluctant to get involved. There’s a general perception that Afghanistan is a failed intervention they want to move on from, which leads to a lack of investment in improving the situation, particularly in this election year. Global attention and resources have also shifted to other crises such as the war in Gaza.

This risks normalising the Taliban regime. Neighbouring countries, including China, Iran and the United Arab Emirates, are gradually developing relations with it. We fear that the Taliban regime, which is not yet officially recognised by any country, may eventually gain the international recognition it seeks despite its policy of gender apartheid.

What international support does Afghan civil society need?

Humanitarian aid is key to meeting immediate needs, but it doesn’t address the underlying problems. There is an urgent need to improve the economy, but the international community must find ways to do this without empowering the Taliban, who don’t really care about the wellbeing of Afghan people.

States must be careful to avoid actions that could be seen as accepting the Taliban’s repressive policies and lead to their normalisation. For example, when they engage diplomatically with the Taliban, they must include women and civil society representatives in their delegations. It’s not about stopping engagement with the Taliban; it’s about ensuring every interaction sends a strong message about the importance of human rights, and specifically women’s rights.

People around the world can also help by urging their governments to take a principled approach in their engagement with the Taliban, prioritise women’s rights, hold the Taliban accountable and support education programmes, scholarships and initiatives for Afghan women and girls. They can also support organisations that campaign for their rights.

Even simple acts of solidarity like singing a song and reading a poem in support of Afghan women, if done collectively, can keep the international spotlight on Afghanistan, give hope to women and girls in Afghanistan and therefore make a difference.

Get in touch with Rawadari through its website or Facebook and Instagram pages, follow @rawadari_org and @ShaharzadAkbar on Twitter, and contact Shaharzad on LinkedIn.

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By Oritro Karim
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 15 2024 – As Israel continues its siege on the southern borders of Lebanon, concerns among humanitarian organizations grow as the frequency of attacks rise. Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health reports that approximately 2,169 people have been killed and over 10,212 have been injured in the past year. Humanitarian Coordinator for Lebanon, Imran Riza, has described this conflict as one of the deadliest in recent memory.

This morning, the Lebanese Red Cross confirmed that an airstrike in northern Lebanon ordered by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) killed 18 people and left others with critical injuries. This attack took place in Aitou, which has a Christian-majority population. Prior to this, the IDF had only targeted southern regions of Lebanon in an effort to depose the Iran-backed militant group, Hezbollah.

On October 10, a barrage of airstrikes hit Beirut’s central district, one of the most populous in the country, without warning. This resulted in over 22 deaths and hundreds of people injured, marking the third significant attack on Beirut since September 23. Despite the IDF’s past claims that the attacks were only intended to target Hezbollah military operations, the recent hostilities have grown increasingly indiscriminate, targeting densely populated areas.

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) confirmed that numerous ambulances and hospitals had been affected, with health workers becoming part of the growing death toll.The World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed in a report last Friday that over 94 health workers have been killed since the start of this conflict. “The protection of civilians and healthcare is a legal and moral imperative that must be upheld. Attacks on health care cannot continue to be one of the defining marks of conflict in this region”, said Hanan Balkhy, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean.

In a statement last Sunday, the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) reported that two army tanks commissioned by the IDF forcibly entered Lebanon’s southern borders, destroying the main gate of a post in Ramyah. UN Secretary-General António Guterres criticized the IDF stating that attacks on UNIFIL and other peacekeeping entities constitute crimes of war. “UNIFIL personnel and its premises must never be targeted. Attacks against peacekeepers are in breach of international law, including international humanitarian law”, stated Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

UNIFIL responded to the IDF stating, “For the fourth time in as many days, we remind the IDF and all actors of their obligations to ensure the safety and security of UN personnel and property and to respect the inviolability of UN premises at all times”. They added that Israeli troops had impeded “critical” relief efforts in Meiss El Jabel.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, has been widely criticized by world leaders and humanitarian organizations for facilitating war crimes targeting civilians and aid workers. On October 5, French president Emmanuel Macron expressed concern that conditions in Lebanon would grow as dire as they are in Gaza. U.S. president Joe Biden has also voiced frustration in response to Netanyahu’s denial to secure a ceasefire and urged Israel to “minimize harm” to Lebanese civilians.

In response, Netanyahu stated that for any possibility of peace, Lebanon must purge itself of Hezbollah operations. “You have an opportunity to save Lebanon before it falls into the abyss of a long war that will lead to destruction and suffering like we see in Gaza”, said Netanyahu.

Conditions in Lebanon are expected to grow more dire in the coming winter months. According to Riza, approximately 80 percent of all displacement shelters in Lebanon are at full capacity, with the remainder of unhoused civilians taking refuge on the streets or in public centers, such as churches. Assessments are currently underway in an effort to gauge the needs of displaced persons who are not housed by shelters.

Despite continued hostilities and access challenges, the UN is currently delivering aid to affected communities wherever it can. The World Food Programme (WFP) has delivered over one million hot meals and 143,000 ready-to-eat kits to 440 displacement shelters. Additionally, WHO has delivered medical supplies for over 650 surgical procedures in six of the major hospitals in Beirut. UNICEF is working to provide clean drinking water, protection, hygiene resources, and psychosocial support.

Approximately 426 million dollars have been pledged by the UN for relief efforts in Lebanon for the next three months. OCHA reported that only 12 percent of the appeal had been funded, with only 51 million dollars having been raised so far. “With this wave of displacement, we see huge needs… the situation is devastating. Lebanon needs more support. What has been offered so far is minimal and does not match the needs. We hope that everybody will be able to scale up their capacity” , stated Othman Belbeisi, the International Organization for Migration’s (IOM) Middle East and North Africa director.

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