By Yasmine Sherif
NEW YORK, Nov 1 2024 – Africa has the youngest population in the world today. Around 40% of the population is 15 or younger. They have a non-negotiable right to an inclusive and continued quality education, just like young people everywhere across the globe.

As we celebrate Africa Youth Day – and the African Union year of education – we call on world leaders to substantially increase investments in education across the African continent. We can no longer leave them behind. It is time to put them at the forefront.

It is inconceivable that only one in ten children aged 10 in sub-Saharan Africa can read and comprehend a sentence. This is a distressing fact and cause for real alarm.

The potential of the children and adolescents of Africa is unlimited. I have seen their eagerness to learn, their gratitude for every opportunity and their powerful desire to get an education – from the Sahel to the Horn of Africa and beyond.

Sadly, another fact remains: the needs far exceed the financial resources available – especially on the frontlines of armed conflicts, forced displacement and climate change.

Fact is that we can collectively change this. Between 2000 and 2022 primary school completion rates across the region rose from 52% to 67%, and about half of students were able to complete lower secondary education, according to analysis by UNESCO.

In all 17 million young Africans are in university today, and more girls than ever before are able to attend school.

This progress, however, fails to present a full picture of education in Africa. “Of all regions, sub-Saharan Africa has the highest rates of education exclusion. Over one-fifth of children between the ages of about 6 and 11 are out of school, followed by one-third of youth between the ages of about 12 and 14. Almost 60% of youth between the ages of about 15 and 17 are not in school,” according to UNESCO.

Our collective support is now more urgent than ever. It is the smart thing to do for economic progress. It is the right thing to do for equality and equity. It is the least we can do for the people with such immense potentials and yearning to study, to become and to live a full life.

As the global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises within the United Nations, Education Cannot Wait (ECW) and our strategic partners are working tirelessly to create sustainable education and lifelong learning pathways for all of Africa’s children and youth.

According to our latest Annual Results Report, ECW investments reached over 900,000 children in East Africa with quality learning supports in 2023 alone. In West and Central Africa, we reached over 1.8 million!

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, young mothers like Meda are realizing their dreams of finishing school. In Chad, where the Sudan regional refugee crisis is straining budgets and resources, girls like Khadidja Abdoulaye are gaining valuable vocational skills in sewing, mechanics and gardening.

This is what collective support can achieve. It gives us a peek into what the African continent of young people can achieve – not just for themselves, but for all of us.

IPS UN Bureau

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Excerpt:

Africa Youth Day Statement by Education Cannot Wait Executive Director Yasmine Sherif

By Oritro Karim
UNITED NATIONS, Nov 1 2024 – The eastern region of Baalbek, Lebanon was believed to be a “safe zone” for residents, and refugees who had been displaced by the increased hostilities across the country. That changed on October 29, when an Israeli airstrike on the region resulted in over sixty casualties, including two children.

On October 30, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) issued a statement to the residents of Baalbek, warning them to evacuate before an intensive series of bombardments are set begin in that region. Prior to the attack, Baalbek was primarily exempt from violence from the IDF. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), 44,000 people sheltered in Baalbek after being displaced from other areas.

Humanitarian organizations fear that the recent hostilities in Baalbek signal a widening of Israel’s aerial campaign on Lebanon. “Under international humanitarian law, parties to the conflict must take all feasible precautions to avoid and minimize harm to civilians and civilian objects. Civilians must be protected at all times and wherever they are — whether they stay or whether they leave,” said Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General.

On October 28, a series of airstrikes on Tyre, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, destroyed significant civilian infrastructure and left over seventeen dead, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. A new report by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates that approximately 2,600 Lebanese civilians have been killed in the past year of fighting alone.

The Humanitarian Coordinator in Lebanon, Imran Riza, issued a statement to X (formerly known as Twitter), expressing concern for the future of Lebanon as a stable nation if this conflict continues to escalate. “Since Sunday (October 27), nearly 100 people have been killed or injured by airstrikes. Children live in constant fear, and the mental toll on communities is immeasurable. Countless people have lost their homes, their livelihoods, and their access to essential services such as healthcare,” he said.

These attacks on critical infrastructures in Lebanon have had far reaching implications. Repeated bombings on farms have not only increased the chances of contamination due to the IDF’s documented use of white phosphorus, but also devastated the national economy and exacerbated hunger levels.

“The problem is that we will not be able to continue, we will not be able to export our surplus, we will have depression in the market, prices will go down, the farmer won’t be able to sell as they want, we will have a very big problem,” said Mohamad Al Husseini, a farmer in south Lebanon.

According to figures from the World Food Programme (WFP), approximately 2.5 million Lebanese civilians are estimated to be acutely food insecure. “Having access to food is now a challenge for more than 50% of the population. We see people rummaging through garbage cans for food. Groups have formed on Facebook where people exchange clothes for diapers for their babies, others exchange their furniture, their children’s toys for a little money to eat. The situation is really dire,” says Bujar Hoxha, Country Director of CARE in Lebanon.

Frequent bombardments have also disrupted Lebanon’s primary irrigation systems, compromising access to clean drinking water for millions of Lebanese civilians. The Litani River, west of Baalbek, the main source of water and hydroelectricity for the entirety of Lebanon, has seen considerable damage to its irrigation system since the uptick of hostilities in September. “The ongoing hostilities have inflicted severe damage on Lebanon’s essential services, leaving hundreds of thousands without access to safe water and electricity.,” said Dr. Walid Fayyad, the minister of Energy and Water.

Humanitarian organizations have denounced Israel’s violations of international humanitarian law over the course of this conflict. The IDF’s use of white phosphorus has drawn significant criticism. White phosphorus – a highly toxic substance that causes incendiary reactions when exposed to oxygen – have been used in artillery fired from IDF weapons. Exposure to white phosphorus entails fires on civilian infrastructures as well as significant and lifelong chemical injuries on people.

In a press release, Human Rights Watch (HRW) states that: “Under international humanitarian law, the use of airburst white phosphorus is unlawfully indiscriminate in populated areas and otherwise does not meet the legal requirement to take all feasible precautions to avoid civilian harm”.

Additionally, attacks have grown increasingly indiscriminate, targeting both civilians and personnel affiliated with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

“What we are witnessing in Lebanon is a massive operation which strikes, heavy bombardments, obviously also with bombardments from the Hezbollah side, but that are causing a dramatic number of civilians being killed,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres.

UNIFIL has reported numerous instances of IDF personnel breaching their borders since September. On October 20, an IDF tank was observed firing at a UNIFIL watchtower, destroying two cameras and damaging the base. The Secretary-General has warned that attacks on peacekeepers constitute violations of international humanitarian law as well as war crimes.

IPS UN Bureau Report

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By Farhana Haque Rahman
NEW YORK, Nov 1 2024 – Standing high on the vertiginous edge of the future and looking down into a volcanic seething of approaching doom, it is a totally understandable desire to want to close your eyes, walk away and turn on the sports channel. If you have one.

Farhana Haque Rahman

Put the air-con on too. Last year was the hottest on human record, and the planetary average for 2024 is on course to rise even further.

Floods, heatwaves, wildfires, droughts and storms are already displacing millions of people across the world, and that is with average temperatures around 1.3 degrees centigrade above pre-industrial levels. Scientists estimate we are on a path to at least double that increase by 2100 although the Paris Agreement ‘goal’ is to stick within 1.5 degrees. The world’s annual emissions of greenhouse gases, CO2 and methane, have not even peaked yet.

But aren’t our global leaders and their vast complex of enablers – the financiers, corporates etc – holding their year-end climate crisis huddle to tackle all this? Yes, Azerbaijan’s hosting of COP29 in November means for the second year running a petro-state will be in charge of proceedings. Did you mention something about feeling alienated?

COP28 agreed vaguely last year on the need for the world to “transition away” from fossil fuels, the source of the great majority of emissions. COP29 has the main task of hardening up commitments, and agreeing on how richer countries will provide the trillions of dollars needed to help the “global south” tackle the crisis.

This new “global climate finance goal” is to come into play after 2025 and is supposed to replace the annual $100bn target set years ago that the developed world is already behind on.

Pre-COP discussions held in Bonn recently were a fraught affair. Much of the western world is already grappling with its own record high debt levels. Arguments broke out over how to define “climate finance”. The definition of “up-to-date” was also on the agenda.

Geo-politics are kicking in too. How was it, European delegates asked, that China with its space exploration program and massively expensive military development (as well as being the world’s largest emitter) is still able to cling to its ‘developing’ country status that allows it to benefit from the UN pot rather than contribute? Why don’t the fantastically rich Gulf states also contribute?

Quibbling over (admittedly meaningful) definitions does seem the contemporary equivalent of fiddling while Rome burns, a metaphor recalled by UN Secretary-General António Guterres on the eve of COP29.

“We’re playing with fire, but there can be no more playing for time. We’re out of time,” he said, commenting on research released by the UN Environmental Programme (UNEP) warning that the world is on course for a “catastrophic” temperature rise of more than 3C above pre-industrial levels. The world’s ability to remain within the target of 1.5C of global warming “will be gone within a few years” without rapid action, the UNEP stated.

“We are teetering on a planetary tight rope,” said Guterres. Is anyone watching?

The numbers are extreme but exist in plain sight – the world needs collectively to slash emissions by 42 per cent by 2030 and by 57 per cent by 2035 from 2019 levels, to keep within the 1.5C threshold, according to UNEP. Instead this year they will hit a new high, although the International Energy Agency’s latest annual review does predict an “imminent” peaking, possibly next year.

Although it can feel we are running hard just to slip even further down that burning precipice, the tectonic plates of energy trends are shifting however. The International Energy Agency pronounces encouragingly we are entering the ‘age of electricity’, driven by a surge in solar power.

Electricity generated from solar power alone is seen quadrupling between 2023 and 2030. Solar may overtake nuclear, hydro and wind by 2026, overtake gas in 2031 and then coal by 2033. Clean electricity is seen pushing coal power down by a third by 2035.

The direction of travel is clear, but it has come far too late and the pace is still far too slow. The good news is that plummeting costs of solar power – in part thanks to China – are enabling the global south to move much more rapidly towards clean energy and shun the siren calls of the corporate dinosaurs of fossil fuels.

But even before COP29 participants settle into their Baku conference seats on November 11, the knife-edge month will begin with that elephant in the ante-chamber – the US presidential election.

A victory for Donald Trump could lead (again) to US withdrawal from international climate action. Analysis by Carbon Brief researchers shows a return of Trump could lead to an additional four billion tonnes of US emissions by 2030 compared with Joe Biden’s existing plans. That’s equal to combined annual emissions of the EU and Japan.

That sense of deep malaise and alienation many of us feel about our planet’s existential crisis, exacerbated by horrendous conflict in the Middle East and Ukraine, seems to be shared by many US voters about their lot in life. Polls show a record share of three quarters of registered voters believe the next generation won’t be better off.

How can we change the messaging? Trump has channelled deep-seated anger and frustration towards his own blinkered and narcissistic ends. The purveyors of ‘hope’ have perpetuated decades of time lost. Can we accept – defiantly not passively – that this is going to be an epic struggle of many long hard battles? They may already be lost but we can recognize the glory in not giving up.

Farhana Haque Rahman is Senior Vice President of IPS Inter Press Service and Executive Director IPS Noram; she served as the elected Director General of IPS from 2015-2019. A journalist and communications expert, she is a former senior official of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and the International Fund for Agricultural Development.

IPS UN Bureau

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By Alon Ben-Meir
NEW YORK, Nov 1 2024 – The United Nations, established in 1945 at the end of World War II, has sadly virtually outlived its usefulness as it commemorated its 79th anniversary due to its failure to reform itself and adjust to the new world order following the collapse of the Soviet Union, which is significantly different from when the UN was established.

The UN’s mission, which is to promote peace and stability, has failed time and again, as many of the current violent conflicts, especially the Ukraine War and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, glaringly demonstrate.

As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy aptly put it when he asked during his address to the Security Council in 2022: “Where is the security that the Security Council needs to guarantee? … Where is the peace?”

Over the years, scholars and think tanks have offered reformist ideas to make the UN more adaptable and responsive to the changing world order. They have failed primarily because of how the UN was structured and the opposition of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) – the US, Russia, China, Britain, and France – to any significant reforms that could diminish their power.

Offering any comprehensive reforms to the UN is certainly beyond the scope of this column. However, there are some limited reforms that the UNSC can take, without a fundamental change in its structure, to enhance its effectiveness in maintaining global peace.

Before that, it is essential to point out some of the UN’s shortcomings to put into context the limited reforms that can be taken.

The UN Security Council’s structure
The UN Security Council’s structure, particularly the veto power held by its five permanent members, often leads to inaction. This power allows any one of these countries to block resolutions, even if there is broad international support. This has resulted in deadlocks on critical issues such as the Syrian Civil War, the Ukraine War, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The killings of civilians and the destruction of cities and towns, particularly by Israel and Russia, are devastating and continue unabated even through the UN and its humanitarian agencies. The International Criminal Court and UN human rights experts have repeatedly called on the Security Council to act. In these cases, the US and Russia’s adversarial relations prevented them from reaching solutions to mitigate these conflicts.

The composition of the Security Council does not reflect current global dynamics, leading to questions about its legitimacy and effectiveness. Calls for reform have been persistent but largely unaddressed due to the reluctance of current permanent members to alter a system that benefits them.

Only one-quarter of the global population is represented by the Security Council. Blocks of countries, including Muslim states, African nations, South American countries, and India, with over 1.3 billion people, are not represented in the SC.

Peacekeeping Constraints
The UN peacekeeping missions are often criticized for their limited mandates and resources. Peacekeepers are usually deployed in areas where there is no peace to keep, like Cyprus, Kosovo, and Western Sahara. They are generally not adequately equipped or have the authority to engage in violent operations.

This limitation is starkly evident in regions plagued by terrorism and violent extremism, including the Sahel region in Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the Central African Republic, where peacekeepers struggle to stabilize situations without adequate support from powerful nations. In addition, there is often a disconnect between UN mandates and local realities, which complicates peacekeeping efforts.

Peacekeepers may not be adequately trained or prepared to handle complex regional dynamics, leading to ineffective interventions.

Lack of Enforcement Mechanisms
The UN often lacks effective enforcement mechanisms for its resolutions. While the Security Council can theoretically impose sanctions or authorize military action, veto power and political considerations frequently prevent decisive actions. This allows countries that are committing crimes against humanity or engaged in war crimes to escape any punitive measures with impunity, even when imposed by the UNSC.

National Interests Over Global Peace
The interests of powerful member states often precede collective global security objectives. The major arms-exporting nations are also permanent members of the Security Council, creating conflicts of interest that undermine efforts to resolve disputes where these nations have strategic interests.

This is highly evident in the Israel-Hamas war and Russia-Ukraine wars, where the US, in particular, is providing massive military support. In this context, geopolitical rivalries among major powers hinder consensus on critical issues. For example, China and Russia often align against Western countries on various international matters, leading to a stalemate in effectively addressing conflicts.

Bureaucratic Inefficiencies
Slow bureaucratic processes and mismanagement frequently hamper the UN’s operations. These inefficiencies can delay critical humanitarian aid and other interventions necessary for maintaining peace. Addressing these issues would require substantial reforms, particularly within the Security Council, alongside a commitment from member states to prioritize global peace over national interests.

Reforms that Can Enhance Effectiveness of UN Operations
Given, however, the insurmountable difficulties in undertaking comprehensive reforms of the UN, it is still possible to reform the UNSC to enhance its effectiveness in maintaining global peace, which involves addressing several key issues. Here are several doable reforms that could rectify some of the problems.

Reform proposals include limiting the use of vetoes, particularly in cases involving mass atrocities or violations of international law. This could include requiring a supermajority for vetoes to be effective or mandating discussions in the General Assembly following a veto.

Regional Representation
Ensuring geographic balance and representation of diverse cultures and civilizations is crucial. This could involve creating regional seats that rotate among countries within a region, thereby enhancing representation without significantly increasing the number of permanent seats.

Strengthening the Role of the General Assembly
Enhancing the General Assembly’s role in peace and security matters could counterbalance Security Council paralysis. Initiatives like the “Uniting for Peace” resolution allow the General Assembly to act when the Security Council is deadlocked. Given the differing national interests and geopolitical considerations, consensus-building can still be achieved without necessarily compromising national interests.

Non-amendment Reforms
Reinterpreting existing UN Charter provisions may allow for more flexible responses to global crises without formal amendments. Such reforms could empower other UN bodies to act when the Security Council cannot.

Balancing Power Dynamics
Expanding membership while managing veto power requires careful negotiation to ensure new members do not exacerbate gridlock. There is also concern about maintaining the council’s effectiveness with an increased number of members.

Expansion of Membership
Increasing permanent and non-permanent members is a widely discussed reform. This expansion could include adding new permanent members without veto power, such as countries from underrepresented regions like Africa, Latin America, and Asia. The G4 nations (Brazil, Germany, India, and Japan) and African countries have been prominent candidates for permanent seats.

Although there is broad agreement on the need to reform the UNSC, achieving that involves piloting multifaceted geopolitical landscapes and balancing various national interests. That said, incremental changes, especially those not requiring formal amendments to the UN charter, may offer a feasible path forward.

If the UNSC does not adopt some of these reforms, the UN will virtually outlive its usefulness, especially in the area of conflict resolution, where the daily horrific death and destruction around the world attests to its dismal failures.

Dr. Alon Ben-Meir is a retired professor of international relations, most recently at the Center for Global Affairs at New York University (NYU). He taught courses on international negotiation and Middle Eastern studies.

IPS UN Bureau

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By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Nov 1 2024 – The United Nations continues to be virtually paralyzed – and remains politically impotent amidst two raging conflicts—as Russia and Israel keep defying the world body.

The killings of civilians and the destruction of cities, particularly by Israel, are devastating and continue despite repeated warnings from the UN, its humanitarian agencies, the International Criminal Court (ICC), UN human right experts and the Security Council.

Which prompts the question: has the UN outlived its usefulness –even as it commemorated its 79th anniversary on the annual UN Day on October 24?

The United Nations, which has failed to help resolve some of the world’s ongoing and longstanding civil wars and military conflicts—including Palestine, Afghanistan, Yemen, Western Sahara, Myanmar, Syria, and most recently, Ukraine—was challenged by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during his address to the Security Council last April.

And he rightly asked: “Where is the peace that the United Nations was created to guarantee? And where is the security that the Security Council was supposed to guarantee?

The repeated US calls for a ceasefire by Israel have fallen on deaf ears—even as violations of the UN Charter continue with accusations of war crimes and genocide in Gaza since October 7 last year.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, an Asian diplomat, was right on target, when he told IPS the countries that violate the UN charter and commit war crimes are “rogue nations” and should be driven out of the world body.

But that will never happen with a Security Council empowered with vetoes.

Sarah Leah Whitson, Executive Director, Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN) told IPS the UN Security Council has served as the principal obstacle to global peace and security, hindering rather than helping efforts to end conflicts around the world.

Both the United States and Russia have used their veto power to ensure the wars they support, whether Russia’s conflicts in Ukraine and Syria, or the US supported wars in Gaza, Lebanon and Yemen, continue.

Without ending the veto power of these two global powers that are fomenting the worst conflicts in the world, the UN will continue to be a toothless and discredited institution, Whitson declared.

Dr Ramzy Baroud, a journalist and Editor of The Palestine Chronicle, told IPS the question of whether the United Nations has outlived its usefulness or not, depends on how we choose to comprehend the initial formation and the original purpose of the organization.

“If we believe, and many rightly do, that the UN was formed to protect the interests of those who emerged victorious following the devastation of WWII, then, largely it has succeeded in its mission.”

Indeed, the UN, especially its executive branch, the Security Council, has mainly reflected the balances of global power, which, until recently, was mostly titled in favor of the US and its western allies, he said.

Though this is somewhat changing, he pointed out, the US continues to prove that it is still capable of being a major obstacle before allowing the institution to serve even a nominal role in imposing international and humanitarian laws on guilty parties, the likes of Israel.

“However, if we subscribe to the misconception that the UN existed as a global guarantor of peace through the generation and implementation of international laws, then there is no question it has miserably failed”, he declared.

Responding to a question at a press briefing early October, UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said: “Well, when people talk about the failures of the UN, my question back to you is, which UN are you speaking about?”

“Are you speaking about the inability of the Security Council to come together on critical issues? Are you speaking about Member States not respecting and not implementing resolutions? Are you speaking about Member States not upholding the rulings of the International Court of Justice, which every Member State has signed up to?”

And are you speaking about the Secretary-General feeling that you think he’s not doing enough or his humanitarians are not doing enough? So, I think those types of questions are extremely valid, but I think one has to examine which part of the organization you’re speaking about,” said Dujarric.

On the margins of the BRICS Summit in Kazan on October 24, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres met with Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation and reiterated his position that the Russian invasion of Ukraine was “in violation of the United Nations Charter and international law.”

But Russia’s response went unannounced—even as violations continue.

Responding to a question at a press conference in Colombia on October 29, Guterres said: “We need peace among ourselves. That is the reason I’ve been asking, in line with the Charter, in line with international law, and in line with the General Assembly resolutions.”

“That is why we have been asking for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, releasing all hostages and massive humanitarian aid to Gaza. That is why we have been asking for peace in Lebanon and peace that respects Lebanese sovereignty and Lebanese territorial integrity and paves the way for a political solution”.

“That is why we have been asking for peace in Sudan, where an enormous tragedy exists,” Guterres said.

Perhaps these are appeals that will continue to remain unanswered.

Elaborating further, Dr Baroud told IPS what is particularly exasperating is that despite its obvious failures, the UN continues to carry on as if it served any other purpose aside from mirroring the existing imbalances of power around the world, and as a publicity platform for the US, Israel and others, who violate international law with complete impunity.

The UN was formed following the atrocities of WWII. Now, it stands completely useless in its inability to stop similar atrocities in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon. There is no moral, let alone rational justification of why the UN in its current form should continue to exist, he argued.

Now that the Global South is finally rising with its own political, economic and legal initiatives, it is time for these new bodies to either offer a complete alternative to the UN or push for serious and irreversible reforms at the currently ineffectual organization, said Dr. Baroud, a Non-resident Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA). www.ramzybaroud.net

In an oped piece for IPS Dr. Alon Ben-Meir, a retired professor of international relations, most recently at the Center for Global Affairs at New York University (NYU), pointed out that the UN Security Council’s structure, particularly the veto power held by its five permanent members, often leads to inaction.

This power allows any one of these countries to block resolutions, even if there is broad international support. This has resulted in deadlocks on critical issues such as the Syrian Civil War, the Ukraine War, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, he said.

“The killings of civilians and the destruction of cities and towns, particularly by Israel and Russia, are devastating and continue unabated even through the UN and its humanitarian agencies.”

The International Criminal Court and UN human rights experts have repeatedly called on the Security Council to act. In these cases, the US and Russia’s adversarial relations prevented them from reaching solutions to mitigate these conflicts, he pointed out.

Although there is broad agreement on the need to reform the UNSC, achieving that involves piloting multifaceted geopolitical landscapes and balancing various national interests.

That said, incremental changes, especially those not requiring formal amendments to the UN charter, may offer a feasible path forward, said Dr Ben-Meir, who has taught courses on international negotiation and Middle Eastern studies.

“If the UNSC does not adopt some of these reforms, the UN will virtually outlive its usefulness, especially in the area of conflict resolution, where the daily horrific death and destruction around the world attests to its dismal failures,” he declared.

Meanwhile, the UN’s declining role in geo-politics, however, has been compensated for, by its increasingly robust performance as a massive humanitarian relief organization.

These efforts are led by multiple UN agencies such as the World Food Program (WFP), the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN children’s fund UNICEF, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) , the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), among others.

These agencies, which have saved millions of lives, continue to provide food, medical care and shelter, to those trapped in war-ravaged countries, mostly in Asia, Africa and the Middle East, while following closely in the footsteps of international relief organizations, including Doctors Without Borders, Save the Children, international Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), CARE International, Action Against Hunger, World Vision and Relief Without Borders, among others.

https://www.ipsnews.net/2024/11/united-nations-outlived-usefulness/

IPS UN Bureau Report

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By Carlos Müller
MONTEIRO, Brazil, Nov 1 2024 – “Ixe! If it wasn’t for solar energy, we would have closed down, you can be sure. We had to stop due to the pandemic on 15 March 2020, but the energy costs were fixed,” said Erika Cazuza, administrative and financial manager of the Brazilian Cooperative of Rural Producers of Monteiro (Capribom).

Ixe is a word used in the Northeast region of Brazil, which means Virgin and reflects its deep-rooted religious culture.“The solar system caused a 90% reduction in energy costs, which guaranteed operations, even during the pandemic”: Fabricio de Souza Ferreira.

Monteiro, with just over 33,000 people, is a municipality in the driest part of the semi-arid ecoregion, with an area of 1.03 million square kilometres covering several states in the Northeast and a population of 27 million, where rainfall averages only about 600 millimetres per year.

The semi-arid region is also affected by severe droughts that can last for several years, as happened in 2012-2017 in most of the ecoregion. Located on a plateau, at an altitude of 600 metres, Monteiro has a pleasant climate in its 992 square kilometres.

Thanks largely to Capribom, Monteiro, where extensive livestock farming has been the main economic activity since the 18th century, has gone from ranking 126th in gross domestic product (GDP) to 14th among the municipalities of the state of Paraiba, of which it is the largest.

Erika Cazuza, administrative and financial manager of Capribom. Credit: Carlos Müller / IPS

When talking about solar energy, Cazuza was referring to the 316 panels and other photovoltaic generation equipment installed in 2018 on the roofs of the cooperative’s plant headquarters, in the district of Fazenda Morro Fechado, a transition zone between the rural area and the urban centre of Monteiro.

The investment was made with non-refundable resources from an International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) loan to the government of Paraíba, equivalent to US$62,970, with a counterpart of US$1,830 from the cooperative itself.

“The solar system caused a 90% reduction in energy costs, which guaranteed operations, even during the pandemic,” the cooperative’s president, Fabrício de Souza Ferreira, told IPS. These costs used to be as high as US$2,280 dollars a month.

Goats are better adapted to the semi-arid biome and family farmers have improved their herds by crossing rustic breeds with others that produce more meat and milk in this ecoregion of northeastern Brazil. Credit: Carlos Müller / IPS

Savings brought trucks

The savings enabled the purchase of a truck for distribution of products, which was previously carried out by hired transporters.

Now, the cooperative has six trucks for milk collection and product distribution (yoghurt, cheese, butter, dulce de leche, cottage cheese and others), which have grown from six to 20, with different flavours and presentations.

In recent years, the governments of the Northeastern states have been promoting the production and consumption of goat cheeses. Between 23 and 26 October, the Paraíba Cheese and Cachaça Salon was held in the Paraiba capital, João Pessoa. Capribom presented 12 products and all of them won medals: eight gold and four silver.

Capribom faced great difficulties when the covid-19 pandemic hit the region and the public procurement programmes for food from family farming were suspended for four months.

“Before the pandemic, we had 400 members, four of whom died. With the pandemic, the number of those still supplying milk dropped to 250 because we were still working and could not leave them stranded, although all our employees got sick,” said an emotional Ferreira.

What sustained production then was the supply of milk to the army and the emerging local private market. Deliveries to schools resumed after a few months. Despite the suspension of classes, students still picked up their processed meals.

As the pandemic passed, recovery was vigorous. Today, Capribom, founded in 2006, has 583 registered members and 80 members awaiting approval of their applications by the members’ assembly.

Solar energy enabled dramatic savings in electricity that allowed the Capribom dairy cooperative to buy its first truck. Now it has six trucks collecting milk from producers and distributing their dairy products. Credit: Carlos Müller / IPS

Increased production

In September this year, the dairy plant was processing 18,000 litres of milk per day, of which 12,000 were cow milk and 6,000 were goat milk. Some 15% was produced in three settlements (communities of farmers settled by the agrarian reform) in the region.

Before the pandemic, there were 10,000 litres in total, which in 2020 was reduced to 7,000, of which 3,000 were from goats, explained Ferreira during a tour of the plant.

Initially, the solar installation generated surplus energy, which was used in the milk coolers at the collection centres. The recent expansion required the installation of another 100 solar panels and related equipment, now with the cooperative’s own resources.

“We still have a deficit because the new machines, cooler, pasteuriser and yoghurt maker (3,000 litres) consume a lot of energy, but they have reduced losses. We will need 50 more”, said Ferreira, with satisfaction. Expanding production will require another cold room and more energy, he adds.

In fact, turnover has multiplied. Before the pandemic, Capribom sold the equivalent of two million litres a year; now it’s around seven million.

And the results directly benefit the cooperative’s members, who are guaranteed placement of their production and receive the equivalent of US$0.40 per litre delivered, while other buyers pay only US$0.32.

The president of the Capribom cooperative, Fabrício de Souza Ferreira, with milk treatment equipment. Credit: Carlos Müller / IPS

Capribom’s achievements do not only benefit its members. Although cooperatives in Brazil are exempt from some taxes, the agribusiness contributes around 25% of the revenue of the municipality of Monteiro.

In addition to tax benefits, Brazilian cooperatives have preferential treatment in public tenders.

This allows family farming cooperatives to place their products with stable prices and terms, but has bureaucratic drawbacks and relies on public policies.

Among these initiatives is the National School Feeding Programme (PNAE), which reaches 41 million students in public schools throughout the country, with resources from the federal government transferred to states and municipalities.

This is also the case of the Food Acquisition Programme, through which the government buys food produced by family farming and transfers it to public and welfare entities and so-called popular restaurants.

Public procurement used to absorb 90% of Capribom’s production, a percentage that is now down to 70%. Reducing dependence on government programmes and expanding its market are two of the cooperative’s objectives.

“With other family farming cooperatives, we created a central cooperative, called Nordestina, to jointly sell everything from dairy products to fruit pulp, tubers, free-range chickens and eggs, which allows us to reach more markets with reduced costs,” Ferreira said.

Wesley Cristyan Batista da Silva, a graduate in agroecology who has been working for two months on the evaluation of milk delivered by producers at the Capribom agroindustrial plant. Credit: Carlos Müller / IPS

Slaughterhouse recovery

The most important project for the end of 2024 is to put into operation the Goat and Sheep Slaughterhouse of Monteiro, located next to Capribom’s own slaughterhouse.

This agro-industry was built by the national government in 2000 and handed over to a consortium of municipalities. The management contract expired and the facilities were never put into operation. They were looted or became scrap metal.

“In the current government, technicians visited us and saw the potential. We negotiated with the state government and the mayor’s office. The national government passed the facilities to the state, which passed them on to the mayor’s office, and the mayor’s office gave Capribom a transfer of use,” Ferreira said.

The cooperative recovered part of the equipment. The government of Paraíba is acquiring new cold rooms and installing them on site.

With a capacity to slaughter 120 small animals daily (goats and sheep, and eventually pigs), the slaughterhouse will be the only one in Paraíba complying with the sanitary standards required by Brazilian legislation and will be able to participate in public procurement programmes.

Deboned cuts of sheep and goat meat will be sent to schools. Whole pieces will be sent to other entities, but Ferreira does not lose sight of the market for special cuts. “It’s a small market, but it’s a gourmet type market,” he explained.

Capribom has 50 employees, and another 30 will work in the slaughterhouse when it starts to operate normally.

According to administrative director Cazuza, 80% of the employees are children of the cooperative members.

This is the case of Wesley Cristyan Batista da Silva, who has a degree in agro-ecology and has been working for two months evaluating the milk delivered by the producers to the dairy and providing them with technical assistance.

Historically, young people from family farming emigrated from the semi-arid region due to a lack of study and work opportunities.

Da Silva is part of a different generation. He has a university degree and combines collaboration in the family property with employment in the cooperative. “Am I satisfied? Yes. It was what I wanted and what I intend to continue doing,” he told IPS confidently.