Les femmes dans les parlements : regard sur les 20 dernières années

. PARTICIPATION DÉMOCRATIQUE .

D’un rapport par L’Union Parlementaire

On a assisté au cours des vingt dernières années à une augmentation impressionnante de la proportion des femmes parlementaires dans le monde; la moyenne mondiale a presque doublé sur cette période et la quasi-totalité des régions ont réalisé des progrès substantiels vers l’objectif de 30 % de femmes à des postes de prise de décision.

parliamentarians

En 1995, les déléguées présentes à la quatrième Conférence mondiale de l’ONU sur les femmes ont signé, unanimement, le Programme d’action de Beijing. Celui-ci a été qualifié de « nouveau programme pour l’émancipation des femmes » avec pour mission de supprimer tous « les obstacles à la participation active des femmes à toutes les sphères de la vie publique et privée ».

Le programme fixait un objectif de 30 % de femmes aux postes de prise de décision, proposant une large palette de stratégies pour y parvenir, parmi lesquelles la discrimination positive, le débat public, la formation et le mentorat à l’intention de femmes leaders.

Au cours des 20 dernières années, les pays du monde ont enregistré des avancées substantielles dans la réalisation de cet objectif de 30 %. Au plan mondial, la moyenne de représentation des femmes dans les parlements nationaux a presque doublé, passant de 11,3 % en 1995 à 22,1 %

Au plan mondial

• La représentation moyenne des femmes dans les parlements du monde a presque doublé entre 1995 et 2015, passant de 11,3 % en 1995 à 22,1 % en 2015. Cette proportion a progressé dans près de 90 % des 174 pays pour lesquels des données sont disponibles pour ces deux années.

• Sur la même période, le nombre des chambres uniques ou basses comprenant plus de 30 % de femmes parlementaires a grimpé de 5 à 42 tandis que le nombre de celles comprenant plus de 40 % de femmes passait d’une seule à 13. En 2015, quatre chambres ont dépassé la barre des 50 %, l’une d’entre elles comprenant même plus de 60 % de femmes.

• Les pays en tête du classement se sont diversifiés : les 10 premiers, parmi lesquels figuraient huit pays européens en 1995, comprennent maintenant quatre pays en Afrique sub-saharienne et trois pays en Europe et trois pays sur le continent américain. . .

• Outre l’évolution des conditions politiques, un facteur a joué un rôle essentiel dans ces changements : la mise en place de quotas électoraux par sexe. Alors qu’ils ne concernaient qu’un petit nombre de pays en 1995, on en trouve dans plus de 120 pays en 2015. . .

L’influence des femmes au Parlement

Des travaux de recherche étayés par des entretiens avec des parlementaires hommes et femmes présentés dans l’enquête de l’UIP Egalité en politique, montrent que la présence des femmes a, de fait, imposé des changements dans les parlements. Des thèmes nouveaux, tels que la violence faite aux femmes ou la santé des femmes, sont désormais à l’ordre du jour : il n’est pas sûr que sans les femmes ces questions auraient reçu l’attention qu’elles méritent. Les femmes parlementaires contribuent aussi, au moins dans certains cas, à l’établissement d’un climat politique plus collaboratif, tant au sein des partis qu’entre eux. En outre, la présence de femmes met les autres femmes en confiance et les incite à prendre contact avec leurs représentant(e)s, ce qui renforce la communication et la responsabilité démocratiques.

(Cliquez ici pour une version anglaise de cet article.)

Latest Discussion

Women in parliaments. Do they enhance democratic communication and accountability?

Readers’ comments are invited on this question.

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Women in Parliament: 20 years in review

. DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION .

From a report by Inter-Parliamentary Union (excerpts)

The past 20 years have witnessed an impressive rise in the share of women in national parliaments around the world, with the global average nearly doubling during that time – and all regions making substantial progress towards the goal of 30 per cent women in decision making.

parliamentarians

In 1995, delegates to the United Nations (UN) Fourth World Conference on Women unanimously signed the Beijing Platform for Action. Described as a “new agenda for women’s empowerment,” its mission statement called for the removal of all “obstacles to women’s active participation in all spheres of public and private life”. The Platform set a 30 per cent target for women in decision-making, to be achieved through a wide range of strategies, including positive action, public debate, and training and mentoring for women as leaders.

Over the last 20 years, countries around the world have made substantial progress towards this 30 per cent goal. The global average of women in national parliaments has nearly doubled, from 11.3 per cent in 1995 to 22.1 per cent in 2015 (+10.8 points). 2014, however, saw little progress in the percentage of women in national parliaments worldwide, with the global average rising only by 0.3 points, begging the question: have we reached the glass ceiling?

Global highlights

• Worldwide, women’s average share of parliamentary membership nearly doubled between 1995 and 2015, from 11.3 per cent in 1995 to 22.1 per cent in 2015. Their share gained ground in almost 90 per cent of the 174 countries for which 1995 and 2015 data are available.

• Over the same period, the number of single and lower houses with more than 30 per cent women parliamentarians grew from five to 42, and those with more than 40 per cent from one to 13. By 2015, four houses of parliament surpassed the 50 per cent threshold, one moving beyond 60 per cent women parliamentarians.

• The world’s highest ranking countries have become more diverse: the top 10, dominated by eight European countries in 1995, now include four in Sub-Saharan Africa and three each in the Americas and Europe.

• Far fewer single and lower houses elect less than 10 per cent women, dropping from 109 in 1995 to 38 in 2015. The number of all-male single and lower houses fell from 10 to five.

• In addition to shifting political circumstances, a crucial factor driving these changes has been the adoption of electoral gender quotas, which have spread from a small number of States in 1995 to more than 120 in 2015.

• After notable increases in recent years, growth in women’s average share of parliaments worldwide levelled off in 2014, rising only 0.3 points to 22.1 per cent. Women won 2147 of the 10,265 seats up for election or renewal in 2014. .

The impact of women in parliament

Scholarly studies, supported by interviews with male and female parliamentarians in the IPU Equality in Politics survey, indicate that women’s presence has changed parliaments around the world in tangible ways. New issues like violence against women or women’s health concerns, which might not otherwise have received the attention they deserve, are making it onto the political agenda. Women in parliament also contribute, at least in some contexts, to a more collaborative political environment, both within and across parties. Their presence emboldens more women citizens to contact their representatives, enhancing democratic communication and accountability.

(Click here for a french version of this article.)

Latest Discussion

Women in parliaments. Do they enhance democratic communication and accountability?

Editor’s comment: The latest statistics on percentages of women in parliaments have been posted by IPU on their website. Here are the top fifteen:
Rwanda 63.8%
Bolivia 53.1%
Cuba 48.9%
Seychelles 43.8%
Sweden 43.6%
Senegal 42.7%
South Africa 41.9%
Ecuador 41.6%
Finland 41.5%
Iceland 41.3%
Namibia 41.3%
Nicaragua 41.3%
Spain 41.1%
Mozambique 39.6%
Norway 39.6%

The permanent members of the Security Council are far down the list:

36: United Kingdom 29.4%
44: France 26.2%
54: China 23.6%
71: United States 19.4%
95: Russian Federation 13.6%

Readers’ comments are invited on this question.

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, global

5 brave ways activists are fighting for LGBTI rights worldwide

… HUMAN RIGHTS …

An article by Azmina Dhrodia, Amnesty International (abridged)

Around the world, people face violent attacks and threats simply because of who they are or who they have sex with. But some brave activists are still standing up for their rights. To mark the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia (IDAHOT) on 17 May, we celebrate the courageous activism of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people worldwide.

lgbt
click on photo to enlarge

1. Pushing to end hate crimes in Greece

. . . On this international day of action, activists from Greece and around the world are using the hashtag #KostasZabi to send support to the couple on social media, and to tell the Greek government to end hate crimes and stand against homophobia and racism. Greek activists, including Kostas and Zabi, will organize a ‘kiss-in’ in front of Parliament to highlight their case and the situation for LGBTI people in the country.

2. Ending homophobic violence in Cameroon

In Cameroon same-sex sexual conduct is punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine, and LGBTI people suffer violence, police harassment and even arrest and detention. . .

In 2011, Stéphane, a 36-year old gay man, was dragged away from his house by a group of men, stripped, beaten and tortured for hours. Four years later, the men who attacked him have not faced justice. But that has not stopped Stéphane. “Today my fight is so that my younger brothers or my friends don’t suffer discrimination like this,” he tells us. “I am alive today and I want to be an example, a living example. I will keep telling my story for as long as I can.”

3. Standing up for LGBTI rights in Tajikistan

Across Central Asia, homophobia and transphobia is on the rise. Police blackmail gay men, threatening to ‘out’ them to family and colleagues unless they agree to pay a bribe. Lesbian women face violence and abuse from within their families, and may be forced to marry against their will.

One example is Komil, a gay man from Tajikistan who was kidnapped, tortured, beaten and humiliated by police, and was eventually forced to flee the country. “Can you understand spending your whole life hiding that you are gay just to stay alive?” he tells us. “I am not a politician. I am a simple person who just wants a tiny piece of his own happiness. That is all.” With the help of his friends, he is rebuilding his life, and now speaks out for LGBTI rights in the region.

4. Celebrating EuroPride in Latvia

Latvia will be the first post-Soviet country to host EuroPride – a Europe-wide event dedicated to promoting LGBTI rights. In 2015, the event also celebrates a decade since Riga held its first Pride event: when 70 activists marched for their rights in spite of threats of violence and hostility from several thousand protestors. . . .

5. Campaigning for transgender rights in Norway

John Jeanette Remø Solstad is a 65-year-old transgender Norwegian woman who wants to change her legal gender from ‘male’ to ‘female’. . . .

In April 2015, an expert group appointed by the Norwegian government stated that the current practice is a violation of fundamental human rights, and stressed the need for change. “this is everything I have dreamt of and hoped for,” she told us. “It was worth the fight. It took a long time, but when the results of our work finally came, it felt great.”

 

Question related to this article:

The struggle against homophobia, Is progress being made in your community?

It would seem from articles on CPNN that progress is being made in some communities. In particular this is true in the United States according to the article by Danny B and in Bulgaria according to the article by Diana Tashkova.

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Seed laws that criminalise farmers: resistance and fightback

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An article from Grain (abridged)

Seeds are under attack everywhere. Under corporate pressure, laws in many countries increasingly put limitations on what farmers can do with their seeds and with the seeds they buy. Seed saving, a thousand-year-old practice which forms the basis of farming, is fast becoming criminalised. What can we do about this? . . .

seedsClick on photo to enlarge
“No to seed privatisation… For a better world!” – Demonstration in Guatemala in defence of biodiversity and against control of seeds by industrial agriculture. (Photo: Raúl Zamora)

Social movements worldwide, especially peasant farmers organisations, have resisted and mobilised to prevent such laws being passed. In many parts of the world, the resistance continues and can even count some victories. To strengthen this movement, it is very important that as many people as possible, especially in the villages and rural communities that are most affected, understand these laws, their impacts and objectives, as well as the capacity of social movements to replace them with laws that protect peasants’ rights.

Today’s seed laws promoted by the industry are characterised by the following:

a) They are constantly evolving and becoming more aggressive. Through new waves of political and economic pressure – especially through so-called free trade agreements, bilateral investment treaties and regional integration initiatives – all the ‘soft’ forms of ownership rights over seeds were hardened and continue to be made more restrictive at a faster pace. Seed laws and plant variety rights are being revised again and again to adapt to the new demands of the seed and biotechnology industry.

b) Laws that grant property rights over seeds have been reinforced by other regulations that are supposed to ensure seed quality, market transparency, prevention of counterfeits, etc. These regulations include seed certification, marketing and sanitary rules. By means of these regulations, it becomes mandatory, for instance, for farmers to purchase or use only commercial seeds tailored for industrial farming. Or the regulations make it a crime to give seeds to your son or exchange them with a neighbour. As a result, seed fairs and exchanges – a growing form of resistance to control over seeds – are becoming illegal in more and more countries.

c) In strengthening privatisation, these laws have been disregarding basic principles of justice and freedom and directly violating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. These seed laws have imposed the rule that anyone accused of not respecting property rights over seeds is assumed to be guilty, thus violating the principle that people are innocent until proven guilty. In some cases, measures can be taken against accused wrongdoers without their being informed of the charges. These seed laws are even making it an obligation to report alleged transgressors; they are legalising searches and seizures of seeds on grounds of mere suspicion (even without a warrant) and allowing private agencies to conduct such checks.

d) These laws are being drafted in vague, incomprehensible and contradictory language, leaving much room for interpretation. In most cases, the laws are being moved through legislative chambers in secrecy or by means of international agreements that cannot be debated nationally or locally. . .

(Article continued on right side of page)

Question for this article:

What is the relation between movements for food sovereignty and the global movement for a culture of peace?

(Article continued from left side of page)

Experience shows that people do not want these laws, once the misinformation and secrecy used to push the laws through have been countered by information campaigns and mobilisation on the part of social organisations. Most people reject the idea that a company can take ownership of a plant variety and prohibit farmers from reproducing their seeds. They find it completely absurd. People also generally do not agree that the work that farmers do to feed the world should suddenly become a crime. Wherever resistance has been strong enough, the legal plunder embodied in these laws has been stopped. . .

Africa:

Ghana: students and trade unions join farmers to oppose a restrictive seed law

Mozambique: farmers resist by developing local seed systems

Niger: farmers’ victory against the piracy of a local onion

The Americas

Brazil: large-scale development of creole seeds

Chile: victory against the privatisation of seeds

Colombia: mass protests for farmers’ seeds and food sovereignty

Costa Rica: major mobilisations make UPOV a household name

Mexico: people struggle against GM maize

Venezuela: a bottom-up law to defend farmers’ seeds

Asia

India: defending seeds sovereignty

Filipino farmers continue to mobilise and protest, vowing that they will go on opposing the advance of GMOs.

South Korea: women farmers campaign for native seeds

Thailand: resisting free trade agreements in order to protect local seeds

Europe

Austria: fighting for legislation in favour of biodiversity and farmers’ rights

France: Associations and small enterprises working together have enabled several thousand French farmers to stop using industrial seeds for many of their crops. They have initiated ‘peasant seed houses’ where communities select, reproduce, and preserve peasant seeds collectively.

Germany: a victory for the defence of farm-based seeds and a campaign to save the “Linda” potato

Greece: the crisis brings peasant seeds back to the fields

Italy: Farmers are organising in direct production and consumption networks and gardening collectives. One of their goals is not to become dependent on the seed industry. Their seeds are exchanged locally through large yearly exchanges

global, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

MITEI Releases Report on The Future of Solar Energy

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

an article by Melissa Abraham, MITEI [Energy Initiative of Massachusetts Institute of Technology]

Solar energy holds the best potential for meeting humanity’s future long-term energy needs while cutting greenhouse gas emissions – but to realize this potential will require increased emphasis on developing lower-cost technologies and more effective deployment policy, says a comprehensive new study on The Future of Solar Energy released by The MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI).

solar
Click on image to enlarge
© Earth Policy Institute/Bloomberg

“Our objective has been to assess solar energy’s current and potential competitive position and to identify changes in US government policies that could more efficiently and effectively support its massive deployment over the long-term, which we view as necessary,” said Robert Armstrong, Director, MITEI.

The study’s chair, Richard Schmalensee, Howard W. Johnson Professor of Economics and Management Emeritus at the MIT Sloan School of Management, added “What the study shows is that our focus needs to shift toward new technologies and policies that have the potential to make solar a compelling economic option.”

The study group is presenting its findings to lawmakers and senior administration officials in Washington, D.C.

The Future of Solar Energy reflects on the technical, commercial and policy dimensions of solar energy today and makes recommendations to policymakers regarding more effective federal and state support for research and development, technology demonstration, and solar deployment.

Among its major themes is the need to prepare our electricity systems, both technically and from a regulatory standpoint, for very large-scale deployment of solar generation – which tends to vary unpredictably throughout the day. To this end, the study emphasizes the need for federal research and development support to advance low-cost, large-scale electricity storage technologies.

The analysis finds that today’s federal and state subsidy programs designed to encourage investment in solar systems should be reconsidered, to increase their cost-effectiveness, with greater emphasis on rewarding production of solar energy.

The group also recommends that state renewable portfolio standards, which are designed to increase generation of electricity from renewable resources, be brought under a unified national program that would reduce the cost of meeting set mandates by allowing unrestricted interstate trading of credits.

The study concludes by pointing to the urgent need for an ambitious and innovative approach to technology development, with federal research and development investment focused on new technologies and systems with the potential to deliver transformative system cost reductions.

The MIT “Future of…” studies are a series of multidisciplinary reports that examine the role various energy sources could play in meeting future energy demand under carbon dioxide emissions constraints. These comprehensive reports are written by multidisciplinary teams of MIT researchers. The research is informed by a distinguished external advisory committee.

For more information or a downloadable copy of The Future of Solar Energy study, click here.

(Thank you to Janet Hudgins, the CPNN reporter for this article.)

Question for this article:
global, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Inter-institutional link to promote a culture of peace between Ecuador and Peru

TOLERANCE AND SOLIDARITY .

An article from the Technical University of Loja (translated by CPNN)

Through the UNESCO Chair of Culture and Education for Peace, the Technical University (UTPL) and the Binational Development Plan for the Border Region have established an inter-institutional link for research, education, communication and culture to strengthen the culture of peace as a principle of the Ecuador-Peru binational relationship.

ecuador

Marking the agreement, the chair has organized a roundtable discussion: “The Ecuador-Peru border area integration and peace” on Thursday, May 7, at 10:00, at the Technical University of Loja, auditorium 5, Building 7. It will be attended by Vicente Rojas, executive director of the Binational Plan, Chapter Peru; Paola Inga, executive director of the Binational Plan, Chapter Ecuador; and professor Carlos Garcia of the UTPL.

The discussion group is to analyze and show the development opportunities in the area of ​​Ecuadorian-Peruvian border integration, based on a culture of peace and harmonious coexistence between man and the environment.

UTPL is responsible for the UNESCO Chair of Culture and Education for Peace. According to the agreement, activities will be established throughout the year for training processes for peaceful conflict resolution, international and bi-national encounters, academic events, and strengthening of binational organizational networks promoting social cohesion among Ecuadorians and Peruvians and meetings to ensure peaceful coexistence and good neighborliness.

The culture of peace is one of the three principles of the bilateral relationship between Ecuador and Peru and it is the main line of integration. The other two principles are humans as beginning and end, and Latin American integration.

(Click here for the original Spanish version of this article)

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Latin America, TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY

Ecuador-Perú: Vínculo interinstitucional encaminado al fomento de la cultura de paz

. . TOLERANCIA Y SOLIDARIDAD . .

un artículo de la Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja

A través de la Cátedra Unesco de Cultura y Educación para la Paz, la Universidad Técnica Particular (UTPL) y Plan Binacional de Desarrollo de la Región Fronteriza han establecido un vínculo interinstitucional para desde la investigación, educación, comunicación y cultura fortalecer la cultura de paz, como principio de la relación binacional Ecuador-Perú.

ecuador

En esta oportunidad la cátedra ha organizado el conversatorio: “La frontera Ecuador-Perú como zona de integración y paz”, el jueves 7 de mayo, a las 10:00, en la Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja, auditorio 5, edificio 7. Contará con la presencia de Vicente Rojas, director ejecutivo de Plan Binacional, capítulo Perú; Paola Inga, directora ejecutiva de Plan Binacional, capítulo Ecuador; y, el académico Carlos García, de la UTPL.

El conversatorio tiene como finalidad analizar y mostrar las oportunidades de desarrollo que tiene la zona de integración fronteriza ecuatoriana-peruana, basado en una cultura de paz y convivencia armónica entre el ser humano y las potencialidades que lo rodean.

La UTPL tiene a su cargo la Cátedra Unesco de Cultura y Educación para la Paz. Bajo el vínculo interinstitucional se han establecido actividades durante todo el año que se enmarcan en procesos de formación para resolución pacífica de conflictos, encuentros internacionales y binacionales, eventos académicos, y fortalecimiento de redes organizacionales binacionales que confluyan en la cohesión social entre ciudadanos ecuatorianos y peruanos, para garantizar una convivencia pacífica y buena vecindad.

La cultura de paz es uno de los tres principios de la relación binacional entre Ecuador y Perú, además es el eje que moviliza la integración. Los otros dos principios son el ser humano como principio y fin y, la integración latinoamericana.

(Clickear aquí para une version inglês de cet article)

Question for article
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African First Ladies elects Koroma as Patience Jonathan’s successor

. WOMEN’S EQUALITY .

an article from PM News of Nigeria

The African First Ladies Peace Mission (AFLPM), on Friday in Abuja, elected Mrs Sia Nyama Koroma, the First Lady of the Republic of Sierra Leone as its new President. The election was held at the emergency 8th summit of the organisation.

Koroma
Sia Nyama Koroma

Mrs Koroma, who was represented by Prof. Khadija Hamdi, the First Lady of the Saharawi Democratic Republic, pledged to ensure improved living conditions for the women and children of Africa.

The outgoing President of the Mission, Nigeria’s First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, while handing over to the new president, said she would continue to render her support to the organisation.

She then handed over the Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) of the land belonging to the organisation located in Abuja and the two bank accounts operated by Mission.

Mrs Jonathan commended the Mission for being in the vanguard of protecting the rights of women and children on the continent.

She explained that under her leadership, the organisation was guided by its objectives, including building the culture of peace and development in Africa.

She said that the Mission had offered support and services to victims of conflict and had used appropriate mechanisms and institutions to protect women and children in armed conflict countries.

According to her, the countries include Mali, Kenya, Guinea Bissau and the Saharawi Democratic Republic.

In his goodwill message, Prof. Nicholas Ada, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs I, lauded the achievements of the Mission under Nigeria’s First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan.

Recalling the euphoria that heralded the establishment of the organisation in 1995, Ada said it had justified its existence.

He said that the organisation had rendered assistance to people, especially women and children in conflict areas.

The minister urged the new AFLPM president to improve on the achievements of her predecessor and thanked the other first ladies for their contributions and support to Mrs Jonathan.

NAN reports that the AFLPM is an umbrella body of wives of African heads of state and governments .

It has the mandate to play a support role to the AU, regional organisations and national governments in fostering peace and mitigating conflicts on the continent.

Question for this article:

Can the women of Africa lead the continent to peace?

This question pertains to the following articles:

South Sudanese women take the lead in local peace building
Women take ownership of Great Lakes peace efforts
Les Femmes de Mali S'engagent pour la Paix
The Women of Mali Engage for Peace
Meet the Tanzanian Woman Who Said No to a Forced Marriage
International Women´s Day: Interview With Leymah Gbowee (Liberia)
Announcing: Women of Congo Speak Out!
Samba-Panza’s election represents a bright future for African women in politics
Nobel Women wrap up delegation to eastern Congo
Towards the creation of a network of women for a culture of peace in Africa
Meet Carine Novi Safari, Democratic Republic of Congo
Esther Abimiku Ibanga, Founder and president of The Women Without Walls Initiative to receive the Niwano Peace Prize
African Women's Journal: African Women in Power/Politics

Africa, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Smallholder farmers in focus as UN Rome agencies event zeroes in on financing

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An article by The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Ending hunger, achieving food security and improved nutrition, and promoting sustainable agriculture – SDG2 [Second Sustainable Development Goal of United Nations] – will require commitment and action at the national level, supported by engagement from the international community. That was the main message from a side event held in New York on 17 April on the margins of the Second drafting session of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD3).

sdg2

The panel discussion, organised by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP) – the Rome-based agencies of the United Nations, brought together multiple voices to explore the policies and investments needed to successfully implement SDG2 of the July 2014 proposal of the intergovernmental Open Working Group (OWG) of the UN General Assembly on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The event took place immediately ahead of a joint session (20-24 April) of the Financing for Development process and UNGA intergovernmental negotiations on the post-2015 development agenda, and less than three months before the FfD summit which takes place in Addis Ababa between 13 and 16 July.

Identifying investments that go beyond business as usual, financing mechanisms from a global partnership perspective and the challenges countries will face in financing SDG2 as an integrated package stood out among lively exchanges between panellists and participants from member states, civil society, the private sector and research institutions in the discussion chaired by Tekeda Alemu, Permanent Representative of Ethiopia to the United Nations.

“With the SDGs we have raised the level of ambition,” said keynote speaker George Wilfred Talbot, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Guyana to the United Nations, beginning his address. “I think it is absolutely imperative that we find the ways and means of addressing this challenge. Why? Because [hunger] is depriving hundreds of millions of people from the opportunity to fulfil their potential and to contribute to the progress of humanity.”

Mr Talbot, who is co-facilitator of the Financing for Development negotiations, said he and his colleague – Geir Pedersen, Permanent Representative of Norway – had flagged the SDG2 area as one requiring “special attention” in the process.

“In addressing the challenge of hunger and food insecurity, we are contributing to the potential for achieving other goals,” he said. “It is critical to poverty, as more than 75 percent of the poor live in rural areas and are heavily dependent on agriculture.

“One of the challenges we face is to transform the agriculture sector to make it viable and sustainable. We need to get youth to see a future in agriculture.”  

The relationship between SDG2 and other goals was picked up on by Susan Eckey, Minister Counsellor of the Permanent Mission of Norway to the United Nations, who focused on biodiversity, resilience, fisheries and gender equality.

“Agricultural biodiversity is critical to ensure the stability, resilience, nutrition and continuing evolution of farming and thus long-term food security and livelihoods for small-scale farmers,” she said.

(Article continued on right side of page)

Question for this article:

Can UN agencies help eradicate poverty in the world?

(Article continued from left side of page)

Guy Evers, Deputy Director of FAO’s Investment Centre, stated that the fight to eliminate poverty and hunger would be won or lost in rural areas.

“Despite significant rural to urban migration, extreme poverty is becoming more concentrated in rural areas, where there are lower levels of public and private investments, poorer infrastructure and fewer services targeted to the most vulnerable,” he said. “Growth in agriculture is more effective in reducing poverty than growth in other sectors. We need more and better investment in agriculture.”

FAO, he revealed, is updating a report that will include calculations of the level of investment needed to support the required expansion in food production for ending hunger by 2030.

While pointing out the importance of scaling up best practices, Josefina Stubbs, IFAD Associate Vice-President, highlighted the value of focusing on smallholders, who represent the biggest investors in agriculture. “Most of the food that people are consuming around the world comes from smallholder farms,” she said. “They are not the problem, but part of the solution. We see the need of smallholder farmers to have access to markets and to have access to credit.”

Amir Abdulla, WFP Deputy Executive Director, outlined the common vision the three Rome-based agencies share in “working together towards eliminating the root causes of hunger, poverty and malnutrition”.

“We stand united in the discussions and consultations that are going on around the means that are necessary to realise the new agenda,” he said before drawing attention to a Think-Piece contribution by the Rome-based agencies entitled Food Security, Nutrition, and Sustainable Agriculture at Centre Stage on the Road to the Addis Ababa Conference that had been circulated among the audience ahead of the event.

The Addis outcome is expected to have a significant bearing on means of implementation for the Post-2015 Development Agenda, which will be adopted at a Summit at Heads of State and Government level between 25 and 27 September 2015.

(Thank you to the Good News Agency for pointing out this article to us.)

global, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, United Nations,

Nonviolent Peaceforce in Ukraine

EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

An article by Nonviolent Peace Force

After multiple exploration missions that included several rounds of consultations with Ukrainian organizations, various stakeholders, and conflict-affected communities, Nonviolent Peaceforce (NP) was invited to Ukraine to introduce Unarmed Civilian Protection (UCP) methodologies to local civil society actors and their communities. In March, NP carried out a series of trainings on UCP for Ukrainian stakeholders in the ongoing conflict. Conducted alongside the Association for Middle Eastern Studies, this was the first time UCP principles had been introduced to Ukraine.

ukraine

In March of 2015,with generous support from the Human Rights Fund of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Ukraine, NP and AMES were able to introduce UCP to civil society in Ukraine for the first time, conducting a series of trainings for 40 participants. Trainings were held in two locations, Odessa and Kharkiv,with participants representingUkrainian civil society organizations, civilians in conflict-affected communities(as well border regions that have potential for escalation of violence or intercommunity tensions),IDP communities and local authorities.

The trainings covered a wide array of civilian protection and violence reduction topics, with a strong emphasis on rumor control and guiding participants in developing local rumor control monitoring mechanisms.The trainings also covered the principles of UCP, conflict mapping, early warning and response systems, and different understandings of civilian protection. Stressing nonviolence, non-partisanship and the primacy of local actors, the trainings were designed to prepare participants to better protect themselves and those around them, to be able to de-escalate tensions, and to prevent further violence in their communities against civilians.

Participants in the trainings expressed that regardless of their background, work/life experience or age, all of them are ready to learn and work for peace because it is the job of every citizen to build a peaceful society where conflict can be managed by dialogue and mutual respect.

One participant best summed up the proactive and committed spirit of the groups, stating that “I am ready to step in to the shoes of each person involved in this conflict, find their needs and work with them with the hope that we can stop the suffering of the people living in the conflict zones or hundreds of people who lost their homes and became IDPs.”

The trainings had many positive outcomes, including locally designed protection tools that will be used in the coming months.These were the result of participants preparing local civilian protection risk analyses and conceptualizing the means for locally appropriate interventions and responses for their respective communities.

Importantly, participants also identified that a countrywide community-based protection mechanism could be an extremely effective tool for a unified civil society response to the protection needs of civilians in conflict-affected communities. This mechanism could then adapt to the needs of each community as well as the challenges and capacities of local civil society organizations.

NP and its partners are currently developing various interventions to support this new initiative and exploring more concrete partnership opportunities for this protection mechanism with international actors and the donor community.
The trainings were led by Atif Hameed (Director of Programs) and assisted by Salome Bakashvili (Program Manager) and other NP and AMES staff.

(Thank you to Janet Hudgins, the CPNN reporter for this article.)

Question for this article:

Can peace be guaranteed through nonviolent means?

We have the advantage of an independent evaluation of the Nonviolent Peaceforce initiative in the Philippines conducted by Swisspeace. The evaluation is very favorable, although in the end, as one reads through it, gets the impression that such initiatives can help but cannot bring peace by themselves.

Here is the executive summary:

Nonviolent Peaceforce in the Philippines can look back at more than two years of unique, relevant contributions and constructive engagement in one of the most difficult, political and volatile, contexts to work in: Being the only international non-governmental organization working with and living in close proximity to the most conflict-affected population in Mindanao, NP in the Philippines was able to support and enhance local structures of cease-fire monitoring, early warning, cross-community dialogues, human rights protection, to offer civilian protection and help to reduce the high levels of community violence.

The accepted offer to NP in the Philippines in late 2009 by the conflict parties GRP and the MILF to join the International Monitoring Team1 (IMT) and its Civilian Protection Component is a direct expression and result of its successful contributions to non-violence and violence reduction of the last two years.

To keep up the important work of NP’s project in the Philippines in the years to come, it is essential to ensure that the activities and objectives of NPP are based on a strategically and conceptually sound footing. This seems even more important given that NPP is going through a remarkable consolidation and expansion phase at the time of report-writing.

The re-focus on its key mandate, strengths and strategic advantages in Mindanao gives NP the opportunity to further enhance its unique work in the area of nonviolence, peacekeeping and peace building.

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Europe