Rural communities within the federal capital territory are being provided access to clean and renewable energy for cooking, lighting, water supply and health care delivery under the SE4ALL initiative
Let there be light: Villagers at Tokulo display the solar powered home lighting system
Night is fast descending on Zhiko Village. But Bako Ayuba’s pace is slow, as he meanders his way among the bushes, heading towards the health centre. It’s a journey he has gotten used to – the short, post-dinner trip from home to the community hospital.
The night is pitch-dark and moonless as Ayuba, a Junior Community Health Extension Worker (JCHEW), arrives at the hospital and settles in for the night shift. He dozes off in the darkness. But he is soon jerked out of his reverie by noises – panicky footsteps and urgent voices. He puts on the kerosene lamp, but the light flickers briefly and goes off. He realises the lamp has run out of fuel.
But there is no time to attend to that now, for a heavily pregnant woman obviously in labour in the company of her husband requires his urgent attention. He fumbles in the desk drawers and fishes out a torchlight. The woman’s companion holds the torch as Ayuba attends to the patent.
Ayuba’s story is a typical scenario of events prevalent in rural communities prior to interventions by the Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) initiative. He still looks shaken as he recalls his experience that fateful night.
A water storage tank in one of the villages
“The baby was safely delivered, and mother and baby were okay. But it was quite an experience delivering a baby with a torchlight. But that is all in the past now. We now have light constantly and I now treat and attend to patients all through the night. In fact, we have more effective treatment, delivery of babies and administration of injection.
“Before now, we got our vaccines at great expense from elsewhere (Abuja or Bwari). But we now store and preserve our vaccines, such that we now have more potent drugs,” he says.
Early this year, the Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) initiated a project on “Expanding access to off-grid renewable energy (solar and biomass)-based SE4ALL in Bwari, Abuja”, with the villages of Tokulo, Zhiko, Sunape, Yaupe and Goipe as beneficiaries. The overall objective of the project is to utilise the existing renewable energy resources available in the select
After a little misunderstanding with her parents in Calabar where she is based, Hannah ran away from home. She soon got “lucky” when she was offered an “honourable” and “well-paying job” – abroad. She was eventually recruited from Edo State and, in the company of other girls and a male chaperone, travelled by road for several days through the Sahara Desert to Bamako, Mali.
Yury Fedotov, Executive Director, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
But, alas, once in Mali, she was forced to prostitute – albeit without restraint, while her madam takes virtually all the money. It was a situation akin to slavery as she had no choice but to “work” long hours so as to make enough money to refund the madam’s “huge investment” on her.
After several attempts to escape, Hannah was eventually rescued by officials of Nigeria’s National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) – but, according to them, there are still hundreds of hapless Nigerian girls in Bamako prostituting for peanuts.
Bukola, a Lagos-based journalist, travelled to the United States on official assignment. But she was convinced by a US-based Nigerian she’s betrothed, to stay back after her mission – even though she lacked the legal status to do so. She agreed.
A considerable number of Nigerian girls trafficked to Europe engage in prostitution
Soon after, she became an object of exploitation by her “husband”, who made are to do menial jobs and collected the money paid her. Indeed, he exploited her vulnerability: she could not go around freely, could not get a decent job, nor operate a bank account – she stayed indoors doing hairdressing work and having no say on how her income is spent.
Unable to withstand the situation any longer, she eventually fled home and sought help from government and civil society officials, who rehabilitated her.
Both Hannah and Bukola were victims of Trafficking in Persons (TIP) and Smuggling of Migrants (SOM), but now actively involved in campaigning against the menace. They voiced out their predicament recently in the company of a team of communicators at a Media Roundtable organised by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Calabar, capital of Cross River State.
Abimbola Adewunmi of UNODC explained that the event presented an opportunity for the anti-human trafficking agency to network with the media in order to fashion out ways of addressing the numerous cases of human trafficking and irregular migration in Nigeria.
Sylvester Atere, also of UNODC, said the mass media represents an opportunity for better visibility and reportage on the interventions of the anti-human trafficking activities in Nigeria, therefore the extent of the partnership with the press cannot be over-emphasised.
Director of Public Enlightenment at the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Arinze Orakwue, underlined the need for constant interaction between law enforcement agencies and the media so as to better equip them and build their capacities towards ensuring better human trafficking reportage. He said such mind rubbing sessions would help identify the root causes of TIP and SOM and fashion more pro-active solutions to them.
Godwin Morka, the NGAX41 Project Coordinator, said government is resolute is bringing down TIP and SOM but also counting on the support of the press whose responsibility it is to spread the word. According to him, the project is coming to an end but the media should continue to carry on with the fight through their platforms.
Atere made an attempt at defining the two technical words of TIP and SOM and their inherent relationships, saying TIP and SOM happen in tandem and sometimes it is very difficult to tell the differences. He also identified that clandestine nature of human trafficking and the complexities.
At the close of the two-day forum, participants resolved that there should be prompt update of partners and media practitioners on the emerging issues, as well as press releases or events from NAPTIP. Journalists as media partners should be involved in major developmental issues of TIP and follow-up mails and phone calls should be made where necessary.
It was also agreed that the media partners be involved in the processes of the annual TIP Reports of the government, in the light of its importance for better media coverage of the report.
Besides creating and operating social media platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp for prompt disseminations of information and networking, participants also underscored the need to imbibe professionalism with particular reference to the electronic media.
Similarly, it was agreed that regular dialogue, media briefing and capacity building of the media partners on identifying victims to be done by the government.
Other resolutions at the Roundtable include:
Sponsorship of media to prosecute first hand and special reports on TIP. This is necessary to keep the public abreast of the developments in human trafficking;
Create a group camp to build momentum;
Ensure periodic media briefing on new convictions, inform media on the prosecution of major cases of human trafficking for better reportage;
Set up platform to enable partners’ access to audio/visual bites to authenticate stories of human trafficking;
Factor traditional and cultural values/practices in the identification/prosecution of cases of TIP;
Mark special International Days like the annual human trafficking day, women’s day, children’s day etc. with the media for better amplifying of the plights of the victims and special reportage on such day;
Ensure public enlightenment of cultures to stem stereotypes against activities of NAPTIP as regards domestic values;
NAPTIP should set up a media mentorship programme for the media partners in a bid to build capacity on the technicalities of TIP and the dynamism of the crime; and,
Traditional/citizen media be engaged in disseminating TIP and SOM Documentaries to the people.
Guinness Nigeria Plc has commissioned a water health centrein Adigbe community in Ogun State, in an apparent bid to impact lives positively in communities where it operates.
R-L: Corporate Relations Director, Guinness Nigeria Plc, Mr Sesan Sobowale; Ag. Consular General, US Embassy, Mrs Dehab Ghebreab; and the Deputy Governor, Ogun State, Mrs. Yetunde Onanuga, drink water from the newly commissioned Guinness Water Health Centre, Abeokuta
Situated within Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, the facility was formally unveiled at a special commissioning event by the Deputy Governor of Ogun State, Yetunde Onanuga. The event was also attended by other key stakeholders including: the Acting Consular General of the United States Consulate, Dehab Ghebreab, representatives of Water Health International and members of Adigbe community.
The water facility consists of a borehole and an ultramodern water treatment unit, such that the water in the facility goes through a six-stage purification process to remove organic matter, excess chlorine, bad taste, dirt, unwanted materials, dissolved inorganic solids, bacteria and pathogens. The facility is capable of providing 2,700 litres of clean water hourly.
Speaking at the event, Corporate Relations Director, Guinness Nigeria Plc, Sesan Sobowale, said the construction of the facility is in furtherance of Guinness Nigeria’s commitment to helping Nigerians access clean drinking water.
He said: “Many Nigerians still do not have access to clean drinking water; in response to this situation, we have leveraged our flagship ‘Water of Life’ programme to increase the number of Nigerians who have access to clean and safe water.
“Under the aegis of the ‘Water of Life’ programme, Guinness Nigeria has so far constructed water facilities in 22 communities across 14 states of the country. We are pleased to note that through these water projects, we have helped thousands of Nigerian families to access clean water, and ultimately improve their overall health and wellbeing.”
Also speaking at the event, the Governor of Ogun State, Ibikunle Amosun, represented by his deputy, Yetunde Onanuga, praised Guinness Nigeria for implementing impactful programmes that help address the challenge of water shortage in Nigeria. She noted that the construction of the water facility exemplifies the positive results derivable from collaborations between corporate organisations and their host communities.
She said: “I congratulate Guinness Nigeria for its impressive sense of corporate responsibility in building this water scheme for our community. It is without a doubt, a project that will go a long way in addressing one of the crucial needs of our community. The people of Adigbe will never forget Guinness.
“Other corporate organisations should emulate Guinness Nigeria by making impactful contributions that enhance the wellbeing of communities through meaningful, result-oriented projects.”
The Adigbe facility – the company’s third in Ogun State – was implemented in partnership with Water Health International, an international organisation that provides drinking water to communities (primarily rural areas) around the world. The partnership between Guinness Nigeria and Water Health International will ensure the sustainability of the new facility.
L-R: Head of Nigerian Content Development, Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company of Nigeria (SNEPCo), Austin Uzoka; Director, United Kingdom Trade & Industry, Chris Maskell; British Deputy High Commissioner, Ray Kyles; General Manager, Nigerian Content Development, Shell Nigeria, Chiedu Oba; UKTI Specialist, Sue Whitebread; Director Monitoring and Evaluation (NCDMB),Tunde Adelana…. at the just concluded Nigeria – UK Suppliers Engagement programme sponsored by SNEPCo and its co-venturers.
A total of 100 delegates representing 56 companies from Nigeria and the United Kingdom explored opportunities for collaboration at the annual Nigeria-UK Supplier Engagement programme organised by Shell Nigeria Exploration Company Ltd (SNEPCo) in conjunction with the United Kingdom Trade and Investment (UKTI). The event which held in Lagos on 30th July brought together companies engaged in a wide variety of activities in the oil and gas industry including engineering, maintenance, fabrication and subsea support services. The UK delegation, which included Nigerian experts in the diaspora who SNEPCo had reached in previous bus+iness summits in Aberdeen and London, first met with Shell Companies in Nigeria companies on areas of need and technical gaps.
Osagie Okunbor, Chairman, Shell Companies in Nigeria and Managing Director of the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC), observed: “The striking feature of this year’s business summit is the presence of Nigerians in the diaspora in the UK delegation. It shows that, our engagements with Nigerians to take up opportunities back home in the oil and gas industry, is being well received, and this is good news for everybody.”
The UK delegation also held networking meetings with their Nigerian counterparts which included several members of the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN). “Shell has a long-term and continuing commitment to Nigeria, its people and the economy,” said Chiedu Oba, General Manager, Nigerian Content Development, Shell Nigeria in a welcome address. “One of the most significant ways we have delivered on that commitment is by increasing the participation of Nigerian companies and individuals in our supply chain and operations – to ensure that as many Nigerians as possible benefit from our activities and business.”
The General Manager Production PSC in the National Petroleum Investment and Management Services (NAPIMS) enjoined the participating companies to work towards taking advantage of upcoming opportunities in the Nigerian oil and gas industry. He reiterated the importance of local content in the growth of the Nigerian oil and gas industry. UKTI Director Chris Maskell thanked Shell for the continued support on the Nigeria-UK Supplier Engagement programme.
Also speaking at a reception organised by UKTI for the suppliers, the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Contend Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Denzil Kentebe, lauded the Shell initiative to foster partnerships that will help local vendors strengthen their technical capability.
SNEPCo initiated the Nigeria-UK Supplier Engagement programme in 2009, and has this led to some 27 partnerships between Nigerian and UK companies with another 43 partnership discussions progressing well. Shell Companies in Nigeria are major contributors to the national economy, not only through the energy they produce and the revenues generated, but also via achievements in supply chain, local content and social investment.
The Earth Day Network has taken up a campaign to convince the government of Zimbabwe to stop issuing hunting permits that result in thousands of animal deaths each year. One of such permits was issued to hunt vulnerable animals like Cecil.
Cecil. Photo credit: CNN
An American dentist, Walter Palmer, paid $55,000 to shoot and kill the 13-year-old vulnerable lion in Zimbabwe.
Hunting is illegal inside Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe. Palmer and his guide lured Cecil out of the sanctuary using an animal carcass as bait.
They shot him with a bow and arrow, and then tracked the wounded lion for 40 hours before killing him with a rifle and skinning and beheading him.
Cecil was a symbol of the success of Hwange National Park and beloved around Zimbabwe for his distinctive black mane.
Cecil’s death has ignited a movement to save other vulnerable animals, leading to a global refrain calling on Zimbabwe to stop issuing permits that allow vulnerable animals to be hunted and killed.
The Earth Day Network states: “A hundred years ago, 200,000 lions roamed Africa. Today, there are fewer than 30,000 – and these hunters brought that number down for fun.
“What’s more, they did it in a shameful way that runs afoul of a law that shouldn’t exist in the first place. Hunting vulnerable animals is never acceptable, period. We’re taking action to make sure no other lions are killed.”
Meanwhile, Dr Palmer is nowhere to be found. He has reportedly gone underground in the onslaught of criticism after he killed the prized African lion.
Coalition of NGOs calls on the RSPO, Malaysian government and international buyers for an open investigation into The Wall Street Journal’s findings
Palm-fruit bunches from an oil palm plantation in Malaysia. Photo credit: www.wsj.com
On the heels of a major investigative article from TheWall Street Journal exposing serious human rights and labour abuses in Malaysian grower Felda Global Venture’s plantations, a coalition of civil society groups is calling on the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) for an open investigation into the abuses. Conditions including human trafficking, forced labour, and withholding of wages were documented, all of which are violations of the RSPO’s Principles and Criteria, as well as basic human rights.
“Malaysia’s palm oil industry is heavily dependent upon the labour of migrant workers, and time and time again, these workers fall prey to serious exploitation at the hands of their employers or recruitment agencies,” said Glorene Das, Executive Director of Tenaganita, a Malaysian NGO that campaigns for the rights of migrant workers, labourers and women. “The findings found on Felda Global Venture’s plantations must be investigated by the RSPO, as well as the Malaysian government, and immediate action taken,” Das said.
Felda operates over 700,000 hectares of palm oil plantations throughout Indonesia and Malaysia. The company joined the RSPO in 2004 and over 300,000 hectares of its palm oil plantations are RSPO certified. It’s unclear if the plantations visited by the TheWall Street Journal are RSPO certified, but the RSPO does not allow major non-compliances with its Principles and Criteria even on uncertified plantations. Unless immediately remedied, the violations documented by TheWall Street Journal should result in the RSPO revoking the certification of all of Felda’s operations and suspending Felda’s RSPO membership.
“We are calling on the RSPO to openly investigate TheWall Street Journal’s findings,” said Sonja Vartiala, Executive Director of Finnwatch, a Finnish NGO that focuses on global corporate responsibility. “If the open investigation confirms the findings of the WSJ, the RSPO must uphold its own Principles and Criteria and suspend Felda’s membership until these very serious violations are proven to be remedied,” she said.
International buyers named in the article include Cargill, Procter & Gamble, and Cargill customer Nestlé. Many other major buyers are purchasing from Felda directly and numerous others indirectly.
“It is imperative that all international buyers, including Cargill, Procter & Gamble and Nestlé, as well as those unnamed, act immediately to remedy labour violations in their supply chains. If Felda does not remedy all labour violations in a transparent manner, buyers must publicly sever all financial ties with the company,” said Robin Averbeck, Senior Campaigner at Rainforest Action Network.
Malaysia has well-documented, severe problems with the abuse of migrant workers, including widespread forced labour and human trafficking. In 2014, the U.S. State Department’s Annual Trafficking in Persons report gave Malaysia the lowest possible rating, meaning the Malaysian government “does not fully comply with the minimum standards (to end human trafficking) and is not making significant efforts to do so.” Despite the State Department’s recent controversial decision to upgrade Malaysia to the Tier 2 Watch List, there is wide agreement among trafficking experts that abuses continue unabated and the government has failed to take meaningful steps towards addressing its severe trafficking problem.
This is not the first time a prominent RSPO palm oil grower has been in the spotlight for serious labour and human rights abuses on its plantations. In 2014, Finnwatch released a report finding serious labour rights violations in RSPO certified estates in Malaysia. The U.S. Department of Labour has highlighted the widespread use of forced labour in the Malaysian palm oil industry since 2010 in its List of Goods Produced with Child Labour or Forced Labour.
In March of 2015, a coalition of human rights, workers, and environmental organisations and unions from Indonesia, Malaysia, Liberia, North America and Europe released the Free and Fair Labour in Palm Oil Production: Principles and Implementation Guidance. The guide is the first of its kind and details comprehensive recommendations to implement fair labour practices in the palm oil sector.
The increasing trend of international land grabbing – when governments and private firms invest in or purchase large tracts of land in other countries for the purpose of agricultural production and export – can have serious environmental and social consequences. Investors claim that land grabs can help alleviate the world food crisis by tapping into a country’s ‘unused’ agricultural potential, but such investments often do more harm than good, disrupting traditional land use and leaving half a billion family farmers vulnerable to exploitation.
Land grab. Photo credit: actionaidusa.org
According to the Land Matrix, approximately 130 million hectares of land (or more than 52.7 million football fields) has been acquired globally in settled and impending land deals over the last 15 years. In South Sudan, the country with the most transnational land acquisitions, land has been sold for as little as US$0.025 cents per hectare.
Approximately 60 percent of the food grown on acquired lands is intended for export instead of feeding local communities, according to Oxfam America. Nearly two-thirds of land grabs occur in countries with serious food security problems. In the Nacala Corridor of Mozambique, the Prosavana land grab will acquire 14 million hectares of land, displacing upwards of 500,000 people that already cultivate the area. According to The World Food Programme, about one-third of Mozambique’s 24.5 million inhabitants are malnourished and 500,000 children ages six to 23 months are undernourished.
“We need to challenge the paradigm of development that trivialises and ignores the human consequences of these land acquisitions by corporate investors and governments. The idea that ‘some have to be sacrificed’ for the ‘larger national good’, which is nothing more than the double-digit economic growth that benefits a few, must be rejected – even if the deals are between developing countries and framed by the rhetoric of south-south cooperation,” says Anuradha Mittel, Executive Director of The Oakland Institute, a California-based think tank that researches and calls attention to the most pressing social, economic, and environmental issues.
To highlight how detrimental these land grabs are, The Oakland Institute published a report documenting the effects of land grabs in Tanzania’s Kilombero Valley. The large-scale rice plantation built by the company Kilombero Plantations Ltd (KPL) comprises 20 percent of the valley and has been heralded by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) as a model investment project.
But, according to The Oakland Institute report, villagers in the region are worse off from before the plantation was built. The villagers were forced to either sell their land or accept new land as compensation. Those who sold their land did not receive the original sum promised by the company, receiving TZS 10,000 (US$6) per acre instead of TZS 30,000 (US$17) per acre. Villagers who chose to be given new, often infertile land would only receive up to three acres, no matter how much land they had before. And many farmers have yet to receive any compensation for their land, leaving them without a livelihood.
The following 15 organisations are working to fight land grabs around the globe.
ActionAid is an international nonprofit organization working to free people from injustice and poverty around the world. Their #LandFor campaign supports families and their rights to keep their farmland. Their publication, Act On It: Four Key Steps to Prevent Land Grabs breaks down the policies and reforms that governments need to do to prevent land grabs. Most recently, they’ve published, New Alliance, New Risk of Land Grabs, examining how the G8 Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition increases the risk of rural communities losing their land to large investors.
ETC Group focuses on how new technologies can impact the world’s poorest people. ETC group has been critical of ‘The New Bioeconomy’, the emerging industrial movement to rely on biologically-based materials for goods and services. These green technologies are prompting a resource grab, primarily in lands and with resources in the global south, which ETC Group has exposed in their book, Earth Grab.
Forest Peoples Programme supports the right of indigenous forest people to defend their lands and their livelihoods. Their reports call awareness to injustices against forest people around the world and defend their rights to land and natural resources. Through programmes and partnerships, Forest Peoples Programme teaches forest people how to deal directly with the policy makers and investors influencing their lives.
Global Justice Now is a social justice organisation that mobilises people to fight for change. Their food sovereignty campaign mobilises people to stop big corporations that are dominating the small-scale farms that are feeding the world. Global Justice Now provides ways to take action against land grabbing and stand by small farmers to support food sovereignty.
GRAIN is an international non-profit organisation that supports non-profits through research, networking, and alliance-building. Their research on land grabs, such as their report on The Land Grabbers of the Nacala Corridor in Mozambique, exposes corporations that are taking advantage of developing countries.
Through advocacy and grant-making, Grassroots International supports the right to land, food, and water for individuals around the world. Their educational resources along with their Land and Hunger: Making the Rights Connection workshop help people learn about the threats of living without the right to land or food. They also work with organisations on local and international levels to defend human rights, such as when they worked with local organisations in Brazil to prosecute the assassins of land rights activist Sister Dorothy Stang.
A specialist unit at the University of Western Cape, PLASS is dedicated to restructuring and contesting land holdings and the agro-food systems in southern Africa. Their research and postgraduate teaching explore the access and resource use patterns and the relationships between governance and land, water, and natural resource access of the poor.
With a network of 152 member organisations in 54 countries, ILC works to secure and protect the land rights of individuals, especially women and indigenous peoples. ILC not only features good practices occurring around the world, but they also offer leadership, educational, and networking opportunities. Every two years, ILC hosts the Global Land Forum, which supports equitable access to land through dialog, knowledge, and sharing.
La Via Campesina gathers together peasants, small and medium-size farmers, migrants, and agricultural workers all over the world to support small-scale sustainable agriculture. They work to protect food sovereignty and trade through their campaign and grassroots actions to block transnational corporations and free-trade agreements. ILC represents 200 million farmers worldwide and is a recognised voice in food and agriculture debates.
The Land Matrix Project is a land monitoring initiative that promotes transparency and accountability in land investments. The Project keeps track of official and unofficial land contracts and the different stages of negotiation: intended, concluded, and failed. With more transparent information, The Land Matrix Project hopes to make land development more open with greater community involvement.
For the past 40 years, Landesa has been working to secure land for the world’s poorest peoples. In their campaign, Land Post-2015, Landesa is aiming to incorporate land-rights in the international global agenda after the Millennium Development Goals expire in 2015. The organisation is also putting together how-to guides for responsible land development and investment based on field research and stakeholder involvement that will be adaptable to different countries.
Namati is building a grassroots campaign of legal advocates that are providing support for people living outside the protection of the law. Through quality legal aid, research, advocacy, and a global network Namati is ensuring that people maintain their rights. In Uganda, Mozambique, and Liberia, Namati is helping 23,400 people document their land and protect their land rights. They have also put together a Community Guide to Protecting Lands and Resources.
Oakland Institute is an independent policy think tank whose research sheds light on social, economic, and cultural issues around the world. Their work regarding land rights is dedicated to increasing transparency about land deals, development, and the impact they have in several African countries.
Oxfam International envisions a world without poverty. Part of their work focuses on defending individual’s rights to natural resources. They work with farmers and fishers to defend their resources and also help communities gain legal title to their land. They help give people a voice, like the 260 young people in Curuguaty, Paraguay, who have been left without land because of a land grab.
The World Rural Forum analyses the problems and needs of rural farmers around the world and through meetings with universities, research centres, farmers associations, and NGOs draws up plans of action. Through their online publications and events, The Forum aims to spread awareness about rural development issues as well as promote development proposals.
In this era of numerous crises and troubles, the UN is commemorating the 2015 World Day Against Trafficking in Persons to warn that no place on earth is safe and that everyone should be aware of the problem
UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon
Ban Ki-moon (UN Secretary-General) Around the world, criminals are selling people for profit. Vulnerable women and girls form the majority of human trafficking victims, including those driven into degrading sexual exploitation. Trafficked persons are often tricked into servitude with the false promise of a well-paid job. Migrants crossing deadly seas and burning deserts to escape conflict, poverty and persecution are also at risk of being trafficked. Individuals can find themselves alone in a foreign land where they have been stripped of their passports, forced into debt and exploited for labour. Children and young people can find their lives stolen, their education blocked and their dreams dashed. It is an assault on their most basic human rights and fundamental freedoms. Criminal trafficking networks thrive in countries where the rule of law is weak and international cooperation is difficult. I call on all countries to fight money laundering and sign and ratify the UN Conventions against corruption and transnational organised crime, including the latter’s human trafficking protocol. We must also provide meaningful assistance to those in need, including protection and access to justice and remedies I applaud the donors who have enabled the UN Voluntary Trust Fund for Victims of Trafficking in Persons Fund to assist thousands of people. At the same time, I urge greater contributions to help the many million other victims of this crime move forward with their lives. Every country must join together to overcome this transnational threat by supporting and protecting victims while pursuing and prosecuting the criminals. On the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, let us resolve to act as one in the name of justice and dignity for all.
Yury Fedotov, Executive Director, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
Yury Fedotov (Executive Director, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime) Many millions of vulnerable women, men and children are being cruelly exploited – coerced into working in factories, fields and brothels or begging on the street; pushed into armed combat or forced marriages; trafficked so their organs can be harvested and sold. We are living in an era of many crises and troubles, as United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has warned. Record numbers of people are fleeing war and persecution, and the international community is grappling with acute migration challenges in the Mediterranean, the Balkans, in the Andaman Sea, Latin America and Africa. For human traffickers, these hardships represent business opportunities. The world is facing many grave challenges, and our resources are strained. But we cannot allow unscrupulous criminals to exploit these crises and take advantage of desperation and suffering. No place in the world is safe: the latest Global Report on Trafficking in Persons by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime found that the trafficking victims identified in 124 states were citizens of 152 different countries. More and more detected victims of trafficking are children, especially girls under the age of 18. Over the past decade there has been no significant improvement in the overall criminal justice response to this crime. In the period covered by the Global Report, some 40 per cent of countries reported less than ten convictions per year. Some 15 per cent did not record a single conviction. This illustrates a level of impunity which is unacceptable and highlights the fact that, at the moment, the traffickers are getting away with their crimes. 30 July is United Nations World Day against Trafficking in Persons, established to raise awareness of the plight of human trafficking victims, and promote and protect their rights. Let us take this opportunity to give hope to trafficking victims, pledge to do our part and help end this terrible crime. The first step to taking action is taking this crime seriously. Governments must ratify and effectively implement the UN Convention against Transnational Organised Crime and its Protocol on trafficking, to protect trafficking victims, promote cooperation between countries and ensure that criminal traffickers, wherever they are, are brought to justice. I encourage everyone to educate themselves and help others become aware of the problem. As consumers, employees and business owners, ordinary citizens can advocate for measures to prevent the use of forced labour in operations and supply chains, and eliminate abusive and fraudulent recruitment practices that may lead to trafficking. Finally, I urge governments, companies and individuals to support the United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund for Victims of Trafficking in Persons: www.unodc.org/humantraffickingfund. Financed solely through voluntary contributions, the Trust Fund works with NGO partners across the globe to identify women, children and men who have been exploited by traffickers, and give them the assistance, protection and support they need. Since 2011, the Trust Fund has helped some 2,000 victims annually, providing shelter, basic health services, vocational training and schooling, as well as psychosocial, legal and economic support. Join the #igivehope campaign today and show your solidarity with victims of human trafficking:www.unodc.org/endht.
Waler Palmer (left) with Cecil the lion that he shot during a hunt. Photo credit: mydailynews.com
While the world mourned Cecil, the 13-year-old lion that was allegedly shot by an American hunter in Zimbabwe, an even more devastating poaching incident was quietly carried out in Kenya.
Poachers killed five elephants in Tsavo West National Park on Monday night. The carcasses were recovered by rangers on Tuesday morning – what appeared to be an adult female and her four offspring, their tusks hacked off.
While the killing of the lion in Zimbabwe has attracted the world’s attention, the death of the five elephants has received almost no coverage, even though elephants are under a far greater threat from poachers than lions. Their tusks can be sold in Asia for more than $1,000 per pound.
“It’s just devastating,” said Paul Gathitu, a spokesman for Kenya Wildlife Service. “It took us completely by surprise.”
Kenyan investigators say the poachers crossed the border from neighbouring Tanzania, slaughtered the elephants and then quickly returned to their base, making them difficult to track. Tsavo stretches along the border for more than 50 miles.
Rangers heard gunshots ring out on Monday evening. They searched all night through the vast park and discovered the carnage the next morning. There was blood and loose skin where the tusks were cut off. Kenyan authorities say the poachers escaped on motorcycles, carrying their loot.
In recent years, the poaching of elephants has increased exponentially because of the demand for ivory in Asia, where it’s used for unproven medicinal purposes. Between 2010 and 2012, poachers killed more than 100,000 African elephants – a level of destruction that put the species on the road to extinction. Unlike many other animals, elephants mourn the death of their brethren, wrapping their trunks around the bones or carcasses of the deceased.
While the African lion population is also under threat, it is largely because their habitats are being destroyed by farmers and developers, not because the animals are hunted.
Kenyan authorities say they were making progress in the fight against poachers before the recent killing at Tsavo. Last year, the government deployed 550 new rangers. Advances in technology have allowed researchers to monitor herds using GPS trackers, gauging when they might be under threat based on their movement and speed.
“We’ve increased our intelligence and our operations. We were having success,” Gathitu said. “That’s why we’re so surprised.”
In Tsavo, investigators are searching for the men who killed the five elephants. Two suspects have been arrested. Security officials found a blood-stained axe and a hacksaw in one of their homes.
It’s not just Kenya where mass elephant killings occur. In Congo, 30 elephants were killed in 15 days earlier this year in Garamba National Park. The illegal wildlife trade is valued at $7 billion to $10 billion annually.
“We are in an elephant crisis right now,” Iain Douglas-Hamilton, the founder of Save the Elephants, a non-governmental organisation, told The Post recently.
Just two days before the Tsavo elephants were killed, President Obama announced during a visit to Kenya that he would introduce more restrictions in the United States to diminish the market for ivory there. The regulation would prevent the sale of ivory from African elephants across state lines.
But the United States makes up only a fraction of the international ivory market, and regulations in Asia remain loosely enforced.
China will prohibit the use of six hazardous substances in passenger vehicles from 1 January 2016. A mandatory standard is being implemented as part of a 10-year national sustainability plan, which includes improving the environmental record of car manufacturers.
Chinese President Xi Jinping. Photo credit: cctv
The standard, GB/T 30512-2014: Requirements for prohibited substances in automobiles, will apply to car parts for passenger cars containing fewer than nine seats (category 1M vehicles).
A Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) bulletin (no 38) states that, from 1 January, manufacturers seeking type approval for new vehicles must include information on these restricted substances.
The standard applies only to Chinese manufacturers and international companies involved in joint ventures with Chinese manufacturers.
For existing models already on the road or in production, the standard will be phased in and will apply from 1 January 2018. From this date, manufacturers will have to comply with material restrictions.
Manufacturers must report the use of hazardous substances to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) by submitting documents and a hazardous material information Form. The MIIT will then approve applications.
Restrictions are imposed on lead, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chromium, PBBs and PBDEs. These are the same substances that are restricted under EU and China RoHS regulations. Threshold limits are set at 0.1% for all substances except cadmium, at 0.01%.
