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Story
27 June 2022
Using green and grey measures to adapt to climate change
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Speech
21 June 2022
Under-Secretary-General Mr. Atul Khare opening remarks for 6th Partnership for Technology in Peacekeeping International Symposium,
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Story
15 June 2022
Interview: Nikolas Bosscher
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Latest
The Sustainable Development Goals in South Africa
The Sustainable Development Goals are a global call to action to end poverty, protect the earth’s environment and climate, and ensure that people everywhere can enjoy peace and prosperity. These are the goals the UN is working on in South Africa:
Press Release
25 April 2022
MEDIA ADVISORY: The United Nations in South Africa will visit the affected areas in Kwazulu-Natal province
Pretoria - The United Nations in South Africa, represented by a technical team comprising of members from various UN agencies, will undertake a visit to the Province of KwaZulu-Natal from Monday, 25 April 2022 to Thursday, 28 April 2022, following the devastating floods that has impacted communities in many parts of the province earlier this month.
The technical team will meet with the Provincial Disaster Management Centre and the eThekwini Municipality to assess the areas of support by the United Nations Development System.
“We have been supporting the province following the floods in 2019 and the civil unrest of 2021 and will continue to support rebuilding efforts to ensure that no-one is left behind as part of the Memorandum of Understanding that we have in place with the provincial leadership in that province. We stand committed and ready to assist where needed,” said Mr. Ayodele Odusola, the Acting Resident Coordinator for the UN in South Africa.
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For interviews and media enquiries, please contact Zeenat Abdool, UN South Africa - Associate Public Information Officer, at abdool@un.org or 0827788080
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Press Release
19 April 2022
PRESS RELEASE: Government of South Africa and The United Nations in South Africa sign the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework
Pretoria - The Presidency of South Africa and the United Nations in South Africa today signed the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) at the headquarters of the Government Communication Information System (GCIS) in Pretoria.
The ceremony, led by the Minister in the Presidency, Mr. Mondli Gungubele, the outgoing Resident Coordinator for the UN South Africa office, Ms. Nardos Bekele-Thomas, and the Acting Resident Coordinator, Dr Ayodele Odusola, began with a moment of silence for those affected by the recent floods in KwaZulu-Natal.
The UNSDCF is a partnership framework comprehensively detailing the works of the UN in South Africa for the period 2020-2025 following a detailed consultation process that included the private sector, civil society, academia and research institutions, women, and youth.
In her remarks, Ms. Bekele-Thomas spoke of the need for “coherent and critical results-based programming based on national needs and priorities” before noting that “our dream is becoming a reality today.”
Delivering the keynote address, Minister Gungubele emphasised the commitment of Government to implementing the UNSCDF while highlighting this “truly consultative process that is an integration of global, continental and national goals.”
Following the actual signing of the Framework, the UN Resident Coordinator (a.i.), Dr Ayodele Odusola, emphasized South Africa’s unique relationship with the United Nations before reminding those present that “effective implementation of the cooperation framework will depend on strong accountability mechanism’.
General Assembly resolution 72/279 elevates the UNSDCF as “the most important instrument for planning and implementation of the UN development activities at country level in support of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (2030 Agenda).”
In closing the ceremony, Dr Ayodele noted that “coherence coordination and collaboration is why it is very important for us to deliver together.”
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For interviews and media enquiries, please contact Zeenat Abdool, UN South Africa - Associate Public Information Officer, at abdool@un.org or +27 827788080
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Press Release
12 April 2022
PRESS RELEASE: The United Nations in South Africa deeply concerned about violent attacks against foreign nationals
Pretoria – The Acting Resident Coordinator of the United Nations in South Africa, Dr. Ayodele Odusola, notes with growing concern about the ongoing incidents of violence, intimidation and harassment against foreign nationals, including the brutal killing last Wednesday of Elvis Nyathi, a father of four children, in Diepsloot in the Johannesburg metropolitan area.
“It is deeply worrisome and unfortunate that this is happening in a country with one of the most inclusive Constitutions globally,” said Dr. Odusola. “Over the recent past we have noted with deep concern as movements such as Operation Dudula are illegally forcing people suspected to be undocumented foreign nationals to show their papers. Our thoughts are with the family of Mr. Nyathi and with all of those families affected by similar violence in the recent months.”
It is important to note that the Government of South Africa has ratified several international human rights and refugee instruments that are also an integral part of national law. This requires that the human rights of all persons residing in South Africa, regardless of their nationality or immigration status, must be respected. This includes individuals who may be refugees, asylum seekers or stateless persons.
The Acting UN Resident Coordinator in South Africa has expressed strong concerns about violence in all its forms. The UN stands by the recent statements by Government representatives opposing actions by the violent protesters and urging people not to take the law into their hands. One example of this includes President Cyril Ramaphosa, stating that “As a country founded on tolerance, respect for diversity and non-discrimination, we must never allow ourselves to turn against people who come from beyond our borders.” And that, “Acts of lawlessness directed at foreign nationals, whether documented or undocumented, could not be tolerated”.
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For interviews and media enquiries, please contact Zeenat Abdool, UN South Africa - Associate Public Information Officer, at abdool@un.org or 0827788080
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Story
12 July 2021
‘We are with you’: The Sinawe Thuthuzela Care Centre providing hope for survivors of sexual violence
Lerato,* a 20-year-old first-year student at the local university, hunkers down on her chair a few metres from where I’m sitting, with her head fixed to the floor. She looks sad, tired and dejected, avoiding any eye contact, obviously ashamed of what we were going to talk about.
During our roughly ten-minute talk, she gave short, hesitant answers. Dressed in a pink tank top and fading jeans with a small yellow handbag sitting on her lap, Lerato had come for her second assessment at a care centre for victims of rape.
On a quiet early Saturday evening – about a week before I met Lerato – while walking back home from the shops, a car abruptly stopped in the middle of the road and two men violently dragged her inside before speeding off. A few minutes later, the car stopped at a dark spot. Shocked and helpless – and before she could process what was happening, one man raped her as the other watched.
Overnight, Lerato became one of the latest victims of sexual violence against women in South Africa. According to police statistics, there were 53,295 reported sexual offenses during the year between April 2019 and March 2020, an increase of 1.7% from the previous reporting period. This is the equivalent of a sexual offense every ten minutes. And these are only cases reported to the police. Experts believe the majority of the offenses are never reported.
We are with you
Some women, like Lerato, end up at care centres specifically set up to help victims of sexual violence. There are more than 50 such centres scattered throughout South Africa serving as “one-stop facilities” or frontline posts in the war against rape. Their key role is “to reduce secondary victimization, improve conviction rates and reduce the time” between when a crime is committed and when the perpetrator is finally convicted. The centres are attached or located close to hospitals, ensuring victims have access to urgent medical attention.
One such facility is the Sinawe Thuthuzela Care Centre located in the small town of Mthatha in Eastern Cape Province. Sinawe means “we are with you” in Xhosa, one of the country’s eleven official languages. It was at this centre that the head of the United Nations in South Africa (also called the UN Resident Coordinator), Nardos Bekele-Thomas, and her team – which included the head of the UN Women in Southern Africa, Anne Githuku-Shongwe – converged to sign an agreement with the government to revive the struggling local care centres, among other projects.
The plan is to pilot an approach to development that targets specific districts identified as most vulnerable to operational bottlenecks that slows down the delivery of social services to local communities. Three districts in the provinces of Eastern Cape, Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal are expected to benefit from the programme termed “the district development model”.
Impact of Thuthuzela Centres
For many years, one-stop crisis centres made remarkable progress in living up to expectations. In 2012-2013, the Sinawe Centre won an award for being the best-run care centre in South Africa.
Dr. Nomonde Ndyalvan, an energetic, highly motivated and enthusiastic woman, heads the Sinawe Centre, which sits across the road from the provincial Mthatha General Hospital. She wears several hats as an activist on gender, disability and mental health issues. Dr. Ndyalavan is also “an active member” of the ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC).
A qualified medical doctor, Dr. Ndyalvan, 53, started as a volunteer in 2002, a year after the Sinawe Centre was launched. Notwithstanding the countless and formidable hurdles she faces as the manager, one easily senses the high energy and enthusiasm she exhibits once she starts talking about her job at the centre.
“The management needed doctors, counsellors, mental health specialists and nurses to come work here. It was emotionally challenging knowing how the women were being raped,” she recalls. Herself disabled, Dr. Ndyalvan says as a disability activist, “I realized that people with disabilities were targets for rape. And the statistics on this are high.”
Night doctors
Shocked by the enormity of sexual violence in the district, Dr. Ndyalvan opted to work full time at the centre in March 2009. “There was no full-time doctor. The patients would wait for the whole day for university doctors to come, and they would only be seen at night.”
As the years went by, the Thuthuzela model gained fame. Incident reports from rape victims shot up. Prosecutors upped their game. The upshot was high conviction rates of offenders as more women felt safe enough to report cases to the police and care centres. Because the care centres offered dignified and friendly settings, they reduced secondary trauma among survivors.
“Now we see about 60 to 80 patients a month on a low season,” says Dr. Ndyalvan, as she sat behind her office desk, a stone’s throw away from Mthatha General Hospital. “During holidays and festive seasons, rape cases go up to between 100 and 120 per month. We cover patients from as far as 200kms away. We go beyond OR Tambo municipality.” OR Tambo is one of the poorest municipalities in Eastern Cape Province, itself the most-poverty stricken of South Africa’s nine provinces.
In 2012, UNICEF completed the construction of the building currently occupied by the Sinawe centre with funds from the Danish government and the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
Asked who was funding the care centres, Dr. Ndyalvan conceded it wasn’t clear. “The bigger chunk of the budget to run the centre comes from the Department of Health. The department has also been maintaining the centre. But now we have been told that the department doesn’t have money anymore” as the budget for the centre is not clear where it is coming from. The centre now relies on funds from other stakeholders for its running costs. The programme is an “orphan” as the centre does not feature at all in the hospital’s organogram.
“We are just treating victims”
According to Dr. Ndyalvan, the current set up is that each department pays for its people, i.e., health workers receive their salaries from their respective departments. For example, doctors and nurses are paid by the health department, social workers by the social development department while prosecutors and magistrates, NGOs and police – who are all located at or closer to the centres – are on the payroll of relevant government departments.
When I asked Dr. Ndyalvan what she would consider as the main challenge facing the Thuthuzela centres, she said without hesitation: “The lack of a coordinator and a clear reporting structure. There is no one [entity] stakeholder from the multidisciplinary team which is directly responsible for the centre.” NPA has been trying to coordinate and lead but challenges still remain.
“The municipalities are not involved. Now that UN is here, we hope they will assist to align it and develop this centre through the district development model,” she said, adding, “Gender-based violence is such a bigger challenge in this part of the world. The districts must own these centres because the current model doesn’t address the issues of preventing rape. They are just treating victims.”
The challenge for the UN is do the best it can under the circumstances while at the same time managing the expectations that Dr. Ndyalvan and Lerato might have of the UN given its limited resources.
*Not her real name.
Services offered at the Thuthuzela Care Centres
Welcome and comfort from a site coordinator or nurse.
An explanation of how the medical examination will be conducted and what clothing might be taken for evidence.
A consent form to sign that allows the doctor to conduct the medical examination.
A nurse in the examination room.
After the medical examination, there are bath and shower facilities for the victims to use.
An investigation officer will interview the survivor and take his/her statement.
A social worker or nurse will offer counselling.
A nurse arranges for follow-up visits, treatment and medication for Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), HIV and AIDS.
A referral letter or appointment will be made for long-term counselling
The victim (survivor) is offered transportation home by an ambulance or the investigating officer.
Arrangements for the survivor to go to a place of safety, if necessary.
Consultations with a specialist prosecutor before the case go to court.
Court preparation by a victim assistant officer.
An explanation of the outcome and update of the trial process by a case manager.
Source: National Prosecuting Authority, “Thuthuzela Care Centre: Turning Victims into Survivors”
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Story
07 July 2021
The District Development Model launch kicks-off in Waterberg
The initiative by the Government and the United Nations in South Africa to resuscitate district projects in the country’s three provinces picked up momentum in June when they gathered in Waterberg, Limpopo Province, to launch the partnership following a similar event in the Eastern Cape Province in April.
The head of the United Nations in South Africa and Resident Coordinator, Ms. Nardos Bekele-Thomas, joined the Minister for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, at the official launch of the partnership designed to implement what is officially termed the District Development Model (DDM).
The event, held on 11 June, was the culmination of a three-day programme that included visits to the sites in Waterberg District that have been identified for restoration which included Business Solution Centres, Thusong Service Centres as well as Thuthuzela Care Centres as conduits to drive inclusive economic growth, social transformation and improve service delivery.
Speaking at the gathering, Ms. Bekele-Thomas said her visit to the Thuthuzela Care Centres and Victim Support Centres in the district “highlighted that partnerships between stakeholders are key to their success. A multi-sectoral and a multi-stakeholder approach is needed to ensure that victims of gender-based violence receive the support that they deserve and are empowered to reintegrate back into society.”
“We need to build upon the architecture of our support by strengthening our victim referral systems. As we move forward, we must find ways to address the infrastructural and security challenges that leave victims feeling unsafe,” said Ms. Bekele-Thomas.
She emphasized the need to present a united whole-of-society approach that is rooted in partnership, community and acting with urgency and shared the “three key factors that I believe are essential to the success of our shared endeavour.”
The first key factor was the need for communities to be placed at the heart of the district development model through engagement, consultations and empowerment. “They need to be brought into the decision-making process. Communities confer legitimacy on what we do. We need to improve communication, improve consultations, we need to make sure that our policies are informed by a bottom-up process.”
The second factor was to fully embrace change in how services are delivered and technology harnessed to improve people’s lives in a post-pandemic world. “South Africa, Limpopo and the Waterberg District cannot be, must not be, left behind,” she said. “Embracing change means a just transition from fossil fuels and embracing the Green Economy. It means fully embracing a mindset that truly embraces the concept of service to the people.”
The third factor was to translate words, policies and dialogue into results, the Resident Coordinator said. “The people have been patient for long enough – we should not try their patience further! The longer policies and plans take to translate into palpable, concrete results, the less legitimacy they have, the less legitimacy we have.” She reminded her audience that they didn’t have the luxury of time. “We need a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach.”
The Waterberg integrated implementation plan will unlock the economic value chains, deliberately focusing on growing an inclusive and sustainable economy. It is also expected to tackle Gender-Based Violence and Femicide through increased stakeholder partnerships and advocacy to engender social transformation, whilst enhancing service delivery and the capacity of the municipality, through the Thusong Service Centres, as a one stop shop for access to information and services.
In her speech, Minister Dlamini-Zuma emphasized that the DDM was not a project but rather an inclusive way of working that is premised on social partnership between government, business and communities. “As we pay homage to Mama Charlotte Maxeke, we are reminded of her reverberating words that when you rise, rise with someone, and I’m confident that the DDM will assist our communities to rise,” she said.
Minister Dlamini Zuma was joined by the Minister of Small Business Development, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, who is the DDM District Champion; the Minister of Social Development, Lindiwe Zulu; a Member of the Executive Committee in Limpopo, Basikopo Makamu; and the Executive Mayor of Waterberg District, Cllr Morris Mataboge, as well as mayors of local municipalities.
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Story
27 June 2022
Using green and grey measures to adapt to climate change
“We received a donation from one of the local businesses and this is so great”, says Rosie Fortuin with excitement as she leans down to open a black crate. Thanking God, she shows us the donation which includes a three-tool garden kit with a rake, spade and fork, ten packets of seedlings for growing onions, carrots and other vegetables, and two rolls of refuse packets.
To Rosie and her fellow community members in Leliefontein in the Northern Cape province of South Africa, this is a significant and welcomed gesture adding that “now we can plant and give to the poor households and elderly people at the end of the season, yes, tomorrow we will start planting!”
The Northern Cape province has experienced a severe drought over the past seven years. Last year the communities in the province experienced flash flooding. Between the two extremes, the communities are facing water scarcity as well damage to their homes and livelihoods. The province is known for its desert -like conditions as it is home to the Namakwaland area often hot and dry.
However, over the last decade the temperature has soared to temperatures well over 35 degrees thus forcing communities to adapt to even hotter and drier conditions. Through Conservation South Africa, the community has implemented what is termed “green and grey” measures to adapt to the extreme and unpredictable weather patterns.
Following the flood disaster, community members suffered severe losses due to mudslides and the large amounts of water which seeped into their homes destroying their meagre belongings. On climate change, Rosie says that “we thought climate change was an overseas thing but now we see it here.” Community members have since constructed a gabion to mitigate the damage caused by floods.
“We constructed this gabion in order to stop the strength of the water so that it goes slower and slower,” says Rosie as she points to a large construction of rocks and stones near the mountain , further explaining that the gabion construction provides families with time to gather their belongings should the need arise and hopefully prevent the water from reaching and damaging their homes.
Gabions are one of the green and grey measures used by this community to adapt to weather patterns that have recently caused flooding in the area which has led to soil erosion thus affecting agricultural produce. It is termed a green and grey measure as it uses materials from the earth to protect the earth (such as stones and rock material), or the construction is not harmful to the environment and can, in many instances, be beneficial to the environment and the community.
Through the use of this gabion, not only are communities safer from the catastrophic effects of flooding but there is less soil erosion which means less risk of food insecurity for the season. As the Northern Cape is known for its hot and dry weather conditions, the community have constructed other measures to retain as much water as they can during rainfall. They explain that with the flooding,as it was unexpected and they were unprepared, the damage was extensive but they have now constructed another gabion-like feature along a riverbed trail with the aim of collecting water from the rainfall.
This helps to sustain the land, provide water for agricultural and pastoral use as well as provide water to the community.
Conservation South Africa, supported by the UN Environment Programme, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment as well as the South African National Biodiversity Institute mentors and provides training to members of the community in climate adaptation among other issues.
Miranda Gardiner, from Conservation South Africa, says that this community is dependent on farming and the environment “has evolved with grazing and the organization aims to assist the community to become climate resilient against the impact of climate change as the community depends mostly on grants and farming is a supplemental income.”
Speaking on the impact of climate change, Miranda says that one of the nearby villages were flooded barely one month apart with floods in December last year and January 2022, “something that anyone who lives there can remember ever happening in their lives.”
Climate resilience in these communities through the organization involves a healthy ranch and skilled people who have the correct tools with which to build their resilience.
The organization has introduced indigenous genetics and different breeds of livestock such as meat master sheep as they are more resistant to high temperatures, more resistant to disease and the lambs mature earlier to a marketable age and weight and thus spend less time on the ranch.
The organization and the community agree that climate change is here, it’s impact is real and that as the climate changes it is forcing them to become more creative and innovative to sustain their communities and their livelihoods.
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Story
15 June 2022
Interview: Ndoni Mcunu, climate activist, scientist and trailblazer
By: Nombulelo Malinga
Ndoni Mcunu, the late Founder of Black Women in Science and advocate for climate change on a global scale was well-versed in the field of science and technology with a special focus on climate change and environmental sustainability.
She was a sterling example of success and beacon of hope to young black women in science. Some of her accolades included being voted as the Gagasi FM SHERO of 2018, listed as one of the Mail & Guardian Top 200 in the education field (2016), being accepted as a 2017 Mandela Washington Fellow and winning the Humanitarian Global Award for the Most Distinguished Women Change Makers in Africa in 2020-2021.
Ms. Mcunu’s contribution to science and women empowerment has been globally recognized. She was also a Ph.D. candidate at Wits University focusing on action-oriented climate change research. A few weeks before she passed on, InFocus’s Nombulelo Malinga sat down with her to find out more about her journey in the field of climate science.
Tell us about your journey as a climate scientist. Why this route?
My journey wasn’t necessarily the most straightforward in the climate science space as it’s a fairly new field. I started off doing environmental sciences and through my Ph.D. I got into climate science. I believe there is an urgency and a need for us to change the way we behave towards the environment.
There's a diverse voice as well as diverse knowledge when it comes to climate science, especially in Africa. I believe that as Africans it’s important for us to know the impacts of our actions on the environment so we can accurately predict and act swiftly where climate related disasters may occur.
Can you tell us about Black Women in Science and its impact?
Black Women in Science is a registered non-profit organization which I founded as I saw a lack of diversity and inclusion where black, female scientists were concerned. My organization aims to deliver capacity development interventions that target young black women scientists and researchers as well as aid in the workplace integration system once scientists graduate from university.
As much as I believe representation matters, I always remind young scientists that we shouldn’t focus too much on the fact that there are not enough of us but rather equip ourselves with the necessary skills to ensure that we drive true impact and change where science is concerned. Now, our core focus fuses the need for scientific and entrepreneurship skills to be maximized.
In climate change communications, we hear a lot about how humans are creating the problem, but we don’t often hear about how they are a part of the solution. How can we shift the narrative to spotlight solutions and increase the visibility of people’s actions to lower their carbon footprint?
There’s definitely a need for an integrated conversation between leaders and scientists. We need to understand the economic impacts of a zero-carbon footprint and environment. We need to have frank conversations on how to manage the associated risks.
A zero-carbon footprint could greatly assist the dire unemployment rate we face in South Africa. We could breed healthier environments and build a better future for the upcoming generations. However, we need to be able to have the logical conversation where we discuss and define what this means for Africa. Something I strongly believe in is that we also need to practice the culture of accountability.
As an African continent, what is our contribution towards carbon emissions and are we holding accountable those who are emitting more than us? We need to focus on accountability and reach agreements with governments to truly see change.
As one of the Top 40 African Leaders in Climate Resilience, how would you advise South African to be prepared for climate and environmental shocks rather than reacting to them as they happen?
In my opinion, a tangible approach would most definitely see a better disaster management system in the country. This would highlight us not being in a situation where we are reacting to extreme weather events but rather, we are proactive.
This would need better data collection services, access to African data as well and training in technology and techniques that are currently being used on a global scale. Emerging researchers need to be able to detect upcoming climate and environmental shocks that could impact our communities.
One thing that I have been doing recently is expanding my access data in the scientific fields. Although access to this data from an African perspective is limited, it is a starting point and should be expanded for generations to come. Access to the correct data is extremely important as it allows you to predict and create scenarios of likely events that could happen which assist in detecting early warning signs of climate related shocks.
In 2020 you stated that “not enough” was being done for climate reporting in Africa which continues to reflect wrong ground realities. Do you still think this is the case and why?
I do. There is a dire need to increase the available data on climate reporting in Africa. We need to not only change the narrative that not enough is being done in Africa but bring to the forefront exactly what is being done. That is my mission.
With over 10 years of experience, Ms. Mcunu’s work in climate change advocacy and leadership in the development of women will live on eternally. We send our deepest condolences to her loved ones since her death in April 2022.
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Story
15 June 2022
Interview: Nikolas Bosscher
Nikolas Bosscher is the Deputy General Representative of the Government of Flanders in South Africa. He was part of the mission that traveled to the Cape provinces where the UN Environment Programme, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment as well as the South African National Biodiversity Institute have just completed implementing the Ecosystem-based Adaptation pilot programme in the Eastern, Western and Northern Cape provinces of South Africa. InFocus’s Zeenat Abdool interviewed the representative on his government’s role in the project. Here are excerpts from the interview.
Question: Why is the Government of Flanders interested in funding adaption initiatives to climate change?
Answer: It’s been a really nice mission and we have seen good examples of climate change adaptation. Let me first go back to the question of why the Government of Flanders is investing in climate adaptation. Flanders in South Africa has a country strategy paper. We work on a basis of five-year plans based on which both the governments of South Africa and Flanders decide what will be prioritized and the investments allocated to those priorities.
This EbA programme was decided by both governments and has run from 2017 and will be concluding now in 2022. The reason why climate change adaptation is chosen is because our funding is for official development assistance. This means that these resources are used for development cooperation and when we talk about development cooperation there is a social angle.
The intention is to look at how to help people. At the same time climate change, as you know, is a worldwide challenge which needs to be addressed in South Africa too. The two intentions were combined. When we talk about climate change, we speak of two broad categories: where one is climate change mitigation, which focuses on how we can avoid the emissions of greenhouse gases, and the other is climate change adaptation, which focuses on how we can adapt to climate change in the environment.
Of course, both these components come together if we are able to help people cope with the challenges of climate change.
We are seeing an emphasis on the circular economy. What is it and how does it relate to climate change adaptation?
We saw an example of the circular economy on this visit. We live in a society where production becomes very important as producing goods means that you are generating wealth and income but once these goods are produced and used, what does one do?
Do we just discard it into the environment? We visited one small enterprise [Lily Loompa] which is recycling waste materials. In particular, the entrepreneur we visited was very creative and artistic. She used waste products to create art and that art is being sold.
Firstly, she is generating income for her family and secondly it is reducing waste materials. The circular economy is going to be something in the future that is going to gain economic interest because waste is also a resource. How can we make production more sustainable? How can we recycle waste material to reduce the amount of products that are being discarded into the environment.
We also visited the Dream Factory in Phillipi, in the Western Cape. Tell us about the work that’s being done there.
On the first day we visited the Dream Factory, where very engaged young teachers are trying to make youth in the environment much more aware of climate change. They also teach them how to operate in that environment and how they can, for example, create food gardens to increase their food security and be more aware of climate change.
We witnessed how knowledge is being passed on to benefit youth as well as their families and their communities. The youth learn about the importance of the soil, what food to plant and also how to overcome climate challenges relevant to their community.
Speaking on the issue of youth, how do we get youth more involved in the EbA programmes?
Indeed, when we talk about the youth, we are talking about the future of tomorrow. That t have to be included is not a question. Young people need to be made aware of climate change and its consequences for them and how they would need to adapt their lifestyle. I think the way that past generations have lived are not sustainable, we know this, there are examples across the world.
The reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have shown that climate change is here to stay. So, it becomes very important for us to concentrate a lot on youth. First, to create awareness that the climate is changing and this will affect their future and how they want to live their lives.
Secondly, it is also important to create knowledge about mitigation, the production habits the past generations have had cannot be continued as it is destroying the environment. We must equip the youth with knowledge and resources on how to create production systems that are sustainable, how to stop the emissions of greenhouse gases and how to stop the extraction of resources from the earth and only use what we need. The youth must know that we need to stop extracting more than what we need and stop depleting the resources and thus reducing the materials that are discarded as waste.
The youth are facing huge challenges and we must prepare them for this. We need to include them in all aspects, climate change adaptation, awareness, building climate resilience for themselves, their families and their communities and produce in a sustainable way that can still generate an income.
We have seen, on this mission, youth already living through climate change and the need for programmes like this. What happens now as it is near conclusion?
Unfortunately, it’s an inherent fact that projects have a start date and an end date. The important aspect of project sustainability is that it is embedded.
When we went to Namaqualand and we saw farmers farming, the project helped to ensure that their farming practices are more sustainable and more productive at the same time and they will continue to farm using these practices. Even though the project has ended, the good practices continue and are passed on. We have also travelled with the DFFE. So at their level they can also take up the good practices and institutionalize them in the way they operate. In this way, they will also be training communities about sustainable practices.
We met with the district municipality officials here. They are responsible for drafting an integrated development plan and we talked about how to integrate these practices into that plan. So that is the aspect of project sustainability. I sincerely hope that UNEP would be able to tap into other resources because they are doing very good work which must continue and also scale it up with other implementing partners.
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Story
14 June 2022
Zwakala Covid-19 campaign: Take your shot!
"We were shocked and I was scared of Covid-19 because many people were dying because of it,” says 17-year-old Bafana Chabalala, “I remember my sister had it…so it was bad with my family…we couldn’t hold on with this coronavirus.”
Bafana was 15 when Covid-19 became a global health crisis and his community of Ivory Park, a township roughly halfway between the cities of Johannesburg and Pretoria in South Africa, was forced into lockdown along with the rest of the world.
Now, two years later, Bafana is contributing towards better managing the pandemic by helping his community get informed about the virus and to get vaccinated, one street at a time. Bafana is a mobiliser in an innovative campaign hitting South African streets called “Zwakala”which calls on young people to get vaccinated and “#TakeYourShot” while promoting mask-wearing and social distancing.
A joint partnership between UN Verified, UNICEF, the South African National Department of Health as well as the Community Organizing Working Group and the Community Media Trust, Zwakala is simultaneously an on-the-ground, door-to-door mobilization effort and a multimedia campaign. The word “zwakala” is a colloquial isiZulu expression usually used to compel a friend or neighbour to “come on over” or “come around” and it’s on the ground and in neighbourhoods like Ivory Park that Zwakala’s community-centric approach really comes into its own.
On the days before (and on the day of) a pop-up vaccination site being set up, a pick-up truck with an improvised PA system drives around the area, playing “amapiano” – a popular genre of music with young people – and repeatedly interspersing the songs with voice overs announcing the date, time and venue of the upcoming pop-up vaccination site.
The truck is accompanied by mobilisers like Bafana who go up to curious onlookers handing them an information pamphlet, answering their questions and explaining directions to the venue.
These young mobilisers grew up in Ivory Park and are known and trusted more than an outsider might be, and – when it comes to a topic that many people in South Africa and indeed across the world are still apprehensive about – a friendly and recognizable face makes all the difference or neighbour to “come on over” or “come around” and it’s on the ground and in neighbourhoods like Ivory Park that Zwakala’s community-centric approach really comes into its own.
On the days before (and on the day of) a pop-up vaccination site being set up, a pick-up truck with an improvised PA system drives around the area, playing “amapiano” – a popular genre of music with young people – and repeatedly interspersing the songs with voice overs Bafana believes that the campaign has made a difference in his community, especially since it extends vaccination services to those who do not have formal documentation – which is an added challengeWhile there is a perception that undocumented people in Ivory Park are foreign nationals, this is only partly true as many South Africans themselves are not properly documented.
Avoiding an ‘us-and-them’ distinction that could keep foreign nationals fearful of coming forward due to outbreaks of xenophobic violence, mobilizers call on all to get vaccinated, “whether you have an ID or not”.
In addition to being undocumented, many people simply cannot afford to travel the long distances required to get to a hospital or clinic.
Through partnership with the Gauteng Province’s Health Department, the pop-up vaccination partnership sites also provide additional health services with blood pressure checks, screenings and routine childhood immunizations for children who may have missed their shots, "[I]didn’t think I would be vaccinated,” says Neliswa Mnana, an Ivory Park resident who came to one of the pop-up clinics for her Covid-19 jab together with her 6-month-old son Lwazi, who needed his routine immunizations.
“I always wanted to vaccinate but when I see the distance of going to a clinic, I would just say, ‘Nah, I will go tomorrow, I’ll go tomorrow.’ But when I heard the announcement that we could come to the park and vaccinate,
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Story
14 June 2022
Expanding the use of Conservation Agriculture in South Africa
Celiwe Mazibuko, a farmer and a young mother from KwaZulu-Natal Province, increased the yield of her soya beans from 1.2 tons to 2.5 tons per hectare using Conservation Agriculture (CA). The increase meant more profits coming in. She is now able to use some of the money to purchase her own fertilizer spreader and trailer which saves her production costs and time. Furthermore, she can spend more time with her family.
Celiwe’s success story in CA is one of several shared by farmers in Newcastle and Bergville, during the three-day exchange field visit that brought together fellow CA farmers from Limpopo. Farmers in Limpopo are still emerging in terms of adopting CA, whereas KwaZulu-Natal farmers, mostly in the midlands, have advanced in the adoption of the CA approach and its three principles: minimizing soil disturbance (no-tillage), providing permanent soil cover and diversification of plant species.
Creating awareness of CA
The field visit and CA awareness events were facilitated by the South Africa Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development with support from the project “Strengthening Coordination, Scaling up and Governance of Conservation Agriculture in Southern Africa”. The project is being implemented by UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) with financial support from Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad).
Through partnerships, the project has strengthened the operational capacity of the CA platforms by rallying key CA stakeholders in the country. Conservation Agriculture initiatives are coordinated through a National Conservation Task Force.
In South Africa, the project is complimenting the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development CA outreach initiatives, one of which is the provision of CA implements and mechanization to smallholder farmers.
Farmer-to-farmer knowledge exchange
Conservation Agriculture techniques as well as good practices were presented, discussed and documented during the field exchange visit.Farmer-to-farmer discussions were facilitated, and opportunities for engagement and knowledge sharing between the participants of the excursion were created.
Makhale Ratshilumela, a farmer from Limpopo – after the field tour – is convinced that CA is the farming system of the present and the future. He is determined to adopt CA and share the experience with his neighbors back home.
“I have observed that the crops are looking healthy, the fields don’t have weeds but most importantly, these farmers have seen an increase in yield since adopting CA. I have been encouraged to adopt CA so that our grandchildren and great grandchildren will also benefit,” Makhale said.
Improving food security and livelihoods
Just like Celiwe, Sibusiso Sithole from Bergville, is reaping the benefits of CA. The system was an unknown to him as in his family they were used to farming in a conventional way using tractors and implements. Sithole practices no-tillage principle that has helped him not only to keep the organic matter high in the soil because there is little disturbance to the soil, but also reduce the cost of fuel related to preparing the land for planting and weeding.
“With CA I have minimum use of the tractors because I do not plough the soil. All I do is rip the soil, plant and control weeds, pests, and diseases. I am able to harvest quality produce every time.
I would encourage other farmers to join CA. This kind of farming has helped me to be able to put food on the table for my family and many other families as many employment opportunities in the country especially in rural areas have reduced significantly,” Sithole said.
Why conservation agriculture matters
Conservation Agriculture improves nutrient use efficiency, and stabilizes and protects soil from breaking down. CA principles are universally applicable to all agricultural landscapes and land uses with locally adapted practices.
Agriculture is dominated by rain-fed smallholder production systems which offer little resilience to the dynamics of climate change and variability. CA enables soil to retain preserve moisture and make the crop survive better under drought conditions.
Across Southern Africa, it is common to find productivity levels of less than 1 MT/ha for cereal grains like maize. Such productivity levels are not viable and can neither guarantee farming households with either food and nutrition security or income from sale of surplus produce.
CA partners in Southern African countries have over the years generated CA knowledge that can be shared across the region in order to increase acceptance by farmers.
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Press Release
02 June 2022
UNICEF welcomes 50 per cent COVID—19 vaccination coverage in South Africa
PRETORIA, 02 June 2022 - More than half of South Africa’s adults – aged 18 and above – have now had at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose, according to the latest data from the National Department of Health.
The milestone was reached 15-months since the first COVID-19 vaccine was administered but despite the progress renewed momentum is needed to reach the 70 per cent target by the end of 2022. Youth vaccination rates are concerning, with only 37 per cent of young people aged 18-34-years having taken a COVID-19 shot and nearly 30 per cent of 12–17-year-olds.
“We have reached a critical stage in the COVID-19 vaccination roll-out,” said Toby Fricker, UNICEF South Africa Chief of Communication. “The challenge now is to further increase coverage by encouraging and actively engaging young people in the COVID-19 vaccination roll-out,” added Fricker.
A UNICEF U-Report poll in August 2021 showed that 86 per cent of youth, aged 15-24-years, think the COVID-19 vaccine is important for their health to some degree but only 55 per cent would get vaccinated. While progress has been made, barriers slowing vaccination uptake still exist. These include not knowing where to go, concerns over the safety and efficacy of vaccines, as well as cost and time in accessing health facilities. Mis-disinformation online and offline also influence young people.
“Vaccination provides the best protection from hospitalisation and death,” said Fricker. “That’s why this milestone is very welcome because the majority of adults in South Africa have taken the decision to better protect themselves from the virus,” Fricker added.
UNICEF South Africa works with the National Department of Health (NDoH) and provincial departments to rollout COVID-19 and routine childhood immunizations, including through cold chain management support and risk communication and community engagement. This includes:
Cold chain system strengthening through equipment procurement and electronic inventory management, as well as technical support to provincial cold chain systems with consultants embedded in the NDoH.
Vaccine management training targeting frontline vaccinators and logisticians.
Vaccine demand creation through the Zwakala campaign and other initiatives using multimedia content and social mobilisation, reaching more than 20 million people.
Community engagement through the ‘Truck’ – a multi-media messenger on wheels reaching almost 2 million people, alongside social mobilisation efforts and pop-up vaccination sites.
More than 500 UNICEF youth volunteers assisting the elderly with vaccine information and registration, helping some 50,000 people.
Youth-led community radio programmes reaching more than 800,000 people in marginalised communities, some 74 per cent of listeners surveyed reported shifting their attitudes to decide on vaccination.
The focus now is on 29 districts identified by the NDoH as having particularly low vaccination coverage.
UNICEF partners on the COVID-19 vaccination response include the South African Red Cross Society (SARCS), Children’s Radio Foundation, World Vision, Heartlines, Oak Foundation, Community Media Trust and other community-based organisations.
UNICEF’s national COVID-19 and routine childhood vaccination efforts are made possible thanks to the generous support of donors including Cotton On, Governments of Germany and Japan, and ACT-A funding.
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Press Release
02 June 2022
UN Headquarters Observes International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers on 26 May
UN Headquarters observed the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers,on 26 May 2022. Secretary-General António Guterres laid a wreath to honour the nearly 4,200 UN peacekeepers who have lost their lives since 1948 and presided over a ceremony at which the Dag Hammarskjöld Medal was awarded posthumously to 117 military, police, and civilian peacekeepers, who lost their life serving under the UN flag last year.
Among the peacekeepers honoured posthumously with the Dag Hammarskjold medal were three from South Africa: Corporal Simanga Arthur Khuselo, L/CPL Fhatuwani Calvin Vhengani; and civilian peacekeeper Mr. Patrick Ntanz, who all served with the UN Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO).
South Africa is the 21st largest contributor of uniformed personnel to UN Peacekeeping. It currently deploys 958 military and police personnel to the UN operations in Abyei, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and South Sudan.
During a special ceremony, the Secretary-General will award the “Captain Mbaye Diagne Medal for Exceptional Courage” posthumously to Captain Abdelrazakh Hamit Bahar of Chad, who served with the United Nations Integrated Multidimensional Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA). The medal is named for a Senegalese peacekeeper who was killed in Rwanda in 1994 after saving countless civilian lives. This is the second time the medal has been awarded since the inaugural medal was presented to Captain Diagne's family in his honour in 2016.
The Secretary-General will also award the ‘2021 Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award’ to Major Winnet Zharare, a Zimbabwean military observer, who served with the UN Mission in South Sudan. Created in 2016, the Award “recognises the dedication and effort of an individual peacekeeper in promoting the principles of UN Security Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security.”
In his message, the Secretary-General said: “Today, we honour the more than one million women and men who have served as UN peacekeepers since 1948. We pay tribute to the nearly 4,200 heroes and heroines who sacrificed their lives in the cause of peace. And we are reminded an age-old truth: peace can never be taken for granted. Peace is the prize. We are deeply grateful to the 87,000 civilian, police and military personnel now serving under the UN flag who are helping to realize the prize of peace worldwide.”
The theme for this year’s observance is “People. Peace. Progress. The Power of Partnerships.” According to the Secretary-General, “Around the globe, UN peacekeepers work with Member States, civil society, humanitarians, the media, the communities they serve and many others, to foster peace, protect civilians, promote human rights and the rule of law and improve the lives of millions of people.”
Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, said: “Every day, UN peacekeepers work to protect vulnerable people in the world’s most fragile political and security situations. The dangers they face are greater than ever, with increasing global tensions, ever-more complex threats from terrorist attacks to organized crime and the use of Improvised Explosive Devices as well as a surge in mis and disinformation targeting our missions and the communities we serve. Despite these challenges, peacekeepers persevere alongside our many partners in the collective pursuit of peace. Today, we thank them for their tremendous contribution and remember with great sorrow our colleagues who have made the ultimate sacrifice while serving the cause of peace.” The International Day of UN Peacekeepers was established by the General Assembly in 2002, to pay tribute to all men and women serving in peacekeeping, and to honour the memory of those who have lost their lives in the cause of peace. The General Assembly designated 29 May as the International Day of UN Peacekeepers in commemoration of the day in 1948 when the UN’s first peacekeeping mission, the UN Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO), began operations in Palestine. Since then, more than 1 million women and men have served in 72 UN peacekeeping operations. # # # # # Media Contacts: Douglas Coffman, Department of Global Communications -+1 (917) 361-9923, e-mail: coffmand@un.org; or Hector Calderon, Department of Peace Operations +1 (917) 226 5219 e-mail: hector.calderon@un.org For more information, please visit the Peacekeepers Day websites here: https://www.un.org/en/observances/peacekeepers-day; or https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/international-day-of-peacekeepers-2022 * * * * *
The theme for this year’s observance is “People. Peace. Progress. The Power of Partnerships.” According to the Secretary-General, “Around the globe, UN peacekeepers work with Member States, civil society, humanitarians, the media, the communities they serve and many others, to foster peace, protect civilians, promote human rights and the rule of law and improve the lives of millions of people.”
Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, said: “Every day, UN peacekeepers work to protect vulnerable people in the world’s most fragile political and security situations. The dangers they face are greater than ever, with increasing global tensions, ever-more complex threats from terrorist attacks to organized crime and the use of Improvised Explosive Devices as well as a surge in mis and disinformation targeting our missions and the communities we serve. Despite these challenges, peacekeepers persevere alongside our many partners in the collective pursuit of peace. Today, we thank them for their tremendous contribution and remember with great sorrow our colleagues who have made the ultimate sacrifice while serving the cause of peace.” The International Day of UN Peacekeepers was established by the General Assembly in 2002, to pay tribute to all men and women serving in peacekeeping, and to honour the memory of those who have lost their lives in the cause of peace. The General Assembly designated 29 May as the International Day of UN Peacekeepers in commemoration of the day in 1948 when the UN’s first peacekeeping mission, the UN Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO), began operations in Palestine. Since then, more than 1 million women and men have served in 72 UN peacekeeping operations. # # # # # Media Contacts: Douglas Coffman, Department of Global Communications -+1 (917) 361-9923, e-mail: coffmand@un.org; or Hector Calderon, Department of Peace Operations +1 (917) 226 5219 e-mail: hector.calderon@un.org For more information, please visit the Peacekeepers Day websites here: https://www.un.org/en/observances/peacekeepers-day; or https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/international-day-of-peacekeepers-2022 * * * * *
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Press Release
25 May 2022
Op-Ed: The power of partnerships: Why supporting our peacekeepers matters more now than ever by Under-Secretary-General, Jean-Pierre Lacroix
Every day, United Nations peacekeepers work to protect hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people in the world’s most fragile political and security situations.
Our civilian and uniformed personnel support ceasefires, prevent and respond to violence, investigate human rights violations and abuses, and help build peace, recovery, and development in conflict-affected countries. There is no doubt that lives are saved and changed by their presence.
In South Sudan, more than 80 percent of respondents to a recent perception survey reported feeling safer due to the presence of UN peacekeepers. Communities in other conflict zones also testify about the impact of peacekeeping. During operation “Let Peace Reign” in the Central African Republic, local leaders reported that increased patrols were deterring armed groups while the provision of clean water, medical assistance, and road rehabilitation by peacekeepers had significantly improved their lives. “It prevents the enemies of peace in our region so that peace returns, allowing us to move freely,” said Iyo Feikoumon from Doyi Village.
In some peace operations, a primary task is to provide robust protection of civilians due to the nature of the threat on the ground. Our military and police personnel make every effort to carry out this mandate in challenging and, often dangerous, conditions. However, the ultimate objective is to create the conditions for political solutions and sustainable peace. That is the true measure of our success.
Achieving that outcome is becoming more difficult in an increasingly tense global political and security climate.
Conflicts are more complex and multi-layered with local tensions fueled by national, regional, and international forces acting in their own interests. An increasing number of actors are involved in violence, including criminal, terrorist, and other armed elements. It is difficult to engage with these individuals and groups, with diverse motives and objectives and often links to transnational organized crime, because they have no real interest in reaching political settlements that foster lasting peace.
We are witnessing a less united approach to conflict resolution among global powers due to widening political divisions which, in turn, takes the pressure off warring parties to end violence and make concessions. These divides are exposed in Security Council resolutions relating to peacekeeping mandates, with less unanimity in the decisions made by Member States, notably on mandate renewals, but also less support to our missions when they face challenges on the ground.
A surge in mis-and disinformation is also creating new and growing threats to the safety of UN personnel and the communities they serve. In places like Mali, Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo, fake news fuels fighting as well as hostility towards peacekeeping missions. We are experiencing an increase in attacks on our bases, ambushes of convoys, and the increased use of improvised explosive devices. In this environment, the iconic blue flag that should provide safety for peacekeepers now risks making them a target.
Despite our best efforts to keep personnel safe, more peacekeepers are being injured or killed in these volatile conditions. The frequency of malicious attacks against peacekeepers increased from 280 in 2020 to 463 last year. In 2021, there were 24 fatalities due to these violent acts.
Among those we have lost are eight peacekeepers who died when their helicopter went down in the eastern DRC in March, during a reconnaissance mission to help protect civilians. I attended a very moving memorial service alongside colleagues in Goma. We all understand that risk, and loss, is inevitable given the nature of our work but, coming together in these tragic circumstances reminds us of the immense price paid by fallen peacekeepers and their families. I want to pay tribute to them. Their sacrifice inspires us to redouble our efforts to build peace and stability.
UN peacekeeping is not alone in this endeavor. Many partners work alongside us in the cause of peace.
Among them are humanitarians who provide life-saving assistance to the most vulnerable. Strong partnerships with communities are also critical. They inspire us with their resilience and persistence in helping resolve tensions, supporting reconciliation, and building peace. Women and youth are also vital partners as powerful champions for peace as are civil society and the media who shine light on the challenges and help promote solutions. We continue to strengthen our partnerships with the 122 Member States that contribute more than 75,000 military and police personnel to our 12 peacekeeping operations. We rely on the consent and active participation of host governments as well as the strong, united support of regional and international partners to persuade parties to put aside their differences and make the necessary concessions to reach political settlements.
That is why, this year, we are marking the International Day of UN Peacekeepers under the theme “People. Peace. Progress. The Power of Partnerships”. It is a chance to thank partners for their contributions and to issue a fresh call to action in the pursuit of global peace and security.
Peacekeeping is an imperfect tool that can never meet all needs or expectations. There are times when we are prevented from, or fail to carry out our mandates, and let ourselves, and those we serve, down, including in cases of misconduct by our personnel.
When this happens, we will continue to be held accountable, to constantly interrogate our performance, and find ways to be more innovative and effective, particularly through the Action for Peacekeeping initiative, which establishes priority areas where progress is needed. This includes strengthening our capacity to advance political solutions and support sustainable peace, improving protection of civilians as well as the safety of peacekeepers, implementing the Women, Peace and Security Agenda, and rigorously evaluating our own performance.
Our goals are ambitious and not all will be achieved.
Questions may sometimes be asked about the value and impact of peacekeeping.
But if not peacekeeping, what else? Does a better solution exist today to maintain ceasefires, protect civilians, prevent chaos, and support peace efforts in the complex, conflict-affected environments where our operations are deployed?
Despite these questions, and in the face of many challenges, UN Peacekeeping will persevere alongside our partners, to be a strong force for change in a collective effort to achieve peace and progress for all peoples. Op-Ed written by: Under-Secretary-General, Jean-Pierre Lacroix
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Press Release
25 May 2022
Op-Ed: 'Two years after the killing of George Floyd and the global reckoning on racial injustice, mass shooting in Buffalo beckons the urgency for ending racial inequalities and discrimination to be at the top of the United Nations agenda.'
On May 14, 2022, in Buffalo, New York, a white supremacist livestreamed his terrorist attack against black people at a local supermarket killing ten, injuring three others, yelling racial slurs during the incident. 11 of the victims were black. The killer endorsed the far-right "Great Replacement" conspiracy theory.
These killings shocked the world and resonated within the glass walls of the United Nations headquarters in New York.
Following the incident in Buffalo, the United Nations Secretary-General condemned in the strongest terms racism in all its forms and discrimination. Mr. António Guterres stated that “we must all work together towards building more peaceful and inclusive societies”.
We wholeheartedly support our Secretary-General, a leader whose deep commitment to a better world is unquestionable and echo his condemnation of the mass shooting in Buffalo. Our thoughts are with the families of the victims and the community.
We strongly condemn this heinous crime and senseless act motivated by hatred and extremism and committed against people of African descent.
We must however admit that we have been here before. The question is, when is enough, enough? Haven’t we had enough of inequality and discrimination? Enough of structural racism and systematic injustice?
We have met! There were the two World Conferences, to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination, held in Geneva in 1978 and 1983. It’s been almost 30 years since the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna calling for the speedy and comprehensive elimination of all forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. 20 years have gone by since the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, was held in Durban, South Africa.
We have noted! Racism is a precursor for violent atrocities. Several United Nations Conventions note the linkages, including the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, the 1965 International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and the 1984 Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. United Nations Member States have made a commitment to “Advancing national and international efforts to protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity, as well as their incitement.”
Despite all these efforts, Africans and Afro-decedents from Buffalo to Brazil continue to be victims of racial injustice. Addressing racism must be a matter of urgent priority. On 25 May 2020, exactly two years ago, George Floyd, an African American man was brutally murdered in broad daylight in Minnesota. Derek Chauvin, a white American police officer was later 2 convicted for murdering Floyd.
About a month after the killing of George Floyd, more than 20 United Nations senior officials of African descent penned an Op-Ed to express our outrage at the injustice of racism. We wrote that “racism continues to be pervasive in our Host Country and across the world.” Committed to do more, we stated that we “owe it to George Floyd and to all victims of racial discrimination and police brutality to dismantle racism in institutions”.
While denouncing racism in the world, we are aware that systemic racism exists even in the United Nations system, negatively impacting black, brown and other persons of color, particularly Africans and Afro descendants. The United Nations was created over 75 years ago when many nations were still ruled by colonial “masters” and the asymmetries of power were accepted. At the same time, the foundation of the United Nations is the conviction that all human beings are equal and entitled to live without fear of persecution.
That is why in the 2020 Op-Ed, the Senior Officials of African Descent called for an urgent and honest assessment of racism within our institution. Translated into about 20 languages covering all continents, the Op-Ed started an important conversation within the United Nations. Subsequently, we created the United Nations Senior Officials of African Descent Group, also known as UNSAG. UNSAG assembles dozens of international civil servants who, inspired by the values and principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, stand together to challenge racism within the UN and in the world.
Soon after, the Secretary-General established a Task Force on Addressing Racism and Promoting Dignity for All. He launched an organization-wide dialogue on racism in our workplace in October 2020. The Task Force delivered a Strategic Action Plan on racial discrimination. Launching the Plan, the Secretary-General promised to establish a Steering Group to oversee implementation and to appoint a Special Adviser to support him in this important work. UNSAG salutes the SecretaryGeneral for the courageous decisions he has taken to end racism within the UN and looks forward to the fulfillment of these promises.
In the two years that have passed since the killing of George Floyd and before the mass killings in Buffalo, many other victims of racism fell under the violence of haters around the world. Keeping silent now is not an option. UNSAG says that silence is complicity. Ending structural and systemic racism is everyone’s business, everyone must play their part, in all countries and in every society. UNSAG calls on leaders of political entities, the business sector, inter-governmental and civil society organizations and citizens in their communities to prioritize ending racial injustice.
These are difficult times. The world is faced with multiple crises. As Secretary-General Guterres leads the world to avert a climate crisis, spur economic recovery from Covid 19, end wars and maintain peace, and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, UNSAG takes the opportunity to remind him that none of these objectives can be achieved without addressing multiple inequalities that intersect and reinforce each other across generations – and these include racial inequalities. When the UN General Assembly declared 2015–2024 to be the International Decade for People of African Descent, the family of nations recognized that “people of African descent represent a distinct group whose human rights must be promoted and protected”.
It is time for the United Nations to act decisively to end systemic racism against UN personnel of African descent. UNSAG calls for urgent and effective follow-up of the recommendations of the Task Force on Racism set up by the Secretary-General and eagerly awaits on-boarding of the Special Adviser on Racism announced at the staff townhall in February of this year.
On behalf of UNSAG members, I express our confidence and commitment to support SecretaryGeneral Antonio Guterres efforts to eradicate racism within the UN. We salute our colleagues, 3 members of the United Nations People of African Descent, also known as UNPAD for their tireless efforts and urge the UN Secretariat and all UN entities to empower and collaborate with UNPAD.
So close to the conclusion of the International decade for People of African Descent, and almost 500 years after the revolting Transatlantic trade of Africans began, recurring racist incidents around the world like the one in Buffalo remind us that indeed the arc of the moral universe is long but that it bends toward justice. We, international civil servants under the United Nations flag know that racism will not be eradicated overnight. Nevertheless, we are individually and collectively committed to effectively contribute towards the realization of an equal and just world where brutal manifestations of blatant anti-black racism are eliminated.
We will undertake this fight, starting at our workplace, the United Nations. To this effect, we are encouraged by the leadership and vision of Secretary-General António Guterres.
Our struggle continues.
Winnie Byanyima, United Nations Under-Secretary-General UNAIDS Executive Director and co-Chair, UNSAG
(Op Ed by the United Nations Senior Officials of African Descent Group (UNSAG) May 25, 2022)
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Press Release
18 May 2022
FAO adds voice to calls for an end to child labour in agriculture
Durban – The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations is adding its voice to renewed calls for an end to child labour in agriculture, at the 5th Global Conference on the Elimination of Child Labour, underway in South Africa this week.
“In Sub-Saharan Africa, 4 out of 5 child labourers are found working too many hours, undertaking heavy and dangerous work in crop farming, livestock, forestry, fisheries and aquaculture. Those children are not able to benefit from compulsory education. This needs to stop,” Qu Dongyu, FAO Director-General, said by video message at the conference.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, numbers of child labourers rose by more than 15 million from 2016 to 2020. There are now more children in child labour in sub-Saharan Africa than in the rest of the world combined – the majority work on family farms.
“We want children to become young people who are enthusiastic about farming and agriculture. We need educated young farmers who are innovative and can feed both their families and the world, to protect the planet and sustain peace,” Qu Dongyu said.
Child labour overwhelmingly occurs in agriculture – the sector accounts for more than 70 percent of child labour worldwide. This means 112 million boys and girls in total working long hours and often performing hazardous tasks in the agricultural sector. The COVID-19 crisis has exacerbated the situation: Child labour often filled gaps in agriculture production due to movement restrictions, or compensated income loss within families.
Household poverty remains one of the main drivers of child labour in the agricultural sector. Many families and communities feel that they have no other choice than to rely on their children to meet their needs for food and income. Children who work are likely to become the hungry of tomorrow, perpetrating the cycle of rural poverty.
To drive progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goal target of eliminating all forms of child labour (SDG 8.7), FAO is calling for a breakthrough in agriculture.
“We need to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on food security, nutrition and livelihoods of the most vulnerable families. We need financial instruments in agriculture that address the vulnerabilities of small-scale farmers to climate change effects and conflicts [to eliminate child labour],” Abebe Haile-Gabriel, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Africa said during today’s conference session on policy priorities to end child labour in Africa.
Solutions - Acting together
Child labour in agriculture is a cross-sectoral problem that requires a cross-sectoral solution. FAO is calling on all actors in agrifood systems to take on an active role in ending child labour. Research institutions can contribute to building evidence, which is essential to raising awareness, initiating dialogue and designing appropriate actions. Producers’ organizations are able to provide services that contribute to ending the dependence of family farms and enterprises on child labour. These include training to increase the efficiency of adult workers and promotion of sustainable technologies and alternative practices that improve safety and productivity. They also can help identify and address the use of child labour in the supply chains. Agricultural extension agents are on the frontline, interacting with farmers, fishers, livestock raisers daily, they can address some of the root causes of child labour in agriculture by supporting shifts to improved practices and technologies. The private sector must be more proactive and comply with human rights obligations. FAO at the 5th Global Conference FAO is organizing a dedicated high-level thematic panel on child labour in agriculture and a side-event focused on the artisanal fisheries and aquaculture sector. These sessions will present solutions, renew commitment from agricultural actors, and call for more cross-sectoral actions and investments to alleviate poverty and transform our agrifood systems. FAO is also presenting during the high-level thematic panel on the central role of social protection in tackling child labour. On the sidelines of the conference, FAO has launched a new publication: Ten years of FAO experience on ending child labour in agriculture in Africa. The compendium is the result of an inventory exercise, the first of its kind, examining FAO's activities to combat child labour in agriculture in Malawi, Mali, Uganda, Niger and the United Republic of Tanzania over a decade (2010-2020). It aims to make a practical contribution to the field of the elimination of child labour in agriculture, highlighting some of the activities supported by FAO, processes and practices within countries, achievements and lessons learned. The 5th Global Conference On Child Labour is being held in Durban from 15-20 May and is co-organised by the Government of South Africa and the International Labour Organization. ***ENDS*** FAO’s events at the 5th Global Conference on the Elimination of Child Labour Visit here to find out more about the high-level thematic panel on child labour in agriculture on Thursday 19 May, 12:30-14:15 CET Click here to join the side-event focused on the fisheries sector on Thursday 19 May, 11:15-12:15 CET Visit here to find out more about the high-level thematic panel on the central role of social protection in tackling child labour on Wednesday 18 May, 12:30-14:15 CET Fast facts: · Child labour is a grave violation of human rights: it is harmful for children, it hinders their education, health and future employability, perpetuating poverty. · Worldwide, 160 million children are trapped in child labour - an increase of 8.4 million in the last four years, which marks a dramatic reversal of years of progress. · Today, nearly 1 in 10 children are trapped in child labour worldwide. · In Sub-Saharan Africa, the number of child labourers rose by more than 15 million since 2016. There are now more children in child labour in sub-Saharan Africa than in the rest of the world combined. · Worldwide, agriculture accounts for 70 percent of child labour (112 million boys and girl), with children starting to work as young as 5 years old as unpaid family labour. · An additional four million children were drawn into child labour in agriculture over the period 2016-2020. · The socio-economic impacts of COVID-19 on rural populations has been dramatic. Children have been used to compensate for income loss and the lack of workforce in food and agriculture production. Find out more: · New publication: Ten years of FAO experience on ending child labour in agriculture in Africa · FAO website: Child labour in agriculture · FAO pledge to intensify efforts to end child labour in agriculture · FAO Framework on Ending Child labour in Agriculture · FAO/ILO e-learning courses on child labour in agriculture Contacts: Zoie Jones, FAO Regional Office for Africa - Communications, Email: Zoie.Jones@fao.org
Child labour in agriculture is a cross-sectoral problem that requires a cross-sectoral solution. FAO is calling on all actors in agrifood systems to take on an active role in ending child labour. Research institutions can contribute to building evidence, which is essential to raising awareness, initiating dialogue and designing appropriate actions. Producers’ organizations are able to provide services that contribute to ending the dependence of family farms and enterprises on child labour. These include training to increase the efficiency of adult workers and promotion of sustainable technologies and alternative practices that improve safety and productivity. They also can help identify and address the use of child labour in the supply chains. Agricultural extension agents are on the frontline, interacting with farmers, fishers, livestock raisers daily, they can address some of the root causes of child labour in agriculture by supporting shifts to improved practices and technologies. The private sector must be more proactive and comply with human rights obligations. FAO at the 5th Global Conference FAO is organizing a dedicated high-level thematic panel on child labour in agriculture and a side-event focused on the artisanal fisheries and aquaculture sector. These sessions will present solutions, renew commitment from agricultural actors, and call for more cross-sectoral actions and investments to alleviate poverty and transform our agrifood systems. FAO is also presenting during the high-level thematic panel on the central role of social protection in tackling child labour. On the sidelines of the conference, FAO has launched a new publication: Ten years of FAO experience on ending child labour in agriculture in Africa. The compendium is the result of an inventory exercise, the first of its kind, examining FAO's activities to combat child labour in agriculture in Malawi, Mali, Uganda, Niger and the United Republic of Tanzania over a decade (2010-2020). It aims to make a practical contribution to the field of the elimination of child labour in agriculture, highlighting some of the activities supported by FAO, processes and practices within countries, achievements and lessons learned. The 5th Global Conference On Child Labour is being held in Durban from 15-20 May and is co-organised by the Government of South Africa and the International Labour Organization. ***ENDS*** FAO’s events at the 5th Global Conference on the Elimination of Child Labour Visit here to find out more about the high-level thematic panel on child labour in agriculture on Thursday 19 May, 12:30-14:15 CET Click here to join the side-event focused on the fisheries sector on Thursday 19 May, 11:15-12:15 CET Visit here to find out more about the high-level thematic panel on the central role of social protection in tackling child labour on Wednesday 18 May, 12:30-14:15 CET Fast facts: · Child labour is a grave violation of human rights: it is harmful for children, it hinders their education, health and future employability, perpetuating poverty. · Worldwide, 160 million children are trapped in child labour - an increase of 8.4 million in the last four years, which marks a dramatic reversal of years of progress. · Today, nearly 1 in 10 children are trapped in child labour worldwide. · In Sub-Saharan Africa, the number of child labourers rose by more than 15 million since 2016. There are now more children in child labour in sub-Saharan Africa than in the rest of the world combined. · Worldwide, agriculture accounts for 70 percent of child labour (112 million boys and girl), with children starting to work as young as 5 years old as unpaid family labour. · An additional four million children were drawn into child labour in agriculture over the period 2016-2020. · The socio-economic impacts of COVID-19 on rural populations has been dramatic. Children have been used to compensate for income loss and the lack of workforce in food and agriculture production. Find out more: · New publication: Ten years of FAO experience on ending child labour in agriculture in Africa · FAO website: Child labour in agriculture · FAO pledge to intensify efforts to end child labour in agriculture · FAO Framework on Ending Child labour in Agriculture · FAO/ILO e-learning courses on child labour in agriculture Contacts: Zoie Jones, FAO Regional Office for Africa - Communications, Email: Zoie.Jones@fao.org
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